The Story That Just Won't Die

It's one of those stories that certain people wish would just go away, be buried under the matt, swept under the carpet...well, you get my drift. But this is a story that will not, cannot and must not die. And until there has been an honest, open and truthful investigation, then you - my readers - will just have to suffer through me reporting on it. Yes, I am talking about September 11, 2001. Salon.com has a wonderful commentary by Eric Boehlert from June 18th talking about how the Bush Administration has consistently attempted to railroad this investigation. You can read the full commentary here (no subscription to Salon.com needed because Information Clearing House has already wrapped it up for you!).

No Cheap Drugs For Americans

It isn't about our health or our ability to pay or not pay for drugs. It isn't about helping the poor or the elderly. No, ladies and gentlemen, it is all about kick-backs. You know, that ole saying "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine!" That is the real story behind the bill in the Senate for allowing Canadian drugs to be sold to the American elderly. As things stand now, you get sick and need treatment, you go to your doctor. Your doctor gives you drugs that s/he knows your prescription plan cannot pay for or you get charged the maximum co-payment for because your doctor is getting kick-backs from the drug companies. How often have you been told that there isn't a generic drug available for a prescription? This has happened to me at least 3-4 times in the last few years. But that isn't all. What about those in this country who are on medicare or have no prescription plans? They are paying full price for these expensive drugs that their doctors tell them they cannot do without. Would you want half or more of your income going into the drug companies' pockets? Well that is what is happening to most of our elderly in this country. So the Senate has worked up this bill that will allow FREE TRADE with Canada for their cheaper-manufactured drugs. Well isn't that what the Republicans are all about? Free Trade? Apparently not when it takes away from the kick-backs they may get from American drug companies campaign donations. According to this article in Intervention Magazine, Republicans are going along with this bill - perhaps to make it look good with the elderly in their states - because they know that Bush will veto it anyway. The Bush Administration are using a couple of tactics for why they oppose it: 1) the war on terrorism - terrorists could use this as a way to ship deadly chemical or biological drugs into the country via Canada; 2) they fear Canadian drugs won't be safe because the FDA says they cannot guarantee their safety - even though Canada has similar drug laws as the US does. I still say it is because of the campaign donations.

Tangled Web

What a twisted, tangled web these big corporations are involved in, and at the center of this web? The Bush Administration, noteably Dick Cheney. This is how it happened. After the Cold War, the military was downsized. No Russian threat, no need for a huge army. So when the military gets called out for conflicts, they need help from private sectors now to do jobs that the military once did when they had the manpower to do so. So over the years, many big corporations have entered a marriage of sorts with the military to do all those little, and at times big, jobs that need to be done. The only problem with this is that these big corporations are not under the same guidelines as the military are. So how do these big corporations get these nifty little contracts? They have ex-Pentagon, ex-Presidential Cabinet, and ex-Congress members on their boards. Take Haliburton for example. Dick Cheney once worked for Haliburton before becoming the VP. He still earns an income from them. And who is now helping to rebuild Iraq? A subisdiary of Haliburton called Kellogg Brown & Root. But that isn't all. There are even more subsidiaries of KBR doing other projects. And who is benefiting? Dick Cheney! Anyway, here is an excellent report that can explain all of this in better detail: Nation Builders for Hire.

A Libertarian View Point

And here I thought my worldview was an utopia! This was an interesting read and I thought maybe some of you on my readership list might enjoy it as well: War, Peace, and the State by Murray N. Rothbard.

There They Were All Along, Under the Rose Bushes!

Now we know why all those inspectors haven't been able to find any WMD and why our military hasn't been able to find them either: they forgot to look under the rose bushes! I don't know about you, but I always hide my most precious commodities under the rose bushes. Who would ever think to look there? (Remember the generation who hid money and precious items in mason jars in their backyards? Guess what generation is in the White House? THEIR KIDS!) And then I would seek asylum for me and my family with the government just itchin' to find my most precious commodities. And once they paid for my safe passage to their wonderful country, I would give them all the details and a thick stack of documents too! And then I would give only one news source the story knowing that they would hold that story for a week so their government could sort out all the national security issues. Sounds like a modern fairy tale, but the American public will eat it up and say: "See, we knew they were hiding that shit right under our noses!" So I can see it now, backyards all over Iraq being dug up, destroying the few beautiful gardens in that desert terrain, and for what? a few cylinders that cannot even produce enough Uranium for an effective nuclear weapons program.