Ramblings ~

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Good Riddance ~A Scathing Goodbye to Bush

Masters of War ~ Bob Dylan

This song sums up the Bush regime- it is a de-sensationalizing of war. Our manipulated, sanitized view of the illegal occupation of Iraq, has been yet another lie. Early on, the press was embedded with US troops. More journalists have died in this war than any other. Iraq had become too dangerous for independent journalists to cover. We don't even have real numbers of the actual death toll, just overall reports from the morgues, and medical records. The US government
They made it seem innocent- journalists could travel with the troops, and get military protection, while covering the "illegal occupation". I don't like calling it a war- war implies opposing entitles are actively fighting for or about something. By agreeing to the arrangement, the press was also subjected to having all materials- including film footage & what was reported, screened and edited, or banned from the public. Manipulation could pretty much describe the entire Bush presidency.

Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself. Backing up to the beginning of the Bush administration, began with that lying & manipulation, right from it's inception, the 2000 election. Florida. Hanging chads. Disenfranchised voters, democratic stronghold voting blocks were purged from registered voters lists. The election came down to the State George's brother Jeb just happened to be Governing. No need to count the votes, the Supreme court decided the election.
Bush became the Commander in Thief.

It did not take long to figure out "W" is a bumbling idiot, and a puppet on the strings run by the evil masterminds - Cheney, Ashcroft, Rove & Rumsfeld.

Yes, after the Clinton sex scandal, George stood before us promising to *restore integrity to the white house".
Apparently, the habit of talking opposites began early on.

Indeed, I remember one Donald Rumsfeld standing at a podium making a press conference speech talking about the "precision bombing" and the sanitized war. He would have us believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq was a clean choreographed visit. A slam dunk, easy win. The US greeted as liberators. But you could not watch film footage of the shock & awe bombing, and figure out for yourself whole areas were being obliterated, and anything in it's path would suffer damage as well. In summation, it seemed the whole Bush presidency was based on this kind of mode of operating I refer to as "believe what we say, not what you see." The Bush legacy is death and destruction.

The whole thing began to unravel ~ the Downing Street memo that was proof positive that the Iraq invasion was planned before 9-11 ever happened. The first thing they did in the Iraq invasion, was to secure the oil fields. Then there was the revealing of the horrid conditions of abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison. Rumsfeld gave a press conference stating he was "sorry the photos got out". Not sorry for the torture & abuse, sorry we learned that it was happening. Then tried to blame it on "a few bad apples", when all along the permission & orders were coming from the top. We were told some photos were too disturbing and graphic to release to the public. They would put the troops in danger, if released.
There were mushroom cloud threats, color coded terrorism fear charts, Mission Accomplished, Stay the Course, not looking for Osama bin Laden, sweet hand holding relationships with Saudi oil tycoons, and just when it seemed things could not get worse-- Katrina. The nightmare scene where a hurricane flood surge took out the inferior levees, massively and catastrophically flooding below sea level New Orleans. Impotent unqualified Bush was asleep at the wheel, but had his totally unqualified pal Brownie running the FEMA emergency response. Bush accomplished making a disaster a double disaster, with deadly ignorance. Years later, parts of New Orleans, still remain in ruin. To this day, for some, relief never arrived.

Worse, the usual assistance in these types of situations would be to bring in the National Guard, and their equipment. The Guard & the bulk of their equipment had already been shipped off to Iraq. Cheaper labor than the Army.
They did call in the Oregon National Guard, but the Federal Government repaid them by... not paying them. Katrina happened in 2005, Two years later, after major issues, the Federal government finally had FEMA grant the State of Louisiana for the $2.7 million dollars owed the ONG.
Somewhere in the midst of the Bush administration, a fellow activist coined the phrase "fuck up fatigue".
Yes, there were so many atrocities, coming at us so rapidly, most of us could not keep up.

Before we knew it, our government had set up a prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A special prison neither here in the US or there in Iraq, where they considered themselves to be under no laws, to hold prisoners, use torture and abuse tactics that are in violation of our own and international laws, and the rules of war prisoner treatment- the Geneva Conventions. In fact the Bush regime declared the Geneva conventions to be open to their own interpretation, and declared the occupation to not be a war, therefore the prisoners were detainees. The Bush administration had so much spin going on, they made themselves dizzy. Waterboarding, forced feeding, extreme interrogation tactics= handcuffed in stress position, freezing temps, blaring loud music, abuse of religious books, were all acceptable to the Bush regime. If ever Impeachement were in order, Bush was most deserving, but speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment "off the table", her obstruction of justice, and lame congress allowed the lawless atrocities, to continue.

The presidency continued in a downward spiral. Rats began jumping ship. Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Rove, Gonzales- so many names, I can't remember them all. All along Bush was throwing out made up words, and distorting the english language.
Misunderestimate. Put food on your family. Dubbed himself to be "the Decider". While his toady Dick Cheney declared himself immune to laws and regulations, refused to give documents, declaring himself to be not a part of the executive branch of the government.

The only happy part of this story is that reality- their exit is about to come true.
Their murderous, lying regime finally comes to an end. It should never have lasted this long. If law, order and justice, and the check and balance system were functional, these criminals would have long since been prosecuted for their crimes against humanity. I still hope that they have their day in court, and serve time incarcerated for their crimes. George W. Bush did not serve the people of this country, he served big oil and corporations. He ignored the needs of the people while giving all money and attention to the military industrial complex, big oil, and big money. He leaves with our country bankrupt both morally, and financially. Bush leaves this country in ruins, a smoldering heap of the shining place it once was. Ours is now a nation in distress, which is why I display the US flag, upside down.

Rather than the "peaceful exchange of power", it feels more like we are putting out the trash.

I am in favor of the One Boot Salute-- as seen in this photo above.

In closing, there is another group with a different salute in mind:

The Finger Salute to Bush movement.

* About the graphics: I had been saving what would be good items for a good riddance post re Bush-- and amassed quite the collection. Kudos to the artists for their wonderful creations & imaginations. I join you in bidding good riddance to The Worst President Ever.

Friday, January 9, 2009

New Lucrative Banking Option

Welcome to unemployment circa the 21st Century. Some bright mind in the banking industry came up with a way to bring unemployment compensation into the credit card, profit making industry! Yes indeed~ enter the "Visa Reliacard". I am NOT making this up-- it actually exists. Now when it comes to credit cards, the thing bankers do best is fine print.

Rules, regulations, restrictions, addendums, exceptions, exclusions and what not. Here is a sampling into what the unemployed are up against...

You have the option of receiving benefits by ReliaCard or applying for Direct Deposit. If one does not apply for direct deposit of unemployment benefits, the system defaults to this method, as they only send an actual live check one time.

Your First Payment
For all new claims, the first payment is made by check. All subsequent payments will be issued electronically, either by ReliaCard or Direct Deposit. If you do not apply for payment by direct deposit, a ReliaCard Visa will be sent to you when your first payment is issued. I'm not going to bore you with all the fine print on the card, but just the highlights of how US Bank is taking advantage of the unemployed.

Beginning October 18, 2007, unemployment insurance payments will be issued through U.S. Bank® Visa® cards unless you apply for direct deposit to your own bank account.

#1- THE DELAY: Posting of payments:
It normally takes two days for a payment to be available in your account. A payment issued Monday evening should be available Wednesday morning.

#2- BANKERS NEED THEIR HOLIDAYS: Authorized benefits will be deposited automatically to the ReliaCard Visa. No more waiting for a benefit check to arrive by mail. Payments issued Monday night are usually deposited Wednesday morning. Federal and banking holidays will delay payment receipt.

#3 - THE UNEMPLOYED RARELY HAVE THIS PROBLEM- CARRYING TOO MUCH CASH:
No more worries about late, lost or stolen checks, or the need to carry a lot of cash.

#4- THE SPIN- NO CHECK CASHING FEES (HOW NICE OF THE BANK TO NOT CHARGE FEES)
No more check-cashing fees or waiting in line to cash your benefit checks. Use the ReliaCard Visa for purchases everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted and get the cash you need at any U.S. Bank or Visa/PLUS® ATM.*
The U.S. Bank ReliaCard Visa is issued by U.S. Bank, N.A. Refer to the cardholder agreement that comes with your card for specific details. *ATM Network owners may charge a fee. Additional ATM fees may apply according to the agreement sent with the card.

#5- THE HONEYMOON CONTINUES!
There are No Fees for the Following:
The first two cash withdrawals per month from US Bank, either from a US Bank ATM or a US Bank teller
Purchases from merchants who accept Visa debit cards (look for the Visa logo)
Cash back with purchase from Interlink® Merchants who accept Visa debit cards
Replacement of lost cards
Monthly statements - on line and paper
ATM balance inquiries made at a U.S. Bank ATM
Customer services inquiries

#6 - DID YOU HONESTLY THINK THE BANK WOULD NOT CHARGE ANY FEES? SERIOUSLY?

Transaction Fees Apply for the Following:
The third or more ATM or teller withdrawal per month. (NOTE YOU GET 4 PAYMENTS A MONTH)
Cash withdrawals made at non-U.S. Bank ATMs will incur a $1.50 fee per transaction. ATM owners may assess an additional surcharge.
Balance inquiries made at non U.S. Bank ATMs may incur a fee from the ATM owner even if a transaction is not completed.
Rush delivery of a replacement card is $15. (IN OTHER FINE PRINT THEY SAID NO FEE FOR REPLACEMENT CARD, BUT IF YOU NEED SOONER ACCESS TO CASH, THAT'S GONNA COST YOU!)
Account overdrafts are $17 per transaction. As a one time courtesy, U.S. Bank may reverse the overdraft fee. Customers should call ReliaCard Visa customer service to discuss how the account became overdrawn. (THEY ALLOW OVERDRAFTS??? I WOULD THINK IT WOULD JUST BE DENIED, BUT THEY ARE NICE ENOUGH TO LET YOU GO IN DEBT AND PAY A $17 FEE).

Here are Some Frequently Asked Questions about ReliaCard Visa

#7- BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING- THEY CAN TRACK HOW YOU SPEND YOUR MONEY!
How Does the ReliaCard Work?
The card may be used to make purchases everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. The card may be used to pay bills, and for online, phone and mail order purchases. Cardholders can also get cash from over one million Visa/Plus branded ATMs, or from any bank teller of a financial institution that accepts Visa (look for the Visa logo). The amounts of purchases or cash withdrawals are automatically deducted from the available balance on the card.

When the card is sent in the mail, what does the envelope look like?
For security reasons, the card will arrive in a plain, white, windowed envelope with a Fargo, North Dakota (ND) return address. Do not throw away the card, even if you apply for direct deposit or return to work. Your card is good for one year, and you will need it if you become unemployed during the next year.

When does the ReliaCard Visa expire?
The ReliaCard Visa is good for one year. If you are eligible for benefits at any time during the year, your benefit payments will be placed on the card. If you are still receiving benefit payments or have a balance in the account at the end of the year, a new card will be issued to replace the old one.

Are There Costs Associated with the Card?

#8-FEE, FI FOE FUM! THEY SLIPPED IN ANOTHER ONE!

If the account is inactive for 120 consecutive days, there will be a fee of $2.00 per month charged against the remaining balance until the account becomes active again or until the balance is $0.00. Performing an inquiry to your balance will keep your account active without fees.
Rush delivery of a replacement card is $15. The card arrives in 2-3 business days. Standard card replacement (3-5 days) is free.
An overdraft fee of $17.00 per transaction will be assessed if the card becomes overdrawn.

Are there fees for tracking my balance?
If you perform a balance inquiry at a non-U.S. Bank ATM, you may be charged a fee by the ATM owner, even if you do not perform a transaction.

Is there a fee for using this card to purchase goods at a store?
No. These transactions are called Point-of-Sale (POS) transactions. When using the ReliaCard Visa to make purchases, there is no fee associated with it. It works like a Visa debit card, except that it is paying the merchant from the amount stored on your card. At participating Interlink merchants, you can also request cash back without paying a fee.

For withdrawals from non-U.S. Bank ATMs, U.S. Bank will charge a service fee of $1.50. The owner of that ATM may also charge an additional fee. These surcharge fees vary depending on the bank that owns the ATM. The ATM will notify you of the surcharge fee and allow you to cancel the transaction prior to being charged the fee.

#9- I BET THERE IS SOME PATRIOT ACT CLAUSE THAT ALLOWS ACCESS.
Can State agencies view or track my transactions?
No. For privacy reasons, U.S. Bank does not share card account numbers or transaction details. However, for reconciliation purposes, the Employment Department does have access to the amount and date of deposits to individual cards.

#10 - BUT WE ARE NOT SAYING WHAT THAT AMOUNT IS..... SURE YOU CAN DO A WITHDRAWL, WE ARE JUST NOT TELLING THE ACTUAL AMOUNT.
Is there a daily maximum amount I can take from my ReliaCard Visa account?
In order to lessen the risk of loss due to fraud or theft, U.S. Bank places daily transactional and dollar volume limits on the card. If you need to withdraw a large sum of money, make a withdrawal from a teller window at any bank or credit union that processes Visa transactions. The maximum amount allowed will be sufficient to withdraw your entire balance. When using the ReliaCard Visa at a merchant location to receive cash back, the merchant may have a maximum amount that you can request.

#11- DOES THIS EFFECT OUR CREDIT?
Can the ReliaCard Visa be overdrawn?
It is possible to overdraw the card in some situations. To avoid this, be sure to track your balance carefully. Check your balance free of charge by going online to www.reliacard.com, by calling 1-866-276-5114 or by performing a balance inquiry at an ATM. Keeping track of your available balance should prevent excessive withdrawals.

#12-GOTCHA!
Will I be able to add other funds to my card, in addition to what Employment Department puts on it?
No. Only the Employment Department can deposit funds to the card.

#13- OF COURSE NOT
Will I earn interest on the funds in my ReliaCard Visa account?
No. The account does not earn interest.

# 14- UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE CAN ONLY USE AUTOMATED SERVICES.
Can I contact my local bank or the local U.S. Bank for customer service on my ReliaCard Visa account?
No. You must direct all of your ReliaCard Visa questions to the toll-free customer service line.
You may also utilize the web site www.reliacard.com for inquiries.

So there you have it!
Some genius in the banking industry figured out a way to make money off the unemployed.
This could potentially work for someone literate in bank card bullshit, but they may be putting these cards in the hands of someone who is potentially not even a high school graduate.
They do say it will not build credit, but they don;t say if it can HARM your credit, if a person did an overdraft.
How is it they happened to choose this particular bank, and that seems like a monopoly arrangement- one bank brand handling the unemployment money for the entire state?

Bah! Off to my low paying job!!!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

In Peace

Her life has been a tapestry.... Justine Merritt, an international peace activist and artist.

"Merritt was a high school journalism and English teacher, and the mother of five who became a community activist in the Chicago area in the late 1960's, working for civil rights. In 1982, she turned her attention to broader concerns of world peace with a particular focus of ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Her idea was simple~ take a panel of fabric and decorate it with images of things they would most grieve if lost in a nuclear war.
The idea caught on, and the hope was they would make enough panels, strung together to circle around the entire Pentagon building.

In 1985 more than 20,000 women marched on Washington, D. C., surrounding the Pentagon and other buildings with a 15-MILE long ribbon of panels they had sewn in protest of nuclear armament. The Ribbon was the brainchild three years earlier of Justine Merritt, a fifty-nine-year-old former high school teacher in Denver, Colorado, who learned needlework from her grandmother and mother. They had enough panels to not only encircle the pentagon, but back across the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol and even as far as Lafayette Square, in front of the White House.

Justine said "Some pieces are a work of art, but all pieces are a work of heart".

Merrirr's ribbon project expanded beyond the borders of the United States, with similar ribbons completed by volunteers in Japan, Russia, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, the Middle East and many other places.

Some of the panels are part of a display at the Smithsonian, and a temporary displays have been featured at the United Nations.

Click here to see a web link of the "Ribbon of Tangible Hope"

Merritt made her last work of embroidery, a fully blooming red rose, to friends who will take it with them to the presidential inauguration, where it will be on display at the Church Women United headquarters. (Source Register Guard & bnet)

Justine Merritt recently passed away at age 84.

A local peace activist, Peg Morton brought the project here to Eugene a few years ago. She had some of the original 1980's panels, and passed out blank fabric panels for people to add to it. We encircled the Federal building, and felt like a part of the fabric of the spirit of the project. I had the honor of making my own panel~ using indelible markers as my art medium.
It is a beautiful concept that lives on, even after the creative mind that started it has gone to her place of peaceful rest.

Carole King~ Way Over Yonder

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Psyched

I am getting psyched for the change of the regime. Watching the days, soon to flip to single digits in the countdown.
Yaaay!
Short on time to do much blogging, I'm posting some humor.

Be the Change that you want ~ Kat Edmondson
I stumbled upon this video & loved it's simplicity

Would you like some Satire with that?

I'm on day 6 of an 8 day in a row work marathon. The good news it we are now in peak busy season, and it is in fact really busy. That is good because we are reading in the local paper about a takeover of the place where the husband works & "restructuring", they are trying to make it seem like a random corporate takeover, but also reported boardroom golden parachute negotiations (how many millions the COE's will walk away with), back in August.

I'm working so many days in a row due to a schedule change, but it will not equal overtime pay, Bastards.
I'm drinking my coffee strong, and yes, I'd like some satire, please.....

Big Box

2008 Jib Jab Year in Review

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Sweet

Wow! 2 weeks away from the Big O swearing in as our new president.
It will be nice to have kids in the White House again, and this video makes me think of how this young family is really making a lot of personal sacrifices and changes in order to serve the country.
I wish them well, and hope this effort is blessed and protected, and allowed to flourish. I think we are all counting the days....

Monday, January 5, 2009

Mad as Hell

MIllions without health care. Rampant foreclosures. Highest unemployment rate since the depression.
Now would be a good time for the Federal government to give itself a big fat raise?
In the surreal world of the US Federal Government, that is just what is happening,

(USA Today reports)
Congress members in 2008 will receive salaries of $169,300, an increase of $4,100 over the salary they have had since January 2006.
That 2.5% increase is similar in other Federal positions as well:

• Associate justices of the Supreme Court, their pay go from $203,000 to $208,100.
• Chief Justice John Roberts, pay will rise to $217,400 from $212,100.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,salary goes from $212,100 last year to $217,400, the same as Chief Justice Roberts.
• The majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate and Senate president pro tempore Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., will get increases from $183,500 to $188,100.
• Dick Cheney, in his last year as vice president, will receive $221,100, up from $215,700.
• President Bush's salary of $400,000 is unchanged. Don' t worry about him though-- he was able to purchase An adjacent home at 10151 Daria Place is under contract, and neighbors believe that the Bushes plan to buy that property as well, though it's unclear how they would use that house or the land.
At more than 8,500 square feet and sitting on 1.1 acres, the home at 10141 Daria Place is by no means humble.
And according to documents filed with Dallas County, it wasn't cheap.
The house was purchased with a $3,074,000 loan issued by the Community National Bank in Midland – a note that must be paid in full by October 2012, according to documents signed by Mr. McCleskey.

The home has an estimated annual tax bill of about $44,000.
Not to worry, George & Laura can probably get by on the family oil revenues.

Last year was the first since 1999, when the pay was $136,700, that members of Congress did not receive a cost-of-living allowance raise along with other federal employees. Democrats, newly elected to the majority, had vowed to block an increase in their paychecks until Congress raised the minimum wage.

With the minimum wage increase accomplished last year, House Democratic leaders joined with their Republican counterparts to oppose a procedural vote to bring the COLA issue to the floor, leaving the way clear for their automatic raise.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, a leading critic of the COLA process, said in an interview that he's not proposing that members of Congress never get a pay raise. But he said that, in a time of budget deficits when many people are undergoing economic hardships, "at least we ought to have an up-and-down vote on it. The whole process appears so secretive."

Tom Schantz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, said Congress should be "mortified" to accept a raise when it allowed the deficit to swell and the economy to swing so badly out of control.

"If congressional leaders believe that the taxpayers should give pay raises to this rogues' gallery of ineptitude and venality, they ought to step away from the spiked eggnog," Schantz said, urging an emergency vote against the raise.

That is exactly what should happen- an emergency vote, stopping the raise.

Not only did lame congress allow $700 billion to be recklessly squandered to Wall Street financiers, but they seem to be oblivious to the overall financial ruin that they themselves had a major hand in creating. Repeated funding for the illegal occupation, and failure to regulate banks and Wall Street created this mess. We do need to find out what circumstances created this disaster, in order to not have it repeated, but moving forward, we can't proceed with business as usual. The notion of this glut of hefty pay raises is in one word, insane.

Ordinary citizens had to wait 10 YEARS for a small minimum wage hike, Congress & the Federal Government should at least do the same.

I for one, am mad as hell & don't think we should allow the pay raises.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Monday music

Whiter Shade of Pale ~ Procol Harum

Busy with work, came across this old tune. Enjoy!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Year in Review... & the Year of the Ox

Uncle Jay Explains 2008 in Review

2008 was the year of the rat

2009 is the year of the Bull ~ Ox

Investors and punters in this part of the world will be hoping the Year of the Bull, which starts on Jan 26, will live up to its name.

Actually, it is usually referred to as the Year of the Ox for 2009 in the Chinese calendar. There is a big difference because the ox is the castrated version of the bull. Punters will naturally prefer the virile version and the bullish symbolism of a rising stock market.

Ok ~ this is ironic symbolism.... if the bull is a market icon, then castration (impotence) seems befitting to symbolize the US economy.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Off we go into the new year. I would hope humanity had learned something from mistakes in the past, and take a path to peace. I started the new year by going to a peace vigil.

There seems to be a consensus of people thinking the Bush administration needs to prosecuted for the long list of crimes they committed. If this is a democracy, then we are obliged to prosecute the criminals. There is another element of us needing to teach our children well, by example.

So I hope for peace, and justice.

Namaste