TWO ISSUES THAT NEITHER PARTY ADDRESSES
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistOver the last three decades, I’ve noticed a curious thing about our society.
We often bitch and complain about our material needs, the national deficit, high energy prices, food prices, wars, conflicts, the Cold War, social injustices, AIDS, women’s rights, abortion, gun rights, government corruption, infringement of personal rights, the environment, global warming, gay marriage, cronyism, corruption within our own government, the draft, military readiness, the war on terrorism, global warming, government incompetence, negative attack ads, our patriotism, values, a lack of morals, religion, God, the Bible, our stance in the world community, science, technology, warrantless spying, lack of affordable healthcare, universal healthcare, pensions, living wages, minimum wages, education, a lack of good education, college tuition, national security, borders, illegal immigration, school shootings, the right to live, the right to die, assisted suicide, free speech, dissenting opinion, the Constitution, racial intolerance, racial bigotry, xenophobia, terrorists, Muslims, Roe v. Wade, and so on.
Literally, the list is
endless on how much we focus our attention on everything but
two outstanding problems which has been a mainstay in this country of ours:
Poverty and homelessness.
Why hasn’t our nation devoted more of its attention and resources to these two problems than just go about acting like the above list is more
important while constantly
condemning millions of Americans to a life of both?
Whatever happened to compassion and caring in this great nation of ours?
Certainly, there could be
more done to address these glaring issues by ourselves. But neither the government, nor the two-party system has shown that much
willingness to buckle down and really start addressing and
fixing the problems which cause both poverty and homelessness.
If we are the richest nation in the world, why
do we still have these problems? Why do millions of Americans constantly live in the throes of abject poverty and in the grips of being homeless every day?
Why does the majority of Americans spend their waking moments living from paycheck to paycheck, while others spend yet another year out on the streets of the United States?
Can anyone answer me these questions?
Our two-party system cannot. None of our candidates won't. They are too busy beating each other over the head--then addressing the real core problems our country has endured for a generation or more.
One of the things that the foreclosure and credit card meltdown had created was a
glut of people seeking a place to live until this hellish mess that the current administration had created blows over.
But in the process, it started jacking rents up so obscenely that not many people have been able to escape the nightmare that was once considered the American Dream:
Living in your own place.
What was once considered
reasonable rent has now left millions of Americans
struggling to make the monthly rent on such stagnant incomes.
And every year for the past 4 years now, rents have skyrocketed to levels not seen in recent memory.
What is our government’s response to this problem?
Nothing.The Bush administration and Congress had no plan for renters getting caught up in this catastrophic mess. But they
did have an answer to mortgage lenders and roughly 400,000 struggling homeowners though:
By bailing them out to the tune of $25 billion dollars or more.What about a renter’s rescue package–hmm? How about diverting some money to the rental industry so that some financial pressure can be taken
off people like myself; whom is facing the all too real nightmare of being
homeless in the next six weeks?
Why do we constantly keep diverting
billions of our own dollars to rescue financial institutions whom create these fucking messes in the first place? All it’s doing is giving these big business conglomerates more
incentive to do more of the same damned thing over again–years down the road!
But not surprisingly enough, neither party really
cares about the little guy. People like myself–whom is in the process of packing and wondering where the hell my wife and I are going to go next:
Into a smaller bedroom unit or will we be spending the next several years out on the streets because we lack
the money and resources to find affordable housing?
No…
Both the Democrats and the Republicans have both shown considerable indifference towards the poor, the homeless, and the impoverished by continuing to bail out Corporate America at the expense of the taxpayer–and leaving us all to fend for ourselves the best we can.
Because this is America, right?
This is what it means to aspire for our own American Dream? To live in constant poverty or be homeless–because our system of government favors the rich and wealthy than it does the concerned welfare of its lower-caste citizens?
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: Democrats, government, homelessness, issues, poor, poverty, Republicans, resources, society
GOVERNMENT AND FEDERAL BANK CLUELESS ON RECESSION
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistIf we all paid attention to what top economists and Alan Greenspan is saying–we’d be still waiting for the recession which has already gripped us all.
Forget waiting till the end of next year–when Greenspan’s forecasts suggest only a 1.5 percent GDP or less for the final three months of 2008–
look at what’s happening now.
Now is more important than trying to see into the future by a full year.
We are in the throes of a recession–whether the clueless Fed or the stubborn Bush administration wants to admit it or not.
10 months ago, preliminary housing data suggested a downturn which the Fed, the government, and Wall Street basically
ignored–despite persistent prodding from many outsiders to stabilize the housing market through sound fiscal intervention and a strengthening of the dollar–to give homeowners and the average American consumer reassurances and breathing room.
But they didn’t.Summer of the 2007 gave what many had hoped was a
wake up call to Wall Street, but that hope was short lived; as the fear melted away and stock brokers resumed their parochial fantasies that everything was still bright and peachy-keen.
Nevermind the fact that the dollar was steadily losing value and foreign investors were jumping ship left and right.
The Fed’s response in the next three months?
Drop interest rates–the single-handedly most
boneheaded move that the central bank could ever make!
The subsequent drops in interest rates haven’t made any difference on the housing meltdown or the credit crunch, but it certainly has made a
dramatic impact on the purchasing power of the dollar.
Basic essentials are now more costly than they were five years ago. With wages depressed and inflation reaching new all-time highs, living on what you have becomes more of a challenge for those who barely have enough as it is.
And oil and energy prices are continuing their staggering climb towards $100 a barrel, with $4 gas not too far off into the distant future.
But the government’s response to this?
Nothing to help America overall. Nope.
Just 220,000 homeowners out of the estimated 3.3 million that are affected by the housing crisis–based on a ridiculous plan that does little to assist the majority with their mortgage problems. (But what would you
expect from the Bush administration? This asshole government has been nothing more of a hindrance for the average consumer than a real-life godsend these days!)
And this trend is already having a devastating impact on the average consumer’s lifestyles.
With housing numbers falling to the lowest levels in 12 years, the cost of renting an apartment has skyrocketed dramatically; forcing many people to re-evaluate their place of living.
But the high demand for affordable housing may become a thing of the past; as tent cities have sprung up in some parts of the country–mainly because people on limited or fixed income cannot find a place to live.
Even those in foreclosure status may not be safe from the specter of becoming homeless themselves.
And the Fed’s new move for the new year?
More interest rate cuts. Not what this nation and economy desperately needs.
But tell that to the five banks whom (collectively) injected almost a half-trillion dollars of liquid funds into the US’s sagging banking system in an effort to shore up its loan and hedge fund operations.
Money isn’t what this nation needs to get back on its feet. It needs sound fiscal policy and responsibility. It needs the Fed to stop with its interest rate cuts and start shoring up the dollar.
Or this recession–which has gripped this nation for the betterment of the last five months or so–will only get progressively
worse, and not better as government officials are so optimistic about.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: Bush administration, credit crunch, Federal Reserve Bank, government, housing meltdown, recession
AMERICA: THE FORGOTTEN
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistDon’t be surprised if you haven’t gotten any answers from your local or state representatives.
Haven’t gotten anything done which has currently impacted your life.
There hasn’t been anything good which has come out of this government of ours–for a very long time.
Either at the state level or the federal level. Everybody in play appears to have forgotten the
people whom voted them in for an X-amount of years now.
We sit here and complain, we sit here and write e-mails, we sit here and phone those whom currently are supposed to represent us.
But sadly, the pattern of neglect and negligence is here to stay.
Nobody in the local government seems to give a damn about those whom are suffering the most. The same could be said of the federal apparat.
Nowadays, it’s nothing more than pandering and counter-pandering. To find out who is more
tougher on crime, who is more
tougher on terrorism, who is more able to
protect the country and ensure that we still have a nation to secure for future generations. (And illegal immigration. Let’s not
forget that–shall we?)
But no one running for office or is
in office (both at the state and the federal level) seems to care about the
people themselves.
No one is really addressing the needs of the populace. From basic healthcare to affordable housing. From an increased allocation in food stamps for those whom need it the most, to job training and job security.
None of these
domestic issues have been properly and swiftly dealt with and addressed.
Why not?
Because right now, everyone who is running each state and the US government is fighting amongst themselves in trying to outdo the other.
Sure, they touch base on some of the bread and butter issues that concern Americans like me the most, but in the general plight of things?
It’s in their best
interest to forget about them.
After all, 47M Americans in this country have been living without basic healthcare services for quite some time.
10M uninsured children don’t have rudimentary healthcare provisions, thanks in part to Bush‘s recent veto.
37M Americans still live in poverty–with many millions more just a paycheck away from being homeless (or worse) themselves.
But try to get your local, state, or government representative to openly address these issues which hit home on so many fronts.
Try.
You’ll find yourself being quickly laughed at and the door shut in your face.
Because these politicians don’t care about you or me.
This is a political game of
power, control, and
greed now.
With most of America all but forgotten in the process.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: candidates, control, domestic, forgotten, government, greed, healthcare, homelessness, issues, jobs, people, poverty, power, representatives, state
GOVERNMENT'S DUPLICITY KNOWS NO BOUNDS
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistRemember the pizza guy being accused of wanting to massacre hundreds of Fort Dix soldiers--simply by driving his beatup Honda through the gates of one most
heavily secured bases in America--using only an Uzi?
Remember those six alleged terror suspects from the Carribean nation of Guyana who--by the testimony of a drug runner--allegedly wanted to blow up one of the nation's most
secure and impossible to
wreck jet fuel pipelines connected to JFK?
Now...
It seems as though the Bush adminstration is locking itself into high gear in "preparation" for yet another
spectacular (but highly improbable--not to mention
transparent)...
"Terror attack"!
Recall, Jerkoff's...'gut feeling'. Recall how the government is now worried about Al-Qaeda staging some "spectacular" attacks on US soil by the end of this
summer--or in the next few years.
And today's report showing that the government now
confirms what the majority of Americans had figured out years in advance--after the invasion of Iraq: That Al-Qaeda is going to use Iraq as a 'springboard' for future attacks on US soil.
Oddly enough, there is no 'credible' intelligence to support the claim that Al-Qaeda is gearing up for
any kind of attack now or in the near future on the US itself.
So why the fear and worry
now by government officials?
Because it so happens that a lot of things are going wrong for this adminstration--from the failed troop surge to the GOP revolt over their support of the war--and Bush and the GOP both desperately need
something from which to rescue their bacon from a complete obliteration in the upcoming elections by the
people in 2008.
But pay attention to the language of both Jerkoff and other administration officials:
THEY 'EXPECT' A TERROR ATTACK TO TAKE PLACE BEFORE THE END OF THIS SUMMER.
And we all
know that summer doesn't officially end until September 21st.
And what's in September?
2 things:
1) General Panseywaist's report to the Congress on the
ineffectiveness of the 'troop surge' on September 15th.
and2) The 6th year anniversary of 9-11.
What better way to stage another terror attack (false of course) to remind the people that we are still at war with an enemy who seeks to destroy us from within?
But oddly enough, these last 2 attacks (which I mentioned at the beginning) somehow (and mysteriously) got
past all the tight securities implemented upon the 9-11 Commission's sterling recommendations--and somehow were "stopped" before they could be carried out.
Why not allow them to go through the motions?
Well, for one thing, it would be impossible. None of these suspects had the operational knowledge to even carry such an attack out in the first place. And two, none of these suspects were ever terrorists at all. Just unwitting victims in a governnment scheme to scare the people into line.
Third, the targets they chose were something of a fool's dream. Realistically, they could never be pulled off unless everyone was in a state of complete stupor--and the government was just happening to look the other way when it was taking place.
IN OTHER WORDS...
These attacks were drummed up by the most inner circles of our own government and unleashed in such a way--that it would make it
look like these were real.
Except a couple of things went awry:
1) Has
anyone ever heard of a Domino's pizza guy trying to penetrate a high-security military installation with only limited knowledge and an Uzi? And just what was his reasons for doing such a move in the first place? Was his life that bad that he wanted to commit suicide the stupid way?
2) JFK's jetliner fuel lines are
impossible to blow up from the outside or the inside--according to pipeline experts. So why would the government rely on the word of a known drug trafficker--as being completely 'honest' and 'factual'?
And Guyana? What does this nation stand to benefit from such an attack anyways? And when did it escape the government's radar list of countries which are state-sponsored terror nations?
So in the end, our government is already telling us
now, to prepare ourselves for another faked terror plot.
Not a realistic one, but one that has all the hallmarks of being on the list of:
"Non-Existent Terror Attacks".Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: Bush, desperate, fake terror plots, GOP, government
US GOVERNMENT SHOULD STOP FAKING TERROR ATTACKS
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistHere we go again: Another “alleged” attack involving foreigners with little ties to terrorism, having no operational plan, or even had the chance to obtain
any explosives long before the so-called plan ever went into
effect.
Never mind the fact that this plan was far from being
realized means little to our government hacks.
They are too busy enjoying the hype, dancing around the bonfire and postulating on what
could have been, had all these plots supposedly disrupted–been carried out. (From the JFK to the Sears Tower plot.) But sadly, all the US government is doing, is undermining its own credibility in the process.
How many times have they cried Wolf already? And how many people in this country believe anything
they say these days?Don't be surprised if anyone but their supporters do.
In light of 9-11, there hadn’t been a major terror attack on US soil. But curiously enough, fake plots, fake terror alerts started to bloom in 2002, 2003, and 2004–especially around the mid-term elections, or the Presidential ones.
But they weren't based on
realiable intelligence. Or from spies abroad.
No. All of these alerts came from our own government. Deep within their own security and defense circles--it seems.
In 2005, we only had 2 such alerts, last year, we had three, and this year, we’ve had 2–those involving the JFK and Fort Dix plots. Why the sudden drop off in alerts?
It might be because the government needs time to come up with something more plausible to sell to the public--to see just how many will buy into their next "staged" plot.
But while the government is claiming success in stopping these faked plots, oddly enough--nothing ever becomes of the men implicated, or the evidence supposedly obtained because of the plots.
Why? Because these people are nothing but convenient scapegoats for the government. Tools to be used at their discretion, and then thrown away when they are no longer useful.
In fact, most of the "plots" stopped in the past–as Bush claims to have done since 2003–have quietly unraveled in the background: The suspects involved not even charged with anything less than common immigration violations, and the charges of terrorism dropped–only because the government itself had little to go on; from the original (and fantastic) charge of terrorism against the country itself.
But what’s even more bothersome, is the fact that most of these suspects aren’t even Muslim in nature. Those dirty "evil" terrorists we call come to loathe and hate. (Right?)
No, these people are representatives of other ethnic groups. They have little or no ties to terrorism, and the information acquired through covert means on these "plots" is highly suspect and dubious at best.
But don’t think it ends there. Even in light of fake plots, our own government is quite capable of manufacturing a real terror plot in itself, and inflicting it upon its own citizens–just to milk more money out of Congress for defense spending and other pet projects.
Something similar was tried in the 60s--to turn the people into a support block for a failed attempt by the CIA to go to war with Cuba.
The operation went nowhere and was eventually covered up: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/northwoods.html
Now, many suspect that 9-11 was an inside job. And maybe it was–given how lax the government was in the months leading up to 9-11. But we won’t know until years later–at any rate.
But the fact remains: None of these plots disrupted so conveniently by our government have anything to do with the war on terror.
Why?
1) Because our government hasn’t been able to successfully uncover any real terror plots since 9-11, and 2) It desperately needs to keep the people in line and in fear of the next “real” attack. So that in case one does happen again, it can go on saying that it did all it could, but it let one slip through. (Conveniently, of course.)
It's all part of the cycle of terror--perpetrated by our own government. Freely (I might add)--all in the name of democracy.
If you need any more convincing, type the words, fake terror attacks into your search bar, and you’ll get a whole list of what our government is actually trying to achieve through subversive blackmail.
All in the name of fear, control, and now... ?
Oil.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.com
Labels: attacks, control, ethnic groups, fake, fear, government, manufacturing, money, Muslim, oil, scare, terror
