Scatter Shooting or Fluff and Stuff

3 months is too long for the presidential transition. The new administration was already facing multiple problematic obstacles like an ill advised occupation, A world view of the US as "shoot first, ask questions later" imperialist, an increasingly deadly situation for our troops in Afghanistan, trillions of $ stolen by a corrupt congress, treasury, and federal reserve, the outsourcing of jobs, skyrocketing health costs, etc. etc. Now, in his last weeks as commander in thief, "W" is signing into law as many corporatist beneficial/ environmental detrimental pieces of legislation he can. Here's a few:

1. Uranium Mining Permits Near Grand Canyon Could Increase
2. EPA Won’t Regulate a Contaminant in Drinking Water
3. Federally Funded Institutions Could Turn Down Abortion Requests for Moral or Religious Reasons
4. Public Lands May Be Leased for the Development of Oil Shale
5. EPA Lets Factory Farms Decide If They Need A Permit to Discharge Animal Waste into Waterways
6. Rules on Dumping of Mine Debris Eased

Not all of his midnight signings will contribute to the destruction of our eco system but, this being the DaG report, we need to focus on those that will.

Can I ask a question? What exactly are we doing in Afghanistan? I thought the only reason we went in there in the first place was to get Osama. At the time I thought it a good idea. I mean we were attacked, about 3 thousand people were killed, and the mastermind and leader of the organization that committed the offense was in Afghanistan. Then logic entered into my thinking. It wasn't because Bin Laden was hiding there, it was because the highly profitable gas pipeline was endanger of being compromised. The Taliban even offered to turn Bin Laden over to international authorities but, "W" stubbornly said "No way Jose . . .er, I mean Mohamed."
Then he ordered our nation's military to invade a sovereign country supposedly to capture or kill one man. (Something he repeated not a few months later) Never mind the fact, that not one of the 9/11 attackers were from Afghanistan. Jump ahead 7 years. After removing the Taliban and then moving on to Iraq, they have reorganized and retaken most of what the had lost. They are now stronger and better equipped than before, secretly supplied by the same country they were at war with in the 80s (Russia). Remember Rambo III? Same country Afghanistan only Russia and the US have switched roles.

So, back to my original question. What the hell are we doing there? Osama isn't even there anymore, he's in Pakistan! When the world sees our military trampling through 2 middle Eastern countries (plus Pakistan and Iran), is it any wonder that they hold us in low esteem?
What are the chances that we can just back out with our heads bowed and say "Sorry. Sorry.
My bad. Sorry. . ." and get out of there. Will Barack see the waste of time and human life that it is and put a stop to it? Probably not. We'll just stay there killing and getting killed for reasons far less that noble.

We've just been informed that we've been in a recession for a year now. If you don't think that out news media is severely censored, this should prove you wrong.
In economics, the term recession generally describes the reduction of a country's gross domestic product (GDP) for at least 2 quarters. The usual dictionary definition is "a period of reduced economic activity", a business cycle contraction.
The U.S.-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines economic recession as: "a significant decline in [the] economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP growth, real personal income, employment (non-farm payrolls), industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales." Dec. 1, 2008 The nation's economy peaked, and the recession began, in December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced today. Prior to this release, not a single media outlet used the term recession even though we've been in one since April of 2008.

The unemployment stats are skewed as well. When you hear or read a government report stating unemployment claims or percentages understand that these stats do not figure in those jobless Americans whose unemployment benefits have expired, nor do they include those who were self employed and had no unemployment insurance. The current unemployment figures show that 10.3 million Americans are currently filing for unemployment. Roughly 6.7 % of our labor force. The actual percentage or number of jobless is considerably higher.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich Arrested: Trying to sell Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder among other things. This guy's a piece of work. Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel blew the whistle on him after Blogo placed a call to him. So far every single right wing pundit has bent over backward trying to connect Blogo to Obama. Conveniently ignoring the fact that Obama's people turned the greedy SOB over to U.S. attorney Fitzgerald. (you might remember him from the Scooter Libby trial and conviction) Fitzgerald, specifically says that there is no connection between Obama and Blogo but, predictably the Right wingnuts just keep repeating the guilt by association propaganda in order to muddy the waters of the uninformed electorate.
Obama hasn't even taken the oath of office yet and he's already responsible for the Great Depression of 2009, the escalation of violence in Afghanistan, and the corrupt politics of Chicago, Illinois.

Now I don't want to leave you feeling down and sullen. It is the Christmas season and we should all try to find our inner Buddha. (?) Anway, the good news? Fox's O'reily and Hannity ratings are falling.

DaG Out