The Universe Is A Laughing Woman

Our planet has become a toxic landfill
because men's rituals obscure reality
By John Kaminski
skylax@comcast.net
11-11-5

for Barbra-renée Brighenti
"... the wisest and best men are those who are ashamed."
- Edward Dahlberg

When you glance at a distant light in the sky, all you see is a little blur. As you get closer, via telescope or spaceship, more definition comes into focus, and you begin to see more detail. Should your vision approach the object closely enough, what began as a little sparkle in the dark suddenly becomes an incredibly dazzling infinity far beyond our limited mortal comprehension. Just take a close look at the Sun sometime, or perhaps the baby star factory in the sword of Orion, and speculate on whether any of these glorious objects might actually be alive, as Rudolf Steiner once insisted.

Not so coincidentally, the concept of monotheism envelops us in a glare of the same blinding radiance. Nothing is possible beyond God, so many people say. Looking at the light of God from afar, we see only a beautiful, inspiring star. Everyone sees it, regardless of their religious training. As we get more familiar with it, we see the blemishes and corruptions of mortal men pretending to be immortal, but we still don't lose our faith that there is still someone to talk to in situations of dire stress or grief.

However, in our zeal for fusion with the infinite and everlasting, we fail to see the bleeding that is actually caused by adherence to such systems, which are polluted by false claims owing to the existential necessity of producing an antidote to human mortality, claims which of course are empirically false on their face. These false claims are directly related to all the false wars which plague us today.

And the idea is central to comprehending the collective cognitive information gap that exists in our world today, a gap which skews all information in favor of salesmen rather than the gullible consumer who is about to be fleeced. And thus it has always been. Mercury, the god of communication, has always worked for the highest bidder. One person's scam is another's vocation.

Consider the gap between what happened on September 11, 2001 and what the world now accepts as having happened.

When you do that, at least two thought processes occur: You contemplate all the carnage that has been perpetrated in the name of 9/11 since 9/11, and if you look closely enough - Tonkin, Pearl Harbor, Lusitania - you see a profoundly daunting, 200-year panorama of the fierce capitalist beast ravaging the planet and then telling brittle tales of heroism to the licentious toadies back home.

What is the 9/11 gap, exactly?

White-haired theology professor David Ray Griffin, as respectable a man as corrupt American society can currently produce, said the other day at a church in New York City that the controlled demolition of the World Trade Center "can now be proved beyond a reasonable doubt" (which of course was obvious to many of us three years ago).

Yet the official fare of world TV and corporate shill newspapers remains that Arab terrorists did the vile deed. It's the corporate party line, part of the social conditioning that keeps the masses prepped for war and willing to sacrifice their children for the lies of their leaders.

And most of us are lost in that distorted fog of cognitive dissonance, hammered down by Dubya's repetition of "I have to keep repeating the same stuff so we can make the propaganda sink in."

Mass media regards their readers as malleable robotoids, and makes no pretense they are going to change their ways. This, too, directly relates to false claims for false wars, the vicious prevarications of Judith Miller and thousands of other intellectual prostitutes deliberately misleading their listeners into unquestioning support of mass murder on a grand scale.

On one side of the gap are the cynical lies of Dick Cheney and his personal business contacts about Arab hijackers and the CIA/Mossad-sponsored Iraqi resistance. On the other side is the human reality of dead mothers, deformed babies, and a 9/11 story that is totally false, because in fact the highest movers and shakers in the American, British and Israeli governments engineered 9/11 and all those other false flag terror operations around the world

Stuck in the middle, the human species remains trapped - buffeted, fleeced and in many cases murdered - in the psychological penumbra of a consensual reality that simply does not match up with the real emotional reality of our beloved world, the reality you feel when you nurse your child.

We are forced to believe lies, and then asked to make decisions about life and death based upon those lies. Not a productive way to run a planet.

This gray area - this perceptual gap - that keeps human society in the dark - especially those intellectuals who think they actually know what's happening, but don't .... this fundamental distortion of what they say happened against what actually did happen is exactly what is poisoning all of us.

Put more simply, failure to tell the truth results in a lie. And the human race is living a lie, for failing to see what real life is all about. What we agree makes us human is our compassion for other beings less fortunate, and a willingness to lend a hand. Yet poverty makes criminals of us all, and those who exploit sit back and become profitable puppeteers. It's all a lie. Human reality is looking your father in the eye and realizing he will never go where you will go. So why would you participate in the killing of his other sons?

Cindy Sheehan's son died for nothing, he died for a lie. And yet even if you are a so-called antiwar activist, you support that lie by not overthrowing your own criminal government which is solely responsible for so much heartache in the world - and doing so immediately. As long as you don't do that, you are complicit in these crimes, and become the very reason why they are happening.

Because you didn't do anything about it.

Zeus and the Goddess

The Goddess has no name we know not given to her by men. Athena was not the real goddess because she had been created by the mind of man. In Euripides' words, "Athena sprung fully formed from the brain of Zeus." So too the women of today have been masculinized - consumerized - by the warped strictures of men controlling commodities, of which human females are clearly the most valuable. (Study the Tenth Commandment.)

One day as a child, Zeus met the real Goddess and never forgot her. In fact deep in Robert Graves' "Greek Myths" you find Zeus spent the rest of his endless life hopelessly searching for her, never to find her again. Blessed are those who are not that unlucky.

And who learn that the power of the home that shapes us all is not who or what we presumed it to be.

The world runs because of the power of women, the automatic, unceasing, instinctual caring for her brood. It has been the same way throughout evolution, with Mother Nature and Father Sun providing every single ingredient for humans to grow into the wondrous beings that can see to the end of the universe and care for a small child at the same time.

The mother's force is what what carries the world. All that endless work behind the scenes, without pay, without acknowledgment, and all those children sent out into the world wrapped in love. No wonder that most kids can see the real deal automatically; they see it with their hearts, most of which have been recently puffed up when Mom lovingly tucked that scarf snugly into some small collar, or gave the last ounce of rice in the hut to her starving son.

Women have been evicted from the heart of man and turned into commodities, even though men spend their lives insisting they live for their women. How does it come to be, if that is the case, that human females have been wrapped in men's mental razor wire throughout history.

Women have been forced out of the home and into the cutthroat world of men where there is an automatic hazard waiting for them. Like wolves on a ledge over a well-traveled riding trail, there are things in the world that threaten our survival. Mostly they are lies told by people to make money. Society is boobytrapped with self-interest groups which believe everything is justified to further their cause. When this rule is in effect, no rational debate is possible until the corrupt rationales of the self-interest groups are adequately identified.

I guess it's a matter of this. People get away with stuff out in the world that their mothers would never permit them to do as children. How did that come to be, and why do we let the world run this way?

We live in a world today in which the motivational factors of social groups are increasingly irrelevant. Accidents of geography and genetics are being erased by the universal ubiquity of the Internet, and web surfing observers in Zambia are suddenly finding they have a better view of the world than truculent techies in downtown San Francisco.

Ironic that the information explosion caused by the Internet started in America and has greatly expanded the education of the world world, yet the whole world now knows far more about America than Americans do, and the picture isn't pretty. Its senseless fangs are now revealed for all to see.

Do you really know what your country has done, and is doing? Then you're an accomplice.

Why do people do these things? What is it they are afraid of? Would you do what they do? Have you done what they've done?

The rhythm of the stars

The major dichotomy in all religions at all times is our need to believe vs. what to believe in.

This subtle distinction also pertains to the gap between what the big newspapers print as fact and what we know to be true that they refuse to report - like the 38 Israeli investors who profited from 9/11 foreknowledge or the mysterious man who blew himself up recently, very near a large football stadium full of people in Oklahoma, and practically nothing was said in the aboveground media. Such a great silence tends to envelop all recent catastrophic events. The Zionist spin control mechanism is much more pervasive than most people realize (since it starts in first grade and has been put in place in most of the world).

The minute organized religions start inventing fictions to justify their control over the minds of the human population is when humans lose track of their true purpose, which is to evolve, develop, and nurture every single thing they come in contact with. And above all, do no harm.

But the wrathful Father in the musty books has His rules. Where he got them, only God knows. This twisted Jehovah once threatened the legendary David (a character who most definitely does not exist in empirical history) with having all of David's many "wives" raped in front of him because Yahweh didn't like David's attitude.

What the human species has done to its women it has done to its planet - fouled its own nest.

After all, as I have recently learned, love is about surrender, not negotiation.

It's only because men continue to be terrified of their own deaths that they invent all these magical strategies for mortality immunization. And that's all a lie.

Remember Becker. "Man is a frightened animal who must lie in order to live."

Monotheism sits like a black cloud over human intelligence, retarding scientific education with demonstrably false dogma that it waves over the heads of humanity like the heartless hammer it is. See it my way or you will fry in the lake of fire, prattles the preacher.

Soon to follow (in every case) is the not-so-subtle urging, "Kill the infidel, kill the Amalek, kill the heathen .... kill everyone who is not like us." This is your God.

None for me, thanks.

Here's the deal, my fellow humans. Mom doesn't condone this kind of behavior. If you are practicing it, you are lost, no matter how many peripatetic pedigrees your deity claims to possess.

You are lost because you have lost the love of your mother, that kept you alive and thriving all these millennia.

You have lost the love of Mother Earth, because you have not cared for her. In case you were wondering, she doles out the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the life you live.

Why would you pretend to protect her, but then abuse her?

It's because you don't understand.

Why don't you understand?

It's because you've forgotten who you are, and the human race is trapped in an illusion of its own making, crafted out of fear of a darkness it cannot - and most probably will never - comprehend.

But mothers know of cycles; in fact, they are a cycle. With the rhythm of the stars pulsing in their bloodstream like the throbbing veins in a newborn baby's bald head, there is no question about priorities, and certainly none about geopolitical intrigues.

The human species is about to kill itself by failing to recognize its connection to everything else. By dividing humanity into competing segments all trumpeting their own ignorance, it has conquered itself with its own fear.

Your mother would not have permitted this, as you know.

What is your idea of peace and prosperity? A gaggle of happy children works for me.

What is it we seek in our most vulnerable, inmost hearts?

This is my prescription for the future direction the human species should take, voluntarily. Make and plan and follow it.

What is the goal?

To make laughter reign beyond the Sun for as long as the future shall be.

To make Earth and its human tenders a beacon of hope, compassion and friendliness that will become known throughout the universe as a place where justice and fairness are guaranteed to all (not just the rich, like it is now), no matter what star system beings come from.

Is that possible? Well, it's up to you, isn't it?

It's only what a mother wants, right ma?


-----

John Kaminski is a writer who lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida whose essays are seen on hundreds of websites around the world. His booklet, "The Day America Died: Why You Shouldn't Believe the Official Story of What Happened on September 11, 2001," is his bestseller. For more information go to
http://www.johnkaminski.com/

Real Estate Rant

Sorry, Mo. Meant to address your observation about real estate earlier but here goes. Tuesday Morning owns the warehouse and corporate offices and the company store located near corporate. All other stores are leases. These leases are negotiated to cost the bare minimum to the corporation. Nine times out of ten these leased stores are located in less than nice shopping centers or strip malls. For instance, the East Brunswick, New Jersey store is located in Loemans Plaza. Loemans is a closeout clothing store that dominates the plaza. The other large store there is Toys Are Us but they are moving out due to the landlords refusal to renegotiate their lease. This plaza has a Dollar Store (that's where half the aisle wreckers come from), a New York style deli (very expensive food), a Score Center (computer learning place for kids), a carpet and flooring store (now we know why they couldn't sell a lot of rugs there at the TM store), and assorted other non-related stores that have no similarities to TM's merchandise mix. Corporate does not look at demographics in surrounding areas when negotiating leases. If they had they would have discovered that the surrounding area is loaded with...you guessed it....illegal aliens and low income housing. I think the only deciding factor other than low rent was the fact that it is located a mile from the New Jersey Turnpike and is easy for Staten Island, NY customers (the other half of aisle wreckers)to get to it. Next time, TM, open the store closer to New York...keep those arrogant SOB's in their home state. They come in trying to negotiate price on everything, treating TM like it's a flea market. Working at Tuesday Morning is a test of personal fortitude. The customers are arrogant, the corporate office is arrogant, and every person above store manager is a reject from failed companies pushing their bad personalities and useless ideas on hard working people who once cared about their jobs but are now fleeing in large numbers. If you doubt my words, search 'Tuesday Morning' at http://www.monster.com . Example...Dallas store...All Help Needed...same in Houston and many, many other stores. It seems the turnover rate is accelerating and the bigshits in Dallas do not care. They are running the company their way and the public (and investors) be damned. I have seen it time and again...the attitude is that if you take the job you are theirs and they can treat you any way they see fit, ethics be damned. I think it's time for Tuesday Morning Inc to be damned.

Why All The Copying Of Articles?

I am copying articles for here because there is a great lack of understanding as to what is going on in America. Big corporations with their "record profits" are dictating the playing field and have corrupted everything that stood for the American ideal. I will leave Mo to inform and give you news and info on what is happening at TM and advice on what to do if you are injured at TM. I think my latest addition (America's Exploding Education & Job Nightmare) sums up something I have been seeing right here in New Jersey. I live in an apartment complex of 160 units and at least a third of those apartments are filled (in New Jersey the law states two persons per bedroom) with a ton of illegal immigrants. They think nothing of packing ten people into a one bedroom apartment and as long as the landlord is taking their money it is a 'look the other way' kind of situation. There are at least three pregnant Vietnamese ladies in the neighborhood and once they have their babies they are American...using our welfare and healthcare systems at no cost to them. There is also an "anchor baby" from Mexico being born as I write this. In my neighborhood alone all the local businesses are run by Chinese, Indian, or Pakistani people. I can't tell you how many people I know who once had good jobs but can't find or are one of many applying for jobs in fastfood restaurants. I write this 'crap' because it is directly related to corporations attitudes toward their employees. They figure that if 'you' don't want to do the work that the corporation doles out they can find someone else and at a cheaper salary than 'you'. This is because our country is loaded with people who had no job or the prevailing wage in their country of origin is less than a dollar an hour. My answer to all this is to get corporations and their money out of the political process and for America to actually be of the people, for the people, by the people, or in otherwords, a real democracy, not this big government , big corporation BS that is presently representing the people of the world. There are approximately three hundred million people in the United States, and in all of government may be counted in the millions...don't you think the majority (that's us, dearie) could be heard loud and clear if we all get our heads out of the sand?

America's Exploding Education & Job Nightmare

By Frosty Wooldridge
NewsWithViews.com
11-11-5

Most Americans over 40 witnessed the dumbing down of our schools in the 70s 80s, 90s and into this century. As a teacher, I was 'encouraged' to pass minority students who did not work for excellence nor did they study toward academic success. Students quickly learned they didn't have to study for learning or passing grades. Thus, they coasted from grade school without effort and finished high school with spurious diplomas. Recently, Lou Dobbs of CNN, presented Americans with some disturbing facts on our schools.

What erodes America's foundation?

Fifty percent of black and Hispanic teenagers do not graduate from high school. The United States does not stand in the top ten industrialized nations of high school graduation rates. Robert Reich, former labor secretary, said, "Our children are not going to do as well as we are doing because they won't be able to command decent paying jobs. And that's the first time in many years since the Depression."

The facts show American students rank 28th in math while trailing China, Finland and Korea. America is no longer the most college educated nation in the world. Eric Hanushek, Hoover Institution, Stanford said, "I think it tells us something about the long-run prospects if we don't in fact take a new tact and improve our schools. Other countries are pushing very hard at developing their human resources and skills of their populations."

According to the Dobbs' report, 37 million people live in poverty. Functional illiteracy affects over 35 million Americans. One in five American children lives below the poverty level. Each year, 1.5 million unwed women give birth.

What are the inevitable results? The American Dream degrades to lower and lower expectations. Wages stagnant, mortgage defaults rise, 47 million Americans lack health insurance. Frustration and crime accelerate.

What's causing the demise of our educational systems? Four aspects of our Constitution erode every single day of the year because of massive, unrelenting legal and illegal immigration. What does it take to run a successful American society? First, it takes a highly educated populace. Two, everyone must buy into and adhere to a similar moral code. Third, each citizen must appreciate and abide by the same ethical system and finally, a single language is imperative to discuss, debate and evolve solutions for the common good. We continue losing all aspects with massive immigration from Third World countries.

America is a constitutional republic invented by very intelligent men such as Hamilton, Madison, Adams and Jefferson! However, it takes a highly educated public to advance that brilliant piece of governance. We're losing that ability on all fronts.

A prime example stems from a report by the Rocky Mountain News, May 16, 2005, 'What Happened?' www.rockymountainnews.com ; In 1999, 5,663 students enrolled in Denver Public Schools. In 2005, only 1,884 graduated from high school. That studied showed more than 65 percent flunked out or dropped out. What caused such a massive failure rate? The report showed that 30,000 illegal alien kids attended school with little to no ability to speak English. Their parents suffered functional illiteracy in English and Spanish. Additionally, the classroom experience suffered such degradation that one in five teachers quit or transferred out of DPS system every nine month cycle.

With 1.3 million illegal alien children in schools across America and hundreds of thousands of 'anchor babies' born to illegal mothers who cannot and do not speak English, it's little wonder America classrooms suffer similar problems across the country.

Writer Vicky Davis brings this national educational and job nightmare to a burning focal point when she said, "Assume the following are true: America has a population of about 300 million people. Minimum wage is between $5.00 and $7.00 per hour. A computer programmer makes an average salary of about $60,000 per year.

Davis declares facts about overpopulated countries like India and China. She knocks you upside the head with the following realities facing American workers:

"China has about 1.3 billion people," she said. "A common wage for a manufacturing job is about 50 cents per hour. India has over 1.1 billion people. A computer programmer makes between $7,000 and $10,000 per year."

Question 1: If you were a corporation, where would you locate to ensure the highest profits assuming that there are no barriers to re-importation of your products and services back into the U.S.? Answer: China or India.

Question 2: Will more education for America's children solve the problem of the wage differential between China, India and the United States? If so, explain how. Answer: Frightening!

Question 3: Consider the following as one option for solving the problem of the wage differential: Encourage massive immigration of foreign workers - labor and professional into America so that the cost of labor decreases by simple supply and demand rules. How many people would the United States have to import to equalize wages between China, India and the United States? Answer: You don't want to know because you'll get sick to your stomach.

Bonus A How many new people would need to be added to the U.S. population to equalize wages between China, India and the United States?

Bonus B What would that do to the standard of living in the United States?

Bonus C What would be the impact on American Workers?

Bonus D What would happen to American culture and values?

Question 4: Assuming that more education won't solve the problem and the selected remedy is to lower wages in the United States to match those of India and China, consider the following and answer the questions:

a. Explain the impact of the increased population on our natural resources.

b. Explain the impact of the increased population on our infrastructure.

Question 5: One argument used to justify free trade with China is that American consumers reap the benefits of being able to buy cheaper products produced by the Chinese. Considering that American workers are also American consumers, explain how cheaper products are a benefit to the consumer if the consumer must work for wages that are competitive with the Chinese and Indians and they must pay for the increased infrastructure costs and loss of natural resources to accommodate the increased population.

Question 6: Who benefits most from 'Free Trade' and the global economy?

Question 7: Define the vision you have for the future of America and for America's children. Is this vision possible if the U.S. policy is 'Free Trade' and competition in the global economy?"

With Davis' sobering pop quiz, how do you think America's Middle Class will survive the free trade onslaught with the continuing development of a highly uneducated population?

Short answer: It won't. It will no longer remain the Middle Class. It will become the lower class.

Why? We don't have enough educated people willing to take action to stop insourcing, offshoring, outsourcing and downgrading of American jobs.

Who did this? Look to the president of the United States and Congress.

Last week, senators Teddy Kennedy and Specter promoted Senate Bill 1932 bringing another 350,000 H-1B visas foreign workers into the USA with green cards to work American jobs. That's on top of the already 1.1 million legal immigrants they approve annually. And, that's on top of the 1.0 million H-1B, H-2B and L-1 visas ALREADY HERE! Bush did not raise a finger to stop last week's addition of another 350,000 that insanity. He must get a kick out of seeing Americans lose their jobs to foreigners!

In the meantime, even Democratic Senator Byrd of West Virginia got so sick of the 350,000 H-1B visas that he offered an amendment to strip the bill of the visas. Your Senate voted to delete Byrd's amendment and passed the 350,000 H-1B visas by 84 to 14 votes. Your own senators voted to screw 350,000 American workers out of a job.

It leads me to the following quote by Mark Twain, ""Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."

Write for that 28-point action letter to stop this nation-destroying madness at www.frostywooldridge.com.

Also, check out
www.alipac.us at 1 866 329 3999;
www.theamericanresi stance.com;
www.numbersusa.com;
www.frostywooldridge.com;
www.ccir.net;
www.carryingcapacity.com
www.teamamericapac.org;
www.projectusa.org; www.unitedpatriotsofamerica.com

To order my CD report from the border:
'ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION-OUR TROJAN HORSE'
1-800-248-3061

© 2005 Frosty Wooldridge - All Rights Reserved

http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty96.htm

How Long Can Consumers Keep Economy Going?

Nov 5, 5:41 PM (ET)

By ELLEN SIMON

NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street is worried about you.

Yes, you. The one they call "The Consumer." From the trophy-arrayed corner office of the richest CEO to the windowless cubicle of the most junior analyst, your immediate future is a pressing concern. What will you get for Christmas? How much will it cost to heat your house this winter? Will you get a raise next year?

This isn't personal. What they really care about is the 70 percent of gross domestic product that depends on consumer spending. Put another way, the 70 percent of the total economy that depends on you.

Retailers, car makers, consumer technology companies, wireless carriers, home builders: They all count on you.


You've been keeping the economy churning during the last five years, spending enough to make up for sluggish corporate spending. When you got tax cuts, you quickly spent them. Rising housing prices let you take out second and third mortgages, using your house as an ATM.

But now you're just not spending the way you were.

You aren't buying as many cars as you used to - October auto sales were the weakest for any month since mid-1998. Your interest in home buying has hit its lowest level since 1991.

Your debt has increased. Outstanding balances on credit cards have risen to more than $800 billion, or $7,200 per U.S. household. The United States debt-to-income ratio rose as much in the past five years as it did in the previous 15 years, according to Merrill Lynch.

Your outlook is gloomy. "Our Consumer index continued to fall off a cliff in the past week," Merrill said in an Oct. 21 note. The last week in October, the ABC/Washington Post "consumer comfort index" dropped to roughly the same level reached after the hurricanes struck the Gulf Coast.

While October sales at many chain stores remained strong, you're eating at restaurants less. Sales at "food services and drinking places" increased only 0.2 percent in September, according to a Goldman Sachs report. That's the fifth straight month of an increase at or below that meager pace.

"Usually, restaurant spending turns down before or during economic slowdowns," the report said.

The fact is, you could use a little more money. While economists look at "core" inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, you need only look at your bills to see that life has become more expensive.

Jumps in gasoline and heating prices make getting anywhere and staying warm at home more challenging. Increases in interest rates and higher minimum credit card payments have chipped away at your checking account. If you've been renting and want to buy a home, good luck: Affordability for first-time home buyers is the worst it has been in 16 years.

Then, there's your pay.

"Here we are, officially celebrating the fourth anniversary of this economic expansion, and the wage income share of the national income pie is south of 46 percent," fumed a research note by Merrill Lynch North American economist David A. Rosenberg. "At no point in the past 50 years has this ratio been so low so far into a business cycle." Historically, the ratio has been 3.5 percentage points higher.

The ratio is important because it looks at wages - your paycheck - instead of other sources of income, like the stellar Wall Street bonuses we saw last year and are almost certain to see again this year. Wage gains haven't kept pace with inflation, but total income continues to look good, thanks to those hefty bonuses.

Americans now find themselves in one of two groups: The 9 percent who make $100,000 or more and the 91 percent who don't, said Diane C. Swonk, senior managing director and chief economist at Mesirow Financial, a financial services firm based in Chicago.

"The bifurcation of the economy makes the economy look better on paper than it does to the majority of consumers," she said.

She blames the lousy summer movie season on higher gasoline prices, which inspired families to stay home and rent a DVD instead of spending $50 for gas and movie tickets. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Target Corp. (TGT) did well during back-to-school shopping season, she said, "because middle income households started to move down the food chain."

For the top 9 percent, the good times continue to roll. According to Swonk, World Series tickets sold for $15,000 a pair. The Four Seasons Hotels Inc. (FS) says its $500 and higher rooms are doing better than ever, topping the Internet boom years. Sales of Coach Inc. (COH) handbags, which average about $435, increased 9 percent last summer and have stayed there.

After the Internet bust, "we kept this wealthy population," Swonk said. "The problem is, we continue to restructure everyone else. We want a flexible economy, but the trade off is pain."

That's why Wall Street is worried about you. No bond broker (unless you have one in your family) cares whether your car breaks down or you spend winter shivering in a sleeping bag, hoping the pipes don't freeze. But if you, the 91 percent of the population called The Consumer, hit a point where a trip to Target is out of the question, even the Coach-handbag carrying Four Seasons Hotel-staying 9 percent may feel the pain.

Call Me Crazy...

Call me crazy but isn't it apparent that we have a problem in this country and it has a lot to do with all this extra cash corporations are spending (on a political candidate near you). Maybe I'm just one of those people who notices there's something wrong way before it becomes apparent to the rest of the world. I do know it's time to send a message to the powers that be that "This bullshit must stop now!!!". It has come to the point that no one can afford to live comfortably unless they are the owner of one unethical company or another. These people are blatantly ripping off both employees and the public at large to make a profit but when caught deny everything...could it be that both government and business have lost their way? Is this what America has become???...someone's twisted idea of utopia??? I'll bet these twerps idea of population control is to spread a disease and call it BirdFlu and make sure it kills millions...this way there's less lower class people (the rich can afford whatever medical attention they require) and more money available for the rich. Sound farfetched? Well, even Bush's own fellow Republicans are questioning his administration. Lied about weapons of mass destruction, lied or obstructed the investigation into 9/11, absolutely can't get a handle on the economy (shades of Bush administration number one). And now it comes out in the press lately that grandpa Bush (Prescott) profited from the Nazi's into and including 1951. This leads me to believe that the best interests of this Administration are for personal gain and they could give a shit less what is actually happening to this country. So, if you want fairness in your employment and/or financial endeavors you must get involved in the process of elections and the laws and regulations that govern businesses and campaign financing. Let's take the arrogant attitudes of the elite and shove it up their butts and see how they like being screwed all the time!!!

AntiVerizonitis

The screen dented itself with the help of my keys the other day, and Verizon wanted $50 to replace it with the same model - or tell me to wait until January to save $100 on a new phone and another two-year contract. WHAT?! With as much money as we're spending with them every month, I didn't hesitate when I walked into a competitor's store and picked up a less frustrating phone, service plan, and contract. Ponzi and I have cut our montly cell phone bill in half by walking away from Verizon and into Cingular. They seem to be the lesser of the two evils, actually - and we're only stuck with 'em for the next 365 days if things go awry.

Sprint Verizon T Mobile Cingular cell phone wireless carrier smartphone

I wanted to get the Audiovox 5600 SMT, but she appreciated the MPx220's clamshell form factor. I looked at both units, and they seemed pretty much equal - but the MPx220 has a higher resolution crappy camera, so it won me over quickly in the store. Plus, with both of us owning the same phone, we can use each other's cables and car chargers. It's something I miss by not owning a Nokia, but the Smartphone's easy Outlook integration keeps me with the Windows Mobile Platform (for now). I wasn't going to wait for the next-gen phones in a couple of months; we both needed replacements ASAP.

Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, Cingular... they're all evil, equally. I think it's insane that we're still required to sign contracts of any length with any one of 'em. I should be able to use any phone with any network at any time (provided I have a subscription somewhere). I'd love to stop owning a cell phone altogether, but that's just not possible anymore. Prices have to come down, though - they have to come down. Thank goodness for family plans!

I don't know if anybody takes in slightly damaged Pocket PC phone units, but I've got one that'll be doing nothing but collecting dust from here until eternity. My Samsung i700 had its screen slightly dented at the top when it rested against keys in my coat pocket. I'll likely try to turn it into a piece of art and sell it for a million dollars on eBay or Craigslist or something. I'm glad the unit had run its course, though.

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Yours Digitally,
Chris Pirillo