It’s the morning of January 11, 2009. I saw a movie last night, and today I feel like the main character in the film. Walter is a veteran of the Korean War, just buried his wife of 45 years, has no relationship with his two grown, married sons, and doesn’t know his grandchildren – all of who are waiting for him to croak, so that can get what’s theirs – or his. He hates, ‘Zipperhead’s, ‘Gook’s, ‘Slopes’ and ‘Buddha-heads’. He has no tolerance for most ethnic peoples – including 3 ‘spooks,’ with whom he has an altercation, while defending his next door neighbor – a ‘Gook.’ I didn’t sleep well.

The year is 1972, and life was simpler for my wife and I. We lived in a small, third-story walk-up at the far Northern border of Chicago, in Roger’s Park just before the bend that took us past Calvary Cemetery leading into Evanston. Our bedroom window overlooked the parking lot of the next complex, with a view of a beach the shore of Lake Michigan. Each weekend, we could go down to the beach, and the Hare Krishna’s always had a pot of free ‘veggie stew’ to offer. They had taken over a massive old apartment building called ‘The Yacht Club,’ which was at the south end of the beach. Later that year, we bought our first home. 

January 10, 2009 - When I was young talk about millions of dollars impressed me.  When I was older talk about billions of dollars dismayed me.  Now, regular talk about trillions of dollars, especially government spending, nauseates me.  People never seem to learn that they control the fate of the American economy.

It is far too easy to blame in bad times or thank in good times Wall Street, the government, or super-rich and powerful financial entities.  In actual fact it is always the spending of money by the general population on consumer products and services, housing, cars, or investments that drives the economy.  The core problem is that the public does not act in concert to serve its own interests but, instead, takes its cues from the external world and puts its trust in the wrong people and entities. 

 January 10, 2009 - Ironically, it was in Palestine, 20 years ago, that I concluded that there is no God. For how could a God, who claims to love all and treat all with impartiality, allow such horrors like those in Palestine to happen?

This unbelief grew stronger with each curfew, with each strike that mourned the death of yet one more martyr, with a decapitation induced by gunfire in the main square on a sunny Ramallah afternoon so many years ago. But it was cemented the day I had to tell one of my fifth grade students that his brother had just been taken away by the Israeli army. His expression, his body going limp, the shuddering of his shoulders as he wept with his classmates…that’s what finally did it.

Beijing has launched the experiment of using the yuan as a reserve currency in relations with 8 countries. Chinese exporters are asking to charge in yuan instead of dollars, because the U.S. currency is losing value. But China needs to revise its model of development, too much inspired by eighteenth century mercantilism.

January 3, 2009: Milan, Italy (AsiaNews) – While the comments of economic observers have focused on what is happening to U.S. public debt and to financial markets overseas, the news media rarely mention what is happening in Asia, almost as if there were not a strong correlation between the two phenomena. But it is logical that a substantial accumulation of foreign exchange reserves in China, Japan and throughout Asia corresponds to an unprecedented supply of dollars, the global reserve currency.

Ask a group of Christians why they support Israel’s efforts against the Palestinians and you’ll probably hear back that Jews hold the deed to the dirt. God gave it to them.

This can be quickly verified by checking the Old Testament: “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring’” (Deut. 34:4). Numerous passages in Genesis and Exodus speak to the same thing. But this is not the whole story.

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) – “Russian natural gas exports through Ukraine to Europe halted for the first time in three years, threatening to create shortages as freezing weather spurred demand for power.”

It seems as if it’s going to be a long, cold winter. So much for global warming – and Hollywood told us the story once again – twelve years ago. 

Plotting to Socialize Medicine: President-elect Obama believes that his health care gimmicks should be part of his economic recovery schemes. While you and I were decking the halls, and kissing our sweethearts under the mistletoe, he was stealthily advancing his agenda.

During the last half of December the Obama transition team held house meetings across the country. They took the feedback from these socialist trysts, then posted it at their interactive site, Change.gov. The Obama administration is conspiring to hit the ground running in January, using the claim that these meetings represent public support to compel Congress to act . . .  and pass the package quickly.

Where will Canadians escape to get health care?

Politicians have lost all allegiance to the U. S. Constitution and their actions only give meaningless lip service to the principles of freedom when they swear on solemn oath to preserve, protect and defend that constitution. Sure they violate that oath with every decision they make, while we wince in disapproval, but remain silent. Maybe it’s WE, who have no balls.

Sure, these 535 idiot politicians that control America, have managed to bamboozle a majority of the American people over the last 80 to 100 years into thinking that Mother Government is a far better solution to our national problems than freedom, liberty, self-reliance, individual achievement and responsibility and capitalism, backed by honor, integrity and honesty.

January 5, 2009 – A record breaking 5,612 people were executed in Mexico’s drug war in 2008. The Narco-trafficking business is valued at $500 Billion globally, according to the United Nations.

This criminal enterprise can only be rivaled by the Great Financial Institution Extortion Scheme, perpetuated by the Goldman Sachs Crime Syndicate, U.S. Treasury Secretary, Henry “Bugs” Paulson, President, George “The Weasel” Bush, and his predatory Congress.

Paulson conned the people out of $850 Billion dollars by claiming that the United States had a compelling interest in bailing out Wall Street, and the Banksters, because these institutions were too big to fail. Too big… so it was in every bodies interest to bail our financial institutions out to rescue a failed economy which just seemed to collapse during the last eight months with out a national catastrophe.

Using this criteria, I propose that releasing the two unjustly convicted Border Patrol Agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, a more compelling interest to the people. The compelling interest to the people is, restoring confidence in a government which seems to be out of control.