Why We Give Thanks

Today is officially turkey day. Thanksgiving. Football day.

Whatever you call it, it's the day we give thanks for being Americans, for God being up there, for our family, our friends, our good health, our good fortune, and just about anything else we can give thanks for.

But, or so it seems to me, Thanksgiving has really lost the meaning of what it was originally intended to be. Originally, it was an homage to the Native Americans that helped the Puritans out when they would have otherwise starved to death. And, to repay them for their hospitality, we stole their lands and murdered their ancestors.

I apologize. This post is not meant to go that way. What this article is about is just to make sure that we don't lose the spirit that embodies Thanksgiving. It's to make sure that this holiday does not go the way of Christmas, with its mass-marketing campaigns and total disregard for the tradition and history behind it. Thanksgiving may just be a day where we make turky and stuffing and watch the Lions continually lose. But it didn't start that way.

Thanksgiving was originally created as a holiday to honor the pilgrims and their plight through the first Thanksgiving (which, more likely, happened in September), not as another way for corporations to make more money. Because that's where Thanksgiving has gone. We have forgotten all about the traditions that make up the holiday. Now, it's a day where we stuff our faces and watch football and make sure we have enough leftovers to feed us should a nuclear war break out.

But that's not what it's about. It's about tradition. When you sit down to eat (as most of you already have), make sure you give thanks to the Native Americans for helping us out in our time of need. Had it not been for them, the pilgrims would not have made it through the winter and we probably would not have Massachusetts right now. Make sure you apologize for the sins of our forefathers, who took their lands and raped their women. Make sure that you know what you are celebrating when you sit down to that wonderful turkey dinner.

It's something that is slowly slipping through the cracks of time and globalization. It's a tradition that we cannot afford to lose--because if we do, we lose who we are as Americans.

So give thanks for everything in your life, and make sure you remember why exactly we are celebrating--and thank accordingly.

-Anteaus

The Best Man for the Job

As the election looms closer and closer, I've found that it's been getting harder to support any of the candidates, Republican or Democrat. I mean, it's obvious that there is not a single Republican capable of leading this country on the path that it needs to go on, and many of the Democrats are idiots and aren't willing to step up and talk about the issues that are really facing this country. Save one.

Bill Richardson is a total dark horse candidate, but he has real potential. He's pro choice, supports the death penalty, supports gun rights, supports gay rights (while I'm still unsure about his stance of gay marriage), opposes "don't ask, don't tell," supports Native American rights, will leave "zero troops" in Iraq, believes in universal healthcare, and thinks that the No Child Left Behind Act is a waste of time. He has extensive experience in foreign relations, not only having served as a committee member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but also as UN Ambassador, and brokered the release of two American hostages being held by Iraq in 1998--without a shot being fired.

His governorship of New Mexico has bolstered New Mexico's business sector, and Forbes listed Alburquerque, New Mexico as one of the best cities in America for business. He legalized marijuana for medical purposes, and when asked whether or not that would hurt his electoral chances, he merely said "it doesn't matter. It's the right thing to do."

He's met with North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Syria, and more. He's sat across from the world's most evil men, looked them in the eye and told them what they needed to do. And they listened. He brokered a ceasefire in Darfur, talked to Kim Jong Il himself about nuclear energy (this was during the Clinton administration), and is actually the only presidential candidate currently running for president that has any executive experience, having served as Clinton's Secretary of Energy from 1998-2001. During this tenure, he spent many hours talking to Clinton about his energy policies and how to better them.

So, let's see how many things he's on the "good side" of:

Energy
Foreign Affairs
Education
Gay Rights
Iraq War
Abortion
Gun Rights
Native American Rights
Civil Rights

The list goes on. The fact of the matter is that this guy is the ultimate candidate: knows his way around the hill, knows how to talk to countries, knows how to deal with energy wisely, is a Democrat (so he won't let scandals like Enron slip through the cracks), is supportive of blacks, gays, native americans, and women, is pro-choice, and thinks Iraq and the NCLB are a waste of time.

Remember when John Kerry was where Bill Richardson is now? God, let's hope these nominations go the same as in 2004. Because then, Guiliani would be running against Richardson--no question there.

-Anteaus

The Plight of the American Man

I am sad.

I am very sad. Because today, when I went to drop off my daughter at my grandparent's house, I discovered that my 70-year old grandfather now has to work again because they don't get enough from social security to pay their bills. Not because their benefits are decreasing, but because the cost of all the stuff they have to pay for to continue living have increased dramatically.

Now, I can sit here and bitch and moan about why they are having to do this, but today I will not. All I am going to say is that blows. Why is this happening? Why are we forced to keep 70-year old men at work to afford to live?

I guess I lied earlier when I said I wasn't going to point the finger at anyone. But it's someone's fault: the government. Democrats, Republicans, Mormons, they're all responsible. They are responsible for the welfare of the people, for their safe-keeping and their continued support of their government. All we have to do is vote.

That's it. That's our job when it comes to government. And we've done it. We've done it admirably. We've voted in every election since the beginning of this country. But now it's time for the government to do their job. It's time for us, as working-class, American citizens, to take back the country. To make damn good and well that the government is doing what it's supposed to be doing.

America is being held hostage by the big corporations who donate massive amounts of money to political candidates, no matter their party affiliation. All these corporations ask in return is for the government to turn around when they're bending us over and...well, you know. That's it. And the government, in true fascist nature, does exactly that.

Anyone who denies this is just like them: a fascist, corporate bigot with nothing in mind but the money they can make. How can people not listen to this? How can we, as Americans--AMERICANS!--let this happen to our nation? The land of the free, the home of the brave, where people come to escape injustice and wrongdoing in their own country? Why now, as we enter an era of information and the pinnacle of civilization, are the roles suddenly reversed? Has it become so bad that people are fleeing the country that offers the most freedoms?

It seems that way. Because this is not America. This is Corporationland, the funhouse where rich people go to get their freak on at the expense of the workers there. Wake up and see this, people, that's all I'm asking. Wake up and realize that this nation is being held at gunpoint by the very people sworn to protect it. It's the fox guarding the henhouse, only we know that he's eaten some chickens. And we're still letting him guard the henhouse, keeping some insane idea in our minds that he's good at what he does and will protect the chickens.

What happened? I am abolutely dumbfounded at what this country has become, because I for one am a man who knows his history. America did not used to be like this. We became the best because our people were the best, our government was the best. We were the best because we were constantly on the lookout for things that we could make better, whether it be the roads or the conditions of the workers or the food or what have you. We've been through laizze faire capitalism, and it doesn't work. When the government steps out of the way of business, and lets it run unchecked, then the corporations can do whatever they want to do.

And that means not following health laws, like we saw in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. If you haven't read it, you need to, because that is laizze faire capitalism at its finest. And that's where we're headed again. May God have mercy.

-Anteaus

Sick of All the Lying

I just watched Sicko, the new Michael Moore film. And he is a genius.

I'm sorry, but as I watched the film, I could not but burst out with a "you sick bastard" or "fuck you and your drugs" or "I wish you'd die already." It's hard not to, because when you see what these people are doing to this country, you're going to scream some obcenities too. I curse because it puts my anger into a word that people are going to be shocked to see. "I'm really mad about this" doesn't have the effect of "I'm fucking pissed!" You see? So, if you have a problem with all my cursing, contact me and I'll try to tone it down.

Now, back to Sicko. If any of you haven't seen it, you need to. You FUCKING NEED TO SEE IT!!!!!! I swear, you have to bear witness to the atrocities that the healthcare companies, the White House, and the pharmecutical companies have committed against the American people for the past...however long the idea of healthcare has been around. They are lying, cheating scum, these healthcare companies. They don't care about people, they care about profits. They deny people insurance coverage over anything. If you had a yeast infection four years ago, you have a pre-existing condition and you're now denied coverage. Cancer? Denied. Pulmonary Fibrosis? Denied. Broken foot? Denied.

In Britain, they get paid more money for the more people they save. What a fucking concept! Do your job, get more money. It's that simple. So, if the majority of your patients quit smoking, you get a bonus in Britain. If the majority of your patients die, you get a bonus in the United States. There's something wrong here, isn't there?

Sicko isn't another Fahrenheit 9/11. You can't claim bias on this one, because there is no bias. Gitmo detainees--the same fuckers who killed 3000+ people, who we swore we would get dead or alive--are getting top-notch healthcare at Gitmo. That's better than the soldiers get. But why? Why are we paying for fucking crowns for some Taliban terrorist's mouth, but a guy who has PTSD and is grinding his teeth to the gums can't get shit?

You're going to get a kick out of this. Moore and a bunch of people rented speedboats and headed down to Gitmo. They were denied entrance, so they went to Havana. All the people who were with Moore at the time had something wrong with them, and they couldn't get it taken care of in America. And these people were 9/11 rescue workers, for fuck's sake! These people were shunned by America, so they headed to Cuba, the sworn enemy of democracy, and they got treatment the same as any Cuban.

And guess what? They got their problems fixed. They got put on the medications they needed, that their American insurance companies denied because of various things, for all of 3.20 pesos...that 5 pennies in America. 5 fucking cents! Holy mother of God, how can prescription medication cost only 5 cents? They have to cost at least $100, or maybe $200!

As Americans, we can't understand the role that government is supposed to take because government has always been the "bad guy." We have that Sam Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson view of government, and the White House is now King George. It's sick, because everyone else in the western world actually now trust their government to do the right thing.

And that is why universal healthcare will never work in America. We are too corporatist. We believe in the value of the dollar, and other countries don't. We believe in low taxes, but most of Europe has higher taxes. It's not "we" in America, it's "me." And "me" just so happens to be the corporations that run the fucking country. There's a word for that, where business and government unite. I can't think of it...is it....is it "fascism?" I think that's the word, wait, let me check Websters...yep, that's the right word. Wait, wasn't Germany in 1939 a fascist regime? What about Spain? Wasn't King George fascist in the 1760's? Huh. What a coincidence, I guess.

Go see this movie. It will open your eyes to the truth of the matter and make you realize that America really isn't the best place to be. But it can be. We just need to be Americans and wake the fuck up and TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!!!!!!!!

TAKE IT BACK!

-Anteaus

Raping the Children

Oh my God. Have any of you avid listeners seen this yet? It's up on AOL, and this is the first place I've seen it. Here's the link:

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/toy-containing-date-rape-drug-pulled/20071107211109990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

How do you respond to something like this? A toy containing a date-rape drug when you swallow it? Holy mother of God, I am absolutely floored by this. And where are these Aqua Dots made? In CHINA.

So, we've got lead-painted toys coming from China, toys--made for kids--with removable parts that kids swallow and die from coming from China, and now toys coated with rufee drugs coming from China.

What will they think of next?

If this isn't the #1 argument against free trade I don't know what is. And what has the media done about this? Absolutely nothing. Like I said, this is the first place I saw it, and I've been to several of the major media outlets. Now, CNN and MSNBC and hell, even FOX might have covered it, but right at this moment (10:37) I saw nothing.

Something needs to be done about this, fast. There are too many unsafe toys coming from China that need to be checked and, gee, I don't know, NOT SOLD! Chinese products are known to be less-than-great quality-wise, but this takes it to a whole new extreme. We need to stop importing from China, or set up some regulations, or something like that.

Because that's where the problem with free trade lies. The United States has regulations and rules that companies need to abide by in order to sell their products. But China does not. And where is like 80% (that's not the number, but you get the gist) of all our household goods coming from? The People's Republic of China. It's sick, and the government isn't doing anything about this.

I was going to get some Aqua Dots for my daughter. Obviously, I'd be careful (she's only 2), and she could only play with them with either me or my wife, but the fact remains that they're cool toys. Now, though...I'm thinking of just not buying anything that comes from China, because my daughter is only 2 fucking years old! As a parent, this really pisses me off to a degree that Satan would be scared of me. It's wrong, morally and legally, but moreso morally. How the fuck can you let a country import toys that are coated with fucking rufee drugs? How is that fucking possible? How in the hell is president sleeping at night? Oh, let's not forget the 3700+ American soldiers that are lying in the sands of Iraq right now, or the fact that millions of American kids still have no health insurance, or that oil prices are now sky-high, or that his cabinet and administration are under fire for torturing people, or that the people that they put in charge of the Justice Department are corrupt little fuckers who don't believe waterboarding is tortue...do I really need to continue?

The fact of the matter is that we need to look beyond the veil here and actually do something about this. We need to step up, not as citizens, but as parents, and boycott this shit. We need to stand up and say we will not stand for this, we will not let our kids play with rufees. Because that's basically what we're doing if we let them play with Aqua Dots.

So, go ahead and give your kid a date-rape drug that will kill them. Be my guest. But when they die, and you're still lauding the free market system and the cheap goods coming from China, and your kid dies, and it's your fault because you let him play with those fucking Aqua Dots, don't bitch and moan and make a fuss. Because you let it happen. You killed your kid. You let them play with a dangerous toy, they died, and because you were too fucking stupid to see the harm that can come from date-rape drugs (people use them to rape people, you know) and let your kid swallow them, they are no longer among the living.

Protect your kids. Because they are the future, the past, the present, and when we're gone they're the ones who are going to be running the show. Be nice to your kids, they pick your nursing home.

-Anteaus

Containment's new Boob Job

What a lot of people don't understand is that, ultimately, we prevailed in the Cold War. We "stopped" Communism from spreading out of Eurasia. But what cracks me up is that it took the political prowess of an actor and a scumbag to achieve it.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but Korea ended with the Chinese beating the shit out of us when we invaded. Vietnam ended when we realized that 20,000+ American lives wasn't worth it anymore, and Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese in 1975. These were both cataclysmic failures in the minds of the containmentists. But, it took Nixon extending the olive branch to Red China in the height of the Cold War and Reagan to tell Gorbachev to back the fuck down in order for us to get that accomplished.

Containment turned into failed foreign policy during the mid-20th century. It was an idea that was based in fear, in mutually assured destruction (or MAD), and based on the total lack of self-control by some of the Red Hunters like Joe McCarthy and McCarthyism, they spread that fear into the hearts and minds of today's generation.

And now, according to those who came before me, the idea of containment is not only a good idea, but a great idea. We need to contain "fundamentalist Islam" in the Middle East and destroy it from the inside out. We need to waste thousands of American lives to achieve this, just like Vietnam. And I'm sorry, but the war in Iraq is just like Vietnam in almost every sense. There's a civil war going on, and we're stuck in the middle of it. Half the time we don't know who the enemy is. We kill innocent civilians, soldiers are coming back with half their bodies missing, and now people are saying that we're winning the war on terror.

That's like saying we're winning the war on communism.

Now, I'm not from the Cold War era, and I'm told that it's a very scary thing. Well, I'm sorry to say it, but I'm growing up in the Fundamentalist era, and I'm pretty damn sure that this era is going to be the fucking end if we don't step up and say that what we're doing is wrong. Obviously, the "war on terror" is just a scam for the majority of the baby boomers to go along with the Bush administration's illegal operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. We're torturing people in our prisons, balking at what "torture" means, and fitting the law to what we're doing to people.

This is starting to sound like Berlin, 1937.

You can call me a fucking psycho liberal conspiracy theorist if you want, but you people need to wake up and examine the facts. Bush lied us into the war, he's lying about what's going on, he lied about the motivations and now he's lying about torture. He knows that he's in deep shit and he knows that the only thing left to do to blow his cover is for the Democrats in Congress to grow a pair and stop his as..

This is why he is so bloody confident. He knows that his party is the "morally right" party, and this will stand against all opposition like a "stone wall" and save America from the terrible terrorists. That's what Joe McCarthy thought too, and look what happened to him, huh?

This whole war is just like giving containment a boob job. That's all it is. The same war from 40 years ago is being fought again, but against different people and for different purposes. Johnson and Nixon and Kennedy and Ford wanted to protect America. Bush wants money. But when he's blown up the world, there won't be any need for his money, no matter how rich he is. He'll just be another casualty in World War III, MAD, lying on the side of the road leading to Camp David.

God, let's hope not.

-Anteaus

The World Government

To some, the idea of a "world government" is parallel to "Nazism" or "Fascism." To others, it's an idea closer to "world peace" and literal "justice for all." It's a term that, so far, no one has had an ideas on how to work it or conquer it. It's something that virtually no one in any sort of power wants, because it takes away from their power.

But the fact of the matter is that the world is in trouble. We are fighting enemies that cannot be destroyed, because those enemies are being manufactured by us. I'm not talking about terrorists; I'm talking about global warming, about consumerism, about the fall of values in place of dollars. This is a sickness, something that no one wants and no one needs.

There are two sides to a "world government:" side A, which is a president, who presides over a world Congress, who are appointed by the people of the different countries. Much like the United States. Now, another part of "Side A" would be the fascist idea, where there's one ruler and no one gets a say. But that won't happen, because this world still means something to someone, right?

Now, back to the world democracy. The upsides are that no one would have to fight anymore. Everything would become "westernized" and homogenous, and everyone would have an equal say in what happens. But this is completely impossible. It's impossible because people don't like it. They don't want to be ruled by different people from the western world--this is what we're not getting in the war in Iraq right now. People don't like the western world because all we want is more, more, more, no matter who gets hurt.

Not only that, but the logistical nightmare would be insane! There's no way that we could hold world-wide elections in over 200 countries simultaneously. We don't have enough manpower to oversee that. Plus, some countries have an inherent advantage over others, and it would be much like the House of Representatives. Also, people would only want what's best for their country, rather than the world, so there goes the entire idea of a world America right there.

Now, here's side B: redraw the UN. We don't need a world government, we need all the governments in the world to work together. Get the fucking U.S. out of the U.N. pocketbooks and grow a pair. It's sick the way that the UN is now, because no one is stepping up to lead. We need a peacekeeping force in the UN, not a council that decides whether or not we're going to slap someone on the wrist or not.

Seriously, the UN today is a joke. It's a world body comprised of old fuckers who wouldn't know what to do if a kid asked them for a dollar. It's insane. And the US is in there, fucking with the works, basically running the show. We can't have that, not in a world organization like that. It needs to be equal. There needs to be laws. Here's how the charter should run:

1. All countries must give a percentage of their standing army, navy and air force to be used by the UN and strictly for UN purposes. This army will be no less than 5,000,000 men.
2. The UN is a peacekeeping force only. We will stop torture, genocide, regicide, or human rights violations with force. We will depose whatever leader is doing these horrendous acts and set up a UN government inside the country until peace can be restored.
3. There are no "ifs," "ands" or "buts" about this. The President of the UN will be in charge of determining whether or not use of force is justifiable. Force is only justifiable if one of the above conditions is met.
4. Any country not following the international laws set down by the UN, including any and all international treaties recognized and adopted by the UN, will be dealt with harshly by sanctions. These sanctions may be upheld by the use of naval/air blockades, military force, or any other action deemed necessary by the charter of the UN.
5. There are no business deals allowed between a government and a business. No "government contractors" are allowed inside the UN. Only the leaders of nations are allowed in the UN. Any country found breaking these rules are subject to sanctions and/or military force. See #4.

That's just a start. But that's what we need. We need a check on the peaceful nations as well as the violent ones, too. Stop this shit in Iraq, stop letting Americans die for nothing. If the UN were there, under a jointly-led coalition force of UN peacekeepers, the US would not be there and the country would probably be restored by now. They would control the world's supply of oil. Fuck, we probably wouldn't even need oil. There would be scientific breakthroughs the world has never seen before.

We can't let countries lose their heritage. That's why the UN wouldn't be involved with things like that. They'd have a team of some of the best economists and financial advisors in the world to decide about economic policy for international goods. Country relations in regards to treaties and trades would not be infringed upon. Just a peacekeeping organization dedicated to the eradication of evil and the promotion of human rights and civil rights and freedom across the world. That's what the UN would do.

-Anteaus