I have seen many commentators on TV saying $5 a gallon regular may become normal in the next few months.
And there is talk by the Congressional Budget Office to tax us on how much we drive IN ADDITION to the gas taxes we pay, because as more and more people drive more efficient cars, they buy less gas(which I thought was the point) so the government needs to tax something else to make up for the gas taxes they aren't getting....
The company I left last month was a OK place that slowly devolved into a no promotions, no raises double your work type of place. But it did have somethings going for it, like a mostly automated personnel system.
My new employer is a place i had worked at before, and even though they are spending millions to refurbish their headquarters, their personnel system is still mostly paperwork done by hand. This was pointed out to me today as nearly a month after arriving, they still had not enrolled me in the system, which could be an issue come payday. They assure me they will get it done...I hope so. Because....
Two weeks after arriving at the new place, another of the places i had interviewed with notified me i had been selected as a finalist for a job, and so i picked out some decent clothes and went in for the "panel interview" with all the big shots. Kind of like a friendly interrogation.
When did you do that? Is that on your resume? How can we verify that? What else have you done? etc etc for about a hour and 28 minutes, not that I was counting...I guess somewhere between their parking lot and arriving back at work they decided, and emailed me to call them.
I did and they asked if I would be available March 15, I had the job...I opted for march 18, just so i wasn't bailing too quickly on my current job, but since it is a promotion for me, and might help me make some headway in saving for that rainy day, I need to take it, so I did.
But the rub is if I had not done that, I would have never gotten the email today that my personnel records are incomplete...and so come April 1 it would have been April Fools day for sure, with only a pay check from the employer I start w next Monday. I had a nightmare about that last night, must have been precognition or something.
The project I have been working on has hit a snag, and so they will have to regroup without me...because next week I will be at my new, new job, learning the ropes in a entirely new environment, a financial organization - and no, not a bank or one of the blood sucking bailout takers, they manage tax payments and such. I will be working on implementing a new data system from day one, as in they have a sketchy idea they need something new, but that's about it...this will be either really fun, or suck so bad I will be constantly kicking myself...Sure an glad I am an optimist...
My doctor has told me to lose weight (don’t they always?) and yet I would be dishonest to say I couldn’t stand to drop some excess baggage…
Thankfully, I resisted getting married at 18 or 19 or 20 and waited until I finished college and had gone out in the world a bit. My honey and I are celebrating our 30th year together, a milestone both of us are happy to see, considering we both had dismal first marriages.
Yet we are constantly made aware of the uncertainty in our lives.
The news breaks, and then suddenly we are cognizant that fanatics want us all dead, or that the earth has such power stored away that when unleashed it can destroy our communities in seconds.
We are constantly peppered with news about how screwed we are, our air is poisoned, as are the oceans, and the land under our feet. How many people today still spread used motor oil on their dirt roads to keep the dust down?
Now I have important chores to do, like take the dog out before bed.
I wonder? How many people have to physically go outside with the dog before it will go out? Mine is like that…I think its some sort of dog mind trick…clever girl J
When asked once about decisions he would do over, President Clinton stated that he wished he would have acted against the advice of his cabinet, and flown military aid to Rwanda.
In a visit to Rwanda in 2005, he expressed regret for his personal failure to prevent the genocide. His wife, the current Secretary of State, had urged him to intervene.
That was 1994.
Now, another Democratic President is sending mixed signals, while Libyans struggle to rid themselves of Gaddafi. Barely armed civilians are fighting organized and well armed troops, and holding their own. For now.
As Libya's bloody conflict rages on, important lessons for U.S. foreign policy are emerging from the past month's Middle East turmoil. Starting with Tunisia, the Obama administration has seemed repeatedly surprised by anti-regime demonstrations, unsure of the stakes for America and its allies and unprepared conceptually and operationally to deal with the consequences.”
Indeed. Our allies in Europe wait for this administration to lead, for surely as the military power of the day, if America steps in, they will, but only if we do. Yet Obama seems to timid to unsheathe what the NY Daily News calls the "terrible swift sword” of the United States
Yet Gen. Merrill McPeak, a former Air Force chief of staff is not dissuaded. He flew more than 6,000 hours, half in fighter aircraft, and helped oversee no-fly zones in Iraq and the Adriatic, is currently mystified by what he calls the “wailing and gnashing of teeth” about imposing such a zone on Libya. His take on a no-fly zone:
“I can’t imagine an easier military problem,” he said. “If we can’t impose a no-fly zone over a not even third-rate military power like Libya, then we ought to take a hell of a lot of our military budget and spend it on something usable.”
He continued: “Just flying a few jets across the top of the friendlies would probably be enough to ground the Libyan Air Force, which is the objective.”
As the saying goes, “Strike while the iron is hot”
Question is, will Obama do it?
While many American's wonder what in the heck is going on in our government, and worry about gas prices, unemployment, etc(all worth worry), our allies (those we still have) are also worried...that the America no longer stands for anything..this made me really feel sad, I think the author is right about this.
Remember when JFK said -
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
Do Tyrants Fear America Anymore?
The Telegraph, Niles Gardiner
"The fact that it took ten days and at least a thousand dead on the streets of Libya’s cities before President Obama finally mustered the courage to call for Muammar “mad dog” Gaddafi to step down is highly embarrassing for the world’s only superpower, and emblematic of a deer-in-the-headlights approach to world leadership. Washington seems incapable of decisive decision-making on foreign policy at the moment, a far cry from the days when it swept entire regimes from power, and defeated America’s enemies with deep-seated conviction and an unshakable drive for victory.
Just a few years ago the United States was genuinely feared on the world stage, and dictatorial regimes, strategic adversaries and state sponsors of terror trod carefully in the face of the world’s most powerful nation. Now Washington appears weak, rudderless and frequently confused in its approach. From Tehran to Tripoli, the Obama administration has been pathetically slow to lead, and afraid to condemn acts of state-sponsored repression and violence. When protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against the Islamist dictatorship in Iran in 2009, the brutal repression that greeted them was hardly a blip on Barack Obama’s teleprompter screen, barely meriting a response from a largely silent presidency.
In contrast to Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, President Obama fails to see the United States as an exceptional nation, with a unique role in leading the free world and standing up to tyranny. In his speeches abroad he has frequently found fault with his own country, rather than projecting confidence in American greatness. From Cairo to Strasbourg he has adopted an apologetic tone rather than demonstrating faith in America as a shining city upon a hill, a beacon of freedom and liberty. A leader who lacks pride in his own nation’s historic role as a great liberator simply cannot project strength abroad.
It has also become abundantly clear that the Obama team attaches little importance to human rights issues, and in contrast to the previous administration has not pursued a freedom agenda in the Middle East and elsewhere. It places far greater value upon engagement with hostile regimes, even if they are carrying out gross human rights abuses, in the mistaken belief that appeasement enhances security. This has been the case with Iran, Russia and North Korea for example. This administration has also been all too willing to sacrifice US leadership in deference to supranational institutions such as the United Nations, whose track record in standing up to dictatorships has been virtually non-existent.
The White House’s painful navel-gazing on Libya last week, with even the French adopting a far tougher stance, is cause for grave concern. The Obama administration’s timid approach to foreign policy is the last thing the world needs at a time of mounting turmoil in the Middle East, including the growing threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, and Islamist militancy on the rise from Egypt to Yemen. US leadership is now needed more than ever, but has embarrassingly gone AWOL on the world stage."
Celente believes the government will use this increased defense allowance to amass weapons and apparatuses that will control any dissent among the people. Citing a Feb. 15 article in the USA Today titled, Kill Switch Bill Alarms Privacy Experts, Jones says the government has already begun taking steps to control an uprising. They've openly stated that they want to be able to shut down the Internet and they're getting ready to launch a false flag using either a terrorist alert or the threat of war as an excuse to flip the kill switch.
Forewarned is forearmed.
