Tag Archives: USG

My pal Mari needs some surgery–help her out with a couple bucks, wouldja? http://mariadkins.com

Posted on 2012/05/23 04:10 pm by thepete

I posted this on my Tumblr yesterday but since Mari is still a hundred bucks short, I thought I should post it again… read on or just go here and give her a hand if you can with the Chip-In widget at the top of her sidebar, or, like I said, read on:

mariadkins:

i need a hysterectomy

And most of you are probably looking at that and thinking, “Duh, we know you and know that.” But here’s what you don’t know. I’m pasting in a note I sent around via e-mail and Facebook, and please excuse the lack of caps use. As I stated in the note, I hesitated to start another ChipIn, but I did it anyway; the link is at the bottom. Also, if you’d like to copy my widget to your website, please use this link. (by the way, Preston said my note sounded pitiful lol)

i called robin, the surgeon’s nurse, back *again* this morning because i’d never heard from her. she called me about half an hour ago and said that the clinic can’t schedule my hysterectomy until i pay a deposit. (i have medical financial aid through UK because i don’t qualify for medicaid and preston couldn’t ever afford to add me to his insurance) she said the medical aid office should have called me, and i told her that this is the first time i’d heard from anybody since connie called me on the tenth. she told me who to call and gave me the direct number.

i called and left a message, which seems to be what my life is made of any more – leaving messages.

shannon called me back, and we talked, and she said she hadn’t even received my paperwork until half an hour before. i checked the call log on my phone – that would have been when i talked to robin and around the time i left the message for shannon. anyway, shannon pulled up my records and said that i have to pay a $470 deposit. we discussed that and when my aid expires, and she told me to keep her number, etc, etc.

so i’ve sat here and absolutely bawled and have given myself a killer headache in the process, of course. i have no idea where we’re going to find $470.

i did that chip-in thing for my new computer last month so i’m very hesitant to turn around and start another one for something that’s this serious.

any suggestions, advice, help any of y’all can give me/us would be a blessing. otherwise, the way things looks, this is something i’m just going to be stuck with for the rest of my life. i just want to sit and scream.

mariadkins.com/i-need-a-hysterectomy

Here’s where I came in with my standard rant on our wonderful health care system that requires people to *always* have a job with health benefits if they want to actually have health care:

Why is the most basic human right the first to be overlooked our society?  The right to health care is a fundamental need every single human on the planet will eventually require and yet, it’s not guaranteed in the country that claims it is the most free of all the countries.

Mari is a really great person and needs a hand.  If you can help, please click the link above and give her chip-in fund a few bucks.  Anything can help.

I just get so angry that good people can’t just get the health care they need.  No one’s perfect and we can’t all have jobs all the time.  Society is simply too flawed to guarantee employment for all, so what are the folks without a stable dayjob to do?  What good is society if it can’t serve all of its members?

You must admit that forcing people to always have jobs with benefits is not fair and does not match up with our promised right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I mean, how can you pursue happiness if you’re sick? How can you live if you’re dying? How can you be free if you’re forced to have a job at all times?

Worse yet, we live in a society that does not guarantee a job for every last one of us. Therefore, our society doesn’t guarantee our health. And since we are under a much bigger threat from things like cancer and heart disease than we are from foreign invaders or terrorists, what the hell is our government really doing for us, anyway?

We are supposed to live in a free market country–how come the USG has such shitty customer service?

So if you agree with me and want to help my pal Mari, head over to mariadkins.com and check out the Chip-In widget in her sidebar. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it!

Posted in TheHealthyPete | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

#SOPA/PIPA vs #NDAA Part Two: Chasing the Phantom Menace (I’m NOT talking Star Wars)

Posted on 2012/01/19 05:57 pm by thepete

Yesterday, I posted part one of my 3-part SOPA/PIPA Vs NDAA series (read it) in which I suggest that all these sites going dark to protest SOPA/PIPA was just misplaced efforts and energy (the indefinite-detention-legalizing NDAA of 2012 is much more worthy of protest, harms more of our core human rights, and is already a law!). Last night over at Mandommag.com, my third post for them went into more detail explaining just how the NDAA is much more of a threat than the SOPA/PIPA bills (read it). But in my post, here on thepete.com yesterday, I also suggested that the reason this movement had gotten so big was not because of how much a threat SOPA or PIPA are (they haven’t even passed either house of Congress yet) but because big Internet companies stand to lose a lot of money if they get blocked in the US (aka they’re only doing it for the money).  Today I’m going to suggest that protesting SOPA/PIPA actually helps the bad guys.

Continue reading →

Posted in TheBusinessMindedPete, ThePoliticalPete, You Should Give a Crap | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Irresponsible Democrats and Republicans need a bill in order to keep the USG “operating” Past this Weekend

Posted on 2011/12/15 02:29 pm by thepete

What a state the USA is in. I grabbed this screencap from Google News in the middle of the night last night. When I went back to Google News just now, ten hours(ish) later, the top story was how CNN’s iReport was letting USGIs coming back from Iraq tell their stories. Even Google News’ algorithm is biased against important news! >_< Anyway, so here’s where we are in America today. Partisan bickering means the USG may shut down in three days. I doubt it will, but the fact is, unless they print more money, it appears that they’ll be out of it. What the hell are our leaders doing to let America fall into such a state? We spend over a trillion on wars chasing a tiny threat while our country faces bigger threats domestically, from crumbling infrastructure, to health care problems and an economy that is not doing it’s job of supporting all (or even most) Americans.

While our leaders are bickering about keeping the government operating, the country it’s supposed to protect is falling to pieces. Lovely. You know what? I’d be curious to what difference it would make if they DID shut down on Monday. I wonder if things would really be better or worse.

Posted in ThePoliticalPete | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Senate passes bill that removes the most basic human right AND reminds us: only Americans are human.

Posted on 2011/12/02 04:12 pm by thepete

Capped this last night (source: bit.ly/tRP0Vr):

“The Senate on Thursday passed a giant defense bill that includes a new policy for detaining and trying suspected al Qaeda terrorists”

That was CNN’s simple explanation of the bill, but if you continue to read a few paragraphs in you get to see, not only how the US Senate is pissing the US Constitution down their leg, but also how the media is still just repeating what they are told and not actually doing any challenging of our leaders. Hell, they don’t even question things in the article where no politician can directly challenge them back–but I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s a cutting from the article that shows us how the US Senate agrees that if you’re not American, you’re not human:

“This country is special because we have certain values, and due process of law is one of those values,” Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-California, argued on the Senate floor.  ”I object to holding American citizens without trial. I do not believe that makes us more safe.”

Pretty neat, huh? Feinstein, a Democrat, does not object to holding non-Americans without trial despite our founding documents declaring that all humans are created equal. I guess Senator Feinstein believes that if you’re not American you’re not human. Why else shouldn’t all people have the right to be free from unlawful imprisonment?

More from the article:

“You have people on the left who hate saying ‘the war on terror,’” responded Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina. “They would never ever use the military and always insist the law enforcement be used because they don’t buy into the idea that we’re at war. They want to criminalize the war.”

HA! The phrase “criminalize the war” is laughingly nonsensical enough but the straw-man argument Graham spins is laughably typical. As though the legal system is somehow inadequate for keeping Americans safe. Apparently, the FBI and the cops and the judicial system sucks so much ass, America would fall apart if it was trusted with going after terrorists. No, WE NEED A WAR!

It’s politicians like Feinstein and Graham that totally miss the point of OUR FOUNDING PRINCIPLES and make me want to give up on “America” as a concept. I mean, seriously–what the ability to hold anyone indefinitely does is remove the first human right (essentially) ever established: the right of Habeas Corpus. Going back as far as the 1300s, Habeas Corpus is the right that everyone needs guaranteed because it allows a prisoner to challenge their detention. And EVERYONE needs this right, not just Americans–why? Because of mistakes.

Let’s say Diane Feinstein or Lindsey Graham were mistaken for Canadians who inadvertently supported a pro-Palestinian terrorist group. How would they be able to challenge their detention?

Read more about Habeas Corpus on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus

Read the rest of the CNN article to see how wonderful a job they do of contextualizing this bill in a way that allows you to see how unConstitutional it is: bit.ly/tRP0Vr OH WAIT, they don’t do that at all, instead, completely ignoring it’s obvious conflicts with our founding documents.

Just a quick reminder: 1 in 2 adult men will get cancer. The craziest, most extreme Al Qaeda guy only wishes he was that effective. How about a War on Cancer, Senators Graham and Feinstein, hmmm? I’m totally down with indefinite detention of cancer tumors, in fact, let’s kill them on sight.

Posted in ThePoliticalPete, Website666, You Should Give a Crap | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

“…What we learned was that the Fed provided $16 trillion in secret, low-interest loans” to every major US bank

Posted on 2011/10/21 06:22 pm by thepete

I posted this over on my contrarian blog, website666.com but thought it was important enough to post it here, too:

From a great WaPo op-ed by indy Senator Bernie Sanders (it’s on Sanders’ site, too):

Trust in government is at an all-time low. That’s not because Washington is too heavy-handed with Wall Street. Quite the contrary! The American people are angry and disillusioned because they see our government act boldly to protect Wall Street CEOs but not ordinary Americans. When Wall Street needed a $700 billion bailout, the government was there for them. When working families need an end to excessive oil speculation and real relief at the gas pump, the government has failed to act.

The same Dodd-Frank bill that required commodity regulators to limit speculators included my amendment calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve from Dec. 1, 2007, to July 21, 2010, the period of the financial crisis. What we learned was that the Fed provided $16 trillion in secret, low-interest loans to every major American financial institution and to other central banks, large corporations and wealthy individuals. The audit provision was vigorously opposed by the Federal Reserve chairman. It was right, however, that the veil of secrecy at the Fed was lifted and the American people learned about its actions.

This sums it up. The USG effectively fails to oversee the Fed and giving out loans of $16 trillion seriously fucks with our economy.  Think about it: 16 trillion new dollars injected into our economy.  It’s a miracle the USD is worth anything at this point.  It’s like we’re injecting water into our bloodstream because we think the more liquid is in our veins and arteries the more blood we have.  So, when the USG doesn’t bother to audit the Fed like they’re supposed to and when the USG openly bails out big businesses and banks, it makes We, The People, wonder just what the hell government is there for.

“…for the people, by the people,” my ass.  More like “for banks and corporations, by the guys who used to run them.”

Read the rest of Sanders’ piece on his website and learn about how oil prices are being artificially hiked by excessive futures speculation.

It really seems like the US government is indirectly rebelling against the American people, doesn’t it?

Posted in TheFinancialPete, ThePoliticalPete | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

"…What we learned was that the Fed provided $16 trillion in secret, low-interest loans to every major American financial institution…"

Posted on 2011/10/21 06:14 pm by thepete

From a great WaPo op-ed by indy Senator Bernie Sanders (it’s on Sanders’ site, too):

Trust in government is at an all-time low. That’s not because Washington is too heavy-handed with Wall Street. Quite the contrary! The American people are angry and disillusioned because they see our government act boldly to protect Wall Street CEOs but not ordinary Americans. When Wall Street needed a $700 billion bailout, the government was there for them. When working families need an end to excessive oil speculation and real relief at the gas pump, the government has failed to act.

The same Dodd-Frank bill that required commodity regulators to limit speculators included my amendment calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve from Dec. 1, 2007, to July 21, 2010, the period of the financial crisis. What we learned was that the Fed provided $16 trillion in secret, low-interest loans to every major American financial institution and to other central banks, large corporations and wealthy individuals. The audit provision was vigorously opposed by the Federal Reserve chairman. It was right, however, that the veil of secrecy at the Fed was lifted and the American people learned about its actions.

This sums it up. The USG effectively fails to oversee the Fed and giving out loans of $16 trillion seriously fucks with our economy.  Think about it: 16 trillion new dollars injected into our economy.  It’s a miracle the USD is worth anything at this point.  It’s like we’re injecting water into our bloodstream because we think the more liquid is in our veins and arteries the more blood we have.  So, when the USG doesn’t bother to audit the Fed like they’re supposed to and when the USG openly bails out big businesses and banks, it makes We, The People, wonder just what the hell government is there for.

“…for the people, by the people,” my ass.  More like “for banks and corporations, by the guys who used to run them.”

Read the rest of Sanders’ piece on his website and learn about how oil prices are being artificially hiked by excessive futures speculation.

Posted in Website666 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Yet another supposed “terrorist plot” has been “foiled.”

Posted on 2011/10/12 01:06 pm by thepete

One thing I’ve noticed about the various terrorist plots foiled by the USG is that they’ve all involved undercover USG-types posing as Al Qaeda or someone else.  When those dudes in Florida wanted to blow up the Sears Tower, they were to get everything from weapons to boots (BOOTS!) from their Al Qaeda guy.  Their Al Qaeda guy was actually FBI.  Turns out they had zero means to do what they wanted to do.

Likewise, that kid who wanted to leave a bomb at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Oregon (I think) a year or two ago–he was a kid who was dealing with, who he thought was an Al Qaeda guy, but was actually an FBI guy.  This was a kid who had no means to commit his act of terror.

And again, recently with this supposed Iranian plot.  Check out what Reuters reported:

U.S. court documents accuse Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen with an Iranian passport, of paying $100,000 to an informant, who had posed as an associate of a Mexican drug cartel but in fact worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and alerted the authorities to the plot.

Now, there aren’t enough specifics here to say it’s essentially a case of entrapment (like we can say about the previous two examples), but if the USG is sticking to form, we can certainly consider it a strong possibility until we know for sure.  But seriously, we really shouldn’t be surprised if suddenly this story drops out of the media entirely in a few days like those previous stories I mentioned.

It’s just another example of this trumped up (non-)war on terror.

Posted in You Should Give a Crap | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Time to Get Pissed About the USG Again: Scahill Reveals Secret Prisons in Somalia

Posted on 2011/07/24 06:03 pm by thepete

In case you missed it, back on July 13, 2011 DemocracyNow reported:

Jeremy Scahill Reveals CIA Facility, Prison in Somalia as U.S. Expands Covert Ops in Stricken Nation

Jeremy_somalia_button

In a new investigative report published by The Nation magazine, independent journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill reveals the CIA is using a secret facility in Somalia for counterterrorism as well as an underground prison in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Scahill says the CIA is training a new Somali force to conduct operations in the areas controlled by the militant group, Al Shabab, and in Mogadishu. While a U.S. official told The Nation that the CIA does not run the prison, he acknowledged the CIA pays the salaries of Somali agents.

Seems like the only change Obama has brought to the United States Government is skin color.  Read the rest at DemocracyNow.org.

Posted in none | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

EFFYOU.ORG: EFFYOU to alleged terrorism fighters who don’t go after ACTUAL terrorists.

Posted on 2010/12/09 06:12 pm by thepete

EFFYOU.ORG: EFFYOU to alleged terrorism fighters who don’t go after ACTUAL terrorists.

effyouorg:

All of the folks out there that are going after Al Qaeda or other extremist-types with the actual means to cause physical harm, GOOD ON YOU!  Keep up the good work!!  All the other folks out there who go after pissed off kids and other losers who have precisely zero means to commit the acts they say they want to commit: EFF YOU.

Among the principles the United States was founded on, none of them encourages or condones the arrest of people who would LIKE to harm others but can’t actually do it.  In fact, one of the most basic concepts behind our country is the idea that every human is entitled to freedom of thought.

What happens when you find a 21 year-old guy or a 19 year-old kid who are pissed off at the government and dream of killing people?

Nothing.

Well…

Read the rest at effyou.org

Posted in none | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nazis Were Given ‘Safe Haven’ in U.S., Report Says

Posted on 2010/12/07 03:38 pm by thepete

Nazis Were Given ‘Safe Haven’ in U.S., Report Says

Meant to blog about this a while back:

Nazis Were Given ‘Safe Haven’ in U.S., Report Says

A secret history of the United States government’s Nazi-hunting operation concludes that American intelligence officials created a “safe haven” in the United States for Nazis and their collaborators after World War II, and it details decades of clashes, often hidden, with other nations over war criminals here and abroad.

The 600-page report, which the Justice Department has tried to keep secret for four years, provides new evidence about more than two dozen of the most notorious Nazi cases of the last three decades.

Hit up the above link (in the headline) to read the whole piece. Depressing stuff.  The USG hasn’t really lived up to its principles at a lot of points in its history, has it? :\

Posted in none | Tagged , | Leave a comment