shot-from-the-hip

2010-11-26T09:56:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Foreclosure Debacle Continues–Chaos Reigns

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Since the economic apocalypse of 2008, foreclosure rates have continued to raise exponentially. Millions of homes in states like Florida and Nevada, specifically, Las Vegas, are sitting empty. Their former mortgage holders have just abandoned their homes because they owe much more than the house is worth.

Recently, a new scandal has log jammed the foreclosure process. Because the original mortgages were bought and sold so many times, documents have gone missing, and Federal investigators have discovered unauthorized signatures, and fraudulent loan applications. It’s a hurricane of worthless paper.

Consequently, the whole foreclosure system is overwhelmed by these problems that have exacerbated the resolution for millions of foreclosed homeowners. In other words, it may be years or never before these empty house are ready to be resold.

Meanwhile, the former owners have moved on to renting apartments or houses. Some or all of these missing mortgage documents may never be found. Some owners have just stayed in their home waiting for the ax to fall. In some case, these squatters have lived mortgage free since 2008.

Vast subdivisions are now suburban ghost towns with thousands of empty homes. They sit like abandoned movie sets. These houses could be renovated and offered to low income families to live in and maintain at reasonable rental rates.

Having people living in the houses would be preferable to letting the them decay or be targets for vandals. Yeah, but banks and financial institutions are not known for their logical thinking.
What’s worse, the banks blatant incompetence and fraudulent practices will go unpunished.

Furthermore, these chisseling, bumbling fools were rewarded with multibillion dollar bailouts at taxpayers expense. They caused the crisis and received a windfall. The middle class sank to the bottom.

Some courts have sent the banks packing, at least temporarily, and the banks themselves, such as JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, have suspended foreclosures while they untangle the paperwork mess.

If the Federal agencies can prove that the banks that made these questionable loans can’t substantiate the signatures or find the documents, the banks face a financial tsunami of buying back tens of billions of dollars in missing or unauthorized loans.

Meanwhile, the whole culture of middle class suburban living has disappeared, scattered to the four winds as people lost their jobs and walked away from the upside down mortgages. These wastelands of empty houses stretch for hundreds of miles in Florida. Yes, and the home owners paid for this disaster with lost hopes and dreams.

The whole foreclosure debacle has continued to wreak havoc in the real estate markets, which are still severely depressed. If one thinks that the great recession of 2008 is waning, think again. It’s still raging.

Turning the millions of empty houses into immediate rental property would be a interim solution. However, the ghost subdivisions sit as a grim reminder of the lost culture of the middle class that were trampled by the greed addled banks selling bad mortgages, hastily put together with bogus signatures, then sold and resold, again and again, like commodities.

2010-11-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Pot Goes Mainstream as Medicine–One Small Step to Pervasive Legalization

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Just as the gangsters of the 1920s didn’t want Prohibition to end, the licenced medical marijuana growers of California didn’t want Proposition 19 to pass. It mandated legalizing pot for recreational use.

If Proposition 19 had passed, it would have brought in the agribusiness conglomerates to grow pot on a big scale. The mom and pop growers couldn’t compete with agribusiness’ capital.

So, ironically, the growers sided with law enforcement in the Proposition 19 initiative. Medical marijuana has become a multi-billion dollar business in California. Anyone with a prescription can buy marijuana legally in California and selected other states.

Florida (the penis state) is still the epicenter of the Bible belt and ultra-conservative philosophies to make even medical marijuana legal. Floridians would rather have a known crook–Rick Scott--as governor than legalize pot. Dumbasses!

Pot is such a hot topic, a marijuana joint was featured on this week’s "Time Magazine" cover.

The benefits of medical marijuana are well known to chemotherapy patients. It relieves the nausea and boosts the patient’s appetite. Hip women have always known that pot relieves the symptoms of premenstrual cramps and PMS.

More significantly, marijuana has been linked clinically to relieving the onset of depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. Pot also relieves migraines, insomnia, back pain, and for what ever reason, lack of appetite–the well known muchie factor. And, of course, pot relieves the pressure on the optic nerve of glaucoma, from which I suffer.

Other symptoms of common maladies that marijuana relieves are irritable bowel syndrome, Tourette’s, muscular dystrophy, herpes, diabetes, gonorrhea, eczema, and weight loss for eating disorders. Presently, there is a study that THC (the active chemical in marijuana) slows down the progress of Alzheimer patients.

In California, it’s easy to get a prescription for pot. Just make an appointment with your primary care physician and complain of pain, and presto, go to a marijuana boutique and buy pot. There is a limit for each customer.

In contrast to pot’s wondrous medicinal properties is its high or buzz that regular smokers of the "evil" weed seek. The legal marijuana boutique owners of California tout the different types of high that each variety of buds (the most saturated with THC part of the plant) to give the customer. There is the spiritual high; the psychedelic high; the creative high; (musicians like that one) the sexual high, et al.

Medical marijuana patients use sophisticated methods to get the most out of their supply of weed. They use bongs or breathing bags that blow up with smoke then the smoker can hold the smoke in the bag until he or she wants another hit. This way, no smoke goes to waste, like in a burning joint.

Patient testimonials can be accessed at http://www.montanacargiversnetwork.com/Yes, this would imply that in legal medical marijuana states, there are legions of happy pot smokers. But what’s the downside? Nothing serious. As any pot smoker will tell you, loss of short term memory is no biggie. No one has ever ODed on marijuana–it’s impossible.

However, anything done in excess has negative effects. Serious pot-heads tend to be unmotivated couch potatoes. But not always.

Willy Nelson chain smokes joints all day and into the night. He’s a heavy user and he still functions normally, performs concerts, and remembers his lyrics. He told Larry King he had smoked pot right before going on his show.

In Willy’s case, his body has built up a tolerance and his sensitivity to getting high has stabilized at a certain level. If a non-pot smoker did that, he or she would be out-of-it for a couple of days.

So the nationwide legalization of marijuana debate rages. Yes, I’ve inhaled a lot of pot smoke in the past and enjoyed it. But in my book "The Mind further Out," I advocate a drugless high from meditation which is a more satisfying spiritual experience. But, if someone gave me a joint today, I’d smoke it.

As for marijuana’s medicinal properties, if I needed pot to relieve symptoms of a major illness, I wouldn’t hesitate to get it anyway possible. But the "killer" weed has come a long way from the documentary "Reefer Madness." In some states, like Florida, marijuana offenses carry heavy sentences. It just depends on what state in which you’re inhaling.

2010-11-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Al Qaeda Gaining Strength as Date of American Pullout of Afghanistan Draws Near

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

As the date for the Afghanistan draw-down of U. S. Troops nears (July 11, 2011) al Qaeda is gaining strength and power in the Arabian Peninsula, Samolia, and other unstable countries, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The movement grew from its roots in the Afghan mountains to a global force of Jihadists seeking to destroy western civilization, returning the world to Medieval times.

When we invaded Afghanistan right after 9/11 with special forces and surgical bombing campaigns, it played into al Qaeda’s hands.

Suddenly, al Qaeda’s sworn enemy flooded into their backyard so they could conduct assaults on American positions, and melt back into the mountains.

Bin Laden was delighted that Americans had come to fight on his turf. It enabled him to recruit an steady flow of Jihadists from Pakistan into the no-man’s land of the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

When the U.S. pulls out of Afghanistan, the Taliban will gain political power. In fact, the shaky government of Afghanistan is already negotiating with the Taliban to include them in the government and give them territory. As savvy observers know, the Taliban is in league with al Qaeda because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Our departure of both Iraq and Afghanistan will only broaden the Taliban and al Taeda’s recruiting drives and their political power. It’s well known that both the Taliban and al Qaeda are receiving sophisticated arms from Iran, which will be a greater ally of the Jihadist movement in the future.

With no attacks from the U.S. on al Qaeda’s bases of operation in Afghanistan, they’ll have plenty of time, resources, and arms to plan terrorist strikes inside the U.S., Britain, and the rest of Europe.

The recent interception of the UPS cargo mail bombs were mailed from Yemen to two Chicago synagogues. These were sophisticated explosive devices using high grade explosives packed in printer cartridges.

Here in the U.S., we can expect more attempted attacks from al Qaeda bases of operation. For every hundred attacks that are thwarted by U.S. intelligence, they only need one to get through.

It make take years or months, but al Qaeda is not going to stop. They’re in it for the next Millenium.

It’s inevitable that sooner or later we can expect large scale terrorist attacks on our subway systems and other soft targets like large malls or synagogues. All Westerners are targets, especially Americans and Israelis.

In Kuwait’s "Al Seyassah" newspaper, Ahmad Abdal Aziz Al-Jarallah said, "The Saudi’s have developed a unique way of dealing with Jihadists. The royal family knows that by targeting innocent civilians, al Qaeda damages orthodox Islam."

"They have implemented a multipronged strategy to stamp out extremism. Security measures are just one part. Equally important is psychological counseling of extremists to correct their religious behavior. "

They even mentor families of those who have been lured into extremism.
In other words, they deprogram these brain washed youth that throwing away their lives in a suicide bombings is a mortal sin against Islam.

So, how do we fight them when we pull out of Afghanistan? We must cut the head off the snake by finding al Qaeda’s central command bases, spread out over the globe.

More ground intelligence is needed using undercover Arab spies. When we find a central command, we take it out with a Predator drone. But we have to verify its authenticity as a legitimate target. That’s where ground intelligence is needed.

It will be difficult and will require the cooperation of other countries like Pakistan, which harbors al Qaeda/Taliban sympathizers who secretly support their operations with money and arms.

More importantly, we have to send regular Muslims into the extremist enclaves to counsel them to break the bonds of their extremist beliefs as evil not a religious crusade. Of course, we should kill bin Laden ASAP. He’s breathed our air long enough.

(Certain facts and a quote gleaned from "The Week." editorial "Is Al Qaida stronger than ever")

2010-11-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Politics has Degenerated Into Bitter Acrimony That Paralyzes Progress

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

American politics has always been an underhanded ugly game. However, in recent years, anything goes in the Body Politic, from proven crooks running to stupid women winning primaries. People have lost faith that politicians have our best interest in mind and for good reason.

In reality, today’s swine on the Hill could care less about their constituents. All they care about is getting rich and being reelected. The divisions between parties have widened into an unbreachable chasm.

Recently, minority whip John Boehner said that "My whole focus in the next two years will be to defeat President Obama in 2012." He didn’t say that he would help to solve the nation’s many problems and help establish new jobs for Americans. The evil bastard is brandishing his sword. Boehner’s reason for being is all out warfare against the Obama administration.

So we send these clowns to Washington to supposedly represent us, and all they do is fight to get a majority in Congress to wield power, and get reelected. Is it any wonder that a third of all Americans describe themselves as independents.

However, voting independent is tantamount to throwing your vote away. Yes, we’d all like a third viable independent party. Yeah, and fools rush into the black hole. History proves that it’s not going to happen any time soon. So, these people who say they’re independent are expressing an idealistic dream.

The partisans of the Left and Right try to shape the national agenda through inflammatory cable TV shows, attack ads, the Internet, talk radio, (which is mostly conservative) and various advocacy groups. There is no middle ground any more.

The war between partisan sides makes compromise impossible. So, voters get pissed off and decide to throw out incumbents without realizing that they are voting in the same scoundrels as before.

In this election, it’s like throwing out the baby with the bath water. And, we end up with a bunch of bitter Republicans who want to dismantle all of Obama’s accomplishments. So, the end result is: The war on the Hill continues ad infinitum.

So the angry voters throw out the majority of Democrats. How long will it take before they feel betrayed? Not long. Then the cycle starts all over again. If there was some Jesus-like white knight who rode into town with all the answers, perhaps he could change things? Nope, he’d hit the gridlock like all the rest.

The sorry bunch of people running for office keeps declining in intelligence, morals, and ethics. We get women who don’t know that Africa is a continent and other candidates who don’t know the minimum wage in their state. Yet, voters like their looks.

It’s like the judge who sentenced Ted Bundy to die in the electric chair. He praised Bundy’s legal skills and said he would have been a great lawyer, but he had chosen the wrong path. The judge missed the point. Bundy was a ruthless serial killer who killed over 40 young women, and then had sex with their dead bodies. The judge should have said: "You’re an evil demon and you should go straight to hell."

Many voters are like the incredibly stupid women who fall in love with serial killers and even marry them. Some women actually carry on married lives with incarcerated men without conjugal visits.

Dumb voters vote for a certain candidate for the most trivial reasons. To wit: They’re good looking, they flirt with women voters, they seem to be very conservative, while they cheat on their wives with other women or men. Or, they just look convincing on television.

The whole process of our Body Politic is corrupted by stupidity and deception. So what if the Republicans get a majority in Congress, it won’t change a thing. It will be an impasse until 2012, when Obama faces his biggest crisis–getting reelected.

2010-10-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Decline of American Optimism

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Today, the mood of the Zeitgeist is somber and defeatist. Of course, the general malaise caused by the aftermath of the economic apocalypse of 2008, which has dragged on into 2010, is justifiable. Consequently, American optimism has been dealt an almost fatal blow by the slow recovery and failure of the Obama administration to solve the post-economic disaster problems.

Granted, the Republican sabotage of Obama’s agenda is mostly to blame. The GOP’s unyielding determination not to compromise on important issues has led to an impasse on the Hill.

Nonetheless, the indomitable American spirit has been seriously wounded by a broken political system, corrupted by special interests and bipartisan war on the Hill. Political agendas are narrow and unyielding on both sides of the aisle.

More significantly, the complex 19,000 pages of the IRS tax code is inefficient and a burdan on the once thriving middle class. This tome is so complicated, only specially trained tax lawyers understand its totality. Loopholes that allow favors to special interests abound on every page.

In an essay in "Time," Freed Zakaria states. "The tax code represents the deep, institutionalized corruption at the heart of the American political process, in which it is now considered routine to buy a member of Congress’ support for a particular narrow provision that will be advantageous for your business."

The big American global conglomerates like Coke are thriving. However, these mega-corporations’ global success has come at the expense of the American middle class, which has taken a fatal hit after the economic collapse.

This brave new world economy has changed the dynamics of the American working class. Today, manufacturing is high-tech. Workers have to be retrained to operate the complex computer operated machines that make everything imaginable. There are competitive apprenticeship programs in which the applicants have to show a basic knowledge of computers, math, and design. Some of these programs require college graduates.

In contrast, the wages for American workers have steadily declined, even in unionized jobs. Unions have had to make compromises to prevent large scale layoffs by accepting reduced benefits and wages–a bitter pill to swallow. That’s because of globalization has established lower wages in foreign countries like India.

Today corporate executives echo the mantra, "do more with less,." which means fewer workers are working harder for less pay. Gone are the days when assembly line workers at Ford enjoyed a middle class life with a nice house and car. Those jobs have disappeared–taken over by robots.

Today, the world has gone through a technical revolution as robotics have advanced and manufacturing has been computerized. Workers who lost heir jobs during the economic collapse of 2008, will never get those same jobs back again. They will have to face reality, and retrain or start their own businesses.

Some companies have offered free retraining to get these workers back on their feet. But what do the bread winners live on in the meantime when they’ve run out of unemployment benefits and gone through their savings?

The economic collapse forced American workers into the vortex of vast a paradigm shift from middle class to a struggling lower class existence. For some of the older workers, adjusting to this drastic changing situation may be impossible. They won’t have the resources to retrain or move to where the new jobs are located.

Freed Zakaria says in his "Time" piece, "There are reasons for optimism. The U.S. faces huge challenges, but it also has enormous advantages, It is still the largest, richest market in the world."

Yes, I believe we’ll get through this dark time but people will have to lower their expectations about jobs and wages. It’s a time for people to get creative and think outside the box. Invent something or start your own business are optimistic priorities.

2010-10-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: IRS Parasite Crawled Up My Ass and Twisted My Mind

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The dreaded IRS parasite has invaded my brain like a pork worm. The Evil Empire once again had to remind me that they have me locked in their chains to the tune of 10,000, dating back to 2004 through 2007.

Yes, the American Gestapo likes to do things in a grand way. So they sent me 8 letters to let me know that my debt is growing exponentially in interest and penalties. An individual letter was mailed to my wife and me–both duplicates of each year and each separate amount. Of course, the IRS shylocks know that this will royally piss me off.

Those Visigoth barbarians think nothing of wasting paper and printing charges by sending out reams of paper, when one sheet with the total amount would have sufficed. The bureaucratic nitwits love to waste paper.

The government printing operation has numerous buildings in Washington D.C., cranking out mountains of paper to document the Recovery Act, the Budget, The Tax Code, which is over 2,000 pages, and all other printed gibberish that rolls off their presses.. It’s the biggest printing operation in the country, costing millions of dollars.

We all watched the televised hearings in 1997 featuring a parade of citizens who had been the victims of IRS abuses. With great fanfare, legislation was introduced and passed "reforming" the agency.

The orchestrated media blitz painted the IRS as a kinder gentler fire breathing dragon. The spectacle came off like "Reefer Madness," the now famous low budget cult film showing the evils of pot, showcasing Grade B actors.

The whole IRS campaign to convince the public that the IRS was our friend was a smoke screen to draw attention away from the corporate-banking lobby being in cahoots with government conglomerates. It’s a system of slavery and oppression, as well as the fraudulent tax system that supports it.

After receiving the tsunami of paper from the IRS, I called them to find out my status. The lady said that my status was "uncollectible" because my income has gone down to almost zero. However, my interest and penalties still go up daily.

The Beast’s ace in the hole is: Last year a female IRS agent filed a lien on my property, even though I don’t own any property. That was a spear through my heart because the lien effectively ruined my credit and any chance of getting back on my feet financially. The lien is a ball and chain.

Every day I curse that shedevil, and pray that bedbugs crawl up her skirt and suck blood from her private parts. (The IRS offices were infested with bedbugs.)

The truth is: The now fractured middle class has always suffered the burden of paying the IRS quotas. Corporations hire teams of tax lawyers that find loopholes in the tax code. Consequently, most big fortune 500 companies pay no income tax.

Hidden in the 1997 reform bill were provisions giving the IRS more power to collect debts from the beleaguered middle class now crumbling under the massive foreclosures. Now, there are millions of people like me who are deemed "uncollectible" and tied up with the dreaded lien, while their IRS debt increases daily.

Thus, the IRS has me and millions of other former middle class folks locked in a debtor’s prison with no way to pay them back. We all loathe the bloated agency that hires female collectors who are officious and rude.

Many connected movers and shakers have tried to introduce a flat tax bill to Congress. It’s a simple and fair system that would take only a fraction of the present IRS’ personnel to run. But, the IRS has a powerful lobby on the hill and the flat tax idea dies in committee every time. The thousands of unnecessary IRS bitches would lose their jobs. Now we wouldn’t want that? Hell yes.

It’s time to dismantle Jabba the Hutt IRS worm. It’s archaic and overly complex. Meanwhile, the IRS Gestapo has us lined up against the wall ready to give the order to fire. Kill the Beast is my mantra.

2010-10-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Homophobia 2010–Still Rampant

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Here we are in 2010, many years after gays living with society-wide oppression came out in the 1960s as fierce advocates for their own cause. Indeed, they have made much progress in acceptance by factions of the population.

But incredibly, in the mainstream population of the United States, there is still deeply ingrained homophobia, that has lately caused 4 suicides in 19 days of young gay boys, and a brutal gang rape and torture of 3 gay men by a gang of thugs in NYC. Justifiably, 8 men are charged with a litany of felonies and committing a hate crime, which makes the case Federal.

Ellen Degeneres was so upset by the latest gay bashing and bullying incidents she made a special PSA pleading with young gays to seek help and guidance from many organizations devoted to helping them. She said that these organizations will help them without telling their parents, if that is what they want.

She even invited them, if all else fails, to call her, and she will help each individual. Of course, Degeneres knows first hand how difficult it was growing up gay. It took her a long time to come out on her series "Ellen."

Jodie Foster led a secret life for many years until it was obvious to everyone that she was a lesbian. But she never came out willingly. She was outed when the tabloids were tipped off to her breakup with her long time significant other. It would have never mattered. Her monster talent supercedes her being gay by many times.

The school kids that committed suicide were taunted by classmates and their lives were a living hell. The schools involved did nothing to stop the bullying and harassment. Many of these kids were too afraid to tell their parents. They felt they had nowhere to turn to stop the emotional pain.

William Lucas, 15 was a freshman at Greensburgh High. He hanged himself in the Family’s barn. Someone commented on his Facebook page that "everyone at school made fun of him and he couldn’t’ take it anymore." Where was the help and support that he needed? No one came to his rescue.

Tyler Clementi, 18, was a freshman at Rutgers. His roommate suspected he was gay and started spying on him with a hidden video camera, eventually posting a video on the Internet of Tyler having sex with another man. Tyler couldn’t take the humiliation and jumped off a bridge. Another promising life gone because of homophobia.

Asher Brown was just 13 when he used his stepfather’s gun to shoot himself in the head. His parents said he had been relentlessly bullied by his schoolmates because they assumed he was gay because he was effeminate and his parents were poor and he couldn’t afford trendy clothes.

The case in NYC was one of the worst hate crimes against gays that the police had ever seen in the city. A loose-knit gang of thugs went berserk after learning that a 17-year old recruit was gay. The thugs stripped him, and beat him senseless, then sodomized him with a wooden plunger handle and a kid’s baseball bat. The torture went on for hours.

Then the gang members in a crazed frenzy of depravity grabbed a second gay teen and tortured him. The 3rd attack involved a 30-year old man who was lured to the apartment, sodomized and tortured.

Given that these thugs have less than 6th grade education and are as dumb as a box of rocks, the level of violence was shocking to the police and Mayor Bloomberg, who said, "I was sickened by the brutal nature of these crimes and saddened by the anti-gay bias that contributed to them. Hate crimes such as these strike fear into all of us."

The defeat of the appeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" by homophobic Republican lawmakers like John McCain, was a setback for gays in the military. It seems that when gays take 2 steps forward, bigoted factions of our society force them to take three steps back.

It’s 2010. By now our society should have come to terms with homosexuality as not being a lifestyle choice, but a genetic imperative. In other words, gays are attracted to members of the same sex just as strongly as heterosexual people are attracted to members of the opposite sex.

These latest incidents of gay bashing and bullying can not be tolerated in our country. It has to be stopped!

2010-10-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Bob Woodward’s New Book, "Obama’s Wars" Uncovers Revelations

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcasdt.net

While Obama’s Surge of 30,000 troops were hitting the ground in Afghanistan, President Obama was worried about the political fallout of his actions. This is just one of the revelations uncovered by Bob Woodward’s new book, "Obama’s Wars."

Gen. David Petraeus had told Obama that without a surge of 40,000 to 60,000 troops the war would be lost to the Taliban. This was a quasi-mutiny that cut off other options. Gen. Petraeus decided to take a tough stand against the waffling president.

Furthermore, Gen. Petraeus insisted that without additional troops, the Obama administration would be waving the white flag of surrender. In other words, Petraeus was psychologically circumventing the chain of command in his declaration–holding Obama’s face to the fire–saying in his mind, "Do it bitch, or we’ll lose."

Obama’s agonizing five-month delaying tactic, claiming to be reviewing the war strategy, was highlighted by his lack of options. When he announced the surge, he proclaimed the end of the Afghanistan war to be in July, 2011, when the U.S. will start withdrawing troops.

Returning officers from the Afghanistan War are speaking out that the Taliban is gaining in numbers and recruiting many more young Jihadists who want their 72 virgins in paradise.

These veteran combat hardened troops are not optimistic that we will win anything. In fact, the returning troops are saying the Taliban are in it for the long term, unless we can kill enough of them to offset their recruitment drive. Presently, that doesn’t seem likely. There is an endless supply of new recruits to the holy war.

Yeah, we could drop a thermonuclear megaton bomb on the border region and kill everyone there, but that would only recruit more Jihadists, hell bent to seek revenge. These young Muslims are born into the cause and brainwashed to see Americans as the devil’s disciples.

During Obama’s trial by general, Petraeus won a psychological victory over Obama’s indecision on the matter. Woodward’s book claims that Petraeus blatantly leveraged his popularity to blackmail Obama into sending more troops to Afghanistan.

In contrast, our constitution authorizes the civilian authority to determine military and foreign policy. Petraeus’ role is to offer private and confidential military advice, then stand down and follow orders.

The whole affair made Obama look like a weak leader who lets his generals run all over him. To save face, Obama chose a number for the surge that would satisfy Gen Petraeus, but make himself look like he made the decision.

Woodward’s Book explodes that myth and substantiates the public perception that Obama never had a clear Afghanistan policy to begin with. What’s worse, Obama politicized the Afghanistan War.

Media mavens are calling Obama’s Wars half-baked and delusional thinking.

So has the surge been effective? Absolutely not. No matter how many Taliban the U.S. and NATO forces kill, we can’t prevent the Taliban from reclaiming large swaths of rural country. Out in the hinterlands, villagers are scared to vote lest the Taliban retaliate and burn down their homes and kill everyone in the village.

Returning veterans and savvy citizens know that when we pull out of Afghanistan, it will be another Vietnam scenario. When we’re gone, the Taliban will take over most of the rural countryside. The Afghan government is already negotiating with the Taliban over which territories they will occupy when we leave.

The sad truth is: The Afghanistan War was unwinnable the day the U.S. set foot on Afghan soil in late 2001 and 2002. The Jihadists will keep coming ad infinitum. We should concentrate on protecting our own country against their threats.

2010-09-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Recession Over?–Not by a Long Shot

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Some private think tank called the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) suddenly announced on Sept. 21, that the U.S. recession was over 15 months ago, in June 2009. This announcement was met with expressions of disbelief.

Ah yes, I could almost hear the screams of outrage across the land, raging like a giant class 5 tornado. Get real, I say.

Unemployment is still at almost 10%, new jobs are nonexistent, and foreclosures remain shockingly high. The struggling housing markets are stuck with millions of foreclosed homes for sale with no buyers.

Of course, the NBER group’s proclamation only further agitated the legions of angry people. It means nothing to the millions of people whose lives have been irrevocably ruined by the recession.

The economic apocalypse effectively eliminated the middle class, and created a new poor class of people, unaccustomed to living in poverty. Most of these skilled workers or professionals, like engineers ,will take any type of employment to dig themselves out of their financial hole. It’s just not there.

My class, senior citizens, were hit especially hard, since we received no cost of living increase in our Social Security pay, and President Obama reneged on his promise to give seniors a stimulus check for $250 to compensate for the loss of the cost of living increase.

We were already struggling to make ends meet before the economic apocalypse. Now, we are living on the brink of poverty. Holding our heads just above water. Any financial emergency would drown us.

Yes, at 70, I’m able and willing to work, but no one will hire me. So, I’m stuck. I scrape by on part time writing assignments and have drastically reduced my standard of living. I published an esoteric book that will never be a best seller. And I’m working on a memoir that I hope will sell well.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Between my wife and my Social Security pay, combined and our respective modest pensions, we’re better off than most of the unemployed who have run out of out of work benefits. What is their future. Only darkness!

The news only keeps getting worse. The number of Americans living in poverty grew to levels unseen in 20 years. 43.6 million people fell below the poverty line. The number of Americans without health insurance also rose last year to 50.7 million.

So how in the hell can NBER make such an audacious claim. What are they basing their conclusions on–a palm reader? Yes, according to the Wall Street Journal, "More of us are poor." Duh! What a generalization.

The "WSJ" goes on to say, "The president wants to plow ahead with the same policies that aren’t reducing poverty. Instead of rebuilding America as an economic powerhouse, Obama and Congress both offer only short-term fixes that may pay political dividends."

Bob Herbert in "The New York Times" goes further with his doomsday scenario. "It may take a full blown depression before politicians react constructively to this economic disaster."

Meanwhile, the gap between the wealthiest citizens and the poorest people only grows wider. Dan Rodricks in the "Baltimore Sun" said, "Yet, the moment someone dares to point out the gap beween the rich and poor, Republicans throw the class warfare flag."

When Roosevelt instituted his "New Deal" and put people to work on infrastructure projects, it helped to ease the suffering from the Great Depression. However, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, drawing the U.S. into WWII, the economy rebounded because of the war effort involved every part of society. WWII ended the depression.

Today, we need stronger leadership than Obama is giving us. We need someone to cut through the BS and political noise to jolt the economy with a big surge of aggressive change–not politicians trying to get reelected.

I say to the NBER to shut up and do something constructive instead of giving us false hopes.
(Quotes gleaned from "The Week.")

2010-09-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Nuclear Weapons Reduction to Zero is An Impossible Dream–New START Treaty Goes Before Senate

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@cdomcast.net

In April, President Obama and Russian President Dimitri Medvedev signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. For the treaty to take effect it requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate. The truth is: The Treaty is not worth the paper it’s printed on.

In this acrimonious political climate, the debate will be politically charged between the hawks (Republicans) and doves (Democrats). Nonetheless, the treaty will probably be ratified after every blowhard politician has his or her say.

Ostensibly, the United States will have to destroy more missiles than Russia. But, the Ruskies will have to destroy more warheads. The treaty allows both sides to pull out of the treaty for any reason.

The Russians have threatened to pullout if the United States continues to develop its missile defense plan, which was started during the Reagan administration, then called Star Wars. They don’t want the missile defense plan because they don’t have the technology to implement such an anti-missile system that would destroy incoming ICBM in space–advantage United States.

Idealists like Obama see a world without nuclear weapons–zero, nada, zilch. The initiative is a noble endeavor, but it’s not going to happen. With nuclear nations like Pakistan, India, Israel, and the fear of Iran developing nuclear weapons, the U.S., like Russia, will keep a hefty stockpile of nukes.

The fear of global thermonuclear war was born out of the nuclear arms race in the 1960s. Nuclear paranoia got started in 1960 during the Eisenhower administration.
We were rapidly building up our nuclear missiles even then. World War III loomed, and kids were duck and covering under their desks in school, like that would matter

People were building fall out shelters in their backyards. These tombs were useless because they would suck in a nuclear blast’s shock wave through the air vent. Worse yet, they wouldn’t keep out the nuclear radiation.

The U.S. military led by the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) devised a secret sinister nuclear war plan (just recently declassified) called SIOP (sigh-op) short for Single Integrated Operational Plan.

If invaded by the Soviets by any large scale attack, either conventional or nuclear, we would unleash a fusillade of nuclear warheads at targets in the Soviet Union, which would turn a large portion of Russia into a radio active wasteland. The all-out attack would kill millions of people, and radiate millions more, who would die of cancers in a couple of years.

Until SIOP was developed each branch of the military was building their own nuclear arsenal. The idea behind SIOP was to bring some order out of chaos. And so it was that SIOP was used to justify building as many nukes as they could crank out.

Basically, the SIOP analysts used a worst case scenario as a model, to wit: If Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, or communist China attacked in an alliance or individually, either with conventional weapons or nukes, the U.S. would initiate a massive retaliation destroying pre-targeted sites using nuclear weapons. It was dubbed "the doomsday scenario."–DEFCON 1

As the U.S. build up its nuclear missile arsenal, the Soviets were racing to catch up. Eventually, they had enough nuclear missiles aimed at us to launch a first strike, which would automatically trigger the launch of our missiles at Soviet targets. This Mexican stand off was called "mutually shared destruction."

By the 1960s, nuclear bombs were enhanced with hydrogen isotopes (thus the term thermonuclear)–giving them megaton power. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima was in the kiloton range–thousands of tons of TNT as opposed to millions of tons of TNT.

Eventually, nuclear missile scientists were able to reduce the size of megaton bombs so that ten warheads could fit on one ICBM–the Titan II-- each aimed at a different target. The warheads separate in space and are guided to their respective targets.

The U.S. arsenal of nukes hit its peak in 1967 with 31,255–a staggering figure. The Soviets quickly matched it and even exceeded our massive stockpile.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Cold War disappeared from the lexicon. At the time, the U.S. had 19,008 nukes.

Now the nuclear club includes the U.S., Russia, China, Great Britain, France, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea–an unpredictable rogue state run by a crazed megalomaniac. There are other threats that keep s security specialists up nights, including dirty bombs and electromagnetic pulse weapons that fire all electronics.

Any attack on our allies–members of NATO, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel, would be regarded as an attack on the U.S., and our response would be nuclear. These countries know that, and it makes them think twice about mounting an attack on any of those countries. This is called–nuclear deterrence, or ultimate destruction.

So how many nukes is enough to brandish scary nuclear deterrence? No one has figured that out. But Russia is having a hard time protecting its aging stockpile, much of which has been already destroyed and filmed for proof.

If, for instance, Iran attacks Israel, they or the U.S. would retaliate with nuclear weapons. When the first nuclear bomb–a primitive device that wasn’t even tested–hit Hiroshima, the Genie was out of the bottle and the nuclear age was born.

The bottom line: We will always live in a world with nuclear weapons as a deterrent. How many is irrelevant. Now there is more than enough nukes to make the Earth uninhabitable. We must have the Big Stick (Nuclear Missiles) to threaten our enemies into not attacking us.
(All facts were gleaned from a "Time Magazine" piece by Fred Kaplan titled "No More Nukes?"

2010-09-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Drinkers Live Longer–New Study Finds Moderate and Even Heavy Alcohol Consumers Live Longer than Non-drinkers

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Granted, there are scientific studies that can justify just about any vice or habit. There is probably a study that finds people who stab themselves in the chest with a Bowie knife have shorter lives than people who don’t.

Alcohol consumers, who drink moderately, like me, have long believed that it’s good for your health. Now, we have a study to substantiate that belief. A new paper in the journal "Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research" suggests that for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, abstaining from alcohol does tend to shorten life expectancy, even when former problem drinkers are accounted for.

Shockingly, teetotalers’ mortality rates are higher than those of even heavy drinkers! Hallelujah, pour me a beer. That’s all we needed to justify our drinking lifestyle. The study also revealed that moderate drinking, which is defined as one to three drinks per day, is shown to have the lowest mortality rates.

More significantly, moderate use of alcohol improves heart health, circulation, and sociability.

Yes, a couple of drinks takes the edge off one’s day, and makes one more sociable. But, getting drunk at a bar and driving home is definitely not healthy.

The study also reveals that even heavy drinkers who have not yet fried their liver or heart, or have slowed down to moderate drinking or quit, live longer than non-drinkers. This study does not account for the damage that heavy drinking can do to the body. Clearly, if you survive that hurdle, you live longer than abstainers.

The obvious question is why would abstaining from alcohol lead to a shorter life?
In the "Time Magazine" piece by John Cloud, He states that "the authors of the paper note that those who abstain from alcohol tend to be from lower socioeconomic classes and less able to afford the expense of drinking."

No way-- I vehemently disagree with that conclusion. Poverty breeds all social ills such as heavy drinking. The poor will get their alcohol one way or another by buying cheap wine, beer, or moonshine.

However, in Cloud’s piece, he paraphrases the paper by saying, "But even after controlling for nearly all imaginable variables–existing health problems, socioeconomic status, level of physical activity, number of close friends, quality of social support, et al–the six member team led by psychologist Charles Holahan of the University of Texas at Austin found that over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who were not current drinkers, regardless of whether they used to be alcoholics. The second highest mortality rates for heavy drinkers, and the lowest for moderate drinkers."

So the key words in this paper are "moderate drinkers" will live the longest. "The 1,824 participants ranged from 55 to 65 at the beginning of the study. The sample included a disproportionate number to men (63%).

Just over 69% of the teetotalers died during the 20 years, 60% of the heavy drinkers died, and only 41% of the moderate drinkers died. The scientists factored in the fact that heavy drinking is associated with a higher risk of cirrhosis and several types of cancer, particularly of the mouth and esophagus. Still, heavy drinkers are likely to live longer than non-drinkers if they survive the effects of heavy drinking.

The study authors are careful to note that even though drinking is associated with longer life, it can be dangerous. It can severely impair your memory and lead to non-lethal falls and other painful mishaps.

Yes, you could wake up in a strange bed, or like inebriated Rip Torn, thinking he was breaking into his own house, and being arrested for breaking into a bank. Of course, alcohol addiction can lead to divorce, loss of job, and a painful recovery.

So, moderation is the key when consuming alcohol. I drink two beers at suppertime and a glass or two of wine while I watch television. I never get drunk and I never drive after consuming alcohol. At 70, I’m in great shape. But, who knows, my neighborhood might blow up due to a gas leak, or an airplane might fall on my roof. And no, I’m not planning to stab myself in the chest with a Bowie knife. Cheers

2010-09-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Obama Rolls Out Plan to Jump Start Sagging Recovery–More Empty Rhetoric

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

In a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, President Obama rolled out a new plan to jump start the sagging recovery. Clearly, it was a desperation move to save the Democrats from a blood bath in the midterm elections and show he is working hard to reignite the recovery.

More significantly, his speech had rough edges to show he means business and save his own ass from plummeting poll numbers. For reasons that are not completely his fault, Obama is in floundering around in deep trouble.

Throughout his presidency, Obama has been plagued by partisan politics. Republicans have dug their heels in and refused to cooperate with him. Effectively, Republicans have sabotaged his initiatives, with extreme prejudice. It’s open warfare on the Hill led by General (Sen.) John McCain, riding a white horse.

Obama’s plan to throw $50 billion at new infrastructure improvements such as road repairs and new bridges was empty rhetoric, considering the bill would not pass this year, and probably wouldn’t pass in the future. Besides, the new jobs would go to Mexicans, since they dominate most construction crews.

The President qualified his remarks with the caveat, " Now, the plain truth is, there’s no silver bullet or quick fix to the problem." Indeed, there are 30 million unemployed people with no prospect of ever finding a job in the foreseeable future that would agree with him. Now, the recovery has stalled, mired in a partisan impasse on the Hill.

On a conference call with reporters on Monday, a senior administration official acknowledged that the infrastructure bill will not add any new jobs until at least 2011–that is if it passes at all.

"This is not a stimulus, immediate-jobs plan. This is a six-year preauthorization of transportation projects that is front-loaded with money to try and spark the economy once Congress passes it." the senior administration official said.

Of course, as usual, Obama was making promises he can’t keep to bolster his poll numbers. Talk is cheap. He can’t fool the voters into believing that things will improve due to this new jobs fantasy.

It’s like Obama is living in a fool’s paradise thinking that infrastructure spending will create jobs for the unemployed. It’s too speculative and requires a bipartisan stamp of approval. Well, that’s not going to happen in this belligerent political climate.

These so called jobs are in construction. Not everyone is able or qualified to do road work. The companies hire Mexicans because they work hard for much less pay than American workers.

If a certain construction company gets caught hiring illegal aliens, they are fined and they turn around and do it again. Besides, does an aeronautical engineer who lost his job really want to do road construction? No, but in desperation he might consider it.

The truth is: People are just not feeling the recovery. Jobs are still scarce or non existent and people are struggling with desperation and depression. Obama’s tax incentives to small businesses did not work in the past and people are skeptical about such a nebulous initiative.

Business owners are not expanding or hiring because of the uncertain political future. Everyone is scared to make a big purchase, such as a new car or flat screen TV for the same reason that businesses are holding back.

We retirees have seen our income shrink because we didn’t get a cost of living raise in our Social Security checks. Now we find out our health insurance has gone up significantly. So, we’ve had to make more sacrifices to survive as food prices rise and our dwindling income is not stretching through the month.

More significantly, we retirees were promised by President Obama that he would make up for the lack of a cost of living increase in our Social Security income by giving us a one time $250 stimulus check. Obama reneged on that promise, which really pissed us off. I heard him promise this $250 stimulus in two separate speeches.

Thus, most Americans are disillusioned by Obama’s abysmal track record. He makes pretty speeches and promises, but goes back to Washington and hits the wall of Republican opposition. He lacks the strong leadership to overcome the opposition.

His Labor Day speech did nothing to reassure the American public that has been hit hard by the recession and the total lack of recovery. We want action, not words.

2010-09-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Judge Stops Stem-cell Research, Blocking President Obama’s 2009 Executive Order

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Somewhere on the other side, Christopher Reeves is livid that the advancing science of stem-cell research has now been setback that Judge Royce C. Lamberth. He ruled that Obama’s 2009 executive order expanding stem-cell research violated a 1996 law banning the use of federal money for any research the destroys embryos.

Obama’s order allowed federally funded research to be done on embryonic stem-cells derived from surplus embryos at fertility clinics. These embryos just sit frozen in a liquid nitrogen tank and no one wants them.

Judge Lamberth is a voice from the ignorant religious right rising up like a puritan serpent to skewer the advancement of science. This ruling means an immediate halting of research being done in dozens of labs across the country.

Most stem-cell research has advanced beyond embryo testing. Medical researchers have had great success with implanting stem-cells taken from the organs they are treating, and implanting them to repair damage to that organ. It has worked for heart and liver patients who have had miraculous results. But, the minute you start talking about embryos, the anti-abortion coalition goes berserk.

Of course, pressure from the uptight Republican dunderheads could have influenced the Judge’s ruling. However, the scientists involved with this research and lawyers said the ruling was vague and confusing. The fear among the researchers is the ruling may stop research approved under the more restrictive terms of the Bush administration.

Obama promised to appeal the judge’s ruling. If Judge Lamberth’s ruling is upheld, it will be a "serious blow to medical research," said the" New York Times." The focus of the embryo research is on diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and spinal cord injuries, like Christopher Reeves suffered.

When he was alive, Reeves fought hard to continue embryo research. Despite his handicap, Reeves traveled with his entourage of medical assistants to appear on talk shows and anywhere he could find an audience.

Michael J. Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at 32 years old, continues Reeves battle with the religious right to keep all stem-cell research labs doing this important work. This ruling has all the earmarks of the religious right’s political chicanery.

However, the law guiding the Judge’s decision was the 1996 Dicky-Wicker Amendment which explicitly forbids federal funding for research in which a human embryo is destroyed. The Judge ruled that Obama’s executive order violated the spirit of that law.

In "Politics Daily.com" David Gibson makes a strong point when he said that "new research suggests that adult stem-cells may be at least as effective as embryonic stem-cells. So instead of this endless battle over which is the greater good–protecting nascent life or extending the lives of afflicted adults and children–let’s work together to unlock the promise of adult stem-cells."

So, the work continues on adult stem-cells and the embryonic stem-cell research is shutdown for now. The conflict continues. (References for this piece were gleaned from "The Week.")

2010-08-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Girls Go Into Puberty at Shockingly Early Ages in Today’s World

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

In today’s world, you see many little girls who look like miniature women. Girls are reaching sexual maturity at earlier ages. Just twenty years ago, pediatric specialists would find this phenomenon shocking. At this accelerating rate, girls will be sexually mature at birth, demanding the keys to daddy’s car and power of attorney.

On the last episode of "Mad Men," Don Draper’s 10 year old daughter was going into puberty and her nanny saw her masturbating. The series is set in the early 1960s, so her mom was mortified and sent her to a child psychiatrist.

Of course, today, girls who go into puberty early masturbate, and most parents think nothing of it. Likewise, it’s acceptable for teenage boys to masturbate in most American households. All coming of age films allude to youthful self gratification. The "Mad Men" episode was an interesting parallel with today’s world when girls go into puberty at accelerated earlier ages such as 6 and 7 years old.

The evidence compiled by the journal "Pediatrics" is shocking. The study found that "23% of African-American girls have already started develop breasts at 6 or 7 years old, as have 15% of Latinos and 10% of whites. Obesity may play a role, as body fat can lead to the production of higher levels estrogen, which triggers breast development and menstruation."

Since there is an epidemic of obesity among American pubescents, their sexual development is effected by being grossly overweight. Other factors contribute such as toxic chemicals getting into the food chain, including pesticides and the plastic additive bisphenol-A. These chemicals mimic estrogen in the body telling the body to go into sexual maturity.

All this early development contributes to teenage pregnancy with little girls pushing baby carriages. It’s a nightmare for parents who now have to worry about their little 7 year old getting pregnant or having sex. Kids having kids is a scary reality.

Clearly, this has become a pervasive societal problem. Little tarts acting like women at 7 years old is now a reality. I’m thankful my daughter is 48 years old. I thought she was an early developer when she had her first period at 11 years old.

Pediatric physicians are warning that early-onset puberty could pose an increased risk of breast cancer due to the longer exposure to estrogen. Early-onset puberty has also been linked to low self esteem, eating disorders, and depression.

The girls with early-onset puberty are vulnerable to bullying and sexual harassment. When a third-grade girl looks like a sixth-grade girl, adults expect them to act older. However, their bodies may be at an advanced stage of maturity, but their minds are still childlike. It’s a paradox that can drive these girls crazy.

These child women can become bossy to their male counterparts who are clueless. Of course, boys mature much slower physically and intellectually than girls–at least five years behind the girls. So the boys are faced with their worst nightmare–little girls who act like their moms.

This problem has child psychiatrists studying ways to counsel these girls to accept their bodies, but also accept the fact that they are still children. More importantly, they have much to learn about the adult world and to respect their elders’ life experience as wisdom.

2010-08-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Taliban Stone Couple for Adultery in Afghanistan–Primitive Punishment Underscores Taliban’s Sadistic Cruelty

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

When I became aware of this story, I was literally sick to my stomach. The Taliban again demonstrated they are crazed fanatics who want to return the world back to the dark ages. In northern Afghanistan, these ignorant Jihadists stoned a young couple to death for adultery after numerous human rights groups tried to stop it.

This is the same hardline Islamic regime that the U.S. ousted in 2001. However, they have regrouped in the mountainous border land between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now they are a serious threat to Afghanistan.

In this shadow land, the Taliban and al Qaeda are untouchable. The U.S. is not allowed to attack them on their turf. Worse yet, the Pakistani government is reluctant to mount an assault with their Army because of the collusion between factions of the Pakistani government and the Taliban.

International rights groups worry that the Afghan government will negotiate with the Taliban and give them a voice in their government. Just before the U.S. attacked the Taliban in 2001, they had ruled all of Afghanistan with an iron fist.

During this dark time, women were not allowed to leave their houses without a male guardian. Girls could not attend school and women could not work. Women were required to wear full burkas in public Men were required to wear beards and other restrictions were imposed on the citizens of Afghanistan based on the Taliban’s strict interpretation of the Quran.

The stoning was imposed on a couple having an affair. The man was married but the woman was single. The woman, Sadiqa was 20 years old and engaged to another man. Her lover was 28 year old Qayum, who left his wife to run away with her. The two had been hiding in a friend’s house for five days.

They were discovered by the Taliban’s secret police on Sunday. They were stoned to death in front of a crowd of about 150 men. First Sadiqa was stoned and took many minutes to die of her injuries. Then Qayum was stoned a half an hour later. He took even longer to die.

Clearly, stoning is a slow, painful way to die. Sometimes the victim is knocked unconscious but bleeds to death as rocks make gaping wounds on the body. Most any other way of execution is faster and more humane.

This primitive execution underscores the Taliban’s degenerate culture of sadistic men who have no regard for women. They hide behind the Quran, but in reality, they are no better than the Nazi SS.

It’s customary for the Taliban’s secret police to torture their victims to confess, even if they’re innocent. In this case their friend gave the couple up to the Taliban. There was no trial or judge.
Amnesty International said it was the first confirmed stoning in Afghanistan since the fall of Taliban rule in 2001 when U.S. special forces and a major bombing campaign drove the Taliban out of the country.

Since the Taliban regrouped, they are stronger than ever and the U.S. forces efforts to drive them out of the country have killed many Taliban warriors, but they don’t mind dying and have plenty of young Jihadists pledging their death by suicide bombing to stop the American assault.

The U.S. and human rights groups are adamant about no reconciliation with the Taliban to make peace. This is a well organized army that have deadly weapons from Iran such as powerful IEDs made from artillery shells. They also have a cache of heat seeking hand held missiles that can take down helicopters with one shot.

The recent revelations from the WikiLeaks documents showing that American soldiers have no regard for the lives of Afghani civilians has helped the Taliban to recruit more holy warriors ready to die for the cause.

The Afghan government must not give the Taliban any voice in the government. The U.S. and Afghan Army must attack their hideout with shock and awe, killing all of them and their kin or they’ll continue to be a threat.

2010-08-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: WikiLeaks Documents Expose U.S. War Crimes in Afghanistan

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Among the shocking revelations revealed in the tens of thousands of WikiLeaks.com documents from the Afghan war reveals that U.S. and coalition troops adopted a scorched earth strategy. This means kill every living thing and burn houses and hutches to the ground.

Remember the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War? Since the VC hid out in the villages, the unit that committed the massacre had just lost a popular Sargent and another soldier was blinded in a firefight with the VC. They tracked the VC to the My Lai village and the unit was hell bent on revenge.

So Lt. Calley ordered his men to kill every living thing, including the babies. Then an elaborate coverup ensued. Ultimately, Calley was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. However, President Nixon ordered Calley held under house arrest, and he was paroled. It was tantamount to a pardon.

In WWII, Hitler adopted a scorched earth policy when his troops invaded Russia. He ordered his troops to kill everyone in the villages and burn them to the ground as his blitzkrieg rolled into the vast Russian hinterlands.

The WikiLeaks documents show egregious human-rights abuses "every day, every hour, and in every location." This strategy was sanctioned by high ranking generals who never reported the atrocities.

Specific incidents are chronicled in the WikiLeaks papers, such as, how U.S. soldiers fleeing a suicide bombing opened fire indiscriminately, killing 19 innocent civilians. The soldiers pointed their weapons at the journalists present, forcing them to delete their photos of the massacre. The incident was never mentioned in the official report.

Even worse atrocities were committed by U.S. special forces death squads in Afghanistan. These elite units were tasked with the assassination of targeted Taliban leaders. During the mission, as the squad made entrance into a house of a suspected Taliban leader, the hit-team went in shooting on full auto, killing anyone in the house, including the target’s family.

The squads operated with complete immunity, killing dozens of innocent civilians for every one Taliban official they killed. The U.S. soldiers had no respect for the civilian population, and if they got in the way, too bad, they were collateral damage. This mind-set was the unofficial order of the day.

As the U.S. forces took casualties and deaths from unseen suicide bombers and IEDs, the troops took out their revenge on the civilian population if they couldn’t find the enemy, that had already melted into the general population.

This raises an important question: Now that the WikiLeaks papers have exposed war crimes, will the individuals responsible be prosecuted as war criminals. Not a chance. First the U.S. did not sign the treaty that established the International Criminal Court–the forum for trying war criminals. Second, there is no moral imperative to bring these soldiers up on war crimes since they were operating with official immunity.

Recently in Afghanistan, Marines were never court marshaled for using chemical weapons in the form of phosphorous bombs against Iraqi civilians in Fallujah in 2004. It’s a well known fact that U.S. soldiers consider Afghan civilians’ lives worthless. When the enemy looks like civilians after they blowup Americans, it’s easy to rationalize killing a random sampling of civilians, and maybe they got at least one or two Taliban perpetrators in the pile of dead bodies.

These documents will inflame the anti-American passions of the Afghans who have accused the U.S. of indiscriminately killing civilians since the start of the Afghanistan war. It will also inspire more young men to join the Taliban and al Qaeda ranks as Jihadists, who harbor deep hatred for Americans who have committed countless war crimes.

2010-08-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Afghanistan War Drags On with Nothing to Show for It But More Casualties

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

President Obama says" the Afghanistan War drawdown will happen next summer as scheduled, but it will be much slower than expected." He went on to say, "What we’re looking to do is difficult–very difficult–but it’s a fairly modest goal, which is: Don’t allow terrorists to operate from this region. Don’t’ allow them to create big training camps and to plan attacks against the U.S. homeland with impunity," Obama said on CBS’ "Sunday Morning" in a "Time" piece.

But as the documents revealed by Wikileak.com, there is chaos and indecision in the officer ranks as the war drags on with nothing to show for it. The Taliban attack us at will with IEDs and ground assaults on our outposts.

American combat deaths are rising rapidly. Soldiers committing suicide back in the states is also on the rise, as troop morale and support at home wanes for this unwinnable war. Even Obama doesn’t think we’ll ever establish a democracy in the entire country.

This July was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the nearly 9-year war with 66 troops killed. Officers predict that the death toll will rise as the U.S. troops penetrate deeper into Taliban held territory.

Yet, the Taliban and insurgency have unlimited man power and weapons resources as they conduct their guerilla war with fresh Jihadists flowing in from the border area’s enemy stronghold just inside the Pakistan border. They don’t mind dying. In fact,` they look forward to Paradise

Our military leadership has never fully adjusted to a guerilla styled war in which our enemy is engaged. They continue to blow up Humvees at will with powerful IEDs using wired together artillery shells from Iran.

Knowing this, why do our officers continue to send troops out in convoys of Humvees and other vehicles? It’s crazy. The convoys are sitting ducks. The Taliban use donkeys to carry their supplies and ammunition on hidden mountain trails.

They live in primitive conditions in caves and are hungry most of the time. Indeed, they are committed to Jihad for Centuries not years and will move into our positions when we leave, laughing at our stupidity.

Clearly, Pakistan has not done enough to drive the Taliban out of the border region. They thrive there, getting supplies from Iran and their Pakistani partisans. No one wants to say we can’t win in Afghanistan, but it’s the truth, unless we get full support from Pakistan.

In the "Time" piece, Admiral Mullen acknowledged that "time and patience are short, and that all the fighting so far has not neutralized the Taliban as a military force."

Hell, we are the biggest damn fighting force in the world with high tech weapons and surveillance and we can’t beat a bunch of nomads wearing skirts? Who’s running this war–a bunch of incompetent fools?

So go to where the Taliban are located and bomb them to the stone age. Part of the problem is: We don’t know exactly where the Taliban and insurgency is hold up. It’s mountainous terrain with caves everywhere.

Another problem is, we are not allowed to enter Pakistan’s borders. We know that certain factions of the Pakistan government are sympathetic to the Taliban cause.

Still, it’s tragic and disheartening to keep losing troops and not make any progress in wiping out the Taliban. We’ve got to fight their kind of war using small groups of special forces to find and destroy the Taliban’s headquarters.

Yet, time and time again, American troops go out in convoys that might as well have big targets painted on the side. One Army corporal said on a recent CNN documentary, "Well today, I’m going out to get blown up."

Establishing remote outposts near the border is asking to get attacked and over-run. We are big and clunky with noisy armored vehicles. It’s like we’re saying, "Hey, here we are, attack us."

U.S. troops wear uniforms with American flags on the lapel. Dress our troops in native garb and make our presence a smaller target. And, don’t go out in Humvees just begging to get blown up by an IED.

Of all my suggestions to the bonehead generals, getting the Pakistan government to let us invade the border region and cooperate with us is the most important factor in defeating the Taliban.

Otherwise, I fear we’re already mired in a no-win Vietnam styled war, taking casualties for no reason or objective.

When we leave, the Taliban will again take over the hinterlands..

2010-07-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Firing Teachers will Not Solve Poor Educational Results–Quality Education Starts at Home

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The shocking firing of 241 teachers in the Washington D.C. region by dragon lady, Chancellor Michelle Rhee exposed a lack of understanding of what really goes on in today’s classrooms by the chancellors of the school districts, many of whom have never taught in a classroom.

The truth is: In affluent school districts, test scores are traditionally high because the students come from families who encourage intellectual achievement .Conversely, in poverty stricken districts, test scores are always much lower because the students lack support from their dysfunctional families with so many problems, they are divided into subgroups.

Indeed, all social ills come from poverty, including unmotivated students, which is the real educational plague, not poor teachers. Any teacher who has worked in lower income neighborhoods will tell you the same story. There is no intellectual encouragement in their students’ homes.

Making teachers the scapegoats for underachieving schools will not solve the growing drop in educational achievement. For too long teachers have been forced to resign or been fired for poor performance, when, in fact, it’s not their fault.

The underlying problem is students who come from dysfunctional families where there is no intellectual encouragement, and the students are not motivated to do well in school.

During my wife’s long career as a teacher (she is now retired) in lower income neighborhoods, she worked hard to motivate her students. However, they received no support from their families, who lived on the edge of poverty.

Many of her students were emotionally troubled by the high stress environment in which they lived. Some of her students came form single parent homes where the mother was an alcoholic and the father was in jail. They had no incentive to learn. Just surviving the daily horror show at home took up all their energy.

I remember many times she would come home discouraged by working so hard to motivate her students and not getting any results. She had disturbed kids who refused to do anything but act-out, disrupting the class with their antics.

This was a daily occurrence for her 21 years of teaching. Most days, she would come home exhausted from dealing with behavior issues and unmotivated students instead of actually teaching.

All these high and mighty administrators like Rhee have no idea of the reality of today’s classrooms. She’s just trying to make a name for herself by ruining 241 teachers’ lives. Come on, they all can’t be bad teachers. But, teachers have always taken the heat for poor test scores and underachieving schools.

Teachers’ unions fight this unfair propaganda daily by trying to save teachers’ jobs. But, for parents who do nothing to encourage their kids to do well in school, blaming teachers is a convenient scapegoat. They don’t dare take a hard look at their own fractured lifestyles and uncaring attitude as the real reason their kid is failing.. These are the same lowlife parents who complain to the principal that their kids’ teacher is not performing up to standards.

This unmitigated teacher bashing is reaching a crescendo as she-devils like Rhee preach that incompetent teachers are to blame for poor performance. It’s complete bullshit.
George Parker, president of the Washington Teacher’s Union said that the union will appeal the firings. He has vowed to overturn Rhee’s edict.

Exposing the truth about why schools in poverty stricken neighborhoods underachieve is politically sensitive. These administrators don’t want the blowback from low-income parents by saying their poverty and dysfunctional family is causing their kids to fail. That would be admitting that our whole economic system has failed a large portion of the population that happens to be black. So they blame the teachers.

Frankly, I was thrilled when my wife retired from teaching. The stress of dealing with unmotivated and emotionally disturbed students every day was killing her. It took her a couple of years to unwind from that 21 years of high stress.
When she looks back on her career of teaching, she doesn’t know how she lasted all those years.

It was a thankless, unrelentingly frustrating job of dealing with unmotivated kids. Occasionally, she would have a bright kid who overcame his or her home life by doing well in school. But that was the exception rather than the rule.

2010-07-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Muslin Center Near Ground Zero a Bad Idea

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The fact that the Cordoba Initiative to build an Islamic center two blocks from ground zero expresses one of our fundamental rights to freedom of religion, it’s a bad idea. Of all the property that the Muslims could have used, why choose a location so close to ground zero? It’s an insenitive choice.

Being a Muslim is light-years away from being a radical Jihadist. However, the radicalization of Muslims happens from mosques across the country. Although the radical Jihadists recruit from the mosque’s congregation, it’s not condoned by the thousands of Muslims who denounce the radicals.

The center is not actually a mosque but a center that serves a wider community. Still, it’s where Muslims gather which is a fertile ground for Jihadists to recruit radicals.

The truth is: Radicalization begins with young disenfranchised Muslims who are drawn to the radical philosophy and attend the mosques. All they need is a push from clever recruiters who know how to nurture the young Muslims’ budding radical beliefs.

These potential recruits attend Muslim mosques and centers. The recruiters meet them at social gathering and their pitch is subtle at first. Then they try to isolate the young recruits so they can be brain washed into the radical Jihadist mind set.

Before long, the Jihadist newbies are dreaming of 72 virgins and strapping explosives to their bodies for suicide missions. That doesn’t mean that this new Cordoba center near ground zero will be a radical Jihadist recruiting bastion. But it will be a grim reminder of the radical Muslims who used airliners as missiles and killed over 3,000 innocent people in the 9/11 attacks.

Just having a Muslim center near ground zero was ill-advised at best and essentially a bonehead move by the Muslim community. The truth is: The proliferation of Mosques in the United States is a windfall for radical Islamic recruiters. This new center rubs salt into the deep psychological wounds of the 9/11 victims’ loved ones who continue to suffer from grief and PTSD.

Despite the anti-Muslim backlash from many people of all religiions and walks of life, there is a growing population of Muslims in the United States, which sparked the new construction of masques across the country, including the Cordoba center near ground zero.

Most rational Americans realize that radical Jihadists and normal Muslims are worlds apart. Yet, there is a growing anti-Muslim sentiment among a large majority of people who blame the mainstream Muslims for tolerating radicals in their midst. However, the Muslim religion is growing exponentially, eclipsing Christians and other religions.

In some states, politicians have led the crusade to oppose the new construction of mosques. In June of 2010, Lou Ann Zelenik, a Tennessee Republican candidate opposed the Muslim proposal to build a mosque in Murfreesboro. Of course she was playing to the right wing factions that associate all Muslims with Jihadists. Well, they’re Bible belt Republican dunderheads

The proposed construction of the Cordoba center has been a lightning rod for protest at city council meetings. Muslim bashing is rampant in NYC. In contrast, a more moderate faction is willing to live and let live with the new Muslim center. No matter what happens, those who proposed this center so close to ground zero were blind to the widespread prejudice against all Muslims, whose religion is so foreign to American Christians and Jews.

The uproar over the proposed Muslim center exposed the prejudices against Islam that, up until now, were kept to private thoughts. Now, the religious bigotry against Muslims is out in the open.

The fact is: Radical Jihadists recruit their suicide bombers from mosques, not the local mall. So, there is justification for not building any more mosques, although it flies in the face of our constitutional right of freedom of religion.

2010-07-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Recovery Running on Empty–Again Obama Shows Lack of Leadership

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

When Congress ran off on vacation after failing to pass the Job’s Bill, which includes extension of unemployment benefits, President Obama went out and made a speech on immigration! This left millions of unemployed facing a grim future with no more jobless benefits. What was he thinking?

Again, Obama showed a lack of leadership by not making sure this bill got passed. He is the President of the United States and could have brought his office’s power to persuade the Republican block-heads that this bill was a priority. He could have made quid pro quo deals and twisted arms. Alas, he did none of that.

In fact Obama said "that the recovery is headed in the right direction but not as fast enough for a lot of Americans." Well, yeah, dummy. When you’re out in the cold with no job and no prospects of getting a job, of course gaining an extension in jobless benefits is not fast enough! What planet is Obama living on to make such a dumb comment.

The truth is: The recovery is running out of gas and will stop without a rapid infusion of new jobs. But, just the opposite is happening. Companies are still laying off thousands of workers as their budgets collapse. Of course, the enemy is the GOP’s lame excuse of passing the Jobs Bill will raise the deficit. As always, the GOP is doing everything they can to sabotage President Obama’s administration.

The Republican dunderheads didn’t care about the deficit when they authorized 700 billion dollars of the tax payers money to bail out Wall Street and the Banks. Not a peep. "Yeah, give it to them" the GOP leadership said.

Now the recovery is waning. Funny, economists advise stimulus spending over concerns about the deficit. However in their lust for power, Republicans will block Democrats from claiming any legislative accomplishments. Of course, Obama knows this to be true. However, he has options to use his office to influence the Republican backlash. Come on Obama, show some backbone. Fight for what is right.

The companies that are not laying off workers have frozen salaries and hiring. "The Wall Street Journal" said "that employers see the destructive impact of higher taxes, trade restriction, and more regulation." In the same "WSJ" piece, they said "Obama claims that even more government action will finally jump-start the economy." Yeah right, and all my hair will grow back and turn from gray to brown.

We already know that Obama’s stimulus efforts did not revive hiring. What’s worse, the Obama administration has all but ignored the fractured jobs market, thinking that it would revive itself with the massive stimulus spending.

Wrong! The states’ austere budgets reflect the dark cloud over the jobs revival. The states are enacting an "anti-stimulus program" that will greatly set-back any advantage in jobs growth that the stimulus was supposed to fix.

And remember Obama’s green energy campaign that was touted as the hail-mary for jobs growth. Well, it hasn’t panned out. Yeah, some new jobs were created in solar and wind power generation. But, it was a small and insignificant jobs’ stimulus.

The truth is: Lawmakers on the Hill are not hawking jobs growth. They’re getting geared up for the November elections, including the Obama administration. The Prez and his advisors are already holding strategy meeting on the elections instead of making sure the stimulus is working.

Meanwhile, there are still millions of long term unemployed who are still pounding the pavement or given up and living in their vans. Yes, this is serious, and unless the Obama administration wants to see bread lines in Washington D.C., then they better address this problem.

I know people who have lost their homes and cars and are living in poverty when, not so long ago, they were middle class. Yet, Obama doesn’t seem to get it. People are beyond disgusted. They are livid and Obama will pay the price this November and in 2012.

2010-07-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Flying Car Follow Up–MIT Grad Students Launch Terrafugia Company

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Six months ago, I wrote a piece on the development of a viable flying car. Soon the Terrafugia Company based in Woburn, Mass is launching their flying car to the aviation market.

At $194,000 a pop, this ungainly looking rear pusher-propeller flying machine is more of an airplane than a car. The problem of marketing a flying car has always been the compromises in road-worthiness versus airworthiness, rendering the flying car a mediocre car and not a very advanced airplane.

In other words, to make an airplane street legal as a car, and able to drive on American roads, takes away from its airworthiness. Adding a drive train and suspension adds weight to the airplane, which is part of this unlikely fusion machine.

Still, aeronautical engineers have dreamed of this fusion vehicle since airplanes were invented in 1903. Attempts to build and market such a contraption have failed to ignite public interest. It’s apples and oranges–you buy an airplane to get as much for your money as possible.

You drive your car to the hanger and park it to fly your plane. There are some aviation styled communities such as the one where John Travolta lives outside of Orlando that accommodate his planes next to his house and he can taxi out to the runway and takeoff.

The new model by Terrafugia called the Transition will take flight in 2011.The company claims it has 70 advanced orders. It was certified by the FAA and granted a special weight limit exemption for the car-plane. Of all the car-planes throughout the history of the airplane, this is the most technologically advanced model.

The wings fold-up or unfold like carrier aircraft in less than a minute. However, you have to take off from a certified airport runway. However, you can drive your car-plane from your house to the airport, unfold the wings, and take-off.

The Transition has a "glass cockpit"–meaning its displays and gauges are all computerized digital screens. As a car, it gets 30 mpg, but don’t expect it to drive like a BMW. You have the propeller in the rear and a rear end collision would be catastrophic and expensive.

Not surprisingly, the Transition is being marketed more as an airplane than a car. It now meets all NTSB safety standards. However, you need a single engine pilots’ licence to fly this car-plane.

The real advantage to the Transition is, you can drive it to and from the airport without expensive hanger fees. With the wings folded you can fit the Transition in most any car garage.

Figure the cost at more than 200 grand when you add an aviation radio, transponder, GPS, and a full plane parachute, which is a last chance life saver. The name of the company, Terrafugia is Latin for "escape from the land." The company was founded in 2006 by five MIT grad students who were also pilots.

The airplane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. Its takeoff weight is 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. The company touts its 10,000 ceiling as an advantage? It allows pilots to fly under bad weather. For private aircraft that’s a very low ceiling.

Other car-plane configurations will soon be available. There is a tri-wheeled vehicle that will transition into a helicopter, which makes more sense that the car-plane.

Its like a tri-wheeled motorcycle that you stop on the side of the road and unfold the rotors and lift off.

The ultimate flying car design is the Moller Skycar. The prototype has been around for at least 20 years. Moller’s design is way ahead of its time. It features four nacelle encased engines.

The nacelles rotate 180 degrees for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) Its navigation system depends on future air-lanes for these skycars in which once locked in, the vehicle stays in that lane until you reach your destination. The Skycar’s avionics are very advanced computerized fly by wire.

The Moller Skycar can reach 275 mph cruising speed with a top speed of 375 mph. Of course, since the Moller Skycar is VTOL, it will not drive on roads, but takeoff from the owner’s backyard.

For years, Moller has been soliciting venture capitalists so he can mass manufacture his invention. So far, the prototype is the only Moller Skycar in existence.

All these car-planes show promise. The question is: Is there a viable market for the Transition. The Terrafugia Company is confident that this aardvark aircraft will find a niche in the aviation market.

I’ll be updating this story in the future.

2010-07-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Stem Cells Restore the Sight of Ocular Burned Patients–This Advance Substantiates The Miracle of Stem Cells

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Most people remember the outcry from then president Bush Jr. (W) when the late Christopher Reeves sided with the scientists using embryos to harvest stem cells. The religious right had a hissy-fit. W pushed through a bill to outlaw using embryos to harvest stem cells.

Nitwit W and his ultra conservative dunderheads envisioned mothers selling their embryos for research. But at the time, stem cells were considered the next miracle of medicine. Reeves envisioned stem cells repairing his severed spinal cord. That day will come, I’m sure, but it’s too late to help Reeves.

Since then, the research has advanced exponentially. Scientists no longer use embryos to harvest stem cells. They discovered they can take stem cells from the organ that needs to be repaired and inject these cells into it and achieve astounding results.

So what is a stem cell exactly? It’s a cell that has the potential to develop into many different cell types in the body-- say (in the future) a new liver, pancreas, or heart. More significantly, they serve as an internal repair system, dividing without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person is still alive.

In a real case scenario, a man’s heart is failing. The surgeons injected stem cells from his heart into his ailing heart, and he made a remarkable recovery.
Exactly the mechanism of how the stem cells repaired his damaged heart is still being studied. But it was a true life miracle.

Now, in another real case scenario, people who were blinded by burns or corrosive liquids can have their sight restored using stem cells taken from one of their eyes. The caveat is: Treatment only works for patients who have at least a fragment of viable gimbal cells left in one of their eyes.

This story interested me because I have a damaged cornea on my left eye and glaucoma, which is pressure on the optic nerve which left untreated can cause blindness.
Of course, this stem cell treatment would not help me, but if the sight in my right eye goes, my doctor can give me a cornea transplant in the left eye to save my sight. It’s a hail-mary solution. I take eye medication to reduce the symptoms of glaucoma.

Under certain experimental conditions, stem cells can be induced to become tissue-or organ-specific cells with special functions. In some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow, stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues. It’s still not possible to rebuild a liver or heart–yet!

However, that day will come in the near future. Now, stem cells can be injected into a damaged heart and in an unknown method, these cells repair the damage. So, it doesn’t take much visionary thinking to predict that stem cell therapy will help burn patients, since the skin is an organ.

This breakthrough of stem cells repairing damaged corneas is a quantum leap in stem cell research. It’s a giant step in getting to better and simpler ways to successfully transplant tissue from living and deceased donors for patients whose eyes are too damaged to provide culture material.

These remarkable advances in medical science get very little press or hoopla. But stem cell research is finding new and miraculous ways to regenerate tissue and eventually replace damaged organs. If this subject bores you, then you’re like W–a dummy.

2010-06-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Ken Will Morton Live at Euro Street – A Rare Quality Songwriter Emerges from The Throng

By Rick Grant Music Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

A couple of years ago, I covered Ken Will Morton at the European St. On Beach Blvd., since then, Ken has been busy touring and recording for Sojourn Records. Slowly but surely, Ken has been making his bones as a quality songwriter, rising above the tangled jungle of wannabes.

So, I was curious about Ken’s new music and album "True Grit" and decided to crawl out of my self imposed exile from live music to catch his set at the European Street last Saturday night. I previewed "True Grit" on Rhapsody before covering Ken live.

The album was slickly produced and has a quasi-Buffalo Springfield vibe. The sound quality and mix are flawless. Overall, the work represents Ken as a top rated songwriter and singer, whose gritty voice is reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen.

Ken is a great believer in just let it happen. To overcome any diversity he jokes with the crowd.
In a bizarre pre-show incident, Ken was accidently locked in his friend’s car. He was writing a set list and she took the keys and locked the doors. Ken was trapped like a car thief. The car wouldn’t let him out until someone rescued him.

As a seasoned road dog, Ken took it in stride and joked about it to the audience. In any live gig, Murphy’s Law is in play. The show was booked as a songwriters circle with veteran songsmith Bill Sheffield. It was news to Ken, who went with the flow.

Ken’s solo set was a compilation of his songs from previous albums plus new material from "True Grit." Remarkably, Ken’s songwriting passes my test: "Would I listen to this album multiple times? The answer is yes!"

The title song, "True Grit" is a folk anthem lauding the salt of the earth people who struggle every day to make it to the next day. Ken performed many other songs that his fans associate with him, such as his "Deadliest Catch" song he wrote for the Discovery reality show, "Oh My Goodness."

The song will be heard in the background on this Tuesday night, June 22, at 9:00 pm on the new episode in which Captain Phil has a stroke and is carried off the ship. He later died in the hospital at only 53. Connect with Ken at www.myspcae.com/kenwillmorton

Halfway through his solo set, Ken brought up Bill Sheffield to jam with him. The format allowed Ken to play a song and Bill to play one of his original tunes. Both experienced guitarists played backup to each other despite not knowing each other’s songs. It worked out great. As Ken said, "Bill has scary skills."

Bill Sheffield has toured for years and released five albums of his blues styled folk music. Like Ken said, he bought a new energy to the room with is clever songs like the witty "I Don’t Hate Nobody."

Bill’s body of work is impressive. His songs have contemporary lyrics with his finger-picking blues style of playing and his excellent slide work. His new album, "In Other Words" joins my car collection of select music. You can find out more about Bill at www.myspace.com/billsheffield or at www.billsheffield.com

Incredibly, over the years, since Bob Dylan, and Neil Young set the standards for folk rock, roots music has burgeoned into a very crowded field. Over my 28 year career I’ve heard legions of would be songwriters who were mediocre at best. Now, it’s every mothers son and daughter’s ambition. "Mom, I want a $3,000 Martin for Christmas."

In contrast, Ken Will Morton has quickly risen above the cacophony of other folk artists who produce poorly written songs and go nowhere. Ken is finally breaking big and will be again playing the Athfest in Athens, Georgia June 25, 2010.

2010-06-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Madoff’s South Florida Twin Scott Rothstein Ran $1.2 Billion Ponzi Scheme–Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Big time politically connected lawyer, Scott Rothstein followed Bernie Madoff to the slammer for running his Ponzi scheme and bilking clients out of $1.2 billion in fraudulent investments. Rothstein was just sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for his fraud. At 47, Rothstein’s prison term is a life sentence.

There is no parole in federal prison. Rothstein will be dead or 97 years old when he gets out. The sentence sends a message to people who would consider perpetrating this level of fraud to think twice. Madoff is serving two life sentences as his retirement. .

U.S. District Court Judge James I. Cohn gave Rothstein more prison time than federal prosecutors requested. He threw the book at Rothstein’s ass.

"Today’s sentence punishes the defendant for his thievery and hopefully brings some sense of justice to the victims of this massive fraud," said U.S. Attorney Wilfred A. Ferrer in Miama, Florida.

Rothstein was dubbed "the Bernie Madoff of South Florida". He used his Fort Lauderdale law firm to con wealthy investors into buying shares in large settlements from nonexistent court cases. He paid his investors a form of "interest" from the money he received from new investors.

Inevitably, the Ponzi scheme eventually collapsed when Rothstein’s investors dried up.
Investors believed they would get their money back, plus "interest." Hedge fund managers, trust directors, and friends all invested with Rothstein.

Here is how he paid his clients interest: He told investors that he had clients who didn’t want to wait to collect their settlements, He told investors the clients would take a sharp discount if the money came sooner in a lump sum. The difference was the "interest" he paid the investors. Of course, the principle went into Rothstein’s bank account.

The scheme collapsed in October when Rothstein ran out of money to pay investors. To get out rich, Rothstein wired $16 million to an offshore account and fled to Morocco in a private jet.

Like Madoff, he left a trail of angry investors some of whom lost millions on the scheme. And like Madoff, staying alive in prison is Rothstein’s new worry. It doesn’t take much money to contract a hit inside prison.

Rothstein loved to flaunt his wealth with all the accouterments of the super-rich. He loved expensive cars, clothes, mansions, yachts, jets, and $35,000 watches. Easy come easy go was his motto.

Greed like power is as addictive as heroin. Rothstein knew that eventually he’d run out of money, but by then he thought he could escape justice on some far away island.

A contrite Rothstein returned from Morocco to the States two weeks later, explaining to CNN that "I went away to make sure I had my head on straight, I had been through all the emotional things and went through the hysterics–all the things you go through when you’ve done things you shouldn’t do."

How pathetic was that statement? Rothstein was trying to lessen the magnitude of his crime. "Oh, my head must have been twisted," he could have said.

Yeah, Rothstein had perpetrated a $1.2 billion fraud. He was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Poster. A criminal of his stature would be tracked down anywhere in the world by every law enforcement agency on the planet, and he knew it. When you defraud influential VIPs of over a billion dollars, there is no place to hide.

From wearing $6,000 suits to an orange jumpsuit is a long fall from grace. Pissed off investors will never let Rothstein have a minute of peace in jail. It’s just a matter of time before some inmate gladly shoves a shank in his heart for $200. In that respect, Madoff’s days are also numbered.

Even if Madoff and Rothstein are killed in prison, their deaths will not erase the damage they did. Nothing will make the investors whole again. The money has evaporated in the shock wave of their explosive frauds. Poof, there goes $1.2 billion.

2010-06-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Passed House–Repeal Faces Gaggle of Republican Bigots in Senate

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The convoluted journey to repeal the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) law finally passed the House by 234 to 194 votes. Not surprisingly, Republicans overwhelmingly voted against it. They used the lame excuse that "some military leaders need more time to study how a change in the law could affect the lives and readiness of service members."

This delaying tactic is particularly absurd since gays already represent at least 10% of active duty service members in all ranks right up to generals. We know this because many of these low and high ranking servicemen and women have left military service rather than live their gay lifestyles closeted under DADT.

Indeed, these skilled leaders, combat veterans, and technical experts served proudly and never flaunted their sexual preference. Until they came out as gay, their commanders and ranking officers had no idea they were gay.

When these gay servicemen and women left because of DADT, the military lost their valuable service. Over 13,500 service personnel chose to come out as gay rather than serve under DADT. 1,000 of those people were in critical career fields.

Now the DADT repeal bill hits the floor of the Senate like a smart bomb, with ranking Republican bigots lining up to filibuster the bill, led by Senator John McCain. President Obama and leading

Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. had supported the repeal.

The United States military is the only armed services in the world that had such a shameful law as DADT. Even the famous French Foreign Legion takes gay soldiers into their ranks.

The DADT repeal still faces a major hurtle. The amendment was written so that the repeal would not go into effect until after the pentagon publishes the results of a survey on how service members and their families view the change, and until the President, the Defense Secretary, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that the repeal will not affect the military’s ability to fight. Of course, the President and Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense have already backed the repeal.

Funny, the Joint Chiefs of Staff that have been fighting the repeal since it was announced. These old bigots don’t get it. There are so many misconceptions about gay military personnel, it borders on Machiavellian prejudice. Again, they serve now and no one has complained which makes this concern a devious strategy to derail the repeal.

President Truman didn’t ask for all these conditions when he wrote a presidential order to integrate the services in 1948. It wasn’t a cake walk. The various service commanders tried to circumvent the order by using loopholes, but by 1965, the services were fully integrated by African-Americans with every branch of the military recruiting black servicemen and women.

Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa, who served in the Iraq war, is the chief sponsor of the DADT repeal amendment. He said that when he was in Baghdad, "my teams did not care whether a fellow solider was straight or gay if they could fire their assault rifle or run a convoy down ambush alley and do their job so everyone would come home safely."

My guess is that the amendment will pass the Senate, despite the fierce opposition. But it will be dragged out months by this so called "survey," which could scuttle the amendment. President Obama should have written a presidential order and not given the Joint Chiefs of Staff any leeway to squash the amendment.

The slow moving repeal of DADT is another example of Obama’s lack of leadership.

2010-06-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Memories of Gulf Fishing Shattered by Gulf Oil Spill–Oil Continues to Gush Out of Uncapped Pipe now at 40 Million Gallons

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The apocalyptic Deepwater Horizon oil spill triggered childhood memories of traveling to Cedar Key on Florida’s Gulf Coast to go fishing with friends of the family. Like Mayport, Florida, Cedar Key is an unspoiled fishing village.

I’d accompany a jolly married couple on their 20 foot fishing boat for all-day fishing excursions. I have a vivid memory of the crystal clear waters of the Gulf. It was so clear, I could see the bottom and fish swimming around. It was amazing.

That pleasant image was shattered by the on-going month-long oil gushing from the BP’s broken oil well pipe, that has gushed out an estimated at 40 million gallons and counting.

Imagining the thick toxic oil mucking up the pristine Gulf water makes me sick. The oil has now reached the bayous and wetlands in Louisiana, destroying the ecosystem for many years to come. The disaster is now eclipsing all other oil spills and become a calamity of enormous destruction.

More significantly, another disaster is playing out in the black depths between the gusher and the coast. These petroleum toxins are killing sperm whales, large jellyfish, and even plankton, which is an important food source for the whale shark and other underwater creatures.

The oil contamination of the Gulf is spreading exponentially every day that gusher is not capped. In the long run, the oil spill could mean the entire Gulf of Mexico will become a dead sea with no wild life. The Big Oil executives could care less as long as they can continue pumping oil to satisfy the rising demand liquid gold.

Yes, it’s ironic that the skyrocketing demand for oil comes at a time when more and more influential people, like Ted Turner, are demanding that we reduce our dependency on fossil fuels in favor of wind, natural gas, solar, and nuclear power. But no, it’s falling on deaf ears.

Like supply and demand fuels the avalanche of drugs flowing into the United States from Mexico and Columbia, we demand our petrol to feed our precious internal combustion engines and shun electric, hybrid, or fuel cell power for our automobiles. The big V8 is still king despite the fact that the internal combustion engine is a primitive technology.

Every time some VIP lobbies to ban the internal combustion engine to reduce emissions, the Big Oil lobby starts lining palms in Washington. Many senators and congressmen were elected with Big Oil money.

Ultimately, it’s greed that holds back progress. And, that’s why we have 4,000 oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, all with potential of being another Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Indeed, the politics of Big Oil hold back progress to eliminate the internal combustion engine.

The millions of cars running on gasoline are Big Oil’s ticket to ride with multi-billion dollar profits. They’ll fight to the death to prevent alternative energy sources from pushing Big Oil into the dark ages of declining profits.

When I sit and reminisce about those relaxing days fishing in the Gulf in that clear water, the memory quickly goes away by the dark thoughts of massive Gulf oil contamination and whole species of animals dying a horrible death.

Perhaps some good will come out of this catastrophe and wake up people to start demanding electric or fuel cell powered cars. We have long had the technology to replace the internal combustion engine with alternative power plants. So, let’s get off our asses and lobby to send Big Oil packing. We don’t need them anymore.

2010-05-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Kevin Costner Plans to Save Gulf Coast with Giant Centrifugal Oil Separator

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The specter of movie stars dabbling in other fields, like starting rock bands, has always irked the people in the music business who think these movie stars are interloping on their territory and their efforts are ill-conceived to fulfill some vain rock star fantasy.

This time, however, movie star Kevin Costner, who sank $24 million into his giant centrifugal oil separators, has a viable invention that BP and the Coast Guard have agreed to test and use to help save the Gulf Coast.

Costner started working on the development of the oil separators when he was making his collossal bomb, "Waterworld," released in 1995. Costner says he’s
tested the machines and they do indeed work.

Essentially, these centrifuges are giant vacuum cleaners that suck up the oil tainted water, separate the oil and discharge it into a containment tank, with clean water discharging from a another outlet.

The huge stainless steel machines can handle large volumes of oil saturated water. If BP and the Coast Guard approve their use, Costner could sell them multiple units that would clean up the oil quickly. This of course, is contingent on BP capping the gushing oil at the bottom of the seabed.

After the Katrina debacle, Louisiana officials again criticized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for delays in approving an emergency plan to build sand islands to protect the bayous and wetland of Louisiana.

Now the oil has contaminated the bayous and wetlands so crucial to the ecosystem of the Gulf Coast. After all, there are 4,000 oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, any one of which could have a serious accident like the Deepwater Horizon, that would cause a catastrophic oil spill.

Actor/producer Stephen Baldwin is shooting a documentary about the oil spill and Costner’s centrifugal oil separator. Clearly, Costner is not seeking publicity, he is a serious conservationist who long ago foresaw a terrible Gulf Coast oil spill disaster.

Meanwhile, producer/director James Cameron, who invented high tech deep water submersibles for shooting the "The Abyss" and "Titanic" has offered his technology to BP and the Coast Guard who are definitely interested.

In addition to being a brilliant filmmaker, Cameron has invented new camera technology to shoot "Avatar" that allowed the cameraman to see the blue screen characters as real time finished characters against finished backgrounds, greatly enhancing the cinematographers viewpoint and speeding up the final cut.

So, Cameron and Costner are legitimate inventors who work to improve their art and are concerned about the environment. Yes, they’ve made big money in films, but they also crank big money into their inventions.

If all goes well with the Coast Guard and BP testing Costner’s separators, Costner plans to have as many as 26 machines spread out throughout the Gulf. The largest machine is 112 inches high and weighs 21/2 tons. It will clean 210,000gallons of oily water per day. By having all of Costner machines working simultaneously, they could clean over 2 million gallons of oily water per day.

Ah yes, this is a case of a filthy rich movie star putting his money where his mouth is to help the Gulf Coast. This is the largest oil spill in U.S. history, and will eclipse hurricane Katrina in long term harm to the ecology and economy of the Gulf Coast for many years into the future. And, worse yet, as of this writing, BP has not plugged the gushing oil.

2010-05-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Gulf Oil Spill–Catastrophic Blow to Gulf Coast’s Sensitive Ecosystems
Disaster will Effect the Gulf’s Ecology and Economy far into the Future

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The ongoing oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig will be a catastrophic blow to the sensitive ecosystems on the Gulf Coast for many years into the future, especially the wetlands where shrimp spawn and lay their eggs and crawfish dwell.

The magnitude of this disaster is only now beginning to sink-in to the millions of Gulf Coast residents, many of whom depend on the seafood industry in the region. Vast areas of the Gulf Coast fishing grounds have been shut down as a precaution to assure safety for the consumer.

It will take many years to restore the wetlands delicate ecosystem balance as the dark gooey crude seeps into the wet grass and marsh. It’s an unconscionable disaster that could have been prevented by the Deepwater Horizon operators, who had become complacent in doing preventive maintenance on the failsafe mechanism.

More significantly, if the oil plume gets sucked into the Gulf Stream loop, which would take it in a loop around the Florida keys and up into the Atlantic ocean, it could affect the Keys and the East coast of Florida.

This eventuality will kill Florida’s East Coast tourist trade. No one wants to look out of their hotel room and see oil washing up on pristine beaches. Ah yes, "I love the smell of petrolium in the morning."

Just before the Gulf oil spill, President Obama was promoting big oil drilling off the Florida Coast. Of course, that came back to bite him on the ass. These massive oil drilling platforms are designed to have safeguards, but when you factor in crew complacency, then anything can happen.

Today, 45,728 square miles are now off limits to fishing. NOAA is working with the Food and Drug Administration to "realign its assets to implement a broad-scale seafood sampling plan." Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said he had seen oil coming ashore on the Louisiana coast when he toured the region by helicopter last Tuesday.

Hell, New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are not yet over the Katrina disaster. Now, they’ve been hit with a giant oil spill that will wreck the wetlands and kill birds, shrimp, crawfish and other animal life in the region. It’s the double whammy that has performed the coup de grace on the Gulf Coast’s ecology and economy. They can’t take another hit.

"We saw heavy oil coming into the wetlands," Jindal went on to say. Presently, the main oil plume is about 50 miles from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Millions of gallons of oil have been spewing from the ruptured underwater pipe into the Gulf of Mexico.

The lawsuits are already being filed against BP by restaurants and seafood wholesalers in Louisiana and Florida over the Deepwater Horizon spill. The law firm overseeing the lawsuits says that the businesses are covered by the Oil Pollution Act and is asking the court to clear the way for appropriate claims.

All well and good, but lawsuits will take time to work their way through the courts. Meanwhile, the businesses will have to file bankruptcy to survive. At this rate, seafood will be a luxury menu item. One shrimp will cost $10.00 bucks.

After this disastrous oil spill, we should speed up the use of energy alternatives such as, wind and solar power as well as building more nuclear power stations. Sure, nuclear energy also has risks (remember Three Mile Island) but with new safeguards in place, nuclear power is clean and no threat to the environment. We definitely do not want more oil rig platforms off the coast of Florida or any other state. It’s just too risky.

Unquestionably, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will eclipse hurricane Katrina or any other recent disaster in scope and the many years it will take to clean it up. The volume of oil makes the Valdez oil spill look like a puddle by comparison. And, it took years to clean that up.

But that spill didn’t ruin any wetlands, like this massive spill. The wetlands ecology may never recover unless they rip out the grasses, clean up the oil, and replant the wetlands ecosystem which could take twenty years to regenerate the delicate eco-balance.

We have the resources to stop offshore oil drilling. So, let’s do it, before our beaches will be smeared with smelly oil.

2010-05-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Women on Submarines–Navy’s Last Female Gender Barrier Dives into The Deep

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The grizzled old warriors of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCOS) are now ordering doubles at their Washington watering hole. Yes, they are still reeling over the eventual repeal of "Don’t Ask Don’t Tell." Head of the JCOS, Admiral Mullen has finally endorsed allowing gays to serve openly in the military. Well, he was under orders from his boss, Bill Gates, Secretary of Defense.

Now, before the hubbub over the openly gay issue has died down, it was announced May 1, 2010 that 11 women who are graduating from the Naval Academy have been selected to be the first female members of the elite Silent Service Submariners.

Submarines were the last bastion of male only service. Women now serve on all classes of Naval vessels. However, the special circumstances of serving on nuclear submarines, that spend six months or more submerged, had always been a tough barrier to break through.

Even on the larger Trident and new class of attack subs, crew quarters are cramped. Privacy is non-existent, and other issues were bantered about as discouraging allowing women aboard these high-tech vessels.

The Naval Academy has chosen these 11 female pathfinders for their high functioning intelligence and their superior technical knowledge. Yes, "the times are a changing" in the U.S. Military which has always been slow to institute social change happening the rest of society.

In 1948, President Truman integrated the U.S. Military by executive order. But it was years before the racial tensions were resolved. Now with an all-volunteer service, the last female gender barrier has finally fallen. Women are still not allowed in combat, but they end up in firefights because of the guerilla tactics of the enemy. Anywhere in Afghanistan or Iraq is a potential battle zone.

Traditions die hard in the military and having women aboard or captains of Naval vessels has been fraught with problems. One female captain was relieved of command for abusing and humiliating her junior officers. In other words, she was fired for being a raving bitch.

Accommodating women aboard submarines will be difficult. Some interior design changes will have to be made, like separate latrines for women. But because of room limitations, it will not be impossible to provide separate sleeping areas for females. So, adjusting to having women aboard a sub for many months will be tricky.

However, these 11 female submariners have been trained to be leaders and endure the sacrifices that are required aboard submarines.

"I am not doing this to be a trailblazer. I see us being just like our male counterparts, and I think we’ll be accepted the same way," says Marquette Ried one of the chosen 11 Naval Academy graduating class.

All well and good, but in reality, the Silent Service is a tight community and those who cannot hack it are booted out. In contrast, serving in subs opens doors for ambitious officers who go on to be promoted to high ranking positions.

These women will be under tremendous pressure to perform as well as, if not better, than their male counterparts. Clearly, there will be tension–sexual and otherwise. Estrogen will flow through the air ducts along with testosterone and oxygen.

Young horny guys hunkered down in tight quarters will be tempted to establish emotional and sexual relationships with the female crew members. Putting males and females together for six months or more trapped in a steel tube could end up with little submariners. Of course, as on other vessels, female Naval personnel who get pregnant while at sea are discharged.

Sexist speculation aside, all eyes of the Navy brass will be on these brave women. Not only will they have to continually meet the high standards of submarine service, but they’ll have to put aside their feelings so this can work. The young men serving with them will have to tow the line and not get involved with the female crew.

Ah yes, but human nature is at work here, and hormones will be in the air. Having a coed crew under these circumstances will test the professionalism of the personnel–both male and female. "Dive, dive" may take on another connotation. (sexist pig) Anchors away!

2010-05-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Arizona’s Immigration Law Overreaction to Illegal Alien Crisis

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Arizona’s controversial new immigration law underscores the state’s bigoted past. It was the last state to make Martin Luther King a holiday. The state gave in only when the boycotts and lack of government funds hurt the state’s economy.

"Okay, you win we’ll make Martin Luther King Day a holiday but we think that Negro was a rabble rouser," the then Governor could have said.

And I thought Florida was the bastion of right wing conservatism. Yes, Florida is a dumb state, but Arizona’s Govenor takes the prize for the most bonehead move by signing this unconstitutional law that allows the police to decide who to stop anyone without probable cause and ask for their legal immigration papers.

This knee jerk reaction by the Arizona legislature expresses the deep frustration in our inability to properly police our borders. The truth is: Illegal aliens are pouring across the border with only token efforts to stop them. The undermanned U.S. Border Patrol is impotent to stop the massive influx of illegal aliens swarming like locust into the U.S.

Drug smuggling is also an unstoppable juggernaut caused by the insatiable demand for Mexican product (marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine) in the United States.

People are going to get high come hell or high water. Prohibition proved that. We’re all taking legal or illegal drugs for our anxiety or depression. In the case of illegal drugs, getting high is the motivation–a brief respite from the daily BS we all have to take. It’s like having a few beers at happy hour.

In previous commentary, I’ve advocated legalization as the only way to stop this multibillion dollar business currently controlled by the ruthless Mexican cartels. There is so much money involved, the cartels have more money and resources than the government.

In fact, today there is so much corruption in the Mexican army and police, the cartels call the shots. "They say, gold or lead?" meaning take the money or you are dead! So, everyone takes the money–usually hundreds of times more than what they legitimately earn working for the government.

A high percenage of the illegal aliens come here to find work that pays much more than they could earn in Mexico. Many farmers depend on this transient labor to get their crops picked and processed.

These illegals don’t mind working hard at jobs that Americans refuse to accept. These undocumented workers are not hurting anyone and when they earn enough money, they go back to Mexico to their families.

This system has been in place for many years. Granted, there seem to be many more illegals in the heartland and the East and West Coasts, over-staying their welcome.

Common sense dictates that there should be a system in place to help them get documented without penalty. But the anti-immigration lobby uses the drug smugglers as an excuse to rally opposition proselytizing fear of hardened criminals coming across the border in droves.

The misconception that illegal aliens are coming across the border and stealing American jobs is overstated by mass hysteria. Sure it happens in some construction firms, but it is closely watched by the immigration police, ICE. The economic apocalypse of 2008 is to blame for our massive unemployment and lack of new jobs.

Yes, it’s human nature for people get all worked up when they see Spanish speaking people moving into their neighborhoods. However, we must remember that America was founded by immigrants and the same is true today. Other cultures add diversity to our culture and make America a more interesting place to live.

It’s time for new thinking about the immigration issue using common sense with respect, dignity, and humanity to people who are trying to better their lives, just like the original immigrants who came here and braved the harsh conditions for freedom to seek their own destinies.

2010-04-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Chavez Seizes Control of Judiciary–Tin-horn Dictator Turning Venezuela into Cuba

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

That little commie tyrant, Hugo Chavez threw respected Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni in jail when she made a ruling Chavez didn’t like–effectively seizing control of the judiciary. This is another step in Chavez’s campaign to turn Venezuela into a Cuba-like banana republic, where everyone is equal–wallowing in poverty-- while El Presidente lives the high life.

Not surprisingly, Chavez’s idol is Fidel Castro. In his last visit to Cuba, Chavez kissed Castro on the lips, like he was in love with the aged Marxist. It was a disgusting display of hero worship by

Castro’s yapping lap dog, Chavez the power monger.

Jailing the tenured judge for freeing a political prisoner is yet another example of Chavez’s iron grip on this once prosperous democracy with vast oil resources. After his election, Chavez nationalized the oil industry, which killed free flowing profit motivation by private companies.

Since my sister-in-law lives in Caracas, Venezuela, I take a more active interest in the politics of this country. She has lived in Caracas for 45 years and has seen the country steadily go down hill under Chavez’s rule. She writes my wife Elaine (her sister) and me with regular updates on the latest outrage committed by the communist tyrant with a nasty barking mouth. Last month they had a water shortage.

Funny, Hugo Chavez’s reign of power can be compared to that piece of crap car, The Hugo as being a complete cheap-ass disaster. The wily Chavez got elected by the poor majority that thought he would help them overcome their poverty.

Like other dictators in history, it was a trick. Now poverty is all these people will ever know without self-determination to start businesses for profit. Chavez’s idol Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, he demanded complete control of private industry, courts, press, and all other personal freedoms. These tyrants are all the same.

In 2007, Chavez attempted to consolidate his power by a sweeping overhaul of the country’s constitution, eliminating term limits, limiting the central bank’s autonomy, and other sinister measures to assure he could hold power indefinitely.

The original referendum was defeated. However, in 2009, Chavez won a referendum to eliminate term limits. The bellicose Chavez wasted no time eliminating freedoms of expression, press, imposing political intimidation, and engaging in human rights abuses.

Clearly, throwing judges in prison is an egregious human rights violation. What about the UN’s position on Chavez’s power grabbing initiatives? Well, the UN is quiet on the matter but the European Parliament passed a February 2010 resolution expressing "concern about Chavez’s movement towards ‘authoritarianism’ (a euphemism for dictatorship)."

The world should wake up and smell the vile odor of Chavez’s Castro-styled paradigm shift to total authority and his divorce from democracy to establishing a Marxist state. Chavez’s iron grip on the judiciary is the most serious loss of freedom. Judges will be puppets of Chavez’s desires to silence opposition and fill up his jails with political prisoners.

More distressing is Chavez’s secret intelligence service (Gestapo) that has arrested dozens of anti-government protesters and opposition leaders in recent months. Now, with no time limits and Chavez’s sweeping powers, he has achieved his goal–to be like his idol, Fidel Castro. Their relationship was sealed with the French kiss of absolute power.

2010-04-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: NASA’s Glory Days Are Over–Obama’s Bold New Vision for US Space Program

Proposes Doing More with Less

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

When I worked for United Technologies on the Apollo Moon Landing initiative,(1965-1976) NASA had a blank check as did the private contractors. Our determination to beat the Russians to the moon and beyond drove the Space Race, with carte blanche funding. America had already been embarrassed by the Soviet Union’s launch of the first satellite, Sputnik, and sending up the first astronaut to orbit the earth.

At the time, there was real hysteria that our arch-enemy, the USSR, would use the moon and satellites as bases to blackmail us into submission. NASA became a powerful government agency literally overnight as the money poured in.

Then in 1973, after the last moon landing in 1972, NASA hit a rough patch with thousands of engineers and workers laid-off until the Space Shuttle Program geared up in 1976. The Space Coast, including Coco Beach went bust for a few years.

Today, as the Shuttle Program is nearing its end, fear of layoffs has again spread through the Cape like the plague. Presently, there is no new government funded space program to replace the Shuttle.

In his long anticipated speech last week, President Obama laid out a new vision for the U.S. space program. The ill-conceived new moon landing initiative called Constellation was axed. And despite Obama’s optimism about his new vision, his speech hit the Cape like a dumb bomb.

Nonetheless, Obama was upbeat about America’s future role in space as a cooperative venture which, ironically, includes the Russian space port to launch astronauts to the Space Station. But the future space programs will depend on private companies to build future rockets and space vehicles for deep universe exploration.

The widespread use of robotic space vehicles is the new paradigm for exploring space. If we take the human out of the space vehicle, it greatly simplifies the engineering and the cost. Sending fragile humans into space means taking care of them with food, water, and waste disposal on very long missions.

Boredom and crew conflicts could also be a serious problem on long journeys. At the present time it’s not practical. There is initial planning for a Mars mission, which will be in the far distant future.

The thing is: How can the well educated engineers and other technical support personnel working at the Cape get excited about Obama’s vision when they are facing layoffs at the worst time in recent history.

Some ex-Cape workers will find jobs with private companies, but the majority of highly trained space workers will be the newest victims of the economic apocalypse, that drags on, now in its third year.

America has always led the way in advanced engineering in space. It turned out that the USSR were technically far behind us and our anxiety over their gaining superiority was unfounded. However, we accomplished great things when money was not an object and we were driven by the Space Race with the USSR.

It’s a new dawn in today’s world of our struggling economic reality, while funding two wars, which eat up resources. Obama’s vision makes sense and NASA needs to learn to be a lean mean machine without relying on massive funding. In other words, if NASA is to survive, it has to become more like a private company than a government agency.

Private companies are already leading the way into space. Billionaire entrepreneur, Richard Branson’s private space company will soon launch paying customers into space to feel zero gravity and get a spectacular view of earth.

When cost and competition become the driving motivation in building future spacecraft, it will produce amazing results. In the future, the Space Shuttle will be viewed as the Model A of space travel-- a big clunky space truck and a relic of past government overspending.

2010-04-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: iPods and The Internet Dilute Significance of Popular Music

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

During the late 1960s and 1970s, popular music was driven by the counter culture rock movement, led by Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Neil Young. Today, the preponderance of alt-rock bands and aspiring singer/songwriters has overwhelmed the public’s ability to absorb it all.

Now anyone can join any of the paid music download sites like Rhapsody for $12.99 per month and check out any artist, listen to their latest music, and download it for a price. Yes, I use it and its great for checking out new artists. I used it much more when I was writing at least two music reviews every week. Nonetheless, it’s a boon to me and other entertainment journalists.

Back in counterculture era, when records were recorded on vinyl and the rock revolution was driven by exceptionally talented artists, listening to music was a sacred ritual. My friends and I would get the latest Bob Dylan or Beatle album, giddy with anticipation. We’d have a get-together to listen to the album, which always exceeded our expectations. Then we’d discuss it, smoke some marijuana until nothing we said made any sense. But an album release was a hip happening of the highest order.

Of course, there are those that would argue that the massive proliferation of pot smoking during that time fueled the movement. I disagree! It would have happened anyway because of the natural pendulum movement from the conservative 1950s to the beatnik awakening in 1960, and then the hippie subculture of the mid-1960s through the mid 1970s. I call it the swinging pendulum paradox.

The entire counterculture movement revolved around the evolution of rock’s unshackled creative renaissance. It was the voice of change as resistance to the war in Vietnam began to heat up and morph into the angry Anti-Vietnam War movement. Men grew their hair long in protest. Even bankers and lawyers had Beatle bangs.

Today, the pervasive iPods connected to the ears of just about everyone has pushed music into quasi-background music. Now music has lost its significance at stimulating new ideas and become part of a person’s private environment. The music is readily available for download on iTunes. There is no album release anticipation.

The Internet is saturated with new music. Anyone with a guitar and a song can produce an album and launch it on the Internet. Granted some of those artists have achieved fame just from their popular Internet sites, but that is the exception not the rule.

Every kid in suburbia has his or her own garage band with an album. It’s a right of passage for teenagers. Get the kid a Stratocaster and an amp in one box for Christmas. (It’s true, I saw the Fender box set at George’s Music.) For bonafide talented songwriters, it’s almost impossible to get noticed in the din of unmitigated musical dung on the Internet.

For at least five years back in the 1990s, brainy college students figured out how to download music for free, ripping off artists for millions of dollars before these sites were shutdown and the punks sharing the stolen music were prosecuted.

In today’s world, established artists’ new albums do not go gold or platinum right away, and they depend on touring to make money. Of course, a handful of mega-stars’, like Bob Dylan, catalogues are still commercially active. Occasionally, one of his older albums goes gold or platinum from catalogue sales.

Country music is still living in the past of radio play driving hits and albums. Country music artists nurture their fans more than rock or pop artists to keep their place in the king of the mountain game. Country stars stay after their gigs to sign autographs and chat with their fans. However, in country music, staying around more than one album and to continue creating hit music is the trick to survival..

Lately, rock and pop artists have been writing music for films and television which is a lucrative market. It’s a way of staying in the game and making money. But for the millions of wannabe rock stars, it’s a jungle out there with little chance of making a name for yourself. If an aspiring musical artist can write hit songs, or have a sound that appeals to the alt-rock fans, then his or her work will speak for itself.

2010-04-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Dumbest Pirates of Somalia–Drug Addled Lowlifes Attack a U.S. Warship

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The problem of pirates attacking commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia continues to be a scourge. For years now, they had seized many vessels and collected millions in ransom.

Most commercial ships sailing into the Gulf of Aden have taken precautions, such as hiring armed security or installing sound wave weapons that temporarily incapacitate the rag-tag Somalian pirates, driving them off suffering extreme ear pain.

However, now that piracy has become a money making profession among the dirt poor Somalians, a new class of pirates has set sail. These are the dumbest pirates in Somalia–illiterate and drug addicted lowlifes. This rabble had not even bothered to learn the basics of their trade.

The pirate morons set out in flimsy skiffs armed with AK-47s and RPGs thinking if they fire on a vessel it will comply. However, no one taught them about U.S. warships operating in the region.

They couldn’t tell the difference between a tanker and a heavily armed missile frigate. Idiots!

When the USS Nicholas was cruising along in the Gulf of Aden on a training mission, the first officer summoned the captain to the bridge. He couldn’t believe that three Somalian skiffs were firing on his ship.

"You’ve got to be kidding," the captain exclaimed, incredulously. He then ordered the .50 caliber machine gun operator to splash the skiffs out of the water. With three bursts of the mighty .50 cal, the gunner easily sank the skiffs. The captain then sent out a armed crew to fish out the hapless pirates and detain them in the brig.

Awhile later, the radar operator in command of the missiles got a lock on the mother ship and the captain ordered him to fire a ship killing missile at the old rust bucket. The powerful ship-to-ship missile blew the mother ship in half, sinking it in less than two minutes.

The captain was ecstatic that the crew got some action in a real case scenario. The more experienced pirates back on the Somalian beach were embarrassed by their lesser colleagues stupidity. It was the talk of the pirate contingent.

The pirates were formally arrested and remained on board the USS Nicholas until they could be scheduled to go on trial in the piracy court in Kenya. The USS Nicholas is based in Norfolk, Virginia. It is part of the U.S. military’s African Command.

Recently, the piracy problem has escalated off the coast of Somalia due in part to the country’s lack of a central government. The impoverished country is the wild west where anarchy rules and everyone is heavily armed with inexpensive AK-47s and RPGs. Rival warlords rule their gangs and fight each other for territory. Some of them have become wealthy using kidnaping and piracy as a means of raising cash.

Last week another piracy attack was thwarted against a Panamanian flagged cargo ship, the MV Almezaan. During the attack, the captain called a European Union naval force to drive off the pirates with heavy fire.

And so, the global shipping companies are fighting back by using escorts through the Gulf of Aden or hiring security companies to fend off the pirates. But the dumbest pirates of Somalia who attacked the USS Nicholas will be the butt of jokes for many years to come.

2010-03-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Legal Marijuana? No Brainer for Cash Strapped States–Smoke It, Tax It

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Excuse me while I get my old bong out of storage. Yes, cash strapped California has a legalize marijuana initiative before the voters. With a $20 billion budget shortfall, it’s a pregnant idea to turn that red ink into a smoking green surplus, dripping with high grade THC buds. Smoke it and tax the living daylights out of it.

Pot is already listed as California’s biggest cash crop. So, why not just legalize it and reap the tax dollars from an expanding industry. Legalization will also save hundreds of millions of dollars in law enforcement costs to stage paramilitary marijuana eradication campaigns.

The truth is: The war on drugs was lost years ago. Legalization of all drugs takes them out of the hands of organized crime syndicates and cartels. America is the drug demand capital of the world. Here in the U.S., there are over 30 million pot smokers. That’s a bodacious tax generating market.

More significantly, the expensive crack downs on smuggling drugs into the United States form Mexico and other countries has been a pathetic failure. At best, the Border Patrol has only seized less than five percent of the total tonnage of Marijuana and other drugs pouring into the country to satisfy the demand.

The phony preachers and bible belt religious groups can organize "Just Say No to Drugs’ rallies all they want, but drug users are not listening, especially marijuana smokers. This laid-back group correctly believe that pot is a benign drug that has medicinal benefits and a euphoric high.

Years ago, a controlled scientific study was conducted of regular marijuana smokers in Jamaica over many years of their life. It concluded that they suffered no adverse affects, except feeling more joy and appetite than non-users. For cancer patients on chemotherapy, pot smoking alleviates their pain and improves their appetite.

There are innumerable medical marijuana shops which have sprung up around the California. Granted, in California, it’s easy to get a prescription to buy medical pot for just about any malady–real or imagined. It’s time to face facts and not pretend that marijuana isn’t a widely used drug and in high demand countrywide.

The pertinent question is: If California’s voters approves the initiative for legal pot, will it set a precedent for other states to test the voters’ will to legalize it? Perhaps some states will go legal pot green, like Colorado and New Mexico.

Ah yes, not here in uptight Florida, which is a rabidly conservative state that is an extension of the bible belt ballyhoo. I’m like a whore at a nun’s picnic living in this awful state. Still, I get perverse delight skewering the conservative movement here in the state with sunshine coming out of the holes in people’s brains.

The California bill imitates the same restrictions as the alcohol laws. People would have to be 21 years old or older to possess, cultivate, or transport marijuana for personal use. Californians would not be permitted to use the drug in public or within the presence of minors, and would not be allowed to possess pot on school grounds. No more smoking in the boy’s room! And, no more getting the goldfish high.

A whopping $50 tax would be imposed on every ounce that’s sold. Well, that’s okay, every inhalation from the bong will be helping bail out the state. Hey, it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Yet, I don’t smoke pot anymore. Old age is making me stupid enough. I don’t need any help.

Still, if marijuana was legal in Florida, I might indulge to help the state get out of its billion dollar debt, which was caused by dumbass Governor Crist’s tax cuts. Hell, it would be my civic duty. Now where did I store my Cheech and Chong movies.

2010-03-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Catholic Church Still Infested with Pedophile Priests–New Priest Sex Scandal Surfaces in Ireland

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

When are Catholics going to learn that their Church is nothing but a medieval money making machine, that, for years, has harbored innumerable pedophile priests? For years, the Vatican has tried to hide these heinous crimes from their parishiners. This cancer within the Catholic Church continues to make sordid headlines of fractured families filing lawsuits, causing the Vatican to hire expensive lawyers.

Consequently, the Vatican has been paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuit judgements. Today, all the Pope or the Bishops can do is say "we’re sorry," and go back to covering up sexual abuse by legions of their priests.

To exacerbate this outrage, the Vatican leadership has refused to face up to this endemic scourge. They have moved these predatory sex deviants to other parishes, instead of having them arrested and owning up to the scandals. In some cases, the church offered these sex abusing priests "therapy" and, convinced it cured them, placed them back in charge of parishes.

The truth is: Pedophilia has proven to be incurable. Law enforcement experience teaches that when these deviants are released from custody, they offend again and again until they’re taken off the streets and jailed for life.

Thus, once the pedophile priests had been "treated" and relocated, they continued to offend, ruining the lives of countless families over many years of abuse. The cases are gut wrenching. Many sexually abused children were embarrassed to come forward until later in their adult life.

Just yesterday, a woman’s awful pedophile priest story ran on CNN. She grew up with a parish priest nightly having sex with her, her sister, and her widowed mother. Her sister committed suicide and her mother went crazy. She is now in therapy and suing the diocese. The priest died in prison.

Now, a new series of pedophile priest sex scandals has surfaced in Ireland, a traditional Catholic stronghold. Pope Benedict XVI said he was "truly sorry" for the abuse suffered by the victims at the hands of Catholic priests in Ireland.

Indeed, the Pope’s apology doesn’t even begin to redeem the filthy rich Vatican hierarchy of its responsibility. These old men in robes are corrupt money grubbing swine who are probably pedophiles themselves.

Indeed, the Vatican has known for years about the infestation of pedophiles in their midst. Yet, they have chosen to keep it secret by offering to pay off victims under the table, or shuffling pedophile priests around to sweep the problem under the rug, rather than admit the problem exists.

Yet shockingly, blindly devoted Catholics still believe that the Vatican has their best interests at heart. Hear this fools: The Catholic Church is a big, bloated relic of the past when people were burned at the stake and the Pope was a political manipulator.

The Vatican is afraid that this scandal will bring down its bloodsucking empire. In fact, they seem to have preferred to payoff the lawsuits than call the police on their pedophile priests.

In a recent CNN report by Terence McKeirman, he says, "As the depth and range of the secrecy that allowed child sexual abuse to continue within the Catholic Church is revealed, some governments are becoming comfortable with the notion that they must become more active. The U.S. should follow suit. Congress should convene hearings on the true scope of child sexual abuse within religious institutions."

We know that cult leaders use their power over their flocks to sexually abuse their children.

Likewise, the Catholic Church is like a gigantic cult of religious hocus-pocus.
So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that any religious group could be corrupt. Religious groups are preying on people’s need to have spiritual interaction. Organized religions are nothing more than money making businesses.

Now that the issue of pedophile priests is global, the Vatican has its worst PR nightmare in its history. If I were Catholic, I would immediately cut off all ties with the religion. Even devout Catholics are leaving the church in droves.

My main point is: You don’t need an organized religion telling you what to do and how to live your life. You can have deeply spiritual beliefs without joining these money making scams.

If the Pope says it’s a sin to use birth control, ask him is he willing to raise all of your unwanted eight kids? He only said that to assure the Vatican has more Catholics to give more money to fill up the Vatican Bank. Despite the millions the Vatican has paid out in sexual abuse cases, the Vatican Bank still has billions in assets and valuable art.

2010-03-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Paying for News Online Will Never Fly–The Rocket has Blasted Off the Pad

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Recently "The New York Times" announced plans to charge for full access to its website. Times’ readers will be able to access a certain number of stories for free each month, with fees kicking in for readers who exceed that level. Well, good luck with that bonehead proposal. It will never workout in the long run. Paying for news that is already free on television or the Internet is madness.

As major newspapers clamor for ways to make up their plummeting ad revenues, executives are brainstorming new ways to offset their losses. Since the Internet has been streaming news free for years, trying to put that genie back in the bottle is impossible. The rocket has blasted off the pad!

Of course, the arrogant suits running the "New York Times" are delusional if they think that their content is so well written compared to other news sources, that discerning readers will pay the extra fee to get their quality journalism.

Wake up and smell the coffee fools. It’s not going to happen in the real world of instant Internet communications. Besides, axed "Times" journalists have moved online to "Politico" and "The Huffington Post, providing the same level of quality journalism as when they worked for the "The (stuffy) New York Times," that foolishly got rid of their quality writers to save a few bucks.
Free news flows through the matrix of the Internet at the speed of light. The most popular news websites are CNN, Yahoo, MSNBC, and "The Washington Post."
CNN streams raw footage of disasters as they happen. Anything and everything is well covered by excellent reporters and commentators.

So, how are printed newspapers going to survive as more news websites pop up selling advertising. It’s a brave new world of global Internet communications. Printing ink on paper is expensive and bad for the environment.

Yes, I still subscribe to a newspaper as a holdover from the past. And I still prefer reading books to the new species of electronic books on readers like the Kindle. I like the feel of the paper in my hands to a cold tablet PC.

As an old man, some things like curling up in front of the fireplace with a good book are lifelong pleasurable experiences. Reading my newspaper in the bathroom every morning is part of my beginning of the day ritual.

Indeed, the Internet is an unstoppable runaway train. It has changed communications forever–blasting news and information into cyberspace, available at one’s fingertips.
The marriage of television and the Internet is right around the corner. Clearly, there are so many free alternatives to paying for news, why would the "New York Times" think that they are that special? They’re not.

The answer to the problem of replacing lost ad revenues lies in slowly raising Internet advertising pricing by working out a rating system like television uses to set ad rates. Nickel and diming people for using a news website is petty and will not come close to replacing lost ad revenue.

There are a few websites worth paying for such as IMPD Pro which I use as a movie critic. And, I pay a monthly fee to belong to Rhapsody, a music downloading site. It enables me to preview music before buying it on a download to CD.

Paying for news services is doomed to failure. There is so much free news in cyberspace, it boggles the mind. Those dunderheads at "The New York Times" need a reality check.

The entire news publishing field has moved or is moving to the Internet for free. It’s time to face the fact that old fashioned newspapers are on life support. In a couple of years, they will be a quaint thing of the past.

2010-03-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Generation Gap Bridged by Economic Apocalypse –From Boomers to Millennials, Everyone is Hurting

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

To set the record straight, in my view, age is just a number. I do not ascribe to labeling generations. To me, all age groups face the same challenges–sooner or later. Young people are on the same path as older people, except they’re traveling on a different train moving behind the older generation’s journey through linear time.

When a young person enters the workforce, then everything depends on how much they earn. Eventually, they seek a life partner in marriage, which leads to mortgage payments, and many other expenses. When kids enter the picture, expenses increase exponentially.

My generation is called Baby Boomers because we were born during or just after WWII. (46-64). Actually, I just missed that classification since I’m 69. Nonetheless, I’m an old fart traveling into my twilight years, but feisty and keen to learn and communicate with young people. We have much to offer one another.

The Gen-Xers are in the 30 to 45 age group. And 18 and older are now called Millennials. Yeah, I loathe these arbitrary labels. It’s media hype to show how clever we journalists are at coming up with nifty phrases, like "twentysomething." Adding "something" to the age comes from that old TV series "thirtysomething." Yes, we journalists love to weave pop culture into our commentary.
The divisions between generations were bridged when, in 2008, we were hit with the economic apocalypse that swept over the land like a massive tsunami, wiping out our entire financial infrastructure, includiing millions of jobs which subsequently caused millions of home foreclosures. Suddenly, the middle class was dead. Families were going to food banks and homeless shelters.

Ready or not, (not) I was forced into semi-retirement as were many of my age group. As a journalist, I shifted gears, writing as a freelancer and weekly commentary for my own webzine. Hey, at least I’m still practicing my trade, but having to live on a strict budget, with no savings. However, I press on with a positive attitude. The freedom from editors’ tryanny has been refreshing.

The economic catastrophe forced a seismic shift in the financial status of all age groups. Suddenly, young and old were driven from comfortable middle class lifestyles to borderline poverty. Once a person leaves the workforce because of age, then it’s extremely difficult to find meaningful employment because of our culture’s deeply ingrained ageism, which I have experienced first hand.

The so called Millennials (18 and over) felt the blast of the economic apocalypse first when they were in college and facing a grim job market. Today’s young people are the first truly digital generation. Two-fifths of this age group have tattoos and three-quarters have created profiles on Facebook or some other social networking site.

This is indeed the generation that grew up with computers and broadband Internet access, with the magic of Google to find out any information. They extend social trends that the Gen-Xers started. Non-fiction books no longer need bibliographies. Just list reference found on Google.

In my case, I was into computers in my 40s and have upgraded my hardware and knowledge as new technology came on the market since then. It’s a myth that my generation is computer illiterate. But this is just one misconception that young people harbor about older people.

My point is: Since the economic apocalypse brought the younger and older generation together in the same disaster, we have an opportunity to use this common ground to better communicate and negate the stereotypes and prejudices. Like I said, we have much to offer one another.

2010-03-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Orca Whales Should Be Free, Not Confined in Tanks–Death of Trainer Underscores The Cruel Exhibition of Whales for Profit

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The death of 40 year old trainer, Dawn Brancheau at SeaWorld, although tragic, underscores the cruel exhibition of Orca Whales for profit is morally wrong. In fact, confining any wild animals in cages or water tanks for human entertainment is unconscionable.

These magnificent Orcas roam the oceans as predators, feeding on seals and other marine life. They belong in the open ocean not in a tank, which severely limits their movement. Not surprisingly, these Orca prisoners can be neurotic and lash out at their trainers.

Orcas are highly intelligent mammals that travel in family pods. They seem to like humans but only if they are free to swim back into the ocean. Keiko, the whale from "Free Willie" movie was taken to Iceland off the coast and placed into a large cordoned off area in the bay for a adjustment period.

Keiko’ s handlers’ goal was for him to find his long lost pod. Eventually, Keiko was free to roam the ocean if he wanted. However, he would go up to boats and ships in the bay, looking for human interaction.

Given the choice, and Keiko’s background with humans, he chose to stay in the bay and seek human company. When he tried to join a pod, he was rejected. Still, Keiko seemed happy with his new freedom and lived out his life still bonded to humans.

Today it’s illegal to kidnap whales from the open ocean for shipment to sea parks. SeaWorld has a breeding program to release Orcas back to the ocean and to exhibit them in the tanks.

That’s admirable, but for the confined whales, including Tillikum, the large male that killed Ms. Brancheau, he’s serving hard time in a glorified swimming pool jail. Tillikum was kidnaped in 1983, and has acted as a breeding male since then.

Since Orcas are high on the intelligence scale, they deserve to be free and not presented for human entertainment. In the wild, Orcas avoid humans unless they have a calf, then divers should stay away, giving the mother Orca a wide path.

These large mammals sense that we are intelligent beings like them. Pioneering researchers like the late John C. Lilly studied human to dolphin and whale communication. Lilly concluded that dolphins and whales have a sophisticated multidimensional language and could psychically communicate with humans.

Lilly was looking for the holy grail of dolphin-human communication--a language link that would allow humans to talk to dolphins and whales. He never found that link, but he applied his research with dolphins and whales to his human philosophy learned from these animals in his groundbreaking book "The Mind of A Dolphin."

In captivity, there have been numerous Orca attacks on trainers. Tillikum was involved in the death of a trainer in Canada in 1991. And then, a man who had sneaked into SeaWorld in Florida in 1999 was killed in Tillikum’s pool.

The only way to view these impressive sea beast is to travel to its natural habitat near seal colonies and view each whale killing their prey by coming up on the seal at a high rate of speed, grabbing the seal, and leaping out of the water with the seal in its mouth, then shaking it like a rag doll.

SeaWorld does rescue beached whales, saving their lives and releasing them back into the ocean. If rescue and research are their goals then fine, hurray for SeaWorld. However, the SeaWorld corporation exists for profit from selling tickets to its shows by imprisoning these large whales.

If Lilly had developed a human-whale language, and we asked Tillikum, "Hey Tillikum are you happy at SeaWorld?" His answer would be, "Hell no, get me out of this tank, I’m going crazy!"
Zoos and sea-parks rationalize their existence by having breeding and animal conservation programs.

The real truth is: They exist to make money for the company that owns them. All wild animals should be free and left alone. We can observe them at a safe distance, but human contact disturbs their natural order.

2010-02-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Initiative Must be Stopped–It’s Time to Get Tough with Lying Ahmadinejad

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

It’s no secret that Iran has nuclear weapons ambitions. Everything they have done in the last ten years proves that this anti-American, anti-Israel Islamic state has been moving in that direction. Yet, their supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continue to lie about their intentions.

Just last week, Khamenei denied enriching uranium and thus taking steps to make a nuclear weapon, saying "these kinds of weapons of mass destruction are symbols of genocide and are, therefore, forbidden by our religion." He went on say that Iran is only interested in nuclear technology is for generating power. Right! He’s a lying sack of Islamic dung.

Undisputed Intelligence reports from America and Israel have contradicted Iran’s official denial for many months. We know, unequivocally, they’re building a nuclear weapon and may already have done it, and are now adapting it to their
missile systems.

My question is: Why the hell are we handling Iran with kid gloves? After all, Ahmadinejad has already stated that Iran will blow Israel off the face of the earth. Israel has no problem bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, or sending special forces troops to sabotage Iran’s nuclear manufacturing plants. Israel’s very existence is at stake.

Yet, America is continuing its diplomatic initiative, which only gives Iran more time to finish their nuclear weapons program. Iran is just too dangerous to allow them to possess nuclear arms. Would they use a nuclear weapon to bomb Israel? It’s possible. More likely, they would use their nuclear might to pressure Israel and America for concessions.
It’s time to stop talking to Iran and scuttle their nuclear program by any means necessary.

Besides, Iran has ties with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. It’s political infrastructure is in turmoil with continuing protests and uprisings. How would Iran secure its nuclear weapons in such a volatile atmosphere? The military could secretly sell their nuclear arms to terrorist groups, who would use them against the West.

No one wants a full-fledged war with Iran, but we have the capability to eliminate their nuclear weapons initiative with smart bombs and missiles delivered by drones and ships. Hit them at the heart of their nuclear facilities and force them to capitulate.

Former IAEA weapons inspector David Albright told CNN that Iran’s behavior "has to make you worry more about a potential conflict. They’re pushing on things that make them look like they’re going for nuclear weapons, and that’s risky. If they go much further, they may bring an attack on themselves by Israel. Iran needs to be more careful about its actions."

Indeed, but read between the lines. Iran is pushing to gain concessions by taking they’re ambitions to the limit and beyond. They’re practically daring Israel to attack them.

The bottom line: Israel does not intend to let Iran obtain nuclear weapons–period. They are on the verge of an all out attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. We, of course, would have to back Israel and it could develop into a nasty war.

So be it, if that what it takes. There are already too many nuclear weapons on Earth. We can’t allow Iran to posses them. For them to continue to lie isn’t helping their cause.

2010-02-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: John Mayer Should Shut Up and Concentrate on Music–Another Rock Star is Exposed as a Whiny Jerk

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Over the years I’ve interviewed innumerable so called "rock stars" and found them to be self-absorbed and suffering from fits of self esteem. Yes, I loathe rock idols for buying into their own hype and behaving like the world owes them something.

Not surprisingly, they turn out to be snitty creeps who have nothing to contribute to society and wallow in their own bloated ego. Yet, they get filthy rich and live hedonistic lifestyles. And, if they live, they end up blithering idiots in their old age, like Ozzy Osbourne.

Lately, another rock star jerk, John Mayer has received an avalanche of negative press for his mouth problem–saying anything thing that comes to his mind, offering way too much information about himself. His "Playboy Magazine" interview is now infamous.

For some inexplicable reason, female movie stars are drawn to rock stars Women love the bad boy demeanor and rock stars exude it in spades. But notice they never stay with their rock star boyfriend. He’s too much in love with himself to share that love with his partner.

Recently, Mayer became the tabloid darling de jour for dating a gaggle of starlets, such as, Jennifer Anniston and Jessica Simpson, then dissing them in his "Playboy" interview, in which he called Simpson "sexual napalm."

In an incredibly stupid moment, Mayer used the N word when babbling about the fact that he hadn’t dated a black woman. Then he compared his genitals to a white supremacist. He prattled on by telling "Playboy" readers that he is a chronic masturbator–like his fans really wanted to know that.

In a Feb. 10th concert in Nashville, Mayer promised to "quit the media game," and return to doing what he does best, playing guitar and writing songs. But, between songs he babbled more gibberish about his music being about relationships ad nauseam.

The guy just won’t shut up about himself. A "Rolling Stone" photo depicted Mayer with his left arm covered with tattoos portraying a cliche sex-idol image. Funny, that photo was the talk of the gay community.

What happens to these musicians when they ascend to the top of the music business? In Mayer’s case, he’s so taken with himself he can’t help but talk about it. During a typical John Mayer concert, the girls on the front row dream about going back to his bus and giving themselves to their rock-god. All teenage girls go through their rock star phase. It’s a type of temporary insanity, driven by raging hormones.

Interestingly, all rock gods and mega-groups drew hordes of screaming teenage girls. The Beatles couldn’t hear themselves perform in many of their stadium concerts in the U.S. because of the high decibel level of screaming girls. They were mobbed everywhere they traveled.

Ditto for Elvis, who pioneered the screaming teenage girls phenomenon. His pelvic thrust was considered too vulgar to show on television. But the teenage girls in his audiences knew what it meant and every time he’d thrust his hips, girls fainted from sexual hysteria and yelled "give it to me, baby."

After the Elvis generation of young women grew up, they got married to accountants and became the Donna Reed generation–bored housewives wishing they found their Elvis, who could make them scream like banshees when that wicked pelvic thrust sent them to Venus.

John Mayer is just another boring rock star jerk who joins a rogue’s gallery of dumbasses relying on their good looks as their main reason for being. Mayer’s music is sometimes inspired, but he plays a lot of covers to make up for his lack of original songs.

Mayer just doesn’t have the passion that matches his talent. But he sure loves himself. My advice to Mayer: Shut up and use the energy you burn up on talking about yourself to write more songs.

2010-02-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Tea Party Tart–Sarah Palin Having Delusions of Grandeur

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

There she goes again, Sarah Palin is having delusions of grandeur. In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Palin said," If I believed that that (running for President) is the right thing to do for our country and for the Palin family, I would do it."

Yes, the Tea Party Tart is positioning herself as a presidential candidate, using the new Tea Party hoopla as a platform to ride on this tsunami of right wing anger right into the White House.
After her interview with "Fox News," Palin addressed the Tea Party Convention as keynote speaker, which cost attendees $500 a pop.

Palin goes on to say, "I think that it would be absurd to not consider what it is that I can potentially do to help our country. I won’t close the door that perhaps could be open for me in the future."

The sad truth is: Palin may actually have a chance at winning the presidency in 2012 by aligning herself with the Tea Party agenda. Having Palin speak at the first Tea Party convention was an effort to legitimize the movement into a political force with Palin as their new age Joan of Arc.

The Tea Party is a grass roots movement that grew out of the discontent with Obama’s agenda of big spending, more taxation, and big government–GOP mantras. However, the Tea Party evolved from the shattered middle class who are jobless and lost their homes in the economic apocalypse--Democratic bastions.

Basically, the Tea Party is an independent group who are disgusted with both parties. Enter Tea Party savior, Sarah Palin to lead the "revolution." Onward Palin soldiers into the hellish wind of Obama’s perfect storm, she raves like an evangelist.

"The movement grew out of common sense conservative principles.... and was a call to action to change the way both parties do business. America is ready for another revolution and you are a part of this," Palin said to a standing ovation.

Palin deftly tapped into the Tea Party’s group consciousness by referencing the upset victory of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts special election to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. She told the crowd that the Obama administration should stop lecturing and start listening. (another standing ovation)

She flew into the Tea party convention like a hawk diving onto its prey. She rebel-roused the attendees with her ah-shucks, down home charm of the Alaskan hunter who recently stalked her prey and laughs at adversity.

Yes, Little Miss Alaskan Sunshine uses her every-woman persona to get inside her audience’s heads with her witches potion of simple rhetoric, tales of shooting a moose, tending to her brood, and telling the anger addled Tea Party group what they want to hear.

Then she hits them with her best shot. "If Obama continues on the path that he has America on today, he’s not going to win," Amen, preacher lady. She then tells the crowd," now send me your crippled people and I will heal them with my magic wand of home-spun wisdom. Then I’ll turn rocks into fish.

Given that the Tea Party is intrinsically a non-political group trying to be a political force, Palin’s style suits them to a tee. Men want to fuck her–women want to be her.

And so, Palin has risen from obscurity to a strange energy force who is influencing a segment of the far right who want to break away from the two party system. She’s an unpredictable maverick on the loose. Who knows where she’ll pop up next.

The Tea Party is a perfect platform for the mighty Palin-transformer who should never be underestimated. I may loathe her, but I would never count her out as a possible presidential candidate in 2012. Stranger things have happened, like W’s two terms.

2010-02-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Toyota Loses Customer Confidence–Greed Driven Cost Cutting Results in Lower Quality Cars

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

After the news broke of Toyota’s sticking gas pedal recall, affecting millions of the company’s best selling cars, the mighty Japanese automobile maker had to shut down production and the sale of its inventory. The manufacturing titan went from selling the most popular car in the world, the Camry, to dead-in-the-water, overnight.

As of Feb. 1, Toyota announced that it is sending out repair kits to Toyota dealerships. Now, the owners of millions of cars will have to get on a long waiting list to get their cars repaired at their dealership.

Meanwhile, Toyota owners have three choices: Either wait in line (it take months) for an appointment to get their car fixed, park it and rent a car, or trade it in for an American car. For the largest car company in the world, this is a mega-disaster–a nuclear explosion of public relations.

It will take thousands of man hours to fix over 4 million cars already on the road. Worse still, Toyota dealers can’t sell their inventory of cars with the defective gas pedals until they are modified, after they fix the customers cars.

The gas pedal issue uncovered Toyota’s surreptitious campaign to expand as a profit motive–a purely greed driven decision. To do this, the company decided to start using cheaper parts from suppliers other than the one’s they had used in the past. The consequences of this bonehead move by Toyota’s top executives has lowered the quality of the Toyota brand–it’s number one selling point.

To boost profits, Toyota’s beady-eyed bean counters went on a frenzy of cost cutting measures without considering the consequences of wrecking their reputation for quality and dependability. The result was, since 2007, Totoya has been selling an inferior product, unbeknownst to their loyal customers.

Indeed, the gas pedal problem is just the tip of the iceberg. Owners are suddenly asking: What other sub-standard parts are lurking under the hood and body that might fail before the car has 25,000 miles. Now the company is faced with a catastrophe of mammoth proportions.
Pissed off Toyota owners are trading in their now unsafe hunks of steel for Fords and GM cars.

Ford sales are up by 25%. More significantly, people like Ford products because the company has worked hard to convince people that quality is indeed job one, and unlike GM, Ford did not take any bailout money. However, it’s taken American auto manufacturers decades to overcome their reputation for selling poor quality cars.

Toyota’s dirty little secret is rooted in lowering costs. The company moved more parts-buying overseas, away from their quality Japanese suppliers. Now, customers can see the result by comparing older Toyotas with today’s models. But it’s what you don’t see that’s worrying.

Yeah, now that Toyota has been caught cheating, the company assures its customers it will look through all its new models’ parts’ lists for potential problems caused by cost-cutting and find a fix. Right! It’s too late, most Toyota owners will get rid of their cars and buy American.

Toyota’s CEO, James Burke should step up and accept responsibility and apologize, vowing to start from scratch to rebuild Toyota’s reputation for quality and dependability. Even if that happens, It will take years to overcome this scandal.

The only way Toyota can get itself out of this mess is to reboot its manufacturing process and press the quality issue. Then, they should own up to their unwise cost cutting decision and move on. Otherwise, the brand will die a slow, agonizing death.

2010-01-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Supreme Court’s Shocking Decision Clears The Way for Corporate Takeover of

Elections–Say Goodbye to The Democratic Process

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

When I heard that the Supreme Court struck down the twenty-year old law that prevented corporations from using their profits to endorse or oppose political candidates, I threw a tirade of epic proportions. My stream of profanity was unprecedented and sent my dogs running for cover.

My rampage lasted for ten minutes after which I shredded my voter registration card and my copy of the constitution. It was the most outrageously damaging decision the Court has ever made. What the hell were they smoking.

In a 5-4 decision, 5 mentally incompetent Justices ruled that the restriction was unconstitutional In so doing, the Justices cleared the way for corporate branding of candidates.

In the future, important national elections will be a joke, electing a puppet of the corporation that spent the most money backing the candidate. Then, by the time the lobbyists of the same corporation corrupt the elected official, representation for and by the people will be nonexistent. Rest assured, I’m not using hyperbole. This is serious.

The case that was presented to the Supreme Court was by a conservative group, Citizens United, that made a 90 minute documentary slamming Hilary Clinton as she campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Citizens United wanted to air ads for the anti-Clinton documentary and distribute it through video-on-demand services on local and cable systems during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign.

The Federal courts ruled that the documentary looked and sounded like a long campaign ad and therefore should be regulated like one. So the producers advertised the movie on the Internet and sold it on DVD. It did have a short theatrical run.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in March, then asked for another round of arguments about whether corporations and unions should be treated differently than individuals when it comes to campaign spending. The 5 conservative Justices were itching to dump the law. They just needed a case on which to rule.

Last week, the decision hit the news media like a 8.0 earthquake. President Obama condemned the ruling as a victory for big oil, Wall Street, banks, insurance companies, and other powerful interests.

Indeed, the ruling was a victory for critics of big government like the GOP leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) who filed the first lawsuit against the campaign finance law. Ayn Rand’s Society (cult) members were ecstatic, since their mantra of government laissez-faire or "Objectivism" was upheld by the Justices’ decision.

Still, as the recent economic apocalypse confirmed, the government needs to regulate campaign contributions from corporations. That was the purpose of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. Without control, the corporations will now have the freedom to buy their own candidate.

The measly campaign matching funds from the government will be a paltry sum compared the corporate spending on their puppet candidate. Only billionaires who decide to use their own money will be free of corporate influence during their campaigns.

Sadly, we know from recent elections, the candidate who has the most money in their campaign war chest will probably win. In the end, it will be a race by the corporate interests to see who can spend the most money to get their candidate elected. Months before the election, the TV airwaves will be clogged with corporate paid commercials for their candidate. Negative and attack ads will proliferate like a virus.

This ruling will have a profound effect on the electorial process, shutting out the will of the ordinary people. Our democracy has taken a serious blow to its foundation as a government for and by the people–not soulless corporations. We need to organize a protest movement to put pressure on our lawmakers to reinstate campaign finance law to throttle big corporations from getting carte blanche.

2010-01-21T14:28:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Gilbert Arenas Pleads Guilty to Gun Charges– Another Mindless Thug Infecting Professional Sports

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

In the past, my utter disgust at the behavior of professional athletes has led me to write scathing commentary and personally boycott pro sports all together. Now, another million dollar basketball player, the Wizards guard, Gilbert Arenas has committed a string of felonies so egregious and stupid it defies common sense.

In 2003, Arenas (now 28) signed a $111 million contract to play professional basketball for the Wizards. So what does this golden boy do? He goes out and buys a fist full of guns and doesn’t bother to get permits to carry them. And then, as if he was a complete moron, he brought four guns into his team’s locker room.

What follows is an account of the incident that got Arenas arrested. Remember, these are grown men making millions of dollars playing professional sports acting like punks from the hood. Why?

Why indeed. It’s what happens when team owners throw truck loads of money at the unworthy.
The truth is: They are lowlife scum from the ghetto who just happen to have a talent to play basketball better than most of their peers. They cheated their way through college to get signed in the NBA.

These NBA millionaires come from the thug mentality of the hip-hop culture that feeds a billion dollar rap industry. This whole scene encourages violence, abuse of women, and criminal behavior. They call themselves the N word, and it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The events leading up to Arenas being charged with four felonies are incredibly juvenile. It’s a classic case of two fools with guns acting like street corner drug dealers. The headline could read: Basketball Thugs Brandish Guns to Prove Their Manhood!"

On Dec.19 the team (Wizards) flew on a chartered flight to the Washington area from Phoenix. Arena and a teammate, Jarvis Crittenton got into an argument over a card game.
The argument escalated to an exchange of threats involving guns. At the Verizon Center, Arenas brought four unregistered hand guns into the locker room. He placed the guns on the bench to intimidate Crittenton, who took one of the guns and threw it across the locker room. The two bozos exchanged threats which ended the locker room incident.

Wizards’ management heard about the guns and called the U.S.Attorney. The police were dispatched to Arenas’ home where they confiscated his guns. Arenas was indicted and charged with four felonies for owning unregistered firearms.

Finally, the U.S. Attorney offered Arenas a plea deal to plead guilty to one felony count, which he accepted. It’s up to judge Robert E. Morin’s discretion as to what sentence Arenas receives, but he’ll likely serve time–maybe six months. Since Arenas arrest, he was suspended from the NBA indefinitely. Arenas remains free on bail until he is sentenced on March 26, 2010. What a cretin punk.

This entire incident reads like a twisted grade B movie. These guys may be great basketball players and make obscene amounts of money, but they act like dumb-assses. Clearly, a high IQ is not a prerequisite to playing professional basketball.

I ask: What the hell was Arenas thinking and why did he bring four guns into the Verizon Center locker room? Did he want to be considered a badass? Probably. Was it an elaborate prank? Not likely.

With the gun culture out of control in the ghettos, Arenas’ behavior was unconscionable. It’s not the message community leaders, who are trying to stop the senseless murders in the projects, want to encourage. Arenas’ loutish behavior only verifies my criticism of the pervasive amorality in professional sports.

The rogues gallery of thugs in professional sports is long and shameful. Examples abound: Michael Vick’s sadistic cruelty to dogs in his dog fighting conspiracy. Tiger Woods’ hypocrisy for claiming to be a devoted family man, while he’s banging every VIP whore in Vegas. Kobe Bryant’s expensive lawyer getting him out of a rape charge. It goes on and on.

And just when I’ve had enough of these overpaid punks, the bloated steroid goons in pro baseball finally came clean. Mark McGwire’s tearful confession made me sick. What a cur. Yeah, he’s a sorry–a sorry excuse for a human being.

It’s time to put a stop to these overpaid criminals in professional sports. If everyone stops buying tickets to the games and refuse to watch the pro-sports on televison, the big money will dry up and players will make a reasonable wage for their craft. Ha! This is as likely as Lindsey Lohan will stop whoring and drugging herself stupid.

Yes, I know, a unilateral boycott is not going to happen. My one voice will be drowned out by the crazed sports fans who could care less if these thugs brandish weapons or abuse and hang dogs. The hysteria revolving around sports drowns out any concern about the behavior of the athletes.
Morality is lost in the cheap thrills fans get from watching pro-sports. If the fans don’t care about the morality of the athletes, then why should they care about their misbehavior. It’s something to ponder as you are chugging beers and cheering on the home team.

2010-01-14T11:09:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Sen. Reid’s Faux Pas not Racist –Just a Statement of Fact

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

"In the near future, everyone will be fucking everyone until the entire population of America will be shades of brown." From the movie script of "Bulworth" uttered by Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth (Warren Beatty).

Sen. Harry Reid’s off-hand statement, back in 2008, in which he suggested that since Obama was a "light skinned black without a dialect," which was the reason he won the election. This statement of fact was recently flagged as a racist comment. Clearly, the ridiculous criticism of Reid’s comment was politically motivated by GOP interests since Sen. Reid, now 70, is up for reelection in his home state of Nevada.

Clearly, Reid’s comment raises other issues regarding our perception of racial issues. In no way was Reid’s statement racist. Obama is multiracial with a white mother. He was raised by white grandparents and given an ivy league education. Obama’s race was never an issue in the campaign since he did well in traditional WASP strongholds.

Reid’s statement speaks to a division between the more prosperous, well educated blacks and the poorer blacks from the ghettos of every city in America. Not that a coal black candidate who rose up from the ghetto and worked his way through college would not have had a chance, but it’s the WASP perception of the two classes of black America.

Even within the two black communities, this division is a prominent factor in their thinking. It’s street cred versus Anglo influended blacks–or, Uncle Toms. It’s the hood’s hip-hop fashions with baggy, below the butt pants and long tee-shirts versus the button down black lawyer.

We all see the struggle going on within the poorer black communities. It’s their poverty that holds them down, not their will to be successful. Teen pregnancy and high school drop out rates are soaring in the ghettos and projects. All social ills come from the poor neighborhoods.

Eliminating African-American poverty is at the root of solving their problems. It’s everyone’s responsibility to help make this happen. We’re all in this Earth trip together, and we have the means and ability to right this wrong. Of course, the economic apocalypse sent many former middle class people into poorer neighborhoods, creating a new class of poor.

Reid’s comment alluded to the media factor in presidential campaigns where the image is greater than the reality. Obama is a charismatic speaker and looks presidential. Yes, his multiracial background helped him overcome racist stereotypes..

But the minute he walked out to the podium, any racial prejudice disappeared by his mesmerizing media image and brilliant speaking ability combined with his message of change and hope.

Could Gary Coleman or Mike Tyson run for president. Of course not. Even if Mike Tyson wasn’t an idiot and a thug, his facial tattoo would cause problems. The first time someone heckled him, he’d jump off the podium and bite the guy’s ear off. There is no way a little person could be elected president. Gary Coleman couldn’t even see over the podium and would have to have a kiddie podium to speak. The point is: Both these fading black celebrities doesn’t have the right media image to run for president.

Indeed, media image was a problem for Ron Paul. The guy looks like he’s been beaten up by Mike Tyson. It hurts me to look at him. But he has some new and interesting ideas. It doesn’t matter. Media image is 90% of getting elected to any office.

So, we are still stuck with overwhelming over-sensitivity when talking about black people in public. Sen Reid wasn’t making a racial statement but a declaration of fact. The GOP dug up that remark to sabotage Reid’s chances of reelection in Nevada. Ironically, blacks still use the N word as slang when referring to each other, which irks whites, who have struck the word from their lexicon.

We’ve come a long way from Martin Luther King, Jr’s Civil Right Movement. We have the first president of color. But, we still have a long way to go in changing racial attitudes and overcoming white guilt over slavery. It’s time to end poverty and give all people the same opportunities.

2010-01-07T10:11:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Middle Class Task Force Helmed by VP Joe Biden–What in the Hell is Going On in Biden’s Playpen

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

As 2010 came crashing into our reality like a comet hitting Earth, the Swine on the Hill continue to screw up everything most people cherish and waste billions of our tax dollars. Meanwhile, we continue to fight the global terrorist threat.

More disastrous: As the new Health Care Bill simmers in the Hill’s caldron, it turns out to be a brain numbing fiasco. The bill’s trillion dollars in new spending makes the National Debt clock spin faster than Tonya Harding’s truck wheels after an all-night binge.

Worse still, I find out that our cluless VP buffoon, Joe Biden is hosting the Middle Class Task Force– a panel of experts brought together to save the sinking ship known as the middle class, which has been blown apart by the economic apocalypse. "Tally ho, send them a case of Velvetta cheese," the panel shouts.

Now, Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis is hawking the Paid Leave and Healthy Families Act. Oh, isn’t that nice! What a crock! She’s assuming there is a healthy middle class out there in the suburban sprawl of foreclosures.

The reality is: Those vast suburban subdivisions are mostly empty–foreclosed on after the great land grab of 2007. In 2008, the excrement hit the fan and the bottom dropped out of the housing market.

Obviously, Secretary Solis is delusional thinking that this Act will help millions of American workers. Get a grip, Solis, there are 30 million people still unemployed. Memo to Ms. Solis: There is virtually no middle class "healthy families" to protect. Wouldn’t it be more helpful to throw her support to helping the unemployed find jobs and crawl their way back to middle class?
This brings up a pertinent question: Why is it that our lawmakers and leaders, like Secretary Solis, seem so out of touch with mainstream America? It’s simple, they’re not, or have they ever been, middle class. One has to be filthy rich to run for office or get appointed to a high position in the administration.

These curs never had to struggle, working their way up in a company to become middle class. They didn’t have to suffer the humiliation of being laid-off or fired during the great job purging of American corporations, under the guise of a bad economy. They didn’t lose their house because they couldn’t find a job and pay the mortgage. They didn’t watch their family fall apart from the stress.

No, the politicos and kiss-ass bureaucrats made money the old fashioned way–they inherited it or committed fraud to get it. Biden is in the "inherited" category. Nonetheless, he’s a piss-poor advocate for the middle class since he lives like a king and has a mouth problem.

Ms. Solis contends that workers who take leave because they or their children become sick must not lose their jobs or risk some other form of disciplinary action by their employers. The Paid Leave and the Healthy Families Act protects their job if they are sick or caring for a chronically sick child.

All well and good. But we have other pressing priorities such as jobs, jobs, jobs. In his favor, Obama has addressed this issue and is working hard to provide real jobs in green industries and new technologies. But it’s too little too late.

Biden should spend some time with real families in crisis as they implode from within. I’ve talked to many of these people who were blasted out of their middle class existence by the sudden collapse of the economy in 2008.

The stalwart jobless are coping but the lack of jobs has fractured many families, who have spilt up to survive. It’s like the middle class disappeared overnight.

The truth is: Many big corporations used the economic apocalypse as a convenient excuse to trim their work force substantially–enhancing the bottom line. These jobs will never come back.

These Machiavellian companies are learning to use fewer employees to get things done. Of course, the remaining employees have to work much harder to take up the slack. We’re back to indentured servitude before unions became a strong force for workers.

So we get bullshit from the Swine on the Hill telling us, "Yeah, it will be okay, trust us!" Well, hell no, we don’t trust them. The money grubbing bastards on Wall Street got us into this mess, and now they are getting rich off our bailout tax money.

Biden can gather all the panels he wants, but they are not going to solve this problem until more new industries are encouraged to build their plants in America not Mexico or China.

In fact, we need to forbid companies from outsourcing jobs to other countries. Screw them, we need jobs here in America. So what would I do? I’d pass a law that states that any corporate CEO who even suggests outsourcing jobs and plants to other countries be publically flogged on live television. Yeah, I like that.

2009-12-31T10:38:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Sarah Palin–Political Whore? Media Gadfly? Ditzy Broad? Or All of The Above?

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The McCain campaign created a monster when they anointed Sarah Palin queen of the McCain ticket. She quickly pissed off McCain’s staff with her pushy, demanding personality. She was an unmanagable she-devil on the loose and she had McCain’s staffers scurrying around like rats on meth, desperately trying to control her.

Palin was the devil in a red suit and designer glasses. The bitch was upstaging McCain and throwing gasoline on the fiery controversy. Frankly, I was intrigued and having sex dreams about romping naked with Palin holding a Remington deer rifle, bringing down a large moose and saying "let’s get drunk and screw."

Suddenly, Palin was adding excitement to the boring Republican image and making McCain look like a ragged out old coot. This broad has spunk. And, dammit, I like spunk. More excitingly, she says what’s on her mind, however dumb it might come out. Hell, she doesn’t care. She’s moves on like a runaway train. "So what if Africa is not a country, I’ve got other things on my mind, like taking over the world," she could have said.

Before long, McCain realized that he had a tigress by the tail and she was the show and he was yesterday’s news. Dang, he regretted getting turned-on by her and thinking she would look great next to him.

And yes, McCain wanted to fuck her. I saw him ogling her. Yeah, but he let the she-corba out of the sack and she was going to scare the bejesus out of the stodgy Republican party.

Oddly, the opposite thing happened. Palin’s aw-shucks, down-home, hunting mom pioneer spirit caught on with conservatives. Secretly, buttoned down Christian conservative men wanted to fuck her and their Barbie Doll wives wanted to be her. Not surprisingly, well known lesbians wanted to fuck her.

Palin was riding the bucking bronco of a sexy broad with a book deal and enough controversy and gossip to keep her splashed on tabloid covers and the national media saturation. Only Balloon Boy and Tiger Woods pushed her from the tabloid covers.

So what’s Palin’s end-game? At every stop on her book tour, long lines awaited her majesty– Ms. moose killing mom on steroids. Some people camped out the night before her appearance to see her in person. With that high level of charisma, Palin could drive a snow plow and get press.

The ambitious wunderkind beauty was a mayor at 32, state governor at 42, and a national candidate at 44. She’s a working mother of five children. She shrugged off the negative press about her family and pressed on like she is possessed by a burning desire to rise to the pentacle of celebrity-hood, and get extremely wealthy.

Palin has the household word recognition and moxie to run for president. The Republican party, which is bogged down with niggling old farts–needs her to forge ahead. She’s like a sexy race car driver in need of a hot political machine.

Like Joan of Arc, Palin could lead the Republican party if she can get her poll numbers up. A recent CNN poll revealed that 7 out of 10 Americans think she is not qualified to be president.

In a society where image is greater than reality, Palin is positioned well with conservatives–the heart and soul of the Republican Party. All those lines at her book signing were telling. Look how far pretty boy John Edward got before he crashed and burned in a nasty sex scandal while his wife was suffering from terminal cancer.

As time goes on, Palin will be out in the hinterlands of America gaining new converts to her kick ass agenda. I would never underestimate Palin. She’s an exciting and interesting woman who has the balls to get out there and push herself, manage a big family, hunt, fish, and generally impress moms everywhere with her drive. I know, she’s really a man with a vagina.

In a crazy way, it would be a major turn-on to see this modern day Annie Oakley as president. Hey, it could happen. Dumbass George W. Bush stole one election and then was definitely elected. Never underestimate the stupidity of American voters.

If Palin was elected president, commentators like me and comedians would be ecstatic. Imagine waking up to Sarah Palin as President of the United States. Hell, the material would write itself. Hot damn!

Go girl– and for the record, I’d vote for you just to see what happens. Imagine, indeed! You, me hunting in the woods naked? Hey an old man can dream.

2009-12-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Danger of Nuclear War Still Looms–Accidents and Terrorists are A Real Threat

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

During the nuclear arms race in the 1950s and 60s, the threat of global thermonuclear war was a real danger to humankind’s existence. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, their nuclear stockpile of over 15,000 ICBMs was under unstable security. The United States intervened and assessed the threat. The U.S. and Russia signed an agreement to insure that their nuclear stockpile was secure, with international inspections.

So, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and forgot about the danger of nuclear war. Then on January 25, 1995, Russian radar mistook a Norwegian-U.S. scientific rocket for a possible attack on Moscow. Then President Yeltsin, a man with a reputation for being drunk 24/7, was notified and given five minutes to decide how to respond.

Shockingly, we came within 2 minutes of Yeltsin pressing the button to launch a fusillade of Russian ICBMs toward targets in America. This would have set off DEFCON 1, an automatic retaliatory launch of our missiles to Russia. Thankfully, it didn’t happen because Yeltsin picked up the red phone and called our President. That was a day he was not too drunk to think clearly.

This incident underscored the danger of having over 25,000 nuclear missiles in the world. 95 % are in the arsenals of the United States and Russia. Just this past week, the START Treaty limiting the number of U.S. and Russian warheads expired. Nuclear arms negotiators in Geneva have not been able to work out the details of a follow-up treaty.

Indeed, it’s time to strive for serious nuclear disarmament. The nuclear nations club is expanding, with Iran on the brink of developing a Nuclear warhead to fit on a medium range missile to deliver it. Israel and the United States will not let that happen for obvious reasons. The real worry is either an accident like in 1995, or terrorists obtaining a small nuclear suitcase-sized nuclear device.

Arms dealers have been caught by Interpol trying to sell components to assemble just such a weapon. A so called "dirty-bomb" is more of a real possibility. That is a conventional bomb loaded with radioactive shrapnel that could contaminate a city and kill thousands of people. The radioactive debris is easy to obtain from the millions of tons of nuclear waste stored in vast underground facilities all over the globe.

Just a nuclear missile exchange between the United States and Russia would be catastrophic. Now, all nuclear warheads are so called "thermo" nuclear size, which means they are essentially hydrogen class weapons measured in the megatons of TNT The first nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima was in the kiloton range, equal to thousands of tons of TNT.

Today’s nuclear warheads are enhanced with hydrogen isotopes, greatly increasing its megaton power. Each American ICBM is equipped with ten megaton sized warheads-- each aimed at separate targets in Russia. And visa versa for Russia. These H-bombs make the first A-bomb dropped in war look like a firecracker by comparison.

Everyone knows that avoiding a nuclear war is paramount to saving humankind from itself. We shutter at the thought of the aftermath of one exchange of nuclear weapons on the globe. When today’s thermonuclear bombs explode, they send out a large electromagnetic pulse, that fries all electrical grids and electronics.

Our whole infrastructure is controlled by computers and would be rendered useless. After the attack, the people who were not killed in the initial explosions would die slowly of radiation sickness, disease, or starvation.

The January 1995 scare was fifteen years ago. However, Russia and the United States still maintain 2,000 warheads on top of ICBMs on high alert ready to be launched in 15 minutes and to destroy each other’s cities 30 minutes later. They are set on automatic launch if the computerized sensors detect an incoming threat–DEFCON 1.

Then there are the nuclear missile armed submarines cruising deep under the oceans of the world with secret orders in case of a nuclear war. They would launch from under the sea to their preprogrammed targets.

We must encourage President Obama to initiate new nuclear arms reduction talks with the nuclear nations. The START Treaty should be reratified with new guidelines.
The threat of a nuclear war is still a clear and present danger to the world and it will be until we eliminate nuclear weapons from the Earth. As long as nuclear weapons exist, there is a real possibility of an accident or terrorists possessing this destructive force.

2009-12-17T09:56:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Virgin Galactic Trumps NASA with Much Cheaper Space Flights

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

My question for NASA is: If a flamboyant billionaire, Richard Branson and an aerospace engineering genius, Burt Rutan can design and build space vehicles and a spaceport in New Mexico hundreds of times cheaper than NASA can even fathom, why hasn’t the Space Administration formed an alliance with their company, Virgin Galactic?

Ah yes, Virgin Galactic is a private company that developed austaire economic polices as a mission statement. Ultimately, they intend to sell rides into space at 200 grand a pop to make money.

On the other hand, NASA is a bloated spendthrift government agency that never got over the carte blanche funding for the Space Race, driven by the cold war fear that the Soviet Union would beat us to the moon.

Using advanced carbon fiber technology and innovative design Branson and Rutan have set the new paradigm for future space flight. Last year, their prototype spacecraft flew into sub-orbit and flew back to earth, landing on the Virgin Galactic runway. This historic flight proved that Branson and Rutan are authentic pioneers in the future of space exploration.

In contrast, NASA’s heavy lumbering clunker, the Space Shuttle, with over a million parts–essentially a space truck-- is being phased out next year with nothing new with which to replace it. There is a tentative plan to return to the moon using a back to the future design to build a giant three stage rocket vehicle similar to the Saturn V, using decades old technology.

As independent thinkers, Brandson and Rutan have eclipsed NASA in imaginative ideas, leaving the suits at NASA far behind. Rutan’s technological development was cost effective by design. It was a simple idea of creating scaled down space-vehicles that could go into orbit and return to earth with paying passengers.

Virgin Galactic already has a waiting list of three hundred people who have put down deposits for the sub-orbital flights. This will give the passengers five minutes of weightless flight and a view of the Earth to die for–or to make the 200 grand they spent well worth the money.

Deep in the New Mexico desert, the Virgin Galactic spaceport America is being built with two WhiteKnights and two Space Ships which are tandem vehicles. Later space-vehicles are being developed that are similar to the latest space-plane designs that NASA had to temporarily cancel for lack of funds. The present vehicles will hold two pilots and six passengers on suborbital flights.

The next generation of Virgin Galactic space-vehicles will solve the problem of the intense heat of reentry after full orbital flights, while keeping the weight of the vehicle down to a practical level. Of course, Rutan’s outside-the-box advanced engineering ideas must be an embarrassment to NASA’s status as the predominant American space agency.

The remote New Mexico location is ideal for the Spaceport America. The weather is dry and clear year round, and at 4,500 ft above sea level, it’s a perfect location for the 70 mile trip to the edge of space. Another advantage is the location’s restricted airspace for the neighboring White Sands Missile Range and the Holloman Air Force Base, which means there is no commercial air traffic above the spaceport.

As an extra incentive to appease the tax payers of New Mexico, Branson plans to build a museum and hotel complex bringing a million visitors to the spaceport every year, which will have a positive economic impact on the nearby towns.

What started as a money making idea has evolved into a pathfinding engineering project for future space travel in vehicles that are lightweight and will withstand the rigors of space and reentry far cheaper than NASA’s dwindling budget.

The bureaucrats of NASA have their heads buried in the sand and will continue their expensive engineering development, while Branson and Rutan will move past them and emerge as the preeminent futurists of space exploration.

2009-12-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Tiger Woods Scandal–World’s Most Famous Celebrity Crashes and Burns in The Glare of Tabloid Scrutiny

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

"Our lovely sex organs don’t know that we have relationship commitments," said Hank Moody (David Duchovny) in "Californication."

Ah yes, Tiger Woods always seemed too good to be true. The world’s best golfer and the most famous global celebrity had an air of invincibility–a Boy Scout. He has earned millions playing golf, and even more millions on endorsements. Nike pays him $30 million a year to use and promote their golf gear and clothing.

Many other big name sponsors throw money at him. Some say he’s close to being a billionaire. The guy has a beautiful Swedish wife, Elin and two lovely children living in a palatial mansion near Orlando, Florida. He has it all–money, fame, and a loving family.

Then the excrement hit the fan. Early one morning, Woods left his mansion in a huff and crashed his mighty Escalade at the end of his driveway. No biggie, right. Wrong! It was a bad omen.

Woods immediately went into lookdown mode in his mansion and refused to talk to police or the media. His behavior was suspicious to the press and the police. What the hell happened? Why is he not talking? After all, it was a minor accident. His silence was deafening.

Soon, the tabloid "The National Enquirer" started digging and came up with the scoop of the year by opening their check book to Woods’ mistresses. The leads started to come in and before you could say uh-oh, Wood’s lovers were coming out of the woodwork. Presently, there are nine mistresses claiming to have hooked up with Woods. No, not Tiger. Mr. Nice Guy. What the hell was he thinking?

The reports were salacious. The "Enquirer" reported that Woods was having an affair with nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel. She denied the allegations and hired a lawyer, everyone’s least favorite publicity hound, Gloria Alred.

Then, as in all these scandals, an audio tape emerged from Jaimee Grubbs, 24, who said she had a 31 month affair with Woods. On the tape, a man (sounds like Woods to me) says, "I need you to do me a huge favor. Can you please take my name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you." On another audio tape a man (presumed to be Woods) is saying to Jaimee, "When I see you, I’ll wear you out."

Speculation arose that the night Woods crashed was the night that Elin found Jaimee’s number on Woods’ phone. They fought, and he stormed out. Yes, Woods was busted and his secret liaisons were made painfully public. The great Tiger Woods was exposed as a lying philanderer.

Finally, Woods made a statement on his website that was too little too late. He begged for privacy and seemed to be sorry, not that he cheated on his wife, but his privacy had been violated and he was exposed as not being a paradigm of virtue-- an image that he had carefully crafted.

Woods should have taken a page out of Hugh Grant’s post scandal play book. He immediately went on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and confessed, in a humorous way, to the lurid details of his oral sex with a transvestite after Leno said, "What the hell were you thinking?" His bold honesty cleared the way for his career come-back from the scandal.

Woods comes off as the naughty little boy hiding in the closet. Before the scandal, Woods was living a double life with the little-lady at home with the kids, while he was on the road playing golf tournaments and behaving like a single dandy.

Like all serial philanderers, he wanted to protect both lives. But, sooner or later, a man of his high profile celebrity would have been caught with one of his mistresses. Cameras in cell phones and paparazzi are everywhere. Everyone recognizes him anywhere he goes.

Wood’s arrogance to believe that he was above reproach and his privacy was sacrosanct came out in his lame website apology. In this world, celebrities can’t expect complete privacy, especially when they screw-up. People love to see celebrities fall from grace.

So now what? Woods needs to come clean and admit his affairs, not couch them in the euphemism "transgressions." How he handles his PR nightmare will determine his future. By staying detached and silent, he is fueling the tabloid gossip.

Sure, he’s filthy rich and famous, but if he’s sincere, endeavoring to be a better person, repair his marriage, and quit cheating on Elin, then his colleagues and the public will forgive him. If, on the other hand, he continues to hide behind the privacy issue and Elin divorces him, then Tiger’s image will be irrevocably damaged.

2009-12-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Health Care Bill Doomed by Defections–Bill Loses Its 60 Votes to Pass

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The Health Care Bill is in deep dung. The voluminous 2,000 page compendium of bureaucratic gibberish was met with nasty opposition by most of the Senate body.

The Swine on the Hill scoffed at its 2 trillion cost, the abortion issue, and the dreaded "public option." Now the bill has lost its 60 votes to pass it without Republican support. Conservative Democrats are defecting, saying the bill should be shelved until late next year.

Fear of voter reprisals at the ballot box is driving the lawmakers to address the abysmal job market and high unemployment as their most important priorities, as well as the contentious war in Afghanistan. Perhaps, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was right when he suggested that health care reform should be accompished in incremental steps, rather than one big bloated bill. Well, it made sense to me.

Who knows what hellish beasts are lurking in the 2,000 pages of the bill. Taking $500 billion from Medicare to help cover the bill’s $2 trillion cost is enough for me to declare the bill a Trojan horse in last week’s Rick Raw.

The measures to pay for this bill are vague and unrealistic. We just can’t afford to add another $2 trillion to the rapidly increasing national debt. The clock’s lower digits are spinning so fast it’s a blur. I posted the National Debt Clock as a reminder of how deep we are sinking in the red.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. is still fighting for the passage of the bill, which is sinking faster than Jay Leno’s ratings. Reid is prepared to go down with the ship. He has no clear channel to steer the legislation through Congress to President Obama’s desk. Losing the 60 votes is the death-knell of the bill for the time being.

Don’t get me wrong, I agree that we desperately need health care reform, but this bill stinks like rotten pork. It would create a massive new bureaucracy like the IRS, which would cost hundreds of millions of dollars just to administrate each year, and that’s on top of the initial cost of the bill.

Worse still, the bulbous bill will not lower health care costs. In fact, most experts who have actually read this tome say that health care costs would go up if the bill is passed. My health insurance has already gone up substantially. How would I benefit from so called reform when I’d have to spend more money on health care? It hurts so good!

The main bugaboos are the divisive abortion funding and the public option, which would certainly have to change to get the bill passed. Moderate Democrats say they can’t support the bill without these specific major changes. Senator Reid’s position is weakening with fewer Senators backing his Health Care Bill agenda.

The bill is hopelessly bogged down in committee debate and more amendments are expected. The immediate future of this Albatross is dismal and will require many more months of trimming–maybe a year of fixing.

I say scrap the bill now and explore Mitch McConnell’s plan of a step by step approach. The $2 trillion we’ve spent on bailouts and stimulus packages boggles my mind. Then we have the Afghan War which is draining the Treasury of billions of dollars every month.

Indeed, I used to think a million dollars was a lot of money and a trillion dollars was beyond my brain’s capability to grasp exactly how much dinero that is. Now, the Swine on the Hill are throwing out the term "trillions of dollars" like it was nothing. Hell, at this rate, our country is on the brink of being owned by foreign interests that become our slave masters to debt.

2009-11-26T10:36:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Oh My God, I’m Turning Republican–Health Care Bill A Trojan Horse

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The Health Care Bill hit the Senate floor like an anvil–clunk! The 2,000 page tome was voted to the floor for debate. At first, I was all for the bill until I began investigating the bad things lurking in those 2,000 pages, like taking $500 billion away from Medicare (which I"m on) and its colossal cost–$2 trillion.

Of course, the Democrats assure worried Americans that the bill will eventually pay for itself. Did I ever believe anything the government said? No. And this magic act of funding the bill through cost cutting provisions might take a hundred years.

Meanwhile, we continue to borrow large sums of money from China. Hell, at this rate, those commie bastards will own our asses. They send us shoddy merchandise and toxic sheet rock and Obama bowed to them like they were the Delhi Lama.

Last weekend, Mitch McConnell, Republican Leader, was on CNN. What he said made sense to me. He has proposed making incremental changes to reform health care to avoid big government control and its outrageous cost. In other words, McConnell proposes a step-by-step reform that everyone can live with. Amen, brother.

Indeed, the government can’t be trusted to draft any broad ranging legislation without turning it into a massive money eating bureaucracy like the IRS–Jabba the Hutt of our government.. The current tax code is 1,9000 pages long and no one really understands it. However, the IRS can dig up prosecutable provisions in the code to use against the taxpayer, ruining lives and forcing people onto the streets.

The health care debate could alter the bill drastically to the point that maybe some Republicans may come on board and vote for it. But, it’s a scary prospect. I worry about the National Debt rising as I type this piece (see clock on left column). Mother of God, that’s a lot of new money added to the clock.

Then , they want to throw-in another $2 trillion? I’m sorry , I can’t justify that in my mind when I’m having trouble paying my electric bill and buying groceries. Hell, I can’t afford much of anything anymore but the basics of existing–food, shelter, utilities, and gas for my car.

Don’t get me wrong, I still support Obama’s administration and his righteous hard work to undo Bush’s failures to get the country back on track. But our economy is still in deep trouble, with high unemployment and no new jobs on the horizon. Everyone I talk to is suffering–some worst than others.

I’m surprised we haven’t seen massive protests in Washington. People are pissed off and want action. If Obama can’t turn things around in the near future he’s toast. How much suffering can people take before they protest at the ballot box.

My fear of higher taxes and higher health care costs as a result of this bill are echoed by Republicans. Does this make me a Republican? Well, yes and no. On this one issue, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I’m still a hard core Democrat and liberal, and proud of it. Still, common sense dictates that this bill smells bad.

McConnell’s idea of making gradual changes to health care without the massive hammer and anvil method calms my anxiety about the bill’s astronomical cost. Whatever one’s opinion, the bill is a beast to be tamed. That’s why we have debate on the Senate floor.

The swine on the hill need to get together on this bill and do the right thing for the American people. If it passes as a rabid dog and causes health care prices to rise and new taxes to burden the already strapped American Public, Obama will never get reelected. Let’s hope wiser minds whittle down this great log of rotten wood.

2009-11-19T09:39:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Marijuana Conundrum–Proven Medical Benefits, Yet Still Schedule 1 Drug?

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Okay, relax and burn one. Let’s have a rational discussion about marijuana (excuse me while I imagine I’m inhaling). Let’s talk about marijuana’s proven medical benefits; its euphoric high; and its magical effect of increasing appetite–all positive effects of smoking pot. Why then is marijuana still a Schedule 1 drug, lumped in with cocaine, heroin, and meth-amphetamine?

Because our government wags are idiots and afraid that if everyone smoked pot, Americans would be less grumpy, suffer less pain from various maladies of old age, and generally be better off than the millions of chronic alcoholics.

Reagan’s "War on Drugs" still reverberates with conservatives on the Hill. The old farts still see recreational use of drugs as an evil scourge on our society. Yet, they gulp down tons of whiskey at the Beltway watering holes. Yeah, across the board hypocrisy runs deep with the swine on the Hill.

Over 30 million Americans regularly smoke marijuana. Some states have reduced the charges for a small amount of pot to a minor misdemeamor. And in California, legal marijuana shops are tolerated, although state legislators are pushing for more enforcement of the rules. They want to shut down the pot shops.

The truth is, in certain areas of California, anyone can get a prescription for legally grown medical marijuana as a pain reliever, sleep aid, and a wonder drug for terminally ill cancer patients that make their last days more comfortable.

For cancer patients the use of a vaporizer is the most efficient way of taking the drug. Marijuana is heated until it gives off a vapor and fills a plastic bag. It’s less irritating to the throat and a much more effective delivery system.

Today’s carefully cultivated marijuana is not your grandfather’s pot. It’s much stronger than back in the hippie era of sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. Today, the THC (the pyschedelic drug in marijuana) is up around 20%. However, as one big time grower said, "it’s impossible to OD on pot, I know because I tried to get to that point."

NORML (National Organization to Repeal Marijuana Laws) has worked for years to lobby lawmakers about the benefits of marijuana both for medical uses and recreational use. Still, the DEA stands firm that marijuana is a "dangerous" drug. Nonsense!

Progress to legalization is slow, but more and more people are getting involved to change the mainstream’s perception of this benign drug. Conservative opposition to legalization is steadfast in their claim that marijuana is a so called "gateway drug," leading to so called hard drugs.

To really change the status of marijuana and all illegal drugs for that matter is complete legalization, which, like the end of prohibition, would take it out of the hands of the Mexican and Columbian cartels and other criminal enterprises. Taxing pot and other drugs would wipe out the national debt pronto.

Over the years, marijuana has proven to be less harmful than drinking alcohol, which, in large amounts at once or moderate amounts over time, can kill you. No one has ever died from smoking pot. But, I realize that my viewpoint is not shared by the mainstream. Still, legalization is the only way to control illicit drugs.

Indeed, marijuana should never be listed as a Schedule 1 drug. But, the zealous anti-drug lobby still rides the white horse of all drugs are bad. By now, I naively thought pot would be legal. But our self-righteous hypocritical lawmakers are out there preaching the gospel according to Reagan’s war on drugs, which, in the end, was an abysmal failure.

So why do people take drugs and drink? They like to get high and relax after a stressful day.

People will drink and use drugs, including marijuana, no matter what lawmakers say. Prohibition taught us that you can’t legislate vices. People are going to indulge no matter who tells them they can’t.

The DEA will never stop the flood of drugs into America, so make it legal and reap the tax benefits. Sure, the DEA makes large seizures and shows off the haul, but it’s only a fraction of what’s flowing into the country.

Yes, I smoke cigars and drink wine. Recently, the tax on tobacco went sky high. But I still get my cigars and begrudgingly pay the damn tax and nobody is going to tell me not to do it. Well, the tax does support health care for children, which is a good thing.

No, I don’t smoke pot anymore because it effects my short term memory, which is already slowed down by old age. But I just remember being high on pot, and I get a cheap thrill and hungry for pizza. Just the thought of smoking a joint is enough to get me high.

So pot smokers unite. Join groups like NORML and pressure our lawmakers to get off their high horse and legalize marijuana. Somewhere this second, someone is lighting up a joint or a bong and saying "fuck you," DEA.

2009-11-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Defeating IED Menace in Afghanistan Top Pentagon Priority

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Since the invasion of Afghanistan in early 2002 after the 9/11 attack, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) have become the enemy’s most effective weapon to kill American and Coalition soldiers. The Pentagon has poured billions of dollars into research to counteract these deadly weapons. But still, in November, 2009, IEDs have killed more American troops than any other weapon.

The Taliban and al Qaeda have received vast numbers of artillery shells and shape charges to easily assemble these menacing devices and plant them near roads or convoy routes. The IED itself consists of an adapted landmine or artillery shells rigged up to a crude detonator.

The bombs are placed under the road or beside the road and can be detonated by wire, radio, or cell phone. Even garage door openers have been used to detonate these makeshift bombs.
Recently, the enemy has upped the ante by using shaped charges that, when ignited, form a superheated stream of liquid copper that penetrates the thickest of armor. These shaped charges can penetrate tanks, armored personnel carriers, and easily blow up supply trucks.

Presently there is no countermeasure for these advanced IEDs except using special tanks that fire a long cord of C4 explosive into a forward position to clear any mines or IEDs. However, the enemy defeats this method by planting the IEDs on the side of the roads in animal carcases or buried in the sand.

Common sense dictates that an effective countermeasure would be not to travel the roads in vehicles, but to use helicopters and other aircraft to transport troops and supplies. However, the military still insists on convoying supplies along dangerous roads and paths. Humvees have no chance, so don’t use them. Going on patrols in Humvess is playing Russian roulette and the troops know it. "Will today be my day that the bullet in is the chamber," they think.

The Pentagon wags have been frustrated by the enemy’s ability to adapt to changing situations and to defeat any American countermeasures against IEDs. Recently, the American special forces have effectively interrupted the supply chain of IED components and artillery shells coming into Afghanistan. It’s been harder for the enemy to get resupplied.

More significantly, American intelligence officers working with special forces have been able to get the cooperation of various tribal councils to find caches of IED components and to arrest enemy operatives bringing in these supplies. In other words cutting the head off the snake.

Still, every day IEDs kill American and Coalition soldiers. These battle casualties cause the brass to work harder to defeat them. They can send a Predator unmanned aircraft to find and kill high ranking Taliban and al Qaeda operatives. But, IEDs are still a deadly weapon that has confounded the most brilliant military weapon’s masters.

When Army officers know that taking vehicles down roads and pathways in Afghanistan will result in IED deaths, they should think of an alternative way of patrolling for contact with the enemy. Here’s a thought: Keep our soldiers off those roads and save lives.

In Vietnam soldiers jumped on HUEY helicopters and flew into hot zones to kill the enemy. That was an effective way to avoid IEDs and landmines. I say if IEDs are killing our soldiers, let’s stop traveling the IED infested roads. By now though, with all the high tech talent working on this problem, we should have developed an effective countermeasure. I’m tired of seeing those flag draped caskets coming home, victims of IEDs

2009-11-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

Rick Raw: Talk To Your Genes–Dr. Deepak Chopra Says

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

In a CNN article, Dr. Deepak Chopra says you should talk to your genes (not "jeans" silly) to switch them on to benefit every cell in your body. Right! Chopra is, like Dr. Phil, a media commentator and health preacher to the stars.

The diet-lifestyle guru says that research by Dr. Dean Omish and his colleagues has shown that adopting positive measures, including exercise, meditation, and diet creates beneficial changes in five hundred genes. Yeah, a shot of Jack Daniels wakes up my genes.

Dr. Chopra believes that the best thing we can do for our own health care is to eat and live a healthy lifestyle. Okay, fair enough. But this gene thing is in the realm of medical tomfoolery. We’re supposed to sit in meditation talking to our genes? Hello, genes, are you there? If so, wake up and smell the coffee and make me as rich and cool as Dr. Chopra.

"This single finding could revolutionize our health, because what it means is that every bite of food you eat, every step on the treadmill, every moment of deep relaxation is talking to your genes," he says.

In other words, by this mind meld of abstract conversation with our genes, we can awaken a higher energy within our consciousness. Basically, Dr. Chopra believes in one’s spiritual well being is connected to one’s physical well being.

Indeed, the good doctor has touched on a medication technique similar to Zen Buddhism. But Dr. Chopra frames his message in a more pragmatic way of reaching altered states of consciousness, without psychedelic drugs or attending the Burning Man Festival. .

By talking to one’s genes, Dr. Chopra is saying, in effect, that one is balancing one’s "chi," a term used by acupuncturists referring to the body’s energy field. He speaks of genes like they are nano-engines inside our bodies that are "alert, and when you change anything in your life, they respond."

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you ever noticed that these media gurus like Dr. Phil and Dr. Chopra are not necessarily the picture of health. In contrast, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a fine physical specimen and a brilliant doctor. He seems to be omnipresent on television while he’s writing books, traveling the globe making documentaries, and practicing as a neurosurgeon. Does this guy ever sleep? But he looks so healthy.

All these media mavens and talking heads giving us advice on our health get tedious and annoying. Yet, everyone is trying to find the right way to live a long productive life. I say enjoy life and its vices in moderation.

John Lennon said "whatever gets you through the day is okay." I subscribe to that advice. Lennon may have lived long and prospered but some psychotic jerk, Mark David Chapman took him out at the prime fo his life. So whatever he didn’t do to take care of himself didn’t matter. He died when Chapman fired four hollow-point .38 caliber bullets ripping into his body.

Thus, one may live like a Tibetan monk avoiding the pitfalls of life, but my philosophy is to plunge into the deep end, using one’s talents and abilities. There is no evidence that living according to Dr. Chopra’s advice will extend one’s life. George Burns lived to a hundred smoking 15 cigars a day and drinking whiskey. I think it’s more important to feel joy in giving and receiving love and gaining satisfaction from one’s chosen profession than worrying about talking to one’s genes.

2009-10-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Gang Rape Endemic of Broader Sociological Problems

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The shocking gang rape and beating of a 15 year old high school student outside a school dance in Richmond, California is endemic of broader and disturbing sociological problems among today’s youth culture. At least 10 teenage boys participated in the rape, while 20 young bystanders watched and did nothing to help the girl or call 911. The rape went on for two and a half hours before the cops got wind of the crime.

Two days later, five suspects were arrested with more arrests pending. The chief detective working on the case said that as soon as they got each boy alone in an interrogation room, they soon understood the gravity of what they had done. They crumbled, confessing and implicating the others. He suggested that during the incident, a mob mentality developed, exacerbated by the cheering crowd.

More disturbingly, many kids in the Richmond high school were blaming the victim, saying she had it coming. The girl was on her way to meet her father who was waiting to pick her up when her friend suggested they go to the back of the school and have a drink. She was lured to the planned rape. The most telling part of this crime is, the boys who were watching didn’t think there was anything wrong with their friends raping this girl for an hour and a half.

So how do we unravel the broader sociological reasons for this crime and who is to blame for the failure of the parents to teach their teenagers morality? Indeed, the parents and the pervasive violent images to which young people are exposed are partially to blame.

Many of these kids are raised by single mothers who work two jobs and are never home. These kids spend hours playing violent video games and watching rap videos that portray women as whores and bitches, shaking their asses up against the rappers’ crotches.

Sexual suggestive images are everywhere in our society, from billboards to magazines. With no parenting to speak of, young boys have no respect for young women. High school students live in an unrealistic subculture that is far removed from consensus reality. Even the girls are guilty of bullying other girls.

In the apartment complex where I live, I recently observed a 12 year-old boy with a toy gun. He was walking along pointing the gun at me and other people going about their duties. He was saying, "This is a stick up."

Clearly, this boy was rehearsing his plan to hold up a convenience store. Where did he get this idea that it was acceptable to even fantasize about committing a crime? Where was his fundamental morality? It was lost in the violent world of video fantasy in which he lives.

Despite many so called experts who argue that violent video games are not harmful, I vehemently believe that graphically realistic games like "Grand Theft Auto" glorify a criminal lifestyle. The theme encourages a "badass" mentality of violence and taking what you want, as opposed to working for it.

Male teenagers are very susceptable to this macho idea of gangs and guns. It permeates their youth culture. If they steal to get money, then it follows that they will rape to get sex. Today’s youth culture is broken and in need of a reality check. Where are the adults to teach these kids society’s rules and laws? Many teachers have attempted to instill morality in their students, but the kids have tuned them out. Unfortunately, many of these kids never make it to the real adult world. They end up in jail serving long sentences.

As long as kids are absorbed in violent video games and rap videos, they are being conditioned to react to situations with violence and to disrespect women. They react to their raging hormones and accelerated sex drive by harboring rape fantasies. It’s part of their antiworld of amorality and acting out their angst.

2009-10-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: For God’s Sake, Obama, Make a Decision

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Frankly, I’m disappointed in President Obama for taking an inordinate amount of time to make key decisions. It shows me that Obama is being overcautious and wishy-washy. By wavering on key decisions, Obama’s leadership is in question.

In regard to sending more troops to Afghanistan, Obama has been meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff for weeks. His head general in Afghanistan, Gen. McCrystal has been begging for more troops for months. For God sake, Obama, give him more troops.

Never mind all the complex ramifications of sending more troops. Gen McCrystal needs more troops for one important reason–to insure the safety of his other troops already outnumbered by the enemy. Give him the troops and worry about all the other issues later.

Just today, Senator Kerry was saying that we need to establish a stable government before sending more troops. Hogwash! Stabilizing the government of Afghanistan could take years. Meanwhile, our troops are dying because they are weakened by the lack of reinforcements to take over hot combat positions.

Every day, the enemy is overwhelming our patrols and planting endless IEDs. Every day more U.S.soldiers are blown-up by these cowardly devices. We need more bomb disposal personnel to defuse these makeshift bombs.

Indeed, Obama and his advisors can talk about the complexities of sending more troops ad nauseam, but the fact is, he needs to make a decision. Obama may have won Noble Peace Prize, but he’s not showing strong leadership. The Noble Prize is like a ball and chain around Obama’s neck.

More significantly, Obama hasn’t made good on his campaign promises, such as ending "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" in the military. He promised the gay community that he would end this policy right after he was elected. Then he waffled like a weak leader. Sure, when he makes a decision, there are consequences, good and bad, but he can’t make everyone happy. So just do it.

Like the disastrous policies of President Johnson and his Secretary of State, Robert McNamara during the Vietnam war, Obama is trying to micro-manage the Afghan War. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now. Let the generals run the war. They’re on the ground and in touch with their squad leaders on up the chain of command. We must give the troops more of everything to fight his important war.

This is a new form of warfare that requires all our resources to take the battle to the enemy. These evil bastards killed over 3,000 of our citizens. They are not going to stop killing Westerners, especially Americans. They don’t mind dying. And their radical cause is growing in Pakistan.

Since 9/11, there have been numerous terrorist attacks in Great Britain, Spain, and African countries. If we don’t kill the jihadists in their homeland, then they will just move to other countries like the Sudan, that is a lawless land of warlords and strife–a perfect setting for al Qaeda to operate freely.

Recently, in our country, the FBI broke up cells planning attacks on soft targets like shopping malls and sports events. They’ll keep coming until they’re all dead or driven into hiding.

This war against terrorism requires new thinking and a new outlook. We can’t think in terms of winning or losing a war. This is a global struggle. We must think only of exterminating these vermin. As long as they are alive, we will never win anything, except individual battles. We must track them down and kill them where ever they exist-- in America or foreign lands. We’ll probably be fighting them into the foreseeable future.

2009-10-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Bailout My Ass–Where’s Our Money–TARP Infested with Fraud

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

After the unprecedented $700 billion bailout of the big banks, there was never an accurate accounting of exactly where the money went or how it was spent. The banks took the money and did what they wanted with it. CEOs took big bonuses, and shared the booty with their top executives. Hot damn, it’s party time.

AIG threw a big bacchanal in Vegas with strippers and wild sex parties. Their mantra was, "let the good times roll," as the middle class disappeared under the fallout of the economic apocalypse.

Now, bailout Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky says that the public wasn’t told about the lack of financial responsibility of nine of the bailed-out banks. He said that the Treasury Department officials painted an overly rosy picture, creating unrealistic expectations. Yeah, there was gold in them there hills and the greedy CEOs rushed to get their hands on it. The government opened the doors to the Treasury, and let these thieves inside.

More seriously, the FBI and Treasury agents have opened 35 ongoing criminal investigations of blatant fraud committed by bank executives that received the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. And still, no one can say for sure how the money was spent. The investigation could uncover massive fraud among the bailed out banks if the forensic accountants can trace the money trail to complex shell corporations in the islands.

TARP turned out to be a fiasco–a rush to save the banking system and Wall Street by throwing money at it. During the last weeks of the Bush administration, Congress voted no to the TARP bailout. Then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and other former bank CEOs made a secret backroom deal and the TARP bailout passed.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this secret deal lined many pockets and setup many CEOs to gain windfall bonuses. Yes, the money train was arriving in board rooms across the land.
There is also a separate criminal investigation into the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch merger led by the New York Attorney General’s Office. While the masses suffer unemployment and foreclosures of their homes, the bailout crooks are raking in the avelanche of TARP funds faster than Obama can say the bailout will save the ecomony.

The TARP bailout now has a derogatory connotation. We, the screwed over taxpayers, have lost faith in the bailout’s ability to save our economy. Funny, enter Allan Greenspan, whose doctrine of laissez faire got us into this mess to begin with. He said that unemployment would rise above 10% before things got better. Shut up, you old sod. No one’s listening to you anymore. But I think he’s right.

This substantiates my fear that a cabal of wealthy crooks brokered the TARP deal for personal gain and to enrich their cronies. Hank Paulson is one of these alleged masterminds who met behind closed doors. He was CEO of Goldman Sachs before he was appointed Treasury Secretary. He, like the other cabal members, conspired to force the TARP on the American public under the pretense that if we didn’t release the $700 billion to the big banks, the entire economy would collapse. Well the economy did collapse despite the bailout.

The bottom line to this outrage is the bailout did nothing to help our economy but it did make some big time players filthy rich. Now the banks are raising interest rates on credit card holders, slapping large overdraft penalties on customers, and denying loans to eligible appliers. The banks are no better than Mafia loan sharks. We the people must rise up in anger and stop these injustices before the wealthy few take over the country. In most ways, they are already in charge.

2009-10-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Bill Clinton Says Right Wing Conspiracy Still Exists–Now Directed at Obama

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Ah yes, remember the good old days when Clinton was president. Indeed, Clinton did a great job as president, but he also entertained us with his tryst with Monica Lewinski and long time affair with Jennifer Flowers. His denial was hilarious when he said, "I did not have sex with that woman!" In the end, he left the presidency with a surplus, which George W. Bush squandered on the Iraq war.

As president, Clinton justifiably claimed that there was "a vast right wing conspiracy against me!" Of course, his stupid sexploits played into the right wing’s hands. But, despite their vicious campaign to discredit Clinton, and his subsequent impeachment, he managed to survive the onslaught of negative rhetoric and did his job well.

Today, as a busy ex-president and Secretary of State’s husband, Clinton has become an elder statesman and philanthropist. He has moved on to make his mark on the world stage. Still, his past haunts him, although he has redeemed himself by his altruistic endeavors and statesmanship.

Now, Clinton claims that the ultra-conservative right wing movement is attacking President Obama in the same way they savaged him. On NBC’s "Meet the Press" Clinton was asked by David Gregory if the conspiracy was still there?

"You bet. Sure it is. It’s not as strong as it was because America’s changed demographically, but it’s as virulent as it was," Clinton said. Of course, I asked the obvious question, "is he right?"
Absolutely, the right wing has gone off the reservation with untra-conservative propaganda from the motor mouths of Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talking heads and commentators. Limbaugh is the most extreme, calling Obama a Fascist and anything else that pops into his Vicodin addled brain.

Another provocateur is TV commentator, Glenn Beck who is out there rabble-rousing the right to protest anything Obama says or does. His frenzied fans are staging rallies holding up signs that say, "Stop Obama’s Spending Spree," "Save Freedom Stop Obama," "Hey Obama-Care, Hands Off MY Body."

Beck is playing to the underlying anger of the ultra-conservative zealots, giving them a platform to instigate Clinton’s dogged right wing conspiracy, now unleashed on the Obama administration. It’s the same old gibberish we heard against Clinton. But Clinton gave them plenty of ammunition with his dumb sexual escapades. But, he somehow overcame that dark time.

In the vast media arena, Beck’s brand of blabber is mild compared to Limbaugh’s. However, both blowhards are tapping into the deep seeded racism of people who still hate the idea of a black president. They dare not say it, but it’s implied in their actions. Beck is like an evangelist, evoking the power of God to heal the masses with his unsubstantiated opinion and agitator style.
Like with Clinton’s administration, this right wing movement started to discredit Obama almost the day after he took office. And, they’ll be on his back his entire tenure. They will never give him credit for changing things for the better. The ultra-conservative movement is a runaway train of negativity crashing through Obama’s parade.

So, like Clinton, Obama has to move on and ignore the right wing’s cacophony of whining and veiled racism. Obama is on the right track with plenty of supporters, including me. As things get better, and they will, the chorus of right wing criticism will get drowned out by positive change.

2009-10-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Conservatives have Adopted a Holier-Than-Thou Attitude, Digging in for A Great Battle

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Every time I witness conservatives making commentary on news shows, they adopt a holier-than-thou attitude, insinuating liberals are reckless spendthrifts and godless purveyors of anti-family values. They imply that they have God on their side and liberals are evil, wicked people who are unpatriotic ex-hippies who smoke pot and rave at the moon.

Well, I’m sick of hearing this unmitigated falderal. I’m proud to be a liberal, and I’m respectful of other people’s point of view. To hear these conservative taking heads babble their gibberish, I get the feeling that they are hypocrites and using this pro-life / pro- family propaganda to tell other conservatives what they want to hear. They are promoting a right wing agenda that implies superiority. They’re right and liberals are dead wrong.

Then there are the ultra-conservatives who listen to Rush Limbaugh’s line of unsubstantiated vitriol. Limbaugh is a provocateur–a gadfly on the far right who loves to stir up controversy by calling President Obama a Nazi and using scare tactics by saying the new health care bill has a provision that will allow the government to get into individuals private bank accounts. This is just not true. Only the IRS has that ability.

Of course, Limbaugh’s diatribes are all a load of crap, but he’s got over 20 million listeners and he can say anything he wants in the context of free speech. Bully for him. He’s got his soap-box microphone. But if anyone thinks Limbaugh is uttering the truth then they’re idiots. Admittedly, some of Limbaugh’s ravings are so outrageous, they’re funny and entertaining.

Still, there are those conservatives who still harbor deep-seeded feelings of racism at having a black president. Now the conservative movement is marshaling their forces to defeat the democratic majority and take back the House and Senate with a smear campaign. It’s politics over common sense.

Indeed, these professed God-like beings vehemently disagree with the Obama administration’s policies. Fine, it’s their right to do so. But, the conservative movement is pursuing this as a battle royale based on their bitterness at losing the election.

Instead of cooperating with Obama for the greater good, these anarchists are bitter and angry and have thrown out bipartisanism in favor of drawing a line in the sand. They never wanted a reformed health care bill. They never wanted to bail out the collapsed economy. But they have never offered any alternatives to Obama’s plans to end the recession.

In their minds, Obama won the election and they didn’t. So, they went to war to gain back what they lost, instead of working with the president to make things better in our country. They’ll fight the president at every turn.

Yeah, but that’s the kind of people they are, espousing their doctrine of church going, superior ideology, when in fact, they are hiding behind this facade of holiness. These are the hypocrites who cheat on their wives and make illicit deals behind the scenes feeding their greed. To me, conservatives are liars, crooks, weasels, dimwits, philanderers, and power mongers.

I never trusted anyone who claims to be righteous and without sin like these new age conservatives. Of course, any politician will say anything to get elected and then they do what they want. But it seems that conservative politicians do it while claiming to be morally right and have God on their side. Screw them, and the lily white horse on which they rode in, claiming to be wise holy men. Watch your back when these assholes start spewing their cascade of lies.

2009-09-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Afghanistan is Not Vietnam–Al Qaeda and Taliban have to be Defeated

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

As the eighth anniversary of 9/11 came and went, we were reminded of why we are fighting in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda has joined forces with the Taliban to make Afghanistan their countrywide base of operation. More seriously, Admiral Mullen, Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said recently that "the situation in Afghanistan is grim. The Taliban occupy a third of the country."

Presently, there are 68,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan. President Obama said that he will be authorizing at least 21,000 more troops committed to the action. Eight years after 9/11, America’s prime directive still is: We must defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban to prevent more catastropic worldwide terrorist attacks. This is a long term goal.

These crazed fanatics will not stop until they’re either dead or have completed there mission to make the entire world a fundamentalist Islamic empire. And, they’re not thinking of years, but hundreds of years or more. Therefore, we must kill them all so they can’t recruit anymore naive young Islamic suicide bombers, who are enticed with receiving 72 virgins in paradise for becoming a martyr.

Lately, some influential politicians and pundits are saying that, like the Russians, we can’t win in Afghanistan. More significantly, they are comparing Afghanistan with the Vietnam quagmire. Rubbish! This kind of talk hurts our troops, bravely risking their lives to defeat the enemy–an evil force that would turn the world back in time to a Medieval society.

Although, in a major screw up in 2001, we lost our opportunity to kill bin Ladin, he is still inspiring a new generation of Islamic fundamentalists, hell bent to kill Westerners and Jews. Now, he has gone to ground and is protected by a phallanx of radicals.

For a moment, remember the horror of 9/11 and the victims families who are still suffering from grief and PTSD. These ignorant ragheads are a serious thread to our freedom and world peace. We either fight them in the Afghanistan theater of war or we fight them on the streets of America.

Lately, the buzz from the talking heads is about the impossibility of "nation building" in Afghanistan–a primitive oxcart society. It’s not so much that we are nation building, but killing off these barbaric zealots, so that when they are all dead, the Afghan people can take back their own country.

2009-09-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Bill Gates Having Delusions of Grandeur by Claiming to Stop Hurricanes

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Bill Gates is the undisputed richest man in the world. His money is making so much interest, he can’t possibly spend it all. In June, 2006 Gates resigned as CEO of Microsoft to devote his time to philanthropic endeavors through his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He and his wife Melinda travel in their private jet to countries in Africa and other poverty stricken regions of the globe to personally supervise programs to help these people work their way out of poverty and starvation.

Of course, Gates retained his position as non-executive chairman and majority stockholder. His personal wealth is in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Naturally, a man in his position feels great responsibility to engage in research and explore any dream, however ambitious..

Recently, Gates and his hand picked scientists submitted patent applications for a technology to reduce the danger of hurricanes by cooling ocean temperatures ahead of the storm. No doubt, Gates was thinking about the terrible aftermath of hurricane Katrina, that practically wiped out New Orleans. Four years after the storm, New Orleans is still in recovery, with privately funded building projects in progress.

But the quiet submission for patents set off a firestorm of skepticism among prominent meteorologists who applauded Gates noble idea, but doubted his giant barges of cool water, which would cool the ocean surface ahead of hurricanes, would make that much difference in either weakening the storm or stopping it.

Wake up and feel the wind, Gates, "you can’t mess with mother nature!" Yes, Gates must be looking for new challenges into which to put his time and money. So, perhaps Gates was feeling God-like to conjure up such a grandiose idea. "I’m the king of the world," therefore I can control the weather. It’s absurd.

"The enormity of it, in order to do something effective, we’d have to do something on a scale that humans have never really done before, said Gabriel Vecchi, a research scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Exactly how would Gates’ hurricane bashing method work? According to the documents sent to the patent office, many tub-like barges would be placed directly in the path of an oncoming storm. Each barge would have two conduits, each 500 feet long. One conduit would push the warm water from the ocean’s surface down, The other would bring up cold water where it lies deep under the sea.

Hurricane guru, William Gray, who has been studying and predicting hurricanes for 50 years said, "The problem is the storms come up so rapidly, you only get two or three days warning. It’s very difficult to bring up enough cold water in this time frame to have much of an effect."

Hell, Gates has enough money to drain the Arctic Ice Cap and send it down to the Caribbean to thwart the mighty storms. Come on Billy Boy, get off your high horse and get real. For years, plenty of scientists have tried various methods of seeding hurricanes to make them less dangerous. It failed. Hurricanes have a mind of their own. Once they get established, it’s futile to stop or weaken them.

Gates should let mother nature handle the weather, and forget this preposterous idea. One has to wonder–has Bill Gates developed a God complex? Well, he has more money than God, but he should stick to philanthropy as a noble use of it.

2009-09-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Economic Recovery Slows to Snail’s Pace–Stimulus Fizzled

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

From my corner of the world, Jacksonville, Florida, I still hear of friends and former colleagues who can’t find jobs, established businesses and restaurants going belly-up, and a forty year diner theater tradition, The Alhambra, closing its doors. My E-mails tell tragic stories of once proud independent business people going bankrupt or facing foreclosure. It’s not a pretty picture.

Yet, the 24 hour news pundits are preaching optimism and announcing an uptick in the housing market. Yeah, that may be true, but the people buying these homes are speculators buying low and selling high. The average Joe is still hurting. Big companies are either still laying people off or instituting hiring freezes.

There are no jobs for the working man. It’s true that the Recovery Act has helped some rust belt areas retool to building green energy technology, such as manufacturing wind turbines, thus providing jobs for laid-off workers. But this is just a drop in the big bucket for millions of unemployed, who have seen their middle class life degenerate into poverty. These people are the new poor thrown into a lower lifestyle with the long-term poor.

Vice President, Joseph Biden recently acknowledged that the "$787 billion economic stimulus program has not yet had the impact that the White House had hoped for." Biden went on to say, "We misread how bad the economy was." Indeed, that was an understatement.
Was it too little, taking too long? Yes, but when the Congress completed their work on the

Recovery Act back in January and February, economists warned the Stimulus Package was not going to be enough to revitalize the economy. Republicans wanted to do nothing but cut taxes, and played hard ball scaring the American public with fear mongering that the bill would cost way too much.

Now, according to a recent Gallop poll, many of the independent voters in the swing states who had voted for Obama are now unhappy with the president’s performance. The underlying perception across America is the Recovery Act is not working fast enough, and is bogged down in partisan politics and stifling government bureaucracy.

While Obama’s approval rating remains high at 56%, his shining armor of the great black hope is weakening. Unless things change more rapidly, Obama’s approval rating will plummet.

The real problem is the mind boggling delay in the bloated government inefficiency getting things done. The recent "cash for clunkers" program is a good example. Many dealerships that made the deals a month ago still haven’t been paid for their parking lot full of clunkers. Making our government more efficient was one of Obama’s campaign promises that went right out the window when he was elected.

When American banks were given billion of dollars to help refinance foreclosures for people that had good credit, the individuals got the runaround from the banks. The greedy bankers opted to hang on the money and let it make interest, rather than give these deserving people a break. Congress should have given the people on the brink of losing their houses the money instead of the banks.

Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in Obama’s intelligence and ability to get us out of this mess. However, he underestimated the depth of the problems created by the former administration when he took office. I blame W who royally screwed up everything.

I think Obama was overwhelmed when he faced the shocking truth that solving the country’s problems was going to take more intelligent thought, planning, and energy, as well as much more time than he had anticipated.

Obama is still fighting and struggling to get bipartisan support for his policies, but he faces an angry Zeitgeist. It must be the most frustrating job in the world. It’s like churning butter with a stick to get anything done. The jury is still out on the future success of the Recovery Bill. The American people demand action. Obama’s presidency is on the line.

2009-09-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: End of Manned Space Exploration–The Fantastic Dream of Colonizing Other Planets is Lost in The Economic Apocalypse

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Recently we celebrated the 40th anniversary of landing a man on the moon. This entire program was driven by the Space Race with the Soviet Union. The aerospace industry was given financial carte blanche to spend any amount necessary to beat the Russians to the moon.

In the dark paranoia of the Cold War, beating the Soviets was the Kennedy administration’s prime directive. After all, world peace was at stake. At the time, the Soviets were a palpable threat to humanity.

When the Space Shuttle is scrapped next year, there is nothing to replace it. Thousands of aerospace engineers and technicians will lose their jobs. The economic collapse plunged the country into the worst recession since the Great Depression. Manned space exploration is one of many victims of this financial crisis.

For years, Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has led a tireless campaign to promote a manned Mars mission. Other NASA officials have planned out another trip to the moon. Sadly, these ambitious programs are way too expensive in today’s economic climate. They remain on the drawing boards.

Development of the Orbital Space Plane has stalled due to lack of funding. This was the vehicle to replace the Shuttle to haul supplies and rescue astronauts from the International Space Station. Now they only have a small Russian built escape pod should they have to abandon ship.

The dream of manned space exploration and colonization of other planets will have to be put on hold until we solve our domestic issues like health care, economic rejuvenation, green energy jobs, et al. The recession hasn’t bottomed-out yet, but there are signs that there is a resurgence of housing starts and other positive economic indicators.

Presently, NASA is getting $60 Billion a year, a paltry sum compared to NASA’s expenses for research and development of new technology. That amount could be drastically cut to $20 billion a year. After the cuts, NASA may no longer exist.

More significantly, the Zeitgeist has lost the will and excitement for continuing manned space flight. Indeed, the fantastic dream of further space travel, which we all envisioned after the moon landing in 1969, has fizzled out.

Today, millions of people are out of work and have lost their homes through foreclosure. These once middle class people are scraping by, living off unemployment compensation. Big corporations are still laying-off employees, and the job market is abysmal. Our very survival as a superpower is at stake.

More depressingly, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have cost billions and over 5,000 casualties. Admiral Mullen, Head of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the situation in Afghanistan is "grim," because "the Taliban occupy a third of the country."

On the positive side, there are multi-billionaires who have formed private space companies with visionary ideas to move forward with manned space flight in cheaper vehicles. Five years ago, they achieved a manned sub-orbital flight.

Interestingly, NASA’s robot space vehicle program has stepped up its pace with new and exciting robot space vehicles to explore the outer reaches of the solar system. Two advanced spacecraft packed with instruments are on their way to Pluto and Ceres, a Texas sized asteroid orbiting nearby to explore these celestial bodies. They will reach their goal by 2015.

Perhaps, it makes more sense to send out unmanned robot spacecraft which can accomplish almost the same thing as manned missions. Protecting humans in space is highly complex and expensive. Let the robots take the risk. Well, it’s a great rationalization, but not the same.

2009-08-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Taliban Cut Off Fingers of Afghan Voters–Religious Fanatics Gone Mad

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The Taliban are examples of a group of fanatics whose religious beliefs turned to hysteria, allowing this twisted gaggle of ignorant peasants to use their warped religious dogma as an excuse to commit atrocities. When anyone accepts religious dogma as gospel, it limits their thinking.

The Taliban have degenerated way beyond their dogma’s limitations. They have established a dark evil cult of incredible restrictions imposed on those unfortunate enough to fall under their rule. They want to send the world back to medieval times–an unenlightened world in which they tell everyone what to do, imprison women in their houses, and not allow them to seek education. It’s like Charles Manson took over a region of the Mideast.

After 9/11, the United States sent its special forces into Afghanistan to direct the ensuing bombing campaign. Along with a devastating smart bomb initiative, we practically wiped out these rag-tag insurgents known as the Taliban. However, the Bush administration invaded Iraq, leaving Afghanistan to fend for itself. Over that interim, the Taliban regrouped in the lawless land just over the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Now we are paying the price of neglecting Afghanistan for the takeover of Iraq. Recently, U.S. forces have gained ground on the Taliban strongholds, causing significant enemy casualties. However, the Taliban linked up with al Qaeda to present a formidable force to challenge our troops in the treacherous mountains of Afghanistan. Every gain comes at the price of heavy U.S. casualties.

This evil cabal needs killing with extreme prejudice. The Taliban along with al Qaeda will not be allowed to take over any part of the globe. Sadly, though, the youth of these backward countries are being brainwashed into a fanatical Jihad with the West by Mullahs who distort the teaching of Mohammad to justify their cause.

These mind control experts entice the boys with visions of 72 virgins when they get to paradise and other ridiculous incentives. Of course, for these improvished youth, dying and having sex with 72 virgins seems more fun than living in an ox-cart society with no hope for the future.

The Taliban’s level of religious fanaticism reached critical mass when they chopped off the index fingers of Afghan voters. This incident exemplifies how a group of deadheads, who accept a distorted form of dogma, can drive them into complete insanity.

These louts injected their sick beliefs into their interpretation of the Qur’an, which could be any twisted idea that pops into their empty heads. The say, "Oh yeah, women should never speak, lest they cause horney Arabs get sexually excited. Cover them up, make them stay in their homes, and beat them if they break any of the rules. Yeah, that’s makes perfect sense–it’s in the Qur’an!"

For the sake of the civilized world, killing them all is the only answer to the problem. The U.S. Marines are working hard to do just that–terminate these dim-witted barbarians as soon as possible. Set their beards on fire, and cut off their index fingers before killing them. Better yet, cut off their penises so they have nothing to offer the 72 virgins in paradise.

2009-08-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Poverty is The Root of All Social Ills–Economic Collapse Created a New Class of Poor

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

In a Chicago hospital, the head doctor of Emergency Medicine said that all their gun shot wounds and people without insurance coming into the ER for help come from the poorest neighborhood in Chicago. Multiply this statement by every major city in America and there is no doubt that poverty breeds all social ills. The statistics show that African-Americans and Hispanics make up the largest group of impoverished Americans.

There are over 3 million people incarcerated in American prisons–the largest group of imprisoned people in the world. The majority of these people are black or Hispanic. Not surprisingly, this group came from poverty, that led them into gangs, murder, and crime. Thus, common sense tells us that solving the poverty problem in America will help solve its bastard children–crime, sickness, drug addiction, gangs, and hopelessness.

Greatly exacerbating the problem of poverty in America is the rise of the new poor, who used to be middle class but were swept up in the economic apocalypse. They lost their homes and suddenly found themselves living among the long term poor in apartment complexes and trailer parks.

For these newly impoverished, adjusting to this new reality was a traumatic occurrence. They’re comfortable middle class existence suddenly ended and they were forced to face a day-to-day existence trying to make ends meet with very little money. For the first time in their lives, they could empathize and understand the underclass. It was a rude awakening.

Indeed, the long term underclass has for decades been neglected and chastised by the smug middle and upper classes as slackers and moochers, living off the welfare system. They were criticized as unambitious and a drain on productive society.

Of course, now that these same people are walking a mile in the underclass’ shoes, they see that poverty traps people into a black hole, especially now that the opportunities for the new poor to pull themselves out of their poverty are nonexistent. In fact, companies are still laying people off and the job market is abysmal.

Poverty is a virus, it multiplies and weakens the individual. The young people see no opportunities and drift into crime. Their music feeds their paranoia with angry gansta rap, giving them a modicum of hope that they might be able to start a rap group as a way out of the poverty trap. They see Jay-Z and other rap stars living the high life and they want to join that club. But, the genre is overcrowded with wannabes. So, they drop out of school and turn to crime.

Influential blacks and Hispanics are starting special programs in the ghettos across America to help young people learn trades like welding, helping them to get jobs and start productive lives. There are government sponsored programs for the new poor to learn green trades like building wind turbines. However, these programs have only scratched the surface of the problem.

For the long suffering underclass and the new poor alike, any solution will not happen soon enough. The burgeoning new underclass face enormous challenges to pull themselves out of this post-apocalyptic world. Finding a path to prosperity again involves each individual keeping a positive attitude and thinking creatively. The biggest obstacle is not getting discouraged or depressed.

Being broke kills ones’ self esteem and pride. For the victims of the financial apocalypse, there is always hope in the future. Perhaps the solutions that ultimately help the new poor will give the long term underclass new inspiration to change their lives. Poverty is curable.

2009-08-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Coping with Death in Unconventional Ways

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Recently a close friend of mine, Teddy Washington, died at 80 years old. Instead of feeling sad, I wrote a laudatory piece celebrating his life. As I’ve gotten older, many of my friends and loved ones have passed away.

Over this grief stricken interim, I developed unconventional ways of coping with death. Of course, I realize that everyone handles the passing of a friend or loved one in different ways. There is no right or wrong way to grieve.

However, I’ve tried to lessen the devastating sorrow and sadness from the grieving process. It has worked for me, so perhaps, it might be of value to my readers. Thus, I will share what I’ve learned.

In the early 1980s, my son was killed in a terrible motorcycle accident, a few years later my mom died. Three years after that my father left the earth. During that decade, I learned about the five stages of grief, which left me depressed and seeking grief counseling.

Since I do not believe any the religious dogma of any church, I’m not bound by any tradition. I avoid funerals because they are about the death itself. I prefer to celebrate the person’s life and his or her accomplishments. The dead have left the earth and exist on the other side in a non-physical reality.

Much to my Catholic relatives chagrin, (who are now all dead) I believe in cremation and getting the actual mechanics of death out of the way as soon as possible. Then, instead of a funeral, a celebration party for the deceased is a more uplifting way of sending them off.

The Irish wake is a great tradition. The sooner the person is cremated and in an urn, the better, with no viewing or other time and money wasting symbolic rituals. The soul is gone, leaving an empty decaying heap of cells behind. Burn it to ashes.

When my son, Jimmy died, he was just 17 years old. He had many friends in high school. So, I invited his friends out to the St. Augustine beach where they surfed and we had a little celebration of life party. We then spread his ashes in the ocean. His young friends were thankful and felt it was what he would have wanted.

Don’t get me wrong, just because I don’t believe in the limiting dogma of religion, it doesn’t mean I’m not a spiritual person. I believe in a higher power–the force, as it were-- and the afterlife, without all the symbolism of religions.

Yes, and I believe in good and dark forces. More significantly, I believe that hate can turn into evil and destroy a person’s life. Twisted killer teenagers, Klebold and Harris, who committed the Columbine massacre, let their teen angst and hatred turn into pure evil. Indeed, evil stalks the earth in the bodies of serial killers, rapists, and pedophiles.

In my life, coping with the loss of my son was the hardest thing I’ve had to get over. The grief almost destroyed me. But, I got help and became much more philosophical about death.

We live, we die, and our death can happen any time. The clock is ticking. Just the other day, celebrated filmmaker, John Hughes was taking a stroll in NYC and just dropped dead.

Death is part of life and we must come to terms with it. As I live into my old age, death gets closer. But, I don’t dwell on it. I live in the moment, trying to be as productive as I can and "shower the people I love with love."

Every day I spread my joy of living and my burning love to my wife, my dogs, and others I meet. If people need religion, its fine with me. Whatever gets one through the day is okay. It all gets us to the same place–faith in a higher power and the afterlife, however we symbolize it.

It is possible to channel grief into positive energy, reducing the time it holds us down. But, like I said, there is no right or wrong way to grieve. I do recommend that people who are grieving seek professional help. It made all the difference for me. Now, I look at death more positively. After all, it’s everyone’s destiny.

2009-08-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Moon or Mars Debate Underscores NASA’s Impotence–The Space Race Drove the Moon Landing Initiative 40 Years Ago

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

During the 1960s, America’s space program was propelled by the fear that Russia would get to the moon first or establish satellites with nuclear missiles pointing down on America. President Kennedy resolved that would never happen.

Thus, the "Space Race" began. America was willing and able to spend any amount of money to beat the Russians in technology and to the moon by 1969. This fear driven space race initiative fueled the entire space program.

Thousands of engineers and scientists were hired by aerospace companies nationwide, including me. The brightest minds in America were concentrated on achieving a manned space mission to the moon, as Kennedy said, "Not because it was easy, but because it was hard." But he didn’t say was," we’ll beat those godless Russians to the moon no matter what we have to do."

The cold war paranoia of Soviet aggression created the motivatioin to advance technology in that short span of time to achieve our moon mission. Incredibly, that was 40 years ago, and the best we could do since then was build the lumbering beast called the Space Shuttle–a big rocket truck to haul supplies to the International Space Station. We could have skipped that whole program and launched the Mars initiative with the money spent on the Space Shuttle program.

However, now there is no driving force to get the money from our lawmakers on the Hill. We are drowning in red ink funding the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our national debt is over 11 trillion dollars. More importantly, there is no strong will to have a big thriving space program, given all our other domestic problems demanding our time and money.

Imagine if alien beings landed across the globe in their giant starships and made demands on our freedoms, you can bet that our government would be throwing money at every new technology to fight them.

Ah yes, astronauts who were involved with Project Apollo (the moon landing initiative) are nostalgic about the cold war, which enabled them to go into space. We need an enemy to justify spending large amounts of money on space exploration.

Today, there is a debate among NASA officials over whether we should go back to the moon or mars? The first man on the moon, Neil Amstrong and his partner Buzz Aldrin (the second man on the moon) are advising NASA to nix the moon mission and concentrate on a manned Mars mission.

Aldrin said that we’ve been to the moon 40 years ago, (been there, done that). it’s time to explore Mars. Aldrin has been an especially outspoken supporter of following "Star Trek’s" motto: "To boldy go where no man has gone before."

Yes, "space is the final frontier" and NASA is weak and impotent since its funding has slowly dried up over the years. But it’s important to move forward with exciting new adventures into space.

The research into these high-tech adventures leads to new scientific discoveries that ultimately enhance our lives here on earth. In a few years, the Shuttle Program will end and new technologies like the Space Plane, which uses a new form of propulsion called the pulse jet can take off fly outside the Earth’s atmosphere then land under power back at Cape Kennedy.

The International Space Station can be used as a launching base for future space missions to Mars and beyond. Ah yes, but who will pay for it. America is broke and deeply in debt. But we can still dream. Perhaps we can encourage Russia to rise up to its old Cold War glory and once again threaten our freedom, thus driving us to beat them at all costs.

Our new motto: Bring back the Cold War and the Soviet threat. Then the old phrase: We must beat the Russians into deep space would inspire a new space race. It’s our only chance.

2009-07-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Wicked Sexy Witch of Alaska Flies Solo into the Unknown–Sarah Palin is Off the Reservation

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

"I hate Sarah Palin, but I’d fuck her!" said lesbian comic, Margaret Cho in her HBO stand up special.

Cho’s ironic comedic line poignantly states what many men and women think.–Palin is sexy and strangely charismatic. In her cover shot for this week’s edition of Time Magazine, Palin posed in tight corduroy jeans and a black long-sleeve blouse with her hands stuck halfway into her pockets.

It’s a woman-of-the-people shot that identifies Palin with all the conservative moms struggling to raise their kids. It’s a pose that makes men (and some women) want to have sex with her and soccer-moms identify with her every-women look.

Suddenly, without warning, Palin quit her job as Governor of Alaska–a move that dumbfounded her supporters and critics alike. In her rambling resignation speech, she hovered on the brink of hysteria.

Indeed, something has happened to this woman that she is keeping to herself. "Only dead fish go with the flow," she said. With such hokey remarks, Palin flies off the reservation and into the unknown. Every political talking head was baffled by her capricious move. Why would she give up her governorship in mid-term? It made her look like a quitter.

But wait. In the long run, Palin could emerge as a pioneering independent thinker who uses her time off to write a book and go on the lucrative lecture circuit. Clearly, she needs the money. A series of ethics investigations has put Palin in debt to the tune of $500,000 in legal bills. But, her off the wall remarks justifying her leaving the governorship only enforced the criticism that Palin is a nut job.

Palin’s rhetoric during her VP campaign with John McCain was scripted by McCain’s staff. They dreaded her making off the cuff remarks that would reveal her shocking lack of intellectual prowess. Her dumb bloopers during TV interviews came back to bite her on the ass. " I can see Russia..." And, not knowing that Africa was a continent not a country became fodder for late night comedians.

Nevertheless, Palin has millions of fans who see her as the great white hope for ultra-conservative movement. By quitting the governorship, Palin is free to travel the lower 48 states on speaking engagements to define her goals and vision for America.

Many political pundits agree that when Palin quit, she forfeited any credibility she had gained during the McCain for President campaign. Still, Palin gained celebrity status as a new American feminist model, a desperate conservative housewife who grabbed the reins of power and flew with it.

Palin pandered to the ultra-conservative middle class who were looking for a symbol of their beliefs. Catholic moms with 5 or more kids see her as a modern archetype for their movement. Her shocking move may make Palin a hero of the right, without a political machine calling her shots. She’s Joan of Arc in a minivan on a mission to save America.

Laura Chase, who managed Palin’s first campaign for Mayor of Wasilla, wrote, "She’s like a bloodhound–once she gets the scent, she’s never going to let go." Her other close confidants all say that Palin wants to be President of the United States. Besides, she has the power of household name recognition and good looks, which will take her far. If she fails to win the Republican nomination for president, Palin will be in demand as a political player and consultant.

As much as I loathe Palin, I’m reminded of Huey Long who went a long way with his charisma, preaching to the common man, despite the fact that everyone knew he was a crook. Like Long, Palin has captured the imagination of every-day folks.

One should never underestimate Sarah Palin. She’s a wicked sexy witch who can cast a spell over a crowd. Like a coiled cobra, she’ll be out there waiting to strike just when everyone has written her off.

2009-07-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Dummy Whisperer–Exposing the Dummy in All of Us

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

In the course of my life, I discovered a hidden talent–exposing the dummy in everyone, including myself. Unlike those books such as Mathematics for Dummies, I don’t need a book to know a dummy when I see one.

To wit: I knew the woman at the DMV was a dummy when I was the last person in line, and I finally advanced to her window and she said, "It’s time for my break," and left. So I had to get in the back of another line. I sensed that she would do that because I am the Dummy Whisperer.

Unlike the Ghost Whisperer, I operate in the real world, not that twaddle on TV. In contrast, like the Dog Whisperer’s, Cesar Millan, I understand the psychology of dummies. Why? Because I am one.

While driving, I know when the person in front of me will do something dumb. I detect their body language which is picked up through their car. I anticipate when that person will not use their turn signal and just suddenly turn. In other words, I read dummy radar.

Women are reckless drivers. I watch them like a hawk. One never knows what peaks or valleys their biological cycle is registering. Mostly, women are always pissed off about something–their husband, boyfriend, or kids, and they drive with angry radar. I pick up that signal, and avoid them if at all possible. Women need anger management before they get behind the wheel. They whip their minivans around like race cars. Good God, it’s the crazy bitches tear-assing through the streets–stay out of their way.

Once I was shopping at the Regency Square Mall and I went into J.C. Penny’s. While inside the store, I got disorientated and when I left out the entrance and into the parking lot, I couldn’t find my car. So I assumed it had been stolen. I called the police who showed up. They were dumbfounded.

Then I looked around and suddenly realized I was in the parking lot on the opposite side of the mall to where I parked my car. At that moment, I felt like the dumbest person in the world. The cops thought I was suffering from Alzheimer’s and patronized me like a person whose mind had gone.

Dummies are everywhere. While walking on the sidewalk and I pass a gaggle of young people, I know they will not yield to me, so I’m forced to go over on the grass. It’s a blatant expression of ageism and or youthful arrogance.

Yielding would require them to show a modicum of respect to their elders. Today’s youth think older people show die or disappear. Of course, before they know it, they will be old and facing the same prejudices from their generation of young people.

Dumbness is in all of us as we go about our daily routine. In the workplace, dumbness reigns supreme. People have a hard time concentrating on the job, because they are thinking about trivial matters. Every day, many hours of production is lost by employees who are thinking about everything but their jobs.

Now that companies have laid off thousands of workers, the ones that are left have to work much harder. But, then one has to factor in their dumbness and lack of interest in what they are doing, and production goes down exponentially.

Employees who are left to pick up the slack, are justifiably resentful and don’t feel like giving 100% because they could be laid off any minute. So, the companies get what they deserve. Therefore, the management is dummer than the employees.

Yes, it’s a great big dumb world full of dummies. And I am the Dummy Whisperer. I root out the dummies and expose their dumbness. And, I revel in my own dumbness. Then it’s a question of degree–who is dumber than thou.

2009-07-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Wrong People Make the Most Money–Sports Stars Versus Scientists

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

Recently Sports Illustrated published a list of the highest paid sports stars. In this fractured economy, it’s hard to justify these filthy rich athletes’ overblown compensation compared to the scientists, who contribute much more to our quality of life than pampered sports celebrities.

Of course, this can be easily explained by supply and demand. Sports is infinitely more popular than what our most brilliant scientists are doing. However, it still doesn’t make it right.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are the top one and two earning sports stars. Years ago, professional golfers would have never dreamed of that kind of money. But, times change! The lucrative TV contracts and using high profile sports celebrities as pitchmen put the golf celebrities in the big time money earnings.

Woods makes over $7 million on the tour and $ 92 million on endorsements. Mickelson makes over $6 million on the tour and over $46 million in endorsements. Coming in third is NBA star LeBron James who earns over $14 million on the court and $28 million in endorsements.
Generally, NBA basketball stars make more than football players or baseball’s heavy hitters.

Lately, though, those steroid taking thugs in baseball are getting huge contracts to deliver hits and home-runs. Sure, we know they cheated by taking performance enhancing drugs, but fans don’t seem to care.

Years ago, I followed baseball when Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle were in the game. But since the steroid scandals and the obscene amounts of money these hulks of bulked-up louts are getting, I deemed the game a sham. Alex Rodriguez’s (makes a total of $39 million) sex life has become fodder for late night comedians. Indeed, baseball itself is a joke.

Likewise, I used to like football, but since the rookies are getting huge signing bonuses before they even prove themselves, and then go out and break the law, I’ve become disillusioned, disgusted, and denounced the game as a farce.

The entire sports world has been corrupted by big money interests. Yet, the fans still pay rising prices for tickets to see the games in person or on television. These televised games are highly rated, bringing in big advertising bucks.

The sad truth is: The popularity of sports heroes trumps scientists any day. In fact, most people couldn’t tell you who invented the two most important scientific discoveries in this modern era–the integrated circuit and the Internet.

The integrated circuit was invented by two scientists working independently of each other–Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor. Kilby demonstrated his initial ideas on the first working integrated circuit on Sept. 12, 1958.

In 2000, Kilby won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his part of the invention. Robert Noyce came up with his idea a half a year later than Kilby’s, in 1959. However, Noyce’s chip had solved the many practical problems that Kilby had overlooked. Noyce’s chip was made of silicon that proved to be the material of choice. Kilby’s chip was made of germanium.

Of course, both inventors had signed away their patent rights prior to working for Texas Instruments and Fairchild corporations. They should have become billionaires. Their respective companies were generous to them and gave them research jobs for life. But nothing on the scale of Tiger Woods for playing golf.

Noyce’s chip became the model for miniaturization. From 1963 on, it became a game of how many transistors can a scientist put on a microchip. This paved the way for cell phones, laptops, PCs, smart phones, and all the other electronic wonders to come in the 1980s-1990s.

The next big invention of our modern era was the Internet. Interestingly, it was spurred by the USSR’s launch of Sputnik, that sent our government into overdrive to catch up. In 1958, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was established to process information and sent it country-wide so scientists could communicate on advanced projects.

J.C.R. Licklider was selected to head the new Information Processing Technology Office (IPTO).

At MIT, Licklider served on the committee that established the Lincoln Laboratory. This evolved into the project to make a viable network to connect university science labs long before viable PCs became available.

This model went through various incarnations until the opening of the network to commercial interests in 1988, using the first TCP/IP based protocol invented by David L Mills. This led to the Telenet which was privately funded.

The ability for TCP/IP to work over virtually any preexisting communication networks allowed for growth. Bang zoom–dial up gave way to Broadband at fast speeds in the 1990s. Now, it’s a vast matrix of infinite information services and E-mail, Twitter, Face Book, et al skyrocketed. Keeping the Internet free and open has been one of this Century’s greatest achievements.

The integrated circuit and the Internet inventors should be stars, not some young thug that just got a $10 million signing bonus before he’s played a game in the NFL. Ah, but way back we got our priorities screwed up. Golf trumps science. That’s the world we live in.

2009-07-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Dumbing of America Reaches Crisis Level– Anti-intellectualism is Rampant

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

"It’s a confederacy of dunces," John Kennedy Toole

They’re out there in droves–the dumb acting fools. They include the bad drivers, philandering politicians, incompetent service workers, and red necks. Also included are the hordes of people who abuse fertility services by having 5 to 8 to 14 kids. Most doltish are college students who clearly haven’t been learning anything in their years of higher education except drinking beer and having sex.

It’s a full blown crisis of anti-intellectualism. Jay Leno’s popular segment "Jaywalking," which exposes blatant stupidity from mostly college students, is just a microcosm of the big picture.

Yes, the dumbing of America is epidemic and soon we’ll have an entire population of nitwits. In contrast, other countries are now surpassing the United States in intellectualism and educational achievement.

Generally, Americans go about their daily duties oblivious to anything but their narrow little world. For many citizens, learning stopped after college or high school. More shockingly, many Americans have let themselves go by avoiding exercise and becoming obese. Many people, including me, are TV addicts, spending many hours rotting their brains watching television. I compensate by hours of writing and learning.

Of course, now we have many other mind numbing distractions including smart phones, iPods, laptops, desktops, the Internet, and the availability of paid for downloadable music. We twitter, E-mail, write messages on our Face book pages, and talk endlessly on our cell phones. There’s too much mindless chatter going through the air.

All these communication devices have a positive side. Anyone can research anything via the Internet or wirelessly through the air on our smart phones and laptops. Infinite information is at our fingertips, but many people choose to seek out useless data, such as Paris Hilton’s latest exploits.

Yes, I’m guilty of occasionally watching TruTv’s "The World’s Dumbest" with the D-list celebrities making humorous commentary. In an odd way, this only substantiates my case that mindlessness is viral in America. It’s like a dumb bomb of invisible stupid gas has fallen on our country.

So, am I exaggerating the problem? No, I don’t think so. Every day I see drivers on the roads do the stupidest things. I see people driving while texting, or reading with the text on the steering wheel. Everyone is talking on cell hones while driving (I’m guilty of this one, although I try to pull over in a safe place to talk). I see drivers suddenly make a turn without using their turn signals, and I see drivers traveling way too slow or way too fast for the road conditions.

More annoyingly, my pet peeve is drivers who race up to the intersection like their not going to stop and then they suddenly slam on their brakes, but inch ahead. Idiots! Frankly, I think most people take their driving skills for granted until they get in a serious accident.

If one has been driving for many years, then it’s a good idea to take a defensive driving course, especially for seniors. Yes, that applies to me at 68. And yes, I did take a defensive driving course some years ago. But I try to remind myself to drive carefully and defensively. But, like so many people, I occasionally let my mind wander while driving. One moment of the loss of concentration can be disastrous.

It’s a given that politicians can’t be trusted or relied upon to do their jobs as our representatives. However, the rash of philandering politicians has recently reached ridiculous proportions. The rogues gallery of loutish, lying, cheating lawmakers include Newt Gingrich, Senator and former Presidential Candidate John Edwards, Senator Ensign, N.J. Governor McGreevey, N.Y.Governor Spitzer, and most recently S.C. Governor Sanford. And the king of the philanders is, of course, ex-president Bill Clinton.

Clinton created a new class of cheaters. For twelve years as Governor of Arkansas, Clinton carried on a sordid affair with Jennifer Flowers. His audacity was legendary when he fooled around with intern Monica Lewinski in the White House. However, Clinton survived the scandal because he was smart and was doing a great job as president. "I did not have sex with that woman," is fall-down funny in the glare of history.

Philanderers like Eliot Spitzer was not only a liar and cheated on his wife with a series of expensive call girls, but he was a hypocrite by busting the same call girl services he was using in NYC. His level of betrayal rightly caused him to lose everything.

Newt Gingrich was carrying on an affair while his wife was fighting cancer in the hospital, which made his betrayal that much more egregious. The latest rogue to be caught is Governor Sanford who went AWOL from his job, flew to Argentina to have sex with his mistress, and told everyone he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Right.

All the advances in electronic technology are a double edged sword. They open up the world of knowledge to our fingertips. These devices can be a great learning tool. However, they can be a major distraction to the continuation of learning after our formal education.

My humble advice for my fellow Americans (and myself) is to wake up to the bigger world beyond their daily life. Read the Internet news sites and pay attention to current events. Continue learning new things about science and history. After all, life itself is a learning experience. Sure, we live–we die–who cares? It’s what happens in between that matters.

2009-07-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Iranian Uprising–Will of the People will Eventually Reign Supreme

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

The present unrest in Iran is no longer a protest against the election results. The protests have mushroomed into an uprising against the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenie. He has absolute power and is the commander and chief of the Iranian military, militia, and Revolutionary Guard. Shockingly, the people are chanting "Death to the dictator."

This is an unprecedented breaking of a long standing taboo to question the supreme leader’s wisdom. If the people are dedicated to forcing change and willing to risk their life for a new style of government, then the will of the people will eventually reign supreme.

In America, in the mid-1700s, the Colonists were willing to take up arms against Britain. More seriously, the Colonists were willing to shed blood to become an independent nation. The die was cast. If the passion for change is strong enough, the will of the people will always prevail. They have to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Live free or die!

The breaking of the taboo against the supreme leader expresses the deep seeded level of the people’s discontent with the government. Since two-thirds of the population is under thirty and well educated, the youthful proletariat want more freedom and a bigger voice in the domestic decisions handed down by the president. Ahmadinejad has bungled the economy of the country. The people are furious, knowing the election was rigged.

Indeed, much of this discontent is being driven by young women who are tired of the strict Islamic moral rules of female behavior. They are smart, resourceful, and they want equal rights with men. A well known female Iranian author said that to find out what the modern Iranian wants, follow the activism of Iranian women.

The present Iranian system of government was set up after the 1979 Iranian Islamic extremist revolution which voted in the new constitution. This document gave the supreme leader absolute power to govern as he saw fit.

The new 1979 government constitution also installed the Guardian Council who vote in the presidential candidate every four years for a maximum of two terms. Essentially, the president is subservient to the supreme leader. The president does have leeway in his decisions regarding the economy and domestic issues. If the president does something of which the Guardian Council doesn’t approve, he could be forced out.

Elections in Iran have long been suspected of being fixed and just a sham. Ahmadinejad was declared winner only two hours after the polls closed. How could they count all those ballots in that short a time. Of course, it was fixed!

In other words, the Guardian Council protects the fundamentalist Islamic law which is highly restrictive of people’s civil rights and freedom. When the 1979 revolution ousted the Shah of Iran, it was like the country was sent back to the dark ages. These fanatical old men are religious zealots and frame all human behavior in the rules as set forth in the Qur’an. Of course, their interpretation is extremely bias to their viewpoints.

It would be like the Pope was the supreme leader of the United States and the president would have to do his bidding. Sin would be in, and confessing sin would get everyone off the hook. We have separation of church and state for very logical reasons.

Could the people of Iran pull off a full blown revolution? Not without the support of the military and or the Revolutionary Guard, who are fiercely loyal to the supreme leader and the concept of Islamic fundamentalism. In the end, Khamenei has the power to crush the uprising.

As long as Khamenei has the support of the military, then, unless the people had help from a foreign army, they are doomed to eventually comply. They could strike and shutdown the infrastructure of the country. That would be effective and could cause dissension in the Guardian Council forcing change. But the hard liners are definitely in charge.

Nonetheless, something important has happened to the Iranian Zeitgeist. There has been a shift in the power paradigm. In the hearts and minds of the people, the uprising has fomented the idea of a democratic revolution.

The people now have demonstrated they will not lay down to comply with the supreme leader or put up with fixed elections. This seed of revolution will grow into a people’s power base working behind the scenes to bring in visionary leaders.

Still, the heart beat of the Islamic fundamentalist revolution is strong and powerful. Ultimately, the will of the people is stronger than a fundamentalist religion. The question is: How dedicated are the democratic revolutionaries? Time will tell.

2009-06-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

Rick Raw: Vicious Chihuahuas Corner Cougar in Garage–It’s Not about Size but Dominance

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

In Riverside County, California, Ana Lee Spray, 23, was dumbfounded when she saw her three toy Chihuahuas snarling and barking just inside her open garage. When she investigated she saw a full grown Cougar cowering in the corner of the garage.

No doubt, the Cougar wandered into the garage to eat the Chihuahuas, but their viciousness and loud taunts scared the big cat. Each Chihuahua weighed no more than 3 pounds, which only proves that dog psychologist, Cesar Millan’s rule that it’s not about size but dominance.

A panicked Spray called police who in turn called in officers from the Department of Fish and Game. The police officers and the Game agents were speechless at this bizarre sight. The Game agents had to shoot three tranquilizer darts into the Cougar to subdue the beast.

But the tiny Chihuahuas refused to stop their attack. Finally, Spray got the pint-sized animals calmed down as the Game officers hauled the sleeping Cougar back to a wild life sanctuary. When the big cat woke up, he probably thought he had a bad dream.

Of course, as master of Pepe, my 11 pound Chihuahua, I can verify that this breed can dominate much larger dogs. And, Pepe, although I’ve trained him to be less vicious, can be unpredictable. Now if someone comes into our apartment, he’s quiet but we never know when he might silently attack, like a submarine. He has latched on to some unexpecting persons’ ankles a few times without making a sound.

Of course, the California incident was funny and made a great weird news story. However, with dogs, they are natural followers, and they need a leader of the pack. In the case of the Cougar, he encountered a situation for which he had no precedent. He was confused. The little monsters scared him into submission.

Since I have three dogs–officially a pack–they look to me as the leader of the pack. They need direction and discipline delivered with calm assertiveness. My Chihuahua will try to dominate the other bigger Basenji female and the smaller Heinz 57 variety female, but I step in and assert dominance.

Ultimately, Pepe looks to me for guidance. But Chihuahuas can be difficult to train or discipline. Those three toy Chihuahuas that cornered the Cougar are a great example of Chihuahuas assuming dominance with extreme prejudice.

In most cases, when dogs go bad, it’s the owners who are to blame for not assuming command of the pack. I reached this conclusion from watching Cesar Millan’s series The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. He rehabilitates dogs and trains people who do not understand dog psychology.