Following the Foreclosure Issues

Although most of the posts for this blog are written to help you with your preparedness goals or share how one family or other is doing things to give you ideas; it is never-the-less important to stay abreast of issues going on in our nation that could impact you personally, financially, etc. Issues in the news can also impact the urgency of your preparedness activities or could make you change your focus of priorities for purchases, etc.

If you have not been following the events related to the Foreclosure nightmare that is unfolding, or if you have just been going by the blips of information you have received from the main stream media regarding it, then you really do not have a good picture of the urgency of this situation and how significant the impact could be for all of us financially regarding this mess.

I highly recommend the following blog - The Market Ticker - for putting the information out about this for the past 3 YEARS and telling people that this would all blow up one day - and for keeping it real and letting us know what's going on in terms and definitions we can all understand.

So, if you haven't been keeping up, please go do some reading and educate yourself. My thought is while I can't be an expert about everything myself - I can better prepare for myself and my family if I keep up with important events around me by reading about them from the experts that are out there.

Here is a good place to start - and you can search his blog for Foreclosuregate to see all the past entries that will spell it all out for you in understandable detail.

The Market Ticker on Foreclosuregate

Excerpt:

" . . . .These events sure look like black-letter crimes to me. Selling someone crap instead of chocolate, when you tell them it's chocolate, is plain old-fashioned fraud. So is selling someone called a "Mortgage-backed security" without the mortgage backed part. In both cases, if and when this happened, you have people who took someone's money - some $6 trillion of it over the "go-go" years - and sold them crap that was certified as Grade "AAA" chocolate. In each and every case where the sellers lied, they committed a serious crime.

Who got screwed? You. Your pension fund. Your annuity company - an insurance company that might not be able to pay 10 years down the road when you're old, gray and frail.

You are the one who got screwed.

And if these clowns have their way, you'll get screwed again. The Senate knows, and is holding hearings on how to steal your 401ks - your private money - to make up the money the banks stole from Union pension funds. That's right folks - they know, and they're trying to figure out how to make it "more fair" - which is code in Washington DC for taking money from those who didn't get robbed by the banks and giving it to those who did, instead of making the robbers pay back what they stole and unjustly bonused out to their much-vaunted "talent."

Through all this we can't seem to find a prosecutor, perhaps because they're all bought and paid for by those same banks, who threaten "the end of the world" if they would be forced to eat their own cooking - or in this case, their own packaging of the dogcrap they foisted off on you.

What's worse is that we're letting all these people cover it up, even though the game had to go right through the executive suite of these big banks - you simply can't make the argument that which comprises "how one makes their money" wasn't known to the guys at the top.

Everyone talking about this in the mainstream media - with a handful of exceptions like myself on Dylan Ratigan's show, is trying to play this down as a mere technicality.

It's not.

It's a coverup that is now coming unraveled.

Why now?

Because the cash flow - or rather, the lack there - on these defaulted instruments is now becoming a serious problem, and as such you have banks furiously attempting to keep from coming to light the entirety of what happened - and they sure as hell don't want you to look closely at their practices over the last five years!

I said three years ago and have maintained since that in the end the cash flow would kill these games, because while all sorts of lies can be put on a balance sheet, you will never get away with falsifying the deposit ticket.

Guess what? That day has arrived.

Wake up America.

You've been robbed - by the bank."

The Market Ticker


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Do You Know What's In the Healthcare Bill?

Have you read it? Because you know that our Senators and Representatives haven't. They farm it out in sections to staffers to read and interpret and give them a quick review.

Why is it there is such a rush to pass through a 1018 page bill that no one has read? Because once it is a done deal, do you realize how difficult, if not impossible, it will be to take any of it away?

Would you sign a mortgage for a new house without reading it? Would you sign any other legal document without reading it?

Then why on earth do we allow for our elected representatives to pass laws that we must abide by when they not only didn't write them, but couldn't even bother to read them? And you realize that if they pass this health care bill, they don't even have to live with it themselves? They are exempt. Does this not make you stark-raving mad?

Doesn't it make you furious to hear the media and lawmakers say that those of us who are attending town hall meetings are part of a conspiracy - that we're part of an organized program to cause disruption when all we are there to do is let our feelings be known?

What ever happened to our elected representatives making laws based on the will of the people? If the will of the people across this country is saying NO to government-run health care, don't we think they should be listening to us instead of trying to come up with talking points to make us come on board with them? Instead of trying to cram it down our throats?

Do you know that Pelosi sent "talking points" home with her democratic peers because they were clueless about this bill?

Have any of you readers out there tried to read this 1000+ page document? Well, there is a member on SurvivalistBoards forum that is trying to get through the entire document and share her findings. So far she's read the first 100 pages and has posted information for us to know as she has gone along.

Here's a link to the first 100 pages she's read: Pages 1-100 of the Healthcare Bill.

She's going to post each 100 pages in a separate forum thread to make it easier to read. I encourage you to check this out. I strongly encourage you to try to read the entire document yourself, but at the very least follow along with us on the SurvivalistBoards forum.

Here's a link to the entire PDF file of the 1018 page Healthcare Bill.

Here's a link to the Liberty Counsel PDF file Overview of the Healthcare Bill.

If there is a town-hall meeting in your area - by all means try to go - get out there and hear what your elected officials are presenting on this health care bill. Find out if they've read it. Find out what they really know about it. Demand that they represent you - the people.

We cannot afford to stand by and be ignorant on this one folks.

TN Congressman Sells-Out on Healthcare

Received in my email today from Gun Owners of America - TN Residents need to pay attention and act:

Contact Senators Alexander and Corker
-- Tell them you don't want them to follow Rep. Gordon's cowardly example

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Things were going so well! Perhaps too well.

It looked like the government-run health/anti-gun database created by the stimulus bill would not be extended to the most private medical records of every man, woman, and child in America!

It seemed like the health care bill was on life support.

But who should come riding to the rescue of socialized medicine, rationing, and a federal takeover of health care decisions but ... Tennessee's Bart Gordon.

On Friday, Rep. Gordon voted for a do-nothing "compromise" which allowed the massive health abomination to pass out of Energy and Commerce Committee and go to the House floor after the August recess.

Now that Gordon has sold out, it is imperative that we keep Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker from following Gordon's cowardly example. Tennessee's congressional delegation may be pivotal in determining whether:

* Your most private medical records are placed in a health/anti-gun database operated by the federal government;

* Most Americans lose their current insurance coverage due to HHS-drafted standards that their current insurance fails to comply with [sections 123 and 124 of the House Obama care bill; section 143 of the Kennedy-Dodd bill in the Senate].

Even if the "compromise" that Gordon voted for were a wonderful bill -- which it isn't -- it will just move the process along so that a conference committee controlled by Nancy Pelosi will throw out all of the "compromises" and reinsert whatever she wants.

Once the process reaches that point -- and we realize that the final product is OUR WORST NIGHTMARE -- it will be viewed as having unstoppable momentum and our tools for fighting it will be gone.

The current health care proposals would destroy gun owner privacy safeguards. These bills would put the Obama administration in charge of determining what kind of insurance virtually every American is required to have -- and likewise, what information Americans are required to provide to that database.

Gun owners already know the dangers of a computerized health care database run by anti-gun bureaucrats. Just consider what is occurring right now to our veterans.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has its own nationalized healthcare system with centralized records. Since 1999, over 150,000 veterans, mostly combat veterans, have lost their Second Amendment rights. The reason? A diagnosis by a doctor that the person deals with issues like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These veterans committed no crime, were not tried in a court of law, served their country honorably, yet lost their gun rights for life because they told a doctor that they sometimes had nightmares about what they saw in combat.

If our veterans can lose their gun rights based on the diagnoses of a psychiatrist, we're all in trouble if Obama-care comes to the rest of the country. And to our knowledge, none of the compromise talks on Capitol Hill right now would remove gun owners from Obama's crosshairs.

By the way, Gordon's "compromise" contains a phony assurance that the bill's vastly understated trillion-dollar price tag would be reduced by an unspecified and illusory hundred billion.

Some cynics had predicted that so-called moderate Democrats like Gordon were "Pelosi puppets," who would wiggle around a little at the end of their strings, before dutifully dancing to Pelosi's tune. And they were right about Bart Gordon.

The question is: Will Senators Alexander and Corker do the same thing? They could well be the deciding votes in the Senate.

ACTION:

Contact Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker. Ask them to stand firm against gun control ... and against socialized medicine, including the Finance Committee's bill -- and not to sell out to cowardly compromises in order to please the liberal elite.

NOTE: You can "copy and paste" the pre-written letters into the appropriate webforms that are provided to you below.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

(1) Senator Lamar Alexander

Webform: http://alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
Phone: 202-224-4944, or call the Capitol switchboard toll-free at 1-877-762-8762

(2) Senator Bob Corker

Webform: http://corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactMe
Phone: 202-224-3344, or call the Capitol switchboard toll-free at 1-877-762-8762

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Senator:

You may be the pivotal vote in determining whether:

* My most private medical records are placed in a health/anti-gun database operated by the federal government;

* Most Americans lose their current insurance coverage due to HHS-drafted standards that their current insurance fails to comply with [sections 123 and 124 of the House Obamacare bill; section 143 of the Kennedy-Dodd bill].

So it is particularly alarming that Tennessee Congressman Bart Gordon voted for a face-saving do-nothing "compromise" which allowed the massive health abomination to pass out of Energy and Commerce Committee and go to the House floor after the August recess.

I urge you to stand firm against government-controlled medicine, and to not follow Gordon's cowardly betrayal of his Tennessee constituents.

Sincerely,

New World Currency Sampler

Straight from Bloomberg:

Medvedev Shows Off Sample Coin of New ‘World Currency’ at G-8

Click on the word "coin" in the article to see a sample of the currency he was illustrating.

Excerpt:

By Lyubov Pronina

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev illustrated his call for a supranational currency to replace the dollar by pulling from his pocket a sample coin of a “united future world currency.”

“Here it is,” Medvedev told reporters today in L’Aquila, Italy, after a summit of the Group of Eight nations. “You can see it and touch it.”

The coin, which bears the words “unity in diversity,” was minted in Belgium and presented to the heads of G-8 delegations, Medvedev said.

More available at the link above.

House Passes Cap and Trade

Formally known as H.R. 2998 - American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, was passed by the house 219 to 212 this afternoon.

Here are a couple of articles you might want to review:

Market Watch: Not The Answer to a Secure Energy Future

Bloomberg: Update: House Passed Climate Change Plan

Ron Paul's Blog: 8 House Republicans Helped Pass Cap and Trade

Final Roll Call on Vote to Pass Cap and Trade

Cap and Trade Update

This update I received today via email from Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) regarding the Cap and Trade vote:

Friends,

The floor fight on Cap and Trade is underway. We have had our first vote on the rule that will govern debate. The rule only allows for one Republican amendment on the bill. 30 Democrats voted against the rule, far more than expected. That is an indication that the Majority may not have the votes they need for this massive energy tax.

An amendment I proposed would force the government to disclose who gets carbon credits, and what is done with the funds that purchase them. The Democrat controlled committee that decides which amendments can be considered decided mine wouldn't make it to the floor.

You can watch what I had to say in speaking against the rule here.

Last night, the Democrats added about 300 new pages to this bill. That means that we are considering a bill in excess of over a thousand pages that no one can have read completely. I am sure you remember that the last time the House passed a thousand page bill without reading it, AIG executives wound up with more bonuses (I voted “no” on that by the way). Today’s debate and the 300 new pages of legislation were the topic of this debate on CNBC today .

The Heritage Foundation estimates that Tennessee will lose 33,000 jobs in 2012 because of this energy tax. Tennessee will lose an average of 25,600 jobs per year from 2012-2035. Need I say more?

My Best

Marsha

Follow the debate on C-SPAN

Giving Away Deficit Dollars

Read a thread this morning on Survivalist Forum that brought this little bit of news to my attention -

Here's the complete link: International Bailout Brings Us Closer To Economic Collapse.

Written by Ron Paul (R-TX), 23 Jun 2009:

An excerpt:

As Americans struggle through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, this emergency supplemental appropriations bill sends $660 million to Gaza, $555 million to Israel, $310 million to Egypt, $300 million to Jordan, and $420 million to Mexico. Some $889 million will be sent to the United Nations for so-called "peacekeeping" missions. Almost one billion dollars will be sent overseas to address the global financial crisis outside our borders. Nearly $8 billion will be spent to address a "potential pandemic flu" which could result in mandatory vaccinations for no discernable reason other than to enrich the pharmaceutical companies that make the vaccine.

Perhaps most outrageous is the $108 billion loan guarantee to the International Monetary Fund. These new loan guarantees will allow that destructive organization to continue spending taxpayer money to prop up corrupt leaders and promote harmful economic policies overseas.

Could someone please explain to me how we can manage to give away money that we don't even have?????? Does this not make you furious????

Cap and Trade This FRIDAY!

Sent to me in an email update from Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is the following regarding Cap and Trade that will hit the floor on Friday, 26 June 2009:

Friends,

The Cap and Trade bill will be on the floor tomorrow. I will update you through the day on its progress as we fight to stop this massive new energy tax. Until then I thought I would pass along this article from today's Wall Street Journal.

My Best,
Marsha

The Cap and Tax Fiction: Democrats off-loading economics to pass climate change bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put cap-and-trade legislation on a forced march through the House, and the bill may get a full vote as early as Friday. It looks as if the Democrats will have to destroy the discipline of economics to get it done.

Despite House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman's many payoffs to Members, rural and Blue Dog Democrats remain wary of voting for a bill that will impose crushing costs on their home-district businesses and consumers. The leadership's solution to this problem is to simply claim the bill defies the laws of economics.

Their gambit got a boost this week, when the Congressional Budget Office did an analysis of what has come to be known as the Waxman-Markey bill. According to the CBO, the climate legislation would cost the average household only $175 a year by 2020. Edward Markey, Mr. Waxman's co-author, instantly set to crowing that the cost of upending the entire energy economy would be no more than a postage stamp a day for the average household. Amazing. A closer look at the CBO analysis finds that it contains so many caveats as to render it useless.

For starters, the CBO estimate is a one-year snapshot of taxes that will extend to infinity. Under a cap-and-trade system, government sets a cap on the total amount of carbon that can be emitted nationally; companies then buy or sell permits to emit CO2. The cap gets cranked down over time to reduce total carbon emissions.

To get support for his bill, Mr. Waxman was forced to water down the cap in early years to please rural Democrats, and then severely ratchet it up in later years to please liberal Democrats. The CBO's analysis looks solely at the year 2020, before most of the tough restrictions kick in. As the cap is tightened and companies are stripped of initial opportunities to "offset" their emissions, the price of permits will skyrocket beyond the CBO estimate of $28 per ton of carbon. The corporate costs of buying these expensive permits will be passed to consumers.

The biggest doozy in the CBO analysis was its extraordinary decision to look only at the day-to-day costs of operating a trading program, rather than the wider consequences energy restriction would have on the economy. The CBO acknowledges this in a footnote: "The resource cost does not indicate the potential decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) that could result from the cap."

The hit to GDP is the real threat in this bill. The whole point of cap and trade is to hike the price of electricity and gas so that Americans will use less. These higher prices will show up not just in electricity bills or at the gas station but in every manufactured good, from food to cars. Consumers will cut back on spending, which in turn will cut back on production, which results in fewer jobs created or higher unemployment. Some companies will instead move their operations overseas, with the same result.

When the Heritage Foundation did its analysis of Waxman-Markey, it broadly compared the economy with and without the carbon tax. Under this more comprehensive scenario, it found Waxman-Markey would cost the economy $161 billion in 2020, which is $1,870 for a family of four. As the bill's restrictions kick in, that number rises to $6,800 for a family of four by 2035.

Note also that the CBO analysis is an average for the country as a whole. It doesn't take into account the fact that certain regions and populations will be more severely hit than others -- manufacturing states more than service states; coal producing states more than states that rely on hydro or natural gas. Low-income Americans, who devote more of their disposable income to energy, have more to lose than high-income families.

Even as Democrats have promised that this cap-and-trade legislation won't pinch wallets, behind the scenes they've acknowledged the energy price tsunami that is coming. During the brief few days in which the bill was debated in the House Energy Committee, Republicans offered three amendments: one to suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon; one to suspend the program if electricity prices rose 10% over 2009; and one to suspend the program if unemployment rates hit 15%. Democrats defeated all of them.

The reality is that cost estimates for climate legislation are as unreliable as the models predicting climate change. What comes out of the computer is a function of what politicians type in. A better indicator might be what other countries are already experiencing. Britain's Taxpayer Alliance estimates the average family there is paying nearly $1,300 a year in green taxes for carbon-cutting programs in effect only a few years.

Americans should know that those Members who vote for this climate bill are voting for what is likely to be the biggest tax in American history. Even Democrats can't repeal that reality.

This Week In Washington

I receive periodic updates from Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and thought I'd share this email I received - it has some links where you can go to read more about Cap and Trade and the Democratic Health Plan. Here title of this email: This Will Be A Busy (And Expensive) Week in Washington:

Friends,

This will be a busy and expensive week in the House. Today, House Democrats released their "new" Cap and Trade bill. This isn't the bill we debated and amended in the Energy and Commerce Committee last month. This is a new instrument, nearly twice as long still very expensive. This isn't an energy bill, it is a tax bill plain and simple. You can read the bill here.

This week, hearings will also begin on the Democrat's health care plan. Starting early each morning, the Energy and Commerce Committee will hold hearings on the Democrat's "discussion draft" a huge piece of legislation to create a "public option" government run health care plan.

Tomorrow we'll be hearing from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. I plan to ask her a number of questions, including what lessons this administration has learned from Tennessee's experience with TennCare. Additional analysis of the Democrat health care bill can be found here.

You should be able to follow this week's hearings on the C-SPAN website.

If you haven’t already, go ahead and sign up as a supporter on my Facebook page for even faster updates.

My Best,
Marsha

Now you have the links where you can go take a peek at what's up this week with your tax dollars.

No Federal Regulation of Firearms in TN??

This is almost to good to be true, but it is. Apparently, Tennessee is considering following the actions of Montana and possibly Texas in telling the Federal Government they can keep their hands off our guns.

Tennessee legislators are considering new legislation that would essentially state that any firearms manufactured and sold within the State of Tennessee would not be subject to Federal gun laws.

In April of this year, Montana passed a law that guns manufactured in Montana and sold in Montana to people who intend to keep their weapons in Montana are exempt from federal gun registration, background checks and dealer-licensing rules because no state lines are crossed.

Tennessee is considering similar legislation called the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act. You can read more of a story about this here: Fox 17/Nashville - Bill Would Prevent Federal Government from Regulating Firearms in TN - by John Dunn

Time to call your legislators and let them know how much you support this bill!

No Presidential Term Limit?

We take a quick break from all the H1N1 (swine) flu reporting to make sure you are aware of this little nugget proposed by Rep. Jose' Serrano [D-NY] - introduced on 06 Jan 2009 and currently without any co-sponsors:

H.J. Res. 5: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.

Read all about it for yourself at GovTrack.us - just click the link.

More new info you might want to browse while you are there - just use the search button:

S:996: National Health Care Quality Act

S: 962: A bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to promote an enhanced strategic partnership with Pakistan and its people, and for other purposes.

H.R. 2205: Education Begins at Home Act of 2009

Keeping Up

Are you all trying hard to keep up with the goings on of our government in Washington?

I strongly recommend that you add The Market Ticker to your DAILY reading if you don't already. Karl Denninger puts it straight, on a daily basis, so you'll know exactly what's going on in, around and behind the scenes.

A few highlights:

Open Challenge To The States

Washington Corruption

Check it out if you don't already.

Tea Party Review

Did you attend a tea party in your area yesterday? How did it go? Where do you think it will go from here?

Here's a roundup of tea-party news from across the state and nation:

Fayette County (Somerville, TN) - crowd of about 500

Memphis - crowd of about a 1000 - not good news coverage to be found

Chattanooga Times Free Press - crowd of approximately 2000

Knoxville WBIR.com

Shelbyville Times Gazette - reporting on Nashville (10,000 in attendance) and Murfreesboro

Scared Monkey - blogged about the Nashville tea party

Tax Day Tea Party - good info on attendance across the nation

CAGW: Know Your Pork

Even though it has been a while since the 2009 Federal Budget was passed with all of it excessive pork spending - I thought you might want to have the link so you can browse at your leisure all of the 10,160 pork projects that were included at a cost of 19.6 BILLION. Be sure to check out your state representatives and see how much pork was promised to your state!

Here's the link: Citizens Against Government Waste: 2009 Pig Book Summary

CyberSecurity???

Funny, I don't feel any safer after reading this information. Two bills, both introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller, are being started in the Senate as part of the Cybersecurity Act of 2009: S. 773 and S. 778. The text of these bills is not available yet on GovTrack, but I'll keep looking for it so I can read the text in its entirety. But here's the premise:

S. 773: A bill to ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and intranet communications for such purposes, to provide for the development of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain effective cybersecurity defenses against disruption, and for other purposes.

S. 778: Bill to establish an Office of National Cybersecurity Advisor

A summary can be found here: Cyberbill Summary

According to a news article by WorldNetDaily, after viewing a working copy of the bills, they can:

"First, the White House, through the national cybersecurity advisor, shall have the authority to disconnect "critical infrastructure" networks from the Internet – including private citizens' banks and health records, if Rockefeller's examples are accurate – if they are found to be at risk of cyber attack. The working copy of the bill, however, does not define what constitutes a cybersecurity emergency, and apparently leaves the question to the discretion of the president.

Second, the bill establishes the Department of Commerce as "the clearinghouse of cybersecurity threat and vulnerability information," including the monitoring of private information networks deemed a part of the "critical infrastructure."

Third, the legislation proposes implementation of a professional licensing program for certifying who can serve as a cybersecurity professional."

This is definitely something for us to keep track of. For those how-to articles and bookmarked sites that you love - you might want to consider having a copy on your hard drive!

Keeping Up: News To Know

A quick post this evening with news you need to know, if you don't already:

Inside the Obama meeting with bank CEOs

World leaders pledge 1.1 Trillion to fight global crisis

Russia hails "comrade" Obama

Clinton announces million-dollar scholarship program for Palestinian students

Just to keep up:

Federal Register of Executive Orders by Obama (ongoing updates added as they are issued)

The Market Ticker

Free: Pocket Constitution and Declaration of Independence

Exaggeration!

Exaggerate:

v. ex·ag·ger·at·ed, ex·ag·ger·at·ing, ex·ag·ger·ates

v.tr.

1. To represent as greater than is actually the case; overstate: exaggerate the size of the enemy force; exaggerated his own role in the episode.

2. To enlarge or increase to an abnormal degree: thick lenses that exaggerated the size of her eyes.

v.intr.

To make overstatements.
(definition courtesy of The Free Dictionary)

Seems that our elected officials have gotten really, really good at this of late. Examples:

1. Fox News Political Grapevine: The DNC apparently reported that they presented 642,000 petitions to Capitol Hill on Wednesday in support of the President's budget. PROBLEM: There were only 114,000 - until they went on a door-to-door weekend campaign and added another 100,000. This, in basic math, adds up to 214,000. Then, they made THREE COPIES of each one so every Senator and Representative would get one.

The same link talks about Vice President Biden taking credit for the stimulus package building a new firestation, when in fact the funds were approved in the previous administration.

2. A Perpetuating Myth: Keep hearing that "90% of the guns used in crimes in Mexico come from the US" statistic? IT IS FALSE. Actually, the true statement is that 90% of the TRACEABLE guns used in Mexico. Turns out that only 17% of the guns used are traceable to the U.S. The rest come from Central and South America, China, Russia and other countries. But boy, it certainly is dramatic to get media attention with that 90% number, even if it is a lie.

Can't believe everything you hear or read, you have to do your homework!

Gitmo Detainees Released in U.S??

This is too much for words. The intelligence chief, Dennis Blair, commented on 26 Mar 2009 that some of the detainees at Gitmo might actually be released in the U.S. since no other country will take them, and they would be released with some form of governmental aid to start their new life. Can't make this stuff up, folks. Read for yourself here:

AFP: Terror inmates may be released in the U.S.

The Weekly Standard: Welfare for freed Gitmo detainees?

Tracking Food Bills in Congress

It is hard to keep up with the ever-changing numbers and volumes of bills that are introduced in this administration - here are some resources that you might find useful in keeping track of food regulating bills that are in various stages of committees.

H.R. 875 - this is the bill we've heard the most about and that has gotten so many people up in arms about the broad definitions that could be construed to include backyard gardens.

It appears that H.R. 875 will probably be side-tracked and run out of steam because there is more interest in H.R. 759, which would seek to overhaul the entire Food and Drug Administration and needs very close watching to see how they handle small and home-based businesses, farms and ranches.

There is also an H.R. 814, S.510 and S.425 - all relating to food regulation, mandatory food and animal tracking systems, etc.

Just know that you'll have to stay on your toes and keep up with what's going on and moving in and out of committee if these food bills are important to you - and believe me, they should be important to you.

Here are some additional resources that might help:

Food & Water Watch

Cornucopia Institute

Local Harvest

Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund

Sustainable Food

As always - know that you cannot believe everything you see, hear or read - remember most of these websites are opinions with a particular cause or slant or bias - use them as part of a broad spectrum to educate yourself and as with most things, use your intelligence to decide for yourself what sounds logical and please - read the bills yourself so you know what they say!

545 of 300 Million

Here is an excellent article that I encourage everyone to read. The author does a great job of putting into words what a lot of people I talk to every day are feeling and thinking about the state of our society and economy at this time:

545 People - by Charley Reese