Category: Current Events

You might call it “highway hypnosis” or “zoning out” or “spacing off” or “in the zone”. And, hypnosis is used on you everyday on radio and television. Even by your friends or family using guilt, blame, or joy to manipulate your decisions.

Please forget what you may have seen about hypnosis being used to manipulate people’s decisions. If that were true, company’s would pay millions of dollars to do exactly that during a Super Bowl halftime show. Oh, wait, they do. Well, at least they attempt to, and it obviously works enough of the time to make it a good business decision. But, you know it doesn’t work every time or even most of the time.

Hypnosis is used on most of us very effectively by politicians, and advertising executives. And used poorly by most “pre-owned” car salesman. And yes, it’s used on you by friends and family. And yes, you use it on them too.

Hypnosis is in use when your critical faculty is bypassed. Analytical reason is set aside, or completely bypassed, in favor of emotional behavior Emotional behaviors are quicker and more consistent from person to person. So, more likely to elicit a predictable response. Like when you’re driving and you hear a horn honk behind you. What is your immediate emotional behavior response? Guilt? Anger? Fear? The honking horn may not even be directed at you. The honking horn was honked with the intention of eliciting a rapid response, and it usually does. Sounds complicated until you start seeing how common it is.

If you’re driving home from work and someone cuts you off in traffic, you might be irritated. The fourth person to cut you off on that same trip home? The fourth guy didn’t do anything different than the first guy. Unless you’re the nicest person in the world, odds are you’re MUCH more irritated. That’s emotional association controlling your reaction.

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Karl Rove, President Bush’s longtime political guru and all around arrogant political operator, refused to obey a court order to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. Karl Rove’s lawyers says he is immune from a congressional subpoena.

Rove’s lawyer asserted that Rove was “immune” from the subpoena the committee had issued, stating that the committee could not compel Rove to testify due to “executive privilege.”

The congressional panel is investigating allegations that Karl Rove and his White House allies dismissed U.S. attorneys and prosecuted officials who they saw as political opponents.

The panel subpoenaed Rove in May after his lawyer, Robert Luskin, made clear the former White House deputy chief of staff would not appear voluntarily.

Luskin responded immediately that Rove still would not appear, prompting a threat of prosecution from the Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, and Rep. Linda Sanchez, a California Democrat who chairs the subcommittee on commercial and administrative law.

“A refusal to appear in violation of the subpoena could subject Mr. Rove to contempt proceedings, including statutory contempt under federal law and proceedings under the inherent contempt authority of the House of Representatives,” Conyers and Sanchez wrote.

Rove’s lawyer cited a letter from the Justice Department saying Rove is “constitutionally immune from compelled congressional testimony.” Keep in mind that this is the most politicized Justice Department in the history of the United States and it is highly likely that they will say whatever president Bush wants them to say.

Rove’s lawyer said Rove is willing to submit to an “informal interview” or to answer written questions about the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, whose ouster Rove is accused of orchestrating. By informal interview I expect that Rove means he will be glad to make statements about any and all things as long as he is not under oath. Right on, Karl.

America had an energy crisis starting in 1973 with the Arab oil embargo. Unfortunately we didn’t seem to take it all that seriously as it was fairly short lived. Certainly the United States didn’t learn much from it.

The 1970’s energy crisis led to greater interest in renewable energy and spurred research in solar power and wind power. It also led to greater pressure to exploit North American oil sources, and increased the West’s dependence on coal and nuclear power. The energy crisis of the 1970’s caused the United States to step up and begin conservation efforts and explore alternate energy sources.

It was thought that if oil prices continued their uphill climb, these alternate sources would without a doubt become economically and politically superior to oil. However, once oil prices started to fall interest in alternative energy and in conservation fell to almost zero. Overly optimistic Americans though that the energy crisis had disappeared for good. Forget about developing a fast train system and enhanced public transportation, bring on the age of the SUV.

The 1970’s energy crisis was brought into focus by President Carter’s message to the American people on April 18, 1977 and by his message to the Congress on April 20, 1977. Although the President spoke of the gravity of the energy situation when he said that it was “unprecedented in our history,” his messages triggered an avalanche of critical responses from national political and business leaders.

Fast forward to 2008 and you still hear from our so called “leaders” that American can work through the crisis just fine. That would be nice but don’t count on it. America is just as unprepared for an energy crisis in 2008 as it was in 1973.

Fidel Castro announced his own retirement as Cuba’s President and Commander in Chief of the Cuban military as he announces he would not accept a new term as president.

Castro has been seriously ill since undergoing surgery in 2006.  Castro outlasted nine American presidents even though he was the target of many CIA assassination plots.

United States leaders across nine adminstrations have never forgiven Castro for taking out in 1959 their man, the dictator in their pocket, Batista. Batista had cozy relationships with a good number of American politicians as well as the America Mafia. These people were very unhappy with Castro for cutting their ties to their Cuban paradise. Life was very sweet for American fat cats in pre Castro Havana.

Since Castro first came to power he has faced the opposition and sanctions of the petty, unforgiving American government. While US sanctions against Cuba have without a doubt caused hardships for many of Cuba’s eleven million people they never even came close to causing such unrest as to be a threat to Fidel Castro’s hold on power.

US President George W. Bush, world class hypocrite that he is, stated that he regarded Mr Castro’s departure as “a period of transition, and it should be the beginning of the democratic transition in Cuba”. The US, he added, was ready to help the “people of Cuba realise the blessings of liberty”.

One might wonder if the type of liberty that Bush has in mind for Cuba is of the same sort that he has delivered to the peoples of the destroyed nation of Iraq? If so Bush may find he has few takers. One may also wonder what kind of liberty George Bush and the previous eight US presidents were thinking of for Americans by imposing travel restrictions to Cuba and other countries that the US opposes?

The US Navy will fire a Raytheon SM-3 missile at an out of control spy satellite in an effort to knock it down over the Pacific Ocean.

A Navy cruiser in the Pacific Ocean will try an unprecedented shoot down of an out of control, school bus size U.S. spy satellite that is falling towards earth.

Deputy national security adviser James F. Jeffrey said that the decision was “based on the fact that the satellite is carrying a substantial amount of hydrazine, a hazardous rocket fuel.”

There has been quite a bit of speculation that perhaps other less obvious reasons are involved. Some defense analysis think that the government is seizing the opportunity to test fire a missile at an incoming target. Others think that perhaps the US wants to take no chances that parts of the top secret satellite would survive the reentry and end up in the wrong hands.

Whatever, the reason the Navy will get it’s chance to destroy the monster satellite in about five days time as it renters the earth’s atmosphere. It’s an event sure to gain worldwide attention. Only a year ago the US was highly critical of a successful Chinese missile launching that lead to the destruction of an aging Chinese satellite.