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BLOG: 8:40AM March 26, 2009. Received from Barbara, who is traveling this past month to a couple Mental Health Conference and visiting her mother. I t

A stranger was seated next to a little black girl on the

Airplane when the stranger turned to her and said,

"Let's talk. I've heard that flights go quicker

If you strike up a conversation with your fellow

Passenger." ?The little girl, who had just opened her

Coloring book, closed it slowly and said to the stranger,

"What would you like to talk about?" ??"Oh, I

Don't know," said the stranger. "Since you are

a Negro, do you think that So -called President Elect Barak

Obama is qualified for the job?" and he smiles?

"OK", she said. 'That could be an interesting

Topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow,

And a deer all eat the same stuff - grass -. Yet a deer

Excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty,

And a horse produces clumps of dried grass. ? Why do you

Suppose that is?"? The stranger, visibly surprised by

The little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and

Says, "Hmmm, I have no idea."? To which the little

Girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss

President Barack Obama... When you don't know shit?"

Posted by Minerva at 7:47 AM No comments: Links to this post To all those below who have expressed their ideas so beautifully, I would like to add my 2 cents worth. I have been banished from the universe by the great and all knowing LL so this may be my last communication before the firing squad. Is this intemperate talk, YES? Nevertheless, we are locked in a struggle for America, ours and our president or the Cons. His budget is under intense fire from the Cons and also from some Democrats. Has anyone remembered what Reagan spent on rearmament & doing such moronic things as decommissioning the US Missouri? The cost was 3 trillion bucks. Does anyone remember Chip O`Neal saying the most stupid political move he ever made was letting Reagan talk him into deregulating the Savings and Loan business which ended up costing the taxpayer’s 800 billion? And has anyone added up what Bushes Iraq war has cost thus far?

Has anyone paid attention to the fact that we spend 4 times as much as any other country in the world on guns. Does anyone remember Eisenhower warning about the Military/Industrial Complex just before leaving office? The intelligence services in our country knew the Soviet Economy was falling apart as early as the late sixties? (Pictured: David Halberstam) * So why have we allowed the Cons to run up trillions in guns to fight boogymen that don`t exist? MONEY. Read The Mission by Dana Priest, a reporter for the Washington Post and then read House of War ,a story of the growth of the Defence Department and supporting evidence of Priest`s belief that the Defence Dept runs our Foreign Policy. And does anyone remember Hitler, Stalin,Tojo and others that rose up out of economic chaos, and will rise again. We need somehow to reacquaint the American people with the fact that the cost of worldwide chaos and war and especially human suffering will cost K-trillions. What Obama spends in reversing this slide towards depression will be nothing compared to what the cost will be to fix things then. I get a little exasperated with all the call for political niceness and politeness when we are dealing with the likes of Canter and the other Ideologists in the Con party. They won`t listen to us no matter what. They only respond to Power and Money. We need to permanently take both of these away from them. And yes our party is as guilty as the Cons & if you don`t believe this, read The Best and The Brightest by David Halberstam.

I continue to applaud Paul Currier for his intelligence and hard work .He is the first human dynamo. So maybe he can find a way to let the American people know this most important history at least as I see it. I think it provides a challenge to the Cons when they say Obama is going to destroy our country, when they have come as close to doing this in the last 8 years as has ever happened.

Thanks & I`m out of here.


Robert A.Schweissinger, MD email@example.com

Resources: Picture: http://www.americanwriters.org/classroom/resources/tr_halberstam.asp;

Book Covers:
The Best and the Brightest: by David Halberstam (Author) Publisher: Random House Publishing Group; Pub. Date: October 1993; ISBN-13:9780449908709; 20th Anniversary Edition; 720pp

House of War: The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power by James Carroll (Author) Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Pub. Date: May 2006; ISBN-13:9780618187805; 672pp

The Mission: America's Military in the Twenty-First Century by Dana Priest (Author); Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.; Pub. Date: March 2003; ISBN-13:9780393010244; 384pp.
Posted by Minerva at 7:39 AM No comments: Links to this post 
Supreme Court Confronts a Mystery Was looking for news today and ran into Elizabeth de la Vega’s, “The Supreme Court Confronts a Mystery”, found in the on-line blog “truthout.org”. It is a story that conjured up nightmares of the Scottsboro Boys case and the discussion on whether or not the courts should have declared a reversal of findings. Even when the evidence was apparent.
William Osborne, 36, was convicted of rape, kidnapping and assault in 1993. (Photo: Bill Roth / Anchorage Daily News) the court still ruled that a rape had taken place although one of the girls in question said “it never happened”. When I ran into the Osborne case, I began to wonder who was the attorney for this case and why weren’t we hearing more about it in the commercial news? Personally, I get tired of seeing the repeat of finding men trying to molest children as a weekly diet of “news”. If anything it should be quite simple. Read them their rights, provide the evidence (the film) and prosecute accordingly, I don’t need to see repeat performances and seeing men in the process of rape is not entertaining. Maybe I’m stretching it, but my point is, someone is serving time for evidence that is available and apparent but not being used. The Osborne case does make you scratch your head and say, “what were they thinking” or ask yourself “is Alaska in the United States of America where they hide the evidence”? http://www.truthout.org/030309J
And to think this man has been incarcerated without due process with the evidence against him for years. You might join me in paying attention to the Supreme Court ruling on this one. . .
Posted by Minerva at 3:24 PM No comments: Links to this post A fellow Democrat sent me a copy of Women network blog. In it was a little gem regarding a PBS Frontline story “Secret Daughter” June Cross, who happened to be the stepdaughter of Norma Greaves-Cross, the wife of Larry Stroch from F –Troop, is showcased. The subtitle tells it all, “A mixed raced daughter and the mother who gave her away”. Published by Viking Press, #ISBN 067088555X
Cross says her mother referred to “Surrendering her upbringing”, meant pretending to be adopted when she would visit her mother. The problem was a discussion on how many individuals who had children in and out of wedlock from bi-racial parents and parents who had children from other racial makeup’s. I had to keep remembering how miscegenation was prevalent and extremely frowned on in the American culture especially in the 40’s and 50’s.
During the summer months when June went to visit her mother in Hollywood, as a little girl, she would refer to her white mother as ‘Aunt Norma’ so that the friends and neighbors didn’t know that she was in fact her daughter. June is also the daughter of James Cross, an African American Vaudeville actor. The picture to the left is a recent picture of Cross with Larry Stroch.
According to my Hollywood sources complications may have been in effect when Peggy Ryan married James Cross in 1945; they were divorced in 1952. Peggy Ryan was also known by her maiden name Margaret O'Rene Ryan on 28 August 1924 in Long Beach, California - but who died on 30 October 2004 from a stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ryan was also known for her high kicking American dancing and costarred in a series of movie musicals at Universal Studios tapping with Donald O'Connor. Sorry I digressed but the point was, the company that her parents kept would have been legendary had she had the opportunity to benefit from their resources, however, even though Cross was raised by a middle-income African American family located in Atlantic City. She was able to attend Harvard University, became a journalist and a documentarian. After the documentary aired according to cross, many of her mother’s friends who were liberal distanced themselves from her saying she misled them. While her conservative friends felt empathy for her. Cross apparently thought the mother’s friends would only find compassion for her discretions. Cross says the book and documentary have been therapeutic to her and her mother.
My mother used to say to me all the time, what happens in the dark, will eventually come to light, be sure whatever you do, it is something that you will not be ashamed of once it is revealed. So walk like God is always present was advice that I never forgot and am pleased that text messaging and videoing isn’t as prevalent as it is now. . .
I can only assume now that we have am African-American president who is too a product of a mixed-racial relationship that we will be hearing more stories and “confessionals” that will strike the compassionate chord in all of us. . . Peace out, Minerva

Posted by Minerva at 3:51 PM No comments: Links to this post There has been increasing disgust towards AIG in the past week. You would have to say that AIG earned the indignation considering the federal bailout and that the same division that almost bankrupted the company is now receiving bonuses for their risky and flagrant behavior. Because the employees almost succeeded at destroying the company, they are revered. Maybe the goal was to show, that even if they did destroy the company, that being so large the American people and our American government, who are so enamored over the glorification of money, would worship these employees. Who took the short bet that the demise of Mega Corporation would only make our government comfort and protect all them from normal bankruptcy laws, and keep them afloat? I bet you wish you had a stake in it.
As one commentary read in Salon Magazine, “Life was really sucking chicken boogers” and then the hilarious review on AIG came along causing him a gutbucket-laughing season that many similar readers needed. I was not able to laugh; maybe I take losing millions of hard working Americans’ money too seriously.
Obama may change his slogan at the bequest of Jay Leno on next Thursday with, “Oh, no you don’t”. Moreover, I would second that recommendation. In addition, I hope Leno is able to hear a candid Barack Obama commit on this incident.
Maybe I should not be so harsh considering I got a call from them the other day, asking if I were interested in immediate employment. I asked, “But aren’t you guys going bankrupt?”
“No”, the enthusiastic head hunter replied, “that’s the media for you, they say the funniest things you know . . .” I held on to the line not knowing whether to sigh or ask more questions. I did neither; she continued, “Will you please send your resume to the following fax number and we’ll call you back for an interview”. I wrote the fax number down but still have not faxed the resume.
We need to stop idolizing people who make their money off the backs of those who do not know the meaning behind the “fine print”. We need to reassess our cultural adaptation that lucre is not filthy that it purchases us prestige, power, and respect. We need to address our narcissistic morality that only applies when our reckless attitudes and behavior puts the spotlight on us. Or maybe we need to recommend that those financial planners involved in the economic disaster hold hands aligning Wall Street and take a huge suicide pact at noon, then we won’t have to put their parents, family members, and neighbors through the humiliation of seeing them answering to grand juries, trials, and media empathy. While we are at it, allow the insurance companies to pay the widows, widowers and beneficiaries unless they too are in the financial industry. This would solve some economic problems; it would stimulate the funeral industry and all of the supportive small businesses: floral shops, limousine services, casket makers, the Neptune society, black ready wear, mortgage lending, church services and the divesting of property. Need I say more? This might also send a message to those who are supposed to be in the people business that they have an obligation to the people they serve. However, you know this will not happen, because we revere moneychangers. Maybe Jesus knew what he was doing when he turned over their temple tables. I can think of a couple 401K portfolio planners’ asses I would like to kick also especially when you know they had to know.

Minerva Leah Williams
Posted by Minerva at 2:44 PM No comments: Links to this post “Don’t you destroy enough dough on your own show” says Stewart referring to Jim Cramer. . .(Thursday, March 12, 2009)

“Don’t you destroy enough dough on your own show” says Stewart referring to Jim Cramer. . .(Thursday, March 12, 2009). Not wasting any time or jokes, John Stewart, host of the Daily Show, introduced Jim Cramer, “How the hell did we get here?” I just want you to know that after receiving some cream pie on your jacket that the question of the economy is not being personally directed to you but it remains to be seen how no one knew what was going on in the money markets.”

The show having been billed as “Brawl Street”, the 12 minutes is becoming a Favorite “go time” episode on Twitter. Presumably angry with John Stewart, who has been reaming the entire news and financial networks for not warning the American public of the economic condition the United Sta tes is now under. Jim Cramer walking to the guest chair, donning one of his signature blue wrinkled shirts, rolled up sleeves and pink tie swaying replies, “We should have seen it coming more and it is a terrible one and everyone got it wrong . . . no one should be spared.” Cramer, who is a political humorists normally bearish and host of CNBC “Mad Money” Show spoke towards the economic mess we are all in.

“The gap between the CNBC snake oil, as a vitamin tonic is real in America”, says Stewart. “There are two types of people who are financial professionals and exposing transactional markets and those that will come on the program and lie when you ask them the direct questions,” responded Cramer.

“We are capitalizing your venture”, said Stewart, “a game that you know well, and you go on a television network and pretend it is not going on. News mediums should call out shenanigans, uptake rules, and designing hedge funds.” Stewart went on to show a segment where Cramer tells another commentator on another financial show that “hedge funds regulate great excitement”. Cramer smirking at Stewart drops his head and wrings his hands, the first open sign of guilt.

“I’ll try doing that, I’ll do better, I promise”, says Cramer.

The financial news is often omission of the facts and how the facts are attained. Having CEO’s come on any show lying will make you remember the tobacco companies in the middle 90-s lying about smoking does not harm your health. The current situation is not any better, i.e. Bear Sterns, AIG, Countrywide, Bank of America, Lehman Brothers and other markets knew they are engaging in risky business and packaging their product to foreign markets is just as despicable and we wonder why the world thinks we are arrogant, heartless and obsessed with materialism. Yeah, and it looks like we will bend any established rule to get to the soul of the issue” to possess money and power” at anyone’s expense.

Yes, Cramer may make finance entertaining and interesting to watch but Stewart told him “it is not a game when you are taking someone’s hard earned money, life savings and making a game out of it”.

Without question, there was little concern and care about the American public while the money lenders not only took risks with American capitol but they also earned huge bonuses and pensions for themselves some even admitting that it was the most money they had made in their lives. Cramer confessed that he did not think that Bears & Stern were going to take America in.

Stewart continued, when the banks are trading our assets at 35:1, you do not think that something is going to break in the process? Cramer retorted, well from 1999 through 2006 people were making money hand over fist and no one was complaining. You would have thought someone was asking questions then, but as long as Americans were making money, no one cared. Stewart responded, “Selling the idea that you don’t have to do anything, sit back and we’ll do it for you is wrong”. Therefore, what it was worth, Cramer eventually admitted that he and many of his financial friends knew that something terribly was wrong and he too failed to admit it on his financial show!

Many of the people that were fleeced will not have time to make that money back and then who will take care of them in their old age. Stewart went on to say that “you can draw a straight line from some of the situation on your show and see those same behaviors were going on in the larger market and weren’t those markets huge. Trillions of dollars”,

“Where are the indictments for AIG?” says Cramer, looking wide-eyed and confused. Not losing a beat or allowing for empathy, Stewart continued, “It seems like your show” and those shows like yours “need to reconcile knowing that they were aware that the financial industry was on a Sherman March with our pension plans, savings, and 401k plans and selling the idea of don’t do anything, sit back and we will take care of you.

Someone needs to be made accountable for what has happened. Reactivating the * Glass-Steagall Act may not be enough. Since ethics went out the window long time ago, we need to rewrite the relationships between the Security Exchange Commission, the brokers, corporations they regulate, the markets they oversee and a whole new crop of regulators need to be heavily screened and hired. Anyone who participated in the debacles need their licensed retired forever. However, will we ever see such strong retribution? Not likely. Unfortunately, President Obama is trying to put a harness on the moving locomotive and find the brakes, but there does not seem to be a caboose on the train either which is why the Republicans rationalize, they do not want any parts of the stimulus package. Nevertheless, where were they when the train was being signaled on to the tracks? Maybe like some Democrats who were too busy running to the bank?

We can only pray that there is at the next station and an experienced brakeman can stop the train. . .

1. See: http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=220533

2. See http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220534&title=intro-brawl-street-get-ready-to&byDate=true

3. What Does Glass-Steagall Act Mean? An act passed by Congress in 1933 that prohibited commercial banks from collaborating with full-service brokerage firms or participating in investment banking activities.

Posted by Minerva at 2:17 PM No comments: Links to this post