Success Warrior: The Blog That Embraces ADHD

Freedom of the Press

So,

I read an article today from Reporters Without Borders about their Press Freedom Index for 2011 - 2012.  No surprise but the United States dropped in ranking going from number 20 to number 47.

Damn you Occupy Wall Street!

Maybe they put too much importance on things like beating journalists with night-sticks.

"The equation is simple: the absence or suppression of civil liberties leads necessarily to the suppression of media freedom. Dictatorships fear and ban information, especially when it may undermine them."

Suppressing the blatant disregard for civil liberties is obviously a big part of the equation but I think there are a couple huge chunks that may have played roles in the plummet in the US ranking, with OWS acting as the catalyst to bring these things to the surface.  The article is big picture taking in the entire world in one article but in the case of the United States, it's vital to include the changing face of "media" and who the spotlight is pointed at when Occupiers start chanting.

The fact that anyone and everyone can be a journalist (although cities are going to be much more strict with press credentials from now on - to keep the riff raff out, doncha know).  When there were only 6 major media corporations controlling the release of information, it was safer to allow journalists near the action because it was easier to tell them which stories to cover and maintain control on what was eventually released to the public.

Similar to watching the Great and Powerful Oz do a "press release", only people who will go along to get along are allowed to participate with a camera.  Anyone allowed to ask Obama questions has to sign a "Softballs Only" agreement.  Before Obama declared himself a third world tyrant, anyone asking a question seeking real information would be banned from any further presidential "press releases", fired, black listed, and called names by the lapdogs still allowed to sit in the same room as Oz.  Today, armed with NDAA, JSOC, and other "laws" repealing the Constitution, any journalist with the balls to ask Obama a question of any informational value will find themselves in Gitmo with electrodes connected to said balls with no legal means of getting released.

Ohhh, the Monica Lewinsky presidential media contract.

To get close to the prez, you have to suck His dick?

Your self-esteem has got to take a hit when you suck the dick of Goldman Sachs' little bitch.

The Great and Powerful Squeak?

Sounds about right.

In today's world though, anyone with a camera, smart phone, or blog is part of the media.  The whole world is watching.  It's impossible to control what goes on the Internet (although Obama is doing His part for the 1% and signed the ACTA Treaty - Yes, it's a direct violation of law for Obama to sign a treaty without Congressional approval but puppet dictators don't pay much attention to Congresses) so, at the moment, police are trying their best to restrict media from being too close when they start pepper spraying and tazing people for committing the crime of being alive.

Weird as it may seem with the bright colors and the voices in my head getting to say their piece, this blog is part of the media.  The old media used to control the release of propaganda information and, as such, were able to really lead people around.  Today, I (and many, many others) are able to talk about peace and freedom in a medium that can reach the entire planet.

Enemy combatant!  Enemy combatant! 

Smartass has been watching OZTV again.  All Obama, all the time.

With the Internet, it's not only possible to show video of the police shooting people in the head with tear gas canisters because the 1% told them to do it, we can also discuss solutions outside the one party, one percent, solution.

This is obviously motivation to suppress freedom of press and freedom of speech and Freedom in general, especially when you couple it with the fact that the alternative media is pointing its cameras at the depraved actions of the 1% and the government officials that they have bought.  The 1% owned the media and were quite happy to report on anything and everything from six inches of the dead body if it had no relation to them.  Now that the cameras are pointed at the 1%, journalists have to be miles away from where the cops are running over people with their scooters.

Freedom of the Press was a great saying while the 1% owned the press resulting in the fact that there wasn't actually any freedom of the press.  Now that the 1% are actually threatened with freedom of the press, their puppets in the United States government are coming down hard on anyone who dares speak or show the truth. 

This brings us back to the quote from Reporters Without Borders but in the case of the United States, the dictatorship isn't held by the government, it's held by the 1% that own the government.  It was so much easier for them before Occupy Wall Street and that's why the United States was mistakenly ranked at number 20.  Now that the 1% are losing control of information and people are starting to look at them, they are reacting violently and the United States press freedom index ranking is going to continue to tank.  Truth is the greatest threat to the 1% and their puppet government and must be suppressed at all costs (using tax payer money of course - don't want anything ruining this year's multi-billion dollar bonus).

Disempowerment

So,

I was reading articles today on piracy (copyright not Somalia) as part of my research into the topic I posted on Monday and I read something that I didn't give much thought to initially.  I was glancing over Obama's misStatement of the Union address later in the morning and I thought back to what I had read in the piracy article and felt like it had missed the actual key issue.  Here's that part of the article on copyright protection:

"The culture of the Internet also needs to be taken into consideration. Referring to the high rates of illegal downloading, Mr. Gurry said “In order to effect a change in attitude, I believe that we need to re-formulate the question that most people see or hear about copyright and the Internet. People do not respond to being called pirates…They would respond, I believe, to a challenge to sharing responsibility for cultural policy. We need to speak less in terms of piracy and more in terms of the threat to the financial viability of culture in the 21^st Century, because it is this which is at risk if we do not have an effective, properly balanced copyright policy.” (Emphasis mine - Complete Article)

The implication that I got from reading this paragraph is that by calling everyone who has ever used content that media corporations would deem as a violation of copyright, you run the risk of creating an adversarial environment.  Pissing everyone off will probably eventually come back on you but this isn't the true danger to media corporations of yelling "Pirate" every time a teenager shares a song with his friend.

What brought my mind back to the article and caused me to actually think about the problem with the pirate label were a couple of comments made by the Great and Powerful Oz in His delusional speech that is supposed to set the tone for His re-election campaign.

What tone is that?  "Ride the crazy train with me!"

Right off a cliff.

In this case, it was nothing that he directly said but something that I thought was telling, which lead my mind down a path that eventually took me back to the thought about labels.

His mind is like a mouse maze.

If he gets to the point, do we get some cheese?

Here's a couple of those innocuous sentences:

"What's at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values."

"One of my proudest possessions is the flag that the SEAL Team took with them on the mission to get bin Laden. On it are each of their names. Some may be Democrats. Some may be Republicans. But that doesn't matter."

For those of you who are Republicrats, it may not be obvious but for me it just jumps right up in my face.  Patriots, heroes, and people with values only come in two flavors, Republican or Democrat.  Independants, you're probably okay as long as you keep flip-flopping between voting for Republicans and Democrats.  Should you ever stop though, you will lose your status as an appropriately obedient part of the one percent's plan and will be an outcast.

And if you aren't with 'em serving them, you're agin' 'em a terrorist.

Here's where the 1% and their mouthpieces, Bush and Obama, make a mistake.

In 2001, the word "terrorist" had a very clear and powerful meaning.  People that blow up buildings with innocent people in them.  A level of evil that is hard to even fathom.  Terrorists were feared and hated because they were terrorists.

Since then, what have Bush and Obama done with the clear and powerful definition of terrorist?  Well, here are some of the things off the top of my head that can earn you the much-feared brand of "Terrorist":

• Not voting for a Republican or Democrat
• Worse yet, making you a level 2 terrorist, is not voting <gasp>
• Displaying a "Don't Tread on Me" flag
• Carrying Ron Paul bumper stickers
• Owning a gun
• Having more than 7 days of food storage

Hell, I live right next to a whole state full of terrorists.  In fact, Mormons in Tennesee had federal agents visit a food storage facility attempting to get a list of names of people who used the facility. 

Now, in branding people as terrorists, the hope of course is to get people to cower to perceived peer pressure and remain obedient to the system.  No one wants to be labeled a terrorist, right?

That may have been true 10 years ago but today, it has become a joke.  Everyone who isn't one of Obama's cult members or who doesn't get their "news" spoon-fed to them by Fox is a terrorist.  The word has lost all of its oomph.  It's meaningless.  Now, if someone tells you something about a terrorist, you have to ask for clarification.  "Do you mean Al Queda terrorist or do you mean Occupy Wall Street terrorist?"

The tactic used to be one of trying to get everyone to aspire to the label of "Patriotic".  As that failed, people were labeled as terrorists or, at least, potential terrorists.  That tactic has been played out as the context of the word has been watered down into uselessness.  The result of this failure to control people mentally and emotionally is obvious in things like the creation of NDAA.  If the one percent can't rely on psy ops to control the public, they'll use the military to keep all the terrorists ordinary citizens in line.  Obedience is the only acceptable behavior.  Anything else is terrorism and must be destroyed.

Attempting to change the behavior of people by applying a negative label to culturally acceptable behavior doesn't change their behavior, it changes the meaning of the word used for the label.

Occupy Wall Street: A View from Outside the Box

So,

I have heard of the movement, uhh, I've seen it on TV.

You aren't going to let that one go, are you?

Did you think he would?

Okay, I've been following Occupy Wall Street closer than President Ohblahblah will admit.

You know it's part of his daily briefings right?

And night time briefings, and noon time, and . . .

Yes, I know.  He's a smacktard but that is not the point of this blog at all. 

Is there going to be a point?

Enquiring minds want to know.

Not a single point, no.  That would not be in keeping with the theme of this blog, would it?

Theme?

<shrug>

First, the good news.  The propaganda media, with the exception of Faux news, has finally come to grips that there is a very clear message to Occupy Wall Street.  It only took them a month to finally admit it.  They were probably hoping that the protesters would go away before now but, unfortunately for them, we are into month two with protests around the entire planet.  They, except for Faux news, have finally started letting the world know what we already knew.  You can't have a country by the people for the people when you auction off votes to the highest bidders.

Ya think?

Didn't we know that before the protests?

Now, the big question that seems to be on everyone's mind is what is the president going to do about this whole thing.  The consensus at this date is that he has to be very careful.  He needs to acknowledge the frustrations of the people that he has screwed over but at the same time he doesn't want to get in bed with him, as one of his spokespeople was quick to point out recently.  I was kind of glad to see that the Great and Powerful Oz was letting other people do the talking for him.  One of the reasons he was elected was because he was more articulate than King George.

So are my farts.

Hard to lower the bar from there.

Without a teleprompter, dude is losing His composure.  I think he'll get re-elected because the Republican candidates are utterly batshit crazybut by year seven, it's going to be like watching an episode of Beavis and Butthead.

Heh, heh, your name is Bush, heh, Bush, heh, heh.

He's got his people StatusQuo.org MoveOn.org and the unions down there trying to steer the whole mess but he can't get too involved.  Faux news is trying so hard to turn Occupy Wall Street into Tea Party Left that it's become a joke.  Now, it's possible and quite likely that many of the Faux news people are really as stoopid as they sound but it's also possible that they have been told to do everything they can to turn OWS into Tea Party Left.  The establishment cannot let this anarchist movement to go on indefinitely.  The people must be divided into the two sides and pitted against each other.  Right now, you have communists, Obama cult members, Independents, Ron Paul republicans, Anarchists, and everyone else meeting every day discussing solutions.  Actual, real, solutions.  This cannot be allowed to continue.  If the people ever figure out the solution, there will be an immense exchange of power and, quite frankly, this is not something that sits well with the people currently in power.

So, Faux news continues to lie to the point where their reporters are hazed if they even bother to show up near Wall Street. 

Because I care so much about the main stream media, I am going to do them a favor and list the top ten reasons why Obama has to pretend to empathize with the 99% while not getting any of their taint on Him:

1-8.  He's Wall Street's bitch.

9.     Faux news is already trying to say that the Tea Party is better than OWS because Tea Partiers don't get arrested.  Tea Partiers also don't get anything changed.

What a coincidence!

I know.

Every day that nothing is done to appease the protesters while beating them over the head with NYPD nightsticks brings this whole thing one day closer to massive violence.  If Obama cozies up to OWS and then it goes terribly awry, the Republicans will use that in the 2012 election.

"Yeah, we should be locked up in padded rooms but at least we aren't inciting violence."

10.   Obama has already alienated much of his base because of his hypocrisy* and getting behind the protesters today and then sending in the National Guard with water canons next week will only make this worse.  He would be giving the Republicans ammo while encouraging even more Democrat voters to stay home on voting day. 

He's stuck in a tough spot between the votes of the 99% and the money of the 1% and he has to walk a tightwire between them.

The media is missing or hiding a key message from OWS but I'm not going to go into now.  I'm sure there will be time.  It doesn't look like this is going to end any time soon.  I know that several people have hoped that snow will drive the protesters away but none of them have sounded too confident that it will actually happen.  With the EU collapsing, there's a good chance that this thing is just barely getting started.

No matter were it goes from here, the conversation and a search for real solutions has been started.  People are waking up.  That has always been the most critical factor.

* It's only hypocrisy if you actually believed Him in the first place.

I saw his lips moving.

Always a clue.

Occupy Wall Street - Spread the Word

 
So,

I am getting closer to becoming a blogger with a regular blogging schedule.  One more final to conquer but I thought that I would make a quick post in response to this:

 Of course, today (day 20 of the protests with something like 100 cities participating?) is the day that the Great and Powerful Oz gets asked about what he thinks about Occupy Wall Street.  Here is his, uh, answer?

 I could add so much to this because He's funny from the first sentence but I just don't have the time. 

Instead, I'll just leave you with one of the comments under the video:

"Translation: uhhhh fuck . . . "

That pretty much sums it up.

Spread the word!

Occupy America

 
So ,

I understand that I have given the news only a passing glance over the last several weeks but still . . .

Last night, burned out on homework, I went around trying to catch up on the very few blogs that I still follow.  That's when I found out that Occupy Wall Street was in its 12th day of existence.  12 days? 

From glancing at headlines during the week, I knew:

• Obama's PR people don't know where Colorado is
• Marisa Tomei went skinny dipping at George Clooney's house
• Cantaloupe from Colorado (or is it Wyoming) is poisonous
• Ashton Kutchner blah, blah, blah, Two and a Half Men (I have no idea)
• Some guy was plotting to blow up the Pentagon (Only one?  The rest are probably hiding in Colorado - hidden from government eyes)
• The US government gives pot to people and bans people from having pot (Hypocrisy?  Say it isn't so!)

You would think that I would have noticed a story about a protest that has been going on for nearly 2 weeks.  Looking around this morning (not at mainstream media obviously), I find that not only are the Wall Street people on day 13 but that protests have sprung up all over the country.  Los Angeles is planning an "official" start for their "Occupy" protest this Saturday.

 I can't say that I am shocked by the lack of media coverage but I still found myself surprised.  If this was happening in Egypt or Tunisia or England, I would have known about it, probably on the first day.  If not, I would have heard about it by day 5 when the police decided that enough was enough and Lt. Tony Baloney started pepper-spraying women who were committing the crime of standing on the sidewalk.  Brave man, officer Bologna is, pepper-spraying helpless women.  Good news though.  NYPD has already said that the use of force was justified, despite the dozens of videos of the incident that show that it clearly wasn't.  And since people are pepper-sprayed every day, this story apparently isn't worthy of making the news.

The first few stories that I came across were actually not about the Occupy Wall Street protest but about the media blackout of the Occupy Wall Street protest.  You know that the Great and Powerful Oz has got to be thinking, "Really?  Now?  You have to do this right now?" as he's out campaigning for an opportunity at 4 more years of killing people (that probably need to be killed, of course - who am I to doubt the Almight Oz?  Did I mention there are war protesters at the Occupy Wall Street protest too?). 

Besides that bit of inconvenience, another problem the media is having is the fact that they they have Truthers and the Tea Party marching with Liberals and Communists.  Who the hell do you blame this on (you know, besides Wall Street or Washington DC - but I repeat myself)?  How do you quickly label and disregard the entire political spectrum?  You know that CNN has organized a think-tank with unlimited caffeine resources with the specific mission of how to spin this if they ever feel forced to report on it.  They did report on the fact that Michael Moore has become part of the protest.  "Damn you Michael Moore!  Didn't you get the blackout memo?  Gimme a double-espresso and a handful of No-Doz."  Can you even begin to imagine the pressure on Obama's writers?  Yikes!

If the protesters end up under all-out attack, do you think the UN will set up a no-fly zone to protect them?  Just a random thought.

Anyway, Occupy <insert your state or city here> is on my radar now and I'll be watching to see how it all plays out. 

Apparently, The World is Falling Apart

 
So,

I woke up this morning to find that Japan was being destroyed.  Hundreds of people swept up and missing.  It's so huge that I can't wrap my mind around it and all I can do is hope for the best, under the circumstances, for the people living through this catastrophe.

While I can't bring myself to say anything funny about the event itself, which is why I'll never be a writer for late night TV (well, that and the fact that I won't move anywhere near a TV studio), I do have something to say about our beloved media.

Several of them were reporting that no dollar amount could be placed on the damage yet.  Hundreds of people missing, thousands stranded, at least 50 people confirmed dead with the death toll rising, and the important part of the news is the $dollar amount$ of the damage while the water is still carrying buildings over farmland, with people mixed in there somewhere?

All praise the mighty dollah!

It's time for a new god.

Speaking of money, I never did touch on the whole point of Wisconsin.  The Republicans tore the bill in half and passed the part that they could, which pretty much accomplished what the AWOL Dems were trying to block.  One of the Dems sipping brandy in a hot tub said that it was a travesty of Democracy.

Bzzzzzt.  Wrong!  But, thank you for playing.

Do we have a parting gift?

Let's ask Vanna White.

Looks like she's busy . . .

. . . Kissing her pussy.

Not what I was going to say.

Democracy is the travesty.  The Republicans are playing by the rules.  Mob rules, to be sure, but that's the name of the game. 

Hate the game, not the playuh.

I don't think people say that anymore.

Whoever gets the most votes gets to set the rules and the Republicans are stacking the deck for future elections to see if they can maintain power forever (and make it a law that everyone has to worship the Christian god and great ideas like that).

First, they pass a law saying that they can accept as much campaign money as they want from their mega-super-uber-rich corporate friends.  Half the equation complete.  Check.

Now, they are trying to cut the funding of the opposition.  Unions are the #1 campaign contributors for Democrats.  Therefore, if the Republicans can cut the amount of money going to unions, they can cut the amount of money going to Democratic candidate campaigns.  The second half of the equation is in full motion in several states and the Republicans are working on checkmate.

Brilliant!

It's a one-two punch in the campaign-face to the Dems.

Ted Rall may be right in his book The Anti-American Manifesto.  Liberals may have to resort to violence if they want to stop the right half of the one-party system from gaining complete and absolute control.

That was one of two things that has surprised me in Rall's book.  I didn't know who he was when I picked up the book but he made it clear in the first few pages that he's a liberal and very much against the crazy Tea Party peeps.  I braced myself and forged forward into the book.

I didn't brace myself because he would be speaking ill of me or my stance (since liberals and conservatives are in an eternal battle against each other and libertarians and anarchists aren't even on the radar) but because of an experience I had with a different author.  I was trying to read Thom Hartmann's Cracking the Code and after a couple of chapters, I had to put it down.  The hypocrisy was blinding.  I will probably finish reading it in the future but every nasty thing he said about the Republicans was currently being done by the Democrats so it was hard to understand what his point was.  How do you say that waging an illegal war is terrible, morally corrupt, and, well, evil, but support Democrats who funded the war under Bush and increased troops when Obama became commander-in-chief?

Rall isn't blind and states very clearly that US Democracy is a one-party system.  One half might be slightly to the left and the other slightly to the right, like a quarter standing on end but there is really no practical difference.

The other surprising thing about Rall is what he thinks of The Great and Powerful Oz and people who claim to be liberals.  Dude is harder on Obama than I am.  I don't know if that's because of the great betrayal of Mr. Hopey Changey or just more of Rall's anger coming through but he doesn't have anything kind to say about the president.  He comes right out and calls Obama a war-mongering, corporate puppet, peppered with a few F-bombs.

Nor is he kind to the the people on the left who, when W did what he did, were vociferously outraged but now that Obama is doing the same things, all that can be heard are crickets.  Rall describes Obama as, "Bush . . . without the opposition."

I'm still in the chapter about his thoughts on the people supporting the Democrat side.  The next chapter gets into the plan for toppling the government.  I'm looking forward to that and I am going to wrap this blog up so I can take care of a couple of other things and then find out how Rall plans on taking down the current corrupt and violent government. 

I will be let you know what I find out.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

180 Degrees of Spin

 
So,

I was walking through a house the other day and Bill O'Reilly's show came on.  Apparently, it's called the "No Spin Zone" or it has a segment by that title or something.  I didn't stay to watch any of it, or even long enough to figure out what this so called No Spin Zone was, but my guess is that it's about 180 degrees from being a "No Spin Zone."  Kind of like Faux News being fair and balanced or Wisconsin Democrats being brave while Governor Walker has to have extra guards around him now 24/7 because he's the one in danger.

"Someone please shoot him?!"

This is one of the many threats directed at Walker on Twitter.  His staff won't comment on direct threats to the governor but Walker is considering calling in the National Guard.

"All political systems are built on contradictions that eventually lead to their downfall. The U.S. relies on a whopping chasm between soaring rhetoric (freedom, democracy, individual rights) and brutish reality (preemptive war, supporting dictators, torture, spying on citizens)—a gap that is so wide and so glaring that it is amazing anyone ever takes the propaganda seriously." --Ted Rall

That's what I think too but then I'd be out of a job as a blogger if I didn't get to go around pointing out the glaring propaganda.

Your "job" as a blogger?

You know what I mean.

You'd get paid better if you were part of the Blogger's Union.

Boo?

I think that some of the spin comes out on accident but maybe I'm being far too kind.

You?  Kind?

Shhh.

Hundreds of protesters choked the state Capitol's halls on Tuesday chanting, "It's about rights, it's not about money."

I thought it was about the kids.

Well, it was last week.

 Anyway, the quote is innocent enough since it's reporting what the teachers were chanting but the next sentence gives credence that all this protesting, that was for the kids, is now about "rights".

The proposal would strip most collective bargaining rights from many state workers.

And those "rights" are used for what?

Getting money?

We have a winner!

I read a blog last week where the author thought that Walker was being too soft because he wasn't going after  rights  entitlements for cops and firefighters too.  If you're going to do Union reform, shouldn't you do the whole system?

Not if the teachers are going to attack you or try to burn your house down.

Right you are, Ken!

Yeah, this is not the time to piss off the people with the guns and fire hoses.  The state schools superintendent in Idaho made teachers mad earlier this week.  He had his tires slashed, his car spray-painted, and someone went to his mom's house to harass her. 

Harassed his mom?  Who does that?

School teachers.

A "Your son has been misbehaving" speech?

I guess.

With the number of protesters in Wisconsin and the message those protesters are getting, Walker can't afford to make enemies of the people protecting him and his family.

But a lot of the spin is done intentionally.

Good thing Democrats are against violence in their rhetoric and will, of course, be encouraging only peaceful protesting.  Oh, wait . . .

Outside of Wisconsin, one lawmaker dialed it down a notch after he was quoted telling union workers in Boston that "every once in a while" they need to "get a little bloody." 

Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., said he regretted using the language. 

It didn't take long for that bit of hypocrisy to stand up and shout "Look at me!  Look at me!"

Oh snap!

180 degrees.

Wisconsin is just like Egypt.

On "opposite day".

Right?

Egyptians, who were being oppressed and starved, rose up to fight for a bit of humanity.  Unfortunately, they will probably create another government that will oppress and starve them but that's a different story.

In Wisconsin and across the entire country, school teachers are fighting to raise taxes so they can continue to receive entitlements that the rest of the people in the country don't get.  If you wanted to compare Wisconsin to Egypt, minus the 180 degree spin, you would have to put the teachers on Team Mubarak.  They are part of the government using the threat of violence to force the rest of the people in the state to give them money.

Taylor, one of the 14 Democrats who left the capital, also compared the struggle in Egypt to the struggle in Madison during an interview with Fox News on Monday.

Politicians, union reps, and media sources that plant this utterly false idea in teacher's heads that they are the equivalent of oppressed Egyptians are encouraging the use of violence.  Of course, it won't be politicians, union reps, or reporters that end up in the hospital or morgue so they have nothing to lose.  If things go well for them (and terrible for everyone else involved), politicians will get to use the incident for the next election and reporters will have plenty to write about.

If it bleeds, it leads.

Even if it has to be nudged a little.

And, if that isn't bad enough, if the manipulators succeed in creating the violence they want, it's very likely that it will only be the beginning.

But, that too, is a story for another day.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

The Internet Is The Greatest

Yesterday was one of those days and I may go into that for today's post later in the day.  I was going to go into this morning but my computer has had other things on its mind. 

Anyway, while I'm not a Ron Paul supporter anymore, I am very much a critique of corporate media (like you didn't know that).

So, check this out.

 Already playing the game to trick people into not supporting Ron Paul.

Faux news sucks hairy balls. 

I love the Internets.

A Patriotic Chest Workout

 
So,

It was chest, back, abs, and some more chest this morning. 

One thing that I failed to report yesterday because I was feeling rushed is that my workouts seem to be working.  Drill Sergeant has lost over 20 pounds and I finally broke down and got on the scale on Sunday.  I have lost 4 pounds in the last month.  I don't know if 4 pounds is dramatic enough to warrant all the comments that I've gotten but, and I just had this thougtht as I type this, I weigh the same now as I did when I graduated from the police academy in 1991.  Not only that but, when I find a pair that's relaxed enough, I'll be wearing trousers with a smaller waist size than I did in 1991. 

In fact, I'll be wearing the same waist size as I did in high school but weigh 20 pounds more (I didn't have a whole lot of muscle in high school - and that's an understatement).  I have a pair of trousers that I'm going to be trying tomorrow and we'll see how that goes. 

I've just gotten so used to this that I haven't given it much thought and have pretty much downplayed everything but thinking about it, it is pretty cool. 

Here's the spin that's coming out of the situation in Egypt now (and I'll have more about spin tomorrow), the message that Americans are supposed to buy into is this:

If Mubarak falls, Egypt will fall under the control of Islamo-fascist terrorists armed with sharks with frikkin' lasers and they will be a threat to the entire world.

I'm not sure what this portends but I'd wager a guess that's it's not good.

Ya think?

"Hassan watched President Obama's statement Tuesday night, and saw it as a good example of what U.S. policy has been the last two years: "fine words, but no action." "I think that this administration in practice has supported not only the Mubarak regime but all the authoritarian regimes in the Arab region," he said."

Meanwhile, Mubarak is done playing nice (relatively speaking for a Middle East dictator) and is having his people chuck Molotov cocktails on the protesters.  Now, I have no experience as a U.S. funded dictator (because of an irrational phobia of some politician sticking his hand up my ass to make my mouth move) with a million angry people sitting outside my window but I have got to think that this is a bad move.  Not that I guess it matters to Mubarak.  He's done so I guess any chance to re-subjugate the people (or maybe just to take as many of them with him as possible) is better than nothing but I just won't be surprised when someone takes one of the Molotov cocktails and shoves it up his ass (if there isn't a politician's hand in the way).

Here's a quick change of topics (come on, you've got to be used to it by now).  I was cleaning out a file and came across a story from a couple of weeks ago where Boston has new ambulances designed for their larger clientele.

"The ambulance is equipped with a special stretcher that can hold 850 pounds and a hydraulic lift with a 1,000 pound capacity, said Captain Jose Archila of Boston's Emergency Medical Services fleet."

My question?  What took so long?  It took until 2011 for someone to do this?  This will help reduce injuries to ambulance crews and make transporting obese patients both safer and more comfortable.  Win-win.

Back to today but not about Egypt, talk in the US is turning toward the possibility of letting states declare bankruptcy.  There are people on both sides of the issue but I can say that the ones that are against it have already lost.  The states are bankrupt.  The rest is just a formality.

"The idea galls critics. "Baloney" is what California Treasurer Bill Lockyer calls it, saying his state, which is already weighing painful tax hikes and spending cuts, doesn't need the option."

That's one way to go.  Raise taxes and cut services.  Seems fair.

And reliable.  Don't forget reliable.

Right, fair and reliable government services.  How could I forget?

Illinois raised personal income tax by 66%.

Speaking of Molotov cocktails up the tailpipe . . .

No kidding.

Camden, New Jersey has cut their police department by 50%.

Does that actually leave a police force?

"Force" might be too strong of a word for what's left.

Don't forget that under union laws, last in is first out, so when you cut 50% of the cops, about 100% of them come from the division doing most of the work, leaving the desk jockeys to collect their six figure incomes.

So, there's no cops on the streets?

Read this and decide for yourself:

"Police Chief Scott Thomson said the force is being reorganized to put 92 percent of the remaining officers on patrol. But that comes at a cost. He said officers will no longer go to car accidents that don't cause injuries or snarl traffic. They also won't take reports on minor thefts or property-damage complaints."

You're on your own people.

Move along, nothing to see here.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

7th Day; 7 Words

 
Being pro-government is prerequisite to being anti-government?

"Before this week, few thought a mass anti-government movement was possible in Egypt, a country that has little experience with democracy. But after Friday's protests, the campaign to oust Mubarak only seems to be gathering strength." - Griff Witte

Leave your seven words in the comments.