Let me guess - you live in an ivory tower and you are sustained by old money held in off shore accounts, safe from the IRS. You claim to be the head of some obscure religion to further avoid taxation and any services you require are paid for in cash or in kind so there are no records of the transactions. It's bad enough that people like you contribute nothing to the general good but worse that you sit in that tower and point your bony finger at those who have been taken unfair advantage of and tell them they have nothing to complain about.
How wonderful it must be to know you are perfect, without flaw or failing. To have no vice and to be so infallible.
Your holier than thou attitude really irritates me. You need to walk a mile in another man's moccasins, then go back to your tower and shut the hell up. Too bad there's no tax on being smug and self righteous. It would give you something to complain about and everyone else could tell you to just change your personality to avoid the tax.
Make up your mind. Do you want the federal government regulating the banks to prevent casino style gambling with federally guaranteed FDIC protected deposits; or do you want no FDIC, so when banks gamble with your deposits, if they lose - you lose your deposits; or do you want tax dollars protecting your deposits and then paying for their gambling losses; or do you want there to be regulations against risky investments with federally Insured accounts? Make up your mind - government hands off or not.
Do you want the government regulating the oil industry which may raise the cost of fuel/energy but protect the environment or will you whine about that? Do you want the government to employ experts, research, develop and require legitimate safety plans which also costs money or will you whine about that? Do you want cheap fossil fuels and all their subsequent consequences and costs or not? Make up your mind - government hands off or not.
It has been NOT for quite some time a la Reagan and friends "government IS the problem" The deregulation frenzy and evisceration of oversight brought us the likes of Enron, the financial meltdown, the BP spill just to mention a few. Make up your mind - government hands off or NOT and then live with (and hopefully learn from) the consequences of that choice without whining.
I strongly recommend you take some time to understand Hamas, rather than condemn them using the regular slogans. Indeed, it is well-known that Hamas provides much better social services, such as hospitals and health care for its people than does Fatah, or at least better than Fatah did in the past. I would say it's hyperbolic to say that Hamas "doesn't give a rat's tail about the average Palestinian." And sure, brainwashing occurs in Gaza. Guess where else it occurs? Israel. Here's a link to a book you should read called "The Palestinian Hamas," written by Shaul Mishal: http://www.amazon.com/Palestinian-Hamas-Professor-Shaul-Mishal/dp/0231116756. And here are a few links showing how brainwashing swings both ways in this conflict: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psVxOnXbyYQ; http://maxblumenthal.com/feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem/; http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/first-lebanon-war-oslo-accords-missing-from-israeli-textbooks-1.298176.
As for the refusal of aid, the mainstream media DID report it. I heard about it. I'm sure many others did, too. Israel and the IDF made it perfectly clear that this occurred. Your claim on this regard is not backed up by reality. And as for this claim: "Israel has always let in the necessities into Gaza to prevent construction materials from falling into the wrong hands," re-read my blog post and the links. All mainstream human rights organizations say that Israel DOES NOT permit the basic necessities to enter Gaza and is collectively punishing Gazans because of who they elected, which is Hamas. A simple Google search of "collective punishment of gaza" will land you plenty of reports demonstrating this fact.
"Also, Kucinich and Paul? They are hardly mainstream and represent the wacked out point of view."'
Lastly, your comments on Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul are fairly preposterous. Because Glen Greenwald can say it better than I can, please read this masterful blog entry by him titled "Who are the real "crazies" in our political culture?" The blog clarifies just who are the crazies in our political culture and who are not: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/05/28/crazy
I have run my own small business for 4 years now. I get so frustrated with Washington's default solution for many problems... "more regulation and control." It is hard to plan for the future in business when you don't know how external influences from the government will impact you. I would suggest small business owners educate themselves on what is going on here with this financial reform. I get nervous when "reform" is the solution.
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