side note: An informative video about what’s going on in California….and battle keep access to medical marijuana available for sick Americans.

side note: Not shocked to hear about this…but good to see a prominent scholar take a scientific approach. This is one of my biggest issues with religion…on the surface, it’s fine and dandy…they do some really good work with the needy. But as generations pass…the religions can become more divided and as with everything in this world, there’s usually a tipping point. Which is where people can end up going against their core beliefs and do some real harm.

Matt Taibbi has a new article in the latest Rolling Stone issue that paints the real picture of our current economic situation and where this country is headed. When President Bush came on TV in September of 2008 and insisted that the economy was in a tailspin, and that we needed to bailout the banks…..I saw red flags pop up all over the place. It didn’t help that this guy had lied about virtually everything in his 8 years as head of this country. But something didn’t seem right……Bear Stearns had collapsed back in March of 2008 and the world didn’t come to a halt. Lehman Brothers failed and Earth didn’t stop rotating. So why this need to bailout a few institutions?

Well folks….the answer to that question is another question:
What happens when Wall Street and the Government come together in a “lets fuck over everyone” romance?

Read Taibbi’s article….then head over to your bank and move your money from those greedy, piece of shit financial institutions that don’t care about ethics or this country.

Via Huffingtonpost

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The first U.S. clinical trials in more than two decades on the medical benefits of marijuana confirm pot is effective in reducing muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and pain caused by certain neurological injuries or illnesses, according to a report issued Wednesday.

Igor Grant, a psychiatrist who directs the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego, said five studies funded by the state involved volunteers who were randomly given real marijuana or placebos to determine if the herb provided relief not seen from traditional medicines.

“There is good evidence now that cannabinoids may be either an adjunct or a first-line treatment,” Grant said at a news conference where he presented the findings. (more…)

Over at The Atlantic’s website, Andrew Sullivan has a serious article about Catholics and this weird new stance of a good chunk of them accepting and approving of our country torturing other human beings. It sickens me to think that my government is doing this awful, evil stuff………..and when you actually read and see specifics……well, we did get those picks from Abu Ghraib, and yes, there was an outrage, but not by enough people.

side note: One of my favorite channels has allowed the creator of 24, Joel Surnow, who is a bit of a right-winger, but none-the-less, has created a good show for FOX….they’ve allowed him to write a Kennedy miniseries that has been completely taken apart and called fiction by historians who both like and hate the Kennedy family. If they want to throw this bullshit on FX or FOX…that’s fine, that’s where this crap belongs….but the History Channel? No Way! Sign the petition to keep this crap off one of our most highly regarded education channels.

side note: This was something I was worried about when President Dubya announced that we had to bail out the banks, we had to flood our financial institutions with money or the sky was going to fall. Then Henry Paulson goes to Congress with a one page proposal for $700 million dollars, and then Bloomberg news announced they have uncovered that the Federal Reserve used their emergency powers to loan $2 trillion, yes trillion dollars, to unknown entities…on top of the $700 million they were asking for. What raises red flags in my head is that during the entire Bush years…..they used fear tactics to push their agenda through Congress….the American people…whomever they needed to convince. And here they were, once again…following the same script. We know that the neo-cons want to privatize everything….they want to “shrink government to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub”. Now…a few years later, we see that no President is going to be able to push their domestic agenda through…b/c there’s no money available, from the below NYTimes article: “there is virtually no room for new domestic initiatives for Mr. Obama or his successors.” Do I know for sure that the bailout was bullshit? Nope…not an economics guy myself….but how can these guys do everything wrong, or right if you’re part of the elite in this country…and then suddenly get something correct……just doesn’t add up.

By DAVID E. SANGER
The New York Times

WASHINGTON — In a federal budget filled with mind-boggling statistics, two numbers stand out as particularly stunning, for the way they may change American politics and American power.

The first is the projected deficit in the coming year, nearly 11 percent of the country’s entire economic output. That is not unprecedented: During the Civil War, World War I and World War II, the United States ran soaring deficits, but usually with the expectation that they would come back down once peace was restored and war spending abated.

But the second number, buried deeper in the budget’s projections, is the one that really commands attention: By President Obama’s own optimistic projections, American deficits will not return to what are widely considered sustainable levels over the next 10 years. In fact, in 2019 and 2020 — years after Mr. Obama has left the political scene, even if he serves two terms — they start rising again sharply, to more than 5 percent of gross domestic product. His budget draws a picture of a nation that like many American homeowners simply cannot get above water.

For Mr. Obama and his successors, the effect of those projections is clear: Unless miraculous growth, or miraculous political compromises, creates some unforeseen change over the next decade, there is virtually no room for new domestic initiatives for Mr. Obama or his successors. Beyond that lies the possibility that the United States could begin to suffer the same disease that has afflicted Japan over the past decade. As debt grew more rapidly than income, that country’s influence around the world eroded. (more…)

side note: Hmmmm……After watching the video below and learning about “The Great Disappointment”, which was a movement headed up by William Miller, the founder of the Millerite Movement. He predicted that Jesus would come back on a certain date……anyone want to guess if he was right? I did a Google search to find out other times in history when religious movements thought the end of the world was upon us. One site has a good list…..44 times between 30-1920 have we had to deal with this madeup, make-believe BS. You can check out the list here. Enjoy the below video of a BBC show, obtained from onegoodmove.org.