Another first. The BBC is reporting the most direct route through the Northwest Passage has opened up full for the first time since records began ~ So says the European Space Agency. How come we didn’t hear this from NASA?

“The most direct route through the Northwest Passage has opened up fully for the first time since records began, the European Space Agency (Esa) says.”

One can only imagine what this will bring. I do, however, believe we will in short order, start hearing about the “vast amounts of oil & gas” which will now become available for exploration now that the ice and those pesky polar bears are gone.

Additionally, we are for sure, going to get into a pissing match with our last friend and biggest trading partner. Canada.

The National Championship Air Races are in town. If I had a chance to do it all over – I’d be sitting in the cockpit of one of these beasts.

Just try to imagine that you are flying 50 feet above the ground, at speeds approaching 500 mph & there are several other airplanes within 100 feet of you, and you are RACING the other planes. Go fast, fly low, turn left.

Of course you can 2x click on the pictures to enlarge for better viewing.

Enjoy

Historians will look back at the period of time between 2000 and 2008_The George Bush years_and hopefully use the phrase “The Age of Morons” to describe the craziness we are experiencing.

Not since our last emperor, Richard the Great (Nixon) has our country lost a war in such an ugly fashion. Why does it seem republicans are always loosing wars and blaming it on the democrats?

So, get the helicopters ready because this is what the ‘Green Zone’ is going to look like.

The question is not if but rather when.

The Republicans are in full on ’surge’ to tell us how much progress we have made.

So, in anticipation of what we are going to hear this coming week from General Betray Us and the White House spin machine, I think we need to apply ‘Remo’s Law of Dogshit’ even before the place gets stinky.

Attacks are down to 900±. woohooo what a friggin stellar number. This is calculated on where you were shot in the head. Below is the graphic on how the republicans count

The real count is that as of this writing – 3,760 kids, our kids are dead with no end in sight.

At this very moment US military recruiters are out there, in full military dress, lurking, prowling the halls of our schools, walking in the malls, searching like hawks for the rabbit. Grist for the mill.

The machine must be fed.

You know what? We need these republicans like we need a hole in our head.

Republicans always complain that government is the problem with America.

Then when they get into office and totally fuck things up.

First thing they say is. “See I told you Government is fucked”

I keep asking myself – why does Lending Tree continue to advertise that No SSN is required on the Huffington Post?

You can’t get a cell phone without a SSN_and the phone is free, but here is Lending Tree advertising in RED that no SSN is required.

Did some google-ing and only thing I can find which make sense is that Lending Tree BUYS equity from a home that you already own, therefore, it is not really a loan, and yes, non-US citizens can qualify, because if they default, they loose their home.

So, let’s give some thought to the technique of following the money. If there is $60 Billion in these types of loans presently outstanding, and, given a default rate on these types of mortgages of 1% (my estimate), then if my calculations are correct, $600 million dollars shifts hands from the homeowner to someone other than the homeowner.

How aggressive would I be if there were a bonus of $600 million in addition to all the other profits?

Sure will be interesting to see how the aggregate numbers will shake out at the end of the year. I wonder if there will be a disproportionate number of illegal immigrants who loose their homes compared to the rest of the population.

BTW, if you are looking for a job_having lost yours to some Communist in China_First Meridian Mortgage corporation has an ad up on careerbuilder.com (click the ad to go to the web page)

I only hope Sean Hannity of Faux noise reads this article. But then again, he will spin it so that it is all Bill Clinton’s fault. Regardless of how the christo-fascist want to frame it, the fact of the matter remains, – Support our troops is a bold face lie on many fronts. You can easily conclude from the Newsweek article that slogan is not so. If you prefer, you can check at the other end of the_support our troops_meme. Our illustrious decider is more than happy to tell us how much he has increased the VA budget, but what he, and all the republicans don’t say is that_the ‘decider’ has decided NOT TO FULLY FUND THE VA, I guess this is how he supports our troops.

Do you think the private contractors this Marine is referring to is the subsidary of Halliburton named KBR? You know, the private contractor who has so much political influence that the US Military protects their convoys, while all other companies like GE, are left to provide security for themselves.

“I was picking up the pieces of a truck that hours before had been blown apart by an IED, wondering why our equipment wasn’t better and why three more Marines were dead. Ramadan had just ended, the period in which a suicide bomber gets double and triple the virgins for killing himself in the name of jihad…..

Just then I noticed a big vehicle driving by, one owned by a private contracting company. This thing made our truck look like a Pinto in a Ferrari showroom. It was huge, heavy, ominous, indestructible. I wanted to commandeer it. I wanted to live in it. If only we were in one of those, I would definitely come home, and a lot of the guys who won’t would too.”

Read the entire story here.

I’ll be a citizen on the playa next year.  Why have I waited so long?