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In 2003 Rep. Stephen Buyer (Rep., Indiana) founded the Frontier Foundation that reportedly existed to attract donor dollars for education scholarships that were never offered to any student. Congressman Buyer also claimed that he doesn't recall where he got the original capital of $25.000 that he used to establish this group, according to Sharyl Attkisson of CBS news (Can A Donation Buy Legislation?).  The supposed non-profit organization shared office space with Buyer's political campaign office.  Apparently, his campaign manager handled operation of the Frontier Foundation.  The dirt discovered about Buyer, the Frontier Foundation, and top donors got a lot more interesting. The televised report is more detailed about the controversial favors that Buyer was doing as a lawmaker to the lobbyists that donated to the Frontier Foundation.

Apparently, the Frontier Foundation was created to attract lobbyists and donor dollars to Stephen Buyer in exchange for political favors on Capital Hill.

This reminds me of a report that I read years ago in a late 1990's issue of Mother Jones Magazine, titled Co-op Congress.  Members of both political parties were exposed for introducing, endorsing and voting on bills from which they profited in various ways.

Some things never change...

Rome's patron senators used to sit outside with giant pots to encourage the public to drop coins in them. The object was for people to rent a Roman senator's ears where they could tell the patron senator what they needed, or wanted.  If they paid enough money then they had a better chance of their cause being introduced to the senate.

Plutocracy lives on in modern-day governments.  Today, we Americans stand a much better chance of our issues being introduced to the House and Senate and supported by either, or both parties if we pay the politicians and each party enough money to buy their support.

Dennis Kucinich blasted the voting congressional majority that voted for a bill that they did not bother to read.  That bill was intended to officially declare that when war crimes are committed, they didn't really happen.  The purpose of the bill was intended to protect certain war criminals. 

Any one that attempts to protect one group of war criminals may as well protect them all.

"Today we journey from Operation Cast Lead to Operation Cast Doubt. Almost as serious as committing war crimes is covering up war crimes, pretending that war crimes were never committed and did not exist.

Because behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian." - Dennis Kucinich:

Video and transcript of Kucinich's response are on the same page here.

I just saw a video at BOL's blog about a hospital that billed a murder victim $20,186.50 dollars for only five minutes of care before he died.  Added was a nasty letter from the billing department concerning the guy's "indigent status".

Sorry About Your Dead Son; That Will Be $29,186.50...

Have you seen the ads that encourage the public to sell their gold items through the mail? Like the ones on TV where we're told that we just drop our gold items in one of Such-n-Such company's envelopes and then safely mail it to receive cash in return?

I've seen those commercials in English and Spanish.  One company's ad shows us a brief visual "tour" of how the gold is collected and melted, then sold in bouillons to the US government.

I wonder if people actually mail in their gold items and expect an abundant cash return in the mail?  I do not believe that these cash for gold mail exchange companies operate that way.  I don't even know if they actually send a check in the mail, or if they are stupid enough to send cash.

Do yourself a favor.  If you have gold items, especially made of pure gold, hold onto them.  Keep them in a safe place. Not in a safety deposit at a bank and not in the jewelry box, especially if you have one that is kept on a vanity, or dresser.  Use your imagination and don't underestimate the investigative power of thieves.

While the Bush-whacked percentage of Americans argued for years that the Bush regime was "growing" our economy, I expected a market crash on Wall Street before Bush and Cheney left Washington D.C.  (I suspected that they'd get another four years and I prayed that they would not find any way to continue holding this country hostage after then.)  I told many Bush-whacked Americans to expect this crash. One of my own Bush-whacked relatives told another to shift his investments from the stock market into purchases of actual gold because the market is going to crash.

That other Bush-whacked relative (with the money) refused to do it. He argued with the relative that had offered this advice some time after he had angrily argued with me in June 2003 over our differing views of how the Bush regime's US foreign wars would dearly cost us all. He confided in the other Bushwhacked relative that he had lost a fortune (it was before 2006).  He lost more money when the market crashed last year.

Some people laughed at my warnings.  Others tried to argue me down (like that relative). They told me that I must have gotten my information from some crackpot liberal media source off the Internet.

I did find my sources on the Internet.  It was in 2002 shortly after the author published the essays which were my original sources.  They are still available online at the From The Wilderness site:

Moving On Gold, by Michael C. Ruppert

Analysts: Stock Market Heading Toward Crash, Present Rally Called 'Comic Relief', by Joe Taglieri (FTR staff writer)

Predictions made by Ruppert and a number of his sources and associates usually turn out to be accurate.  The timing and severity have been a bit off, but these sources provided more reliable information about topics at hand than sources in the corporate and partisan media.  See for yourself. (No wonder why some people tried to kill Ruppert, and certain others have been trying to discredit him and a number of his associates.)  I never hoped that his dark predictions would come true. When they do, I take no delight in telling some people, "I told you so."

Ruppert, as well as,  Stan Goff (retired US Special Forces), were among my earliest sources to lead me to the oil and war connection.  I had heard some casual talk about "peak oil" and talk of oil and gas  price hikes and shortages off and on for several years, but I dismissed the sources as flakes that got all their "information" from a sci - fi movie.

The majority of people throughout a nation, or a collection of countries controlled by a single empire, might endure mass unemployment, vanishing commerce, crops and cattle; they might lose their homes and go hungry and do without any kind of aid, including medical; while their schools fall to abandoned ruins while members of their own government and their aristocratic relatives and friends sit on piles of gold.  They'll hoard that gold until they have a self-serving purpose to release it to the public.

On Oct. 30  the Moscow Times reported that the Russian "[G]overnment plans to sell 25 tons of gold from the state precious metals and gems repository, Gokhran, possibly on the local market, Interfax quoted a Finance Ministry official as saying Thursday."  If you read the aforementioned (linked) essays and then read this, it ought to give you something to think about for a while.  Believe me when I tell you, there is more. Oh, so much more than this little blogger can include in a single post.

There is a new documentary out that received positive (and bone chilling) reviews after it was featured at the recent Toronto Film Festival.  The title is Collapse, produced by Chris Smith.  Michael Ruppert is interviewed in this documentary. Click the link to see if it is playing in a theater in your area when it opens in theaters on Nov. 6 for a one-week run in a number of cities in the US and Canada.

This morning I had prematurely joined a group which appears to have originally been created to unite all the bloggers that have blocked Ken from their blog.  Now, I am a bona fide member of that group.  Below are my reasons for deciding that Ken has abused his privilege to post on my blog:

Ken attempted to access the blog of a fellow blogger who is also my friend.  When Ken realized that this person's blog is private, thus inaccessible to uninvited visitors, he sent my friend an offensive email.  I considered his actions and the content of that message to be insulting and a form of harassment.

Within the comments section of my Banning Policy post Ken harassed and insulted somebody else.  He clearly ignored the warning that I gave him in the Banning Policy post.

Ken also violated  Vox's Terms of Service:

7. CONTENT AND CONDUCT RULES AND OBLIGATIONS

Should Content be found or reported to be in violation with, but not limited to, the following terms, it will be in Six Apart's sole discretion as to what action should be taken.

You agree that you will not:

(a) upload, post, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy (up to, but not excluding any address, email, phone number, or any other contact information without the written consent of the owner of such information), hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable.

Not only have I seen evidence that Ken violated some, or all of the terms which are in bold and underlined text on my blog and in two private messages (One sent to me, the other sent to another recipient), I have also noticed a pattern of such abuse on several blogs.  This is more reason why I blocked Ken a short while ago.

I decided to join the group I Blocked Another VOX ***Hole, which appeared to have been originally created as a group to unite the VOX members that have, or will block Ken. I discovered this link at the blog, Here Be Trolls and in the first post that was made to profile an obviously notorious troll, Ken (a.k.a., ken863). I am not at all surprised to see that Ken was the first troll profiled there. I am, however, shocked to see that he has still managed to avoid getting banned by VOX and subsequently losing his blog and account, considering the apparently vast number of VOX TOS that he has committed.

It is my opinion, he should bow to the people that have not complained to VOX about his chronic and frequent abuse of basic rights to free speech and expression.

I have consistently maintained a personal policy not to ban people from any blog, or forum that I've ever owned, unless they are so abusive, they've asked for it. When I was at modblog, I banned only one member.  I did it because he was pasting the same insult-filled remarks and other insults and harassing content in comments sections of numerous posts, plus in the chat box I had on that blog.

I do not ban people for expressing an argumentative viewpoint.  Vox members that have known me through the years that go back to the modblog days might recall that I frequently disagreed with people.  In those days, if they insulted me, I fired right back at them without straying from the subject, or topic.

As for the other blogs I've owned, I never banned a fellow blogger.  None gave me any reason to do it regardless of any that disagreed with my statements, or my political and social views.

As for any other restrictions I've ever made, including material posted in my chat boxes, forums, and blog comment sections, they were to clear out spam and block the spammers.

That's it.

The reason why I mention this is because Ken accused me of banning him in a private message.  Although, I suspected that he would put himself in the position where I would have first warned him (unless his conduct was so outrageous that it called for direct action), I was willing to give him a chance to prove to me that he is not a troll, but a person expressing his opinions (however twisted they are).

Here's the private message that he sent to me (Pay attention, Ken. The rest of this post is directed to you.):

When election season in the United States rolls around modern candidates, their campaign team, and citizen supporters now use public communities to attract and unite their supporters.  Official campaign sites and communities are usually deactivated soon after the campaign ends.  Those assigned to such tasks often place domain names and URL's in semi-, or full retirement.

That is usually not the case for campaign communities and single-owner blogs that permit and display comments by readers, or members.  Most often, the blogs, or communities are abandoned by their creators.  The members that supported those candidates, at least with their votes, also tend to stray, especially when the creators, hosts, and moderators quit hanging around them.

When the candidate (in whose honor the blogs, or communities were created) wins the election, his or her opponents might find the abandoned blog, or community.  If, or when they do, they will likely spread mischief at the candidate's and his or her supporters' expense.

This happened to the Barack Obama Group here on Vox.  Most of the group's hosts and members appear to have lost interest in that group.  Actually, some, perhaps many members (including yours truly) allowed our own blogs at Vox to gather dust for many months.  In the meantime,  President Obama's critics, particularly partisan ones have obviously taken over this Obama group for their own anti-Obama amusements.

That's one way for them to find posts by like-minded bloggers at Vox. They may as well turn that Obama group into a social network for people that hate our current president, his party and its policies.  Give them enough time and the links and opening lines of their anti-Obama posts will outnumber all the positive posts made about him in the past, sporadically since the election, and (if he chooses to run for President again) during the next major elections campaign season. To casual observers, this might look like an anti-Obama group.The occasional post that supports, at least, some of President Obama's ideas and policies then appears to be the exception.

Perhaps, the people that are still mostly pleased with Obama and the job he's doing need to consider the benefits of adding positive content about him in still-active communities, like the group I singled out.  If only they knew that some of us are inclined to explore link after link, page after page to see what people are saying about issues, events, and high profile individuals and groups.  Paid and volunteer researchers would have a field day at this specific group, especially if their hunting for negative content at Obama's expense which might not have been quickly and easily accessed at a search engine site.

President Obama's citizen supporters can bury the links to those anti-Obama posts and surround them with counter-points.  But will they?

First they need to know what is happening over there.  The rest is up to them once they learn about it.

I cannot blog as frequently as I did in recent years before Modblog went down.  Any time that I attempt to post anything it takes me a while just to get it done.  That "while" might be days, or weeks. Maybe longer.  I am forced to slow down and stop typing because of the pain and the trouble that I have with typing accurately anymore.  Old posts on previous blogs bore numerous typographic errors as a result of my determination to push when I should have stopped.  The pain was such that it brought out the worst in me, so my messages were often delivered with an angry tone and escalating profanity while I carped on issues.

One issue that I have wanted to address here and elsewhere is of personal concern to me.  I've neither been in the right physical state, or frame of mind to post anything during all these months that it was openly argued while much bogus propaganda circulated to discourage certain changes that I've been hoping would come to pass and provide for me the help that I desperately need.

Sen. Reid's recent announcement about the Health Care Reform bill made my heart sink.  After all these years of suffering I had a glimmer of hope.  Now it's lost. In some states no public option is foreseeable.

I suffered multiple work-related injuries, but they were progressive.  They started as little discomforts that I assumed would go away in time.  Like the pain in my upper arm and shoulder, which I disregarded as muscular.  I thought that it was from a minor strain during a night when my work load was speed-intensive.  (I did production work at a newspaper and was doing the job of three people that night, which was not unusual on certain nights.)

That pain, the pain in my neck, and the tingling that coincided with a little discomfort continued.  First, these symptoms came and went.  Over-the-counter pain relievers, like Aleve and ibuprofen, were working for a few years.  Then I was using heat.  Two hot baths (one before work, the other afterward), topical heat rub creams and gels, and eventually the addition of a heating pad set on high became part of my routine.  After a while, none of these tactics worked to completely relieve my discomfort and return me to my typically strong and limber self.

I reached a dead-end on February 15, 2005.  My right hand badly ached with some parts numb and tingling sensations running through my fingers and thumb.  I had spasms in three of my fingers with the middle and ring finger locking up.  I could barely move that arm because the grinding in my shoulder made it sore and swollen and my neck was feeling stiff.  My neck cracked a lot when I moved my head and it has gotten worse.

My life fell apart.  I tried doing phone work, but I became increasingly stiff and miserable each day and night.  Hours passed before I could fall to sleep.  I frequently awakened with searing pain.

I still have problems sleeping.  I still cannot do very much.  I am not a good job candidate. I won't lie to any prospective employer about whether, or not I can be reliable.  I cannot guarantee that I can work on every scheduled day, arrive on time and stay as long as required.  I can't honestly promise to do a good job, although I have always taken pride in the quality of my work.

The worse the pain is, the less I have any business being around other people.  To avoid being impatient and downright bitchy with others, especially with people that do nothing to deserve somebody snapping at them, I prefer to keep to myself when I am in a great deal of pain.

I do not take narcotic medication to treat my pain.  I can't.  It's too risky.

I have become increasingly reluctant to take any prescribed chemicals for this pain.  Every time I have agreed to take a non-narcotic, non-addictive (presumably) medication to, at least, treat the swelling, I've suffered adverse side-effects, usually the kind that I later learn are so severe, they come with a warning to stop taking that drug immediately and promptly seek medical attention. (I have not rushed to see a doctor. They symptoms stop after I stop taking the drug.)

My doctor and a registered nurse at the community clinic that I've been going to for the past year, or so convinced me to try another drug treatment.  They had to work on me and did so when i was having a very bad pain day that made me tired and (I hate to admit) weak willed.  They convinced me to take Cymbalta.

Cymbalta is a psychotropic drug.  It as marketed to treat so-called "clinical" depression.  It is designed to work on the pleasure centers of the brain. It has become one of the psychotropic drugs now used to also treat neck and back pain.

My doctor led me to believe that this drug works on the nervous system.  He told me that it was my best bet, at least, to treat the neck pain (He did not mention the pain and other problems in my hands) because the only alternative was surgery, which, as he stated, "Costs lots and lots of money, which you do not have."

My pain and physical limitations not only robbed me of my independence, but also did a number on my self-esteem.  I had enough trouble with coping with the mental and emotional impact as it was. I just wanted to get my life back (I still do), so I took a gamble despite my attitude toward mood and behavior altering drugs.

The first 30 day prescription was at 60mg per pill.  I was instructed to take on pill each day.  I waited until after Christmas to start taking it, because I did not know what it would do to me and I wanted to wait until most of the visiting relatives went back home.  I did not want to be wet blanket on the family's holiday.

I thought that I had contracted a flu, or bacterial virus after I took the first pill.  My symptoms were similar to those suffered by a niece that got sick a couple of days before. I decided to wait a while before trying this medication again to see whether, or not those symptoms were actually caused by the Cymbalta.  A week, or two passed and I took another pill.  Again, the same niece got sick and another relative did, too.  Similar symptoms, which I also suffered.  (The only difference each time is that I did not vomit.  They did.)  So, I waited another week and tried again. Once again, my head felt weird, I got dizzy, my stomach felt as if I was on the verge of barfing, and my intestinal tract likely got cleared within three hours. The strange and very painful sensations that seemed to move throughout my body, even in my head, returned. This time the niece and her mother (my sister) were back in their home in a different state and no one around me was sick.

I did not notice my odd behavior at first.  I did some things that were strange, especially for me.  I was mildly aware of this but, oddly enough, I did not care.

I stopped taking those pills. When I went to get a prescription filled for another medication, the in-house pharmacist at the community clinic had both drugs ready.  I told her, "I don't want to take the Cymbalta." Then I explained why.  She decided that the dose was too strong. She disappeared for a few minutes, then returned with another bottle of Cymbalta with half the dose. She assured me that I probably would not suffer those symptoms. The pharmacist left me with a warning to not suddenly stop taking the Cymbalta, especially after I've been routinely swallowing those pills.

I did not suffer the nausea sensations and the effects on my bowels were minor and quickly subsided. I wasn't dizzy, either.  However, that other physical feeling became more apparent since the other symptoms were not present to dominate my attention.  I realized, the painful sensations throughout my body and head (including my face) felt like I was being shocked. It was so bad, I had nightmares with electrocution and torture themes.

If these are the effects this drug has on depression sufferers, I wonder how they manage without going off the deep end, or worse.

In time, the shocking sensations subsided.  However, I wasn't out of the woods, yet.

I was becoming increasingly apathetic, void of emotion. That's quite contrary to my passionate nature. I lost interest in everything.  I was just "there."  Then, while I caught the occasional arguments over Health Care Reform people that blurted out their views that we with no means for quality health care deserve to suffer and ought to get of the way by dying influenced my thoughts.

To me, those thoughts were logical.  They seemed to make sense at the time.  I can't work.  I can't afford the treatment that might restore my ability to work while ending the majority (preferably all) of the pain and most of the physical limitations.  It seemed only right that I ought to die.

I seriously considered not taking the other medication that is intended to keep me alive.  It's Lipator, prescribed to treat a genetic inability to prevent a buildup of bad cholesterol in my bloodstream with proper diet and exercise. (This condition runs through three known lines of my family, two on my mother's side, one on my father's side.  Even my dad has this condition and he's a health food nut, physically active and he has not smoked since 1970.)   I take Lipator in conjunction with Omega 3. 

The pharmacist at the community clinic quit with no one to replace her for over a month.  Libby had called to say that my new prescription would arrive in 4 - 7 days, but that did not happen because the clinic had ended its contract with PATH and opted for something believed to be more reliable and less restrictive. (PATH would have ended its sponsorship of me entirely if someone there had known that I quit taking the first Cymbalta prescription. This means, it would have stopped sponsoring me for the Lipator.)   The clinic had  only the Lipator prescriptions (two bottles), but not the Cymbalta.

So, I suddenly stopped taking the Cymbalta. That caused a crash which worsened over a 2, or 3 month period before I started coming to my senses.  I became more emotional than normal.  I quickly became depressed and remained that way.  The depression worsened to the point where, upon my return from Florida, I isolated myself most of the time and any interaction I had with others, especially siblings, seemed to compound the negative thoughts and feelings.  I felt as if my family was angry with me and turning against me.  It seemed to me that it was all my fault, because I felt unworthy, undeserving of life.

I call myself a recovering addict.  I was addicted to drugs when I was in my early and mid teens.  All in all, I went through hell getting off the speed I took to energize myself while feeling the sensations that are magnified by excessive doses, and the pain pills, tranquilizers and other narcotics that I took to induce sleep and for other "reasons."  I decided to save myself after a series of scary and some appalling experiences involving other addicts.  I did not want to end up like some of these people.

I started getting involved with Narcotics Anonymous and learning the path of recovery.  I still refer to myself as a "recovering addict" because true recovery is not as quick and easy as many of the people that got all 12 chips within a year, or two, or three might believe.  There is so much soul-searching, so many issues to overcome with unexpected challenges that suddenly occur to test an addiction-prone person's ability to avoid returning, or entering the destructive cycle of addictive behavior.

I have an obligation to myself, my loved ones, and probably society to inform medical professionals of my history with substance abuse.  In living up to this responsibility I have noticed that these professionals have a lot to learn about what types of medicine they need to avoid prescribing to somebody like me.

This country is full of children, teens and adults that are at risk of becoming addicted to a substance.  They do not need to have a history of substance abuse, at least, with drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and all that addictive junk that's added to most tobacco products to end up hooked on prescribed, or over-the-counter medication (like cough syrup with certain ingredients).  I meet more and more addicts that were prescribed a drug to alter their behavior, and/or mood before they experimented with drugs.   I meet more and more addicts that did not think that they were at risk of becoming addicted to a drug, because they did not use drugs experimentally and for recreation, but got hooked on prescribed drugs that they were taking as directed.

For well over 15 years I have met possibly more than 100 people that needed certain types of medical treatment, but could not afford it.   Among them are pain sufferers.  Predictably, they self-treat, or rely on doctors that use drug treatment as an alternative to methods that might end the suffering, or radically reduce it.  Many of the ones that I have met have resorted to using powerful pain killers which are highly addictive, potentially harmful and possibly lethal.

I do not expect to see any changes in states that will most likely opt out of the public option that was said to promote quality health care.   I do not believe that people like me will be effectively helped so that we can return to being productive members of this society.

The assumption that we always have resources to fall back on for help is faulty.  This government's bureaucrats at Medicaid and Social Security offices don't mind cashing in their pay check at the public's expense while turning down people that earned less.  The Social Security office in Texas informed me that I did not pay enough into Social Security despite the years and hours that I invested at work for wages that were systematically garnished by the government to pay these bureaucratic assholes to turn me down when I'm in need. I got my rejection letter soon after the Cymbalta ran out. Actually, I was expecting the rejection, because everybody that I know with disabilities that filed a claim to receive this help during the past 9, or 10 years told me to expect to be turned down, at least, once and to be ready to get a lawyer to fight for it.

Many of the ones that told me not to expect immediate financial help that is expected to include access to resources for health care, in part, to treat problems that caused the disability,  ended up homeless. Some of them worked, but their hours were short and their attendance infrequent, at law demand jobs that did not pay enough to cover the cost of food and shelter, thus certainly not enough to also cover the expense of electric power, water and sewage, or gas.

I normally avoid wishing ill on other people.  When I catch myself thinking like that I redirect my thoughts and attitude.  However, I make exceptions now and then when I believe that certain misfortunes are necessary to better enlighten the kind of people that fight like hell to prevent changes which can ease suffering and reduce burdens and risks that adversely effect a multitude.

That said, there are people in this country that obviously have no idea what it is like to be in my position, or in the position of a parent with a suffering child in need of the kind of health care that is exclusively provided for people with the money to buy it.  Perhaps, if the people that do not care about the poor, and those with unrealistic and negative opinions of all low income and impoverished people lost their own ability to afford decent health care and wound up desperately needing it they might change their views.  If that's what it takes for them to soften their hearts and broaden their knowledge and perspective, then may their world be turned upside-down.  May they suffer and struggle against odds and lose battle, after battle until the rise above their present opinions with determination to contribute to the fight for our basic human right to quality health care.

I have an upcoming appointment.  This time, a different doctor is treating me.  The other one left the community clinic just in time to avoid a confrontation with me.  Again, the matter concerns the pain I am in.  I'm at the "all or nothing" phase.  If that doctor cannot think of a pain medication that is non-narcotic, non-psychotropic, and contains absolutely no ingredient with even the slightest risk of physical harm, addictive tendencies, or other dangerous, or uncomfortable adverse side-effects, then I will not settle.

What I have on hand is not much better.  I stopped taking Aleve.  I need to stop taking ibuprofen.  The lining of my stomach and throat has been damaged by both.  I nearly choked on stomach acid a few times.  I often wake up with a burning sensation that warns me to sit up, or stand to avoid choking.  I'm taking a generic version of Zantac for this problem.

I will mention again that I'd rather have the actual problems fixed than for them to be ignored while the symptoms are treated, instead.

I wish you all a Happy New Year.