Well, we still have Bush in office. Many things have happened since I last wrote. (Its been a long time, I apologize) We have found out that he has been spying on average American citizens, just today I found out that there is a memo that Bush wrote saying that he wanted to go to war in January 2003 and even proposed repainting US warplanes to look like UN planes so that they would be shot at and give a pretext to go to war, and then there is that State of the Union address.

What have we to look forward to is more of the same from Bush. More lies, more concealed government and bigger cuts to social programs paid for by the masses since the richest taxpayers will have to pay less. Already the House of Representatives has sent Bush a bill that cuts Medicaid, student loans/aid, and who knows what else may be hidden in there.

More and more Congress persons are starting to talk about impeachment. But will they actually get off their duffs and do so? I predict not. As the saying goes, don't bite the hand that feeds you. This makes the Democratic Party an accomplice rather than an opposition party. Can we count on them anymore? No. It's time to elect a third party to the Congress. Time for some real opposition!

Once again another election year is upon us and its time to start thinking about issues. It is time to ask again what we want from our politicians, who are supposed to represent us. It is time to see if we can change the system. It desperately needs it.

There is a wealth of information that is out there on our elected officials. By law, federal and state and local laws, these people that represent us must let us see their campaign finances. For members of Congress, this information can be found at www.fec.gov. The Federal Elections Commission has information on who gives to whom and how much. Another place to go for information on some organizations and their funding is www.irs.gov. The IRS requires organizations like the infamous 527s and other nonprofit associations to list where they get their funding from.

And just incase you are tired of the same old same old, when election day comes around, you can always vote for a third party candidate. My recommendation is to vote for the Green Party. If enough of us decide to vote our conscience instead of who is likely to win, these third party candidates can actually win. After all, it isn’t a horse race.

Just think about the possibility for a second. If enough people were to vote for the Green Party, there could be a three way power struggle in Congress. In this scenario, the Democrats become a moderate swing vote. The Republicans are at odds with the Greens.

Read this excellent article from alternet (http://www.alternet.org/story/29337/). It tells about the fourteen worst corporate offenders. These people routinely abuse human rights, from trying to organize a union to sexual slavery. Many of these corporations are well known, household names. The list of their crimes is absolutely shocking. I for one will start boycotting these companies products. I have already decided that I don't want to drink Coca Cola, but I am happy to add others to the list. Read the article!

The administration says that they don't torture prisoners. Senator John McCain is spearheading a bill that would ban torture. The president says that he will veto that bill. But he also wants an exception made for the CIA.

Several times the administration had tried to dodge the issue. A couple years ago a Swedish journalist had Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the ropes about the matter. But he didn't take the obvious opening and go for the knockout punch. Now Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice has gone to Europe where she is spending a lot of time defending the use of secret prisons. Here is a thought: If you have secret prisons that don't have Congressional oversight, or any other watch dog over them, then chances are that something illegal is going on in there. Otherwise why hide the prisons? If the president says that he will veto a bill that bans torture then chances are its because that someone is somewhere torturing prisoners. And we know who, because he wants an exception made for the CIA.

Never before in our history has a president been so taken up with secrecy. If he had his way the whole government would be secret and then we would be in a dictatorship where people can be arrested on spurious charges. Hey! You broke the law. Which law, you ask? Sorry that information is classified.

This reminds me of a silly statement made by the president a few years ago. It related to the secret energy policy meetings held by Vice President Cheney. He said that the only way that advisors to the president could give good advice is if they could do so secretly. Excuse me? If they had to have their advice held up to public scrutiny then maybe they would give advice that was actually in the country's best interest. Done behind closed doors, however, means that they can set US policy and get away with it.

No Place to Hide, by Robert O'Harrow, Jr., is a very frank and scary picture of the amount of surveillance that goes on in the United States. It starts off with the the commercial sector and ends up with Big Brother, our government.

It turns out that we are being constantly watched and in most cases with very little regard for civil liberties. All our transactions are recorded. If you use a bank, credit union, credit/debit card, or even solely cash, the things you buy are being catalogued and loaded onto massive databases, the intent of which is to identify who is a "reliable" customer from those who are not. Companies who sell products to the general public want to maximize their advertising dollars to target big spenders. Their databases contain billions of records.

Since 9/11, the US government and to a certain extent local government, read police, has collaborated with these very same corporations to sift out what they consider suspicious behavior. Unfortunately there is tremendous room for error and violations of our civil rights. The book details, in several extended anecdotes, the paths taken by various individuals toward a society that has no real knowledge of the amount of surveillance that is being done. 9/11 has spurred tremendous leaps in technology. This technology is frequently classified as secret on the grounds of national security so that even if most Americans wanted to know about this we couldn't get access.

The book is easily read and quite informative. It should be a must read for all Americans and especially for those concerned with the erosion of our civil rights.