Folks…the wheels have officially come off the Clinton Presidency Wagon.

read more | digg story

Sara Robinson from Campaign for America’s Future has written a very compelling and thoughtful article over at Alternet. In it she presents some well researched and well reasoned logic about why America is on the road to revolution. The unlikely fervor surrounding the candidacy of Senator Barrack Obama is a case in point, and serves to illustrate her thesis graphically. Head over and read the entire article: it really is food for thought.

The information provided by www.wikileaks.org about a Cayman Island bank seems to have hit too close to home. Bank Julius Baer sought an injunction to delete the DNS records at the site’s registrar; California based Dynadot. The Bush appointed judge presided over an emergency ex-parte hearing and granted the request, which seems to have been immediately executed by Dynadot. Fortunately for truth seekers, the site can be seen at www.wikileaks.be. Go read the story, it is very interesting, and as they say, the truth is often stranger than fiction.

Barbara Ehrenreich’s article over at Alternet answers this question in a way that particularly resonates with me. As she says, Americans are looking for someone to get us out of this mess and they aren’t willing to trust that any of the “old guard” will do it properly. I, for one, hope he wins and does what he says he will. America needs to be re-branded.

read more | digg story

As I am writing this, there is an economic bloodbath in the Asian stock markets as a result of the plunge yesterday in the US markets. One of the most troubling developments is the impending demise of the two main Bond Insurers, Ambac and MBIA. These two companies underwrite a large number of corporate and municipal bonds in the US market.

Just last Friday, Ambac lost its AAA rating, and it is expected that there will be further downward adjustments. In short, this will mean a loss of about $45 trillion in value in the credit derivative market in the coming days. Read the story here and do what you can to protect yourself from the coming collapse.

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has sent a letter to the New Hampshire Secretary of State demanding a hand recount of all of the votes cast in the state’s primary. It seems that only 20% of the votes were counted manually, with the remaining 80% being tallied by the Diebold voting machines that were used. It seems that the results from the 20% that were hand-counted agreed with the exit polls, while the 80% differed considerably. Kucinich cites the need for voter confidence to be restored in the election process as his reason for making the request. Read the full article here.

For the last two presidential elections, I have voted expediently, and for that, I am ashamed. It was the common wisdom of the time (and no doubt of this time as well), that if one did not vote for the most “electable” Democratic candidate, then one was wasting their vote and possibly giving victory to the Republicans. This compromise has led us away from the candidates who are most aligned with our vision, and towards the ones the MSM (main stream media) deems the candidate most likely to succeed. It has left us with an uninspiring, yet well-heeled, John Kerry to run against George Bush and the rest, as they say, is history.

The only two candidates on either side of the aisle that I consider authentic and refreshing, are Dennis Kucinich (D) and Ron Paul (R). Kucinich appeals to my liberal values in areas such as health care and dismantling the military industrial complex, while Ron Paul appeals to my fiscal conservative side. I had actually considered voting for Ron Paul until I heard he did not believe in evolution, an unforgivable position for a doctor and presumably a man of science.

This year I will be voting for Dennis Kucinich and putting my vote where my heart is. If you haven’t yet read what his positions are, please take a moment and familiarize yourself with his platform. You might find a clear path to voting your conscience and eliminating the cognitive dissonance associated with voting for someone because the press tells you they are electable.

The first is the excellent video series called “The World at War“, narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier. This series covers virtually every aspect of World War II from the very beginning with some amazing video clips, personal accounts, and map graphics. While I am not at all fascinated by war itself, I am very interested in the human response to it, and this film series will go a long way toward helping you understand the finer points of one of mankind’s worst and greatest periods.

The second item is more of a re-discovery, as I had already seen the first and second version of this film before now. Loose Change Final Cut is now available to view on Google Video.

This amazing film, made by some resourceful young men from New York will open your eyes and make you think outside the box about 9/11. Check it out.

Lastly, I had bought a copy of Richard Dawkins’ book, “The God Delusion“, over a year ago, but had not found the time to read it. At last, I have tucked in and am really enjoying his discussion of religion on its own merits, without the fear of approbation usually associated with questioning religion at all. A great read.