Get Me My Gun

Clearly the American people don't give two shits about what goes on in their own country and with its leadership. The story of the waste and fraud occurring during the is illegal, immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq has been tantamount to the biggest boondoggle in American history, yet is barely glanced upon in the mainstream media, and virtually ignored by congress.

Did you know of the nearly 1/2 a trillion war dollars spent, 88 BILLION dollars of "contractor money" is under investigation for fraud? Did you realize the 630 private companies are under contract to the US government to deliver "services" to Iraq? Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater:The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, sat in on a DOD authorization hearing and listened to representative after representative ask scores of military and government officials,"How many contractors do we have? What are they doing? How much are they being paid? What nations are they drawn from? The answers were, 'I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know' ". Would you let ANYONE spend your money like this?

Bill Moyers does a great intense round-up of the national treasure wasted on this futile exercise called the Global War on Terror. Best of the Left compiles a podcast "best of" moments from around the blogosphere about the discussion. All the while the republicans can't fund health care for children which amounts to 40 days in Iraq spending.

Preaching to the choir I guess, but I wonder when people will be angry enough to act.

Radio Diversity? Not

Think Progress has this post on the latest developments with the FCC and the mega-conglomerate desire to own ALL the radio stations in America which of course, are broadcast on the PUBLICLY OWNED AIRWAVES. Then check the "Think Fast" post.

Action Alert

Action Alert from the Free Press:

The U.S. Postal Service is about to implement a massive hike in its rates for magazines that would put diverse and free speech at risk.

Postal regulators have decided to adopt a plan that favors the nation's largest publishers, like Time Warner and Hearst, while unfairly burdening thousands of smaller and independent magazines with much higher postal rates, as high as 20 or 30 percent.

You can help reverse this unfair decision by demanding that the new postal rates do not favor Big Media over small publishers:

Sign Our Letter to Stamp Out the Rate Hikes.

The plan to give Big Media lower rates was submitted by Time Warner, the nation's largest publisher. We were stunned when postal regulators chose the Time Warner plan -- with little apparent hard research on how the plan would affect small publishers -- instead of another proposal made by the Postal Service itself that would have imposed an equal increase on all publishers.

If implemented, the Time Warner plan could push many smaller publications to the brink of bankruptcy.

America's founding fathers understood that the First Amendment would be worth little without a postal system that encouraged broad public participation in America's marketplace of ideas. To ensure that a diversity of viewpoints were available to "the whole mass of the people," they created affordable postal rates that gave smaller political journals a voice.

The rate increase reverses this egalitarian ideal. It threatens the democratic discourse that our founding fathers fostered through the U.S. mail system.

Please join us in urging postal regulators and Congress to convene public hearings, investigate how these rate increases were decided in what seems to be an unfair and unorthodox way, and reverse the ruling.

Take action today:

Act Now: Save Small and Independent Publishers

With your help, we can stop this decision and restore the postal system that has served free speech in America so well.

Thanks for all you do,

Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net

1. To learn more about the campaign visit www.StopPostalRateHikes.com.

2. Read supporting editorials in the New York Times, Seattle Times and the Boston Globe.