Sit back, relax, and savor the flavor of a good cognac for a moment.

1) The US military and economy is stretched way too thin to be a real threat to anyone anymore;
2) Troop levels are well below the numbers necessary to stage a two front war;
3)Military equipment damaged is not being repaired fast enough;
4) New military hardware is still in development stages and have been for years;
5) No draft and little interest by those eligible to do their duty to their country;
3) Economic ruin sweeping across the nation from east coast to west coast;
6) Job losses due to free trade and proficient manufacturing techniques;
7) Home owners have been cashing in on their home equity to maintain their standard of living because wages have been stagnant for the last 8 years;
8) Wages have been slowly dropping for new hires for 8 years regardless of years of experience;
9) Employers are shifting out of health and retirement benefits for employees;
10) With current prices for gasoline, the entire US population has grind to a halt;
11) China practically owns the US Mint.
12) Employers refuse to train their current workforce to meet their technical needs. Instead they grasp for foreigners workers. Soon, Americans will be second class citizens in their own country.

In short, the US has dug themselves into a deep hole and they’re still digging. We are no longer a threat to be taken seriously. Yeah, we can shock and awe, but we can’t hold out for the long haul cause the bank is almost broken.

“[you know, kept in the dark and fed lots of bullshit...]”

Not to be overly picky but mushrooms really grow better with horse shit.

Anyway one looks at it, the feeding never stops, no matter what it is.

How is it that Russia now seems the more reasonable voice?

Why won’t the “west” and Russia just unite and dominate the whole world instead wasting time, money, life and energy fighting each other overtly and through proxy ? They’re all whites after all aren’t they?I mean,together they could join forces, go to a third or second world country, grab resources and share them equaly and fairly instead of self-destructing through the building of nuclear weapons in and out of space and wiping out conventional seeds for GM ones:"to protect our interests”.

It was only a matter of time before we had to revive the old bogeyman, since lately even some of my denser contermporaries started to wonder why we need all those old cold war weapons to fight our current desert-dwelling bogeymen.  And we also must not forget that the Russian economy is flush with giant profits from their vast natural energy resources.

I have been following this story since it first appeared in the US news - A Florida paper if I remember correctly, btw. At the same time, I have been reading both the Cuban and Venezuelan reports. Apples and Oranges!

If you’ll notice, Putin is talking about economic deals: some planes [having flown Air Cubana this spring, they could use some] and engines, energy projects and tourism. No missiles and Military bases. When the news first broke, Fidel said Raul was right not to comment on it, and the MSM went crazy with headlines that Castro doesn’t deny Military Bases, yada, yada, yada.

Then Hugo Chavez announced that if a Russian Naval Ship pulled into port, it would be ‘Welcome’. That resulted in reports that Venezuela had offered Russia bases there [Foreign military bases are forbidden in their Constitution].

Apparently our media is not content to help Bush/Cheney invade Iraq and threaten Iran. Now they are they are pushing for a return to the good old days of the CIA Fascist Dictatorships in Latin America too [Colombia is not enough obviously]. It looks like Murdoch has decided that if Hearst could start the Spanish American War in 1898, there’s no reason he can’t start one too.

He’s right of course, except for Moyers and a handfull of Bloggers watching the store, no one else seems to give a damn. I was amazed to see Truthdig give this stuff space, therefore granting it credence as news, rather then propaganda.

I must say it gets tiresome having to fact check every story myself to verify the reality behind the headlines. No wonder we are a nation of ignoramuses. If I weren’t retired and able to devote some time to this stuff, I’d be nothing but a ‘mushroom’ myself [you know, kept in the dark and fed lots of bullshit...]

Think about it…