Spirit of America Bookstore U.S.  Timeline  –  2001  to  Present up to 1800    •    1801-1900    •    1901-1930    •    1931-1950    •    1951-1968    •    1969-2000 America As Empire    •    The Obama Era    •    CURRENT EVENTS The Looming Future? America  As  Empire War Film Festival - Middle-East War Movies 2001 Jan 17-18: Power service blackouts affected 1.5 million customers in California; Governor Davis declared a state of emergency {ended 13 November 2003}. 2001 Jan 20: George W. Bush was sworn in as President #43, serving two misbegotten terms; Dick Cheney was sworn in a Vice President. 2001 Feb 22 thru April 17: Executives of Enron Corp., Exxon-Mobil Corp., Conoco, Shell, British Petroleum, Massey Energy and other oil, coal & gas giants met several times with Dick Cheney's secret Energy Task Force. 2001 Feb 27: The Bush administration began illegal wiretaps of Americans, specifically of calls at coerced/cooperative national & regional telephone companies. The irony: These illegal wiretap operations did NOT prevent the attack on September 11th (and perhaps were not designed for that purpose). 2001 March 19-20: Power service blackouts in California affected 1.5 million customers. 2001 May 7-8: Power service blackouts in California affected upwards of 167,000 customers. 2001 Aug 6: President Bush ignored the Presidential Daily Briefing memorandum reporting an imminent terrorist threat by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. 2001 Sept 11: Muslim terrorists commandeered four airliners: two crashed into the World Trade Center in Manhattan (2,823 deaths); Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, DC (189 deaths); and Flight 93 crash-landed in rural Pennsylvania (44 deaths). [next-day newspaper headlines, in new window]    "The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation" [2006] by Sid Jacobson & Ernie Colon Hill & Wang 9x5½ pb [8/2006] for $11.53 Hill & Wang 9x6 hardcover [8/2006] for $19.80    "Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up To The Facts - An In-Depth Investigation By Popular Mechanics" [2006] Edited by David Dunbar & Brad Reagan, Foreword by Sen. John McCain Hearst 8¼x5½ pb [8/2006] for $7.63 2001 Sept 17: U.S. stock markets reopened; one-day loss of 684.81 points (only 7.11%). 2001 Sept 21: Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to $8,235.81, the worst 5-day loss since the Great Depression. 2001 Oct 26: President Bush signed the spurious 342-page U.S.A. Patriot Act [Uniting & Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept & Obstruct Terrorism Act]. 2001 Nov: The U.S. military, under orders from the U.S. State Departemnt, allowed terrorist Osama bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora province in Afghanistan. 2001 Dec 2: Enron Corp. filed for bankruptcy, and laid off 4,000 employees in Houston the next day. 2002 Jan: Opening of the illegal torture facilities on the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. 2002 Feb 7: Dubya signed the memo stating that the Third Geneva Convention did not apply to al-Qaeda or to the Taliban, thus authorizing torture. 2002 March: The NASDAQ Composite index bottomed in the 1900s, a drop of 62% since March 2000. 2002 March 13: George W. Bush stated "I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not concerned about [bin Laden]." 2002 June 26: Ninth Circuit Court Newdow decision against 'under God' phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance. 2002 June 27: U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Cleveland Ohio school voucher program. 2002 July 1: The NASDAQ Composite index closed at 5-year low of 1,403.80; Dow Jones Industrial Average index down to 9,109.79. 2002 Aug 26: V.P. Dick Cheney spoke at V.F.W. convention, which included the statement that "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." 2002 Oct 9: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index bottomed at 7,286.27 (down 2.9% for a 5-year low), NASDAQ index closed at 1,114.11. 2002 Oct 10: U.S. Congress passed the 'Authorization For Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002' by a vote of 296-133, which is cited as permission for Bush's unprovoked invasion of Iraq. 2002 Nov 25: President Bush signed the infamous Homeland Security Act. 2002 Dec 2: Defense Secretary Donald R. Rumsfeld signed the memo authorizing specific interrogation techniques that could be used to torture prisoners in U.S. military custody. 2002 Dec 31: The U.N. inspection team admitted to finding no evidence of W.M.D. in Iraq. 2003 Feb 1: The space shuttle Columbia exploded 200,000 feet above Texas, on landing approach to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, killing the seven crew members. 2003 Feb 5: U.S. Secretary of Defense Colin Powell spoke at the United Nations, using faked-up pictures and recordings to make the case for an invasion of Iraq. 2003 Feb ?? Patriot Act II: Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003 March 19: Beginning of George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. [Due to time zone differences, the bombardment of Iraq began March 20th, local time.] 2003 April 9: Baghdad fell to U.S.-British forces. 2003 May 1: President Bush declared 'end of major hostilities in Iraq' on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California; a total of 138 U.S. soldiers died during the Mini-War. 2003 May 22: President Bush signed Executive Order 13303 granting immunity from prosecution to oil companies operating in Iraq. 2003 June 3: Mysterious federal ceremony claiming Republican victory in ending regulation of U.S. banks. 2003 June 25: The twelfth consecutive reduction of the Federal Reserve's prime lending rate, to 1 percent (while the inflation rate was at 2%), which provided the conditions that permitted the housing/debt bubble. 2003 July 14: Columnist Robert Novak revealed the identity of covert C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame Wilson {an act of treason}, apparently based on a leak to him from the White House in retaliation over an op-ed article by her husband Joseph C. Wilson IV published in The New York Times.    "Fair Game: My Life As A Spy, My Betrayal By The White House" [2007] by Valerie Plame Wilson Kindle Edition from Simon & Schuster [10/2007] for $11.99 S&S 8½x5½ pb [6/2008] for $10.20 S&S 9¼x6½ hardcover [10/2007] out of print/hundreds used S&S ABR audio CD [10/2007] out of prodn/many used official book site Spirit of America's TraitorGate / TreasonGate Timeline Page 2003 July 23: Petitions gathered by Republican Darrell Issa asking for recall of California Governor Gray Davis were certified by California's Secretary of State; the special election was then scheduled for October 7th. 2003 Aug 13: California Secretary of State released a list of the record 135 candidates to replace Gov. Davis if the recall should pass. 2003 Oct 7: California election on the recall of Gov. Gray Davis, won by Austrian body-builder & action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger. 2003 Oct 10: Columnist Robert Novak revealed the name of Plame's 'brass plate' C.I.A. front company, Brewster-Jennings & Associates {his second act of treason}, resulting in the death of further clandestine American agents. 2003 Nov 13: Governor Davis officially ended California's power crisis state of emergency. 2003 Nov 17: Arnold sworn in as Governor of California. 2003 Dec 13: Fugitive Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. Army 4th Division troops, in a hole beneath a hut near Tikrit, Iraq. 2003 Dec 31: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index ended the year at 10,453.92. 2004 Feb 4: Launch of pioneer social networking site Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg and several fellow Harvard students. 2004 March 12: FBI Director Robert Mueller and Acting Attorney General James B. Comey, Jr. told President Bush that they could not participate in the illegal Stellar Wind wiretapping program; Bush backed down. 2004 April: Hearing at the S.E.C. that gave the five top Wall Street investment banks permission to release capital reserves to invest in 'exotic instruments'. 2004 May 28: The Central American Free Trade Agreement {now DR-C.A.F.T.A.} was signed by six countries; President Bush signed the agreement into U.S. law on 2 August 2005; the Dominican Republic signed on August 5. 2004 June 28: Handover of power to the interim government in Iraq. 2004 Aug 8: Launch of the Messenger space probe to the planet Mercury. 2004 Oct 6: Charles Duelfer, C.I.A. Special Advisor for Strategy concluded in a final report that Iraq had no W.M.D or W.M.D. programs when the U.S. invaded the country. 2004 Nov 2: Dubya won, America lost. 2004 Nov 3: First felony convictions against internet 'spam' distributors – In a Leesburg, Virginia case, Jeremy D. Jaynes received a 9-year prison term & his sister Jessica DeGroot received a $7,500 fine. 2004 Nov 8: U.S. forces initiated a retaliatory takeover of Fallujah, Iraq. 2004 Dec 26: An earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean off Sumatra sent a giant tsunami toward land that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 14 countries. 2005 May 17: U.S. Senate unanimously approved the "Real I.D. Act", requiring Federal electronic ID cards to be in use by May 2008. 2005 May 31: Watergate's 'Deep Throat' was revealed as then-FBI #2 officer W. Mark Felt. 2005 June 6: U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Gonzales vs Raich that federal drug laws supercede state & local laws that allow medical use of marijuana. 2005 Aug 29: Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast from Alabama to Louisiana, followed by severe flooding due to breaks in levees & dams (caused by Bush Administration funding cuts of 80% for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). 2005 Sept 9: President Bush issued an Executive Order cancelling protections of the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, so that victims of Hurricane Katrina will not be paid minimum or prevailing wages during reconstruction. 2005 Sept 23: Winds of up to 120 MPH from Hurricane Rita breached the levees of New Orleans again. 2005 Oct 24: Hurricane Wilma battered Florida with winds up to 125 MPH. 2005 Dec 20: Judge John E. Jones III of the Pennsylvania Federal District Court decided in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case that 'intelligent design' is the equivalent of religious fundamentalism's creationism myth, and thus teaching either concept in public schools is a violation of the First Amendment principle of the separation of church & state. 2005 Dec 31: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index ended the year at 10,717.50. 2006 Jan 30: Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stepped down after serving almost 25 years. 2006 Jan 30: A filibister against Judge Samuel Alito's appointment to the Supreme Court was defeated in the U.S. Senate by a cloture vote of 75 to 25. 2006 Jan 31: Alito confirmed to Supreme Court, 58 to 42. 2006 Feb 1: Ben S. Bernanke sworn in as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, succeeding longtime Fed Chair Alan Greenspan. 2006 March 9: President Bush signed the U.S.A. Patriot Act Improvement & Reauthorization Act. 2006 May 25: Former Enron Corp. chairman/CEO Ken Lay was convicted on six counts of conspiracy & securities & wire fraud, and also on four counts of bank fraud in a non-jury portion of the trial (of 35 counts) and former Enron Corp. president Jeffrey Skilling was convicted on 19 of 28 counts of conspiracy & fraud. 2006 June 7: al-Qaeda #2 leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in Diyala, Iraq. 2006 Aug 17: Federal Judge Anna Diggs Taylor found that the Bush Administration had clearly violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for five years by mass wire-tapping of American citizens without F.I.S.A. warrants, and that such activity was unconstitutional and illegal. 2006 Oct 3: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index surpassed previous high of 14 Jan 2000, going above 11,000 to $11,750.28 2006 Oct 4: Dow Jones Industrial Average index 'bull market' second day runup to $11,850 2006 Oct 17: The population of United States reached 300 million. 2006 Oct 19: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose above 12,000 for the first time, closing at $12,029.50. 2006 Nov 6: Secretary of War Donald Rumsfeld resigned; the event was not made public until late the next day. 2006 Nov 7: American people took back both houses of Congress: Democrats won 30+ seats in the house and 5 seats in the Senate. 2006 Nov 7: Arnold re-elected as Governor of California. 2006 Dec 7: Seven G.O.P.-appointed U.S. Attorneys were dismissed (later growing to nine) without explanation. Subsequent developments revealed that the real cause was that the attorneys had not manufactured bogus indictments against Democratic candidates just prior to the elections of November. A year later, officials who had resigned because of the scandal included Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Deputy A.G. Paul McNulty, Acting Associate A.G. William W. Mercer, Chief of Staff for the A.G. Kyle Sampson, Chief of Staff for the Deputy A.G. Michael Elston, Michael A. Battle, Bradley Schlozman, and D.O.J. White House Liaison Monica Goodling. A grand jury was empanelled in June 2008 to investigate the matter.    "In Justice: Inside The Scandal That Rocked The Bush Administration" [2008] by David Iglesias, with Davin Seay Wiley & Sons 9¼x6¼ hardcover [5/2008] for $17.13 scandal info at Wikipedia 2006 Dec 30: Iraq President Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging, for 'crimes against humanity'. 2007 Jan 16: The strategically-delayed trial of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby for perjury began, on charges of lying to federal prosecutors about his actions in the outing of covert C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame. 2007 Jan 29: Libby's lawyers admitted into evidence a note in Dick Cheney's handwriting stating that 'The Pres' gave the order to reveal Valerie Plame's identity, final proof that Bush & Cheney & Libby & others committed treason. 2007 Feb 18: The Washington Post exposed the terrible conditions at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland provided to veterans and to soldiers returning from service in Iraq & Afghanistan. 2007 Feb 27: The Dow-Jones Industrial Average index plunged 546.02 points and closed down 416.02, or 2.8% - the worst day of trading since 11 September 2001; the S&P 500 fell 50.33, and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 96.65. 2007 March 6: The jury returned convictions on 4 of 5 counts against Libby; he could be sentenced to 30 years in prison. 2007 April 18: The Supreme Court decided the Gonzales v. Carhart case, allowing a nationwide ban on 'partial-birth abortion' procedure; the vote was 5 Catholics to 4 Americans. 2007 April 24: Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich announced H.R. 333 specifying three charges of impeachment against VP Dick Cheney; referred to the House Judiciary Committee. 2007 April 25: Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed above 13,000 for the first time. 2007 June 5: I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby sentenced in the TraitorGate / TreasonGate scandal to 30 months in prison, two years probation, and $250,000 in fines. 2007 July 2: A federal appeals court three-judge panel refused to grant a delay for Libby going to jail; the jail sentence was commuted by President Bush later the same day. 2007 July 7: The Live Earth Concerts, held in nine cities around the world, garnered 2 billion viewers worldwide (counting television, radio and internet) and 30 million American viewers, which is more than the Super Bowl. 2007 July 19: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed above 14,000 for the first time at 14,000.41, a new all-time high (and a rise of 6,714 points (92%!) since the low point of 7,286.27 on 9 October 2002). 2007 July 27: The Dow-Jones Industrial Average index plunged 311.50 points (or 2.26 percent). 2007 Aug 1: Right-wing propagandist Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. purchased 64% of the Wall Street Journal & Dow-Jones companies for $5+ billion (pending government approval). 2007 Aug 9: The Dow-Jones Industrial Average index closed at $13,239.54, down 387.18 points, or 2.8% - the second worst day of the year; the S&P 500 fell 44.40 to $1,453.09 (almost 3%), and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 56.49 to $2,556.49 (nearly 2.2%). 2007 Aug 24: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales phoned in his resignation to President Bush (on vacation at Crawford, Texas). 2007 Sept 16: The 'Nasur Square Incident' in Baghdad, Iraq where Blackwater Worldwide mercenaries shot 17 unarmed civilians to death without cause. 2007 Sept 20: Over 30,000 people marched in Jena, Louisiana in support of six Afro-American high school students denied civil rights by malicious prosecution over a schoolyard brawl in December. 2007 Sept 26: U.S. Senate approved the Bush plan to invade Iran; the vote was 76 to 22. 2007 Oct: Fire storms in California, at Malibu and several in San Diego County. 2007 Oct 9: The Dow-Jones Industrial Average index reached an all-time high of 14,164.53. 2007 Oct 19: The Dow-Jones Industrial Average index lost 23 percent of its value. 2007 Nov 1: Fourth worst trading day of the year on Wall Street – the Dow Jones Industrial Average index dropped $362.14 (2.6%) to $13,567.87, NASDAQ fell $64.29 (2.25%) to $2,794.83, the S&P 500 fell $40.94 (2.64%) to $1,508.44. 2007 Nov 5: Beginning of the W.G.A. writers strike (lasting just over 3 months). 2007 Nov 6: Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich re-introduced identical text of H.R. 333 as Privileged Resolution H.R. 799 specifying three charges of impeachment against VP Dick Cheney; again referred to the House Judiciary Committee. 2007 Dec: An economic recession in the U.S that lasted at least 16 months (officially declared in March 2009), precipitated by the collapse of the housing market – which led to a worsening economy and the Bush Administration's Economic Meltdown that began in September 2008. 2007 Dec: The Lakota Nation indigenous people unilaterally withdrew from all 33 treaties with the U.S. government. 2007 Dec 3-15: United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia (not much got done, due to U.S. intransigence). 2007 Dec 27: Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide bombing at a political rally in Rawalpindi. 2008 Jan 2: The U.S. Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the destruction of C.I.A. interrogation videotapes and Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey appointed an outside prosecutor to oversee the case. {Essentially, the Bush Administration crooks are again investigating themselves for another alleged crime.) 2008 Jan 11: Bank of America agreed to buy failed Countrywide Financial, America's biggest mortgage lender, in a $4.1 billion stock deal. 2008 Jan 30: Democratic Party candidate John Edwards 'suspended' his campaign for the office of U.S. President (just prior to the 23-state Super Tuesday primary elections). 2008 Feb 5: The Dow-Jones Industrial Average index fell 3% to 12,635.16. 2008 Feb 5: The 'Super Tuesday' Primary election for both parties in 19 states, with one-party contests in 4 states. 2008 Feb 12: Writers Guild of America strike ended, after three months. 2008 Feb 18: Cuba's dictator Fidel Castro announced his retirement, effective with the election of his successor. 2008 Feb 24: CBS News finally broadcast their "60 Minutes" report on Alabama political prisoner Don Siegelman; the broadcast was scheduled opposite the 2008 Academy Awards, and then thirteen minutes was blacked out in Alabama. 2008 March 18: U.S. Sen. Barack Obama delivered a historic speech on racism in America entitled "A More Perfect Union" at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2008 March 24: The Federal Reserve loaned $29 billion to J.P. Morgan Chase Bank for acquisition of defunct Bear Stearns. 2008 April 1: First day of the 'Trucker Shutdown' national strike by independent truckers in America, in protest of diesel fuel prices being over $4.00 a gallon (while their pay has not gone up). 2008 May 1: One-day wildcat strike by I.L.W.U. at all ports on the U.S. West Coast to protest the war and the economy. 2008 May 14: John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama as the Democratic Party candidate for President. 2008 May 26: Phoenix mission to Mars lands on the surface of the Red Planet. 2008 June: A grand jury was empanelled to investigate the improper dismissals of nine U.S. Attorneys in late 2006. 2008 June 8: The average pump price for unleaded regular gas/petrol reached $4/gallon across America (per AAA). 2008 June 9: Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced a Privileged Resolution specifying 35 charges of impeachment against George W. Bush. The 65-page document took 5 hours to read into the Congressional Record, and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. 2008 June & July: Millions of acres of forest fires in California and other Western states require calling in the National Guard to relieve exhausted firefighters. 2008 June 13: Crude oil futures rose above $139 a barrel. 2008 July: All-time high average U.S. gasoline pump price of $4.11 per gallon. 2008 July 11: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index dropped below 11,000 for the first time in 2 years. 2008 July 23: Hurricane Dolly hit the Texas coast, the worst since 2005's Hurricane Rita. 2008 July 24: Federal minimum wage raised to $6.55 per hour. 2008 July 30: Congress passed a $300 billion F.H.A. bailout bill. 2008 Aug 23: U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama announced his choice of U.S. Senator Joseph Biden as his VP running mate. 2008 Aug 28: Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech before over 80,000 people at Denver's Mile-High Stadium and 38 million viewers on television. 2008 Sept 1: Hurricane Gustav hit the Louisiana coast, later knocking out 90% of the power in Baton Rouge, the state capitol; 49 U.S. deaths are attributed to the storm. 2008 Sept 7: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave away $5 trillion of taxpayer indebtedness to bail out the bankrupt Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac quasi-governmental mortgage guarantor entities. 2008 Sept 13: Hurricane Ike, the most massive Atlantic hurricane yet recorded, hit the coast of Texas & Louisiana; 71 U.S. deaths are attributed to the storm, with 226 still missing as-of October. 2008 Sept 16: The Federal Reserve agreed to pay $85 billion for an 80% stake in the failed A.I.G. brokerage insurance firm. 2008 Sept 21: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last two major investment banks in the United States, both confirmed that they would become traditional bank holding companies, bringing an end to the era of investment banking on Wall Street. 2008 Sept 29: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index dropped a record 777 points (-6.98%) as the U.S. House of Representatives rejected the Bush Administration's irresponsible stock market emergency bailout plan. The cascading effects included Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 801.41 points (-4.29%), Europe's DJ Stoxx Index falling 133.21 points (-4.89%), U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index falling 269.70 points (-5.30% ), the Euronext 100 Index falling 39.18 points (-5.46%), and Canada's TSE 300 Index falling 840.93 points (-6.93%). 2008 Oct 3: Congress passed a $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill. 2008 Oct 6: The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index fell below 10,000, the first time since 2004. 2008 Oct 8: The Federal Reserve authorized further payment of $37.8 billion for A.I.G. 2008 Oct 13: Treasury Secretary Paulson partially nationalized nine major banks for $25 billion each. 2008 Oct 15: Dow Jones Industrial Average index second-worst freefall event: dropped 780.87 during the day, ending down 733 points. (Worst freefall event is now 6 May 2010.) 2008 Nov 4: Barack Obama won the election for the U.S. Presidency with 53% of the popular vote, and with 365 electoral votes to McCain's 173. 2008 Nov 10: The Federal Reserve paid out another $27.5 billion for A.I.G. losses. 2008 Nov 19: U.S. Senate hearing on the automotive crisis, with unsworn testimony by the heads of Chrysler, Ford & General Motors. 2008 Dec 5: Secret, interest-free loans by the U.S. Federal Reserve of $1.2 trillion to troubled 'too big to let fail' banks – including $107 billion to Morgan Stanley, $100 billion to Citigroup, and $91 billion to Bank of America – that were not revealed until August 2011. Calculations in November 2011 concluded that the banks' profit from the deal was $13 billion. 2008 Dec 9: Negotiators revealed the terms of an emerging deal between the White House and Congress under which a short-term $15 billion bailout for the Big Three automakers would be overseen by a federal trustee (or 'car czar'). 2008 Dec 19: President Bush announced approval of the automaker bailout plan, which would give loans of $17.4 billion to G.M. and Chrysler. 2008 Dec 22: The Kingston Fossil Plant Slurry Spill in Roane County, Tennessee released 5.4 million cubic yards (or 1.1 billion gallons) of gray sludge into the surrounding area, which in some places remains six feet deep; the toxic waste spill is 100 times the size of the Exxon Valdex oil spill in Alaska, and is expected to cost almost a billion dollars to clean up the environment. 'Stop Bush' Page at Working Minds website 2008 Elections Page at Working Minds website    "Game Change: Obama and The Clintons, McCain & Palin, and The Race of A Lifetime" [2010 New York Times bestseller] by John Heilemann & Mark Halperin Kindle Edition from HarperCollins [2/2010] for $8.61 HarperCollins 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1/2010] for $15.39 book entry at Wikipedia H.B.O. TV movie scheduled for 2011 broadcast   Directed by Jay Roach; script by Danny Strong; starring Julianne Moore {as Sarah Palin} DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • latest info at IMDb Spirit of America's 'G.O.P. Meltdown' Page

Barack  Obama's  Future  of  Hope 2009 Jan 3: The 111th Congress of the United States of America began. The Senate is 56 Democrats, 41 Republicans, 2 independents (Bernie Sanders of Vermont and 'Traitor' Joe Lieberman of Connecticut), with Minnesota still up in the air (Al Franken was finally seated in July!). The House of Representatives is 256 Democrats and 178 Republicans (pending various appointments to the Obama administration). 2009 Jan 16: Pres. Bush wrote 'gag letters' ordering Karl Rove & Joshua Bolten & Harriet Miers to keep quiet in the face of the restarted Congressional probe of their many crimes while in office. 2009 Jan 20: Barack Hussein Obama took his oath of office as President of the United States of America (restoring a government based on the U.S. Constitution). 2009 Feb 13: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed in Congress; no Republicans in the House and only three Republican Senators voted in favor. The bill included $288 billion in tax cuts, $357 billion for federal spending programs, and $144 billion to state & local fiscal relief. 2009 Feb 17: The 'recovery package' bill was signed into law by President Obama, adding $787 billion and 3.5 million jobs to the floundering American economy. 2009 Feb 23: New York stock indexes fell to ten-year lows: The Dow Industrial Average index dropped 250.89 points (-3.41%) to $7,114.78; the S&P 500 Index fell 26.72 points (-3.47%) to $743.33. Both indexes stood at about half their value compared to record highs in October 2007. 2009 March 2: The Federal Reserve agreed to a $30 billion line of credit to cover further A.I.G. losses, in exchange for a stake in two international divisions. 2009 March 2: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index tumbled below 7,000 for the first time since October 1997. 2009 March 6: N.A.S.A. launched the Kepler Mission, a telescope following in Earth's orbit around the sun that scans for stars with possible planets; the search is expected to last 3½ years. 2009 March 9: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index bottomed at 6,547, a 12-year low; the stock market lost almost $8 trillion in value since its peak in October 2007. 2009 April 13: First confirmed death from the new Mexican swine flu strain, an elderly woman in Oaxaca, Mexico; the disease has the potential to become a worldwide epidemic. 2009 April 21: The U.S. government announced plans to loan General Motors up to $5B more, and to loan Chrysler $500M more. GM already has received $13.4 billion in government loans, while Chrysler has received $4 billion. 2009 April 28: U.S. Senator Arlen Spector switched parties, making the count 59 Democrats, 38 Republicans, and two Independents (with the hair-close Minnesota race still in contention since November), moving Congress closer to a filibuster-proof Democratic majority of 60. 2009 April 29: Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón opened an investigation into torture at Guantánamo Bay, following accusations by four former prisoners against the 'Bush Six': David Addington, Chief of Staff for former Vice President Dick Cheney; Jay Bybee, Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel; Douglas Feith, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy; Alberto Gonzales, former Attorney General; William Haynes II, former General Counsel for the Department of Defense; and John Yoo, Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel. 2009 April 30: Chrysler Motors and 24 affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after talks with lenders broke down. 2009 June: Production of Kodachrome™ color 35mm film halted after 74 years (put on the market in 1935). 2009 June 1: General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; the plan includes closing 17 factories & parts centers and eliminating 20,000 more jobs. 2009 June 10: Chrysler Motors and affiliates emerged from bankruptcy (backed by $6.6B in financing from the federal government), and immediately sold several divisions to Fiat of Italy. 2009 June 12: Changeover to digital TV signals across entire U.S.A {see www.DTVanswers.com}; postponed from February 17. 2009 June 12: The Japan's Nikkei Index closed above ¥10,000 for the first time in eight months. 2009 June 30: The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Al Franken won the November election and is to be certified as U.S. Senator from Minnesota. 2009 July 7: Al Franken was finally sworn in as Minnesota's junior senator, after 8-months of legal delays by the losing Republican candidate; the U.S. Senate now has a (potentially) filibuster-proof 60-member Democratic majority. 2009 July 10: General Motors ended bankruptcy proceedings. 2009 Aug 8: Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as Supreme Court Justice, the third woman and the first Hispanic on the court. 2009 Aug 18: 'TreasonGate Scandal' traitor & columnist Robert Novak died at age 78 (before he could be tried for acts of treason). 2009 Sept 9: Historic speech on healthcare reform by President Obama before a Joint Session of Congress. 2009 Oct 9: President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. 2009 Oct 14: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose above 10,000. 2009 Nov 5: An Italian court convicted 23 United States C.I.A. agents of kidnapping a Muslim suspect from Italy in 2003. 2009 Dec 3: The price of the commodity gold peaked at $1,218.25. 2009 Dec 8: The U.S. Democratic Party caved in and allowed the health insurance industry to override The People on the matter of the 'public option' (and subsequently single-payer healthcare) as a solution to the health care crisis. 2009 Dec 24: The U.S. Senate passed {60 to 39} the landmark 'Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act' healthcare reform legislation. 2009 Dec 25: Passengers subdued a Nigerian terrorist trying to ignite chemical explosives in his pants on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, bound from Netherlands to Detroit, Michigan. 2010 Jan 12: Haiti damaged by 7.0 earthquake, followed by 52 aftershocks in the next ten days; estimates are that 230,000 people died, 300,000 were injured, and a million left homeless. 2010 Jan 19: The G.O.P. fascists bought the vacated seat of Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy [1932-2009], closing the chances for a filibuster-free Congress. 2010 Jan 21: The U.S. Supreme Court struck another blow for fascism and against freedom and liberty in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. case reversing decades of election campaign finance restrictions on the ability of corporations to purchase any elected office that they want. 'Reverse Citizens United' Constitutional Amendment 2010 Jan 22: Progressive radio network Air America [est. March 2004] filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the result of incompetent management. 2010 Jan 27: Apple, Inc. ceo Steve Jobs unveiled their new iPad book reader device in San Francisco. 2010 March 21: The U.S. House of Representatives passed {219 to 212} the Senate version of the landmark 'Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act' healthcare reform legislation. 2010 March 23: The landmark 'Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act' healthcare reform legislation was signed into law by President Barack Obama over the opposition of the Republicans and their fellow fascists & Tea Party wackos. 2010 March 30: The Student Aid & Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 was passed as a rider to the Health Care & Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, and signed by President Obama. 2010 April 5: Upper Big Branch Coal Mine (operated by a subsidiary of Massey Energy) in Raleigh County, West Virginia exploded from a spark igniting lethally-high levels of methane gas; 25 miners were declared dead, with four men missing; several days of venting the gases were required before rescue crews could enter the mine; total deaths were 29 men. {Wikipedia} In December 2011, parent company Alpha Natural Resources agreed to pay a record $209 million penalty. 2010 April 19: Halliburton/Dresser Industries screwed up installation of a concrete plug where the Deepwater Horizon attached to the seabottom of the Gulf of Mexico – just twenty hours before the explosion that set off the worst oil spill in history. 2010 April 20: Oil platform Deepwater Horizon explosion created massive oil spill off the coast of Louisiana & Mississippi, termed the B.P. Megaspill Disaster. 2010 May 6 (Thursday): The Dow Jones Industrial Average index had a record freefall event: in half an hour the stock market dropped more than it has ever dropped, all at once, 998.50 points, managing to end the day down only 347 (-3.19%). 2010 May 7 (Friday): The unstable Dow Jones Industrial Average index plunged another 140 pts, and closed down 672 points (-5.71%) for the week. 2010 May 14: Launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on its very last mission into space. 2010 May 26: Space shuttle Atlantis landed safely for the last time, after 25 years of service in the U.S. space program. 2010 May 26: G.O.P. / B.P. Megaspill Disaster entered sixth week, with petroleum companies attempting 'top kill' procedure (never before tired underwater). 2010 May 29: B.P. America announced failure of the 'top kill' procedure. 2010 June 8: G.O.P. / B.P. Megaspill Disaster entered eighth week, still spewing eco-toxic petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico. 2010 June 10: Largest one-day strike of nurses in the U.S., by 12,000 in Minnesota. 2010 June 14: Prior to B.P. CEO Tony Hayward's schedulked testimony before the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Henry A. Waxman and Bart Stupak sent a 14-page letter to Hayward, asking detailed questions about the oil spill. 2010 June 17: B.P. CEO Tony Hayward testified before the House Energy & Commerce Committee. 2010 July 21: President Obama signed into law the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. 2010 Aug 4: B.P. America & the White House each announced that the mud-packing procedure is working, and that the Macondo well is now stable. 2010 Aug 7: Elena Kagan sworn in as Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, succeeding retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. 2010 Aug 7: The United States handed over Iraq combat operations to the local government, with a planned reduction to 50,000 U.S. support troops by September 1st - and leaving as many as 11,000 U.S.-paid mercenaries in-country. 2010 Aug 31: President Obama kept his campaign promise and ended Operation Iraqi Freedom. {video of 18-minute Oval Office Address} 2010 Oct 2: 'One Nation Working Together' March on Washington, DC was attended by 175,000 progressive Americans. 2010 Oct 8: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed above 11,000 for the first time since May. 2010 Oct 10: 350.org's worldwide 10/10/10 Global Work Party - A Day To Celebrate Climate Solutions. 2010 Elections Page at Working Minds website 2010 Nov 2: Voter turnout of 42% (higher than 2006 midterms, but still lame) produced gains for the Republican Party. Senate election results were six seats switched to G.O.P., giving 47 Repub-licans, 2 independents, and 51 Democrats. In the House, Republicans had a net gain of 64 seats (of 435), handing control to the G.O.P. at 241-190 (with 4 unclear). The Republicans gained six net state governorships, giving 29 G.O.P., 20 Democrat, and 1 independent.    "Fair Game" [Participant Media 5 Nov 2010] Feature film based on the book by Valerie Plame Wilson about the TreasonGate Scandal of 2003. Unfortunately, the opening was delayed until after the November elections. Directed by Doug Liman; screenplay by Jez & John Butterworth; starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, David Andrews & Geoffrey Cantor Summit Ent. widescreen color Blu-ray [3/2011] for $15.49 Summit Ent. widescreen color DVD [3/2011] for $9.03 full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia 2010 Nov 9: The price of the commodity gold peaked at $1,421. 2010 Nov 17: The General Motors post-bankruptcy IPO, the biggest initial public offering in U.S. history, raised $20.1 billion: 478 million common shares at $33 each for $15.77 billion and $4.35 billion in preferred shares. 2010 Dec 18: Repeal by Congress of the anti-LGBT "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy of the U.S. military; President Obama signed the bill into law on December 22nd. 2011 Jan 6: A crazy man with a gun shot and killed six people at a shopping mall rally in Tucson, Arizona, also wounding Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in the head. (She resigned a year later.) 2011 Jan 14: Demonstrations by protesters in Tunisia forced dictator-President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country. 2011 Jan 25: Pro-democracy protestors occupied Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt demanding removal of President Hosni Mubarak; the series of events in Cairo became the symbolic beginning of the Arab Spring that changed governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, with 'civil uprisings' in Bahrain, Syria, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Oman. 2011 Jan 27: The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission released its "Final Report On The Causes of The Financial Crisis In The United States". 2011 Feb: N.A.S.A.'s space shuttle program extended only into 2011, with future events dependent on Russia's Soyuz rocket launches. 2011 Feb 1: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed above 12,000 for the first time since 2008, at $12,040.16. 2011 Feb 3: Rolling gas & electric power outages across Texas & New Mexico, due to continuing massive snowstorms from the Rockies to the East Coast. Feb 11: After 18 days of protests in Egypt, dictator-President Hosni Mubarak resigned and left Cairo. 2011 Monday Feb 14: Beginning of mass protests in the state capitol of Madison, Wisconsin against Gov. Walker's intentional fiscal breakdown, which grew to 30,000 or so by Thursday; the Republican fiscal chicanery is being used to justify eliminating the right to collective bargaining for public sector employees. 2011 Feb 17: All Democratic members of the Wisconsin Senate failed to appear (and hid out in secret locations), which eliminated the quorum needed for voting on the G.O.P. majority's bill attacking labor unions. 2011 Feb 24: N.A.S.A.'s final launch of the space shuttle Discovery from Cape Kennedy in Florida; Discovery landed safely in Florida on March 11. 2011 March 11: Japan was struck by a 9.0 earthquake off the east coast. The resulting tsunami raised the casualty count to 6,400 known dead, 2,400 injured, and 10,200 missing; the tsunami was felt as 6- to 8-foot high waves from Alaska to Chile. Two Japanese nuclear power plants were flooded by the tsunami, with two large explosions and leakage of radiation at Fukushima I (built in 1971 at Okama). The U.S. & Canada are concerned about airborne radiation reaching the West Coast over the next few weeks. 2011 April 4: First annual "We Are One Day", with over 1,000 rallies nationwide confirming the stand of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. for solidarity with all labor unions (on the anniversary of his assassination during the sanitation workers' strike in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968). 2011 April 15: Opening of the movie "Atlas Shrugged, Part I" in U.S.A., based on the classic 1957 novel by Ayn Rand [1905-82]. (And, boy do we need an Objectivist Renaissance!} 2011 May 1: President Obama announced that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by a team of U.S. Navy Seals. 2011 May 8: Broadcast of half-hour exclusive interview with President Obama by reporter Steve Kroft for "60 Minutes Overtime" about the mission to kill Osama bin Laden { view in new window }. 2011 May 16: N.A.S.A.'s final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour from Cape Kennedy in Florida; Endeavour landed safely in Florida on June 1st. 2011 May 22: A tornado of Force EF5 ripped thru Joplin, Missouri killing at 158 people, with almost 1,000 injured, the worst U.S. tornado since 1947. 2011 June 13: First debate in the 2012 Presidential Race, with the seven Republican dwarfs presenting nothing better than anti-Obama tripe. 2011 June 20: The U.S. Supreme Court struck another blow for fascism and against freedom and liberty in the Dukes v Wal-Mart Stores [2000-2011] case by eliminating class action lawsuits against corporations. 2011 June 26: Start of the Las Conchas Fire in Northern New Mexico when a tree fell on a power line; the disaster lasted 36 days and burned 244 square miles in the mountains surrounding the town of Los Alamos. 2011 June 27: The Dodgers baseball team filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy after 53 years in Los Angeles. 2011 July 8: N.A.S.A.'s final launch of the space shuttle Atlantis from Cape Kennedy in Florida; Shuttle Atlantis ended its 33rd and final mission by landing at Cape Kennedy at 10am July 21st. 2011 July 10: Britain's News of The World tabloid newspaper - largest-selling paper in the world - shut down as a result of a phone-tapping and bribery scandal involving Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. conglomerate. 2011 July 12: Wisconsin voters rejected the Republicans-pretending-to-be-Democrats in six Democratic recall primary contests, with winners getting 55% to 70%. 2011 July 19: Democratic incumbent Wisconsin State Senator Dave Hansen whupped his Republican opponent in the recall election 66%-34%. 2011 Thursday Aug 4: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell $512.76, the steepest point decline since 1 December 2008; S&P 500 futures fell 0.6 percent to $1,191.7. In worldwide trading over the next 24 hours London's FTSE 100 declined 3.5 percent to 5,393.14, Germany's DAX shed 3.8 percent to 6,172.00; France's CAC-40 lost 2.5 percent to 3,238.80; Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average slid 3.7 percent to 9,299.88; Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dived 4.3 percent to 20,946.14; China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.2 percent to 2,626.42. 2011 Friday Aug 5: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell 5.8 percent for the week; the S&P 500 fell 7.2 percent for the week and is down 10.8 percent since July 22; the NASDAQ Composite index fell 24 points, or 0.9 percent, and is down 11.4 percent since July 22. 2011 Aug 5: Standard & Poor's did not like Congress's solution to the artificial debt ceiling crisis and downgraded the long-term credit rating of the United States government from AAA to AA+. 2011 Aug 9: Wisconsin recall elections replaced only two Republican state senators (out of six), leaving the G.O.P. in control of the legislature, albeit 17 to 16 now in the Senate. 2011 Aug 11: The Republican Party staged another debate among their eight dwarves seeking to run for President in 2012 – Rep. Michele Bachmann [R-MN], Herman Cain, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Rep. Ron Paul [R-TX], former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum – with moderator Chris Wallace asking inane questions at Iowa State University. (Sarah Palin is still undeclared, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared earlier in the day.) 2011 Aug 16: Wisconsin voters re-elected two Democratic state senators in a recall election, leaving the G.O.P. in control of the legislature at 17 members to 16 in the Senate. 2011 Friday Aug 19: U.S. stocks fell for the fourth week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed at $10,817.65, down 4 percent for the week and down 15 percent since July 21. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index closed at $1,123.53, down 4.7 percent for the week (all ten industry groups that make up the index fell). The NASDAQ Composite index fell to 2,341.84, down 6.6 percent for the week. 2011 Aug 23: Rare East Coast earthquake of magnitude 5.8 struck at 1:51 pm EDT near Mineral, Virginia; although centered about 100 miles away, the quake caused damage to the Washington Monument, which is now closed. 2011 Aug 26: Capitalist Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway purchased 50,000 preferred shares from Bank of America, for $100,000 each and a total of $5 billion; the share class promises to pay a 'whopping' 6% annual dividend, paid out each quarter. 2011 Sept 7: The Republican Party staged another showcase debate among candidates 'Snowjob and the Seven Dwarfs'. 2011 Sept 8: Palestine launched their demand for membership in the United Nnations, planning peaceful demonstrations in capital Ramallah, West Bank and a later vote at the U.N. in New York City. President Obama's 33-minute speech before a joint session of Congress on his proposed American Jobs Act. One-day wildcat longshoremen strike shut down the ports of Seattle, Tacoma, Longview, Everett, and Anacortes in Washington State; the matter was settled on September 14, with unions obtaining the right to work at the new state grain center. 2011 Sept 17: Start of the Occupy Wall Street Movement (on U.S. Constitution Day) in New York City, which has since expanded to dozens of cities thru mid-November. 2011 Oct: The world human population reached 7 billion sometime during the month of October. 2011 Oct 5: Sarah Palin declared that she is not running for President in 2012. 2011 Oct 16: President Barack Obama dedicated the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, DC (postponed due to Tropical Storm Irene). 2011 Oct 20: Libyan despot Muammar al-Gaddafi shot dead by rebel troops; he ruled the country for 42 years. 2011 Nov 1: U.S. Senators Tom Udall [NM] and Michael Bennet [CO] introduced S.J.R. 29, the People’s Rights 28th Amendment to the constitution to grant Congress the authority to regulate the campaign finance system, i.e. to reverse the Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. 2011 Nov 8: Ohio voters soundly rejected 60%-40% the fascist Republican attempt to curb unions by repealing a bill passed by the Ohio legislature last Spring. 2011 Nov 14: Five Congress members introduced H.J.R. 86, a constitutional amendment to grant Congress the authority to regulate the campaign finance system, i.e. to reverse the Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. 2011 Nov 17: Re-Occupy America Day, on the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Movement. 2011 Dec 6: Parent company Alpha Natural Resources agreed to pay a $209 million penalty for Massey Energy's part in the lethal Upper Big Branch Coal Mine Disaster in April 2010; the record judgment includes a fine of $35 million, $1.5 million to the family of each of the 29 dead miners (and two severely-injured miners), plus $80 million toward safety improvements & disaster prevention. 2011 Fall & Winter: The Occupy Wall Street Movement is still happening, with branches in cities across America, even in Valencia County, New Mexico where I live: 'Occupy Los Lunas' news story + 'Occupy Belén' news story 2011 Dec 31: President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 which includes the very scary Sections 1021 & 1022 that re-authorize the indefinite detention without due process of anyone deemed a suspected terrorist. 2012 Tuesday Jan 3: Iowa caucuses voted for delegates to later local & national conventions (both/all parties). Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum effectively tied at 25% (Mitt ahead by 8 votes), Ron Paul placed third at 205, Newt Gingrich went down at 13%, and Rick Perry crashed at 10% 2012 Tuesday Jan 10: New Hampshire Presidential Primary Election (both/all parties). Mitt Romney got 39.3%, Ron Paul got 22.9%, Jon Huntsman got 16.9%, Newt Gingrich & Rick Santorum each got 9.4%, Rick Perry got a teeny 0.7%. 2012 Jan 18: 24-hour English-language Wikipedia blackout to protest S.O.P.A. & P.I.P.A. bills in Congress that would severely infringe freedom of the worldwide internet; blackout participants also included Craig's List, Google, Mozilla/Firefox, Flickr & news site Reddit. 2012 Sunday Jan 22: U.S. first class postage went up a penny, to 45¢. 2012 Jan 25: Congresswoman Gabrielle Dee 'Gabby' Giffords [Dem AZ-08], still recovering from the gunshot wound to her head in January 2011, resigned her seat and promised a return to political work. ... meanwhile, keep an eye on these planned events 2012 Aug 27-30: Republican Party National Convention in Tampa, Florida 2012 Sept 3-6: Democratic Party National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina

The  Looming  Future? While the Democratic Party won many additional seats in Congress in the 2008 election, in addition to the White House and several governorships, the Bad Guys have not been shut down. The Federalists and neo-cons and war-profiteers have left a horrendous fiscal and political mess for Barack Obama and other Democrats to clean up, and the Republicans are already conspiring behind closed doors to further destroy democracy and the middle class and the U.S. Constitution, and to rape & pillage the Commonwealth. Hope is very nice, but the Present still gives us all a Looming Future of struggle and rancor and anti-Reason. Obama and his team have a very tough road ahead of them. 2012 Elections Page at Working Minds website When George Dubya took office as President in January 2001, the United States had a budget surplus and the National Debt stood at $5,727,776,738,304.64. Mismanagement of government spending by the Bush administration increased that official debt to $10,626,877,048,913.08 as-of 20 January 2009, an increase of 51.5%. On 12 September 2007, the Senate Finance Committee approved raising the U.S. National Debt ceiling to 9.82 trillion dollars. At the end of Bush 43's administration, the full Republican National Debt of TWENTY-FIVE TRILLION dollars breaks down as follows: 12 trillion dollars of official debt, 5 trillion dollars of subprime mortgage paper (owned by collapsed Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac), 3 trillion dollars of deferred infrastructure maintenance, one trillion dollars for bringing the troops home from Iraq, 2 trillion dollars of Wall Street bailout money, one trillion of Detroit automaker bailout money, and another trillion for contingencies. George Dubya Bush ran up more debt than any other human being in the history of Mankind. The current official National Debt is now •  • DIRE  CONSEQUENCES?    "Collapse" [Bluemark/Vitagraph Nov 2009] Author & blogger Ruppert's warning about the 2008 economic collapse happened as he predicted; he is now warning of a systemic & societal breakdown that may interrupt the food chain for humans. Co-produced & directed by Chris Smith; based on interviews and Michael Ruppert's book full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia M.P.I. Home Video widescreen color DVD [6/2010] for $12.12    "Confronting Collapse: The Crisis of Energy and Money In a Post-Peak-Oil World" [2009] by Michael Ruppert, Foreword by Colin Campbell, PhD Kindle Edition from Chelsea Green Publng [12/2009] for $9.69 Chelsea Green Publng 8¼x5¼ pb [12/2009] for $10.20 CLIMATE global warming / climate change / species extinction Earth's Biosphere Page at Working Minds website Books on the Subject of Earth's Biosphere Working Minds essay #60 "Climate & Politics" [June 2006] Working Minds essay #66 "Cooling The Planet" [December 2006] WATER pollution / drought / The Water Cartel “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” — W.H. Auden [1907-1973] Earth's Biosphere Page at Working Minds website Books on the Subject of The Water Crisis Water Heritage Trust [est. 1985] FASCISM and The OLIGARCHY The Media Cartel / The Energy Cartel / The Water Cartel Big Oil / Big Media / Big Pharma / Agribusiness Working Minds 'Corporations vs. America' Page Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Books on the Subject / 'Corporations vs. America' Working Minds Business & Economic Monopolies Page Working Minds essay #42 "The Oligarchy" [April 2004]    "2045: A Story of Our Future" by Peter Seidel A dystopian novel describing what life will be like when eight dominant mega-companies rule every aspect of the planet: commerce, politics, and even the internet. Prometheus Books 9x6 pb [3/2009] for $12.92 HEALTHCARE Big Pharma Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Health Care Issues Page Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Books on the Subject of Health Care WAR & PEACE Working Minds / Things To Worry About / War & Peace Page Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Books on the Subject of War & Peace up to 1800    •    1801-1900    •    1901-1930    •    1931-1950    •    1951-1968 1969-2000    •    2001 to present { this page }

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