HEADLINE NEWS

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4, that taxpayers will now subsidize religious schools through voucher programs. After the political uproar (from both Republicans and Democrats) over a federal court ruling in California declaring The Pledge of Allegiance a violation of the Constitutional separation of church and state because of the phrase “one nation, under God,” it has been affirmed this nation may be headed to religious domination once again.HEADLINE NEWS

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4, that taxpayers will now subsidize religious schools through voucher programs. After the political uproar (from both Republicans and Democrats) over a federal court ruling in California declaring The Pledge of Allegiance a violation of the Constitutional separation of church and state because of the phrase “one nation, under God,” it has been affirmed this nation may be headed to religious domination once again. These two issues, back-to-back in two days, can easily mean right-wing Christian dogma – in all its repression and intolerance – is on the march, supported by a friendly government and Supreme Court. Court Justice Antonin Scalia last week gave a speech strongly proclaiming the death penalty as a foundation of Christianity. There are other problems.

Corporate America is shaken and stirred. Enron, Tyco, Global Crossing, Merrill Lynch, Arthur Andersen, Qwest, Vice President Dick Cheney’s own Halliburton and now WorldCom. Ralph Nader puts it neatly, “We are witnessing the corporate destruction of capitalism in favor of a corporate state.” This is news? Hardly. What seemed exciting to these crooks were the friends in high places: Bush’s White House and Republicans in Congress. They could count on powerful friends to look the other way, couldn’t they? They could count on zero regulatory laws from these friends, couldn’t they? They could until it got too big to ignore. Next up, the healthcare system. Just last week the pharmaceutical industry gave Bush and his Republicans big bucks. We’ll keep a very close eye on that one.

Can Bush escape the scandals? Only if Democrats remain nice. Then there’s the 9/11 scandal.

One couldn’t invent these stories as they unfold. But unfolding they are in glowing reality. We have a president, who, rather than accept responsibility for anything, and I mean anything, proposes to shuffle the government in what amounts to minor agencies falling under one ministry, while the major agencies that actually had something to do with the pre-9/11 investigations and intelligence, remain as they are, virtually untouched, and in all likelihood, untouched by investigators trying to find out what went wrong with intelligence. And you can be sure, untouched by the “free” press.

The primary lack of intelligence lies in the White House, period. As the World Trade Center burned and crashed, two other hijacked planes were in the air, and our commander-in-chief sat in a classroom and listened to children’s stories. Bad piloting as Bush thought? Or an attack as government agencies had warned would come?

An FBI agent comes forward as a whistle-blower, hurling blame upwards and upwards and upwards. Where could this lead? Surely not to Bush the Great. No way. Former president Harry Truman had a sign on the presidential desk that said “The Buck Stops Here,” but of course, that sign doesn’t sit on that desk anymore. That chucking of blame was deflected suddenly by Bush’s announcement of the new Department of Homeland Security. New headlines. New subject for the pundits to talk about. New spin. New propaganda.

Then to underscore the importance of the war, and to avert media attention from the investigations reeking their way up and up and up, Minister of Fear John Ashcroft announced the arrest of a vital terrorist. Making this announcement in the wee hours of the morning in Moscow, Ashcroft strove to make sure we know his boys bagged this “bad guy” as Bush called him. Supposedly Jose Padilla, an American-turned-Islamic-militant had planned to build a so-called “dirty bomb.” Ashcroft implied that Padilla was close to it, and some thought an explosion in Washington was sharply thwarted. Then we find out Ashcroft totally exaggerated that revelation coming from the White House and Defense Department. But Ashcroft does have an arrest. So now, they are holding this guy, an American, without due process and without the writ of Habeas Corpus – denied the right to see a judge.

If Padilla was so important, why wasn’t he allowed to move around and lead the FBI to others? This is all a farce. And now they are threatening the Constitution once again. Columnist Maureen Dowd says in the New York Times, “The Qaeda leadership has regrouped. Osama and Mullah Omar are out there scheming somewhere. But Mr. Ashcroft says we can sleep more soundly tonight. Jose Padilla, Chicago street thug, is in the brig.”

What is happening here? Doesn’t anyone remember that this Bush regime was never elected? I’ve been asked, if what I write about is even somewhat true, how can Americans be so complacent, if not outright dumb? How can Americans just roll over and let the rabid dogs chew at them? The Pew Research Center, a respected polling institution, reports among other things, Americans don’t know the names of high officials in their own government. This poll reinforces what we’ve known for years: Americans know next to nothing about national affairs, let alone world events. They claim ignorance if issues don’t affect them personally or if the news is too complicated, and even complained in the poll that there was too much war and killing in the news.

To be sure, the news media can be blamed, but so too can the culture. If the program isn’t fast-paced or if it isn’t featuring a glamorous celebrity or sports figure, many simply tune out. In response, the so-called news media – CNN, MSNBC and FOX NEWS, blow sex-related crimes stories and car chases way out of proportion.

Republicans, as typical control-oriented politicians, seize the opportunities and play upon the ignorance of most Americans. Simplistic solutions and sound bytes offered to complicated issues is standard Republican politics. Wave the flag, believe in the Lord, don’t question authority and all will be well. This White House regime is especially bad because not only was it not elected; virtually everything it does is shrouded in secrecy. Most Americans don’t want to know, but those of us who do, are not allowed.

One glaring example of simplistic politics is the estate tax. Republicans call it the “death tax.” Sounds frightening and unjust, doesn’t it? In reality, this tax affects only one half of one percent of all Americans. That’s right… one half of one percent. Yet Republicans spread the propaganda implying this tax will burden each and every one of us when we die or when we stand to inherit something. One half of one percent. The father of the world’s richest man, Bill Gates Sr., says it’s a fair tax subjected to only the 3,000 richest estates. That’s it. But Republicans want to protect that one half of one percent. Poor things. It’s nice these folks have advocates in Congress, isn’t it? If Republicans ever get their way, that missing money, (which amounts to $800 billion in ten years) will absolutely, positively come from other sources… that being you and me. Republicans would give the wealthy yet another tax break, and we will pay, yet again. Fortunately, the Democrats in the Senate saved the day.

To prove just how important the estate tax issue is to Republicans, Karl Rove, Bush’s Minister of Politics, called the debate “war.” That’s what everything will boil down to for these guys these days. It’s a war, a war, and a war. Simple words we all can understand.

It’s quite obvious that President Bush is playing politics to the benefit of his brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush, who is running for re-election. The president is offering federal money to buy out oil leases to keep drilling off Florida’s coast. Drilling would be bad politics in Florida for Bush & Bush, Inc. No such deal for California though. But of course, California has a Democratic governor of no relation to the president. The Bush Cartel has other ideas for the environment too. Never one to miss an opportunity to call something “evil,” President Bush went to the fire in Arizona. He declared it evil. Is this a veiled attempt to label environmentalists evil? Republicans throughout Arizona, led by their governor, are blaming the lack of timber operations as the reason why the fire grew so huge. Of course, tree-huggers are to blame.

Now that Bush has every intention of shipping nuclear waste on U.S. rails across the country, can you sit down for a moment and envision what targets these trains will be for terrorists armed with only a bazooka?

Then there’s his Star Wars deal; his missile defense. He’s already breaking ground in Alaska for something that is useful only to his friends in “Big Defense.” His missile defense project has now been declared off-limits to Congressional and press scrutiny. More secrets. Great. Is this system based on his “sound science?”

What isn’t sound science is his backpedaling on global warming. One day his government puts out a report that states, “Yes there is global warming and yes, it is caused by human actions and yes, there is a problem…” duh. Nearly 100% percent of all legitimate scientists in the world agree with those statements. But oh no, not our president. The next day he distanced himself from his own government’s report claiming it was produced by “the bureaucracy.” Bush went on to claim he was waiting for “sound science.”

So, Mr. President, what is “sound science” to a Republican? Is it that oil companies have more rights than citizens of the world? Is your science based on your Holy Bible? You know… that “man” has domain over all living things and can cut down trees, wipe out buffalo, beat their wives and kick their cats at leisure? Or that Adam and Eve actually were the first humans?

It is, in fact, the Christian Reich behind much of this. These people do believe in the sanctity of “man” and I mean that in the gender sense. Man can do what he wants. According to Colum Lynch in the Washington Post, he states: “Conservative U.S. Christian organizations have joined forces with Islamic governments to halt the expansion of sexual and political protections and rights for gays, women and children at United Nations conferences.” This is all backed by the Bush regime. The United States now joins with countries such as Iran, Iraq, Libya and Sudan.

But, at the same time, American Christian groups have declared Islam an affront to their God, claiming the Prophet Mohammed a “demon-possessed pedophile.” Baptist leader Rev. Jerry Vines disputed common niceties that the Christian God is the same as the Muslin God. He says, “I will tell you Allah is not Jehovah, either. Jehovah’s not going to turn you into a terrorist.” I wonder if anyone told Vines about Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh, a devout Christian and a terrorist. I also wonder what Native Americans may feel about his comments.

One good thing a recent national poll shows, is that college students are pretty much unwilling to put themselves at risk for Bush the Great’s war. And 79% did not believe Western culture to be superior to Arab cultures. At least the Christian Reich hasn’t gotten a big foothold on campus yet!

On a related matter, checking in on our police-state front, Chicago police are now requiring fingerprints and background checks on anyone who applies for a press pass. So now, the police and government are deciding who can be journalists?

It’s a scary time in politics and religion. The good news is there’s an election in November.

Greg Gregory (of CV Productions) has been photographing beautiful women for over two decades. He is based in Miami and provides high quality content to webmasters through his popular Monthly CD Club and through Greg-Gregory.com.

If you have any questions or comments about content, individual girls, custom shoots, suggestions, the Monthly content club or Licensing, contact Daylee at: daylee@greg-gregory.com. For any questions or comments about photography, politics, ideas, or anything else, contact Greg-Gregory at greg@greg-gregory.com. All will get responses personally via e-mail in a timely manner.