Mugsy dear. What made the U.S.A. great was a middle class. Middle class is really determined by home owned stuff not the amount of a salary. Middle class were the shop owners, local banks, local manufacturin’, local buildin’ and masonary contratin’, local garages and gas stations, —all local owned. Democracy has sat back and let legislators from hometown to the 1600 Block outsource it all in regulations and deregulations beginnin’ in the 1980’s big time —and they said they were for business. Yes really big multinational business and local business couldn’t afford to keep up with customers as the consumers scrambled to big box and cyber shop. Now a small business, in needs economy, can hardly get started for the regs and fees hyped up as we shopped for wants economy with plastic monoply money. What can we do? Get your home town regs fixed to encourage entrapreneurship! Get to your school board meetin’ to start a movement to get the state and feds off your back. Buy needs only and let wants alone, and use cash ya got, rather than plastic to cover what ya think you’re gonna get. And finally share your pennies in non-interest loans to help folk up in your community instead of sendin’ it to every celebrity cause when you don’t really know where it goes. Micro-loanin’ right from your home town.

Jan you are a dreamer or very naive. Capitalism, as is, is not workin’ for U.S.A.ans. Democracy, as is, is not workin’ for U.S.A.ans. Both the govt. officials, nor we are doin’ the right governin’, period. I was born in ‘39 and can’t remember such a strange and difficult time. We tend to look up always wantin’ to climb. We rarely look down, scary. If we’d been lookin’ down we’d have seen it comin’. The workin’ poor and the middle class blue and white collar workers have been droppin’ off like flies. But we are conditioned to think somethin’ is wrong with them aren’t we? And we don’t look ‘cause we’re afraid we’ll catch it. Well here we are. A democracy standin’ still with no interest outside of what we each get right now and a capitalistic system that serves just a few globally will tumble. It’s a matter of physics I suppose.

Sue, your Gov. bein’ female has nothin’ to do with it. Shame on you. What a sorry thing for these ole bones to hear! There are many states that are joinin’ you in the recession. Just about all in fact. This actually began in May of 2001. Stuff doesn’t happen overnight. We need to recreate ourselves because the govt. didn’t put in a plan for the global market to cover us as we shared. Senator Clinton in NYS, my State, has worked real hard in settin’ up the systems and dottin’ the i’s and crossin’ the t’s for ‘green business’ that is technical. I have a friend who was under paid, under employed for his qualifications and 2 weeks ago got himself a real neat ‘Green’ job as a technition for between $80,000-$100,000 a year, —dependin’ on his own motivation. He’s 45 and so dam happy we can’t shut him up. He knows who he’s gonna vote for!

Peggy steal is the name of the game isn’t it but called clever or tech savvy these days? Of course it is not right, but right didn’t get us into a recession. Wrong did. Problem is folk havin’ trouble knowin’ anymore what right even is and wonderin’ if wants are needs. Confused Barbie and Ken culture. After all were’t they promised by the media and advertisin’ they could be all and have it all? Good luck girl. I buy original art. Not often am I able. But I can wait for real!

Neysa it is obvious you are tryin’. But think. We began the outsourcin’ not with the big corps, but Mom and Pop in the 60’s drivin’ 5 to 15 miles to save 50 cents at a big box store, callin’ their homegrown town business crooks for chargin’ 50 cents more. Isn’t on-line shoppin’ cuttin’ into local business and those business folk who pay local taxes? And on-line shoppin’ cuts jobs for women, college kids, retirees in need, —down home all over the planet doesn’t it. And don’t you think that enormous losses in jobs and downsizin’ in jobs has somethin’ to do with this recession? But the govt. doesn’t seem to think about this. Maybe it’s because they’re invested in big box whether it’s cardboard or cyber instead of here down home.

Hopefully Cham, the question was inquirin’ as to the ‘strongest within adversity’. If so good thinkin’ folk do respect this, —hopefully. And Senator Clinton seems to pull it off with her skin still lookin’ good for the times she’s treked around the sun without plastic and botox!

Jean Bean Methinks it’s about ideas, not spellin’. Gawd gawd if we judged a folk by their spellin’ we’d have had no Leonardo and a whole slew of thinkers, who produced. Ya can always get a secretary to spell for ya. Need a job?

You can’t kill energy. It just is. When our physical gets done in and the energy (lifing force) is released I suspect we then experience the ‘hereafter’ as we have created the energy in our imagination as to our conditioning and experiences. Thus, the physicist may experience the Godness as in bein’ within the whole thing of the universe. The religionist may at this point be at what they have always believed within a particular dogma. The Godness I suspect is anything we need it to be. These ole bones are hopin’ for a good bed, pile of books, alotta windows, and abosolute silence. This is Godness enough for me! And Whoopi’s new line of beddin’ of course, in white 10,000 thread count sheets, white gauze quilt, white puff pillows and the lamp of the Godness. Methinks anyone who needs more than this hasn’t worked hard ‘nough on the mudpile.