What Is Happening in America?

In the Western democracies in the last fifty years, we have grown accustomed to governments whose policies on specific issues may be good or bad, but which essentially institute incremental changes to the status quo. The major exceptions have been Thatcher and Reagan, but even their programs of dismantling systems of social welfare seem, in retrospect, mild compared to what is happening in the United States under George Bush-- or more exactly, the ruling junta that tells Bush what to do and say. It is unquestionably the most radical government in modern American history, one whose ideology and actions have become so pervasive, and are so unquestionably mirrored by the mass media here, that the population seems to have forgotten what "normal" is. George Bush is the first unelected President of the United States, installed by a right-wing Supreme Court in a kind of judicial coup d'etat. He is the first to actively subvert one of the pillars of American democracy: the separation of church and state. There are now daily prayer meetings and Bible study groups in every branch of the government, and religious organizations are being given funds to take over educational and welfare programs that have always been the domain of the state. Bush is the first president to invoke the specific "Jesus Christ" rather than an ecumenical "God," and he has surrounded himself with evangelical Christians, including his Attorney General, who attends a church where he talks in tongues. It is the first administration to openly declare a policy of unilateral aggression, a "Pax Americana" where the presence of allies (whether England or Bulgaria) is agreeable but unimportant; where international treaties no longer apply to the United States; and where-- for the first time in history-- this country reserves the right to non-defensive, "pre-emptive" strikes against any nation on earth, for whatever reason it declares. It is the first-- since the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II-- to enact special laws for a specific ethnic group. Non-citizen young Muslim men are now required to register and subject themselves to interrogation. Many hundreds have been arrested and held without trial or access to legal assistance-- a violation of another pillar of American democracy: habeas corpus. Many have been taken from their families and deported on minor technical immigration violations; the whereabouts of many others are still unknown. And, in Guantanamo Bay, where it is said that they are now preparing execution chambers, hundreds of foreign nationals -- including a 13-year-old and a man who claims to be 100-- have been kept for almost two years in a limbo that clearly contravenes the Geneva Convention. Similar to the Reagan era, it is an administration openly devoted to helping the rich and ignoring the poor, one that has turned the surplus of the Clinton years into a massive deficit through its combination of enormous tax cuts for the wealthy (particularly those who earn more than a million dollars a year) and increases in defense spending. (And, although Republicans always campaign on "less government," it has created the largest new government bureaucracy in history: the Department of Homeland Security.) The Financial Times of England, hardly a hotbed of leftists, has categorized this economic policy as "the lunatics taking over the asylum." But more than Reagan-- whose policies tended to benefit the rich in general-- most of Bush's legislation specifically enriches those in his lifelong inner circle from the oil, mining, logging, construction, and pharmaceutical industries. At the middle level of the bureaucracy, where laws may be issued without Congressional approval, hundreds of regulations have been changed to lower standards of pollution or safety in the workplace, to open up wilderness areas for exploitation, or to eliminate the testing of drugs. Billions in government contracts have been awarded, without competition, to corporations formerly run by administration officials. In a country where the most significant social changes are enacted by court rulings, rather than by legislation, the Bush administration has been filling every level of the complex judicial system with ultra-right ideologues, especially those who have protected corporations from lawsuits by individuals or environmental groups, and those who are opposed to women's reproductive rights. It remains to be seen how far they can push their antipathy to contraception and abortion. They have already banned a rare form of late-term abortion that is only given when the health of the mother is endangered or the fetus is terribly deformed, and a large portion of Bush's heralded billions to Africa to fight AIDS will be devoted to so-called "abstinence" education. Most of all, America doesn't feel like America any more. The climate of militarism and fear, similar to any totalitarian state, permeates everything. Bush is the first American president in memory to swagger around in a military uniform, though he himself-- like all of his most militant advisers-- evaded the Vietnam War. (Even Eisenhower, a general and a war hero, never wore his uniform while he was president). In the airports of provincial cities, there are frequent announcements in that assuring, disembodied voice of science-fiction films: "The Department of Homeland Security advises that the Terror Alert is now . . . Code Orange." Every few weeks there is an announcement that another terrorist attack is imminent, and citizens are urged to take ludicrous measures, like sealing their windows, against biological and chemical attacks, and to report the suspicious activities of their neighbors. The Pentagon institutes the "Total Information Awareness" program to collect data on the ordinary activities of ordinary citizens (credit card charges, library book withdrawals, university course enrollments) and when this is perceived as going too far, they change the name to "Terrorist Information Awareness" and continue to do the same things. Millions are listed in airport security computers as potential terrorists, including antiwar demonstrators and pacifists. Critics are warned to "watch what they say" and lists of "traitors" are posted on the internet. The war in Iraq has been the most extreme manifestation of this new America, and almost a casebook study in totalitarian techniques. First, an Enemy is created by blatant lies that are endlessly repeated until the population believes it: in this case, that Iraq was linked to the attack on the World Trade Center, and that it possesses vast "weapons of mass destruction" that threaten the world. Then, a War of Liberation, entirely portrayed by the mass media in terms of our Heroic Troops, with little or no imagery of casualties and devastation, and with morale-inspiring, scripted "news" scenes-- such as the toppling of the Saddam statue and the heroic "rescue" of Private Lynch-- worthy of Soviet cinema. Finally, as has happened with Afghanistan, very little news of the chaos that has followed the Great Victory. Instead, the propaganda machine moves on to a new Enemy-- this time, Iran. It is very difficult to speak of what is happening in America without resorting to the hyperbolic cliches of anti-Americanism that have lost their meaning after so many decades, but that have now finally come true. Perhaps one can only recite the facts, and I have mentioned only some of them here. This is, quite simply, the most frightening American administration in modern times, one that is appalling both to the left and to traditional conservatives. This junta is unabashed in its imperialist ambitions; it is enacting an Orwellian state of Perpetual War; it is dismantling, or attempting to dismantle, some of the most fundamental tenets of American democracy; it is acting without opposition within the government, and is operating so quickly on so many fronts that it has overwhelmed and exhausted any popular opposition. Perhaps it cannot be stopped, but the first step toward slowing it down is the recognition that this is an American government unlike any other in this country's history, and one for whom democracy is an obstacle

12 motive pentru care te afli in zodia ta

12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia BERBEC:
1. Primul motiv pentru care esti un Berbec: Esti foarte hotarat !
2. Niciodata nu te plictisesti.
3. Opiniile sunt intotdeauna prezente.
4. Ai realizat mari lucrari de pionierat.
5. Motto-ul tau: Aventurierii suntem noi.
6. Iti place mancarea gen fast - food.
7. Te inalti ( te ridici ) inainte de a privi.
8. Pasional, pasional, pasional…
9. Intotdeauna vrei sa fi primul in ceea ce faci.
10. Oh ! Temperamentul tau.
11. Ai gusturi indraznete.
12. Open mind: Nu cu ochii se poate vedea in intuneric.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia TAUR
1. Primul motiv Renuntarea iti este un concept strain.
2. Motto-ul tau Mai bine te lupti decat sa intorci spatele.
3. Vei manca orice.
4. Niciodata nu vei primi premiul pentru «tactica».
5. Muncesti prea mult.
6. Iti place incaltamintea practica.
7. Noi stim (toata lumea stie) ca o vei face (vei duce proiectul la bun sfarsit).
8. Esti, oh, atat de romantic…
9. …si atat de sociabil.
10. Pentru mintea ta iscoditoare, nu exista taine.
11. Iti place sa te asociezi cu parteneri puternici.
12. Open mind: Atunci cand o usa se inchide, se deschide alta.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia GEMENI
1. Esti maret la multiple sarcini.
2. Vorbesti, vorbesti, vorbesti…
3. Iti plac lucrurile noi.
4. Motto-ul tau: Cred orice, atata timp cat iubesc.
5. Nimeni nu te intelege (esti un neinteles).
6. Nu esti confuz cand vine vorba de dovezi.
7. Faci prietenii solide.
8. Esti cu adevarat amuzant.
9. Niciodata nu furi.
10. Etalezi o spontanietate care iti amplifica naturaletea.
11. Esti pe aceeasi frecventa cu ritmurile societatii.
12. Open mind: Fantezia nu este decat inceputul
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia RAC
1. Exerciti o atractie mistica.
2. Nu poti ascunde ceea ce gandesti.
3. Iti place sa stai acasa.
4. Adori mancarea buna (sanatoasa).
5. Consideri ca ti se ranesc cu usurinta sentimentele.
6. Motto-ul tau: Amprentele digitale si fulgii de zapada nu sunt singurele elemente caracterizate prin unicitate absoluta.
7. Te comporti ca o closca cu puii ei.
8. Te gandesti ca esti intr-o continua distractie.
9. Iti place sa ii indestulezi pe oameni, sa-i hranesti.
10. Lasa-ma sa-ti plang pe umar !
11. Nimeni nu iti poate impune o idee sau o atitudine.
12. Open mind: Si a trai este un act de creatie.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia LEU
1. Niciodata nu vei fi un las, un om slab.
2. Mereu, gata de drum.
3. Motto-ul tau: Sunt cel mai bun !
4. Un asa magnetism animalic…mai rar.
5. Te poti plange cu voce tare.
6. Iti place ca oamenii sa depinda de tine.
7. Nascut actor - ai actoria in sange.
8. Intotdeauna distractiv sa-l ai in preajma.
9. Legaturi pline de semnificatii.
10. Charisma si hotarare de a izbandi.
11. Te implici fara rezerve in ceea ce faci.
12. Open mind: Un copac are multe ramuri si frunze, dar o singura tulpina.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia FECIOARA
1. Expert in folosirea cuvintelor.
2. Motto-ul tau: Realizarea cea mai mare a unei persoane cu adevarat ambitioase poate fi simpla amabilitate.
3. Faci cele mai pertinente recenzii critice.
4. Atat de elegant si curat.
5. Mentii standardele altora la cote inalte.
6. Potrivit pentru a fi un mare comediant.
7. Esti foarte bun in a-ti ascunde emotiile.
8. Model de constrangere excesiva.
9. Sincer si real.
10. Complet concentrat asupra obiectivelor.
11. Detaliile sunt viata ta.
12. Open mind: Nu intotdeauna calea cea mai grea este si cea mai buna.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia BALANTA
1. Vrei ca toata lumea sa fie fericita.
2. Motto-ul tau: Am gust in toate.
3. Nu ai idei sau prejudecati preconcepute.
4. Oh, atat de iubitor.
5. Iti place sa fii drept.
6. Super sensibil.
7. O furtuna a mintii, dar de lux.
8. Urasti sa iei o decizie.
9. In continuu iti redecorezi casa.
10. Mare amator de senzational.
11. Iti cunosti bine limitele.
12. Open mind: Toti muncim pentru Dumnezeu. Este un patron dur si salariul nu-i intotdeauna grozav, dar exista destule rasplati.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia SCORPION
1. Nu are frica.
2. Oh, atat de misterios.
3. Vrea ceea ce tu nu poti avea.
4. Motto-ul tau: Lasa-ma in pace !
5. Un ganditor atat de profund.
6. Esti un spirit fara granite.
7. Ai o limba cam ascutita.
8. Oare iti dai seama cat de rebel esti.
9. Cercetezi vietile altora cu ochi critici si precisi.
10. Acorzi o mare insemnatate bunului simt.
11. Personaj care modifica actiunea piesei.
12. Open mind: Sa pierzi cu eleganta poate fi o victorie importanta.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia SAGETATOR
1. Esti o ratusca norocoasa.
2. Motto-ul tau: Media mea este buna, pe bune! Vorbesc serios!
3. Vei calatori oriunde pentru orice.
4. Viata de petreceri.
5. Bun simt al umorului.
6. Iti plac prietenii tai la nebunie.
7. Mai multa rabdare decat o stanca.
8. Nu suporti sa ti se puna pumnul in gura.
9. Fa un eveniment olimpic decat sa fi un antrenor de pampalai.
10. Extrem de competitiv.
11. Momentul cel mai important - Prezentul.
12. Open mind: Simplele realitati ale vietii cotidiene au o legatura importanta cu lumea idealurilor marete.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia CAPRICORN
1. Muncesti cu inteligenta nu cu greutate.
2. Timpul este intodeauna de partea ta.
3. Motto-ul tau: Prefer sa lupt decat sa ma schimb.
4. O asa clasa…mai rar.
5. Tie iti pasa ceea ce altii gandesc.
6. Ca iepurasul cu baterii energizer - continui sa functionezi la nesfarsit.
7. Intuitia nu te inseala.
8. Arme puternice - inteligenta si ironia.
9. Stii sa improvizezi.
10. Nu iti place sa faci «valuri» .
11. Flexibil in codul moral.
12. Open mind: Emotiile pot fi calmate cu ajutorul respiratiei.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia VARSATOR
1. Rareori incerci sa faci ceva la care stii ca nu te pricepi.
2. Motto-ul tau: Informatia inseamna Putere.
3. Atat de independent.
4. Imprevizibil total.
5. Fascinat de tot ce il inconjoara.
6. Dornic sa salveze lumea.
7. Nu ii pasa ceea ce cred ceilalti.
8. Pastreaza optiunile deschise.
9. Un nonconformist notoriu.
10. Individualist in alegerile pe care le faci.
11. Iti plac delicatesele neobisnuite.
12. Open mind: Lumea necunoscutului trebuie intotdeauna respectata.
12 motive pentru care te aflii in zodia PESTI
1. Un farmec si o imaginatie atragatoare.
2. Niciodata nu arunca nimic…
3. Motto-ul tau: In cotidian, exista miracole ce se repeta mereu.
4. Atat de retras, pustnic…
5. Intotdeauna meriti mai bun, mai bine.
6. Compasiv si generos.
7. Nici pe departe usor de determinat.
8. Poate fi foarte la obiect.
9. Inclinat spre conceptualizare.
10. Supraincarcat cu enormitatea universului.
11. Emotii profunde si sensibile.
12. Open mind: Precautia nu trebuie confundata in mod gresit cu lasitatea.
Eu sunt scorpion…..voi in ce zodie sunteti?????

Eclipsa partiala de luna

Dupa cum probabil stiti aseara a fost eclipsa partiala de luna.....Fenomenul face parte din seria Saros fiind a 29-a din cele 83 de eclipse ale seriei. Prima eclipsa a acestei serii a avut loc pe 5 octombrie 1503 la sudul penumbrei terestre iar ultima se va produce pe 30 martie 2982 in nordul penumbrei planetei noastre. Diagrama de producere a eclipselor de Luna din seria Saros 138 este:

22N 8P 26T 6P 21N

Diagrama prezinta in ordine cronologica numarul si tipul eclipselor din serie: N - prin penumbra, P - partiale, si T - totale.
Seria Saros 138 este inca la inceput. Dupa eclipsa din 16 august 2008 va urma inca o partiala in 28 august 2026 iar pe 7 septembrie 2044 va avea loc prima eclipsa totala de Luna din cele 26 ale seriei.