Congress Holds Secret Session Thursday Night

The US House of Representative went into a 'secret session' tonight to discuss aspects of a new law designed to help the federal government tract and catch terrorist. At the heart of this congressional 'secret session' is a new law that President Bush and Republican leaders in the Congress believe will hurt United States abilities to ease drop on terrorist communications and potential new attacks against the US. Personally I believe tonight's 'secret session' is a good idea even though over 400 different people will hear some secrets that some of these folks will undoubtedly leak over the next few days.

In recent years, most branches of the US government have been far to ready to stamp a confidential or top secret stamp on material that is not sensitive to US interests. Instead, some political leaders and/or members of the military and intelligence community use these confidential stamps to try and cover up wrong doing or embarrassing mistakes made by their agencies. While some people try and use 'top secret' and other spy devises to cover up activities they are not proud of, it never fails that eventually the truth comes out and when it does the damage is worse than if it were revealed at the time it happened.

Of course there are times when national security secrets need to be kept. Those cases involve undercover agents that are working in far away lands that are often times hostile to US interests. That said, most of the stuff that is declared 'top secret' or 'confidential' in government today is either a case of stupidity or someone in government trying to cover up their own mistakes. In recent years, it has been difficult for undercover journalist to find out about mistakes that have cost taxpayer money in the Pentagon for example. Every branch of the military uses their right by law to classify documents too often in my opinion and that is a drag on the freedoms that most Americans take pride in.

Tonights secret session, by the US House of Representative will most likely not contain that much really sensitive information because the people who are in charge of keeping Americas secrets, secret will not be disclosing that information to over 400 Members of Congress. Yes, all Members of Congress will be sworn to secrecy tonight before this classified information is reveled, but if the past is any indication as to the ability of all Members of Congress to keep a secret, before we go to bed tomorrow night - some Congress person will either be spilling the beans in a television interview or giving it to some reporter as an undercover informant for Saturday mornings newspaper.

March 13, 2008 Archives

Easter Bunny Arrives For The Kids

In a few short weeks it will once again be Easter and it is impossible to think about that wonderful spring day without the vision of kids bouncing around in our heads as they search for Easter Eggs after church. Speaking of church, many friends and coworkers of mine are Catholic, so they have given up something important in their lives as a sacrifice during lent. Some have given up candy while other have given up soft drinks. On Easter Sunday lent is over for another year and all my Catholic friends will be able to once again partake in the things they love most but decided to give up for God.

On another religious note, I remember as a kid listening to my Baptist preacher say once on Easter Sunday that 'he wanted to wish everyone that he wouldn't see until next Easter - a Merry Christmas'. Of course, everyone burst out into laughter when he made those comments because it is well known that some people never show up for church unless it is Easter Sunday. I have often wondered if these once a year church goers are really interested in getting to know God better or do they show up at church just to show off their latest dress and/or shoes?

As I said before, Easter is a favorite holiday for most people because it is the first religious event in Spring. Almost everyone loves spring time as a sometimes long and cold winter comes to an end. I always enjoy watching the small children looking for Easter Eggs at the White House as the home to our President is opened up to children from around the country to look for hidden Easter Eggs. Everyone gets a big kick out of Easter, but no group of humans has more fun on Easter Sunday than young kids out look through tall grass in search of Easter Eggs.

To me, Easter Sunday reflects a beginning on a new year of possibilities that are positive. Many times, winter months bring feelings of the blues or depression as the Sun graces our lives on few occasions. However, from Easter Sunday forward - most parts of the United States are filled with sunny skies and increasingly warmer temperatures. My wife and I will most likely visit relatives on Easter Sunday and those relatives still have younger kids that will take part in a small Easter Egg Hunt. I look forward to happy smiles and well dressed kids that will make their way through a back yard in search of their favorite Easter Egg.

March 13, 2008 Archives

Gold Soars, Dollar Dives - Recession/Depression?

As the US stock market is struggling to have an up week, events around the world are pulling it back down during every rally. The biggest negative on the bleeding US economy is the price of crude oil and Gold. Gold hit $1000 per ounce today for the first time and I believe it could trade as high as $2000 per ounce by summer. People in this world with billions of dollars worth of assets have found their number one and number two choice for making money, stocks and real estate, both in the tank at the same time.

For many of these big time billionaires, the only place where they can place their money today and make a good return on investment is in raw metals like Gold. While Gold is beautiful to look at and has it's roots as an investment in history long before the US was event thought of, for most people a rising price of Gold is terrible for the US economy. It's not the actual rise in Gold prices that is hurting the US economy, but the fact that our economy is not perceived as healthy to big money investors that causes the problem.

During a recession or depression it's not like money actually disappears and there is less of it to go around, but instead money finds it's way into fewer hands which in turn causes the recession or depression. Right now, billions of extra dollars each day are finding their way into the hands of a few billionaires in the Middle East and in South America. Eventually, these billionaires will reinvest their windfall profits back into the United States and that will help improve the economy. However, since our money has become theirs - they will wait until the time is right for them to reinvest instead of putting that money back to work to help average Americans.

With Gold prices at record highs and the US dollar at record lows, the prospect for economic growth and new job creation looks bleak for the rest of 2008. While recently democratic candidates like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are talking more about ways to boost the US economic picture, John McCain has had few original ideas that could help except more of the same 'tax cuts' are the answer GOP line. In times of economic crisis, voters tend to go more toward the Democrats. When national security is the top issues, voters tend to go with the Republicans.

Read more about the Economy:

Will Gas Prices Exceed $5 Per Gallon By Summer?
Rewarding Bad Business Creates Many Problems
It's The Economy, Stupid All Over Again
Stock Markets Crash As US Recession Fears Increase
Tuesday Could Bring Big Trouble For US Stock Prices

March 13, 2008 Archives