So many wars, so many questions

America now has at least three wars going on right now. If we add Pakistan as a separate war, that would make four wars going on at the same time. This does leave Yemen and Somalia on the side lines as they are not yet, and that is a very qualified yet, full on shooting wars.
YES, I do know that there have been drone attacks in BOTH Yemen and Somalia recently. Still, the US is not fully engaged in either of those countries to the best of my limited knowledge. No doubt that will change soon, given the way our(??) government seems to desire the bombing of other countries.
What has happened to America? We now have US Senators talking out loud to the general public seeking to assassinate old Gaddafi. This past weekend, Easter Sunday in fact, Senator Lindsey Graham, John McCain (aka the war lover), and their best pal uncle Joe Lieberman want Gaddafi to be killed. This is NOT the way one would expect a US Senator to act or talk, at least not publicly as we have NO formal declaration of war with Libya. It may have been some sort of norm during World War Two for an elected official to want Hitler to be killed, this is NOT that sort of conflict.  What we have with libya is a United nations resolution for "humanitarian assistance". Yes, even that fig leaf has been used to go far beyond what the resolution actually does allow. In the America of today, our (??) government does as it damn well pleases, UN resolution or not. Even a Congressional declaration of war is no longer required to send our troops off to kill and die. We have, and have had for years, the "war powers resolution" passed by Congress many years ago. That unfortunate bit of legal deception allows the president to use US troops nearly as his own private military force. A declaration of war from Congress is so old hat and totally out of fashion now days. Why, back when the Constitution was actually respected by Congress and the president, such a declaration required some minimal debate and a vote by the members of Congress. Well, we can't have that now, can we? I mean, an actual vote? Where that vote would be part of the Congressional record? How very "old school". Perish the thought! Better to have the "war powers act" and let the "decider" guy just decide when and where to send the troops. Sound a bit like Caesar? Maybe more like a dictator even? Well, it sure does NOT sound like the republic I remember from my days in civics class. The way the country works has changed, and not for the better in my opinion.
There are articles all around the internet that point out that the newest war in Libya is about money, not oil as some may think. Libya is NOT a member of the BIS (Bank of International Settlements). Libya seems to have close to 144 tons of gold in their own vaults! Now, being the cynical old guy I am, that sounds like a hell of a lot of gold just waiting for the crooked banksters of Wall Street and other international banksters to grab for themselves.  Add to this the fact that Libya had floated the idea of a true united Africa and using a new currency to sell their oil, the "gold dinar" and you see how NATO and the US just "had" to bomb the holy crap out of old Gaddafi. I mean, how DARE he do such things? Who does he think he is? Didn't he know that god had ordained the almighty dollar as THE world currency? Didn't he know that ALL the gold MUST be in the hands of the damn crooked banksters of Wall Street and Geneva? And a "united Africa", who the hell could have had that "dream"? Seriously! A united Africa? Why, that could mean that the industrialized nations might have to pay a fair market price for the natural resources that Africa has and are needed for things like computers and cell phones. Rather to keep the status quo and make bribe payments to petty dictators than actually help any of the working class in Africa. Perish that thought. 
The truth is that Libyans have about the highest standard of living on the entire continent of Africa and one has to stop and ask what he "revolt" is all about. True, Gaddafi is a bit of a nut job, but that has been known to many for years. Why now is it so important to have him removed? What has changed in the past few years to make it so important to be rid of him now? Could it be that the banksters need that gold to cover the losses they have suffered in the crash of 2008? Could it be they need the gold to cover the losses they expect they WILL have in the near future when the entire house of cards collapses yet again? 
I ask those questions because I do think the US economy is set for another big drop. We did NOT hit the bottom in the collapse of 2008. We may have come close, but there is still more room to drop even more, and I think it may be coming soon. The "adjustments" that the Fed have been making have not worked out for any except the "too big to fail" gang. The working class has had no benefit from QE2 at all. According to my friend Mike Whitney, the workers never were meant to get any benefit from the new Fed policies. It was set up to help the rich get richer, not do any good for the rest of us. Well, in that way, it has worked out. The income disparity in the US is now even worse than it was back in 1929. There is more wealth concentrated in fewer hands than ever before and it just gets worse with each passing day. Oh, but boy oh boy, look at that stock market go. Yeah, another smoke and mirrors job. Thanks a lot Ben. 
As if all that were not enough, we now have "the Donald" actually in the running for president. Yep, Trump thinks(??) he wants to be president of the US. I think his toupee is in need of adjustment. It must be choking off blood flow to his brain. Personally, I think it is a stunt to hike the ratings for his "reality TV" show.  Plus the fact that his "feud" with Rosy is over and he needs the publicity. The TV show ratings may have been down also. My guess, it is just something to feed his over large ego, a flash in the pan as it were. We shall see.
Having the TV is a two edged sword. On the one hand I do have access to some few good programs now. On the other hand, I have to suffer through commercials for the CNN coverage of the "royal wedding".  Excuse me, but why the hell should I, as a American, give a flying crap about some "royal" wedding?  I felt the same when Chuckie got married to Lady Di. Yeah, I am NOT to keen on royals of any stripe and do not understand the American fixation of these proceedings. Sure, they ARE spectacle, but we do not have a royal ruler. Well, IF we were to follow the COnstitution we don't. True, most of the recent presidents, since "saint" Ronnie any way, seem to have acted as some sort of royalty.  If Nixon acted like an imperial president, just what followed him? My answer, even more of the same and worse. Looking back, Nixon could pass for a liberal today. He DID start the EPA among other things. NO, I am not trying to "rehabilitate" Nixon and I never voted for him, nor would I ever consider that. Just saying that in perspective, he wasn't as bad as those who came after his term in office. Even Billy Bob Bubba was more conservative than old Dick was. 
Finally, for this post, the news from Japan is getting harder to find. I see very little to no news about the disaster at the nuclear plants in Japan on the TV news. The internet is about the only place to find any information at all. Maybe I just have the wrong TV station on when they pass along any news from Japan, but I doubt that. 
In my view, what we all have in Japan is a nuclear disaster. Just as the Gulf oil disaster was NOT an oil spill, it IS a disaster. Both of these will be with us all for many years to come. The latest I have seen is that the Japanese are considering entombing those damaged nuclear plants in concrete. Sort of the way they did with Chernobyl.  There is already more than enough radiation leaked into the environment to harm us for years to come. The last information from the US government that I have seen said that there is no reason to stop drinking milk or eating sea food. At the same time, the FDA said it was not checking sea food for radiation. So, the food is safe, but we are not checking the food, and we are supposed to be OK with this? Well, they also keep telling us that the sea food from the Gulf is safe now as well. Hey, that oil rig blew up one year ago, the sea has "recovered". Yeah, and I have some nice beach front property for sale just outside of Las Vegas. Oh, and don't forget that bridge in New York either. 
semper fi