While we’re celebrating our Independence this weekend consider that we are not independent at all, in fact we are slaves to the imperial movement that the elite, profit hungry corporations started decades ago.

For anyone still confused about global politics, this pretty much sums it up.

Fact: The US consumes 25% of the world’s energy and our population accounts for 5% .

Fact: China comes in at #2 for energy consumption however it accounts for 20% of the world population.

Fact: 5%  percent of the world’s population produces almost 50% of the worlds automotive CO2 - that’s us!

Fact: One gallon of gasoline burned = 20 pounds of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  In 2008 America burned 138 billion gallons.

Fact: Gasoline and Diesel take more energy to produce than it offers.  Gasoline yields 0.805 units of fuel product energy for every unit of fossil energy consumed in its life cycle - that’s 19.5 percent loss.  Diesel yields 0.843 units of fuel product energy for every unit of fossil energy consumed in its life cycle - that’s 15.7 percent loss.

Fact: Biodiesel yields 3.2 units of fuel product energy for every unit of fossil energy consumed in its life cycle - that’s 220% gain.

Fact: In the United States, only the U.S. Congress may declare war.  Congress has authority over financial and budgetary matters, through the enumerated power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.

History shows America goes to war for resources - including oil.

Congress…

These are the crooks we let run the house…

This image is from a KML file in Google Earth provided by the EPA

We’ll be parading around tomorrow celebrating our freedom while the Gulf of Mexico continues to be polluted by the oil spill.

The Christians in this nation will go to church on Sunday and praise God and feel gratitude for being so blessed, and we’ll make believe we’re a good people, that we do more good than harm, that our solidiers are still in a war that is about freedom.  Other religious folks will do the same on the day they observe.

I love America but we are anything but good.  I talk a lot about oil in this post but that is one of many problem areas in our system.   It has a global impact.  I read that because industrialized countries like America can produce food so cheap anymore that farmers in 3rd world countries can no longer compete.  They go broke trying to make a dollar off their soil, so they quit and join the masses. (no cite)

American food corporations produce among the unhealthiest in the world and we eat it up.  Why?  Probably the same reason we consume the most oil - we are a nation of sheep - followers.  It is estimated that 41% of American adults will be obese by 2015  - there is a lot more than genetics playing a role here.

American corporations are profit driven and they drive America. So while we are eating and drinking and driving our cars and trucks this weekend, think about free you really are.  Congress is persuaded by the lobbyists on payroll with Corporate America and they care about nothing more then fat pockets of profit…

I usually just think about this stuff but never really rant like this.  I recently bought powertodosomething.com and decided to start making a small move to make a difference - not by blowing stuff up and whacking the guys who have no soul - but rather by empowering the individuals who can actually make a difference.  I really have no idea where to start but maybe other people can help build an online resource for the everyday American.

What if one person could make a 3 minute video about calling the offices of our politicians and making a statement, or getting people to sign petitions etc.  That is the idea.  That is one way I can help fight to really make America independent once again.

We’ve been free from Great Britain for 234 years, it’s time to fight Corporate America and once again declare our independence….

thanks for reading

Fact References:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption#By_country
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#Largest_populations_by_country
• http://www.eia.doe.gov/ask/environment_faqs.asp#US_CO2
• http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/co2.shtml
• http://www.mda.state.mn.us/en/renewable/renewablefuels/balance.aspx#yield
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying_in_the_United_States
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_war_by_the_United_States#Formal
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress#Powers
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_the_United_States

I’ve heard most of my life that we are only pressured as much as we can handle - so anything we face shouldn’t be impossible to overcome.  I feel like I have been especially equipped to handle the toughest and roughest situations, but even so, there are times when it feels like “the sky is falling”.

I’m no chicken little.  I doubt and have fears like we all do, but I also have what it takes to move beyond that, sort of.  Our minds play dangerous tricks on us every day.  We have our woven interpersonal relationships and support unit, but sometimes that isn’t enough.  This was true for me lately.

We all go through phases, and rock bottom, I’ve found - comes in many shapes and sizes, and  more than once in our lives.  The proverbial rock bottom we hit when we re-invent ourselves is a new experience each and every time.  Somewhere inside we are able to adjust and cope, but there is a point where we get so overwhelmed that it seems like, life could end.

I recently went through this - for maybe 10 days consecutively.  It was like rock bottom for me emotionally.  It got to the point I didn’t even feel like I could perform the necessary tasks to operate my business, or even take care of myself.  Depression.  It was another rock bottom…

It comes at the worst possible time.  A time where I have to be stronger than ever and on my feet.  Life gave me lemons.  I recall thinking I wasn’t going to be able to take much more.  I thought that SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE ASAP - OR  I WILL LOSE IT ALL.  That idea of not being faced with more than we can handle actually played it’s role again.

At the very moment I was in despair, wondering when my next break would come, it did.  It came in the form of a text message, maybe 3 sentences long.  I was laying in bed watching Hulu, nursing my fears, trying to get to sleep.  I knew that facing the next day was going to be hard, what with the feelings hopelessness.  It came when I needed it most.

It’s day three since that text message.  I’m on the up swing and new obstacles, struggles and those old fears still need dealt with.  But I feel like I have the strength to carry on, move forward, overcome.  I don’t feel so lost anymore.  I don’t feel so alone anymore.  I feel like I can take up wings and fly.  Fly I will.

With the new found hope and strength I have, I can take on what I thought I wouldn’t be able to.  With it I have new obstacles to overcome.  I have new goals, in addition to the old ones.  My new found hope gives the relief my bones need, the expression my head wants, the desire of my soul.

Just when you think the sky is surely falling - you realize it’s not.  The sky needs to be seen as infinite, because it is.  When you think it is falling - it’s a message to expand your horizons, so you can see more clearly.  When your sight is limitless, so is your life.

©myself