p.s.-please forgive my atrocious speeling and grammar.

To me, the biggest change in the American Culture, is the citizens willingness to sacrifice personal rights and freedoms in the interests of "national security." The intense fear mongering that is going on in the US by the likes of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, the entire neo conservative bent of the US government, is outrageous. Under Clinton, I don't think it would have taken 5 days to get aid into New Orleans.

For the largest superpower in the world, their domestic policy and ideas towards national security, don't go very far at all at projecting the traditional image of the US, one of strength and might. And the other thing that's changed is now the people in the US can see with their own 2 eyes, that the government is more concerned on carrying out an illegal so called war in foreign lands, then looking after its own citizens in a time of need.

The people are starting to realize that they were sold a bill of goods by Dubya, and what he was selling was crap, and now the people are paying for it dearly. People after 9/11 looked for strength and leadership from the powers that be in the country. And while Pataki and Giuliani showed tremendous leadership, let's not forget about the president and the story of Billy the Goat. 9/11 exposed a vacuum in the leadership areas of the US. The last federal election down south, showed how blinded by multi conglomerate media the citizens of the US are.

Could you imagine if Clinton went into Iraq under false pretenses, fighting what is clearly an illegal war, and conducting an illegal occupation? Yet the American people, when presented with the facts, a president who lied to the people and took his country to war under false pretenses... re elected him. It shows how utterly screwed up the culture of the US is.

What concerns me much more, is how Canada has changed since 9/11. Our federal government, and even the provinces (BC and Alberta in particular) are moving with lightening speed to envelop us within the parameters of the United States on many fronts.

The Maher Arar case is a good example. The Arar Inquiry is just wrapping up today. Channel-surfing, I was fortunate enough to have caught the summation and closing arguments by the lawyer defending Arar. What a chilling litany. Fact after fact was cited to show how federal ministers are routinely lied to and kept out of the loop by both the RCMP and CSIS, and that these security agencies act at the behest of American authorities, not the Canadian government.

This is very, very frightening. Also very frightening was the picture of the courtroom where the inquiry was taking place -- it's a public inquiry but all the chairs available for the public were empty. Even on the final day, where closing arguments sum up the key points.

Interestingly enough, a few days ago, just surfing some channels again, I caught a bit of Anne McLellan, Deputy PM and "homeland security honcho" testifying before some parliamentary committee about whether Canada should extend the "patriot" laws hastily put in place after 9/11 (can't think of what the Canadian version is called). She was brought up short by one committee member's question as to why some particular action was being taken by Canada because it didn't seem to be necessary, and she had to admit it was because the United States wanted it that way (!?!). So, our laws and government operations are now been overtly written and directed by the United States! McLellan let that slip out, and you could see she regretted revealing that little snippet. I can only imagine how much else about our government is being dictated to by the Bush administration.

Canadians should be both frightened of the erosion of personal freedoms that have been inflicted upon us by the "war on terror" hysteria being fanned into an inferno by the Bush administration, and ashamed that we Canadians are paying so little attention to this stunning example (Maher Arar) of how our government has stripped our freedoms and rights to decent treatment away from us.

A funny, but not so funny, incident occurred when a guy from the Yukon was flying to the States a few days ago. His name was on the "no fly list" and he had a hell of a time at customs, including being "patted down" heavily. But hey, he should have known he might encounter trouble with a name like his... John Smith. He was a priest too, but that didn't cut any water with those saavy customs agents.

Sure that sounds funny, but let me tell you, I have no plans to ever set foot in the United States ever again. I just can't trust those power-mad security types, or our regular police either, to be trustworthy, or to respect the law anymore. And, I sure can't trust my own government to be there for me if I need help.

Maher Arar, to credit his astonishing decency, has been quoted saying he wanted this inquiry to take place so that no other Canadian ever has to go through what he went through. If I were him, I don't think I would have any concerns for the well-being of other Canadians, after what the Canadian government and its officials did to him. And we largely ignore him, and his plight. To our shame, and at our peril.

To deep forbidden lake who said:

Good - less Canadians in America is a good thing.

You continue your baloney with:

With comments like that, I guess Canadians have been spending too much time in their igloo homes with their pet otters - waiting for the fur traps to fill as they freeze in sub-zero temps watching curling.

Sunny Samson,

Don't like to be picky, but your "lightening" speed is doubtless opposite to the lightning speed you intended;-)

There's little doubt, coupled with some shady vote-counting, 9/11 was as good for G.W.'s re-election as the Malvinas/Kalklands was for Margaret Thatcher's.

It's resulted in a huge make-work situation at border-crossings that have been a windfall for the oil industry with 2-hour waits to cross - but the absolute pits for the environment.

It also gave Bush and Blair ammunition for their preemptive strike against Iraq.

Are you suggesting that somewhere a bunch of people are sitting around thinking up this evil stuff? For what purpose? What could they possibly have to gain?

jesterjogger,

You jest.

C.i.r.e.
Re = Ab

How pathetic, having to change your name so you can join in a public forum. There is no way there are two people this stupid in this little pond. Unless they are a breading pair....

A month ago a vacation trip to Guanajuato, Guanajuato, gave me plenty of evidence on how the US has changed. Since our airplane to Mexico stopped in Houston this meant a one hour line-up at the Vancouver Airport's US Customs. Coming back from Mexico the line-up in Houston was two hours since a 747 from Japan had arrived late. Democracy was evident as pregnant women, women with babies and everybody else were all treated equally. There was a constant reptition of a warning not to make jokes as the "perpetrator" would be arrested.

In our hotel in Guanajuato the hotel dick told me that in the off season he painted walls in Atlanta. I asked him how he managed to cross the border. He said he had never had the problem. Our taxi driver said that in the winter season he crossed the border into Texas to work there. Again he told me he had no problem crossing the border.

While the category of "passengers in transit" has, alas, been eliminated, those who really want to go to the US can do so with inpunity. Those of us who have little interest, but in some cases have no choice, have to suffer in silence.

But it would seem to me that not too far in the future business in the US will be done in Spanish as Mexico, in a most peaceful way, regains the territory it lost during the Spanish American War.

skeptikool said:

Yah, you're right, thanks for the correction. If I had had enough brain cells operating around my midnight hour post, I might have caught that. Or, maybe I can blame the fact that my brain is packed so full of things to say about where our planet is going, that I just can't devote many brain cells to grammar these days. I hate that, as I'm picky too when I notice errors in grammar and spelling.

All you thoughtful contributors, keep it coming, (and email/phone/write your Members of Parliament, especially the ministers and the prime minister). One a day, like vitamins -- it will be good for our country. Seriously, that's about the only thing that gives politicians pause these days, and that leverage we have as voters/citizens may disappear once they nail the trick of computerized vote tampering here too. Use it or lose it (your right to voice your opinion to a political leader).

And to those who say people should donate to the Red Cross or other agencies because it won't go to the multi-national monster greed companies, let me say this: please, please understand, for every dollar you send to the United States to support their citizens, that's one dollar they can use for other things like bombing other countries, and putting U.S. taxpayer dollars into their friends' companies.

Please, please think about this. It's not helping those hurricane flood victims, in fact, it's just prolonging and deepening their misery because it enables their corrupt, criminal government to continue debasing its citizens and nations around the world.

To the person who said:

You can't be serious. If you are, for God's sake, haven't you ever read one account of history? Human history is full of people sitting around thinking how to lie, to cheat, to steal, all for power, glory and riches. You are joking, right? If so, you gotta be more obvious -- please.

If the American public had been told that Hoover was a homosexual being blackmailed by the mafia, they would have laughed, as they do now about 9/11 or the Bush Crime family.

"But selling Americans on the dream of a world kept in line, and reshaped, by America will be a lot tougher now. Our psychology of immunity blasted, we are likely to examine the consequences in a far harsher, new light."

David, I don't think anyone anywhere anticipated the meterological rise of the neo-cons and the full scale implemntation of their agenda, so you're in good company.

But what is remarkable is how easy it became to convince the American people, with the credulous participation of the mass media, of the need to reshape the world, to keep it in line with almost no attention paid to what the consequences, intended or otherwise, might be.

Even more remarkably, the American people allowed themselves to become convinced of the need to attack a weak, failing state that was in no way connected to the attacks of 9/11. This in defiance of the opinion of almost the entire world and with the meaningful participation of the only country to have any 20th Century memory of empire.

As time goes on, as the death toll in Iraq continues to climb, as the bill for the misadventure escalates, as US estrangement from the world community deepens, there well may be a political price for the Bush administration but the larger problem remains this: within the American there remains a deep committment to the old 19th century doctrine of Manifest Destiny although it is now writ upon a much larger slate.

We will have not seen the end of American exceptionalism and expansion until the psyche of the nation is shattered. It will not be pretty and they not suffer alone.

Sorry.
I was joking.
I really wish it was'nt true though.
Sugarcandy mountain help us.

How did 9/11 change U.S. culture?

Easy, with the patriot act and the H.S. (homeland security)the U.S. government can arrest detain and execute people in complete secrecy. In effect they are on the way to being a full military dictatorship.

Okay, so George Bush not only created 911 but because of his anti-Koyoto stance caused Katrina.
I got one, the Liberal Govt. of Canada caused the softwood lumber dispute because they removed the export tax the Consevatives had put on softwood lumber that kept the money in Canada.

C.I.R.E. is your friend, precious.

There is an interesting document, written in 1992-93 as a staff officer's assignment while attending the US War College, called "The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012".

Located here:
http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/1992/dunlap.htm

It's quite a read.

Indeed Mr Ghost that is a scary document. As scary is Robert D Kaplan's "An Empire Wilderness - Travels Into America's Future" The first chapter on the Military War College at Ft. Leavenworth shows how the US Armed Forces by virtue of training, expertise and technology have their own language and the that civilian Americans for that very reason are losing sight of the armed forces'growing power. A power that is beind ceded by default.

clubofrome,

You posted:

If the American public had been told that Hoover was a homosexual being blackmailed by the mafia, they would have laughed, as they do now about 9/11 or the Bush Crime family.

I don't believe many claim that 9/11 was planned by anyone in the U.S. Government or any of its "dirty tricks" agencies.

What some are saying is that with possible foreknowledge of some key persons, the attack was further facilitated by a "winding down" of essential security tasks of certain bureaucracies that, despite possible accusations of negligence, would be strengthened by terrorist incidents against the U.S.. A turf war between agencies may even have been involved, it has been suggested.

That latter suggestion, by the way, was also offered in respect to the Air India crash off the Irish coast.

To give credence to any of the above is to invite references to paranoia. This may well be to chill and stifle further discussion of the topic.

No, clubofrome, today many are not laughing.

Rather than 911 changing American culture, it is that the underbelly of an American culture 'that always was' has temporarily risen to the fore, temporarily dominating that which makes/ed America great. I too, watch what is happening and it seems the nation is crumbling before our eyes. This saddens me and at times, frightens me.

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I could think that another culture, one which is older and wiser, could not have schemed to destroy the US better than what the so-called power structure is doing right now. I suppose it could be possible that this is so, but then, I remember that FDR had to take on those 'oil men' and much to their chagrin, tossed them over the Mexican border while he regulated industry and implimented a saner tax structure and labour laws. And, too, I remember that the president (whose name I can't recall right now) warned against the 'military complex' and how it was a real and present danger to the US.

I think that the positive aspects of the US will prevail - if the people in power right now don't blow us off the face of the earth, or their stupidity doesn't create an opening for another fraction to do it for them. After all, true democracy is rising, which is a more positive part of their culture and narrative. The Republican take over the the DLC is finished because the progressive grassroots movement has grown and is providing huge funding and volunteer hours. I think that will become clearer in the lead up to the 06 elections. When has the American public seen so clearly the huge amount of poverty in the US. When have we heard, for instance, that many of those children in the dome were receiving the first vaccinations of their lives? And, that the infant mortality rate in Washington is lower than some 3rd world countries? When have those statistics had such a public face?

The narratives of the US are killing them and until they let go of the ones that are being manipulated and used against them, they won't be able to get free. Narratives are important. They are our collective handbook of survival and our hope for the future. The old US narrative has to evolve into other more life enhancing ones. Ones that promote the survival of the nation and its people. Indeed, all of ours do right now. Our narratives can also be the end of our own survival, both in our psyche and in the material world unless they evolve. They are crying out for change. No, they are screaming for change as we are killing ourselves with environmental pollution, war and neglect.

What is happening in the American culture today is in some ways as familar as an old shoe in America. They were here in Vietnam. They were here in the Civil Rights Movement. They were here when the South lost the war. They were here during the 'Indian Wars'. It's no mistake that Bush etal use the expression (the South) will rise again. They expertly play on and manipulate the people with key phrases from the people's own mythology. It's so contemptuous of the people, really.

When I hear that the physician who swore at the vice-president was handcuffed and arrested, I could think that the culture is changing, but then I remember Kent State.

redrivergirl,

The one you could not remember, by name, was President Eisenhower.

What he had to say, like a few others who had been at the heart of the blood and gore, carried much more weight because of the stature he had attained in a life of military service.

Here is an excerpt of his 1960 speech:

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

To get the complete speech, Google: President Eisenhower military complex

Thanks guys.

I found it here.

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html

What he said about the universities etc was also so precient.

I wish there were someone like he, now, to get us out of this terrible mess.

first, american boy is funny, but its the united states of america not the united states is america see there's a north and a south....america....which are continents...

ok,anyway it seems to me it didn't change the culture just reinforced it. orwell wasn't a fortune teller he was just letting us in on the plan. there are no secrets[pnac, we need a new pearl harbour, "there will be a terr'ist nuke"(cheney) and i would believe him] just an incredibly brainwashed population that does and thinks exactly what it was programed to. the only change we will see is if the slumbering sheople can be shaken out of there drug, sport, gambling, shopping, etc. induced stupers. there's always hope.

what about wtc tower 7 ????

Banquo wrote:

Wrong, Banquo.

Prior to WW2, in reaction to the growing popularity of Marxism during and after the Great Depression and Roosevelt's "socialistic" New Deal, power elites in all the Western Democracies were embracing Fascism as a response. Hence we saw them support the Fascist Franco in the Spanish Civil War, allying themselves with Fascists Hitler and Mussolini.

Thus we saw the US stay out of the war for three years while German-based US corporations produced war materiel for Hitler, some of which would be used later to kill American boys after the US joined the war.

After the War, with the war propaganda machine still in place, the psyche it had fostered also remained in place, being fanned by the "Military Industrial Complex" whose existence was well-recognised by the public - some for, some against.

Seizing the opportunity to totally eliminate any socialistic sympathies among the US public, (and succeeding, I think), the shameful "McCarthy Years" - pretending a focus on "anti (Soviet) Communism" - unfolded, in turn giving rise to the reaction of the 60's.

It's near impossible to get a true perspective on the 60's these days, since the media portrays them as only a time of "Sex`and Drugs". But not only was it demonstrated for the first time that Ghandi's technique of "passive resistence" against armed troops could find favour in a rich, white nation, it could also work. But your media, boys and girls, ain't gonna remind you of that - nossir.

And the one thing they WILL NEVER report is that those "Hippies" knew full well who was to blame, with their constant cries of "Fascists!!!"

In the late 60's-early 70's, the media was crammed with stories of the upcoming "leisure society" with 32 hr work weeks, and full, well-paid employment via the health care and recreation industries.

The 70's were prosperous, why, I dont know. I think it was a time to make us forget.

Come the 80"s the Fascists came out in the open again. They assured us that Capital owes nothing to its country of origin, only to ite shareholders. Massive "downsizing" began, continuing still. The attack on unions began. And so too the attack on public ownership of resources.

Most importantly, the "War on Drugs" began in earnest, a Fascistic enterprise that has done done far more to erode American freedoms than the Patriot Act. The latter is of concern these days only because they're now trying to soften up whitey too.

None of the above has been too apparent to the American citizen since they've had Conscription ("The Draft") since WW2, a standing, volunteer army forever and an ongoing series of wars, big and small, creating a near-permanent "War Mentality". It's little wonder Americans are so respectful of "The Flag".

Thus, little has changed since 9/11, unless perchance Americans are awakening - and if they are, I doubt it will "take".

Sorry I was unclear re
Thus we saw the US stay out of the war

That reference is to WW2

The Spanish Civil War was from 1936 to Mar. '39

WW2 began Sept 39, Britain, Dec 8 '41, US.

Scylla I was using the term "neocon" or "neoconservative" in it's stricter temporal political sense. As can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism_in_the_United_States

Neocon isn't another word for fascist.

Skippy,
I think the US government could be charged with crimes, except for the way they treat evidence in important matters. (Kennedy & King files sealed until 2027) They plot and plot and make things so convoluded that even eye witness account is no longer credible. Even the smoking gun is an illusion. Short of revolution we get to suck on the lies, deceit and total disregard for democracy. Why didn't they do forensics on the collapsed WTC? The scrap sold and shipped away. Why is it so hard to believe that the illusion of fanatascism only exists in the Muslim world? There's a good chance that the MIC is headquartered just to the south of us and they already have our fate in their hands. Think of me when the plague hits and culls the herd back to allow the priveledged to continue their worthless existance on this planet. Hopefully Mom will one day kick us all out of the nest and make way for the next wave of evolutionary genius. Don't make excuses for the US my friend, there is no excuse for their behavior.

The Beers article ends with a reference to the emergence of footage of Palestinians presumably "celebrating." Wasn't this footage fairly quickly revealed to be stock footage and not what was claimed?

I must say that 9/11 was the moment I turned off my tv and finally started reading the corporate media as the propaganda it is.

It is also interesting that FEMA could so quickly have the rubble removed to remove all evidence -- such as to determine why three towers collapsed. They certainly did not act with such speed when after Katrina, but then they were already in place the day before the "attacks."

I am not sure that American culture significantly changed (given Clinton's record of bombings and that the Patriot Act was written before the towers fell) but it certainly became evident after 9/11 just how corrupt the leadership (media included) of the nation is.

As for those anthrax attacks -- funny how they vanished from memory.

And why isn't neocon synonomous (or close enough not to matter) with Fascist??

I realise the neocons have succeed in making Fascism an outre term, as they don't like its utility for describing their policies.

Because while it's possible to argue that several US governments may in the past may have been fascistic none of them were composed of this preponderance of neocons.

The capacity to make such distinctions must not be lost.

Fanatic Fascists? A new term replacing neo-con. FF

Let me expand on my previous post... The religeous zealots and fanatics of this world are not just found "over there." If we can expose the US for it's true racist self, they can be discredited. Every now and again one of those fanatics says something like "the leader of Venezuela needs to be taken out." "Rock and Roll is the devils music." They impose their moral view, and elect their people to govern, and think that it's God's will. They are far more dangerous than any terrorist organization. I'm not saying that it's comparable to the KKK, but the religeous ruling right have this big stick and they go around the world clubbing countries into submission. Bush has always used this connection with the RR to get himself elected as Governer and then President. They are organized and they vote. Talk about dumbing down the masses, what better way than to introduce religion to the mix. "The lord Jesus loves you." "Jesus said, the world rightfully belongs to Americans, and they all nod yes...."

The Americans were infatuated with the NAZIs until Hitler declared war on them back in '41. And considering that after WWII many high ranking NAZIs made thier way into the USA and into the Americans government infrastucture a love affair must have been at work with nazi idealology well into the Cold War years. Make no mistake. The Facsists are here. They just don't know it yet.

Heads we're allies, tails we're axis.... Oh hell we win either way! Start building tanks.

You got it wrong, club. My point is only that the Western businessman and the politicians who suck to them, were, as Eddy noted, "infatuated" with Fascism.

Banquo suggested I go to Wikipedia and research it - something he/she obviously hadn't done, judging by her/his comments.

Fascism arose, as did Marx's theory, in an attempt to put into political practice Hegel's distillation of Christian social ethics.

Where Marxism emphasised communal ownership, fascism stressed private ownership. The Chuch, in keeping with its long-standing opposition to any form of Socialism, welcomed fascism as an alternative to the growing popularity of Marxism, and still does. Examples were/are Franco's Spain, Portugal's Salazar, Mussolini's Italy, various Latin and South American countries, and now Bush's US.

Here are somw quotes from the Wiki article:

See esp. Italian fascism, Wiki…

I don't consider this issue a mere quibble, and I don't like Wiki's suggested use of NEO-fascist.

Because of the Holocaust, Fascism carries an unique stink not just for it's gassing of Jews, but also for gassing hundreds of thousands of Communists, Socialists, Homosexuals, Gypsies, Unionists and others opposed to the fascistic viewpoint. We tend to forget this.

Some think it's overmuch to call todays neocons fascists because of these terrible connotations. Not so. One only has to look and recognise what these people think of others who get in their way, and the misery they're willing to inflict to get their economics in place. "Collateral damage" is an acceptable term? Ask Martin or Harper, and don't expect a straight answer.

I'm sure the Germans, in pre Hitlerian times when they were arguably among, if not the most highly educated people in the World, half practising Catholics and the other half equally believing Protestants, would never, ever, have believed their nation would commit the atrocities it did.

Couldn't happen here? They happen in other like places all the time, Kosovo, for instance.

But our neocons aren't like that? Well, how about the arrogant, sneering, pitiless remarks we see right here from our Limbaugh-aping resident trolls. Imagine them with power.

The word is Fascist, folks, it's the only one which fits and has fitted for at least Seventy years. They're almost full out of the woodwork again.

Now go and visit that Wikipedia site.

For all of you conspiracy theorists out there - check out this link:

http://www.davidicke.com/icke/visitor.html

AAArgh - Art Bell's got hundred of them, if that's what you like.

And the Illuminati is real old stuff.

Just my attempt at humour scylla. As you mentioned earlier you have American industry selling to Germany during the war, prior to 1941. So whoever it was, that would make for an interesting project itself. Who were those industries and exactly what were they selling. Perhaps they continue today, and the boycotts of Iran/Iraq etc. were just "do as I say not as I do." I don't know anything about the Americans being infatuated with anyone but themselves, but it does make for interesting reading.

The "anything for a buck" society wouldn't care where the sales came from, directly or indirectly. They could sell to India, who could inturn sell to whomever. I don't believe the commerce train would stop for any reason.

I would agree that little has changed with US culture, but the split between right and wrong, good and evil, rich and poor is becoming wider. This is where the hope lies. That the sleeping giant will awake and call for justice. That justice will cost us big in cost transfer, as Ed would say. Becasue with that realization must come the real accounting of what has happened. It can't just be a Robin Hood style revolution, it has to be a fundamental change in how we think and behave. Can you say short term pain for long term gain? That's a couple of generations worth of short term pain by the way. This isn't a trip to the rec centre for a workout or two.

I heard a tape today of Condy Rice saying American attempts to stabilise (ha!) economies has failed, and that now they think Democracy's the way to go, even if new gov'ts aren't in the American camp.

Sounds like more schmoozing the public, but wouldn't it be nice if they meant it?

How has American culture changed since 9/11?

On my few brief visits, I've been surprized at how strongly 9/11 and the threat of foreign terrorism have remained at the forefront of American consciousness. The trauma is still fresh--it's still an everyday concern for most people whom I met. No amount of investment in homeland security, in the Iraq war, in Star Wars space weaponry, muscular SUVs, private security contractors or guns seems to put the worry to rest and restore the illusion of US invincibility that people yearn for. The level of concern is disproportionate to reality--to the risks of being mugged, or of being killed by a speeding drunk driver, for example--as if people are making up for their former naivete.

But the shockwaves from Katrina suggest that while 9/11 instilled a hyper-awareness of vulnerability to crazed foreign terrorism, the sense of American invincibility in every other sense remained intact. I think most Americans believed that, apart from living with the threat of terrorism and the heightened security measures needed to combat it, they would continue to enjoy a charmed existence--safe from devastating catastrophes, famine, diseases, pestilence, poverty, ignorance or economic traumas, i.e. all the ills that regularly plague the rest of the world.

The fear now is that the physical and social shockwaves aroused by Katrina, along with the looming threat of H5N1, oil shortages, a failing war effort and economic jitters could combine to cause a broad, shocking awakening in America. Such a massive crisis of confidence could have enormous repercussions, not just for the US, but for the rest of the world. I suspect this was on Rove's mind when he advised Bush to hold nothing back in his recent efforts to restore public confidence.

But will the nervous American public buy the message that committing billions in federal resources is all that's needed to restore the American dream? Or have they seen too much already?

Name, here's what I've been reading.

A consenus seems to be growing which predicts the US is getting out of Afganistan and will be reducing troop nos in Iraq, both saving money.

Some were looking for a shock when the real estate bubble breaks, but now the Federal spending on Katrina's damage is predicted to have a sort of Keynesian "Priming the pump" effect on the US economy.

Provided the US doesn't have a real cold winter, driving up costs for heating fuel, the perpetually optimistic American public won't panic, and the US economy will stumble along and maybe even recover. Who knows??

Did anyone notice that the same week that the US called for the extradition of Marc Emery for the heinous crime of exporting marijuana seeds they quietly withdrew their extradition request for the partner of the Millenium Bomber. Just like the shameful response to Katrina, this shows that all the huffing and puffing about protecting America from real dangers is just that, huffing and puffing and posturing to divert peoples attention from their true agenda of stealing everything not nailed down and everyone's rights and freedoms so that once they realize what's happening they won't be able to do anything about it.