It feels as intense as the '04 Election right now...

[VolcanoJen]

...only with more emphasis on terror and now, and less on what lies ahead.

"Credible Threat" of terror on the New York Subways.

Avian Flu.

Gas prices up, consumer confidence down, heating price terror up.

Something about a mysterious disease among nursing home residents in Canada.

Weird, unnecessary "major War on Terror address" by Bush.

Domestically:

Biblical hurricane, followed by bad hurricane. FEMA in turmoil, Delay indicted, Frist under investigation, lobbyists under the radar but catching media attention. Rove testifies before the Grand Jury in the Plame investigation... for a fourth time, in what appears to be an endgame.

It feels so intense right now. Even the changing weather contributes to the odd mood.

What's going on?

[texpatriot2004]

1. I don't know but I feel it too.n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. The empire is about to collapse

and my paranoid view (are you right or are you paranoid, and what is better?) they are trying everything they can to damn it, cancel the Constitution.

Indictments are coming in

And the peeps (that is us, the little people) are very restless...

And yes there is this energy that I can't explain, but I have not reached for the antiacid in months, nor have I been unable to sleep in months

[VolcanoJen]

5. That last sentence encouraged me

I just have that weird feeling again, it's either impending doom, or anxious, something's-going-to-happen irrationality.

It feels so much like this time, last year, to me... only, somehow, more intense.

I don't know how else to put it, but if you haven't reached for the Tums yet, I'm not going to, either.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Actually I have

sorry miswrote this

For the last week or so I have been gulping them down, and honestly thought it was too much coffee, I cut on that, no help...

Oh and nervous eating too...

And it IS more intensee than '04

[VolcanoJen]

12. Well, thanks so much!

Just when you had reassured me. :+

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. oh i am sorry

:hug: :hug:

[McKenzie]

7. you and I are going to be banished to our own forum

it'll be called "The Cynical/Paranoid Gits Forum" and will have around six regular posters and about seven million Freeper© Trolls sent to rubbish us.

Heehee

<edit> this was for nadinbrzezinski - sorry if you thought it was a pop at you VJ

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. again are we paranoid or right?

and what is better?

I have always contended that a healthy sense of sckepticism is good, but I have been looking at my rear view window quite a bit these days

[Swamp Rat]

13. Who's paranoid?

Not me. I'm a realist... surrealist?

[McKenzie]

14. only time will tell us the answer

don't want to hijack (hello Echelon) VJ's thread but the human tendency to blot out unpleasantness might be a factor in playing down the possibility of martial law if the shit really hits the fan. I believe in intuition and mine is saying..."McKenzie, stop posting all this shit before they come knocking on your door."

Got to shoot (hello again Echelon) off to work - 09:00 over here.

l8r nadinbrzezinski (if not I'll meet you in the Gulag canteen)

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Been expecting that for a while actually

shall we say I put the rope round my neck a while ago?

So I choose to live free, not afraid...

See ya

[AndyTiedye]

18. Either They're Going Down, or They're Going to Do a "Z"

as in the movie "Z"

[Maraya1969]

3. It's all bullshit except the fact that Bush et al are crashing and burning

Don't worry about that stupid flu or the Profits of doom. This stuff happens every so often in history for as long as we know history.

But the administration is going down. And I am quite happy about that.

[McKenzie]

4. We are living in End Time

and it'll soon be time for the Great Cosmic Hoovering Up.

Seriously, I agree that there is a lot of bad shit flying around right now. Dunno whether it's because there actually IS more shit going down than there has been in the past or whether it just seems that way because we are paying closer attention than usual.

What worries me is that the neocons are being backed into a corner. I'm not god so I don't know what is going to happen any more than the next person. That said, I suspect the neocons will act like any animal that feels trapped and start biting anything that comes near. The terra alerts of late might be one of the manifestations of their desperation as a prelude to worse to come...like the need for even more control. A frightened population is easy to fool. Well that bit of it that can't see what the real deal is.

Maybe THAT is what might lie ahead VolcanoJen.

[Pepper32]

6. I could be wrong but I think it's called FEAR

Fear of the unknown that is....

Just think about who is behind most of this fear and you should feel better. :)

[VolcanoJen]

10. I know that, but...

... I don't really know how to express it... it just feels a bit stranger than I thought it could get.

I hate the word surreal, but it best descibes my feelings.

Are we giddy, paranoid, skeptical, afraid, or forward-looking?

I'm giddy-skeptical.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Look on the bright side, when we are ON THE OTHER side

the stories we will have to tell, and my question is, will my nephews ever believe me? they are very young, really young... they are blessed.

[Swamp Rat]

15. No, surreal is a good descriptor.

[dave123williams]

19. I don't know...but it's champagne and caviar for news junkies.

[VolcanoJen]

20. Maybe that's what I'm feeling!

I have no champagne, only Bud Light in Tallboy Cans.

I have no caviar, only grilled chicken dipped in buffalo sauce.

But maybe I'm just a news junkie... I have to admit I'm glued.

I think that might explain why I feel halfway between "giddy" and "forboding."

[newswolf56]

21. I feel the intensity too, so I decided on a whim to consult the I Ching:

Question: What will be the outcome, between now and 2009, of the forces now in motion in the United States?

Response:

THE SEQUENCE:

When one follows others with pleasure, there are certain to be undertakings. Hence there follows the hexagram Work on What Has Been Spoiled. Work on what has been spoiled means undertakings. Afterward there is order.

THE JUDGMENT:
Work on What Has Been Spoiled
Has supreme success.
It furthers one to cross the great water.
Before the starting point, three days.
After the starting point, three days.

THE COMMENTARY:
"Work on What Has Been Spoiled has supreme success," and order comes into the world.
"It furthers one to cross the great water." On going one will have things to do.
"Before the starting point, three days. After the starting point, three days." That a new beginning follows every ending is the course of heaven.

THE IMAGE:
The wind blows low on the mountain.
The image of decay.
Thus the superior man stirs up the people
And strengthens their spirit.

I have worked with the I Ching -- the world's oldest oracle -- for the past 34 years. While there have been times I have read it wrongly, only once did it misinform me -- and that in response to the impertinence of repeatedly asking the same question. But I have never asked such a question as this before; all of my other readings of the I Ching have been for myself or friends. That said, I believe this is a very positive omen. It warns of ordeals -- "the image of decay" -- but it points out the proper response: "thus the superior man stirs up the people and strengthens their spirit." And it foretells victory: "Work on What Has Been Spoiled has supreme success, and order comes into the world": not the pseudo "order" of Fundamentalist Theocracy, but the genuine order of Lao Tzu: "Tao is forever overflowing, but it never overflows in its effectiveness" -- as if the very universe is on our side.

As I said above, I too feel the intensity the rest of you have mentioned. For me it is a creative energy that sometimes astounds me in its duration and always leaves me surprised at the ease of its words-on-paper spontaneity: I do not think I have ever known its like, not even in my long-ago youth, so I can only guess what it might portend. But I think we can all relax just a bit, perhaps setting aside some of our dread -- though surely none of our vigilance.

[newswolf56]

22. Self-delete: site indicates material is not posting when in fact it is.

[JNelson6563]

23. It is perfect-stormish, isn't it?

What I wonder is how long before panic starts to break-out? Let's face it, the American psyche isn't exactly stable right now....

Julie

[Skittles]

24. those bastards were juggling too many balls

they're all falling now

[Tesla]

26. It has to be broken before it can be fixed!!!

And it is broken.......now we need to fix it!!

We can start afresh, we STILL have our Constitution, we just need to remember the feeling of being on the right side, the ones people wanted to be like, not HATE!!!

[B Calm]

25. Mr. President what do you think of your polls? The polls show your

approval rating at 17%..

Answer: Polls, who looks at polls? ha ha..

[AlphaCat]

27. You ask, "What's going on?"

Well, off the top of my head, I'd say 'life'! LOL! It seems like there's always something going on. I know the Chinese have a famous curse that states 'may you live in interesting times'--and it seems like everyone, to whom that was said, did! (which makes the curse that much more clever.)

We'll make it through the present-day sturm und drang and be all the better for it--we're a sturdy little group! I have tremendous faith in the GOOD people of America.


P.S. I listened to Bush's speech yesterday, too, and I agree with you--what purpose did it serve?

[AlphaCat]

28. This came up a third time-delete.

[AlphaCat]

29. This came up twice--delete...

[AlphaCat]

30. Sorry for the x3 duplicate posts...

I am having trouble with posting here--an error message comes up saying my post didn't post. Then, I see on the board that it did!

[EFerrari]

31. The peeps are waking up.

This is what it feels like when people have had enough. A little dangerous and really exciting.

This happened in the late 60s, then again around the Nixon debacle.

We'll be fine. I believe these mofos are crazy enough to try anything. But, they're just crazy enough to blow it -- look at their track record. They haven't gotten ANYTHING right.

We'll be fine. And you'll get to see what this country really is about.

:toast:

[Pepper32]

36. That's what I believe too.

Thanks for saying this, we've been through much worse and this country is still here. The people are abandoning George and joining us, we are becoming more united by the day.

Perhaps this feels weird because it took a long time to get here. :toast:

[NJCher]

32. cause-effect

You ask, "What is going on?" and my answer would be "effect," as in cause-effect.

If you are a criminal and you commit a crime, the chances are you will at least be called to account for it, even if no jail time is served. At the very least, there is an investigation and indictments and maybe even arraignments.

We here at DU have, from the very beginning, characterized this "government" more as criminals than politicians. The fact that every branch of government except for the judiciary is either under indictment or under investigation is testimony to our ability to discern.

For years we have watched with anguish as these criminals killed other humans in our name, stole our treasury, and assaulted our constitution. And while they came damned close to gaming the system so they would never be caught, they hadn't gamed it quite enough. Little bits and pieces of the system are still out there, creaking out justice.




Cher

[ChairmanAgnostic]

33. check out Susan Sarandon's comment out from yesterday:

When asked to say something nice about President Bush, she said,

"That his ineptitude has forced people to have conversations about things that people have been ignoring for a long time."

Now, there is one smart cookie.

[newswolf56]

35. Link please? (I'd love to read the comment in full.) Thanks.

[nonconformist]

34. I'm feeling it too, definitely

It's been very surreal lately... which is saying quite a bit, since the past 5 years have been so out there anyway. But a lot of stuff has been happening fast... and some of it we only HOPED we'd see so it's very exciting. Compound this with the turmoil and tragedy from the hurricanes and the war, and it makes for one strange feeling.