Certainly nobody likes bad news.

Who wants to be constantly reminded that our nation is entrenched in at least two wars and carrying out untold other military adventures around the globe, spending Trillions of dollars we don’t have, makings god knows how many new enemies who will grow up with their sole wish to exact revenge on the United States?

Who wants to read about America's new vast security culture which is so widespread and so interwoven that no one really knows how big it is or what all it entails? Who wants to hear that our own government is collecting data on us with every email, every phone call, every credit card transaction and every punch of a keyboard?

How depressing would it be to learn that the U.S. government’s terrorist watch list includes 440,000 people, none of whom can get information as to why they are on the list or how they can be removed from the list?

Most Americans, it seems, don't want to consider that our national debt, currently approaching $14 Trillion, even as we shred social programs, education, and anything that benefits our own people Congress silently slides another $725 Billion for more war spending in fiscal year 2011.

People who were unhappy with the direction the U.S. was going under Bush can now see that the man people clamored to looking for HOPE and CHANGE is ultimately about business as usual. They now realize that it doesn't matter if you have a farmer, an actor, a lawyer, a hayseed baseball team owner or a suave, charismatic, worldly community organizer in the White House, the policies change very little and, in some cases, may actually go in the opposite direction expected.

It just seems like too much to consider. People feel helpless, impotent, scared or just disinterested and so most people choose not to talk about it, speak out against it, challenge it or even acknowledge it.

It's so much easier to zone out on a "reality" show, follow a celebrity's demise (and inevitable come back), play games on the computer or "socialize" on Facebook.

For all those who'd just rather not even think about all this, here you go-- something special to ring in the New Year. Enjoy!

Habits of a perennial hawk

Still shot from a 2007 U.S. Apache helicopter attack on civilians in Baghdad made public by Wikileaks.

On December 17 with almost no public or media attention, the House of Representatives passed legislation that commits an additional $725 Billion in FY2011 to military and war spending. According to the National Priorities Project, Hawaii’s tax payers have already spent more than $3.6 Billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan alone since 2001.

Now, with virtually no debate, dissent or discussion, this additional sum was approved overwhelmingly by both Democrats and Republicans including Kauai's Congresswoman Rep. Mazie Hirono (Rep. Djou did not vote). Then, three days before Christmas, the Senate approved the bill unanimously. This vote makes it clear that the U.S. Government, together with an under-ambitious and under-funded media, unable or unwilling to report matters of grave importance, and a citizenry too distracted, dislocated, and disinterested to voice its concern, have successfully made funding America’s endless war programs and policies a non-issue.

In spite of the ongoing economic woes of our nation, this state and its local communities, Americans seem unable to make the connection between our government's insatiable appetite for war and military spending and the self-evisceration of our own society. Even as we continue to neglect our nation’s physical infrastructure, forfeit opportunities to advance and lead in innovative technologies that can face the challenges of climate change, energy and food crises, and poverty here in the U.S., our government shows itself to be a perennial hawk with both its left wing and right wing flapping in unison to ensure the country’s largest corporations, defense contractors, lobbyists and wealthiest minority are continuously grossly over-funded while we, working class tax payers, are left to fight over scraps, expected to accept less and less each year while even our so-called “progressive” representatives in Washington support unspeakable amounts of money for war without so much as a word of explanation to the people who voted for them.

NORAD forces down low-flying craft after entering U.S. airspace

BREAKING  (Updated 2 min ago)

NEWS ALERT 

NORAD forces down low-flying craft after entering U.S. airspace

New York law enforcement is questioning an unlicensed pilot in Buffalo.

HONOLULU (Press Wire) – President Obama, vacationing in Hawaii, was awoken his first night away from Washington by a call from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) headquarters in Colorado after F-15 fighter jets were scrambled along the U.S.- Canadian border in response to a lone individual attempting to enter U.S. airspace over upstate New York.

A NORAD spokesman said tracking satellites detected a small low-flying single passenger aircraft flying less than 500 feet over residential areas in Ontario, Canada. The craft appeared to be dropping objects in and around houses and apartment buildings and had crossed to the U.S. side of the border when it was intercepted shortly after 3 a.m. local time.

The pilot and nine reindeer were forced to land north of Buffalo when the craft, described as a “large sleigh,” failed to respond to warning transmissions.

Local law enforcement officials, the Air Force 101^st Intelligence Squadron and Homeland Security were immediately dispatched after a single male was taken into custody for questioning.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Kathryn Killmore said, “a suspect in his 80s lacking personal identification, a pilot’s license or registration documents, carrying a large bag of wrapped packages that included an ‘unusually large amount’ of items not associated with a single man is currently being detained.”

The suspect, described as a “heavy-set bearded male,” initially waved the fighter jets away and refused to land. The sleigh’s pilot, identifying himself only as “Father Nick,” wore heavy black boots, gloves, a red cape with what law enforcement officials said appeared to be a thick belt similar to those favored by suicide bombers.

White House spokesman Michael Aaronson said, “at this time there is no reason to believe this individual posed an imminent threat to U.S. citizens or property, but he will remain in custody for further questioning. During the holiday season, all Americans are asked to remain extra vigilant and report suspicious activities to local law enforcement and DHS.”

In response to the incident, Department of Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano said DHS would be re-examining all “terror chatter” and beefing up efforts to track suspicious activities.

“We’re making more lists. We’ll be checking them closely, in fact, checking them twice,” Napolitano said. “This Christmas we’re not taking anything at face value.”

NORAD tracking satellites can be viewed here: