Last year at this time I wrote an article about Sputnik and how it changed the world in October 1957. Here is another, with updates and additions, on the verge of the 51st anniversary of that historical event. I know that some teenagers read this site, even though to them Nixon is prehistory so let’s quickly review for the young folks what happened, or what seemed to happen, when Sputnik, the first ever earth satellite, built in Russia, began to orbit the Earth every 96 minutes on October 4th 1957. It had a skin of polished aluminium and was visible from Earth.

With the lies of political hacks filling the air, and the current meltdown of the banking system based entirely and only on greed and its yield, it may be a good idea to look at another example of a group that poses as intellectual, unbiased seekers of truth, who are actually merely craving for the popularity of their peers.

With the current decades old deadlock between the Palestinians and the Israelis in mind it may be a good moment to review a bit of recent history showing that it doesn’t pay to be honest about certain matters in America.

It seems to me that there is a growing tendency in this country now to take anything said by an ‘expert’ with several ounces of salt. Maybe this is because people are beginning to wake up to the current glaring searchlight on the financial industry and are realizing that the people in black Armani suits with power ties are the creeps who have been taking the public for a ride as suckers for years.

I recently had a visit from two friends. One had had some serious problems with his teeth and told me about his fluoride treatment. The other tells me that she uses a fluoride mouth wash. I was stunned that two alert and aware people and their dentists had been taken by the lies of the drug industry, when they were otherwise so aware of the deceits continually imposed on the public in the name of profit at all costs, particularly someone else's costs.

Hallowe’en is just a few days away and for days now the stores have been filled with hideous masks and replicas and complete outfits for children, and others to wear, not to mention equally hideous things designed to turn the average lawn into a graveyard. I thought it might be of interest to readers who didn’t know about it to see where these commercially made monsters originated, and how they connect directly with today.