The Daily Diatribe

Data Mining.

2012-02-16T23:19:00.000-08:00

You have to be pretty stupid to not realize that everything that you do on the internet leads to you being tracked and targeted by corporations seeking your money. You also have to be fairly naive if you think that data mining is a new phenomenon. Companies have been doing this forever, trying to target consumers and hook them early on their products, stores and overall philosophy. "Cradle to Grave" advertising has been a reality in all of our lives and if you step back for a moment and examine your own life you will see that your entire life and most aspects of it have been touched by targeted advertising. Our freedom in America is limited to what we can consume with the means we have in our possession to consume it. Every company that sells shit or makes shit is after every dollar they can get and we await their overtures unknowingly because we are so conditioned that half the work is done for them by the time we can scrap together the cash to make our first significant consumer purchases. The web just makes their ability to gather data easier and casts and infinitely larger net with way more information than could previously be gathered. Around that new planet of data an army of scientists work away at it trying to perfect the science of advertising.

In the social sciences behaviorists are now finding they can earn top dollar examining and explaining human habits. How they are formed, how hard they are to break and what can motivate people to change them - i.e. switch from Coke to Pepsi. Each part of our lives is available to these companies and their army of scientists, mathematicians, statisticians and behaviorists thanks to the endless buying capacity major corporations have. They pay to get as much information about us as possible so that they can sell us more shit. Am I calling this a grand conspiracy designed to fuck each one of us out of our privacy and hard earned cash? No. It is how things are done and it is out in the open, so it is a paradigm, not a conspiracy. Do I think the paradigm fucks us? Absolutely. I writing about this because we all need to be aware of just how deep they dig. Where we live, our marital status, our children, our cars, our homes, every product we purchase, the stores we frequent, the restaurants we eat at, the movies we see, the websites we visit, the news we read, the clothes on our backs, the beds we sleep in, all of it is being tracked and compiled and as the online universe becomes more and more primary to our beings the advertising will become razor sharp and directly aimed at us 24 hours a day.

It is unavoidable. My advice? Buy used stuff in cash and hang on to what you own and fix it. There is no escaping it but my goal is to minimize it. I see a world where one day we will be questioned by authorities for not having new stuff. We could even be punished for it because consumption may one day become mandated and codified in legal terms. It already happens, I know it first hand. I have to jump through hoops and endure bullshit for my old van. It is coming, but rather than leave the grid just try to float through it touching down as little as possible. Ciao.

Hypocrisy Hits Home.

2012-02-15T16:06:00.000-08:00

Cesarean sections account for over one third of births in America. One third. They are one of the most common medical procedures performed on the planet and are actively encouraged as a safe method by the medical establishment. Why was my wife denied health insurance because she had one last year? It makes no fucking sense and adds insult to injury because she did everything in her power to avoid having the procedure. It was one of the hardest decisions of either of our lives and now we are being told that it is a "condition" that prices her out of the private health insurance market? What the fuck kind of nightmare is this place? America is nothing more than a complex fabric of legal liabilities stitched together with cost benefit analyses by major corporate powers with the aim of making and saving money for themselves. When it comes to the people who live here there is no consideration for them as actual human beings. If C-sections are so fucking dangerous then they should not be performed at all. The thing is that you are more likely to have another one once you have had one. The insurance companies do not want to pick up that tab so here we sit, fucked over by circumstances outside our control.

Here is the MOST fucked up thing about it. If my wife and I have another child and go through the big insurance sponsored health providers they WILL TELL US WE HAVE TO HAVE A C-SECTION even though my wife is a perfect candidate for a vaginal birth. So they fuck you coming and going in the name of pure profit and faulty science. It makes no fucking sense and it makes me want to see the whole mess burnt to the ground. "You have to have a procedure that we cannot cover, but you have to do it. So give us all the money you will ever earn, ever." Welcome to the land of the free. This in nothing more that a state sanctioned mob masquerading as a democracy. The citizens of this world are nine volt batteries for their keepers and pussy shit like Occupy ain't going to change that stark reality. Goodnight. Ciao.

Xi Jinping.

2012-02-14T23:15:00.000-08:00

Xi Jinping is poised to be the next president of China and he is here in the US on a week long tour of the nation. It is critical for the Chinese leader to get a sense of the United States and forge personal connections with its top leaders in government and economic affairs. It is equally critical the the US know who they are going to be dealing with for the foreseeable future. All of today's events were heavily scripted affairs with strained goodwill with diplomatic jabs thrown in. Obama and Joe Biden both warned that relations between the US and China can only remain fruitful as long as both nations observe the "same rules of the road" and the "game is fair." The two largest areas of contention are economic and military. The US has long criticized China's currency valuations and its ability to undercut Western manufacture. China is wary of anything that will stifle its growth. Obama's recent tour of the Pacific was a major reassertion of US military might in the region, a direct threat to China's hegemony there. China is soon to launch its first fully functional aircraft carrier and is watching US relations with its Pacific neighbors closely. From the outside it looks like the Cold War revisited as both sides are shoring up their spheres of influence.

The elephant in the room is China's deplorable human rights record and protesters have already begun to follow Jinping around on his visit. There is no doubt that China has violated the civil liberties of its people and those they oppress and occupy by force. It is a totalitarian state, but the US is not exactly perfect and given current circumstances it looks like both sides have backed away from the issue. The greatest threat I feel China poses is to the environment, an issue also glossed over because of our own deplorable track record. In many ways China and the US are made for each other. Gigantic nations that wield the kind of power that makes the rest of the world tremble. Yet both are fragile, insecure and unsure of what the future holds for them. It's funny. They are kind of like the old guard boxers like Ali and Fraizer. Tremendous figures who ultimately faded away and were never replaced in the annals of boxing. I see a hundred years from now the same fate for the US and China. They may still be fighting each other, but the emerging world will probably take over enough market share to strip away their superpower status. Right now the US is just getting used to sharing the stage, but soon enough both will have to share it with nations and continents once thought to be as backwards as we used to view China twenty years ago.

For this trip the gal is for Jinping to walk away as a known quantity and for him to know that despite our criticisms we know we have to do business. There will be a repeat of the Cold War and relations will remain strained. But while they focus of each other the US and China will not notice as they are joined by India, Brazil and Africa, front and center on the world stage. Ciao.

Fiscal Responsibility.

2012-02-13T23:37:00.000-08:00

Obama unveiled his budget for the upcoming year and it will be certain to keep the partisan warfare going full tilt until November's election. He is looking to tax those who make over $250,000 a year, is planning on spending that cash on schools and roads and is lauding the savings of ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As usual there are ridiculous projected "savings" into the future, but as we all know these budgets are a fucking joke anyway. Each year the needs and means of this nation change dramatically and the only common denominator seems to be that we keep spending more than we take in at an ever increasing pace. Republicans are already frothing at he mouth contending that it is more "tax and spend" policies that do not address the grave debt crisis we are mired in. Obama contends that we cannot allow the economy to backslide and one of the primary ways to stop it is to keep pumping stimulus cash into the system. Both sides are right, but there just isn't any fucking cash to do it, but we cannot afford not to. In essence the US looks like most American households. The car breaks and you have to get it fixed even though you have no cash to pay for it. So you put it on the credit card and carry the balance forever. Rinse wash repeat for all unforeseen expenditures and you are just like the US government.

Obama is planing cuts to the Pentagon, NASA and minor trimmings to Medicare and Medicaid. The last two are largely left untouched and the looming Social Security shortfall is not addressed. It feels like a raft of half measures designed to make Obama look good running up to the election and most of the "savings" are derived from foregone conclusions, like the end of the Iraq War. Obama also wants to end Saturday mail delivery and cut the EPA's budget by 4%. When you take all of this in it just sounds and looks desperate. To go back to my household analogy it is like cancelling your subscription to HBO to offset the cost of sending your kid to college. The numbers just do not come close to covering the shortfalls. Which makes me wonder how long this can keep going on. It has been 12 years since Clinton declared that we had a gigantic budget surplus and ever since we have spiraled into fiscal oblivion. Almost none of what Obama is proposing will actually happen. And like I said earlier, the insane projected "savings" into the future and the entire document itself are pure fantasy. The cuts that will stick will hurt mainly social welfare programs and the new tax hikes will be impossible to pass in an election year.

I think we should just call the whole thing off. Each of us should get cashed out our Social Security and we revert to a barter economy. It's a joke, but it almost males sense when you realize that the entire US government and economy is a house of cards and any one of us can be thrown under the bus by circumstance at a moment's yet the powers that be can shuffle numbers ad infintum and sustain their false power. There is something inherently unfair about the entire process, something that demands more that Occupy Offices. But, this thing keeps limping along and I am curious to see if one day the whole system just converts to negative numbers since we are all in the hole. Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday!

2012-02-12T23:33:00.000-08:00

Hey, and it is actually Sunday! Here's some words from my spiritual adviser, Enjoy!

"Tao never makes any ado,

And yet it does everything.

If a ruler can cling to it,

All things will grow of themselves.

When they have grown and tend to make a stir,

It is time to keep them in their place by the aid

of the nameless Primal Simplicity,

Which alone can curb the desires of men.

When the desire of men are curbed,

there will be peace,

And the world will settle down of its own accord."

#37

Fences.

2012-02-11T13:45:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I forget that we have been building a fence to keep Mexicans from ruining our fine nation. I guess I thought they would stop building it now that there isn't a huge rush to enter the land plenty. With many states enacting draconian immigration laws and our economy sputtering the allure of heading North to make some cash to buy a ranch back home has faded. The drug trade is flourishing with our guns and demand fanning the flames of Mexico's drug inferno, but a fence won't stop that from happening. It seems that the people who are most affected by the fence are actually American citizens who have the honor of being fenced out of their own nation. "What?" you say. It's true. Due to geographic restrictions, like those around Brownsville, TX where the Rio Grande floodplain sprawls for miles, the fence has been st back up to a few miles from the actual border. There are people who live there and they have to cross border security to get to the grocery store. Makes a lot of sense. Let's isolate our own citizens and restrict their basic freedom of movement to keep illegals from picking our lettuce and quietly going home at the end of the harvest.

It is fucking insane and another example of how our tax money gets thrown down the toilet. If we had the cash from Iraq, Afghanistan and this stupid fence on our coffers we would not only be solvent, we would be able to pay for a single payer health care system and decent education for all Americans. Instead we have tax paying families who have to go through a gate to get to the nearest town to buy shit. Complete madness. But that is nature of this world. A non-issue becomes a national crisis and our fine government goes forth with an insane plan that is a money pit creating logistical nightmares like this. I would refuse to pay taxes if I were one of these citizens. They should be paid to go through the bullshit of crossing a checkpoint to leave their driveway. How can anyone think that this makes sense? Welcome to the 21st century, America, you have lost your way . . . Ciao.

The Issues That Should Not Be.

2012-02-10T15:27:00.001-08:00

Even more maddening than the farcical GOP Primary campaign is the resurgence of social issues as hot button issues for this election season. These are the things that divide this nation down the middle, with the educated and sane on one side and the gun toting, God loving imbeciles on the other. Abortion, contraception and gay marriage are things that should be universally accepted and institutionally supported. Yet, they create ugly legal and cultural battles all across America. Which in turn makes them highly volatile politically. A candidate can die instantly in the eyes of their constituency if they answer incorrectly on any of these subjects and they force otherwise sane people to take positions that they are clearly uncomfortable with. Who in their right mind is actually morally opposed to contraception? In the 21st century it strikes me as incredible that a human being living in America with an Internet connection can sit and look you in the eye and seriously maintain that they think using contraception is murder or somehow immoral. It is immoral to have children irresponsibly, it is immoral to neglect unwanted children and if you think sperm is sentient I am the mass murderer of the universe.

Abortion pisses me of to no end. I have to say that I think about it more considerately than I did before my daughter was born. Those first couple of months are heart wrenching as you wait and see if everything is going to work out. It pains me to think of what would have happened if she had not been born, so take that into account before judging my opinion. Life is not precious. The act of reproduction is not unique or special. Just look at all the people and tell me that they are all walking miracles. Death is a critical part of the cycle of life and not every fetus is meant to live. Billions die on their own and if a woman is raped, a victim of incest or is just not ready or willing to have a child then they should have the right to choose. End of fucking story. All these righteous pieces of shit who demand that every fetus see the light of day should be legally forced to adopt and care for an unwanted child. Besides, the state should not have any say in the matter anyway. The sanctity of our individual rights starts with our bodies and if tobacco and booze are legal then abortion should be as well without any obstructions beyond the basic medical requirements any procedure entails.

As for gay marriage, I already covered that a couple of days ago. This week has seen a spike in social issues activity, mainly because of the Catholic/contraception controversy, and I expect them to fade away. The economy is what will determine this election and the rest is window dressing. Besides, they are not suitable for debate anyway because only morons contest their validity. Ciao.

Grecian Formula.

2012-02-09T23:16:00.000-08:00

The Greek debt crisis will just not go away and no matter what status is deferred upon it on a given day, the fact remains that Greece is broke. There is a basic logic that all the powers in the EU and the rest of the world seem to be in denial about. For decades Greece spent more than it took in and lied about it. When they came clean the mess had spiraled out of control, compounded exponentially by the global economic crisis. If Greece had come clean five years ago they might have had a chance at the bailouts working because so much of the world was running on cooked books. Now that the monopoly money days are behind us Greece is being forced to downsize and to do that they are choking themselves. Asking the Greek people to accept pay cuts, decreases in benefits and essentially forcing many business owners to shut down is not going to boost revenue. As their economy contracts things will keep getting worse and their already perilous debt spiral will become catastrophic. Other nations are not far behind them and the common thread is that too many of the world's most powerful institutions owe more than they make and have no clear path to solvency in the current economic climate.

In essence Greece's problem is a problem for all of us and no one seems to be willing to admit that it cannot be solved by austerity measures or bailouts. Greece is that kid at college who lived off their credit cards and students loans for so long and to such an extent that the checks from Mom and Dad and the too-little-too-late pizza delivery job cannot stave off their creditors once they finally drop out. Our planet is filled with nations who fit that description and the United States is one of them. Staving off disaster is the name of the game right now for global finance and Greece is the canary in a coalmine. If they can keep Greece afloat and in the EU then the rest of the game will appear tenable. If it fails then "Let's call the whole thing off" will start playing in the background. It all hinges on the will of the Greek people. If they decide to grudgingly shoulder the burden and accept that their lives will suck for the foreseeable future then we might see global stability for a while. If they say "Fuck you!", which they should, then we will see the beginning of the great unraveling. Our world is sewn together with thin threads and anyone who thinks the books can be balanced legitimately is insane.

It has all become a confidence game where the powers that be count on control over the populations they oversee to trust their financial stability. It cannot go on forever. The results will be bad. The Arab Spring is a logistical debacle. Chaos is proving hard to contain and traditional structures designed to provide stability and comfort are proving impossible to maintain in the aftermath of the revolutions. So, as things collapse we will all eventually have to fend for ourselves. Be prepared and sweet dreams! Ciao.

WTF Mitt?

2012-02-08T23:14:00.001-08:00

I keep hoping that the GOP race will just get decided and go away, but it just isn't happening. Yesterday Rick Santorum won all three GOP events taking the lion's share of the delegates in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado. Newt is out again and hopefully he will now fade away. Romney chalked up the losses to his lack of presence in this batch of states and said that he is looking ahead to the next big primary contests. In essence he did the now classic "I didn't really try, so don't blame me for losing" bit that has characterized every loser's concession speech in this mess of a GOP primary campaign. It's funny, I was reading an article the other day about the fact that Santorum has more than an outside chance of seeping the Midwest. Well, the sweep has begun and if he does it will cast even more doubt upon the inevitability of a Romney candidacy. Santorum is a fucking wing nut and if he gets the nod from the GOP Obama will be very pleased. He has no prayer of taking the center or the undecideds and the the only reason he is making a decent showing right now has more to do with Romney's weaknesses than his strengths. He appeals to the extremes of the GOP demographic and those are the loyal foot soldiers who actually go out and vote in a primary.

When it comes to the national election Santorum will have to swing to the center or else face a trouncing. With Romney it will be easier for the GOP to go to the center and try and steal votes away from Obama. Plus he is the sanest of all the candidates and I would not run screaming to the hills if he ended up in the White House. He would be worse than Obama for certain, but compared to Santorum he looks like a reincarnation of JFK. The fact that Santorum questions the validity of evolution, hates gays and has shady ties to the K Street Project should be enough to put him out of the running. But Mitt just cannot convince the great unwashed that he is a gun and God loving good old boy that will champion their myopic world view. This is a huge problem for Mitt. He may lose a lot more states in the coming months and that will make his case harder to prove when in comes down to the convention. I wonder what is happening behind closed doors at Crossroads for America . . . Who is Rove going to get behind? I think it is becoming clear that the party machinery is ready to line up behind Romney, but if the actual people who comprise the GOP aren't they have a problem.

It just shows what chaos the entire political process has become. This thing is a fucking disaster and it is embarrassing to see the lack of depth and talent on the GOP bench. The only reason I keep analyzing this shit is because there is a good chance that Obama will not get reelected. I know that the economy all of sudden seems stable and unemployment has dropped, but we all know that things are fucked and that will send many who voted for him last time to the other side. My concern is that if he loses I want the least worst GOP candidate on the ballot. To me that is Mitt and I hope he doesn't fuck that up. Ciao.

Ray of hope.

2012-02-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

I have said it many times before, but here we go one more time: Until same sex marriage becomes legal and socially acceptable we will not evolve as a society. That is why I was glad to see that California's controversial Prop. 8 was deemed unconstitutional by a 2 to 1 vote by a Federal Appeals Court in San Francisco. The case is certain to head to the Supreme Court where it will more than likely be found to be in violation of constitutional law. Here's what one of the judges in today's ruling had to say:

"Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. All that Proposition 8 accomplished was to take away from same-sex couples the right to be granted marriage licenses and thus legally to use the designation ‘marriage.’ Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gay men and lesbians in California.” (NYTimes.com)

Prop. 8 was always a purely politically motivated attempt to satisfy conservatives back in 2008 and its shaky foundations are crumbling. As are the foundations of most same sex marriage bans across America. Those who condemn homosexuality and lesbianism are part of the old guard and as they die off so will this issue.

I would hope. Hating gays is a big part of the intolerant/ignorant crowd's ideology. I extend that definition to religious zealots the world over - i.e Muslim nations that execute gays -, kids who bully gays and the inbred fools who beat gays up for fun on the weekends. The other key components to the code include zealotry, conservatism, hypocrisy, self loathing and a general sense that anyone who is not just like yourself is the "Devil." These people are stupid because only a dumbass would think that the sanctity of marriage is reserved for the morally righteous. I hate to break it to these people, but marriage is a legal contract, nothing more. The ceremony and traditional accouterments are a personal choice and have no bearing upon the actual legal act of marriage. All these idiots think that marriage is about god when all it is about is the law. Laws that gives people certain rights and to deny people those rights has nothing to do with god, society or anything else that these fools say the gays are sullying. I have to remember that these are people who do not understand the legal ramifications of marriage because they can't read or write so good. And most of them have been married more than once or have cheated on their spouse, is that righteous or holy?

Everyone should be afforded the same rights as the rest. This is discrimination, plain and simple. There is no legal justification for banning same sex marriages and we do not have room at this stage in the game for hang-ups about gays in our society. But since stupid people will continue to exist I am sure that this issue will not die out anytime soon. I wish it would, it would indicate that we are evolving. Ciao.

The old ways die hard.

2012-02-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

Tyrants and democracies share a similar weakness these days: an inability to adapt to the digital age. Let's discuss the tyrants first. Al Assad in Syria is a prime example of someone who cannot cope with the advent of social networking as a means to propel and expand popular revolt against his regime. We all know he is full of shit when he claims that the violence is cause by foreign sponsored terrorists, but in his delusional mind he might actually think it is. An ultimate act of denial. A refusal to believe that the population his family has kept in check for so long is now refusing to play along. He probably also refuses to believe that social networking via wireless devices is a momentous part of their power. Throughout the Arab Spring Movement technology has played a most crucial role, uniting people and enabling them to organize, document, give voice to and implement their revolutionary zeal on a scale unimaginable a few years ago. Why do you think China controls its media so tightly? The Party knows the power of the new technology and will do whatever it takes to keep it from becoming a viable tool for the general population's outrage. There will be no Facebook in China, but there are many challenges ahead for all monolithic and oppressive regimes because technology cannot be stopped.

As for democracies, America used to be a template admired and emulated all across the globe. But over the past decade it has fallen out of favor. We have the oldest working constitution on the planet and that is no longer a bragging right. Here's what one of our own Supreme Court Justices has to say about it: "In a television interview during a visit to Egypt last week, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court seemed to agree. “I would not look to the United States Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012,” she said. She recommended, instead, the South African Constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the European Convention on Human Rights." (NYTimes.com) In fact the Canadian Charter is seen by most fledgling nations and those seeking a fresh take as the new template. Our Constitution is not robust enough to tackle many of the issues presented by the contemporary landscape and it is so difficult to amend that its flexibility and fluidity are moribund, unable to cope with a multitude of new challenges. Some legal scholars from other parts of the world regard America as a legal "backwater," a place where the process and foundation are so out of touch that doing business or creating operating guidelines makes more sense in Canada, Europe or even South Africa.

Yet tyrants and our rickety legal framework are here to stay. While other nations draft new constitutions every couple or three decades we cling to ours despite its shortcomings, just like Assad is clinging to his regime. Change only comes to some when it is forced upon them, but to wither in denial and cling to moldering paradigms is a bad idea for both a democracy and a tyrant. The world is changing faster than ever and unless we are careful America may find itself as far away from the mainstream as Assad is today. Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday!

2012-02-06T02:09:00.000-08:00

I cannot seem to post these until the early AM on Monday, but so be it! Presenting Lao Tzu . . . Enjoy!

"Heaven lasts long, and Earth abides.

What is the secret of their durability?

Is it not because they do not live for themselves

That they can live so long?

Therefore, the Sage wants to remain behind,

But finds himself at the head of others;

Reckons himself out,

But finds himself safe and secure.

Is it not because he is selfless

That his Self is realized?"

#7

Observations,

2012-02-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

I find it interesting that the unemployment rate has suddenly started going down. You know how gas usually gets cheaper right around the summer time and other peak travel times? You just know it is going to happen and it is the hidden hands behind the market that guide the prices to encourage consumption in other markets. I feel like those same hidden hands are behind all of the positive economic data that we have been seeing for the past few weeks. It looks like a miracle for Obama and whether these numbers are cooked or not they will help his chances come November. I have been discussing this for a while, but it seems like he is checking off a list in fairly rapid order to assure a large stable of viable talking points. Less than a year ago he only had the Health Care legislation. Now he can say: "We got bin Laden, Qaddafi is gone, we are out of Iraq, GDP is rising and unemployment is falling." Not a bad list. But all of those things had questionable motivations and debatable results. I just find it difficult to believe that all of a sudden the economy had turned a corner and everything is back on track. I think it is a smokescreen and the numbers are cooked.

The crisis in Syria is not debatable. It is awful and it is getting worse every day. Yet, Russia and China refuse to sign off on a UN resolution to take decisive action against a nation being slaughtered by its regime. The al Assad clan unleashed a bold attack on the eve of the vote in Homs where over 200 were killed in an assault by government forces. So it looks like it is official: Syria has devolved into civil war and two of the biggest seats on the UN Security Council are refusing to do anything about it. The reasoning behind Russia and China's decision to take no action against the Assad regime goes beyond their economic ties. Russia's mob rules style of government is currently being tested by popular protests and they do not want any precedent for international intervention against a sovereign power being set. The same goes for China who is infamous for squashing any opposition its own single party government. They both claim that it is unfair to blame the whole mess on the Syrian government and that is total bullshit. The fact is that oppressive regimes stick together and if they refuse to act against the al Assad the blood of the Syrian people is on their hands as well.

Then you have the fantasy land that Mark Zuckerberg lives in. Facebook's IPO is going to make him a very rich man and a company that makes a billion dollars a year is looking to valued as high as $100 billion. Money literally generated from thin air . . . How does any of this shit make sense? The world is made up of rules that most of us think/believe we have to follow, yet those who control the means of production, the flow of information and the heavy artillery do what they fucking please. Just an observation . . . Ciao.

Ron Paul.

2012-02-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

In places like Pahrump, in rural Nye County Nevada Ron Paul IS the president of the United States. Pahrump is a place where people go to disappear and be left alone. Many of its citizens openly carry firearms and there is a general attitude that the government needs to stay the fuck out of their lives. There are countless rural hamlets like this throughout America, where the laws and morays most urban Americans appreciate and count on just do not exist and they like it that way. It is as if they already live in the Mad Max scenario and if they are going to vote in an election they will only vote for Ron Paul. The interesting thing is that his appeal also ensnares young college students who yearn for his fantasy land of no government and everyone fends for themselves mentality. The commonality between the two demographics is naivete. Rural shit-kickers hate rules because they have a hard time playing by them: i.e. they feel victimized if they get arrested for drinking and driving with a gun on the passenger seat. Young people hate rules because they are rebellious and college students think they know all the answers because they are idealistic and think that the books they have read actually correlate to reality or can influence it systemically.

Fact is that Ron Paul is a crackpot and if you are a fervent follower then you have not fully digested the reality of the world around you. Government, the economy and the ruts we trudge through each day in life are inextricably bound together - for better or more often for worse - and you cannot throw one component out and keep the rest. Sure, we all want the cowboy freedom fantasy. But it is a fantasy. The world is global and isolationism and protectionism is simply not possible as a foreign policy platform. Paul is good for stirring the pot and stimulating debate, but his ideas on their own make no sense. Unfortunately some of my friends have pledged allegiance to Paul over the years and I have given up trying to reason with them. The biggest black mark against him is that his son Rand caved in to the Tea Party machine and became a puppet. That is hardly a sound endorsement of Ron's ability to actually lead in this political system. If Rand had told them to fuck off and stayed on his dad's side of the tracks I might have a less scathing opinion of him. Just some observations on a man who seems to inspire too many people for the wrong reasons. I agree with some of it, but he is not the answer to America's woes. Ciao.

Culturally Ill.

2012-02-02T12:36:00.001-08:00

Is it alright to fuck, sexually humiliate and abuse children in America? Sometimes it feels like it. The Sandusky/Penn State scandal resulted in the entire campus protesting the firing of Paterno and then eulogizing the disgraced ex-coach for three fucking days. He knew that his boy was fucking kids and yet the students at a major American university stood by him as an icon. The latest horrific abuse to hit the headlines centers upon an LA school teacher who has been abusing children since at least the early '90s when he was first brought on charges for trying to touch a young girl in his classroom. Mark Berndt finally got busted last year when a photo processing lab tech turned him in. From 2005 onwards he was forcing his students to eat his semen and pose with roaches on their faces. And these are just the documented abuses, who know how many other kids never said anything or how many things he has gotten away with over the years. He did this shit in his classrooms while school was in session. How does this happen? The school boards he worked for had to know about his 1993 accusation and had to have an inkling that he was up to something. Why didn't anyone speak up or do anything about it?

Kids are scared when weird and painful shit happens to them, a fact that a seasoned molester like Berndt knew intimately. They will bury the pain and run from it, I know that first hand. The thing that gets me about all of these cases is that for each one that is brought to light there are countless others that get away with it and continue to hurt kids with impunity. These fuckers should be publicly executed in the most gruesome manner imaginable to send a message: If you get caught you die. Instead it almost seems as if we culturally accept these acts committed by our fellow citizens. No one is surprised when a Scout Leader is found with video of himself fucking little boys. Priests, teachers and charity workers are all jokingly assumed to be molesters - but the fact that many are is no joke and should not be accepted. There should be zero tolerance for these acts and those who commit them. There is no excuse and they know that what they are doing is evil. I am so fucking angry I cannot continue . . . Ciao.

PS - If anyone ever touches my little girl they will suffer.

The Mortgage Question.

2012-02-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

The debate about what to do bout America's mortgage crisis has stepped onto center stage and raises serious questions about were we are and where we are headed. With the economy in shambles and millions upon millions of Americans underwater on their homes, the presidential candidates are going to focus on this issue and how they will deal with it. In many ways it is a defining issue of this election, because all the candidates claim to be advocates for the American middle class. Today was a study in contrasts between Obama and Romney. Obama announced that he wants to broaden mortgage relief to more Americans who are underwater. To be eligible for the FHA backed refinancing plan home owners must have six months of payments under there belt and no more than one missed payment the previous six. It will be a tough sell to Congress, but Obama is trying like hell to make it sound good by stressing that those who were financially irresponsible will not be getting any help from the government. It plays to Obama's new-found folksiness as he sells himself as a populist crusader advocating for Middle America. It would be great of these plans actually helped anyone. So far all of the mortgage assistance programs have been underwhelming and this one sounds like all the rest. Besides, Congress is not going to go for it anyway.

But at least he is pretending their is urgency about this issue and is publicly acknowledging the pain being felt in so many households. Enter cyber-Morman Romney. He is great at crunching numbers and evading his fair share of the tax burden. Let's see what he has to say . . . "This [crisis]is cascading throughout our system and in some respects government is trying to just hold things in place, hoping things get better… My own view is you recognize the distress, you take the loss and let people reset. Let people start over again, let the banks start over again. Those that are prudent will be able to restart, those that aren’t will go out of business. This effort to try and exact the burden of their mistakes on homeowners and commercial property owners, I think, is a mistake." (Mitt Romney) That was in response to the State of the Union Address. Today he said the market should be allowed to bottom out before anything else should be done. A cold and hard look at the problem, but not without its merits. I think that he nailed it by stating that the government is hoping it will just get better someday while it throws money at it in the short term. I think his analysis is dead on, but his solution is not very comforting. Telling people to accept their fate and that only the strong survive will not play well with Middle Americans screwed out of jobs, retirement and and homes.

I think that anyone who has seen the value of their home drop below what they owe should be afforded free access to a government sponsored assessment program to determine what the best course for their situation. Each case should be afforded the same resources and individually tailored solutions offered free of charge. Most of the people who are screwed did nothing wrong and they should not be punished or charged any further. I think that the Obama solution is a proven loser and Romney-bot has no solution, only analysis. So the race between the lesser of evils begins . . . Ciao.

Florida.

2012-01-31T10:03:00.001-08:00

Mitt is back on top! Anyone surprised by that should write to me about the amazing "Double Your Wealth Plan!" I sell for a mere $99.99 an installment! Newt's fortunes are doomed and everyone knows it, but for some reason the GOP seems hellbent on fighting a Romney nomination until the bitter end. Its wonderful to watch because it is tearing the GOP apart. By the time Romney finally gets the nod the Obama team can just use Gingrich's attack ads and save some money - just a glimpse of what you get with my patented "Double Your Wealth Plan!" All joking aside, these idiots are making the already ludicrous American political landscape look like a carnival ride from hell. The scary part is that even with all of the ugliness and chaos Obama is going to have to fight for his presidency. This election stands out to me as being the most depressing in my lifetime. The Bush wins were horrific, but with Obama failing to live up to expectations and the prospect of a third string Republican winning the White House I think that this one is worse. Then again, I do not think I can remember the state of the union being this bad in my lifetime.

Things just keep reaching new lows, so I suppose it follows that our political process will follow that downward trend. I think it is wise to brace ourselves for a Romney presidency. It is unlikely, yet we seem to be at a point where most anything can happen. Now that Romney has shown that he can grow teeth - his negative ads and fierce performances in the Florida debates proved that - we will see a vicious campaign in the fall. I know that Obama will probably win, but once Romney has the full support of the GOP machine behind him there is not telling for sure who will win. There is a lot of white anger out there and unless the economy performs a miraculous turnaround Obama's prospects remain uncertain. We shall see. I am just happy to watch Newt get angrier and angrier, helping to tear apart the party he once led. Ciao.

True Oppression.

2012-01-30T16:21:00.001-08:00

If you have brown skin or a vagina this world can be a very cruel place. In Afghanistan a man killed his wife for bearing a second little girl to him rather than a boy. His mother helped him with the murder and she was only 22 years old. Throughout the world there are too many cultures who deride women from birth. In India and China the ratio of women to men is so lopsided that many men never marry because millions of baby girls were never given a chance to live. It is one of the most disgusting truths that most of us here in the West never think about. Men are prized for lineage and status while women are second class citizens. When historians look back they will be shocked that we had developed a global communications network yet killed babies because of their gender. I find it utterly incomprehensible. But the cultural morays on this planet have always baffled me and that is because I am an educated white male in America. I enjoy the ultimate status of any demographic in the world and that makes it very easy for me to cast judgements from afar on my laptop. People like me do not have nay idea what it is like to be brown or female.

Just up the street from my house is a billboard with four black men on it. They are all mugshots and it is a law enforcement promotional ad. Now, here in Portland there are not that many black people and if you look at the crime statistics most crimes are committed by white people. The billboard is basically telling people to be scared of young black men, singling them out as the root of criminality when that runs counter to the facts. It is just the way that the world works and it is disgusting. I raise both of these examples as reminder of how far we have to go before we reach any semblance of equality on this planet. From my privileged vantage point it seems ridiculous that discrimination and persecution based upon race and gender even exist at this point in the historical continuum of human affairs. But, hat is because I live in America and have no grasp of what others experience in their situational context. I know what being poor is like, but coming from a poor, yet hyper educated household and being white did not prevent me from having ample opportunities.

I bring all this up to remind all of you educated white people out there bogging abut your persecution and the injustices you have suffered to shut the fuck up. Ciao.

A Late Lao Tzu Sunday!

2012-01-30T00:20:00.000-08:00

Words 'o wisdom . . . Enjoy!

"The Sage has no interests of his own.

But takes the interests of the people as his own.

He is kind to the kind;

He is also kind to the unkind:

For Virtue is kind.

He is faithful to the faithful;

He is also faithful to the unfaithful:

For Virtue is faithful.

In the midst of the world, the Sage is shy and self-effacing.

For the sake of the world he keeps his heart in its nebulous state.

As the people strain their ears and eyes:

The Sage only smiles like an amused infant."

#49

Syria. Why?

2012-01-28T10:12:00.001-08:00

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s violent grip on his nation has forced the Arab League "observers" to flee. So much for forging a middle way to end the bloodshed without alienating his fellow nations in the League. If anything the violence has gotten worse as the once peaceful citizen protests are becoming militarized. Weapons are flowing in from Lebanon and other supportive regimes and dissident soldiers are aligning behind their defector officers by forming militias. With both sides of the conflict armed and battles for neighborhoods a daily occurrence I think it safe to define the situation as a nascent civil war. The question I have been asking for a couple months is why hasn't the rest of the world intervened to end the madness? Well, in the latest issue of the Economist there is a decent breakdown of that question. Russia is a major factor, as it refuses to stop supporting the al-Addad's because they sell them a shit-load of fighter jets and other military gear each year. Russia holds veto power on the UN Security Counsel, so without the Russian vote there cannot be a UN strike on Syria.

Then you have the fact that the opposition forces are tiny, localized units that share no cohesive chain of command. There is much infighting between these groups and that makes it very difficult to organize an international force to support them. To that argument I have to point out that the same scenario was true in Libya, yet we went in. I think that the true problem lies in simple logistics. Air strikes in Syria would be very messy and since most of the fighting is tightly localized in urban centers marching troops in through the front door would be chaos. One of the biggest reasons here has been a hesitation is Iraq. The failures there and the massive civilian death toll are fresh and no one wants to be a part of a repeat of that scenario. Yet, as things escalate intervention becomes more certain. Russia is beginning to back away from the Assad Regime and the international community has been energized to take action after the failure of the Arab observers. Tougher sanctions have not stopped the reign of terror and warnings are a joke. It looks like we might have ourselves another war soon.

One thing that the article pointed out that I had not thought about is the fact that the whole mess could destabilize the entire region. Russia and Iran support the al-Assads while Turkey and Saudi Arabia support the opposition. If the civil war escalates those four nations would feel compelled to intervene and that would call for the West to go in to help the opposition. Syria may or may not be the powder keg, but as long as this continues the world has to account for why it stands by as so many suffer. Ciao.

Broken Record.

2012-01-27T23:22:00.000-08:00

I write one of these every couple of weeks and this time I just cannot help but gloat. The economy is fucked, yet in a regular cycle the news is great, downgraded, up again, revised and then it is concluded that things are still fucked. The market follows these news trends and goes up and down like a bobber with the richest making money from the peaks of the ebb and flow. Today the bad news was delivered. Yes, things were up in the fourth quarter of last year. Yes, unemployment has stalled out a bit. Yes, people are buying cars and appliances again. But the reality is that these blips are not indicative of a recovery. It's just that the recession has geared down a bit. Things were up in the fourth quarter and unemployment dropped because it was the holidays. Retailers and manufacturers had to finally restock and waited until the promise of holiday sales to do so. The holiday season was also responsible for the drop in unemployment. And just look at the number. They are heralding 2.8% as a positive number. Prior to the crisis that would have been a disastrous number for the last quarter of the year. With government spending cuts and downsizing expected this election year America could easily drop to almost zero growth in 2012.

But, at the beginning of February there will be another smattering of positives magnified by the media and the roller coaster will head out for another run around the rails. It is a broken record and I just cannot help but wonder when someone in the world of economic journalism is going to stand up and have their "I'm as mad as hell!" moment and blow the whistle on this madness. Nothing about the American economy is sustainable. Those new cars and appliance are being bought on credit. The jobs that people are getting are not as high paying as the ones they lost and have fewer benefits. The headroom for growth and capital for new ventures are not present in the current landscape. But rather than present my usual litany of doom and gloom predictions I want to explore an alternative prediction for our future in the land of the free. It is the old carrot on a stick theory. Maybe the powers that be will just keep promising things will get better and we goats will believe them and keep trudging forward. Maybe the new America will be permanently stagnant, a place where just keeping it together is the best you can hope for and owning a home or being debt free is a pipe dream.

And maybe that will go on forever. Things might not need to collapse, they might stagger on and we all get used to a lot less. America may resign itself to being a regular nation on the planet where there used to be infinite promise and opportunity, but became a place where you just live and keep your head outta the water. In my hear of hearts I hope it does collapse so we have a chance to build something new. The idea of just limping along strikes me as appalling. But it is likely. Ciao.

Arab Sprung.

2012-01-26T23:09:00.000-08:00

Just a year ago the smell of true revolution was in the air as the Arab world responded to the self immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi by demanding that corrupt regimes step aside for a new era of self rule and justice. What a difference a year makes. Tunisia, the scene of Bouazizi"s act of ultimate sacrifice and defiance, is closest to functioning as a viable nation, but it is still in the grips of power struggles and renewed calls for revolution. Egypt, which looked the most promising, is still faltering as the 'temporary' military regime is determined to stay on and wield ultimate power regardless of who is elected. Libya was the most unexpected sea change and the only nation to get direct US intervention. Qaddafi may be dead, but his loyalists are still fighting and the new regime is barely holding the fledgling nation together. Syria is embroiled in a bloody civil war that no one is prepared to stop as the al Assad clan claims that terrorists are destroying their nation when it is their soldiers that are doing most of the killing. Yemen, Oman and Jordan have all had their share of violence with no change in their regimes. So, the revolution has evolved into a protracted and bloody mess. A far cry from what I dreamed of as I sat writing about it a year ago.

One thing that pisses me off so much about the Occupy Movement is that they claim to be a part of the Arab Spring. They have no clue what the fuck they are talking about. The Arab Spring is a movement bathed in blood, anger and desperation on all side with no clear path ahead. It is not some white people who buy office space to organize benefit concerts for trustafarians pissed off about their student loan debt or sit around all day sharing news links on facebook. The people who are fighting in North Africa and Southwest Asia are fighting for their very existence and the powers that be will not capitulate and the big bad West will only help when it settles an old score or involves oil. There is a big positive. The people are not giving up. The ideas they are fighting for are noble and the fact that they are being persecuted for them shows how ignoble the world is. They will keep fighting because there is no going back once the power of these ideas is released by direct action. Their oppressors are scared and it will be a fight to the death with no road map to follow afterwards. In a very real sense the Arab Spring is the purest form of revolution. There is no replacement regime in the wings, just people who know that what is cannot be any longer.

It is still disappointing that the so called 'Democratic' powers of the Western World have refused to lend meaningful weight to their cause. It is a great opportunity for all people the world over to rediscover the power of self determined rule. Our own democracy would be renewed if we would go and fight for the Arab World's own craving for it. It would give it all depth and meaning. But, the paradigm demands the status quo remain in place to keep the money flowing to the powers that be. So, you have to destroy the paradigm. To do that America needs to lead the way and the American people are too weak to do what the Arab World is doing. Ciao.

Science and Technology.

2012-01-25T22:57:00.000-08:00

Two interesting stories have caught my eye in the past few days and both point to a disconnect with this species and the reality of things. First science. I love science and my favorite sub-discipline of philosophy is the philosophy of science where we philosophers tear apart the foundational assumptions that science stands upon. Six years ago the The Arbor Day Foundation issued a new map for tree hardiness in America because they had found that species previously thought to be unable to survive in northern climes where thriving far beyond their prescribed boundaries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has finally caught up and when you buy your seed packets this spring or a new planting guide you will find that the climate map is much different. Plants have been showing the effects of climate change for years. In my own backyard there have been drastic changes over the past eight years and now the powers that be have decided to redraw the map because gardeners, of all people, have reported too many anomalies to ignore. When you step back to look at it it makes complete sense and I bet many an evangelical/GOP wonk has had to change what they plant while still denying the global warming trend that is changing the Earth before our eyes.

It's very real and since the announcement was by the Department of Agriculture during an election year I doubt it will get much press. But when you think about it for just a moment it is profound. Who needs a bunch of data and analysis when you can see it happening right before your eyes? It goes to show how political this issue has become and how its true import has been blunted by infighting and the influence of industry on the political process itself. But if you want to truly lose sight of the reality before your eyes take a spin in one of Google's new automated cars. They are building a small fleet of vehicles that require no driver and the fact that the technology works is not as astounding as the array of problems these cars create. A recent gathering centered upon this new technology examined the legal and moral problems that a driver-less car presents and those hurdles will probably prevent them from ever hitting the streets in great numbers. How do you give a ticket to one? What does the insurance premium need to be for one? Can you jail the owner if the car kills someone? And my question: Why the fuck do we need these? Come on! GPS has already made most American drivers dumber than a sack of hammers, so were going to have the cars drive for them as well?

It makes me wonder what the fuck is going on. With so much going so wrong it seems frivolous and ridiculous that these machines are being seriously considered for mass consumption. It is even more insane that they held a conference to debate the legal and moral implications. If this technology becomes standard in my lifetime I will be smashing into a lot of these toys with the van. "Outta my way you cyborg fucker!" (In Grandpa Simpson voice.) Ciao.

The State of the Union.

2012-01-24T23:29:00.000-08:00

I have to hand it to Obama. When he nails it, he nails it. But there were also many moments in his address that made my stomach turn. But let's focus on the positives first. When he took Congress to task for its inanity over the past year I was reminded of why I voted for him. The stony silence in the room was palpable and you could hear the shame dripping from the walls. That was my highlight. Much of his speech was devoted to promoting the interests of the beleaguered American Middle Class and if you suspended belief for a moment it was inspiring stuff. The same goes to his call for bringing American manufacturing back home, although the only example he cited was Masterlock, a company that is not going to rescue this nation from manufacturing irrelevance. I was also struck by his seemingly genuine anger at the causes of the economic crisis and his willingness to use executive orders to try and get things done. Another big swipe at Congress, one of many well deserved criticisms of our broken legislative branch he made. Good stuff and when I was in that suspended state of belief I was proud to be an American and inspired by his words. Then reality sets in and it all falls to pieces.

The parts that made my stomach sour were the self-congratulatory tales of his military prowess. Recounting the death of bin-Laden and Qaddafi he sounded like a trophy hunter. He was also tone deaf on many occasions. One that stands out was his assertion that young, innovative companies should get government support even if they fail, an obvious attempt to justify the Solyndra boondoggle that scandalized Joe Biden. The flip side of his Masterlock tale was implied but not addressed as he stated that many jobs are never coming back. Guess who told him that last year? Steve Jobs, who was invoked as a great bastion of American know how. At a Silicon Valley tech conference Jobs told Obama that high tech will never come back because the factories overseas are far superior to anything the US could come up with. His defense of the Middle Class message was negated by his equal defense of Big Oil and his hollow claim that he has put Wall Street on notice. The fact that he is opening up "safe" off shore drilling to make sure that a repeat of the Gulf spill never happens again was almost comical. He should never talk about that spill because it is a permanent stain on his record, a tragedy equal to Katrina for Bush Jr.

But I think that his bravado about our war efforts made me the sickest. Guantanamo is open for business, Iraq is far from secure, Libya is a mess and the war of necessity in Afghanistan is a fiasco. But he made it out to be a series of victories and that we had made these places better somehow. His delivery and forcefulness were great, but much of what he said was either hollow, stretched or an outright falsehood. He took Congress to task, but he needs to be taken to task as well. Regardless I will vote for him and hold out minor hope for the future. All I know is I do not want to see Newt Gingrich giving this speech next year. Ciao.

Privacy, Anyone?

2012-01-23T23:19:00.000-08:00

Today the Supreme Court ruled that authorities must obtain a search warrant prior to utilizing GPS devices to track suspects. US vs Jones (10-1259)sets an interesting and confusing precedent. The case deals with a very specific type of electronic surveillance and the Justices were split down the middle in their decision. Antoine Jones was suspected of being involved with a cocaine distribution organization so police tracked him for a month with a GPS device planted on his vehicle. They did not obtain permission from a judge to do so and the Justices decided that that was a violation of the 4th Amendment's unreasonable searches clause. Kudos to the Court, but during the course of their debate there was heated discussion as to what constitutes intrusive use of electronic tracking in people's lives. Obviously we all have extensive electronic trails that are perpetually being recorded electronically, so the question becomes when can that trail be used against us? The startling fact that most people do not spend much time reflecting upon is that we are all under surveillance at any moment we use wireless, GPS, magnetic strip cards or Internet enabled devices. The only way to have no foot print is to be off the grid.

All of these gadgets have become indispensable in the daily lives of most Americans and as we get deeper into the electronic age we are going to have to deal with the plain fact that we do not have privacy anymore. And there are going to have be new laws regulating how our electronic lives are used. There is also going to be a huge fight over how that is going to look and be implemented. When we live in a world where there is nowhere to hide issues regarding privacy and civil rights become critical and I do not think that many people are thinking about it. There is no way to have secrets in the cloud and if you think that you can get away with anything in this new realm of ultimate transparency (unless you are a hacker or cyber guru) you are delusional. The funny thing about this case is if the police had just used information gathered from the cloud rather than placing a physical object on the suspect's vehicle the outcome may have been very different. We have entered into the Orwellian Nightmare and most of us have not fully digested it yet. So much of what we do, say and think is done online or through a satellite that it is impossible to truly enjoy the privacy that we covet as a culture.

And when it comes to legal matters we need to face the fact that our entire electronic record can and will be used against us if we happen to be unfortunate or stupid enough to run afoul of the law. There is nowhere to run and hide, unless you go off the grid and even homeless people have cell phones these days. Nothing else to add, it is just a profound change that is going to spawn a lot of legislation, litigation and Supreme Court rulings about. Welcome to the future! Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday!

2012-01-23T00:04:00.000-08:00

Some words from the Master. Enjoy!

"If only I had the tiniest grain of wisdom,

I should walk in the Great Way,

And my only fear would be to stray from it.

The Great way is very smooth and straight;

And yet the people prefer devious paths.

The court is very clean and well garnished,

But the fields are very weedy and wild,

And the granaries are very empty!

They wear gorgeous clothes,

They carry sharp swords,

They surfeit themselves with food and drink,

They possess more riches than they can use!

They are the heralds of brigandage!

As for Tao, what do they know about it?"

#53

Seriously? Newt?

2012-01-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Just a week or so ago I was happy to conclude that Romney had the GOP thing all wrapped up with a bow and that I would no longer have to examine this GOP bullshit. I was very wrong to make that assumption. I, as usual, underestimated the stupidity of the American general population. The fine citizens of South Carolina handed a primary victory to Newt Gingrich which throws this entire race into chaos. It has been a rough week for Romney who had his Iowa victory stripped from him in favor of Santorum. So now nothing is certain and all the pundits and talking heads have something to debate and analyze until something decisive happens. Newt won because he is the angry man candidate and the folks in South Carolina ate up his spoon fed outrage and bullshit. When my wife told me that the NY Times had declared Newt the winner I double checked the AP to make sure it wasn't a joke. Who in their right mind thinks that he is a viable candidate? His reptilian name suits his character, a guy who jumps from wife to wife with no conscience and takes money from anyone willing to pay him for his pseudo-wisdom. Even many who voted for him call him a "loose cannon," but they bought all the attacks against Romney as a billionaire elitist despite the fact that Newt's pockets are stuffed with illicit cash.

Newt has to thank his benefactors for this one. Especially Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul who injected 5 million into Newt's coffers right after New Hampshire. All of this tells me that Romney has not made his backroom deals stick within the power elite who run the GOP. Obviously there are still a lot of powerful people who are looking for an alternative and with so little to choose from the are stuck with Newt. It is great news for Obama regardless of the ultimate outcome. Romney and Newt will have to battle each other and in the process will tear each other apart, providing ample fodder for Obama when it comes time for the big show. If the impossible happens and Newt gets the nod then we have nothing to worry about. Obama will wipe the floor with him and Newt will not last long under the hot lights of the national stage. If Romney wins Obama can call his credentials into question, asking why it was so hard for the GOP to finally accept him. And why is it so hard for the GOP to accept him? Is it his Mormonism? Is it his flip flops? I think it is because he is too cold, smart and methodical. He does not appeal to the crasser demographic of the GOP and does not inspire the anger and hate deep in the heart of the party. Which is why he would stand a chance against Obama.

So I guess I am stuck, like the rest of you, watching this crap unfold. I hope it just goes straight to hell and gets really messy. I wanna see blood and if there is any justice I want to see Newt crucify himself on the national stage. He is a prick and not even that interesting or powerful of one. Just hand him some rope, it'll happen sooner or later . . . Ciao.

Le France.

2012-01-20T22:50:00.000-08:00

Afghanistan is a bitch. No one from the outside world has ever gotten anywhere trying to bend the Afghan people to their will. Russia at the height of its Cold War power was sent packing and the US has fared no better in its decade long slog. So it comes as no surprise that the French are ready to throw in the towel and get their troops out. Yesterday an Afghan soldier opened fire at a training exercise and killed four French troops and wounded fifteen more. There is almost no way to tell who is on what side in a nation that has been a war zone for the better part of the last half-century. Many of the Afghan troops are infiltrators from the Taliban and other extremist organizations and that infiltration courses through the Afghan government, its police force and throughout the civilian population. They should not be demonized since they represent a huge portion of the population, but they are to be held accountable for their violence. But, then again, so should the outside forces that are operating in Afghanistan. Picking on the French seems particularly nasty since their main mission is to help train the Afghan Army so that it can police the nation once the French and the rest of the coalition forces leave.

If they want to frag someone they should be targeting the CIA black ops and private contractors. Anyway, all of it is awful and I hope the French pull out. It would send a clear message that this is not a war worth waging and too many lives have been lost already. Besides, it is a war of futility. I have talked about this hundreds of times and the long and short of it is that there is nothing to be gained for any side in this conflict. So the US and the rest should leave and offer support in the form of aid, NGO and diplomatic efforts. Now, we all know that the US will not leave anytime soon, but the rest of the coalition should because they do not have the vested interests that we do - whatever those actually are, if someone knows tell me about it because I cannot fathom why we are staying there unless we have a huge strategic/natural resource investment there. If the rest leave then we will have to face the international community alone and our government will have to better explain to the soldiers on the ground why they are there. But, back to France. The soldiers who were shot were unarmed and Sarkozy has suspended all military operations until further notice.

I know that the Taliban is fighting to get the foreign forces out of their nation, but shooting unarmed men is low, even for militant terrorists. I guess they must be very upset about those GIs who pissed on their dead. Ultimately all of this violence is bred by the coalition forces' mere presence. All the more reason to get out. With each day that passes our troops are spawning more budding militants than any radical cleric could forge from the villages. When you see tanks and troops out your window everyday and reports of civilians being killed without legal recourse you would want to shoot unarmed soldiers if you had the chance. To end the cycle we have to leave and I hope France leads the way. Ciao.

Digital Age.

2012-01-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

Analogue is dead. In the space of less than two decades an entire universe of devices, media and aesthetic has been destroyed, relegated to the dustbin of history and dark corners of the creative cosmos like my recording studio. Digital has taken over and things will never be the same. It has changed our entire psyche as a species. Everyone can create content and everything that is created can be accessed instantly. When you step back and digest that it is a huge paradigm shift and one that our formerly slow to evolve species is wrestling with. When I read that Kodak declared bankruptcy today I felt a pang. It was only a few years ago that they stopped mass manufacture of the reel to reel tape I used to use, forcing me to use a hard-drive recorder - my sole capitulation in the studio. Now the age of film is done and an iconic logo that is connected to many of my memories is fading away. Soon books will follow and I was equally pained when I read about Apple's new textbook apps, software that will put an iPad in every kids hands and a digitized universe of easy to access knowledge at their finger tips. The mystery and patience that used to accompany the acquisition of knowledge is also fading, turning it into an expected convenience rather than a burning quest to truly 'know.'

The profound effect of that paradigm shift cannot be underestimated. Just look at music, the first and most brutal victim of the digital age. Now it is expected to be free and instant. The artwork and lyric sheets are gone and lost people just accumulate singles off of torrent sites. As a result the overall quality of new music is shameful and sounds as disposable as it has become as a commodity. As things get faster and more clinical people will know less and less despite the fact that they ave access to mountains of data. It also changes the way that experts on all fields approach their craft. A current study is seeking to change the definition of autism, narrowing down its parameters and making it a cleaner diagnostic tool. As a result - if the study is accepted and the results are implemented into the medical canon, which looks assured - almost 50% of the current diagnosed cases wold not fall under the parameters of the new definition. That means that those people who fall outside the net would no longer be eligible for benefits and programs that have made their lives bearable and fruitful. I am sure that money is behind that study as well because it would save billions for the insurance industry.

But money is behind this entire shift. The digitalization of our lives makes big profits with low overheads and demands high volume with tight margins. That means less choice, questionable quality and a total capitulation to the machinery of commerce. Mass consumption wins and in the bargain we have all given up our privacy by utilizing everyday devices that track us and record everything we do, this diatribe included. Am I against all of this shit? I really do not know. I use it willingly and enjoy the perks. Philosophically I am fully opposed, but to take that position makes me a Luddite, which I am not, so I suppose I exist as a digital dissident. Ciao.

When is a Red Herring a Red Herring?

2012-01-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

It was an eerie day on the Internet as massive companies stood up to the US government by putting black squares over their logos and making it two clicks worth of effort to get to their sites. This astounding solidarity and forcefulness of action and purpose was directed at some legislation that probably would never be passed anyway. The Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect Intellectual Property Act under consideration in the Senate are not slam dunk pieces of legislation and even the White House said over the weekend that Obama would not sign them into law. But it is easy to mount a protest when all you have to do is cut-paste-post content and spend the twenty seconds it takes to put a black mark over your corporate logo. My wife raised an interesting point about it, why don't these massive firms protest in order to fix real problems rather than a threat to their hegemony? A great point, and would go further to say that of you think the Internet is a place of boundless freedom and opportunity then you are living in 1996 when most of the companies that control content were founded in some one's dorm room. If you think that Google and Wiki are purveyors of freedom and accurate information then I do not think you should read any further.

So there's the red herring: a protest by powerful companies against some laws made by a powerful government that would have never been made into laws. Really a huge waste of time and effort. Now, the next example is harder to pin down. The Obama camp has announced that he is going to shit-can the Keystone XL project. They claim that there is just not enough time to conduct a thorough environmental impact study, but the writing is on the wall. Obama knows he cannot afford to piss off his base and he is willing to risk Big Oil money to do it. But, I but you that there are deals being worked out in smoky back rooms as I write this. Obama knows that he cannot kill the project off for good, so I am sure that a new plan with a new name is being worked out to be green lighted after the election. I know this is a cynical stance to take, but there is a lot of money at stake and no matter how much the protesters want to believe that they are changing the world the fact is that the money will win in the end. The powers that be are counting on the dust to settle and once it does they will quietly get back to business. So is this "win" a true Red Herring? Despite my cynicism, I don;t know for certain.

There is an outside chance that the cost benefit analysis of this project looks bad under the microscope. Most of these kind of projects do when carefully scrutinized, so maybe the pressure put on by the protesters brought some truth out in the analysis and maybe it will remain moribund. But ultimately the fate of that pipeline rests on economics. No one in DC, besides Kuchinich, does anything unless the money is where it needs to be . . . in the pockets of their donors. Ciao.

Filthy Whore.

2012-01-17T23:56:00.000-08:00

Paula Deen, celebrity chef, provocateur, self inflicted diabetes sufferer and lying filthy, money grubbing whore. She has had diabetes for over three years, yet continued to peddle her annoying brand of fat and sugar laden goodies all over the Food Network and with her best selling cookbooks. She says that she wanted to wait and come up with a strategy to address her own health concerns before going public. Bullshit. She milked the cow for all it was worth and spent the spare time she had directing her marketing team to come up with a way to salvage her career. Their hard work has Paula teamed with Novo Nordisk, maker of a diabetes drug, to bring healthy eating advice and sound medical advise to her adoring public. Oh, so she needed to get a back up endorsement deal in case the Food Network kicks her out on her sugary butter-slicked ass. I get it. The media is going pretty easy on her and she has her "aw shucks" Southern charm turned to eleven, so she will probably be seen as some sort of messiah by the end of the year and everyone will have forgotten that she did this to herself and millions of others through her irresponsible cooking advise and even greater hunger for personal greed.

She is such a filthy whore. It just shows that celebrity corrupts just as much as political power. Her first goal was to re-brand herself THEN go public. So if you see her peddling Nov and decrying her errant past as a peddler of bad food don't believe a word of it. This Southern belle is in it for herself and no one else and if there is any justice her career will sputter and fade. I doubt it, she makes too much money for too many people for that to happen. Ciao.

MLK.

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

If he was alive today we would live in a much different world . . .

How Sad.

2012-01-16T23:35:00.000-08:00

Defense contractors in Iraq have had a field day for the past decade, making money hand over fist and operating their own private armies where international law did not apply. Their abuses of power and planeloads of cash have captured headlines for years, calling into question both the legality and morality of their operations. So, I was glad to see that they are being given the boot in Iraq and as they exit many are being detained. In many cases Iraqi officials have given them just ten days to shut down and get out, while many have faced up to three weeks in detention as their paperwork gets sorted out. One contractor complained that he felt "fearful" and that he was given insect infested meals. Good. These cowboys have made their cash off of the misery of the Iraqi people, exploiting their resources and ignoring their humanity. Some are still being allowed to operate, I am sure that the big boys like Halliburton will not be kicked out, but the rest are on their way out and it's a good thing. Iraqi officials stated that they are ready to take over their own security and manage their natural resources. They are also quick to point out that the contractors did more harm than good during their stay.

It is telling that the moment the soldiers are gone the business people have go as well. The Iraqi war was as much a business venture as it was a battle against terror or for the liberation of the Iraqi people from Hussein. Halliburton, Blackwater/XE and all the rest made billions of dollars while Iraqi infrastructure languished and America went broke paying for the military operation. It is one of the most disgusting episodes in American history and I wish that the Iraqi government could do more to these bastards. I have known a few of these contractors and they pretty much fit the stereotype that you would imagine. Mostly former vets who are not shy about the fact that they do the work for the money and have little use for the civilian population they are working within. The trigger happy exploits of Blackwater stand out and when I have talked to these guys in a retail environment I was always shocked by how casual they were about the money and violence. The fact that the US government and the US military backed these guys up and gave them above-and-beyond the law status should make us remember that we do not live in a benevolent nation. We are as cruel an exploiter as China is in Africa.

So fuck these people and their complaints. Many of them should be brought up on charges, so they should count themselves lucky to be eating bugs and getting a ride back home. Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday!

2012-01-15T23:01:00.000-08:00

Words of wisdom on a frosty Sunday night. Enjoy!

"Look at it but you cannot see it!

Its name is Formless.

Listen to it but you cannot hear it!

Its name is Soundless.

Grasp it but you cannot get it!

Its name is Incorporeal.

These three attributes are unfathomable;

Therefore they fuse into one.

Its upper side is not bright:

Its under side not dim.

Continually the Unnameable moves on,

Until it returns beyond the realm of things.

We call it the formless Form, the imageless Image.

We call it the indefinable and unimaginable.

Confront it and you do not see its face!

Follow it and you do not see its back!

Yet, equipped with this timeless Tao,

You can harness present realities.

To know the origins is initiation into the Tao."

#14

Cloak and Dagger.

2012-01-14T23:40:00.000-08:00

Things between the US and Iran have been tense ever since the Hostage Crisis that effectively ended the Carter administration. Right now things are probably as bad as they have been since then and all of it centers on Iran's insistence on enriching uranium to build a nuclear arsenal. Today Iran blamed the CIA for the death of one of its top nuclear scientists. Here's a thumbnail: "Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was killed in a brazen daylight assassination Wednesday when two assailants on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to his car in the Iranian capital. The killing bore a strong resemblance to earlier killings of scientists working on the Iranian nuclear program, and has prompted calls in Iran for retaliation against those deemed responsible." (AP) The US is also attempting to impose more stringent sanctions on Iran, a threat that has prompted Iran to threaten to close off the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian and American Navies are patrolling the seas around the Strait and the world is waiting to see if direct military action is going to take place. In an article in the current issue of the Economist it is a forgone conclusion by the international community that the US is responsible for the disruptions of its nuclear program, via cyber attacks and assassinations.

Behind it all lurks the specter of Israel, a nuclear power in its own right (thanks to the US) who does not want to see any of its close enemies get the bomb. I think there is little doubt that the US has been responsible for killing nuclear scientists and that calls into question the whole issue of state sponsored terrorism. The last time I checked Iran has not been icing US citizens at will. I am not trying to defend Iran, but it becomes murky when the supposed good guys are the ones ordering the killing of unarmed citizens in another nation in broad daylight. It does not strengthen our position in the international community and certainly does not build a clear cut raison d'etre for war with Iran to stop ITS militaristic ambitions. It is a dangerous game and one that I fear will end badly for both sides should an all out war break out. If you are looking for your end of world prophesies for 2012 the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US fits the bill. From a legal standpoint Iran is a sovereign nation that has the right to do whatever the fuck it wants with its uranium. Yeah, they should check in with the International Atomic Energy Agency and sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but Israel hasn't. Israel's arsenal is an open secret and with the US behind it no one says a fucking thing about it.

As far as I am concerned they can blow each other off the face of the Earth. The problem with that is that the figurative and literal fallout would trigger WW3. Everyone knows that as well and that is why all these skirmishes between the US and Iran end in stalemate. But there will come an incident or a mistake that ends the detente and then we will all be in big trouble. Meanwhile the cloak and dagger bullshit will continue and nothing will happen because the stakes are just too high. Ciao.

Downgrades.

2012-01-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

It looks like the New Year afterglow is wearing off in the financial sector. It is the usual cycle that I keep bitching about, one week it's hot and the next the end of the world is nigh. The key thing to remember in all this nonsense is that the economic health of the Eurozone and America is very poor right now and a few doses of antibiotics are not going to cure either one. More bad news hit the EU today as France had its credit rating cut from AAA to AA+ by Standard and Poor's and they promise that more sever cuts are in store for the likes of Spain, Italy and the rest of the ailing European nations. Even Angela Merkel admitted that she had not properly diagnosed the severity of the debt crisis, a rare admittance from the German chancellor who has done more to harm the Euro's chances than any other European leader. The US had its slashed last year and a lot of people are probably saying, "so what?" Well, the effects of the rating cut will not be felt foe a while, but once the pain starts it will be traumatic. Basically a cut in rating means that a nation has to pay more to borrow cash and gets less on its returns from bond sales and the like.

So, it is like having your rate go up on your credit card. You can keep using it, but the interest rate will eventually catch up to you. If more and more nations have to pay higher interest to borrow money then the credit crisis will get worse. The worse the credit crisis becomes the less able everyone will be to secure loans and gain access to cash to buy shit or invest. You see the cycle and it is a vicious one. Like I said, in the now things can operate as usual, but it will not take long for the available cheap credit to get used up leaving the bulk of the Western markets cash poor and borrowing at high rates. The downward spiral, it is here and it is here to stay. The funniest things I read today were the NYTimes financial headlines, all of which made mention of the fact that numbers have been revised down for 2011 and that the good news so far this year will not last. No shit. I feel good about my decision to largely ignore anything in the financial news that is not just a raw piece of data. This week I checked my Stick Ticker and the DOW was up by 7 points, yet a headline on the AP was touting a rally. The story was only an hour old, but the rally was ancient history.

But sift the numbers I must because I am obsessed with it. The thing that has surprised me so far this year is that the DOW has remained so high. I thought it would have started plummeting by now. Maybe next week. If Spain and Italy get hit with downgrades you can bet that Greece will announce a default shortly thereafter and then the future of the Euro becomes questionable. The biggest consequence of the downgrades is that the average citizens of all these nations - ourselves included - are going to have a harder time buying things on credit. Homes, cars and big ticket items will become harder to get and while that may be good for fiscal responsibility it is horrific for the everyday concerns most of us face. Ciao.

Taliban.

2012-01-12T23:16:00.000-08:00

An interesting day for the Taliban. First there was the groundbreaking news that they are planning to open a political office in Qatar and that one of their representatives has agreed to negotiate with the US, a request that, remarkably, has been agreed to by US officials. As early as next week talks may begin between the two sides, a critical step towards ending the decade long war in Afghanistan. Without the full support of the Taliban peace or detente cannot be achieved and after such a long time with so many mistakes on both sides most diplomatic experts agree that the Taliban must be invited to the table and treated as a vital political force in the region. The US, battered by ten years of war with nothing to show for it is finally ready to negotiate - I guess if they redefine the Taliban as a 'political force' rather than terrorists it's OK to negotiate. The biggest opposition to this historic development is coming from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whose increasingly erratic behavior makes it difficult to discern exactly what he is trying to express. Karzai finally agreed to allow the office and the talks only after being pressured by the Obama administration to do so. It looks as if we might see a relatively peaceful resolution to this mess . . .

. . . If a group of Marines hadn't filmed themselves pissing on three dead Taliban fighters and posted it on YouTube. That's right, some of our boys were just having a little fun and decided to blow off some steam. Where do we find these fucking people and why the hell are they issued firearms and allowed to represent this nation in foreign lands? I can see it happening under the strain of multiple tours of duty and years of frustration, but to be dumb enough to post it on YouTube? What the fuck? The fact that it came to the attention of the mass media the same day that the Taliban offered to negotiate makes it all the more bitter and embarrassing for the US. Hillary Clinton, the top military brass and the Pentagon quickly denounced the video and vowed to punish those responsible. But whatever moral high ground we had left has been pissed away[sic]. So now the balance of power and the fate of Afghanistan once again hangs in the balance. You can bet that the Taliban and the Afghan people will be up in arms over this outrage and they should be. To be fair, there is torture and corpse desecration happening on the Taliban side of things, but there is a certain level of crassness and inhumanity brought to this act by the fact that these guys felt comfortable and proud enough of it to post it.

So what do you do of you are the Taliban? I would use this whole mess as a bargaining chip and try to get as much political legitimacy as possible out of it. I am not a fan of the Taliban, Karzai or urinating Marines, but since everyone in this equation has blood on their hands I think that the Taliban should not be marginalized when it comes to peace negotiations. Without them at the table it will never happen and I would like to pretend to believe that the US wants to have a cleaner exit from Afghanistan than Iraq. Who knows, this thing could just blow over and the war may just keep chugging along for another decade or maybe some fragile accord will be forged placing the US in a compromised role. We shall see and it is never a good idea to assume anything when it comes to Afghanistan. Ciao.

Get yer Mitts up!

2012-01-11T22:46:00.001-08:00

Lame title for this one, but I just couldn't help myself. Anyway, the GOP is another step closer to anointing Mitt Romney as their official candidate for president and the rest of the field, save Ron Paul, looks like the pack of fools they always have been. Just to keep things interesting the media keeps covering Newt and Perry as if they matter somehow and it is amusing to read. These guys have no business staying in the race because they have zero chance of getting the nomination. They are trying to defend their campaigns by saying that they are vetting Romney and that their brand of conservatism is not represented by the well heeled Mormon. Some political experts are claiming that they are in it to be spoilers, but when Ron Paul is the other contender you do not need spoilers, he'll lose just fine on his own. So this thing will limp on to North Carlina and a ton of money, effort and debate will be wasted. Mitt will win. He has the full heft of the machine behind him now and once he takes NC the interest in the campaign will fade as fast as Bachmann's presidential dreams did. Anyone remember Herman Cain? Didn't think so. Now that we know who will be up against Obama the real debate can begin.

Will a beleaguered black man be able to beat a Mormon millionaire in 2012 America? The answer is not clear. I was a huge believer in Obama and among my fellow believers there are many who still cut him a lot of slack. I have been routinely brutal in my criticism of him and have recently questioned his recent good deeds as political theater designed to win us back. Most of us will vote for him again because we know that the GOP will most likely win in 2016. Our votes are out of necessity to keep Mitt out of the White House. But depending on how the rest of this year goes Obama may have a hard time getting a second term. You can also never underestimate the power that will be behind Romney's campaign. A lot of the GOP machine hates the guy, but if he is their only option they will line up and fight for him. That means that the Rovian nightmare will begin for Obama. Rove's Super PAC and all the other conservative groups will step in line and fire up their hate machine to tear Obama down. If the economy stays flat-lined - or as I predict, worse - it will be tough for Obama to swing the center-right, centrists and even parts of his base to vote for him. You know what the foundation of Mitt's campaign will be: his business record.

He also has pretty good credentials from his time as governor of Massachusetts, a liability in the primary, but a boon for his national campaign. I would never vote for Mitt, but out of all the people that the GOP could field he is the only one who I remotely appreciate. I think he will shed a lot of his recent extremism once he gets the nomination and it will be a hard fight for Obama to the retain the presidency. Regardless, it is good to know that the fools have been weeded out and that we do not have to fear a Rick Perry or Newt Gingrich as president. Ciao.

Inhuman.

2012-01-10T13:14:00.001-08:00

A lot of people are rightly condemning the violence in Syria right now, but in America an equally horrifying injustice has been given a price tag. I guess $50,000 can buy off the guilt of forced sterilization in the land of the free, seems like a pretty good deal to me. They are getting off cheap. In North Carolina they are going to give the 50K to anyone still alive who was sterilized by the state during the course of the 20th century, as long as they file their paperwork in the next three years. It's good that they are going to receive compensation, but just imagine going down to fill out that paperwork. "Yes, I am an American citizen who was denied my right to reproduce by the state of North Carolina and I would like to collect my money." And, sorry, but 50K is hardly enough. I think being robbed of your right to have children is worth at least a million, if not more. This shit was happening all the way up until 1977, the year my van rolled off the assembly line in Detroit. It is madness. The insanity doesn't stop in NC, there are other states who are pondering similar compensation programs as eugenics was widely practiced across the US. When I see this kind of shit it makes me temper my criticisms of other nations. The USA is just as capricious and unjust as any other.

But as of this moment the most troubled nation - besides Haiti - that I can think of is Syria. The al Assad clan is cracking down even harder, despite the presence of Arab League observers. President Bashar Assad made his fourth public address since the once peaceful protests began ten months ago and he stuck to his guns blaming foreign terrorists and influence for the attacks against his regime. The disconnect is profound and the fact that his troops are slaughtering citizens on the streets every day should be grounds for international intervention and a trip to the Hague for Bashar. The craziest part about it is that no one, not even his own citizens, buy his story. It is an obvious lie and false justification for his dictatorial zeal. HE is the terrorist and as long as he and his family are in power there will never be peace in Syria. There are so many examples of failed leadership in the world right now I could write for yeas about it, but I just have to pause for a moment and wonder if there is any possibility for government to actually work for the greater good of the people it represents? Power appears to corrupt no matter the culture, time and place, so what the fuck are we supposed to do?

I never trusted any authority growing up and looking back I feel justified in feeling that way. The few times I have had faith in the system it has fucked me. Maybe the better question is where the hell are supposed to go to find humane and just treatment for this species? Nowhere I can think of, so we have to create it locally and informally. That way once the grid fails we can all group together and weather the storm. All I know is that the systems of governance in place now are deeply flawed and not be emulated or encouraged to persist. Ciao.

Bought and Paid For.

2012-01-09T23:26:00.000-08:00

Newt Gingrich has no chance in hell of securing the GOP nomination, but that hasn't stopped an old friend from giving him a fighting chance in the upcoming primaries. Sheldon Adelson is one of the richest men in America and thanks to the new campaign donation law which allows individuals to contribute as much as they want to a "Super PAC" supporting a particular candidate - made legal by The Supreme Court back in 2010 - Newt now has an extra $5 million in his coffers. Sheldon has made his billions in the casino trade and hates unions, a shared hate with Gingrich who has helped him to fight unions over the years. The two became buddies back in Newt's nineties heyday and insiders say that Sheldon makes anything Newt does possible with his endless trove of cash. Newt would not have a campaign at all if he didn't have the support of Super PAC money and the same goes for many candidates from both sides of the aisle. But this case is particularly interesting since it is out in public and openly admitted. Most of the PAC activity remains clandestine and there is no legal obligation for them to divulge their donors. So, this is a case where we can actually see who is paying to try and get someone elected.

Sheldon's largess will hurt Newt as much as it helps. His casino business will offend the moral minority and there will be no union support for Newt after this. But the money will keep him in the running and I am sure that more is on the way. Seeing this out in the open makes me want to vomit. Sure, we get a chance to vote, but those who get on the ballots are out there by people like Sheldon. There are mountains of money from large donors behind every politician, even Obama, and it makes me sick that they all tout the virtues of grassroots support and small donors. That shit is window dressing. The big boys are where the money is at and they are all almost exclusively old white men who made their fortunes in Big Oil and other soul crushing industries by destroying their competition by any means necessary. We do have direct democracy in America, it's just not for the ordinary citizen, it is reserved for people like Mr. Sheldon. Reserved by people who can afford to buy an island stocked with Somalis to hunt on the weekends. There is only one good thing that can come of all of this. That more of these donors get outed to raise public awareness and outrage.

It is a shameful enterprise, this democracy of ours. And these people are getting bolder and bolder. They don;t seem to give a shit about the fact that they are buying political influence. The mafia mentality has always been status quo, but now they don;t even try to hide it. Well, I hope Newt burns up enough of his buddy's cash that he will be on the hook for it after he loses. Be funny if Sheldon broke his knee caps in the lower level of a parking garage at one of his casinos. Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday!

2012-01-09T01:55:00.000-08:00

Kind of, I got a late start tonight so without further ado here are some words of wisdom from Lao Tzu . . . Enjoy!

"Tao gives them life,

Virtue nurses them,

Matter shapes them,

Environment perfects them.

Therefore all things without exception

worship Tao and do homage to Virtue.

They have not been commanded to worship Tao and do homage to Virtue,

But they always do spontaneously.

It is Tao that gives them life:

It is Virtue that nurses them, grows them,

fosters them, shelters them, comforts them,

nourishes them, and covers them under her wings.

To give life but to claim nothing,

To do your work but to set no store by it,

To be a leader, not a butcher,

This is called hidden Virtue."

#51

Made For TV.

2012-01-07T23:24:00.000-08:00

I just got done reading about the dramatic rescue of 13 Iranian fishermen held hostage by Somali pirates by the US Navy and it almost seemed like a movies script. The details are too complex to reiterate, but the gist is that without the presence of the US outside the Gulf Of Oman the Iranians may have languished for months. This incident displays the complexities that define our time in history. The US was present because Iran has been threatening to close of the Strait of Hormuz as a response to sanctions that are being threatened by the West if they continue to pursue a nuclear program. So, that part is already convoluted. Then you have the Iranian fishermen, regular citizens out trying to earn a living who were captured by Somali pirates, also out to earn a living. The Somalis were using the Iranian vessel to capture a bigger ship that would bring a better ransom. So the Somalis and the Iranians were out there in the ocean, literally and figuratively in the same boat. Both hoped for a successful capture of a big ship because it would mean that the Iranians could return home and the Somalis might make some money. And then the US Navy saves the day despite warnings from Iran, saving the Iranian citizens.

Fucking insane. One thing is for sure, the big winner is the US because they can use this as great PR and as a big 'fuck you' to Iran. Now, the reality is that the US Navy's presence in the region is ominous because it means that we are ready at any moment to strike Iran or anyone else in the region. That comes as no shock at all, but it is chilling to remind yourself just how close we are to global conflict on a grand scale at any moment. This tale also shows how much could potentially go wrong in any multinational military engagement. Acting in haste, bad intelligence information and a host of other possible mistakes could just as easily turn a rescue effort into WW3. And that is the world we live in. But the media has a comfortable way of making it all seem like a movie. When I was a little guy watching the evening news the war footage scared the hell out of me and I was scared when international affairs seemed ready to explode. These days it seems like we are all programmed to accept this shit as a matter of course. We are numbed to it to such a degree that we just do not believe that the actual conflict will directly affect us. It is a profound disconnect that is also profoundly dangerous.

Our wars of this century have been relegated far away from the public sphere. We have been insulated from them and they have been so long and without resolution or purpose that we the people almost forget that our nation and its soldiers are waging them. Iraq may be over for now, but this thing with Iran will continue to loom on the horizon. We need to stop perceiving it all as a made for TV movies and recognize that any conflict can go global to our front doors in a world this interconnected and complex. Ciao.

Cautious Skepticism.

2012-01-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

Who or what is driving the relentless message that the economy is recovering? And why the hell do you see one headline touting recovery while the next is doom and gloom? I know that I keep coming back to this, but it drives me crazy. Economics drive everything that happens on this planet. We could all wish that wasn't so or try and say that it is not true, but it is and that is why I watch it so closely and try to cut through the static to get at the actuality of things. It keeps getting harder to cut through the white noise because more and more mainstream thinkers and media outlets are speaking my language and questioning the validity of data and forecasts. Those keepers of data and those responsible for what happens behind the scenes are more desperate than ever to make the world at large think that everything will be OK. That is the insane thing about the economy: It is one enormous act of collective faith in a system so abstract that even those charged with running it and explaining it do not fully grasp how it functions. Ever since the crisis that faith has been shaken and as the story of what actually happened and the infamously corrupt tale of how it happened has unfolded, it is now impossible to know who is telling the truth and whether or not any of the numbers can be trusted.

That is the part that frustrates me most, that the numbers change from day to day. One week the manufacturing sector is up, the next it is revised down and by the end of the year it turns out to be one of the worst on record. The big investment banks (Citi, Goldman, BofA, etc . . .) are poised to have their worst fiscal year since 1938. Yet, over the course of this past year all posted record profits at one point or another. What the fuck? The gauges I rely upon most these days are my gut and the world around me. In my world property values are still in free-fall, businesses keep closing, unemployment, underemployment and fear of losing the current job are running high and faith in the system has fully evaporated. The government is still fucking us, Wall Street is fucking us and the only rays of light that are shining through are the direct result of politicians' bids to get reelected by rekindling our faith in the system by making us think that they care about our interests. My conclusion these days is that the system is so fucked that even the people at the top are scared, so they bombard us with conflicting data to keep us numb and functioning. They know they have us scared of debt and losing what we have left, so they are buying time to either fix shit or, more probably, make off with as much as they can before it collapses.

And that is it. I think trying to untie this Gordian Knot isn't worth serious study any longer. You study something when there is agreed to and codified knowledge base that all other humans share. The US economy is not one of things . . . Ciao.

The Horror.

2012-01-05T23:23:00.000-08:00

The most trouble an eight grader got into when I was in school was when my best friend got arrested for shoplifting. Times have changed. Jaime Gonzalez was 15 years old when he was fatally shot by police yesterday at his school in Brownsville, TX. He apparently walked into a classroom and punched a fellow student in the face and that is when school staff noticed the gun he had stuck in his pants. It was a pellet gun, but as roamed the hallways and was confronted by police after the school was locked down he acted defiant and said he was willing to die. And he did. The two officers who fired the fatal shots are on administrative leave and most officials agree that they followed protocol in shooting the youth. When you think about this tragedy - one of the few times I will use the word sincerely - there are so many layers that it is worth examining them all. First: what possessed an otherwise good kid to decide to stage such a dramatic exit from this world? Was it a bad day, a series of grudges he couldn't live down or a delusional prank gone horribly wrong? We'll never know, but he knew that he was carrying a pellet gun and he obviously did not intend to kill scores of his fellow students.

The confusion as to his motivation is compounded by the actions taken by the police. The gun looked legit and they had a kid screaming at them that he was willing to die. There were other students cowering in the hall and they must have sensed enough urgency to pull the trigger themselves. How horrible do they feel right now? They just killed a confused kid whose weapon was innocuous. Jaime's parents are also confused and hurt, their suffering will grow in the coming days as they try and sort out how he got the gun and why he did what he did. Then you have to consider the world we live in now. Like I said, back when I was in grade eight the most dangerous kids had knives and they were just for show. Hell, even I carried an illegal switchblade back then, but in our current post-Columbine culture kids with guns are commonplace and innumerable school and public shootings have made us accept that intense violence is a norm when someone pulls a weapon. Everyone probably expected to die and those cops did not want to take any chances so they took him out quickly before anyone else got hurt. Jaime had to have known all of that, so it leaves us empty wondering why he would do it.

It is a horrible waste. It makes me afraid for when my daughter has to enter the public arena. This nation is breeding neurosis and violence at an ever increasing pace and it is all the more reason to promote reform if not outright revolution against the current paradigm. Meanwhile all we can do is remain vigilant, teach tolerance and self worth to our kids and avoid the culture as much as possible. Ciao.

Bravery Or Careful Calculation?

2012-01-04T23:10:00.000-08:00

Obama seems to have grown a pair as of late, which has many calling him true to his convictions but has me wondering why. In the past few months he has stood up to Congress and started using executive orders to get shit done. The troops are out of Iraq and today he played a shrewd gambit, defying Congress by appointing Richard Cordray as director The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The move is on the boundaries of constitutionality and Obama's defiance will surely become a protracted legal battle on Capital Hill. The GOP has been doing all t can to stop the new agency from opening its doors for business and they succeeded in blocking Elizabeth Warren from running it even though she created it. Obama apparently has had enough and I am excited that he is pushing for the CFPB, but I wish that he would have fought this hard for Warren to run it. Which brings me to my big question: Has Obama rediscovered his roots and zeal for reform or is all of this a piece of political theater to get his core constituency back under the tent? It all feels too calculated and close together. I feel like his balls began to grow at the moment he went on TV to announce that his team had killed bin Laden. That felt like an election stunt and so do the rest of recent good deeds.

Or maybe he has just found his stride and had finally said "fuck it, I am going to do what I want." I would love to believe that. But one recent battle reminds me of the Obama that I have grown to loathe over the past three years. The Keystone XL pipeline deal was a cold calculation on his part, he tried to have it both ways by putting it off until 2013. The GOP knew it and that is why they threw it back in his face in the emergency budget legislation late last year. So in February we will see what he does. Will he torpedo it to please his base or will he make Big Oil happy and green light it? I imagine he will find a way to put it off again because he cannot afford to offend either side of the equation. That is a big reason why I am skeptical about today's gambit. He knows damned well that his appointment may be easily null and voided by Congress once they get back in session. So is he taking a risk and going to put up a fight to defend it or will he roll over and let it go? It is another case where he gets a win win - brilliant motherfucker. If the appointment sticks he can declare a victory over a do-nothing Congress. If it gets shot down he can blame the do-nothing Congress for denying protection to the hard working citizens of this great nation.

When you start dissecting it it gets kind of depressing. I want him to do great things because he wants to and knows it is the right thing to do. If it is all political calculation to get reelected it ruins it. None of us can pretend to know what actually goes through the man's head. Since I am a cynic and feel that the evidence is stacked against him being altruistic I conclude that this is all theater. But I could be wrong. Regardless, if it means the GOP stays out of the White House who cares anyway? We shall see . . . Ciao.

Stooges.

2012-01-03T11:37:00.000-08:00

The GOP contenders? Wrong word for these fucks, but since this is an election year and things kick off today in Iowa, it is time for my cynical assessment of the political field. And the results are in! Rick Santorum beat Romney by 4 votes which outs them in a virtual tie for first place with Ron Paul not too far behind them. The rest of the field dropped off sharply percentage wise Newt coming in fourth in the voting. Rick Perry is heading out the exit door as he plans to return to Texas to reevaluate his campaign and Bachmann was dead last but said that “There are many more paths to be written on the path to the nomination," whatever the fuck that means. So there is still no clear front runner and the GOP is torn between electability and ideological consistency as the determining factor for their candidate. If they want to have a chance against Obama Mitt is the ONLY choice. He has a chance to capture the middle and the undecideds if he returns to his true self once he secures the nomination. Santorum, Paul and Newt would wither the moment the national spotlights shone on them and the would stand no chance against Obama in the debates. I have said it all along, Romney has put in four years of perpetual campaigning and he has all the big boys lined up ready to support him, he WILL be the GOP candidate.

So why are the great unwashed shunning him and refusing to give their unconditional support to him? Mainly because of his political record which is all over the map and one of the things I like about the guy. The other reason is that he is a Mormon, which is a very foreign concept to Midwestern shit kickers. It is like telling them that you read books about philosophy or economics, they just get scared and run away to get their guns. Mitt will have to fight harder for the far right voters than he will for the center and since securing the nomination is all about buttering the balls of the far right it has been a tough slog for him. My concern is that he will stay shifted too far right once he gets the nod to be competitive with Obama on the big stage. The best news so far is that the truly unqualified and insane candidates are now distant memories. I could stomach living with Mitt as president, but not any of these other idiots. And for the record: I am not a Romney person and I hate the GOP, but since anything could happen this election cycle I want to be assured that someone like Bachmann or Perry will NOT have any chance of sitting in the Oval Office.

Ron Paul is kind of a mystery to me. He is old and crusty, but the young GOP hopefuls love the guy. I have lots of friends who like to quote him and I just don't get it. I guess we have entered desperate enough times and are so starved for someone to follow or believe in that a guy like Paul can become a folk hero. I think he is a crackpot with some serious questions from his past left unanswered. His plans if elected are insane and his racist past should disqualify him from praise reflexively. So there you have it. Romney will get the nod eventually, Santorum and Paul are window dressing and we should see Newt's head explode any day now. Ciao.

Ignorance.

2012-01-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

There is an astounding fabric of ignorance that envelops the citizenry of this nation. I have three examples to explore and the first centers upon a woman who worked briefly at Walmart and has decided that she knows all about poverty and the welfare system. Christine Rousselle is a 20-year-old junior at Providence College in Rhode Island who got a job at Walmart and decided that poor people should not have smart phones, birthday cakes or anything else that could construed as a "luxury" item. Sorry, there is no luxury in anything you buy at Walmart. Anyway, this woman had garnered national attention, has the support of Anne Coulter and a small army of followers. She thinks that the poor should deny themselves anything that goes beyond bread and water and even judged the poor to be "kind of dumb." Perhaps the exploitative and repressive economic system that created so many impoverished Americans is "dumb" and the ramblings of an idiot college student who is proud of marriage proposals she has gotten from her rise to fame is "dumb." Dumb is too soft a word for what she is. She is an ignorant cunt who has no concept of the harsh realities of living poor in the land of the free. That cake and that phone may be the only things that these people have that make them feel like life is worth living. Shame on her and the awful fucks who have elevated her to the national stage.

But judging the poor on a Facebook post is small change compared to the firebombings in NYC over the weekend. Unknown assailants hurled Molotov cocktails at Muslim targets. Four locations were attacked and thankfully no one was hurt, although one home was destroyed leaving the occupants bereft of their lifetime of belongings. So far investigators have determined that the attacks were done by the same person or persons and top Muslim representatives are working with local and Federal authorities to track them down. One of the targets was the Imam Al-Khoei Foundation which houses one of the most prominent Shiite mosques in New York. The foundation has a long and well regarded history with branches in Canada and Pakistan. The idiocy of these attacks is apparent because none of the targets have any connection to radical Islam. It is another blind and ignorant hate crime that illustrates how deep the roots of intolerance run in this nation. If you are poor or brown watch your back because all the true and good Americans will pour their derision all over you, and maybe even try to kill you. But ignorance can be multicultural and inclusive as well . . .

I have noticed a lot of people starting with the whole Mayan Calendar nonsense again. Some of them are friends of mine who I would consider smart - until now. They tout the wonderful insight and cultural wisdom of the Mayans and how we should all investigate this great mystery and prepare for the unknown. I hate to break to everyone but the reason the calendar ends in 2012 is because that is as far as they got before their civilization was decimated. If they had survived the calendar would be going strong and the end would be far ahead of us. I find t hard to fathom that such a basic fact gets left out of the discussion and that people take this shit seriously. You want the end of the world? We have nukes, water shortages and imminent economic collapse to do that for us. The end will not by mystical, it will be us choking on our own refuse. Ciao!

Lao Tzu New Year's Day.

2012-01-02T00:32:00.000-08:00

Had a wonderful day with my family and here are some words of wisdom to ring in the New Year. Enjoy!

"From of old there are not lacking things that have attained Oneness.

The sky attained Oneness and became clear;

The earth attained Oneness and became calm;

The spirits attained Oneness and became charged with mystical powers;

The fountains attained Oneness and became full;

The ten thousand creatures attained Oneness and became reproductive;

Barons and princes attained Oneness and became sovereign rulers of the world.

All of them are what they are by virtue of Oneness.

If the sky were not clear, it would be likely to fall to pieces;

If the earth were not calm, it would be likely to burst into bits;

If the spirits were not charged with mystical powers, they would be likely to cease from being;

If the fountains were not full, they would be likely to dry up;

If the ten thousand creatures were not reproductive, they would be likely to come to extinction;

If the barons and princes were not the sovereign rulers, they would be likely to stumble and fall.

Truly, humility is the root from which greatness springs,

And the high must be built upon the foundation of the low.

That is why barons and princes style themselves "The Helpless One," "The Little One," and the "Worthless One."

Perhaps they too realize their dependence upon the lowly.

Truly, too much honor means no honor.

It is not wise to shine like jade and resound like stone-chimes."

#39

Goodbye 2011.

2011-12-31T22:24:00.001-08:00

Some great changes happened this year for me personally. My daughter was born and I opted to quit my job to stay home and take care of her. It has been truly amazing and I am blessed with the best wife in the world. But the world outside of our household has been a mess this year and next looks even worse. So my wish to everyone is to follow Candide's advice and tend to your own garden. If there is little hope for a better world for all we must turn inwards and make our little worlds' the best they can be. Then that love may spread outwards and who knows . . . Happy New Year!

Treading Water?

2011-12-30T14:58:00.000-08:00

As this miserable year draws to an end (not for my family, but for the world) I found it fitting that the economists called this year a draw. The global markets are about where they were at the start and the instability that existed January 1st has intensified without blowing up. Yet. 2012 may not see the fabled end of the world as we know it that Mayan Calendar aficionados are warning us about, but we may see the beginning of the end of the Euro and the inevitable collapse of the global capitalist system. I think it funny that people who finally became aware of inequity and corruption this year think that their protests are meaningful. The fact is that the systemic collapse will take all of us out with it and I contend that none of us is truly prepared for that eventuality. If you want change and hate the system just be patient, it is going to implode soon and I think it is not unreasonable to assume that 2012 will be the year that it will happen. Meanwhile the experts say we are treading water. I think not. The most disturbing trend this past year has been the regularity and severity of data revision from month to month. It frustrated the shit out of me until I realized why it was happening.

You know the cycle. At the end of each month the Markets would rally on news that x number of statistics were better than expected. Two weeks later the Markets would slump on the news that those numbers had been revised down. Add water and repeat ad infinitum. After getting furious for the third time in March I stepped back and thought about it. Who makes money off of the rallies and slumps? Powerful investors, Big Oil, Major Banks and those who benefit from their collective largess. So, they rig the numbers, make a shit load of money buying and then selling off at the right moments. In essence the Market is still a casino for the elite, but there is no payout to anyone else in the system, hence the zero sum gain year. They are just shuffling the same shit around and making cash on the margins. There is no real economic growth to draw upon so they have to suck at each others jugulars for cash. Out of everyone I know not one person, no matter what socio-economic circumstance they come from, who has had a "great" year. Most are taking steps backwards or weathered hard times.

America is about to be pulled under and none of our elected officials did a damned thing about it this year. Our weak leadership and incorrigible financial sector will be our undoing in the coming year and the election will contribute to speeding up the process. There is little hope that our government would save us in a normal year, but since it is an election year there is none. They will do whatever it takes to get elected and leave the real work undone. Like I said, it is unlikely they would do the right shit anyway, but that potential is gone for 2012. I will have more doom and gloom for you New Year's Eve! Ciao.

Rock Music.

2011-12-29T23:50:00.000-08:00

Sucks these days. Plain and simple. It has been a long while since I ranted about the sorry state of Rock 'N Roll, but I read an article to day stating that this year may be the worst ever in Rock history and it inspired me to rant once again. None of the established acts did shit this year with their albums. They all sucked and the one that sucked the least was still incredibly boring - see: Foo Fighters. The only thing worse than the dinosaur rockers' limp offerings where the homogenized leavings of the new faces in rock like Foster the People. Tripe. Pure, empty shit with no soul or danger. The critic I was reading kept reiterating that there has not been any danger in rock since Cobain smashed guitars and blew his head off. I have to agree. Music has always been a business, but the whole idea of product has gotten so out of hand that it all sounds like the same mush coming out of the same Pro tools Suite. Technology has also been crucial to the development of rock, but computers and software have reduced it to a paint by numbers exercise that wrings individuality, uniqueness, spirit, soul, creativity and humanity itself from the music. I say it has been a wasteland for over a decade and a half, but everyone can agree that the last five years have been depressing for rock fans.

I hate the way that some people accept whatever the artists put out and "learn" to like it. Radiohead and U2 stand out for me. Radiohead's latest album is bullshit. They are scraps of ideas, none of it fully realized and all of it feels tossed off. U2 has been recycling the "return" to its roots for over a decade and their obscene concert revenues makes me want to puke since people only go to see the cuts off of War. But the monument to the end of rock as we know it was built by two former heroes of mine. Lou Reed and Metallica joined forces to make one of the worst pieces of shit ever recorded and also accomplished the unthinkable - I have to question the rest of Lou's body of work now. It sucks because since I left Robyn Hitchcock by the roadside Lou was all I had left. Fuck. Neil Young was right, it is better to burn out and I wish that all the old acts would quit shitting on their legacies. The real blame for the death of rock rests on the shoulders of the current crop of underachieving musicians who represent the genre to the mainstream. Half play heartless slop and the other half play heartless generic product and they all suck. Originality is done. Rick has a long enough history and people have short enough memories that it is easier to replicate a previous band than bother with your own sound.

All of this breaks my heart. That is why I make my little rock albums by myself in the garage without a computer or an enforcer telling me what to do. Rock should be liberating, dangerous, drug fueled fun that epitomizes individual expression. Long live rock and roll, just not on the radio or in the stores . . . Ciao.

Dire Straits.

2011-12-28T23:35:00.000-08:00

The US and Iran have been sparring for years now over Iran's nuclear ambitions and today, facing the threat of new sanctions, Iran declared that it would shut down the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions are imposed. Saudi Arabia and other gulf nations have already stepped in offering to make up for the oil shortfall that would occur if Iran is blackballed from the market, but Iran is the world's fourth largest producer and 15 million barrels of oil are transported through the strait each day. The US has "strongly" warned that a blockade is unacceptable and that Iran would face possible military retaliation if they carry out the threat. To which Iran responded that it would be "easy" for them to close Hormuz and defend it. More empty jousting? Probably, but it points out some of the most pressing flaws of human commerce and politics. Oil, war and nuclear weapons are all part of the equation and even of this threat passes it will resurface over and over until something awful happens. US officials are calling this another empty threat and they are probably right, but what happens when the threat becomes real? Are we really willing to fight a shooting war with Iran?

It would be suicidal for both sides and it would prove once and for all that the United States is in it for money and power. The oil represents the money and keeping "rogue" nations from having nukes is the power part. Pakistan and India have nukes, but they have no pressing hatred for Israel. There is only one reason why it is so critical to keep Iran from going nuclear and that is Israel. The sick part about it is that Israel has a massive US produced nuclear arsenal that is not internationally admitted to officially exist. If Iran has the bomb it changes the playing field in the region and there is also the fact that they might actually launch one if they get pissed off enough. Israel refuses to tolerate that prospect and wants to maintain its nuclear hegemony. That is why the US and its allies are so hell bent on destroying Iran's nuclear ambitions. Watching the cat and mouse game over the past few months makes me wonder if war with Iran is already a forgone conclusion. Libya could have been a dry run for a new kind of hands off warfare and all of the drone activity in Afghanistan and Pakistan is probably an equal measure of training exercises and security. All preparation for a new war?

One thing is certain, sending in ground troops to wage conventional war in Iran is not going to happen. I think that even flag waving rednecks have had enough of our Middle East adventures. Drones, Black Ops and long range, ship based missiles would be the tools employed if we go after Iran. Like I said, it probably will not come to that, but unlike North Korea, we have a lot to lose if Iran goes nuclear. And losing money, power and Israel will not be allowed by any sitting president or Congress . . . Ciao.

Viral Madness.

2011-12-28T00:07:00.001-08:00

Ron Fouchier, a virologist at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam is a fool. He and his team of scientists decided to mutate the H5N1 virus to see if they could make it airborne. They accomplished their goal, making on of the deadliest known viruses even more dangerous. H5N1 is more commonly known as the bird flu, the one that kills an average of 50% of those infected. When it was first discovered in Hong Kong back in 1997 it was quickly deemed a severe enough public health risk that officials had every chicken in the nation slaughtered to prevent its spread. For the past fifteen years researchers and government officials the world over knew that it was a danger, but since it spread only through direct contact with infected animals and not from person to person outbreaks were considered containable and manageable. No more. It is only a matter of time before this mutated version gets loose and when it does it has the potential to wipe out half the human population on the planet. Fouchier's work is considered as a global health threat, hence the extreme censorship his work is facing. Here's a thumbnail:

"The discovery has led advisers to the United States government, which paid for the research, to urge that the details be kept secret and not published in scientific journals to prevent the work from being replicated by terrorists, hostile governments or rogue scientists.

Journal editors are taking the recommendation seriously, even though they normally resist any form of censorship. Scientists, too, usually insist on their freedom to share information, but fears of terrorism have led some to say this information is too dangerous to share." (NYTimes.com)

Here is what Fouchier has to say about his 'work': "There are highly respected virologists who thought until a few years ago that H5N1 could never become airborne between mammals . . . I wasn’t convinced. To prove these guys wrong, we needed to make a virus that is transmissible." That statement earns this guy my douche-bag of the century award. I am all for scientific research and see myself as a child of the enlightenment, but there are some things you just do not fuck with. Making this news public at all seems irresponsible because now every fuck on the planet with enough money, power and desire to kill will be after this bug. There is no greater threat to the human species than a virus like this one - except ourselves. And this asshole blithely tells the press how EASY it was to do and that nothing should stand in the way of science. Maybe not science, but someone should have had this asshole taken out back and shot the moment he started talking about making H5N1 airborne. Once this thing makes its way into the general population there is no telling what further mutations may occur, it could become deadlier and easier transmit as it goes along. Fuck you Dr. Fouchier and may the New Year see you burn in hell. Ciao.

Syria, Cont . . .

2011-12-26T22:57:00.000-08:00

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s days should be numbered and if there was any justice in the world he would have been swept away in the first months of the Arab Spring. But he and his family have retained their hold and exert their power at will. The bodies keep piling up and being black balled by the Arab League has not slowed them down a bit. If anything the nation is descending into civil war and many areas of the urban population centers where the violence is worst are running out of money and food thanks to the world wide sanctions that have isolated Syrian citizens, reducing them to refugees in their own neighborhoods. At this point I believe that only Russia, Iran and China are doing business with the troubled nation. I am sure that there are others, but most of the civilized world has cut Syria off and despite the economic squeeze the violence keeps escalating as the al-Assad clan refuses to relinquish its grip on power. Right now a group of Arab League observers have entered the nation to assess the situation, a concession made by al-Assad only to prevent Syria's case from being turned over to the UN Security Council. Many human rights groups have refused to take part because the observers are being guided by the Syrian military.

Hard to get a real view of the carnage if those perpetrating it are in charge of the tours. I find it incredible that this situation has gone on for so long with no real action being taken by the international community. Syrian citizens are living in active war zones where women, children and the elderly are regularly killed in the line of fire. It would seem that given the reaction and action taken in Libya that similar measures would have been exacted on Syria. But it seems to have the same status as Iran and North Korea. A lot of condemnation and tough talk, but no real action is taken when push comes to shove. Obviously Syria has strategic importance in the region and it also has a long history of oppressive rule, perhaps it has back room deals with the US and other nations that make it relatively untouchable. Or maybe there is not enough at stake there for those nations to take action against the crimes committed against humanity there. I just find it hard to believe that Syria is being treated like someplace in Africa, a place where everyone knows awful shit is happening but reuse to do anything meaningful about it. The public argument is that the insurgents are just as responsible for the bloodshed as al-Assad, but I think any sane person sees that as total bullshit.

Russia and China are the two big nations making that argument and the Syrian government makes that claim every day to the international media. The fact is that no attempt has been made by al-Assad to listen to the opposition much less entertain the idea of dialogue. So the slaughter continues. I love how everyone stays focused on the strife in Egypt and refuses to talk about Syria. I think it is because Egypt has a romanticized past and a bigger place in the Western world's imagination as a cultural Mecca. But the suffering in Syria is greater and the need for support there is greater. Until the UN and the West take action the bloodshed will continue . . . Ciao.

Lao Tzu Xmas!

2011-12-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

In honor of the Christmas holiday I wish to share some ancient Eastern wisdom . . . Enjoy!

"The five colors blind the eye.

The five tones deafen the ear.

The five flavors cloy the palate.

Racing and hunting madden the mind.

Rare goods tempt men to do wrong.

Therefore, the Sage takes care of the belly, not the eye.

He prefers what is within to what is without."

#12

Checking out for the week.

2011-12-19T22:46:00.000-08:00

North Korea might blow up and the Euro might meltdown and America might shut down, but fuck it. I am going to enjoy a Christmas with my family in the Rockies! Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday.

2011-12-19T00:49:00.000-08:00

One of my heroes died today, Vaclav Havel. So here are some words of wisdom from another of my heroes, Lao Tzu to mark his passing. Enjoy!

"He who holds the Great Symbol will attract all things to him.

They flock to him and receive no harm,

For in him they find peace, security and happiness.

Music and dainty dishes can only make a passing guest pause.

But the words of the Tao possess lasting effects,

Though they are mild and flavorless,

Though they appeal neither to the eye nor the ear."

#35

Sucker Punch.

2011-12-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

The elected officials who are owned by corporate interests have no regard for anything other than lining the pockets of their masters and grabbing some cash for themselves in the process. That truism was evident again today as the Senate approved the 11th hour budget proposal that should have been taken care of months ago. Driving this nation's government to the edge of the cliff has become the M.O. of this Congress and this latest partisan battle has its roots in this year's Debt Ceiling and Supercommittee debacles. Rather than just pass the damned thing and keep the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits in to keep the economy from going over the cliff as well the GOP decided to throw in the Keystone XE pipeline as a provision of the bill. In essence they put a gun to our heads and demanded that it must be part of the temporary/emergency budget, so the pipeline is back online and Obama will not have much time to decide whether or not to green light it. I think he has a couple of months, according to the legislation as it stands. It is all a huge fucking mess and before this Congress getting budgets passed wasn't anything like this.

The highly charged partisan divide has made everything into an ideological battle and for the GOP they are bound and determined to help Big Oil every step of the way, damn the consequences. So, as one of the greatest boondoggles and potentially devastating environmental projects of all time comes back to haunt us scientists the world over are discovering just how fucked we already are by our fossil fuel emissions. The planet's permafrost is thawing and now scientists know how much carbon has been locked down in deep freeze and what it will mean as it escapes as CO2 and methane. Millions of years worth of plant and animal matter are trapped in the ice and as the ice thaws untold amounts of CO2 will be emitted and where the reserves are under water it will escape as methane. Methane is a far more potent green house gas than CO2 and the impact that the two gases will have could mean as much as a 30% increase in planetary emissions per year once the feedback loop is established. So we are more fucked than previously believed. But we got to burn more oil and coal baby, it is the only way to save the economy! The insanity of it all is apparent. But that does not mean that it is going to stop anytime soon. The leaders of this nation and the rest of the world are going to burn the fucker to the ground in the name of fiscal responsibility.

The real reason they are doing it is personal greed. When I read about the permafrost I realized again how much of an impact we have just going about our daily lives. Almost everything we do adds heat to the planet. Our whole enterprise as a species is the conversion of bio matter into energy usually using heat to do so while producing heat as a by product. All of our friction is cooking the planet. I believe more and more that we have passed the tipping point. The feedback loops are humming and shit is melting. Even if we stopped everything right now it would take hundreds, maybe thousands, of years for the Earth to regain heat exchange equilibrium equivalent to pre-industrial levels. We will see how much faster it will go to hell when Obama makes his decision in February. Ciao.

Same Way.

2011-12-16T23:03:00.000-08:00

If you are sick of the political process in America then you probably have the same dream I have had from time to time, a viable Third Party. This election cycle that void is being filled by Americans Elect. The party claims to not be any kind of actual party and it is actually just a very slick and detail free website. The site lays out the organization's goals, provides a means to give donations and presumably the power to help elect a candidate of and for the people once you sign up. Only 300,000 Americans have so far and a couple months ago when I first heard about it my wife and I dug into the site and found that most of the people working behind the scenes were big time political operatives. It is also funny that Obama is among the viable candidates listed, while their best bet is polling at 10% and of course the front runner overall is Ron Paul. It just shows how fucked the system is and how desperate those working within it have become. The GOP and Obama are actually taking this website seriously and adding it to their strategy and tactics for the election. The working assumption is that Americans Elect will manage to get their candidate on the ballot in all fifty states and could siphon votes away from both parties depending on regional demographics.

Americans Elect could be the Ralph Nader of 2012! The fact is that the website tells you nothing about who is running it or funding it and all of the candidates and choices are preselected for you. It is color coded and super easy to use, all of which inclines me to think think that it is another pernicious arm of powerful vested interests posing as free thinking egalitarians. In other words it is the same bullshit in a different wrapper and I am far from being alone in that opinion. I just think that it is telling that the best threat to come out of the traditional political process this election cycle is a fucking website. Where are the transformational figures that are supposed to come and rescue civilization as it is about to collapse? We all thought Obama was one of those figures and we got fucked for supporting him. And is the process so shady and weak that the big boys are actually afraid of this website? It has devolved into utter inanity and it would actually be funny if our fate wasn't hanging in the balance. It will be interesting to see what kind of person gets the candidacy handed to them from the fat cats behind the scenes.

It will probably be some governor, senator or mayor who got shafted by the GOP this time around or a dark horse Democrat. Regardless, it is not a step towards full participant democracy. It is more back room dealing in ultimate power. If we want real choices we will have to sacrifice everything to tear it all down and start over and I do not see that happening. Ciao.

We have been acclimated.

2011-12-15T15:37:00.000-08:00

I have referred to "white noise" a few times recently and it deserves a more detailed explanation. White noise is the humming, buzzing, constant din of the world that operates in the background. Traffic, planes, mosquitos, fluorescent lights, people talking and all the other sounds that we cease to pay attention to because of their ubiquity and frequency. Unfortunately too much of our world is becoming white noise. Anything that becomes overly repetitious and flat sounding joins the background, a dangerous thing when that anything is the future of our country. Right now Congress is trying to pass budget legislation to keep America's doors open for business and no one really cares about it. There are all sorts of odious pieces of legislation tied to the budget that are worth examination - like the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits - but the big mes is being pushed through and heavily modified so that Congress can get home for the holidays. Who knows what kind of tax loopholes are being created for the rich or what the long term ramifications of this monster bill will have? Almost no one will because now it is commonplace for "11th Hour" budget agreements and most of us have stopped paying attention to any of it because it is the "boy who cried wolf syndrome."

Things like this become white noise and that's when we the people get fucked. No one noticed the NDAA making its way through Congress and now it is ready for Obama to sign into law with one hand while he opens up the FEMA camps with the other. It is insane. And much of it is due to ear fatigue. We get tired of hearing about how fucked up Congress is so we tune out and then we wake up and go "What the fuck has happened to America?" They count on our deafness and they do their best to keep the media atwitter with scandal and cultural issues that keep our attention diverted. The same goes for how we are being told about unemployment. One week it is an intractable issue and the next it is stable and every fucking week they keep talking about it to the point that most of us tune out. Then, today they throw a huge announcement out declaring that the worst is over and we are sustainable again. What? They are telling me that the unemployment problem is over just like that? Bullshit. If you follow the white noise you know that most of the drop is due to people giving up on finding work and the rest of it is due to temporary holiday hiring. Those two factors are what has caused the numbers to come down. The fact is that the real percentage of working Americans out of work is more like 15%.

It just continues to blow my mind. People only pay attention after the fact, part of the reason the Occupy neophytes piss me off so much. The reality is that we cannot control what the government is going to do and we have to know that we are perpetually being lied to in order to keep us viable as sources of wealth for their -i.e. the politicians - keepers. To know that and be ahead of the curve you have to sift through a lot of white noise and most don't. Ciao.

War Games.

2011-12-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

We are a nation at War. It is hard to remember sometimes as our campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan have been going so long that they have become white noise in the daily news. Since we are nearing year's end and we have a war waning, a war waging and another looming on the horizon somewhere I thought it would be interesting to do a Christmas Carol kind of thing. Let's start with the War of Christmas past, Iraq. Obama is calling it good and we are leaving Iraq at long last. 4500 or so US troops killed, who knows how many contractors and at least 100,000 dead Iraqis. What did we accomplish? Hussein is dead. We successfully prevented Weapons of Mass destruction from ever being built by him. We . . . we, uh. Well, if you take "accomplish" as a word with a positive connotation we did not do much. Here's what we did do. We destabilized a sovereign nation destroying the hopes and dreams of a couple of generations of Iraqis. We left them with a questionable government and military with no assurance that civil war will be prevented as soon as we leave. We wasted billions of taxpayer dollars and made companies like Halliburton and Blackwater/XE rich off the misery and blood of a nation. We also established that America is no longer a military superpower on the ground and that we are an aggressor on the international stage.

If there are few fond memories to be had reflecting upon Iraq there are none when we take a look at Afghanistan. Obama was always against Iraq, but has strangely persisted in selling the idea that Afghanistan is a "War of Necessity." We have been there a decade and there is no end in sight. Today there was a ridiculous story about the tide is turning and that our objectives in Afghanistan are in sight. WTF? Really? How can anyone take that seriously? And as this mess has evolved we are also at war with art of Pakistan as well. It is beyond a quagmire, it is a nightmare and there is never going to be a resolution. No one has ever "beaten" Afghanistan and no one ever will. If the goals were to stabilize and Westernize the nation both have failed miserably. If anything we are keeping the radical elements of the nation's population energized by giving them a reason to exist and fight against us. The same goes for Pakistan. So far only one objective has been met: we got bin Laden. But that was hardly the result of ten years of combat on the ground. It was a Black-op run behind the scenes. The war itself is pointless and will keep dragging both nations into the sewer as long as our presidents persist in waging it.

The war of the future . . . Let's pretend its China! Satellite pictures of the new Chinese aircraft carrier have people hypothesizing - once again - that there will be a final showdown between the East and West sometime soon. What the hell, why not? If you believe the 2012 bullshit - The Mayan calendar ends because they were slaughtered - then a full on nuclear holocaust with China and the US on either end makes great sense. The only way that can happen is if the global economy collapses. If it does then tensions could rise high enough to provoke WW3. So there you have it. Let's hope that things pick up and that our political leaders wake up in time to keep this shit from happening. Ciao.

Attempt.

2011-12-13T23:05:00.000-08:00

A while back Rolling Stone did an amazing article on how the GOP takeover in the 2010 midterm election was spawning a bunch of state legislation designed to keep minorities and the poor from voting in 2012. I figured that it would end there and just be another example of how good information gets buried in America allowing the vested powers that be walk all over the masses. So today I was heartened by Attorney General Eric H. Holder's vow to investigate any state laws that obstruct voting rights. There is enough time before the election to at least put these ridiculous rules into limbo so that Blacks, Hispanics and the poor can have their voices heard - as well as any of our voices can be heard - on November 6th. Many of the laws require that you have a photo ID issued by the state you are voting in and some go so far as to ban voting on Sundays, the one day that usually has the biggest Black turnout thanks to "Getting the Vote Out" programs sponsored by churches. The GOP has long used any means necessary to block voting in poorer parts of the nation and in every recent election there have been widespread reports of voter intimidation perpetrated by GOP operatives. Now they are trying to reintroduce Jim Crow and I am happy to see that something is going to be done about it.

More accurately, I am glad that Holder is at least making an attempt to curb the insanity. Whether or not his vow will make a difference remains to be seen. It is hard to comprehend the depth and breadth of greed, hate and contempt that runs this nation. Obviously it all comes down to money and winning in politics, and our system of law is far from egalitarian. The elite operate in a different world than the rest of us and their contempt for us is barely disguised these days. Do I think that voting will actually make much of a difference this next election cycle? Unfortunately yes. The GOP has too good of a shot at winning to risk not voting for Obama. We are going to need every single vote we can get to keep the completely insane from unseating the highly corrupt and ineffective. I voted for Ross Perot back in the day because I was a young fatalist and thought "why not just drive it all straight to hell." I do not see wisdom in doing that now. Who knows, the way things are going it might not matter who wins next time around, but I do think it is important to fight against voter intimidation. It is nothing less than institutionalized racism and it is represents a mindset that needs to be eradicated and kept away from the legislative process.

So a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak news day. I also just want to add that I think it is funny that people seem to think that there was some golden age in America where Democracy and egalitarianism flourished. There has always been rampant inequity, greed and hostility guiding this nation because this nation is a corporation. Always has been, always will be. Ciao.

The Usual.

2011-12-13T00:30:00.000-08:00

I have been railing about the irrational Stock Market rallies ever since 2008 and it seems that the investment experts finally agree with me. Each time a shred of decent news comes up the Market goes nuts and then collapses a few days or even a day later. Friday they went nuts over the supposed progress made at the Eurozone Summit and today hey folded upon realizing that nothing much happened at the Summit. Here is what one economist has to say about it:

"“It looks like a reversal out of what was, from my standpoint, unwarranted optimism on Friday,” said Keith B. Hembre, the chief economist and chief investment strategist at Nuveen Asset Management. “It is a little bit of a puzzle as to why the market tends to act so euphoric going into these meetings only to act so disappointed.”" (NYTimes.com)

A puzzle indeed. There is no recovery and all of these rallies are fabricated to make the very few a little bit richer as the rest spiral down the drain. It is the usual bullshit and eventually there will be no real or fake good news to keep driving these investment spikes. Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday.

2011-12-11T23:52:00.000-08:00

The Master is in the hizzy . . . Uh, sorry about that. Now presenting Lao Tzu, Enjoy!

"A good soldier is never aggressive;

A good fighter is never angry.

The best way on conquering an enemy

Is to win him over by not antagonizing him.

The best way of employing a man

Is to serve under him.

This is called the virtue of non-striving!

This is called using the abilities of men!

This is called being wedded to Heaven as of old!"

#68

What It Takes.

2011-12-10T12:18:00.000-08:00

If you think that America has "devolved" into an Orwellian nightmare in the past decade and that income inequity is a true call for revolution then you need to read some history and wake the fuck up. America has a long an proud tradition of crushing the weak and impoverished beneath its boot and some of the most egregious examples of abusing power against the weak were taking place years after I was born. This week the State of North Carolina is facing how to repay thousands of people who were forcibly sterilized by state officials as late as the 1970's. All of them were either poor, minorities or deemed 'stupid' by the state. Eugenics programs flourished during the 20th century in America. It was seen as a way to reduce poverty, strengthen the gene pool and control 'radical' elements of the population. These people who were castrated or had hysterectomies live and walk among us and just ask them about fairness and see what they say. The last lynching in America took place in 1981 and in Texas James Byrd, Jr. was dragged to death tied to a pickup truck in 1998. This has never been a land of peace and freedom, it has always been a battle driven by prejudice and greed.

Look at the American Indians and ask your grandmother or great grandmother about the "night terrors" she probably suffered giving birth in a hospital in the mid twentieth century, tied to a bed drugged out of her mind. And if you really want to know about suffering ask any disabled veteran or actual poor person you can find and they will tell you about the nightmare that IS life in America. These are the reasons why I am getting so fed up with these kids playing revolution, the mass media bullshit and the political garbage that is all passing for meaningful dialogue these days. All of it is empty and none of it will change a goddamned thing. The machine will keep crushing the weak and collecting money at every turn. If you want a fucking revolution be careful. The Japanese internment camps are still out there and FEMA is busy getting them all up and running again along with the hundreds of new ones that have been designated. Congress has been passing legislation to legally strip us of all of our rights as citizens. I want everyone to realize that if they want revolution they better be ready to fight and die for it because occupations and peaceful shows of force do not mean shit to the United States of America.

This country IS a corporation. It was established as such when it was colonized and the wonderful documents and founders that established this nation were looking out for rich white business interests. All the dream, equality and liberty shit came along as this nation developed to soften the image a bit and sell it to the people/consumers AKA citizens. There never was a Utopian moment and there never will be one in a capitalist nation this large. Revolution in America means complete destruction of the existing system and since the system will refuse to be destroyed a lot of people are going to have to die for it to happen. That is what it takes and it is nothing to take lightly. If you want utopia or an equitable society you will have to form your own as a separatist off the grid. That is the only way. Ride out the chaos and see what is left standing after the fight is over. Not that I am planning on doing that . . . Ciao.

Scumbag.

2011-12-09T12:20:00.001-08:00

Jerry and Dottie Sandusky have a special place in hell waiting for them. They, like so many others in a position of power over less fortunate souls, abused their right to be a member of the human species and that right needs to be revoked. Dottie has now stepped forward to defend her husband, only after two of the boys he fucked down in their basement told authorities that she had been home while they were being raped and they cried out to her for help. She denies all of it and claims that her husband is innocent and that she never heard anything at all. Ah, it must have been tough for her to sleep those nights, but not tough enough to do the right thing and turn her fucking husband in. Learning more about their non-traditional family was eye opening and explains how this predator operated. He and Dottie had six adopted children, so no kids of their own. A sexless marriage perhaps, or one of them was unable to produce children? Either way it explains Jerry's ability to fuck little boys because if he ever had a kid of his own he would not have had such an easy time ruining other people's kids with his sickness.

The fact that these encounters often took place in their basement makes Dottie every bit as guilty as Jerry and she should be charged as an accomplice. I wonder if any of their adopted kids were used a sex toys as well? I bet he tried and she told him to find his meat elsewhere. There is no excuse for either one of them to be allowed to live on this planet. If he had been a local grocery clerk or plumber he would have been fried years ago, but he and Dottie had it pretty good and important people shielded them from the law in order to maintain their OWN facades. It's like these Penn State high rollers were still living in the fifties when you could sweep this shit under the rug. The whole lot of them will have a special place in hell because silence hurt these kids as much as Jerry and Dottie did. The saddest part is that this kind of shit happens all the time and is all too often ignored. Even now kids are being abused by fucks like this and are unable to get their voices heard above the din of social conformity. "Don't lie, Mr. Sandusky is an important man in the community." "Even if he did it we need to keep it quiet, the big game is next week." Fucking makes me sick.

The fact that Dottie is a part of all this just makes it even more realistic and horrifying. Family members are notorious for covering up the sins of their brethren, it happened in my own fucking family and that it why I get so pissed about this shit. It makes me sick . . . and they will burn in hell. I just wish I could put them there. Ciao.

What is really going on?

2011-12-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

The wheels are coming off this nation and yet there is a ton of money and effort being spent on creating a semi-secret agenda that serves no other purpose than to detain and house American citizens. Just a few days ago the Senate passed a bill adding a new wrinkle to the defense budget that makes legal the indefinite detainment of American citizens. Here is a quick synopsis from Wikipedia:

"The National Defense Authorization Act is a United States federal law that has been enacted for each of the past 48 years to specify the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense.[1]

A recent provision in the NDA act for 2012 has received critical attention because Section 1031 allows for the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens, an unconstitutional precedent. The bill passed with 93 'yay' votes to 7 'nay' in the U.S. Senate, and is now available for view by the public. As of early December, the bill, now known as H.R.1540, is under review by the House of Representatives."

Add that to today's news that KBR (A gigantic military and civilian contracting company) has been hired by the government to resurrect FEMA detention camps, essentially green lighting REX 84, one of the most insidious government plots of all time. Here is a breakdown of REX 84 also from Wiki:

"Rex 84, short for Readiness Exercise 1984, was a secretive "scenario and drill" developed by the United States federal government to suspend the United States Constitution, declare martial law, place military commanders in charge of state and local governments, and detain large numbers of American citizens who are deemed to be "national security threats", in the event that the President declares a "State of Domestic National Emergency". The plan states that events that might cause such a declaration would be widespread U.S. opposition to a U.S. military invasion abroad, such as if the United States were to directly invade Central America. To combat what the government perceived as "subversive activities", the plan also authorized the military to direct ordered movements of civilian populations at state and regional levels."

Oliver North helped develop the program and there is abundant information about this "readiness" protocol in the Congressional Record. So why the fuck are they hiring KBR to staff and make ready the FEMA camps? These hidden detainment sites are usually remote and are only reachable by ancient train lines near interstate highways and getting them operational will cost God knows how many millions or even billions of dollars? To put such a plan into action takes years, so this must have been in the works for years. My gut tells me that the government is ready for the breakdown of society due to economic collapse and wants to have a contingency plan in case martial law needs to be enacted on a national level. My wife immediately thought it might be to house illegal immigrants. The delusional Occupy idiots think it is for them. I think I am closer to the truth. If there is systemic failure of the American paradigm due to economic duress the grid will eventually fail and in order to maintain control the Federal government will override all local and state laws by using the military to keep control over the citizenry.

Despite the ultimate goal of all this, whatever it may be, this is alarming shit. I thought we were too broke to enact such a huge undertaking? I thought that the war against our rights was softening as the war on terror has faded. But the war on terror was always an excuse to take our rights away and prepare us for the possibility of a police state. I think that it might be more likely than I ever imagined and that chills me to the bone. Ciao.

Climate Control.

2011-12-07T15:54:00.000-08:00

The central issue of our times is being papered over in dollar bills. The climate talks in Durban, South Africa are proving to be another lackluster affair with all the world's representatives meeting for free food and lodging with no intention of doing anything about the future of the planet. Europe is the only faction still interested in upholding the guidelines of the Kyoto Protocol, everyone else thinks the whole thing should be scrapped and new less stringent guidelines put in place. There are some exceptional examples of success, like Canada. Our snowy neighbor to the North has far exceeded the demands of Kyoto and sees no reason to carry on with it since they have not been joined by other nations in taking it seriously. Canada says it will keep reducing emissions with or without an international treaty. But the majority of those in Durban have coal dust and exhaust fumes on their hands. China, now the world's biggest source of greenhouse gases says it will accept a treaty beginning in 2020 and has attached so many demands to it that no one else will agree to it. The emerging nations of the world want nothing to stifle their economic growth, so they are out and with the US refusing to budge who can blame them.

America has turned the climate debate into an economic standoff. Until the US joins the treaty and legislates in favor of reducing emissions in a substantial way there will be no internationally legitimate coalition to tackle climate change. The little guys want to make their money and the big players are struggling to keep theirs so anything seen as an impediment to profit is rejected. That means that investing in new technologies, Green Energy and anything that threatens Big Oil's hegemony will be shot down out of hand. The worse the global economy gets the more distant an accord on the environment becomes. Being friendly to the planet is apparently still seen as a luxury expense by our species. The obvious problem is that without a functioning, livable environment capitalist pursuits are difficult to conduct. It always comes back to money and it is always easy to put off the tough decisions until next year. the thing is that by 2020 we will be far past the tipping point. Many climatologists say we are already past it and with each day that goes by the genie gets harder to put back in the bottle. This past year has seen the largest increase in emissions on record. A staggering 6% in one year! But we keep going as if there is literally no tomorrow.

The extreme weather that we have been seeing the past few years is going to get worse and as crops fail, as property is destroyed and life is lost the argument will remain the same. Economics will win the debate. "With the losses we have already sustained we could not possibly afford to enact restrictions on commerce at this time." It is a negative reinforcement cycle. Economy gets worse and so dies the planet chocking on fumes and dollars. Fucking insane when you really digest it for a moment . . . Ciao.

Overstatement.

2011-12-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

It is good to see that there is a lot of talk about revolution and in equality taking place in the American mainstream right now. Even Obama has the mania and delivered a populist speech in Podunk, Kansas today making the plight of the Middle Class his centerpiece. Internationally there are calls to enact a RobinHood Tax to take a small percentage of financial transactions and give the proceeds to the needy. The Occupy Movement is claiming credit for anything remotely connected to its messy agenda saying that it is responsible for banks dropping the debit card fees and Obama dropping the Keystone pipeline. Unfortunately most of this noise is just that and the crushing machines of commerce continue to grind us up. Obama's tenure at the helm has done as much to erode the Middle Class as GW's did and for him to stand up and proclaim that he will rebuild it is nonsense. He is bought and paid for by vested interests and he dropped the Keystone project as a political move. If he gets reelected he will green light that thing so fast our heads will spin and if he loses the GOP will certainly do it. The RobinHood Tax is a fantasy and even if enacted most of the funds would get chewed up before they ever reached those promised it. And the banks have found tons of ways to charge more for their services behind the scenes.

There is a problem common to all of these things and it is overstatement. Jon Stewart was the first person in the mainstream to identify this problem. Years ago he began talking abut how the volume has been turned up so loud that nothing meaningful can be heard. All around us, for the past decade, we have heard strident bellowing and screaming accusations, but no real discourse or strategizing. Solutions and promises of change have not happened. But we have been delivered a boatload of overstatements. The Occupy people compare their battle to that of the dissidents in Syria, Obama claims that he wears Roosevelt's mantle and pot smoking dreamers actually think the rich will give to the poor if the law compels them to. All a bunch of grossly simplified overstatements that have no relation to the actuality of things. Syria is a fucking war zone with bodies being dumped at intersections with limbs and heads removed while the PDX Occupy whiners complain that they got detained for five hours after breaking park curfews. NOT THE SAME. Teddy Roosevelt helped shape this nation, establishing the National Park System, setting a precedent for legislating in favor of workers rights and creating acts to safeguard the well being of the American people by providing government regulatory agencies. Obama is NOT EVEN IN THE BALLPARK.

But, here I go using overstatement to state my case against overstatement. I fear that the volume cannot be turned back down. As long as everyone has a blog, an overbearing opinion and a self righteous determination that they can sell their shit or force down other people's throats the discourse will wither and beyond the noise things will keep getting worse. The louder it gets the harder it is to hear the true wielders of power taking more from us. But, that might be an overstatement . . .

EU.

2011-12-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

The EU's woes continue and despite an effort today by Sarkozy and Merkel to reassure the world that Europe is taking its debt crisis seriously Standard and Poor's announced that 15 eurozone nations are on the chopping block for credit downgrades. France and Germany made that list indicating that the proposal by their leaders to amend the European Union treaty to include a provision to punish profligate nations with a penalty lacked teeth. Their plan would automatically penalize nations whose budget deficits run too high. Amending the Treaty could take months and in many people's minds the Euro doesn't have that much time left anyway. I see it as another example of the Europeans leaders' inability to take decisive action on a grand enough scale to save itself. Everything they say and do seems to indicate that they are aware of impending doom but are unwilling to face it head in and acknowledge its harsh reality. They have been running from this problem for two years and now the biggest players in the Union are looking at credit downgrades. What happens when all the big players no longer have a AAA rating? I know the practical answer, but it seems since we are all headed into the toilet maybe a new rating system is in order.

But that would be unfair to emerging nations who may one day attain the exalted AAA score. But I digress. The EU has seen this mess coming for a long time, there is really no excuse for the inaction of their leaders at this point. The markets are wise to their half measures and I think that it is reasonable to conclude that they will continue to blunder. That will eventually lead to one or more members being forced out of the eurozone and once one is ousted the entire thing will unravel. Not to mention the fact that one leaving is all it will take to sink the global economy into the dreaded "D" word that the experts are beginning to bandy about. That's right, I have been saying it for years but now mainstream economists are talking about a depression on the horizon. When the mass media is willing to talk about about it then beware. I honestly thought that the powers that be had enough mojo to fight that term off until after the 2012 election. Yet it is with us now and after Christmas is over and the New Year is rung in I expect that it will be used more and more. The fate of our economy is tied to Europe and the fate of the global economy is tied to us.

We will see more emergency meetings, more interventions by Obama and lots of hand wringing early next year. The fact is that there is nowhere for the money to come from to save the Euro. All plans are contingent upon borrowing more cash in the vain hope that one day some of these nations will recover and be able to pay it back. Europe is trapped in a credit spiral like the kind that people in here get caught in once they take out a payday loan. You can never catch up and you end up taking out more and more and drown in interest. Just some happy thoughts to start out the week! Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday!

2011-12-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

Seeking solace from the Master . . . Lao Tzu. Enjoy!

"Tao gave birth to One,

One gave birth to Two,

Two gave birth to Three,

Three gave birth to all the myriad things.

All the myriad things carry the Yin on their backs and hold the Yang in their embrace,

Deriving their vital harmony from the proper blending of the two vital Breaths.

What is more loathed by men than to be "helpless," "little," and "worthless"?

An yet these are the very names the princes and barons call themselves.

Truly, one may gain by losing;

And one may lose by gaining.

What another has taught let me repeat:

"A man of violence will come to a violent end."

Whoever said this can be my teacher and friend."

#42

Innovation.

2011-12-03T23:22:00.000-08:00

There is an interesting phenomenon that takes place amongst groups of humans that creates a paradox. Group number one is comprised of "bad guys" and group number two is comprised of people in severe need. Both are outside the parameters of 'civilization' and they form a symbiotic relationship creating moral conundrums for those within the circle of civilization. Right now al-Qaida is enjoying safe haven in many parts of Africa. In exchange for keeping silent and providing water, the locals get money, free health care and medical supplies and in some cases personal attention and charity usually reserved for the holidays or celebrity telethons by members of 'civilization.' There are stories about al-Qaida members bringing baby clothes to newborns and birthday gifts for children in the villages. Yes, they are also recruiting for their cause as they go along, but the benefits that they bring to small villages in rural Africa are immeasurable. I also think that they could just as easily take what they want or just pay cash for it, so the gifts and medical attention makes judging them as cold blooded opportunists ring a bit hollow. So what do you do as a member of 'civilization?'

Do you brand all of al-Qaida as evil and dismiss their charitable acts as a bargain with the devil made by desperate people? Or do you reserve judgement and applaud the benefits they bring the downtrodden? Or perhaps you get on board with them and help and old lady across the street before dodging into an embassy to blow yourself up? It is disingenuous to cast them as evil, it is too easy to reserve judgement and number three even al-Qaida has trouble maintaining the strength of will for. I have no answer. I think that the symbiosis between the poor and the terrorists is indicative of where we are headed and it is an innovation in technique on the part of al-Qaida. It also recalls the long tradition of Stockholm Syndrome in human history where the weaker party views the stronger as beneficent out of fear. I do not think that it is a true case of that, I see it as a true symbiotic relationship where both sides have independent interests to protect but have a genuine fondness for each other. Besides, poor Africans and al-Qaida are both shunned by the world so why not band together? There is no benefit in turning in the terrorists, so why do it?

Just some thoughts . . . Ciao.

Machine Language.

2011-12-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

We live in an age where the nuts and bolts of the planet are coming apart at an alarming rate. The macro version of where we are at as a species is about to pass the tipping point into disaster, yet on the micro-individualist plane we have more data and gadgets at our disposal than at any other point in history. We have "smart" objects all around us and more and more we communicate with them more than each other. And now we can actually talk to them. You see it emerging in public, a person is talking out loud next to you and saying "period," "question mark," or "smiley face." The new smart phones have personal assistants built in that allow you to basically control the entire functionality of the device via voice recognition. It is creepy, annoying and in a few more years will be as socially accepted as talking on a blue tooth as become now. A decade ago if you saw someone walking down the street talking to themselves you wold think they were insane, but now everyone does it. What makes the voice recognition stuff so weird is that you have to "say" punctuation. I wonder how you do italics or boldface? I am the owner of a pitiful Palm Pixi and I admit that I love the web browsing and email while I spend my days with my daughter.

But even if it had the new technology I would not want to use it. The problem is that all of us say that shit until we get a new device. Then we capitulate and become dependent upon the features and forget how we survived without them. We are gradually losing our brains. Our ability to reason is being impaired by technology. These gadgets do one of two things to people. They either have their minds wither, consumed by banal and pointless drivel or they become hyper multi-taskers who cannot focus on anything long enough to do anything as well as they should. I think that a lot of people turn into both. But, there is no stopping it and all of it is marketed as a boon to the human race. They save time, money and make you smarter. All three are false. The amount of time it takes to fuck around and get the shit working right and all the glitches that eat your work negates the time factor. They are expensive and one of the great lies in the world is that spending money can save you money. And for fucks sake they make us dumber. People are coming of age unable to make change, read maps, read period and function as full fledged human beings. What happens when there is no electricity? I shudder to think what will happen if the grid does ever fail.

There is no doubt in my mind that the mass marketing and advent of smart devices is designed to make us more dependent and less able to critically think. If we all use the same programs and devices to communicate it truncates our ability to critically think because we are limited by the scope and parameters of the machines. It reduces us into clearly limited channels of communication, all of which is monitored and recorded. They have assumed control . . . Ciao.

Naming Newts.

2011-12-01T23:17:00.000-08:00

Couldn't resist the "Best in Show" reference, even if it is a stretch. Who would have thought that the Gingrich revolution would have an act two in American mainstream politics? Newt is back and thanks to the idiocy of Bachmann and Perry, along with Cain's seeming inability to keep his fly closed and lingering reservations about Romney he has risen to the top of the GOP pack. It shows how weak this batch of contenders is and how short the collective American memory is. The Republican Revolution of 1994 backfired and Clinton got a second term while Gingrich fell swiftly from grace. His three marriages reveal a man with no scruples. loyalty or heart - he cheated on his dying wife, married the mistress and cheated on her with number three. He is a guy with an out-sized ego who thinks that he is the smartest guy in the room and has persistently tried to discredit or destroy anyone that disagrees with him. While in Congress he despised the experts whose data contradicted his own, a bone of contention he is still picking at to this day. The following was taken from a recent speech in New Hampshire with commentary by Bruce Bartlett:

"Mr. Gingrich said the C.B.O. 'is a reactionary socialist institution which does not believe in economic growth, does not believe in innovation and does not believe in data that it has not internally generated.'

Mr. Gingrich’s charge is complete nonsense. The former C.B.O. director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, now a Republican policy adviser, labeled the description 'ludicrous.' Most policy analysts from both sides of the aisle would say the C.B.O. is one of the very few analytical institutions left in government that one can trust implicitly.

It’s precisely its deep reservoir of respect that makes Mr. Gingrich hate the C.B.O., because it has long stood in the way of allowing Republicans to make up numbers to justify whatever they feel like doing." (NYTimes.com)

Newt is one of the ones responsible for the insanity of the current GOP agenda, an early proponent of Grover Nordquist's insane Pledge to never raise taxes for any reason, Newt can be directly linked to the rampant deregulation and corporate largess that fueled the 2008 economic crisis and its fallout. And he is a frontrunner for President. I know the system is broken, we all know it or at least sense that things are supremely fucked up, but come on. As dysfunctional as things have gotten I thought that Romney would have had this thing sewn up before the leaves turned. Maybe this is all part of the play and they are trying to make it look like a real race for the candidacy. Once the microscope says on Newt for a while he will fall back into the pack. Romney HAS to be the nominee because he is the only one out of all of them that can hold his own intellectually with Obama and doesn't have a rack of skeletons in his closet. He may be a flip-flopper, but people can forgive that. It is harder to get over the fact that this asshole cheated on his wife while she was dying of cancer. Ciao.

Live it up.

2011-11-30T14:15:00.000-08:00

The insanity of the market . . . it is unending, but now the financial and economic experts have wised up and are seeing all the madness for what t is. Desperation. Today's massive rally can be chalked up to the decision by the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank to cut in half the cost that European banks pay they borrow from their own central banks. Now, where do the dollars come from that capitalize this program? The European Central Banks get those dollars from the Federal Reserve. Got it? So, to stave off the imminent destruction of the Eurozone European Central Banks are getting cheaper rates to borrow money from the Federal reserve and get breaks from the other five international banks that are not in immediate danger of crashing. Makes total sense, right? Wrong. What this does is create an even larger credit bubble that will take out even more sovereign banking systems worldwide. It is a gamble that will not pay off and we the rent comes due nonpayment will hurt already fragile institutions that are barely holding their own in a down economy. If you think that it is insane that America is sponsoring a bailout of Europe you are dead on.

It is complete desperation with no long term hopes of solving the systemic failures that will drag the global economy into the toilet. In the immediate term what they are hoping for is enough stability and confidence to boost the retail sector through Christmas and allow for another feeding frenzy on Wall Street and the other global trading troughs. The borrowing has gone to levels that make my drunken frat boy analogy seem quaint. I used to compare this pattern of debt accumulation to the purchasing habits of a drunk frat boy with rich parents, buying far beyond his earning potential on credit knowing all the while his folks would bail him out. Now I need a new analogy because the parents are gone and the spending vs income disparity is so extreme you need a much more toxic addiction to liken it to. The global economic system is like a meth head, stealing whatever they can from their friends and neighbors in the trailer court with either death or jail at the end of the line. I think that suits our current state of affairs better. I am actually shocked that the mainstream media is finally waking up and openly calling this mayhem for what it is because the general public needs to be aware that this is madness.

And they need to know that none of this if fixing the problems that loom right in front of us. We all need to face it because it will affect all of us. In the meantime I expect that we will see this rally mentality wear off by week's end. But I expect the band aid to stay on past December 25th. There is still money to be made and the powers that be want to line their pockets before they run out of options to save the game. Ciao.

More Chaos.

2011-11-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

One of my first memories of world events was the Hostage Crisis back in 1979. I was six when it started and I remember watching it on the news every night with my parents and how shaped the 1980 election. When Carter lost it was the beginning of dark times for a low income family like my own. So it was interesting to see that hard line Iranian students had stormed the British Embassy today and by some reports took six hostages. Whenever there is an organized protest of force in Iran it is condoned by the powers that be, otherwise they are stopped immediately by police and military forces. Therefore today's attack was in concert with the Iranian government, another sign that the rogue nation is not going to capitulate to demands that it give up its nuclear program or cooperate with the West in any manner. Iran itself poses no real threat to the greater world. The threat it poses is that it has the capability to launch a meaningful attack of conventional forces on Israel and if it has any nukes or has the ability to make them that threat rises exponentially. The last thing any leader of any nation wants is a truly pissed off Israel. The have a full nuclear arsenal and the US will follow them to hell and back. So that is why it is important to watch Iran.

It is equally important to watch Pakistan, another nuclear power, but with a huge stability problem. A NATO airstrike on Saturday hit two bases killing 24 Pakistani soldiers. Accounts of the incident have varied wildly and you can be assured that the account we end up getting here in America will not be the truth. Regardless of the circumstances the dead remain and the ire of the Pakistani people is elevated. Even a top officer in the Pakistani Army called it a "deliberate act of aggression." Things between the US and Pakistan have been rough this year and the uneasy accord that we have with them is at the breaking point. The US cannot effectively wage war or even withdraw troops without cooperation from Pakistan. Pakistan needs the aid money we send them and our military support to help them fight insurgents. The problem is that they help insurgents at the same time and in turn we bomb them hitting civilian and military targets by accident all the time. No one is without blame and there is a lot at risk. If relations between the US and Pakistan dissolve we face a threat from a nuclear power friendly to insurgents that is nestled between a nation we are at war with and another nuclear power, India. It is in the world's best interests to keep Pakistan stable and one way to NOT do that is to keep killing their citizens. I do not blame the Pakistani people for protesting and calling for blood, but they need to focus as much of their rage against their own corrupt regime's policy of working with terrorists and insurgents.

It just adds to the growing chorus of chaos that seems to be sweeping the world right now. None of it is good and none of the current fragilities appear to be sustainable. Yet each day we wake up and get through the day and read about it at the end. I have no idea where any of this shit is going to land. You can almost throw a dart at the map and ht a spot on the planet that could be the epicenter for Armageddon. Sweet dreams! Ciao.

Macro.

2011-11-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

There are two Macro events taking place right now on the planet that will reshape the world as we know it by next year's Presidential election in America. The first is the Arab Spring, which has now settled into winter while being far from settled at all. Today's election in Egypt did not spark mass protests or violence, but the outcome will not give a clear picture of where Egypt will land because the military is still in control. The election was held to put together a temporary parliament to begin the transition to a full democratic government. It is the first of many rounds of elections directed by the Egyptian Army, a process many think is too convoluted to work and a stalling tactic to help the army remain in control. Voters commented that they hope that their voices will be heard, but many are suspicious that the Army will not relinquish power until they are compelled to by force. Syria has been blackballed by the Arab League and is threatening violence beyond its borders because of sanctions that it sees as acts of war against it by its peers. The uncertainty and unrest embroiling the Middle East and North Africa could easily lead to a full scale war, a war on the order of the World Wars with Israel in the middle of it. Trying to predict what will happen is next to impossible. But predicting that a flash point could erupt in the next year and trigger retaliation - no matter how irrational - by Israel is a safe bet. That would spell disaster for everyone in the hemisphere.

The other Macro event that will hit us even sooner is the Euro-zone crisis. I just got done reading a series of articles about it in the Economist and even the conservative experts on their staff seem to think that the Euro is going to collapse soon. Panic has spread beyond any particular nation's debt crisis and has infected the entire European banking system. Finding affordable credit and willing lenders is getting tougher as those with liquidity look to hold onto it to weather the impending storm. It is the same cycle that has crippled America. After the TARP bailout banks held onto cash and used it for investment to build their reserves rather than put it into the open market. As a result our economy has stalled and unemployment is entrenched at 9%. Things have gotten so bad in Europe that the banks are hoarding and last week even the most economically stable nation, Germany, could not sell the usual allotment of its bonds at auction. With cash flow strangled and more nations - including France - joining the list of credit default risks each week Europe is in dire trouble and that means trouble for everyone else. Even China is not interested in profiteering off of this crisis, which speaks volumes since they snapped up a lot of America at bargain basement prices back in 2008. If China is out of the game then no one can save Europe except for the ECB and their nations' leaders.

Since that seems about as likely as a quick transformation into functional democracy for the Arab World I have to conclude that the turmoil and chaos is going to expand and influence every corner of the globe. My daughter is going to live in a much different world than I grew up in. I just hope that there will be some semblance of sanity and reason left in it for her to latch onto. Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday!

2011-11-28T00:16:00.000-08:00

A pearl from the master, Enjoy!

"Only simple and quiet words will ripen of themselves.

For a whirlwind does not last a whole morning,

Nor does a sudden shower last a whole day.

Who is their author? Heaven-and Earth!

Even Heaven-and-Earth cannot make such violent things last long;

How much truer is it out of the rash endeavors of men?

Hence, he who cultivates the Tao is one with the Tao;

He who practices Virtue is one with Virtue;

And he who courts after Loss is one with Loss.

To be one with the Tao is to be a welcome accession to the Tao;

To be one with Virtue is to be a welcome accession to Virtue;

To be one with Loss is to be a welcome accession to Loss.

Deficiency of faith on your part

Entails faithlessness on the part of others."

#23

"So ya say ya wanna revolution, well . . ."

2011-11-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's consumer orgy was up 7% over last year which has retailers and economists hoping that this holiday season will resuscitate some life into our ailing economy. The better numbers are only part of the story as this Black Friday introduced some new tactics to the play book. Many retail chains decided that opening in the early AM was not enticing enough, so they decided to open up late night in Thanksgiving to rope in bargain hunters. This led to people camping outside of stores on Thanksgiving day rather than spending time with their families. I wonder if there were more people camped out yesterday in America than at the height of the Occupy Movement a few weeks ago? My money is on the consumers. Anyway, those who were at the doors and ready to buy made damned sure no one got in their way. One woman pepper sprayed a crowd to get at an X-Box and the list of reports recounting people getting trampled, hit, kicked and attacked is far to long to list. It was a violent start to the shopping season and a vivid reminder that the 99% is more interested in HDTVs and video games than revolution.

The fact is that consumerism is the closest thing to religion and culture that this country has. It is the only thing that unites us all and serves as a shared experience. Popular television programs and sports teams inspire more conversation and true empathy among members of our population than any serious "idea" ever could. We are conditioned from birth to covet shit, learn how to earn money to buy said shit and do anything in our power to keep that shit and get more of it. Now, just because the system is intrinsically unfair and tilts to the top means nothing because we all want to BE the 1% and have been told from day one that we might be the 1% one day. That is why we are loathe to destroy the system. All of us think that we could be at the top and we need that dream to sustain us as we grind it out each day and buy lottery tickets and wait for that inheritance to roll in. Even though it is completely irrational, every single American thinks they deserve to be the 1% and will get a shot at it one day. That is is why Occupy will fade away and people will keep clawing each others' eyes out for a Wii.

It is also why I just refuse to care about what happens in this nation. I will take care of my own, but my faith in my fellow citizens is non-existent. The super rich 1% and the dirt-head 1% both make me sick and the rest of the lot is programmed to self-destruct the moment the grid fails. There is another 1% out there on the same page as me and when the time comes I will reach out. For now I like watching everyone fall down and fuck up. Ciao.

Turkey Day 2.

2011-11-24T23:47:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving Sunday with the Coles and another today with some close friends. Despite all the crap we have been dealing with of late we had a great holiday. Taking the next day off so see you Sat. night. Ciao!

Firesale.

2011-11-23T23:25:00.000-08:00

What happens when the mightiest economic power in Europe offers up government bonds for dirt cheap at auction? Well the Germans found out the answer to that question today, not much. There were not a lot of takers and as far as economic indicators go, that signals serious trouble for the global economy. If investors and governments are unsure about the long term viability of German bonds then the Eurozone might already be DOA. Couple that with the beginnings of a slowdown in Asia and we might be headed for the big one at last. For the past couple months I have been wrestling with the meaning and actions of the Occupy thing in addition to my usual arm chair economist musings and I have been trying to clarify my thoughts about it all. I agree with the basic message that income inequity has spiralled out of control and that the system is corrupt, but I do not think that everyone has realized that the system itself is already on a course for self-destruction that will create a scenario that will make even the most hardcore Anarchists shudder. I guess what I am trying to say is the patient cannot be cured at this point. Trying to rehabilitate Western style capitalism will not solve the problems we face.

It will have to be destroyed a new system put in place. Now how that will happen or what will be the aftermath is beyond anyone's ability to know. What I do know is that the global economy is going to meltdown and it will wipe out the 1% along with the rest of us. The .000001% will be unscathed, but in such small numbers that their security will not be assured. I truly think that the markets are going to crash, governments will be declared insolvent and that world leaders are going to be sitting around a big table trying to figure out how they are going to maintain social order and revalue everything. If I am right then it presents a huge opportunity and simultaneously a tremendous risk. If it all crashes and they just try and prop it up as they have been doing the same shit will happen again. If they go radical there is a good chance that the richest entities on the planet can fully take over because they could buy off entire nations to ensure that their lights stay on and people get fed. Regardless we can all be assured, even here in the land of the free that our lives as we know them will be changed forever.

This could easily be just more of my crackpot ramblings, but I have been right about most everything that has happened the past few years, my predictions ahead of the curve by year or more in many cases. I still think we have a long limp ahead because the powers that be are not interested in sitting around my imaginary table. They will fight tooth and claw to keep things going. But the end is in sight and it will not be pretty. It will be ugly like Egypt and Syria, territory where Occupy folks would shit their pants if they were dropped into them. Ciao.

2100!

2011-11-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

To celebrate my 2,100th diatribe since joining blogger I will rant about one of my all time favorite topics: The wholesale rape of the environment/the crusade to discredit climatologists. University of East Anglia in Britain was at the epicenter of the manufactured controversy a couple of years when a slew of emails were leaked to the press. The content of the emails was supposed to show that the top climatologists were trying to promote their personal agendas as hard science by shutting out those who disagreed with them and skewing data in their favor. The furor was quickly settled as those of us with functioning brains realized that the data and projections were as legitimate as science can get and the media eventually exonerated those who had been branded as charlatans. Now who would try and discredit climate change as a theory and the scientists who study it? Big Oil and the lap dog politicians/political operatives who work for Big Oil perhaps . . . ? Well, of fucking course. Now they have decided to go in for a second round by digging up some more old emails and releasing them to the press to try and disrupt the upcoming U.N. climate talks next week in Durban, South Africa. How clever and pathetic.

Anyone who denies climate change and believes those who deny it also believe that the Tooth Fairy and Jesus are actual people in the world that they have direct interactions with. There have been enough exhaustive reports by investigative journalists to conclusively prove once and for all that any and all denial and discredit heaped upon climatologists has been the hack work of those paid by the oil industry to do so. This latest episode is comical because we all also know that nothing is going to be done about climate change as long as the US sits on the sidelines. America is the biggest villain in the climate debate as it has blatantly chosen to protect the profit margins of Big Oil rather than lead the way in renewable and green energy sources. Without the US on board the Kyoto Protocol will never gain traction or grow teeth as the world suffocates on the exhaust fumes of India and China who are emulating the bad behavior exemplified by the United States of America.

It is a fucking joke and it is a fucking mess. I said it a week ago and I'll say it again: Without a viable environment nothing human can exist. Not us, our ideas, our creations, nothing. So what should our top priority be? Well, you would think that would be an easy one to answer, but apparently money talks even louder than life itself. Our leaders are choosing money as more important than existence itself. Chilling when you fully digest that fact. Ciao.

Uncle!

2011-11-21T15:16:00.000-08:00

We are in a state of inertia in America, a stagnant morass of partially realized goals and ideas hijacked and abandoned by the powers that be in which we the people swim apathetically. This year has marked a new low for inaction, ineptitude and corruption in Congress, exemplified by the utter failure of the so called "Supercommittee" to come up with a debt plan before Thanksgiving. They gave up today and admitted they were never even close to a deal. No one seems surprised, no one really seems to care and there is an overall tone of inevitability about the whole thing. It is as if they are admitting it was all a show to placate us after the Debt Ceiling debacle last summer. "Sure, we will form a superstar team that will tackle all these issues and get America back on track. By the way, we are lying to you and have no intention to compromise or do much of anything for the greater good. Thanks for your vote next November." I think that the cynicism runs that deep. I do not think that anyone takes the long term risks involved seriously. It is all just a game to see who stays in power and how much they can grab for themselves and their benefactors while they have the chance to.

I see the same pattern of disingenuous behavior unfolding at the other end of the spectrum with the Occupy Movement. Dead in the water they are now writing manifestos online that defy logic. their demands make sense but the fact that they are demanding them is pure fantasy or delusion. They have no power, no means to enact structural transformation, yet they think that deciding the proper wording for their College Debt Forgiveness is critical to the future of humanity. It is like watching a bunch of grad students debating their thesis topics that no one will ever read as if they were the lost books of the Bible. Then you have the UC Davis incident that has people comparing being pepper sprayed to genocide. A dumb cop made a dumb move and some people had to have their eyes washed out at the hospital. Call me when there are some actual acts of atrocity, call me when there are piles of bodies being bulldozed out of the streets and quit calling me when someone gets hit by a baton for playing hero to a cause that helps no one. It has all become a big reality TV program, our junk culture has become a junk society where the media spotlight trivializes everything and makes the sane among us cry "uncle" under the weight of its banality.

The entire American landscape has devolved into a field of white noise where meaning and perspective are lost in the din for selfish attention of individual self interests. I see very little virtue in any of it and certainly no beacon to guide us out of the morass. It makes me want to cry "uncle" too . . . Ciao.

Early Monday AM Lao Tzu!

2011-11-21T00:19:00.001-08:00

I passed the midnight deadline, so here is some early AM Lao Tzu . . . Enjoy!

"As for holding to fullness,

Far better were it to stop in time!

Keep on beating the edge of a sword,

And the edge cannot be preserved for long.

Fill your house with gold and jade,

And it can no longer be guarded.

Set store by your riches and honor,

And you can only reap a crop of calamities.

Here is the Way of Heaven:

When you have done your work, retire!"

#9

Always ahead of the curve.

2011-11-19T23:08:00.000-08:00

It seems that Elizabeth Warren has become a superstar in the eyes of many disgruntled lefties and here I sit, a man who has been extolling her virtues since the bailout fiasco in 2008. Her popularity has soared since a video of her at an informal gathering ranting about economic inequity went viral along with her bid for the Senate. She was the lone voice of reason during the fall out from TARP and was the creator of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Obama opted to not allow her to run. Further evidence that he is not interested in reform and knew that Warren would actually fight for change if she was given the power to run the agency she created. All of the new found "awareness" that is in the media spotlight has thrust Warren onto the national stage and she is bold, engaging and making the most of it. She is one of those rare people who is in the game to promote ideas rather than collect corporate largess. She would be great in the Senate, but I say she should run for president as an independent.Hear me out, perhaps I will be ahead of the curve again with the following scenario.

Obama is in trouble. His foreign policy credentials are great, but the economy and the raft of promises he has broken to his core constituency will hurt him. He does not not have any kind of lock on the White House and could easily - and rightfully - end up a one-termer. The GOP is not in any better shape. They are currently a revolving door of clowns dancing around Mitt Romney, who looks positively presidential compared to the rest of the pack. But he is a MORMON. I do not care what anybody says, the GOP faithful have a hard time giving it up to a Mormon and that is the reason the other jokers have all had a moment in the spotlight. The time is ripe for a third party candidate and I propose that Lizzy could do it! I would vote for her in a second and I know that she could get a lot of support from the extreme left all the way to that delicious creamy center of the American body politic. We shall see if my prognostication comes true . . . i doubt it, but a kid can dream. Ciao.

Real Revolution.

2011-11-18T23:17:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of scuttlebutt around the cyber water cooler these days about revolution. It seems that most of them have forgotten to check in on the actual revolutions that swept through the Arab world earlier this year. So far only Tunisia comes close to having a healthy and functioning result. That makes sense since they were the initiators of the whole thing and have enough homogeneity to sustain a unified front through the process of democratization. We also seem to forget that these nations where people are dying by the truckload for their cause want what we already have. It is true that America has devolved into a highly dysfunctional society with a myriad of ills, but at least we do not have a gun waved in our face at every corner or have to fear immediate physical reprisals if we speak out abut the injustices we face. And those who would say "look at the people hurt by cops at Occupy events" fuck you. Most of the people who have been hurt either exercised considerably poor judgement by being in harm's way or were spoiling for a fight. In a real revolution your family might be shot in front of you or you might end up tortured and imprisoned for life. We know nothing of that kind of struggle and horror here in America, we have it easy.

So those who are preaching revolution should step back and examine Egypt for a moment before they get too excited. I thought for certain that Egypt would lead the way for the rest of the Arab world. They followed Tunisia's lead and had all the tools to succeed in building a viable state after the regime was chased out. It has not worked out that way. The "temporary" military leadership are dragging their feet and that has groups like the Muslim Brotherhood pissed off. The Military has declared that elections are to be held and a constitution drafted, but they will retain certain long term authority that will supersede civilian law. That has those who fought for the revolution and saw their friends and family die for the cause supremely angry and I do not blame them. The process has been messy in Egypt and their economy and infrastructure is nowhere near pre-revolution levels. If the military refuses to back down there cold be another huge outbreak of violence and who knows what direction the once peaceful movement for democratic reform might take. It just shows how fragile all of our social institutions are. I am all for tearing it all down and starting over, but I am equally apprehensive about the chaos that that process entails.

The rest of the Arab spring also faces an uncertain future. Syria is slaughtering its people and the other oppressive regimes that faced challenges from their citizens have ended badly. Libya might turn out to be a bright spot, hopefully joining Tunisia on the road to stability, but that remains to be seen and is not guaranteed by any stretch. We have to be careful in our comparisons of our current unrest with that in other parts of the world. We also need to be mindful of the consequences that a real revolution entails. I do not see the Occupy pussies doing well in the Mad Max scenario. Ciao.

Reality.

2011-11-18T00:05:00.000-08:00

The so called "Debt Supercommittee" is hard at work finding ways to reduce the deficit without raising taxes in the rich. If this group of twelve congressional leaders fails to find enough savings in the budget it will trigger a series of automatic budget cuts that will supposedly benefit neither party if enacted. That is the incentive for them to try and forge a bipartisan effort to reign in America's excesses. So far an agreement has not been hammered out, but here is some of what they have come up with so far. Grab a paper bag to puke in and enjoy!

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER for the AP.

"Millions of taxpayers who take advantage of deductions for mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local taxes would be targeted for potential tax hikes under a GOP plan to raise taxes by $290 billion over the next decade to help reduce the nation's deficit.

Some workers could also see their employer-provided health benefits taxed for the first time, though aides cautioned that the proposal is still fluid.

The plan by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who serves on the 12-member debt supercommittee, would raise revenue by limiting the tax breaks enjoyed by people who itemize their deductions, in exchange for lower overall tax rates for families at every income level. Taxpayers who already take the standard deduction instead of itemizing - about two-thirds of filers - could see tax cuts. The one-third of taxpayers who itemize their deductions might find themselves paying more.

The top income tax rate would fall from 35 percent to 28 percent, and the bottom rate would drop from 10 percent to 8 percent. The rates between would be reduced as well." (Associated Press)

This is the kind of shit that these assholes are coming up with? The sad reality is that they are not going to come up with a deal at all because the start dates on all of these extreme policy measures are past the 2012 election cycle. Meanwhile they have to keep passing stopgap legislation just to keep the doors open of the American government. Just like with the delay in the Keystone XL pipeline decision, there is no real incentive for anyone in the Federal government to take action on the issues critical to our future. Putting it all off for another year to focus on the election is madness and that is what they doing with the budget. The Supercommittee was a concoction to get people off their backs after the debt ceiling debacle, an empty pledge to take care of shit after lowering America's stature and credit rating. Even the doomsday automatic cuts that go into effect next week if they fail to reach an accord are not slated to start until 2013.

What all the protesters, the mass media and most of the population do not realize is that the legislative process has already sold the nation out and will not do anything about it until the elections are over. They are going to maintain the status quo, avoid shutting the government down and limp to the finish line next November. That is the reality and unless Capital Hill is on fire with millions of American demanding justice that reality will not change. Ciao.

Pacific Power.

2011-11-16T23:22:00.000-08:00

Obama is working hard in the Pacific Theater, trying to sell America as an indispensable trading partner and mighty defender against China. America is joining the new Pacific Free Trade Zone and has vowed to base 2,500 US Marines in Australia, both moves seen as a slap in the face to China, as has most everything Obama has done on his goodwill tour of the Pacific Region. hen you boil it all down it all comes down to money and America obviously feels threatened by China's fast rising hegemony on the global scene, otherwise such a trip by a US President would be unnecessary. It also shows that America is desperate to hold onto its own hegemony as it has seen it slip in the Middle East and South America. The wonks are saying that this all could upset China and lay the foundation for a new Cold War. Well, the way that the world is going the old dichotomy of global power paradigm is passe. Things are far too fragmented and simultaneously intertwined for such a neat and clean categorization of things. Fact is that China and the US need each other more than they need a fight. China's unstoppable economic growth is slowing and they are facing economic challenges domestically that they are ill prepared to face.

That said, the fight will be for better market share and positioning in places like the Pacific. The base that the US is proposing in Australia is not a surprising move. Australia is providing tons of raw materials to China and wherever trade of such magnitude takes place the US usually has a presence. However, this chess game is not fodder for Cold War scenario speculation. It is just the nature of Global Capitalism in the 21st Century. Military presence will play a large role in all economic alliances, both overt and covert. They always have, but now that the gloves are off these things are going to be out in the open for all to see. All the hype about a superpower standoff obscures the other main reason for Obama's trip. It is easy PR and a chance for him to flex his muscles in an easy arena. By shooting some fish in a barrel Obama is bolstering his foreign policy resume which will play well in the upcoming election. Which seems funny since politically he already has that part stacked with accomplishments that will impress the cheap seats. None of the GOP challengers can touch him on that front.

For worse China and the US are in bed together for the long haul. If the Global Economy collapses it will tale both of them down. In the meantime they have to fight for what little pieces of territory they can to remain competitive with each other. Ultimately their fates are tied together and that almost precludes the possibility of actual conflict between the two. They might never be friends, but they are partners. Ciao.

Headless.

2011-11-15T22:28:00.000-08:00

The general theme of this rant is about what the consequences are when an organization is leaderless. I start with Apple, a company that few ill dispute was successful almost entirely because of the vision of its founder, Steve Jobs. With his passing a few weeks ago many began to debate what awaited the future of his company without his leadership. Well, I think we got a taste of it today. A NY Times article details how the company is planning to cater to the business market, a demographic that Jobs wanted no part of as he was interesting in bringing his devices to the everyday consumer. Regardless of my opinion of Jobs or Apple the fact is that he was a genius at making devices people had to have, his sensitivity to design and detail was extraordinary and despite the fact he built a multinational corporation he always retained his hippie ethic of power-to-the-people. Now that he is gone his underlings see an opportunity to make even more cash by going direct to the companies that already buy Apple and cater to their sensibilities. I sense a downward spiral in the works. The last time Apple was without Jobs it went in the toilet and this announcement seems to signal a change in corporate philosophy that could undo it if it pursues profit for profit's sake.

Jobs wanted to make boatloads of money, but he also forced his concepts down our throats. He did not cater to existing markets, he created markets out of thin air and made us believe in them. Apple will remain a leader in consumer electronics, but it will never be as cool as most people thought it was under Jobs. Now, guess where I am headed . . . Occupy! You guessed right! I swore I was done with this thing but I also did not think Zuccotti Park would fold so quickly and easily. Regardless of opinion, you have to admit that these so called revolutionaries give up pretty quick when faced with a real challenge, right? Anyway, after having long chain arguments on facebook with the Occupy faithful, lots of research and my own observation I have concluded without a doubt that this thing is doomed. The looseness and ease of it all has made it a happening rather than a revolution. Without the camp-outs it will lose steam and appeal because fomenting social change and fighting for justice is hard work and you have to work against the system by working within its confines. MLK did not just march and give speeches, he lobbied hard for civil rights and formed lasting coalitions with existing political forces.

A bunch of white kid in their twenties, druggies, homeless and reborn hippies are not going to do jack shit to change the system. No charismatic leader rose to the occasion and no willingness to forge a unified front doomed this thing to irrelevance. Headless the corpse wanders aimlessly, into the dustbin of history . . . Ciao.

Recap.

2011-11-14T22:35:00.001-08:00

America is a confused mess right now. We have a political system that is creaking under the weight of incompetence and corporate largess. We have a protest movement that has confused spectacle for substance and the NBA appears to have more power than all of them to create havoc for the paradigm. Right now the man to watch in politics who best embodies where we are at right now in the USA is Herman Cain. I dismissed this guy months ago as the GOP token, and boy I was wrong. His 9-9-9 plan and snappy speeches propelled him to the top of the heap and now he is surviving a sex scandal by denying it away. There is no doubt that he is guilty of sexual impropriety, that's not the issue. The thing that makes it interesting is that ever since Bush proved that if you lie big enough and stick with it you can turn it into truth and your political advantage, no one has pulled it off quite the same as he did. Cain is coming close. His campaign is probably doomed, but no one thought it would still be going right now, so who knows? His gaffes are an embarrassment, but no worse than any of the other GOP idiots who only know enough to parrot their stump speech and say "No taxes ever for the rich!" I say that Cain is a man of our times and as fucked up as America is he might just be the man for the job, the kind of president this nation truly deserves.

As for the Occupy idiots in Portland. They should really check what kind of bank they are defacing and breaking windows in. They hit Umpqua Bank which is a local community bank, hardly a ripe target for anti-corporate outrage. They are done in downtown PDX though and good riddance. I watched the eviction until the wee small ones Sunday morning and it was a big crowd of white twenty-somethings looking for self-importance and a fight. They claim that some bad apples ruined the whole thing, but part of being a movement is that you have to have some guidelines with which to define your group from the bad apples. Since Occupy refuses to be co-opted by such lameness as 'definitions' then they are indeed directly responsible for the the actions of druggies and rapists that they let wander into their camps. By saying that there are people there who are not "true" occupiers among them then they are negating their mission statement of being all inclusive. The shame of it all is that they did just not think this shit through very clearly and that is why all of this happening. They cannot have it both ways. Either they are a defined group with accountability or they aren't and if they aren't then they are going to watch this whole thing dry up and blow away.

And while the ideological battle between the status quo and the protesters drags on the NBA has gone to new and heady levels of greed and self aggrandizement. The players dissolved their union today and the league is ready to fight them. The fact that a bunch of millionaires are arguing about who should get the most money is truly disgusting. But hey, that's America baby! I wonder how many Occupiers are wearing NBA jerseys at this very moment . . . Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday!

2011-11-13T23:39:00.000-08:00

Words from the Master. Presenting Lao Tzu, Enjoy!

"Sincere words are not sweet,

Sweet words are not sincere.

Good men are not argumentative,

The argumentative are not good.

The wise are not erudite,

The erudite are not wise.

The Sage does not take to hoarding.

The more he lives for others, the fuller is his life.

The more he gives, the more he abounds.

The Way of Heaven is to benefit, not to harm.

The Way of the Sage is to do his duty, not to strive with anyone."

#81

The GOP Reality.

2011-11-12T23:00:00.000-08:00

America is no longer at a crossroads. That was passed by years ago and things like Occupy and the recent wave of consciousness about inequity that it has spawned are too little too late. Fringe drum-beating and camp outs will do absolutely nothing to reign in the decades of deregulation, tax breaks and the rest of the mountain of legal precedents that are in place to keep the 1% firmly in control. Obama works for them, many Democrats work for them and the GOP has been in lockstep since Reagan to make sure that the wealthiest members of our nation stay that way and get richer every time a law gets passed. To understand the depth of this issue you have to dig into the history of the past thirty years and follow the money as it has flowed from the uber rich to Congressional and Presidential campaigns, back to the uber rich via key legislative moves and out of the pockets of Middle Class America. Forget the poor, they have no voice and this late in the game movement by the Middle Class does not have the firepower to stop the juggernaut. Since 2010 legislation has passed that has gutted the future of America for the immediate gain of the 1%. Where are the protests when key pieces of legislation are being drafted, debated and voted on?

That is the problem with this nation. It is too large and complex for most to understand how the whole thing actually works. The GOP knows exactly what it needs to do, it does it and has had these plans in place for decades. The GOP works for the 1% and the rest of the political system has gradually been forced to go along with it or be left behind in campaign finance. This process is so entrenched that it cannot be overcome by a seismic shift to the left or by some protests. The entire system has to be dismantled. Right now it easy to dismiss the GOP presidential contenders as a bunch of clowns and pretenders. But rest assured, Romney is the boy and he will get the money he needs to give Obama a lot of trouble. He is the de facto candidate and the 1% have been supporting him ever since the last campaign cycle. The experts wonder why he has no real presence in Iowa. It is because he knows that he has it in the bag and who really gives a fuck about Iowa anyway? It is no secret that elections and nominations are bought and paid for by the uber rich these days, but the laws that Congress have passed in the past decade go unnoticed by most because it is boring and tedious. But to understand the magnitude to which we are getting fucked you have to research it.

When you do it become apparent that our government has become almost suicidal. The amount of largess being given to the top percent is bankrupting the everyday operations of the Federal Government. And they are doing it happily. No taxes for the rich is a solemn oath that every member of the GOP has signed in blood under the watch eyes of Grover Nordquist. If you do not know who he is then you understand nothing about how this thing is being run. We are past the tipping point, and just like the environment that realization will come after it is too late to stop it. The severity of political dysfunction we face require immediate and decisive action. But it is probably too late anyway . . . Ciao.

War.

2011-11-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

This will be a brief rant because I chose sleep over ranting. Every Veterans Day I think about WW2, the last war of purpose that America took part in. It was not altruistic, but there was a real threat and the sacrifice was worth it. Until the end of it and everything changed when we dropped the bomb. Every war since has left a trail of broken people and a tainted legacy for this nation. The greatest injustice is that our Veterans get a day, but too many are shut out of the system upon their return and have no recourse to the medical and psychological treatment they need. So it is a hard day to just turn it all off and wave a flag, plus my Dad is a fucked up vet who has never recovered. Then I read about Syria and it makes me sick that people are comparing our little drug fueled camp-outs to the Arab Spring. I remain confused about Syria. We went after Qaddafi but we are letting the Assad clan slaughter innocents left and right. There is pressure on the Arab League to kick Syria out and Human Rights groups have accumulated more than enough evidence that Assad has committed crimes against humanity. So why does it drag on without intervention? It is obvious that Syria is still vital to American and Arab interests, so the killing continues. War has become a money game with no clear moral high ground, which is why I feel for the Veterans on an individual and personal level, but I cannot celebrate the duties they have fulfilled. Ciao.

Disingenuous.

2011-11-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

I was not surprised to see a lot of spin happening today in the news. The Keystone XL Pipeline Project has been shelved until after the election. A bold move in cowardice that shows Obama to be the kind of man who knows when not to bite the hands that feed him. To get reelected he needs the votes he would lose if he signed the plan into action, but he left it open so that Big Oil just has to wait a little while, give him lots of cash to help him get reelected and then they will be guaranteed the green light to start building. It is a brilliant political move and shows Obama to be as shrewd as anyone in the game these days. He wins both sides. If he had genuine concerns about the ecological ramifications he would just reject the thing and move on. The rest of the diversions today were aimed at deflecting the raw terror of global economic collapse. I have not seen this many reports of positive economic indicators and political indicators in a long time. The funniest thing about it is that they are all stretching so hard to find a silver lining.

Minuscule drops in unemployment claims, unrealistic hopes that Greece and Italy will somehow erase their fiscal nightmares by switching out who is in charge and a mild Stock Market Rally were all touted as reasons to have faith in the system. These are desperate times for all of us and that includes the powers that be. It seems that that is an angle that most do not see and it is vital to understanding the magnitude of what looms ahead. When the rich and powerful are scared we should all be scared. The financial crisis hit us all and the rich recovered thanks to massive government interventions across the board. The next round of duress that faces the financial titans will find them with no reservoir of cash to fall back on. That is why they are fighting like hell to keep the markets stable. Some might say that watching the rich go down in flames would serve them right. I agree wholeheartedly on a philosophical level, but from a practical standpoint a global meltdown will take us out with them. It is a vexing paradox, but one worthy of careful scrutiny. I have to remind myself of it all the time, because as much as I yearn for the system to fail I am not certain that I want the pain that comes in its aftermath.

I think we have a few years of limping left in us before it truly fails. But, I have been wrong before and who knows, it could come quicker than anyone thinks. Ciao.

My Final Word on Occupy. For Now.

2011-11-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi is one of my heroes, so I will cut him some slack on his latest piece about the Occupy Movement. In the same issue there is an in depth story about what is happening on the ground in Zucotti Park and I will be referencing both articles in this rant. First Taibbi. He writes that he has gotten over the fact that Occupy is aimless and sans agenda. He sees it as an overall reaction to a sick society and at least when you are amongst the protesters no one is trying to bleed you for money. Yet, in the article right before his commentary there are numerous scenes of violence, graft and how the tent city runs just like any other American organization. There is security, crime, curfew and all the same bullshit that we deal with in every American city. So, they have not created a miniature utopia, they have no united goal and it is everyone for themselves. Sounds like the very system they proclaim to be sick of. Then I read that the Oakland Occupy protesters put all their donations into Wells Fargo. WTF? Seeing the farce at the PDX Occupy unfold had led me to disavow this movement as a joke and now I fully commit to that judgement. Just because a bunch of people are pissed off and squat does not equal a revolution or a meaningful voice in the public sphere. It equals chaos and a big cop out.

Now, the Occupy Movement has inspired some good things. The Move Your Money organization has done great things by getting people to put their money into local banks and credit unions - Oakland should look into it. They would not have had nearly the response they have had without Occupy. The same goes for the Unions who have stepped up and mobilized, getting the vote out in Ohio and repealing the legislation that sought to take away much of their bargaining right. All across America there was a backlash against the GOP and I think that Occupy might have helped get the left and center out of their seats and into the voting booths. But that is the key. Unless you aim to overthrow and replace the existing system you have to play within the rules of the existing system to get shit done. There are decent people out there in the traditional hierarchy that can help make things better, like Elizabeth Warren. The fact is that the extreme lean to the right was doomed from the start because the Tea Party thing is a manufactured movement that was designed to win votes in 2010. Most of America is in the center and they know when they are getting fucked and will vote to defend their rights when they get pushed too hard.

So, the short conclusion is that Occupy itself is a self righteous collective of self-interested individuals pushing their own agendas. They are not that bright and it is doomed to the dustbin of history. The awareness that they bring to legitimate organizations and movements is admirable. Where do I stand at this crossroads in history? I remain a dissident. I truly believe that the entire system of government needs to be destroyed and rebuilt upon a new economic foundation that is not capitalist based. That makes me impossible to please, but it is good to see some awareness growing and a backlash against the GOP. I see all sides at fault, the GOP-Democrat-Occupy-Teabag continuum is full of idiots who are far to short sighted for the challenges we face from Climate Change, impending economic collapse and the general plague of locusts on the horizon. I have said my piece, Ciao.

Predators.

2011-11-08T22:03:00.000-08:00

Another reason to hate football. Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky created the Second Mile Foundation to help kids and give himself an ample pool of sexual victims to choose from. His boss and Penn State legend Joe Paterno knew about some of the allegations of abuse dating back to 1998 and was even taken to task by Penn State's board of directors about it. Yet, he did nothing and Jerry kept fucking young boys. But when you are the head of one of the most successful and lucrative college football organizations of all time you can get away with almost anything. You can turn a blind eye as your heir apparent fucks little children because you have to put money first and human rights second. It is an appalling story and one that points out that power corrupts no matter what type of hierarchy it is entrenched within. The Catholic Church, Federal Governments, Sports Franchises, you name it. If there is money being made those who are most critical to the organization's earning potential are given carte blanche to do as they fucking please. Sandusky needs to be strung from the goal post and left there to rot for all to see.

As for Joe . . . Fuck him too. If he even had suspicions that his coach was fucking children he should have taken the matter seriously and full investigated. Instead he stonewalled inquiries and made it possible for Sandusky to hurt more children. There is a special place in hell for people like this and I hope that the entire Penn State legacy and current organization are permanently disgraced and that prosecution of these crimes go to the top. The board of directors are to blame as well. They let this shit slide under assurances from Joe that everything was just fine and dandy. Those kids who were hurt should demand that the entire season's revenues be divided equally among them to go towards compensating them. There is no price you can put on the sexual abuse of a child, but a few million is a good start. Sexual predators are the lowest of the low and those that enable them are just as guilty. Fuck these guys and may they burn in hell. Ciao.

Willingness.

2011-11-07T23:20:00.000-08:00

When it comes to fossil fuels humanity has a willingness to bend reality to its will and do most anything to procure them. BP constructed an island connected by a road a few hundred yards off the Alaska shore called Liberty which allows them to circumnavigate offshore drilling regulations. They are drilling miles sideways before heading down into the Earth's crust. In Brazil the deepest drilling rigs yet are being built to tap reserves that would have previously been passed upon as being untenable. And perhaps the most salient example in the media right now is the Keystone XL pipeline which is planned to carry crude extracted from the Canadian tar pits all the way across the American heartland for processing in Oklahoma and delivery to the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Whatever it takes, human beings smell money when they strike oil and we all know that money is all that matters in this world of ours. The Keystone project has attracted a lot of attention and protesters formed a human chain around the White House over the weekend imploring Obama to refuse to ratify the project. This is a rare example where he alone will make the decision on whether or not to green light the project.

A year ago I researched this thing and it is rife with corporate bribery, scandalous lobbying techniques and all the other dirty shit associated with government contracts regarding oil exploration and refinement. After the protest suddenly there appeared a story in the NY Times detailing a government investigation into claims that illegal practices MAY have been utilized during the permitting process. "Harold W. Geisel, the senior official in the [State Department's] inspector general’s office, told top agency officials in a memorandum dated Friday that he would open the review 'to determine to what extent the department and all other parties involved complied with federal laws and regulations' relating to the pipeline permit process." How cute. Of course palms were greased and it is certain that Obama has both of his arms twisted behind his back to get this thing pushed through. We shall see if a little populist ire is enough to derail the project. I am inclined to think that it will go through because Obama can rationalize it by saying that it will create jobs, reduce our reliance upon foreign oil and move America forward towards economic recovery.

On the downside the fact is that Keystone has a horrific track record of pipeline spills and the planned route will take the sludge right through one of the biggest underground aquifers in America. If a spill were to happen in the aquifer zone it could contaminate drinking water for a huge part of the Midwest. But where there is a will there is a way and I do not think that a human chain can overcome millions of lobbyist dollars and billions in potential profits. It is Obama's call and if he rubber stamps this one then there is no reason to vote for him if you are inclined to make hope one of your desires for the future of America. Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday!

2011-11-06T22:33:00.001-08:00

Some words from the Master. Enjoy!

"To realize that our knowledge is ignorance,

That is a noble insight.

To regard our ignorance as knowledge,

This is mental sickness.

Only when we are sick of our sickness

Shall we cease to be sick.

The Sage is not sick, being sick of sickness;

This is the secret of health."

#71

Voice In Government?

2011-11-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

Greeks have been denied their right to have a say in their future and upon further research the direct democracy experiment I referenced earlier this week (Americans Elect 2012) is sponsored by vested corporate interests and political heavyweights. There are few true grassroots movements and the ones that do exist, thanks mostly to the Arab Spring, have turned out to be plagued by violence and divisiveness. And anyone who believes that the Tea Party is of the people needs to wake up and realize that Karl Rove's American Crossroads and other political action funds control that one as well. Even the Occupy Movement appears to have a very slice of the 99% it claims to represent. When it comes to having the will of the people be done on this planet it is usually only in extreme circumstances where violence is needed to end oppression or truly mass demonstrations of public will - think South Africa or Gandhi - take down entire paradigms. What we are seeing in Europe and America right now are not mass movements of united willpower. They are tempests in teacups while the machinery that controls our lives grinds forward staggering under its own weight. Democracy is just as ugly as any other form of government and do not be fooled by its enticements to the contrary.

Even the Occupy Movement has its roots in the glossy corporate environment of Adbusters. An anti-corporate organization that is nevertheless fond of selling its own products using the same techniques as for profit mass consumption companies is not a "grassroots" movement. It is all a mess. If anything lands on the regional, national or international radar it is put there by vested interests who see a way to make money off of it. That goes for art, ideas, culture, you fucking name it. If a kid in Missouri and I both know about it then it was put in front of both of us in order to make money. The situation in Greece is different than most because the Greek people are being told how they are going to live for the foreseeable future by other European nations. At least when we get fucked in America, as we often do, it is by idiots we elected ourselves with the invaluable help of corporate sponsorship. If there is place ripe for a true revolution right now it is Greece. They could overthrow their government and retain their infrastructure while simultaneously scaring the hell out of the rest of the Western world. I know that I would be beyond enraged if a bunch of Canadians told me to tighten my belt and give up my social benefits and future ambitions to keep their money safe.

Greece has the possibility of a united front because they are all in the same boat. Here in America we are too fractured and fragmented as a people and a culture to stage a true revolution. We could be at the White House gates and at the moment victory is declared everyone would start fighting amongst themselves for THEIR vested interests. We live in a very imperfect world with a host of dysfunctional systems of governance. The people do not have a voice and no clear path forward, which is why I am a firm believer in the Mad Max scenario. Ciao.

The Definition of Hardship.

2011-11-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

A couple of headlines have infuriated me over the past day or so. The first was "Experts Say Bleak Portrait Of Poverty Missed the Mark." The second was: "College is Cheaper Than You Think." Both stories poured over the data and reinterpreted statistics to spin a prettier picture of life in America. This kind of shit is so disingenuous, insulting and obviously designed to maintain the status quo that I find it difficult to believe that anyone would read this stuff and take it seriously. The media has turned into this tail eating serpent that releases a story about extreme hardship in the morning and then by afternoon they print shit like this to try and take some of the sting out of it. The mere fact that "experts" are needed to reinterpret the number to point out that things are not quite as bad as they seem tells me that things are WORSE than they seem. How insulting is it to the millions of working Americans who are just above the official poverty line to tell them that they are not poor? How insulting is it to tell students drowning in debt with no job prospects that they got a good deal on their education? It astounds me, yet that is the portrait we are being sold by the information merchants.

I see economic hardship as being much larger in scope than any existing definition of it. When your assets do not remotely cover your debts then you are fucking poor. Those who literally own nothing, have no assets and rely on public aid are beyond poor. The millions of families who cannot adequately nourish or shelter their kids are off the charts. The majority of us are a few paychecks away from the curb and the media has the nerve to say that too many people are being defined as poverty stricken? The Occupy thing is right about its breakdown on the percentages, but I do not see the truly needy being embraced by their middle class ranks. Those who are hurting the worst cannot go camp out, they are struggling to keep their kids fed and the rent paid while drowning in payday loans. We have the resources to raise every single person in this nation out of poverty, but to do that we do not attack Wall Street or move our money to credit unions. To redistribute resources to everyone it requires systemic change that can only be brought about by brute force. That is a harsh reality no one wants to face and all of these pseudo revolutionaries are freaked out by homeless people. What would they do if a black family asked to live in their house while they are camped out? I doubt they would handover the keys.

Getting screwed out some investment money or the equity of your home is nothing compared to what so many face in this nation each day. It is unconscionable to reduce the poor into numbers that can be juggled to fit more comfortably in the middle class' gullet. There is a grievous lack of perspective happening right now that will ruin any chance for change. Those claiming to represent the 99% are failing to understand the true depth and breadth of the problem and the required action to address it. And that is dangerous because it all becomes pissing in the wind while nothing changes. Hard to switch from a bank to a credit union hen you don;t even have the ability to maintain an account . . . Ciao.