Wednesday, December 05, 2007

NewsMax: virtual toilet paper that I wouldn't wipe my virtual ass with.

Hands up... who is getting spammed relentlessly by NewsMax?

To paraphrase John Cleese's retort to Manuel in Fawlty Towers, these folks are such a "waste of (cyber)space". Their latest garbage is beyond ridiculous, or what.. to claim that the National Intelligence Estimate report on the lack of a nuclear weapons program in Iran is the work of "Iranian extremists" score highly on the "giggle factor" index. So Ahmedinejad and company are the CIA's paymasters? Tell that to the Israelis! (rolls eyes).

My little morning greeting to these imbeciles at NewsMax went as follows.

Good Morning Appeasers,

If you really want people to see the world the way you see it, how about delivering some genuine news items, rather than episodic, ridiculous conspiracy theories and cheap Bush Admininstration propaganda. Why talk down to the US public as if everyone is a bunch of total morons? You output is reminiscent of a hybrid of Baghdad Bob, Joseph Goebbels and "Dick and Jane". I guess thats par for the course re. the likes of Bill O'Reilly and company: see who can shout the loudest, content be damned!

So please quit spamming me. Thankyou.

Bloggulator (sic).

Maybe, someone, somewhere on the payroll of Ruddy's little "Weekly World News" wannabe empire, might wake up.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Democracy... It's sadly over in the United States, no doubt.

To what extent does "publicly elected government" (as is popularly perceived) affect peoples' lives, as compared with powerful privately run institutions? Unelected bodies, for example the banking system, the mortgage and credit card companies, credit rating organizations, corporate employers, health management organizations etc. etc., have a huge influence in directing and shaping people's everyday existence, and the less a person earns , the greater extent that these institutions have in inflicting their will, which runs the gamut from "minor inconvenience", all the way to what is becoming known as "financial terrorism".

The main contact most people have directly with "government" comes around in April each year, when taxtime comes around. Apart from that (as well as any need to contact the emergency services), contact with "government" remains largely indirect. And then, one has to examine "government", to determine on whose behalf this "tool of force" (as you call "government") is largely acting. The overwhelming evidence is that "government", when not serving itself, is almost always acting in the service of big business. The great unwashed public (peasantry?) is being cut out of the equation. If you look behind the new Massaschusetts auto-insurance laws, as you mention, the most pragmatic guess would point to lobbying on behalf of the insurance industry, to influence the state government into passing those very regulations.

Private enterprise/corporate America is affecting and controlling people's lives not only directly, via its own rules and regulations, but also in its ever increasing ability to control/run government. This is Mussolini's fascism in action to a tee, although many people would instantly cover their ears on hearing the other "F-word" used to describe what they still might see as a bona fide "democratic republic" (50% of the people are still under the impression that their votes actually do count for something)! We now have a uniform coalescence of state and corporate power, where there is little to distinguish between the two. Bland feel-good references to the "people's representatives", when referring to "elected government", are becoming yet more unrealistic and redundant in time; an individual and collective denial of the failure of democracy.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Google and Censorship......

I just "googled" the author Sander Hicks. Hicks is a playwright, journalist, songwriter and activist. He founded Soft Skull Press, Inc. in 1996, the same company that released the unauthorized biography of George W. Bush, (the author of which died shortly afterwards). Hicks was the lead singer in the band "White Collar Crime "from 1996 to 2003. He has some controversial political viewpoints, something that is now being increasingly regarded as suspicious (or even criminal) in these days of raging paranoia on the part of government/corporate.

The first two google entries for "Sander Hicks" display a warning: [B]"this site might damage your computer"[/B]. (!!!!!). Try it! How the hell can a website "damage a computer", according to the great gods of google? What kind of crack have the googly-mooglies been smoking now? If you try to go to Sander Hicks' website via Google, it won't even let you in (!), instead displaying a dire warning *not to go there*. So naturally, I went there. It's a perfectly normal working website, and my computer, OS and browser remains predictably intact. The site didn't crash, or spew a load of obnoxious pop-ups, or anything else sinister or weird. There are numerous websites on the net that *are* unstable, and will hang your machine., which google doesn't mention....

Can anyone shed any light on the latest round of google paranoia and arbitrary lockouts? Are there any other sites out there which come with similar warnings? The Sander Hicks censorship appears to be politically motivated. Is this the shape of the "net to come", when people with unconventional viewpoints have their webpages blocked or are subject to phony warnings, courtesy of the overlords? When the internet is subject to this kind of crap, the rest of society will probably follow suit.. down the toilet.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Giuliani: Villain of 9/11, never a hero.

Mr. Giuliani is on very shaky ground when it comes to talking about terrorism: his Mayoral office misled New Yorkers as to the extreme dangers from the toxic dust fallout from the 9/11 attacks, to the extent that thousands of people are now suffering chronic and severe illnesses, including mesothelial cancers; several hundred have died already, including a number of members of the FDNY and NYPD.

If anything, Giuliani's office's actions have exaggerated the toll of the attacks, and could result in more premature deaths during the coming decade than what happened on the day of 9/11 itself. The dangers from breathing such a dense atmospheric suspension of sub-micron particles of asbestos, PCBs, mercury, lead, cadmium and other toxic elements and compounds are well known to his office (and others), and any action taken by Giuliani and company in lying to, or misleading New Yorkers as to the safety of the air and water should be regarded as criminal negligence and gross dereliction of duty. People should be charged for multiple counts of manslaughter at the very least, and that includes not only Giuliani and his complicit officials, but also parties in the White House (James Connaughton et al) who ordered the EPA to lie about the dust, even altering the scientific data gathered on the toxicity/content of the dust to make the situation appear much safer than in reality.

This issue must be raised by the mainstream media in the coming election campaign, but to date, virtual silence still reigns. If the American public were aware of this scandal to just 5% of the extent they know about, for example, Paris Hilton's antics, Giuliani would never again be regarded as the "hero of the 9/11 attacks, but instead, one of the villains.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

High School Cannon Fodder

Teenage kids are being increasingly targeted as cannon fodder by aggressive recruitment drives by the Department of Defense. Are these children wise to the ways of the world? Hell, no way. Ethnic minorities and working-class whites are undoubtedly in the bull's eye - the military is sold to them as an attractive and even glamorous mode of employment that's way more exciting than flipping hamburgers or punching cash registers, in an employment world where institutionalized racism still hangs on... (please excuse the hint of rhetoric there). Many of these kids really do believe the recruitment hype... including the one about "proudly fighting for America in the name of freedom and justice". I have no bother with that concept at all, if were real and sincere, that is, when it refers to an occasion when America gets genuinely attacked. (Of course I hope none of us here will ever see that happen).

Will we ever see the Department of Defense truly live up to its name? The last two times America was attacked, Pearl Harbor and 9/11, we weren't exactly defended... (on 9/11, the USAF was deliberately stood down by Pentagon brass ?!!) .... and the other numerous wars over the last 60 years in which we have gotten into have had little, at best, to do with "defending America and liberty". The Iraq war, for example, is a particularly egregious example of how our troops have been betrayed by their government, and used as a private security force in the service of big business, and for promoting a political doctrine, which has nothing to do with the notion of "fighting for our country".

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Al Gore! Environmentalism... libertarianism... big government, small government... rules and regulations... ouch!

Al Gore's son has just been busted for being a naughty boy. The nanny media predictably get all antsy about it and lump all environmentalists alongside him..... How weird things are getting:

There are some folks out there who must hate the Earth to such an extent that the slightest faux-pas by a prominent environmentalist, or a member of his family, or spokesperson is met with a shower of verbal bricks. Weird... what's so "wrong" with this planet (apart from the corporate polluters whose short term profit requirements reign supreme over every other consideration), that some people can't resist throwing bile at those who are more comfortable with a "responsible stewardship" approach? Nobody complains about running a company properly... but as soon as "looking after the planet in a sensible fashion" gets an airing, so many folk get bent out of shape. What is that all about anyway? In my book, the term "tree-hugger", as a simple example, should be a compliment,, but it's always used as an insult, or for "name-calling" intent. That is so weird.

Earth is the only place we've got.. anywhere else, (if it exists) is unknown and inaccessible. What's so wrong (or embarrassing, etc etc?) about supporting the health of the Earth for the sake of those who follow us? One would have thought that everyone with kids would be super-concerned.... but apparently not. Perhaps the animosity is generated by the necessary regulations that come with "responsible stewardship", and that these rules, regulations and laws often have a habit of getting in the way of the free market. I am no fan of big government myself, and some of my more Libertarian views get severely tested by this issue. Libertarianism is all well and good, but in the process of claiming ones rights and liberties, is it correct that we trash the rights and liberties of others en masse? Civilization is always a series of compromises.. and Alex Jones should recognize that. I appreciate much of what A.J. et al have to contribute.. but their stance on global warming and refusal to even consider that human activity could be even a contributing factor, is destroying whatever credibility he has... and that is extremely frustrating in these days of ever more powerful centralized and consolidated media, when the alternative sources need all the credibility they can muster.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Rev. Jerry Falwell died today.

The "Christian Right" is one heck of an oxymoron. :wow:

Of course Rev. Falwell will get a "Christian" funeral...however he was one of the most effective ambassadors of the "inverted Christianity" practiced by the US religious right.. which (albeit a little oversimplified) implies "blessed are the mean, for they shall inherit the earth", and "if you're not like us, then go to hell". "Moral Majority"... oh dear, oh dear. Even to this non-Christian, it is glaringly obvious that hatred and exclusion are not Christian values

Falwell and company have precious little do with Jesus Christ, apart from co-opting that name, and then using the label of "Christianity" as a means to perpetrate spiritual blackmail on their followers to wield power and make cartloads of MONEY. Charlatans like him have been pulling stunts like that throughout the ages... ie misrepresenting the words of a spiritual master and using them for their own ends. There are lots of good people who follow(ed) Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson etc. and gotten ripped off. "Falwellism", and Christianity as taught by Jesus, are so far apart as to be unreconcileable

These guys are prime examples of the false prophets that Jesus taught (Christians) to beware of. Robertson, Falwell and their ilk are playing with peoples' minds and fears and milking them for their very earthly cash. Falwell and co. are more about Mammon, mind games, manipulation and materialism. It's a flawed part of human nature we're dealing with here, which allows for con men with loud voices and public speaking skills to use the name of a revered person for greed and power. Jesus is not the only originator of a faith whose name is being used in corrupt ways wholly at odds with what the teacher intended. Any faith are subject to piracy by fakes and phonys.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Illegal Immigration...

It's always the people at the end of the chain who get jerked around. Immigrants, for example are wowed by ads placed on the Mexican side (by US agribusiness etc), encouraging migration (both legal and illegal). The employers are seldom prosecuted. Same with the 'war on drugs'... where the established dealers and distributors often have cozy relations with law enforcement, while the end users are the ones who get the shaft. Same in the military.. in the recent spates of torture and abuse in Iraq etc., its the grunts who get court martialed for carrying out orders, and the brass get away with it. Its a similar picture in whatever area of human activity you care to name.

Not a lot anyone can do about it.. its a product of human nature.

Reality is whatever you can get away with.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Immigration rally: LAPD, aided by Wackenhut and Blackwater terrorists

Here is a video of the LAPD forcibly breaking up a peaceful and permitted rally, by firing indiscriminately into the crowd.

Even a Fox News (!!!!) cameraperson was beaten up and her equipment damaged. Strange that the news organization whose leaders endorse this kind of move towards the hardline right end up getting their own (innocent) employees attacked.

The purpose of this officially sanctioned arbitrary violence is most likely to intimidate people from peaceful assembly (especially minorities and other targeted groups). Of course, the LAPD (and their hired private security thugs from Wackenhut, Blackwater etc) will use the standard claim that "they were provoked first".

Now there are claims by LAPD Chief William Bratton that there will be a "vigorous investigation" into the conduct of officers. Ha! Gimme a break... the police investigating the police... is this amateur comedy hour or what?

This has shades of the Miami anti-WTO demonstration some 4 years ago where Miami P.D. Chief John Timoney ordered his men (and an army of hired goons) to wade in indiscriminately attacking and terrorizing peaceful marchers.

The pattern is clear. Major city police are becoming increasingly politicized, firmly on the side of big money and hard line rightwing causes.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Cheney to be Impeached?

On April 17, 2007, Rep. Dennis Kucinich informed his congressional colleagues by letter that he was filing articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. This is a timely step in the right direction, in an attempt to rid this nation of the cabal of thugs and crooks occupying the White House, Cheney being the junta's head honcho.

Thankyou Rep. Kucinich. And while you are at it, it is imperative that Cheney be required to testify, under oath, about the status of US air defenses on the morning of 9/11. He must also disclose the full details of the numerous drills and wargames under his command that morning which effectively took a large proportion of the US air defense capability North into Canada and Alaska, and East out over the North Atlantic, allowing four rogue airliners to fly freely across US airspace, unhindered and unchallenged, for up to an hour and a half, in flagrant violation of all standard procedures and protocols. Furthermore, Cheney should be required to provide details as to his whereabouts on the morning of 9/11; Norman Mineta informed the 9/11 Commission, under oath, that Cheney was in the PEOC under the White House at 9-20, corrobrated by other witnesses , whereas Cheney lied to the Commission, saying that he didn't arrive there until about half an hour later.

This is just the tip of a very ugly iceberg. We the people are his bosses, and he needs to be accountable to US.

Unfortunately, the weasels in the Democratic Party leadership, who shall remain nameless, are not lending their support. Apart from having both Cheney and Bush impeached (implying a "President Pelosi", which would appear a somewhat engineered situation), it makes me wonder why the leadership of the "opposition" is taking the extraordinary step of supporting Cheney, a true enemy of the State.

In the meantime, some timely advice for Rep. Kucinich: Remember what happened to the unfortunate Senator Paul Wellstone (MN), who was killed in a light plane "accident" (!) shortly before the Iraq war started. Some of those in recent history who have done the most work for the most worthy of causes, have paid the ultimate price for their patriotism and humanity.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Love me, love my gun.

How many people have to die in a firearms attack, in order to classify it as a act of terrorism? 100? A million?

Or is it a case that in the US, no amount of firearms deaths could ever be classified as "terrorism" because ...

(1) we have a dysfunctional 230 year addiction, and love affair with guns.. and
(2) we are fighting a war against terrorism.

That would be shooting our culture in the foot.

Does anyone honestly think that we won't see a repeat of this kind of violence, all because we wrung our hands for a couple of weeks, shed some crocodile tears and said "oh how sad, oh how tragic", before the collective amnesia sets in and the story disappears from the headlines?

"The definition of insanity is the repetition of the same action expecting a different result." John Laroquette. In cases involving terrorism by the gun, just substitute "action" for "inaction".

Idiotsville, anyone?

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

VA Tech tragedy. :(

Every time there's a horrible multiple shooting incident like this, there's a few weeks of heated discussion over what to do about it, and how to prevent the next one. Each time, it's all hot air and no action, apart from the predictable investment in more security and more surveillance (which any determined shooter can evade). The causes of what triggers some people to "lose it completely" remain in place, unaddressed. Subsequent newsworthy events then cause our memories to blur, and then we forget... until the next time. Repeat cycle.

Because 32 people were killed in one incident, it makes the national headlines (as well it must, it's a ghastly tragedy. But what about all the 100 people who die by the gun every day in the U.S. whose deaths usually go unreported in the national media (unless its a celebrity of course)? Our society is not only sick, but in denial. It reminds me of the strange feel-good ritual we go through each year by acknowledging (on the media) the plight of the homeless at Christmas.. and then for the rest of the year, pretending the problem doesn't exist....

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

GM foods, bees, DNA patents, cronyism, and disaster in the making.

Bee populations throughout the US and the industrial world are dying off at alarming rates, with some nations reporting losses of up to 80%, and nobody is really sure why. Last night, I watched the documentary movie "The Future of Food" It's probably one of the scariest and most sinister documentaries of recent times, and shows Monsanto (etc) for what they really are: "planetary terrorists". But nobody in the mainstream media is talking about it. If it can be shown that GM foods are related to this bee population decline, then the reasons for the media staying mum about it are obvious. The three government agencies responsible for making sure that the food reaching America's dining rooms and restaurants is safe to consume, namely the USDA, EPA and FDA, are stacked with Monsanto board members. They probably play golf and sit on the same boards as other major players in the media as well; there is only one degree of separation in the world of the corporate elite. Hence, the nefarious activities of Monsanto and other major agribusiness and chemical/GE corporations are not only immune from mainstream media coverage, but also immune to any form of legal challenge. Monsanto is attempting to patent life itself, and soon these patents may extent to the DNA sequences of higher animals and even humans, if they get their way. And from the conduct of US senior judges involved in making legal decisions (100% behind Monsanto etc), do not be surprised if the very worst happens.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

The case of Josh Wolf.

Read this link here.

Every journalist is political. And the mainstream media journalists are bound, not by their personal political convictions, but by the policies set in the boardrooms of their corporate employers. We all know that, or at least *should*. Violent beatings by police on protesters greatly outnumber violence committed by protesters; I have attended hundreds of protests in the last 6 years since the Bush regime started, and I have never once seen a bona fide protester deliberately engaging in violence against police officers *without provocation*. Those are the key phrases: "bona fide" and "without provocation". I have witnessed numerous attacks on protesters by police, and if someone defends himself, as opposed to the recommended "going limp", he will be charged with assaulting a police officer. A count of all the hospitalizations and wrecked cameras wrecked by "overzealous policing" (read mindless thuggery protected by the blue uniform), especially since the Bush regime's onset, would be spectacular.

Violence committed by stooges, however, is commonplace. An prime example of this was in the 1999 when the mainstream media were led by the nose to the downtown area, where masked thugs in the guise of "black block anarchists" were deployed by parties unfamiliar to the organizers of the demonstration, for whom a peaceful action was of an obvious and paramount priority. These individuals, with the mainstream media TV cameras ready on site with cameras rolling, threw rocks and bricks at the windows of many downtown Seattle businesses, including McDonald's and other high profile institutions. The scenes of mayhem and destruction, faithfully recorded to videotape, were duly broadcast on prime time television, and repeated over several days, effectively branding the entire demonstration as a violent affair run by rowdy and criminal elements. The mission was to trash the "anti-WTO" image in the minds of the general public that the "globalists" were "the good guys" and the demonstrators were all a bunch of out-of-control hooligans. Mission accomplished, with the aid of the Seattle Police Dept?

It is plain that urban police departments have deliberately engaged in unconstitutional activity, in alignment with the causes that attract popular demonstrations. The anti-FTAA protests in Miami 2003 was a prime example such of police tactics characteristic of tinhorn dictatorships. From the Save Our Civil Liberties website, comes the following sinister revelation:
"For almost 2 years, the Miami Police Department has desperately been trying to ensure that the 2003 FTAA police operations plan remains a secret, even from the city's own Civilian Investigative Panel which is charged with investigating the large scale police brutality that took place on November 20-21, 2003. MPD has finally revealed it's reasoning for the secrecy: releasing the plan could "jeopardize future operations nationwide" because "authorities THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY have adopted the plan". This is a stunning, yet frightening admission, as it confirms the deep suspicions of political activists who have personally witnessed the same repressive tactics travel from city to city, protest to protest. This also lends further support to the ominous statements made earlier by Miami Police Chief John Timoney, that the FTAA was "the first big event for Homeland Security...the first real realistic run-through to see how it would work."

In this case, Miami Police Chief John Timoney authorized state sponsored terrorism on US citizens peacefully going about their constitutional right to freedom of assembly and expression.

Question: How often have you, the reader, watched on mainstream television news, unprovoked police violence upon protesters? Here's your answer: Probably never, because of the unwritten rule. But the reality is sadly very different. Even if Wolf's actions could be construed as "biased", the balance of bias in mainstream media reportage towards "the status quo" and conservative or corporate causes, remains stunningly lopsided, for a so-called "democracy".

Saturday, March 31, 2007

BRITAIN? or D.C.?

Judging by the way the NeoCons do international business, i.e. attack first, the standoff with Iran (re. the 15 captive British sailors) is perfect for the Bush Administration; many of history's wars have started when a small incident escalates out of control. Blair's extraordinary degree of dishonesty, as well as his support for preemptive war since the NeoCons started their global rampage on the back of 9/11, is out of character, and only further suggests that he is a weak, bought politician, and speaking on behalf of his D.C. masters.

As an afterthought: would either the UK or the US ignore 15 Iranian sailors in an Iranian military ship straying into their waters?? Excuse me while I roll around on the floor laughing my ass off.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Giuliani: Yet another sociopath for the White House?

New Yorkers should never forget Amadou Diallo, an unarmed man murdered in cold blood by police as he was minding his own business, searching for the keys in the doorway to his apartment. He was shot 41 times by his killers.

Rudy Giuliani's response fiited neatly into the sociopathic pattern he displayed with consistency during his term as mayor. Extracted from this article:

Quote:
"Giuliani's response was callous. He refused to meet with black leaders for a month -- then again, he pretty much always refused to meet with black leaders. And he absolutely refused to reconsider his police department's policies. But it was his response to the killing of another young black man a year later that was, perhaps, his Katrina moment with the New York public.

In 2000, 26-year-old Patrick Dorismond was shot and killed by an undercover detective participating in Operation Condor. The cop had approached Dorismond to ask where he could buy marijuana. Dorismond was offended, a scuffle ensued, and Dorismond died.

In the outcry following Dorismond's death, Giuliani was snide and unapologetic. He released Dorismond's juvenile records to justify Dorismond's homicide eight years later. He also, famously, sneered that Dorismond was "no altar boy" and defended his comments with a breathlessly cynical legalism, saying it was impossible to libel the dead".

With his disregard for the victims of the poisonous dust on and after 9/11, he has an extraordinary ability to divide a community. This is not the kind of character that America needs, when it comes to repairing decades worth of damage in the wake of the current occupants of the White House.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Limousine Liberals

John Edwards, possible presidential candidate for 2008 has just purchased a 30,000 sq. foot monster-mansion on a 100 acre estate. Included in this huge $6 million property are two (!) squash courts, a swimming pool, a four story tower (!) and two (!) stages! (What is that all about? Has he turned all literary and Shakespearean on us?).

Yes, this is hypocrisy... and it's especially noticeable amongst the "elite left" (if there is such an oxymoronic reality). Look at the "limousine liberal" syndrome: politicians living mega-opulent lifestyles whilst calling for social change, or egalitarianism, to make it look on the surface as if they have the interests of the less fortunate, or average earner in mind). To preach "progressive values" while filtered by such wealth to the harsh realities of life endured by the average working class American to whom they are trying to reach (i.e. those 10s of millions with 2 jobs, no health insurance and no life).... doesn't quite compute.

I am not saying that "liberals" should be disqualified from earning megasalaries because of their political stance: it just kinda stinks that a public figure like John Edwards who claims to speak for "ordinary Americans", goes and purchases a spread like that. This is sticking the finger at his potential support base. For sure, he has every right to to earn whatever he can and spend it however he wants...but a 30,000 sq ft mansion with all those "extras" is a supremely inappropriate gesture for a left-leaning politician (that is, if he really is left leaning, of course). At least at the other end of the spectrum (the Rupert Murdoch, Enron etc. doctrine, and similar), there's no pretense to be something they are not: in their case, what you see is what you get, in all its sociopathic or even psychopathic, reptilian, ugliness.

I forget whose quote this is, but perhaps John Edwards and the Hollywood elite (for example) should take it to heart: "Money is like fertilizer. Pile it all up in one place and it starts to smell bad.... but when spread around, it will grow things"

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

World Economic Forum: Mafiosi, Corporate Barons and Psychopaths... oh my!

The World Economic Forum is getting up to one of its somewhat inaccessible ivory tower hideyholes: this time, Davos, a posh Swiss ski playground for the rich and famous plays host to the reptiles. Of course it is business as usual: once the corporate media have had their splurge at the celebrity trough, their attention will be transferred to broadcasting the usual stageplay of hired black-clad stooges, masquerading as "protesters", breaking windows of McDonalds in the downtown area, thereby publicly casting the opponents of jungle-law capitalism as "rowdy anarchists" on prime time TV. Meanwhile, the psychopaths, war mongers, and merchants of death and destruction sip the champagne and sample the caviar. Louis XIV would be so proud!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Hillary, or Obama... for President?

Hillary is too "establishment" (ie bought and corrupt) to provide any real hope of honest leadership. Not only that, but she's being marketed as "America's Margaret Thatcher". That spells "nightmare".

and Obama...that's a democratic party suicide ticket. Traditional "values" in much of mainstream America (both dem and repub) are still subject to too much inertia to result in Obama becoming president. A woman *could* make it, if she has an excess of "yang" or male qualities, (in the mold of Thatcher, or Jeane Kirkpatrick, for example). But a black person, or bachelor, or gay, or genuine progressive.. etc etc... no matter how brilliantly qualified they might happen to be.... fergettit!

To become president. it takes access to almost unlimited wealth to campaign at highlevel intensity for 2 years and a blanket endorsement by big business. Hillary *might* have that already.. but Obama? He would have to sell his soul.

It is depressing to think further about all this, because when one gets into it... we all know that "business as usual" will reign.

The sociopaths and psychopaths always seem to win.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Eye-popping executive salaries

I think it was Bertrand Russell who said (pls correct me if I'm mistaken): "a specialist is a person who gets to know more and more, about less and less, until he finally knows everything about nothing". The executive salary situation reminds me a little about the above quote, in that (proportionately) fewer and fewer people are getting paid more and more, until finally a tiny elite owns everything. Well, thats obviously an exaggeration, but it is a parallel.

How much reward constitutes "enough", or "too much", or "too little" (dare I ask?)? I am vehemently against government regulation and intrusion into peoples' private affairs... but this Thomas Paine quote puts it in a nutshell: "Society is produced by our wants, and governments by our wickedness." In the case of insane executive rewards, when society fails to exercise self-discipline and the top individuals within it fail to exercise "reasonable self restraint", where bloated excess, greed, grossness, opulence and the resulting astronomical wealth does not reflect those individuals' worth to civilization, then that is the (unfortunate) time where responsible government ends up having to step in, for the sake of everyone.

How much higher can executive salaries get, before regular people start getting pissed enough to do something about it? There may be also a fear factor, a cold war relic at play here preventing this, (especially here in the US): Are we too afraid of being called "communists" or similar, because suddenly we recommend that the top people are limited to getting paid only 5,000 times the rate of regular workers, for example, as opposed to 10,000 times, or 20,000, or 100,000 times or unlimited?

The top exec. salary thing is also a game they play ... a celebrity competition amongst the elite to see who leads the table of excess. Not only that, but these people can afford to hire teams of skilled accountants and lawyers to set up complex trusts and overseas accounts etc. etc. in order to "legally" avoid paying taxes.

If these top salaried folks cant keep their own houses in order, re pay, and the situation gets so crazily out of kelter and lopsided that government is forced to finally step in, then that is the fault, not of government, but the narrowminded greed, lack of vision, and the "out-of-touch-with-reality" of these pigs. It's a bit of a parallel with the effects of terrorism, where the (evil) actions of a tiny minority screw things up for all... or in microcosm, where a kid misbehaves, doesn't own up, and the entire class ends up being punished.

At some point, I believe, enough is enough.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

More troops for Iraq?

What in the f*** is Bush (and Congress) trying to prove here? The only thing that is going to result from this extension of the Iraq war folly is to provide the burgeoning insurgency with more targets to fire at. Are they trying to ramp the troops' casualty roll up to 4,000 dead by next Christmas? Or sooner, perhaps?

Of course Bush is not going to give up on his pet Neo Con war. He's full of testosterone as well as being a self-righteous character who is scared witless about admitting being wrong. Facing up to reality, losing face and changing course is an alien concept to this excuse of a president (and his cohorts). If he pubicly admitted the mistake of the invasion,left the fate of Iraq up to the Iraqi people, and plugged the endless corporate welfare gravy-train that is the Iraq war, then history will look a little less harshly upon his presidency.

If thr Pentagon asks for $100 billion for the immediate war costs, then they will get $100 billion. How many democrats are there who have the spine to vote for what is best for the USA, rather than being on their knees to their corporate owners and their agenda?

In Congress right now, Weasels outnumber Patriots by a huge factor. Count the brave men and women there on the fingers of two hands, at best.