Mindwatch

Peace & Calm

2012-01-09T11:28:00.002+01:00

Peace in the midst of strife. Calm in the throes of struggle. Ability to refocus & "will to chill" are prerequisites to sustained effort & ultimate success.

Enjoy the path.

Transaction Tax

2012-01-09T09:35:00.000+01:00

A financial transaction tax would calm rampant machine trading and defuse otherwise unlimited speculation. Our homes and jobs and communities should not be used as chess pieces for gambling games. Tax them suckers!

Accountability for Murder

2012-01-08T21:03:00.007+01:00

Illegality tolerated... criminality unpunished... Political leaders waging dirty wars must be prosecuted & legally sentenced. Without accountability, the wrongs continue.

Don't tolerate crushing local peoples. Lame potential external threats are corporate gambits to justify murder. Genocide was attempted on American Native communities. The crimes by the USA in Vietnam and surrounding nations have never been paid for, and many of the weasel political leaders such as Alexander Haig, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld came back to plague the world again. If we're not haunted by the bloodshed in Iraq and elsewhere, we should weep for huge loss of wealth to military adventurism & waste.

These fuckers raped the world. It's not enough to believe they'll burn in hell. They should be convicted in court, their crimes detailed, and justice administered. Exemption from scrutiny prolongs suffering.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T14:56:00.002+01:00

A new beginning is possible this 2012. Good health & happiness are goals worth working for.

Economic insecurity triggers stress, illness & despair in many people. We will suffer till the population understands they've bought-in to a flim-flam society full of minefields & continued stress. "Let the buyer beware" when purchasing: accountability is poor to non-existent. Work hard at a tough job without a living wage. Turn on TV for force-fed bullshit. Bad scenario.

The pathway to a better world won't be on corporate TV till it's well-trodden old news. You're not alone in pain & insecurity. Born with nothing, we slave to rest. The entitlement systems are warped. The super wealthy, the banks, the military, have taken almost everything. New ideas are twisted as the masses are pushed to fight, slave & die. Good luck finding a better way to live in 2012.

Election Scam USA

2011-12-30T19:52:00.002+01:00

Are you a true American, who can vote without trouble? The electoral process in the USA has become horribly corrupted. Democracy as taught in schools is a mirage. Too many people will be turned away from voting. Too many others will never bother to stand in line, to choose the lesser bit of shit as leader. The system could be repaired easily, the outrages of past national elections are widely known. But the distortions don't trouble our tinpot political bosses. The 99% must stand up for democracy, or continue to be shat upon.

Rant Against Arrogance

2011-12-22T00:56:00.003+01:00

Too many arrogant bossy Republicans seek to rebrand themselves. They're too often robber barons who've built positions through insider deals & corrupt buyoffs.

They now self-style themselves "job creators" but again the arrogance: take all limelight & grab all profits. Cool communities create & sustain jobs. Entrepreneurs and business owners are vital key contributors, but when they selfishly claim full credit for all & everything it's time to drop any contact with them. These pricks will claim they make the sun shine. Scum.

H-2B Hurts Americans

2011-12-21T10:53:00.000+01:00

American businesses devised the H-2B visa to enslave labor. Difficult or dirty less desirable jobs would reasonably pay more, but...

Employers can hire temporary H-2B foreign workers when they "can't find" sufficient local employees. But local people or other Americans will work if paid more. The employer strategy is to pay below what Americans require, and hire in more-vulnerable foreigners.

Much of the payroll then leaks away overseas.

Support Local. American workers should resist such scabby techniques, and H-2B foreign workers must understand their presence depresses wages.

Give - or Pay More

2011-12-21T09:54:00.004+01:00

As we use & rely upon electronic media, it becomes important to reflect upon benefits & threats. Scummy businesses & slimy politicians take advantage of the gullible & careless.

They'd sell us as fertilizer.

Readers of this blog are urged to support the EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org

Tools we use for networking, information & everyday life are under constant attack. Together we can create a better future.

Dismantling Democracy by Disinformation

2011-12-20T11:35:00.001+01:00

Democracy is under grave threat in the USA. Where the Occupy movement is successful and people develop more sense of community & empowerment, the 1% who've occupied our government, banks & power centers feel their primacy threatened.

Expect more trouble from the security services and horror stories from corporate media as they try pushing us back to dumb servitude.

Pain Pusher Businessmen

2011-12-19T21:46:00.004+01:00

Business suffers when corruption is tolerated among businessmen. Our communities are robbed by big industry pushing their costs onto the public, and sucking away undue profits.

Collusion and corruption have allowed this to happen. Not every businessperson is a pain pusher -- shaving "externalities" from their balance sheets through dark agreements with political lackeys & media bigshots.

Recent huge cases include the windfall success & fall of Enron, the "inside job" of banker-led real estate investment trust speculation & the bank bailout (while borrowers lost their homes), and the radiation pollution TEPCO has scattered in the fields, seas & people around their Fukushima nuclear plant. In the latter case, huge pain was unleashed, but there's been no clawback of past dividends. The owners dodged accountability. Horrible. This Pain Pushing must be stopped.

Defense & security spending must seem wasted funds to America's 700,000+ homeless in horribly insecure conditions. Expensive protection for the rich is pain pushed on the rest of us.

Edward Haskell, Banker

2011-12-19T12:49:00.014+01:00

Edward Haskell presides over a big desk at the regional bank. Eddie's a fixture at the country club bar.

Community funds built the bank employing Eddie, but he gets far more salary & bonus money than other workers round town.

Bankers (and lawyers) assist cost-pusher efforts by industry (such as nuclear and big oil), where costs are pushed onto the public, but dividends sucked away by a chosen few. Eddie and other hirelings make it happen. Some might call it corruption. To Eddie it's a good business, though he sometimes worries his children are threatened by a deteriorating community.

Eddie was considered a weasel, "an operator" -- or more bluntly, an asshole. But now it's "Good evening Mr. Haskell!" as Eddie drives his corporate town car to the welcoming gates of Hell.

Incentive taxes

2011-12-17T07:40:00.006+01:00

When a businessman receives $150 million in annual salary, another million or two provides little marginal incentive.

The same million can mobilize the poor to do so many things...

Youth born to great wealth need do nothing -- a dirty secret if Junior talks to worker proles. Where's the incentive to excel?

Taxes can help provide incentives.

Rich Man Hate Teacher

2011-12-15T09:12:00.008+01:00

Teachers under fire for "failing" to stuff student brains with basic skills? The true roots of this debate: teachers threaten wage-slave society. Teachers help develop people who think. Wealthy bosses want cheap interchangeable labor units that never complain -- slightly intelligent donkeys, scared & defenseless.

Teachers are thus subversive.

Teachers also have long vacations, giving them more leisure to look around & to understand their community's financing is threatened by arrogant parasites.

Boiled Frogs

2011-12-10T00:49:00.000+01:00

We're in the midst of the boiled frog phenomenon, and we're the dumb frogs...

(more to come)

Pay Attention -- Or Pay

2011-12-09T17:41:00.001+01:00

They've taken our money. Key battles are already lost. As we slide to disaster, national bankruptcy & homelessness, you're trying to switch the channel.

Apathy Ain't Cool

2011-12-09T05:54:00.003+01:00

Sadly, apathy is costly. Politicians & their billionaire friends promote wasteful wars throughout the world and butt-fuck our communities. Pee-ons pretend it ain't happening. Your children will live grimly as wage slaves, or maybe as homeless scum. Apathy ain't cool.

Too many Americans are fat & apathetic.
I'm fat too, but not apathetic.

Count the Empties

2011-12-08T07:34:00.021+01:00

How many homes are empty on your street, in your community, or across the country?

The USA has nearly 15 million empty homes (link) --
these blank gaps are 11.4% of all housing. Headlines in the UK declare (link) a million empty homes. Vacant homes are often "owned by the bank" though the bank's money was taken from the public. Citizens also pay police to evict the homeless.

We should pay more attention to the wider tragic picture of financial crisis and hollowed-out communities. Many homes are emptied by foreclosures or a midnight escape by the grossly indebted. How many? Count the empty homes near you, and better understand housing ripoffs.

Vacant or abandoned properties harm neighborhoods. They're a safety & fire hazard. Someone needs to pay for:

Trash removal & cleaning
Yard maintenance
Utilities
Boarding/securing the building
Repair, hazard, emergency repairs, demolition
Inspection, vacant property registration
Taxes, etc.

We're living a major political disaster. Maybe spray-painting a big number on the street or building corner (as with other disasters) might mitigate our distress.

Corrupted politicians helped the banks & the rich, who control jobs & housing, and who now squeeze the rest of us, as we shiver in merciless cold.

Joe Metric

2011-12-07T03:46:00.005+01:00

U.S. manufacturing is often world-leading, but the primacy of the USA as a market and as a source of products is declining. The rise of China, with four times the people, and other vast swathes of a developing world seem undeniable and almost inevitable. And this is not necessarily a problem.

But the American media is cultivating anti-scientific prejudices. Engineering and the worldwide metric system are denounced as elitist, or foreign, and a threat to Mom & apple pie. Units used in America can confuse - twelve inches to a foot, three feet to a yard. A pound weighs sixteen ounces; eight liquid ounces to the cup. If we switch, the world won't fit... but it don't fit so good now. Pity the nuclear-armed Yankee imperialist & his overweight cannon fodder shock troops... ?

Occupy Our Parks

2011-12-06T16:08:00.002+01:00

Hey Bully: Shut Down Occupy Afghanistan !

Filet of Filly: Eatin' Hoss

2011-11-30T18:47:00.000+01:00

Horsemeat is not part of the American diet. It would be difficult for people to eat horse, even if they wished to, as horse are not legally slaughtered in the USA for human consumption. I'm quite surprised.

Just around the corner from my home in Stockholm is a restaurant specializing in horsemeat; we go there often (great french fries). Perhaps my first taste of horse was 30 years ago in Japan, eating 'sakura niku' or raw horsemeat - basashi 馬刺し. Tasty! The odd thing of that neighborhood was its big horse racing track, and we regularly joked we ate the slow ones. Disappointed gamblers perhaps enjoyed revenge when ordering that dish.

I've surely eaten many odd foods over the years. Jellyfish in Chinese food is one. All creatures great & small, but I'd forgotten horse was odd.

Visit Japan for Fraudulent Food

2011-11-28T03:46:00.009+01:00

Many Chinese tourists in Japan seeking a taste of world-famous Matsusaka beef have been served lesser stuff. Over the past five years, several dozen tourists each month were sold 180-gram ¥3700 servings (US$48 or $120 per pound) of mislabeled inferior meat. One restaurant under investigation, Barato Garden North Hill of Ishikari City, Hokkaido, admitted deception (link). But the firm's president Shigeru Oka insists Japanese customers for the well-marbled wagyū were never swindled.

Cheat only the tourists... Terrible. A great way to torpedo trade.

No information about how the scam was uncovered. What penalties should be imposed? The heifer themselves would be happy if their hand-massaged, beer-fed, tasty flesh were in less demand. But does such news damage producers of the beef? Or will the attention and publicity raise demand? Advertisers elsewhere in Japan recognize mislabeling fraud, sometimes insisting "Proof of Origin Supplied!"

Tears from the Pepper Spray?

2011-11-21T09:22:00.010+01:00

Shameful violence in California:
(video here)

UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza defended the indefensible, claiming officers used force in concern for their own safety.

Claudia Morain, spokesperson for UC Davis, explained the pepper spray was used because campus police "needed to get out of there" (link). "The police tried to use the least force that they could" but in any case, "We are just not going to allow a tent city. Just period."

But as other evidence mounts, these explanations evaporate from corporate news archives. For analyses of the incident, see:
(link) UC Davis Prof. Bob Ostertag
(link) Jon Weiner at The Nation
(link) Student Activism report

PS - UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza recently won National Campus Safety Director of the Year Award, citing the fact that (link) "Although her department’s budget was cut by 8 percent, the cut was accomplished with little impact to workload at the front line and without impact to the community"... mmmm.

Arrogant Authority

2011-11-20T09:11:00.020+01:00

Brutality & use of chemical agents on non-violent, unarmed civilians mocks democracy. To smother reporting is more offensive.

Arrogant restrictions on the press have already undermined the USA's self-definition as a beacon of freedom for the world. How should journalists, Occupy participants & supporters respond as political bullies attempt to club, muzzle & gas them into submission?

And the world is watching. (link)

(quote below)
New York, November 15, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by today's reports of New York City police mistreating and detaining journalists and obstructing them from covering events at the Occupy Wall Street protests.

"We are alarmed by New York law enforcement's treatment of journalists covering the eviction of Occupy Wall Street today," said Carlos Lauria, CPJ senior coordinator for the Americas. "Journalists must be allowed to cover news events without fear of arrest and harassment. It is particularly disturbing that government officials sought to block any coverage of the event at all." ...

Worship the Bunghole of the Rich

2011-11-18T08:45:00.010+01:00

The oligarchs control most media. They show us reality, and
often we believe.

Have you visited an Occupy assembly? What do you know of what's going on? You may be scared to question authority -- will our rulers take away the little you've earned?

Why did our neighborhood cops become paramilitary?
...looking & mobilizing like a Darth Vader unit?

We're told those clubbed on the streets by our stormtroopers are dirty rabble. They are gassed and electrocuted for "talking back" or taking photos.

But arresting the public won't solve the vampire banking crisis.

Did the marchers cheat my community of trillions of dollars?
If I work hard, won't the system treat me fairly?
Are our leaders corrupted by the megarich?
Can't wealth buy-out equal opportunity?
Have our recent wars done any good?
Time to wake up, asskisser.

apathy ain't cool

Busted By Billy: Billionaire Bloomberg

2011-11-15T21:47:00.028+01:00

"The First Amendment gives every New Yorker the right to speak out - but it does not give anyone the right to sleep in a park..."
-- "Billy" New York City billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg

Billionaire Bloomberg now barricades himself against the city.
Mayor Billy lies in luxury, but it's beginning to end...

He's harbored Wall Street, a nest of vipers -- corrupt financiers who robbed us of trillions of dollars. Billy's a gimpy poster boy for corporate media, which seeks to scare, mislead and constantly tease the public. They consider us dumb beasts. Sheeple. But the abuse stops now - we're not gonna take it anymore.

Meanwhile Pres. Obama senses trouble & scurries away.
Obama turns tail to Australia & goes Down Under...

"Mic Check" & Other Merry Pranks

2011-11-15T13:55:00.063+01:00

The Occupy movement needs good ideas & energies. Activists hoping to shake up the status quo and promote reform by culture jamming might try some of the below strategies:

1) Of course, illegal actions & pranks that threaten life, liberty or pursuit of happiness are best avoided.

2) Intimidation by authorities is very spooky. State Stormtroopers easily generate fear (each darkly wants to be Vader; serenade them with the Star Wars Imperial March). Try to insert levity. Smile, laugh & foster a sense of humanity as darkness surrounds you.

You'll be scared. Laugh at the cold! Prepare to get dragged & be violently clubbed. You may lose property, and may suffer stress & pain. It's fun!

3) It's a great idea to publicly confront deceitful businesspeople & corrupt government officials who've raped our national treasuries. But how to do it? Activists politely deferring to wealth & power are ignored. The "Mic Check" and human megaphone strategies of cascading disruptors have energized participants.

4) During "serious" meetings, hidden phones can laugh, or cry... From assorted concealed places, phones can amplify a message. Cellphones can be programmed to ring together.

5) It's important to encourage drop-in visitors to our Occupy venues at any hour. Motley tent cities & roped-off private territories frighten newcomers; it's easier to join assemblies gathering in places not allowing camping. Any Occupy assembly is a shifting assortment of people. Most can sleep elsewhere. Potential mobility is tactically superior to a rooted encampment Thanks Billy! (see below)

6) Build memes, motto, slogans, catchphrases, and battle cries. Hopefully we'll not see another "Boston Massacre" or "Remember Pearl Harbor" but imagery work is essential. For a start, recognize the unusual elegance of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg by dubbing him " Billy "
-- short for Billionaire --

7) The key contest is a battle for minds. Corporate media (so-called "News") regularly portrays unsavory actions & doubtful people, and seeks to thus emasculate the Occupy movement. But it's a small 1%, the rabid megarich, who are extreme. Stay on message:

-- Megawealthy banksters & corrupt politicians suckered us for $7 trillion dollars of public money (US$7,000,000,000,000).
Stop. Indict. They stole our future. Claw back.

-- Public spaces are for public use, and are not the private domain of government or the police. Where possible, public spaces should always be open & accessible. Our societies run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; the public should be able to meet & play freely, and not be shutout of our own spaces by Puritanical operating hours or nanny-state cost-cutting.

-- Overseas US military adventures in Iraq, Afghanistan (Vietnam, and elsewhere) are brutalizing & too expensive.
Unaffordable. Stop.

8) Handout key web addresses to passers-by, who'll go home and lookup information. Many who might be sympathetic are as yet unprepared for confrontation. Start by recommending:

http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com [ speak up now ]
http://www.occupywallst.org
http://www.adbusters.org
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.mindwatch.com
http://www.cooltownstudios.com
http://www.pps.org

9) Record what happens. Archived records protect both demonstrators and law enforcement officials from unjust abuse. The bottom line remains: too little justice, too many cops.

... more later

Hawaii - A New Iraq?

2011-11-15T08:26:00.026+01:00

Last Saturday at 3AM, a US Federal agent allegedly shot & killed a local Hawaiian man inside a Waikiki McDonalds.

Quarreling with authority might lead to summary death in Iraq or Pakistan or Afghanistan, but Hawaiians expect better treatment.

This incident recalls the case of Raymond Davis, an American government employee who in January 2011 on the streets of Lahore, Pakistan, shot & killed two men (a third was crushed by a car driven by his colleagues). After Davis was released & returned to the USA, he was arrested for reportedly brawling over a parking space (link) and charged with felony second-degree assault.

Last weekend's Honolulu event was no less murky and tragic. After an argument, Federal agent Chris Deedy reportedly stated "How would you like to get shot tonight?" before knocking down local 23-year old Kollin Elderts with a kung-fu kick and shooting him in the chest. (He fired two more shots that went elsewhere). Both men reportedly had consumed alcohol. This event was a horrific catastrophe for all concerned; both families suffer loss, the government loses an important staff member, lives are shattered.

Christopher W. Deedy, 27, an off-duty special agent with the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security, has been charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Deedy is reportedly married & lives in Arlington VA; he's a Tulane Univ. graduate originally from Holden, MA. He's now free on bail (after being held two days).

Meanwhile, Hilo Hawaii's Roger Christie, a 62-year-old U.S. Army veteran, remains incarcerated without bail on marijuana charges. Rev. Christie, an ordained minister with no history of violent crime, was refused bail & jailed as a danger to the community. Since 8 July 2010 he's been held in the Honolulu Federal Detention Center awaiting trial (as of today, for 496 days).

This is unjust & unreasonable. An accused murderer with no local ties is freed in two days. A peaceful local pot smoker is jailed 18 months without trial...

Samaras as Tyrant

2011-11-15T04:22:00.002+01:00

Right-wing Greek leader Antonis Samaris Αντώνης Σαμαράς is a hugely ambitious Harvard boy. His rebellion from his party's government in 1992-93 caused it to collapse. Now he's toying with Greek debt and the euro. His brinksmanship serves American big corporate interests: to destabilize the euro & the European Union.

Greece tried all kinds of democracy in its long history. The politics of Samaris -- "New Democracy" -- might be labeled "No Democracy"

Samaras is a weasel. Expect bad things from him.

Baddies Among Us

2011-11-14T01:16:00.008+01:00

Due to a supposed presence of a few scoundrels, drug users & thieves, political authorities are urging the shutdown of assorted Occupy camps (Portland OR, Oakland CA, Burlington VT, Salt Lake City UT, and New York City). The argument of danger & "we care" is aimed at stay-at-home couch potatoes -- don't be scammed.

Democracy activists know any community is composed of all types of people. Activists live with the homeless and derelict, while the mayor whisks past in a motorcade; police dumbly process the downtrodden, though there aren't enough prisons to warehouse us all.

The worst baddies are those who've raped our treasuries & savings: smarmy banksters such as Robert Rubin (who took US$126 million in cash & stock from Citigroup), flim flam artists such as Bernard Madoff and the Enron gang, assholes like Larry Summers. War criminals responsible for untold death & destruction brazenly base themselves in well-sheltered enclaves. Are their yacht clubs, coops & neighborhoods shut down or under threat? I don't think so...

Occupy Deaths

2011-11-12T17:35:00.022+01:00

The Wall Street Journal (link) and hundreds of other corporate media outlets today published an open letter from the Oakland Police Officer's Association telling Occupy demonstrators to quit their encampments: "Please leave peacefully, with your heads held high, so we can get police officers back to work fighting crime..."

Condescending? Bet your life.

Since 17 September 2011, when Occupy Wall Street began in New York City's Liberty Square, hundreds of civilians have been killed & injured, along with many government officials. These tragedies happened not in Occupy camps across America, but rather as collateral deaths around colossal U.S. military encampments nicknamed Occupy Iraq & Occupy Afghanistan. End the military occupation round the world! Victims of Corporate Greed -- We are the 99%.

American People: Don't Give Up Democracy... Keep our Occupy Camps active in parks & city squares! Encourage freedom. Resist brutal military & police provocations. Question corporate media. Undermine the crushing financial systems ruling us with uncaring deadly power. The Big Crime is an Inside Job, brazenly commissioned by the greedy 1% against the rest of us. Go home? I lost my home & homeland.

Give up now to live as pets or slaves or corrupted human scum.

U.S. Debt Clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Continuing Casualties of Occupy Afghanistan (link)
http://icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx

Ongoing Casualties of Occupy Iraq (link)
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx

Every violent death is a human tragedy. Stop this brutality now.

Corporate Criminals

2011-11-10T08:39:00.014+01:00

Capitalism has twisted to become devilish. The system of incentives and exchange was always dangerous for having no in-built safety net for the weak or the outmaneuvered. It is all worse thanks to corruption.

Business must police itself against corporate thieves, and the public must also be vigilant.

Big money & lobbyists undermine our governments. When corporate bureaucracies are guilty of criminal activity or fraud, they're often able to negotiate payment of minor fines without admitting guilt - and avoid civil and criminal proceedings.

See Edward Wyatt's article in the NY Times (link) "Promises Made, Then Broken, By Firms in S.E.C. Fraud Cases" 8 Nov 2011, p A1.

These payoffs enter the public record, often rating a quick article in the corporate mouthpiece-of-record (e.g., Wall Street Journal or The New York Times). Then no more is said, and abuse begins afresh.

We need an official archive of record, a place where we can quickly see what fines and penalties have been paid by Goldman Sachs, Philip Morris, Bank of America, and other repeat offenders. Our communities allow these organizations to operate in our midst - we need to understand their behaviour. We must all be vigilant. Officers and staff, retired employees and their families have no socially-granted immunity from their employer's transgressions. They should struggle against antisocial behaviour, or be shunned.

Hypocrite Zionist?

2011-11-09T10:05:00.015+01:00

Too many American political leaders who loudly claim sympathy with Zionism ultimately fail to follow-through. A hypocrite politician votes to support Zionist expansionism, and pledges U.S. public funds, but refuses to open his or her own personal wallet.

This shows shallowness and lack of genuine concern. Wealthy members of Congress and outspoken press pundits who are truly dedicated to strengthening Israel should step forward: AIPAC's distinctive "Minyan" membership is a mere US$100,000 (link). Donations to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces or the American Zionist Movement are welcome. Hillary Clinton? Joe Biden? Barack Obama? Bill O'Reilly? Sean Hannity? Rick Perry? Herman Cain? Mitt Romney? Cough up yo' own money, or you speak with forked tongue...

Speculation Surcharge

2011-11-06T01:11:00.004+01:00

Demands grow stronger for a financial transactions tax. The financial industry, accustomed to gambling with our money, is against such taxation. But financial speculation should be more costly - a surcharge discourages the possibility of sudden runaway machine trading. It also raises funds for our wider society, now impoverished by the mega rich.

Our trading systems have ballooned such that speculative transactions are some $1.5 trillion per day, or fifty times more than global trade.

My Dad Li Gang !!

2011-11-05T22:43:00.004+01:00

Tragedy in Greece?

2011-11-02T15:26:00.008+01:00

Greece is the focus of huge financial & political attention as they struggle to maintain payments on sovereign debt. Should they be bailed out with public funds? What's involved here?

Greek debt, in the form of bonds, is an agreement between borrower (Greece) & lender - for the most part large European banks. The banks lend money and receive interest for their risk & opportunity costs. Such investments are a gamble to an unknown extent; interest is higher or lower depending on market perception.

If a borrower appears unsteady, and seems unlikely to pay, lenders withdraw what they can and refuse new loans. Borrower negotiates with existing lenders for new terms. The interest rate rises to potentially attract new money.

Lender banks take a financial hit. If their exposure were large, perhaps the bank would fail & close. But since the 2008-09 USA bailout (of many large banks, finance firms & manufacturers), it became more possible for banks to seek assistance from government and ultimately the public. Public funds might be provided to both borrower & lender, allowing disentanglement from agreements. Government can negotiate new requirements as a fee for participating. In the USA bailout, the terms were easy -- private interests got huge public subsidies at little cost, and this greatly undercut normal market mechanisms. For Greece, discussion among EU governments has steadily demanded more from private interests in exchange for new public help. A larger part of the original loan would be written-off ("haircut") and when bonds mature, lenders would rollover the funds - reinvesting in Greece.

So we have governments supporting each other, governments supporting private investors, and the common people paying the bills. A major trouble with activist government involvement is markets becoming skewed to political relationships. The process is inherently corrupt.

Blame for the scale of Greece's public debt resides with assorted Greek governments over past decades, who've hidden the scale of their budget deficits (Eurozone requirements of maximum 3% deficit were mocked).

Recognize also foremost a fundamental animosity by USA financial officials toward the euro - America has always hoped the euro would disappear and the US dollar become an unrivaled reserve currency. The UK has parallel rivalries with continental Europe. Beware financial news filtered through the lenses of Anglo-American interests; subsequent events may consistently seem illogical.

More on this will follow...

The 1% First, All Pay

2011-10-29T21:35:00.011+02:00

Though (sadly) rooted in "economy class" I haven't a gripe against travel firms upgrading services to those paying more. But it's wrong when government treats 99% of citizens as shit, while coddling the rich. Police & necessary security checks are paid for by everyone. There shouldn't be a special underutilized upper class line through airport security (TSA check in the US) -- while we pee-ons line up like sheep & wait in frustration. Mingle rich folk with the rest of us to speed the process overall. Richie shouldn't jump the queue for public services.

Messenger as Devil

2011-10-26T23:13:00.010+02:00

A media organization not yet charged with crime is reportedly blackballed by PayPal, VISA, MasterCard, Western Union & Bank of America. Yet I suppose these financial firms have merrily done business with tyrants such as Mubarak, Suharto, the Iranian Pahlavi clan, Dick Cheney, the Gaddafi family, and other despots...

These big corporations throttle Wikileaks.

What of Cablegate tone & content? Was the leaked information solely embarrassing, or did Wikileaks report crimes?

Corporate censorship? Spooky !

Why shoot this messenger?
And nonetheless there are ways to donate:
http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate

Step Forward & Learn

2011-10-24T17:43:00.002+02:00

Step forward, outside your comfort zone. Meek people, beaten-down, afraid to lose your scraps - protest now & learn from one another. Don't crawl into the bushes & die quietly. Occupy a street corner with your friends & display protest signs - even for an hour. Let others know you're sickened by our social corruption.

"This is no time to hang back."

Awakening Sheeple

2011-10-23T18:57:00.029+02:00

There's been no counterbalance to aggressive wealth. Vast majorities of people around the world are belittled. Obedience is developed & valued by our education systems above creativity. Many successful people recognize this can't continue, but most ignore it. We're ushered to a world of wage slavery & unemployment, and shit on by trust fund brats ("born on third base believing I hit a triple")...

Too many hardworking people are damaged by this system. Small businesses are crushed by governments in service to megacorporations. Municipal workers, teachers, hospital staff, police, military, etc., our contributions undervalued, must struggle to survive in an abused state of health.

We pass a bleak future to our children... While a few handfuls of greedy people herd us closer to collapse...

The megawealthy are likely to find Social Darwinism makes a bad & dangerous world.
99% pee-ons
Organizing
Robin Hood

How The 1% Force Austerity

2011-10-21T23:07:00.009+02:00

Workplace efficiency & austerity are weapons used by employers to master employees. Those seeking to maximize profits demand increased work at lowest possible compensation. Reducing public officials & taxes, the wealthy pay only for selected services.

Stress invades every workplace. We pee-ons struggle to keep meager jobs.

But this can be different.

To add more workers may cut profits, but to improve customer & worker satisfaction can boost revenues & profits. Employers may argue high payroll is unsustainable, but so is worker enslavement. Where labor can demand & achieve minimal standards, more people can be employed. Those threatening to take production overseas should be encouraged to personally pull out as well - let them emigrate to China. Why should our communities harbor & support a selfish 1% undermining our health?

Corporate-owned media paints progressive change in the workplace as socialistic, communistic, or worse. But the bottom line is not shared wealth - it is a shared demand for minimal standards of health & safety. This is attainable & affordable, but don't wait for the greedy and those of hallowed wealth to lead the way - too many of the 1% are now parasites.

Mental Pollution

2011-10-21T13:27:00.006+02:00

Mental Pollution: A chronic syndrome causing great damage to human life & communities, and often infecting large groups of people.

Sheepsighted: when mental pollution victims are surrounded by others in similar conditions, and fail to recognize extreme distress.

Bullshitter: those deliberately inflicting mental pollution upon others.

The Corporate Parasite

2011-10-20T17:01:00.008+02:00

A cancer runs amok throughout our world. We must curtail the corporate parasite. Humane living is more than competitiveness, bickering among ourselves & least cost short-term profits.

HallowedWealth has pee-on fighting peon, while these weasels & hired buttboys make the 99% of us pay their bills.

Occupy Your Future

2011-10-18T09:32:00.023+02:00

Interested in money? How about talking & having fun in English or Swedish -- even at 4AM? Got questions on Sweden you'd like answered? Looking for love? Don't miss this great chance to Occupy Your Future any time, day or night.

Brunkebergstorg is one block southeast of T-Centralen in Stockholm. An international group of people is encamped in front of Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's National Bank Building, the world's oldest central bank). In solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, it's an informal gathering to build awareness of big banks unfairly taking huge wealth from 99% of the population. Dodging accountability & disregarding lesser folk, mega-wealthy Financiers overplayed their hand. Don't allow bankers & politicians to again betray us.

All people welcome - bring a snack for the campers or air your opinions. Or talk about something else (yesterday morning's discussants included a Swedbank banker, a homeless dude and some friendly cops). Drop in and hang out and interact with cool people. Bring your own sleeping bag if you'll camp - tents are set-up & available as of now, and private supporters have donated free food. Again, it's informal and without controlling leadership. All welcome. Check it out now -- b there or b □

Visit Camp 99% yourself. English widely spoken!

Key websites (mostly in Swedish):
• Occupystockholm.org (link)
• Occupy Stockholm - United for global change (Facebook link)

Wider background (links):
• Adbusters.org
• We are the 99 percent.
• CommonDreams.org (progressive news consolidator)
• Project for Public Spaces

Bushwhacked & more...

2011-10-16T10:53:00.011+02:00

Live stream from independent journalists

Turn it up! (this opens muted)
Nonviolent protest around the world.

Poem for The President

2011-10-12T09:10:00.000+02:00

Madelyn Dunham meets Nancy Hanks
by Genki

If Tutu Madelyn
Returned as a ghost,
Seeking news
Of the one she loved most,
She'd ask first
Of her grandson:
"Was Barry successful?
What has he done?"

"Can I now rest,
With God above?
My family's pride
A sign of love?
Is Barack strong,
To help the weak?
Could he find lasting
wealth to seek?"

"I wonder now
How he's got on...
Help light a path,
When hope is gone."

Hillary Clinton on the Fence

2011-10-12T07:44:00.010+02:00

Weeks have passed, and the movement to Occupy Wall Street has become bigger & more determined.

Hillary Clinton, former Senator for New York, has been largely quiet about the 99% movement. She sits on the fence, expecting to scavenge useful morsels. Disgusting ! Poorly imitated emotion... She's an animated dancer solely for those who fund her wealth. Hi Sugar Daddy!

A Man Called Boy

2011-10-11T05:53:00.010+02:00

Dear Diary,
I go to work everyday, happy to be employed. My employer knows of many hungry outside willing to work, so while this job sucks -- it'll probably get worse. My duties require wearing a jacket & tie (what's the function of a necktie anyhow?) and dealing with the public. Always professional, our clientele looks at me with a mix of respect, fear & envy. I read of friendly small town life, but here all is sterile, semi-efficient, & dull.

My boss and her boss speak to me in flat measure tones. They also seem to dislike their jobs. I'm ordered to complete work tasks and follow directions. My boss's boss's boss once visited our branch and ordered me: "Boy! - help me with this copier!" He yelled "Boy!" though I'm 41 years old and he's younger... I ran to help him. I dislike the name boy, but I heard him angrily yelling at my boss & called her "slut" - so I feel lucky in comparison.

When my wife & I go out to dinner, we wear nice clothes and look prosperous. Walking from our car to a restaurant, or for shopping, I notice more & more ill-dressed people eying us, perhaps with revulsion. Recently one asshole cursed me for no reason. When I told him to "Get a life!" he sort of choked & sobbed.

I sometimes wonder: Is this a Wonderful Life?

Death of Jobs

2011-10-10T19:24:00.001+02:00

Is there a lesson?
Why's our world so tough?
dog eat dog & death

Understand the Press as Parasite

2011-10-10T08:43:00.009+02:00

"The press of the United States? It is a parasitic growth that battens on the capitalist class. Its function is to serve the established by moulding public opinion..."
-- Jack London (1908) The Iron Heel. Macmillan, Ch.7

"The revolution will not be televised."
-- Gil Scott-Heron (1970)

(On the Occupy Wall Street movement) "Sure we're scared. But admitting weakness is suicidal. We've got strategy teams working round-the-clock developing ways to defuse this situation."
-- Anonymous source (2011) Speaking 'on background' to avoid responsibility & accountability, and to increase the sinister fear of unseen forces quickly ready to powerfully strike & stifle dissent

Our Unknown World

2011-10-04T10:25:00.004+02:00

It is worthwhile to think about & appraise how much in our world we do not understand. Those with great hubris might imagine almost all is known. The more realistic will acknowledge that many systems and processes are still poorly understood, or almost wholly unrecognized. Curious scientists, trained to recognize anomaly, seek regularly to refocus their perspectives. We re-explain to a better fit reality.

Perhaps we actually understand just a small percentage of that happening around us. We create hypotheses and stories, but are largely blind.

This scenario better explains mass foolishness. And deliberate mis-education to perpetuate mass bewilderment. Ignoring a few key processes can result in virtual enslavement. Many enter a world with no right to rest peacefully - from the instant of conception starts a struggle to exist in a world "owned" by others. Immersed in Social Darwinist survival strategies, we eke out life. Personal well-being requires addressing a few central elements, including health care, freedom of communications, equal opportunity vs. the social impact of inheritance & privilege, investment in community, etc.

This explains how exploitation can exist in a systematic way. We're delivered at birth into a world of institutionalized criminality - many accept it, some exploit it; a few will always fight it.

Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-01T09:45:00.002+02:00

rejoice
have fun !
freedom to disapprove
dissent without aggression
identify contradiction
decline conform
hinder violence

Land of the Cree
Home of the Slave

McDonalds News Network

2011-09-28T11:36:00.006+02:00

Would you be well-informed if all your nutritional news & background information were supplied by McDonalds fast-food franchises?

An independent press is essential - but most media outlets in the USA are owned by wealthy corporations. Americans are typically unfamiliar with press independence, and 99% of the media consumed is owned & controlled by the 1% richest people.

Too many people unthinkingly rely on the huge corporate news machines -- which clearly distort, omit & manage information. In the USA, official brutality is deliberately hidden when possible. Democracy is threatened when a large proportion of people are fooled, deluded or deceived.

Pre-digested infosnacks offered by corporatist networks are not "free news" -- docile media endangers the health of the world & the survival of future generations.

Neglecting media's importance is costly, but blame yourself. Civic media is an available alternative in many nations, but people are captivated by corporate-supplied buzz.

The below site offers a different view of the news:
http://commondreams.org

I Feel Different About Obama

2011-09-27T08:19:00.003+02:00

I had some envy for Barack Obama. He's younger than I am, and he is The President of the United States. I've a far simpler life.

Yet Barack Obama is a hypocrite, and he surely knows it.

He's dirtied our world in significant, highly important ways. He's clever & must deeply feel his deceit.

His grandmother would be shocked, his parents disgusted. His wife should feel shame.

So happy I ain't Barack Obama.

Let My People Go

2011-09-25T22:05:00.006+02:00

Palestine leader Mahmoud Abbas raised havoc this week at the United Nations in seeking statehood for his people. But efforts for Palestine were no surprise. A year ago (25 Sept 2010) Abbas spoke to the UN General Assembly, seeking to end escalating Zionist settlements in the Israeli military-occupied West Bank. Over this past year ... the world did nothing.

World Crisis: UNSC Reform

2011-09-20T07:07:00.002+02:00

Why should a handful of nations enjoy non-elected membership in the United Nations Security Council? It is wrong.

Ten elected members must contend with the five fat noblemen, each with unilateral veto power. This anti-democratic system emasculates decision-making & stifles debate.

2012 Election Day

2011-09-20T06:13:00.003+02:00

The new US President-Elect appoints former Pres. Barack Obama as White House Spokesperson for the upcoming administration.

"Over the past four years he's performed admirably. He ain't said much for himself. We want him to keep working."

Self-Image

2011-09-19T13:21:00.001+02:00

Exceptionalism !

2011-09-18T06:27:00.007+02:00

The US Republican Party rallying cry has become "American Exceptionalism" - a fine & noble sentiment, stirring patriotic passions & grand visions of divine grace and unique heroism. But unilateral assertions of greatness are dangerous, especially when created by PR & advertising professionals. Such self-declared nobility is ridiculous. It's a threatening world we create where "Chinese exceptionalism" and "Jewish exceptionalism" and "German exceptionalism" and the "exceptionalism of inherited wealth" and other bold brash ideologies savagely compete for dominance. We might be convinced of our own true exceptionalism, while others exaggerate; far better to keep such views to oneself. Those trumpeting their own exceptionalism are dangerous narcissists, sadly all too common.

You're #1 in line for reaming. Prepare to be volunteered...

Rep. Dennis Kucinich & Obama

2011-09-17T07:15:00.003+02:00

Can U.S. President Obama be reelected? He's betrayed the hopes of most who voted for him. Obama has been a bureaucratic tool of Washington politics rather than a progressive voice for change.

But he can still do good. Surely his Supreme Court appointments are far better than the Republicans would have offered. But how about some other enlightened appointments? Why does Big Barry want to be the only leader's voice in his government?

Obama might start with high-profile appointments within his administration for US Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former US Sen. Russ Feingold.

Palestine's Right to Exist

2011-09-15T11:32:00.002+02:00

Are we to demonize all non-Jewish people? Most people of Palestine are peaceful & law-abiding. But political leaders of the USA & Israel maliciously oppose recognizing the state of Palestine. Should Palestine have the Right to Exist?

Evil Scum

2011-09-12T09:42:00.001+02:00

"If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what he has been told about them is lies. The sealed world in which he lives would be broken, and the fear, hatred, and self-righteousness on which his morale depends might evaporate."
--- Goldstein, Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism quoted in Orwell, 1984.

Hot Dog Paul Ryan

2011-09-09T01:15:00.008+02:00

U.S. House Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) should return to driving the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile (a job he did after his Social Security survivor's benefits ended ... and the little creep never drove by my house...).

At a 6 Sept. at a Wisconsin Rotary Club fundraising speech, when Rep. Ryan claimed "Most of our debt, in the future, comes from our entitlement programs" - retired plumber Tom Nielsen interrupted him, "I paid into those for 50 years! My Social Security, my unemployment, my Medicare, and now you're gonna..." But Nielsen (71), couldn't complete his dissenting comment -- being pushed from the room, wrestled down & arrested. His elderly constituent was bundled away by police while Rep. Ryan joked & laughed at him...

See it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBhdXfCdaA8

----------------------------------
Yet as Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan was silent about huge expenditures for overseas military interventions. Guns before butter! This twerp, from the Ryan Incorporated Central family, "one of the nation's largest site-work contractors" is a callous hot-dogger.

Public Private Partnership

2011-09-06T09:51:00.002+02:00

America's unprecedented Public Private Partnership is in full glory - from the vaults of mega banking firms to the shores of Tripoli...

The public pays, and rich private interests gather all benefits.

Labor Day USA

2011-09-05T09:48:00.020+02:00

We can construct a society
where all enjoy balanced life.

There's no shortage of work to do...

Don't give up worker pride
to entitled brats of the richest 1%.

Wake-Up! Union Power Made Labor Day

United We Bargain -- Divided We Beg

Cherokee-Memorial in Palestine

2011-08-31T01:44:00.005+02:00

Believing that God supports you is empowering... but it's also led to horrible cruelty, theft & murder.

Nothing stopped U.S. settlers from theft & massacre of the Cherokee and other Native Americans. Though victims of systematic genocide, native peoples are still often depicted as savages. Resisting Invasion is condemned as Rebellion.

Israeli settlers now similarly dispossess local people. "Nation Building" is a wonderful goal, but most people of the world (and many in Israel) feel theft and murder unjust.

Propaganda for Breakfast

2011-08-29T06:53:00.000+02:00

Reports of atrocities by the (now seemingly former) Libyan government leader are perplexing.

Quadaffi is blamed in most reports for many types of horrible outrages. But wait - what of when the devil is us?

When the Argentinian right-wing tortured, killed and 'disappeared' thousands of supposed troublemakers, capitalist-controlled media was largely silent. When photos emerged from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison of torture by America's military, President Bush evaded blame.

Where's the outrage for genocide of native Americans? Old news? And to free slaves is reasonable, but it doesn't wipe the slate clean, fully pardoning atrocities.

Recognize we're fed predigested half-truths most mornings with breakfast. Food for thought.

Lunch with Hitler

2011-08-28T03:32:00.004+02:00

Most people swept up in warfare would avoid brutality & violence. They're pressed to participate, under threat, to support one or another group.

Count your blessings if such choices are not forced on you -- when a bad choice may mean death.

We know ways to defuse rivalries and to minimize sectarian turmoil. But belligerent leaders and assorted parasites make trouble, seeking to scavenge gains.

Rejoice you've not had the misfortune of Hitler & his minions coming through your door, demanding lunch.

Greek Dinner

2011-08-27T23:02:00.000+02:00

Greece has overextended itself. As the Greek government is unable to easily repay assorted (mainly private) lenders, pressure has developed for other European governments to bailout the Greeks. As I understand it, such support allows the Greeks further easy borrowing, at lower interest rates.

Finland has demanded collateral to invest in Greece, not simply promises of reform and privatization. Seems reasonable. But too many bailouts are tapping public funds, in often incestuous insider relationships.

The global financial system has become corrupted. One of the worst offenders is the US Federal Reserve, which has quietly been lending private banks huge amounts of funds with little oversight.

Libya as Stolen Property

2011-08-26T01:09:00.002+02:00

Interfering foreigners are creating a new regime in Libya. We should hope it will be an improvement on the last government, but positive signs are few.

In declaring the right to wage war on Libya, the foreigners claimed to be protecting civilian lives. Just now, many civilians and low-level officials are suffering & being killed. The outside forces are not protecting civilians properly. Instead, the foreigners, their underlings, and Libyan patriots fight among themselves to divide Libya's wealth.

Trickle-Down Looting

2011-08-10T16:48:00.007+02:00

Violence & looting are wrong. The looting now overtaking the UK is a black eye for every community.

But serious looting of far larger sums was imposed on the people of Britain by crony capitalism. The government spent £850bn of public funds to "bailout" private banks (link). The government shovels money to military armaments merchants and for overseas adventurism in distant lands. Past wrongs don't excuse present crimes. But don't be deceived - larger scale looting is now the norm for government & select businesses. We've been completely fleeced: Grand Theft by our rulers.

And pilferage is worse in the USA. All Common Wealth is appropriated by super wealthy opportunists; the rest of the people fight over crumbs.

No Reckoning

2011-08-09T07:11:00.006+02:00

The United States of America suffered a sovereign credit downgrade last Friday by rating agency Standard & Poor's. Media's now full of dust & smoke, squawking, the sound of gnashing teeth, etc. etc. What's going on?

The basic affront is the United States of America has grown contemptuous of accountability. Having enjoyed unilateral freedoms for so long, the US government is accustomed to doing whatever it wishes. Public relations and the press are too often interchangeable, rewriting history, ignoring it, or diverting attention & outrage to new stories and memes.

US policymakers see the key lesson of the Vietnam War as marking a point to where one can stray but still reap the Nobel Prize (Kissinger), avoid trials for war crimes, and simply apologize with 'oops'...

The present economic meltdown owes much to the financial crisis of 2007, when the US housing bubble showed major banks and financial firms were insolvent. The US government rescued selected private companies with bailout funds, allowing the executive managers to remain at work. The crisis was blamed in part on regulatory failure and poor government oversight, but top public officials also kept their jobs. These corporations along with Bush, Obama and their cronies, fundamentally undermined our market system by gifting huge public assistance to a few private firms. Importantly, although such shenanigans resulted in global recession, the sovereign credit rating of the USA was not adjusted downward. In other words, this correction is very little, very late.

In Every Mirror, A Sucker

2011-08-05T14:29:00.013+02:00

A great title to criticize cosmetics firms. But my target is finance.

Listen to the stupid pronouncements of market analysts & financial pundits -- we're easily suckered. "The market is responding to ...xyz..." is often simple hot air. The next day, or 20 minutes later, the same idiot belches another plausible scenario.

Feel like a puppet being jerked about? You should. Are you a step behind? Yes.

Talk of fears, correction, and jubilant investors serves to squeeze hefty commissions (or more) from common punters who move their funds. Often the "experts" are parasites, positioned to reap windfall profits from the gullible acting on their advice.

Two weeks ago we were told loans to Greece were in crisis, and that private lenders should be paid with European public funds. Germany forced the private banks to shoulder part of their own problem. But the public now subsidizes much of each repayment.

Now suddenly we're told Italy is in crisis. Other nations, recognizing it's "drink now or go thirsty" -- edge nearer to the money pot. Is it Big Capital playing us as dupes? Financial professionals care for us only if we bring them money, pushing for lax oversight & self-regulation without threat of penalty. All we are is dust in the wind...

Don't forget Kenny Lay & Co, the Bush & Cheney corporate friend...

Cultivate Activists

2011-08-04T10:56:00.012+02:00

I protest against war and the military industries as socially brutalizing, monetarily costly, and personally repugnant. I'm also opposed to exploitative colonialism, torture, and the US prison system.

What to do with such outrage? I write this blog, contact elected officials, and hope to cultivate activism.

Social activism is tough. It's easy to burn-out. Successes are short-lived and local. New generations, oblivious, inherit democracy or a world powered otherwise, and submit to authority. Mostly.

Science enjoys incremental progress over generations; evidence doesn't need continuous re-analysis. But social systems are continuously rediscovered & redefined, with the gullible hoodwinked by swindlers. Social concerns change; arrogant exploitation morphs to family concerns into aged infirmities.

Entertainment may be unfulfilling, but so is politics. Much competes for attention.

I try to balance the beauty of the world, and a natural peace, with activism. Simple redoubled effort will lead to grief. Nobody carries world problems long. Cultivate others and always model peace in daily life.

photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/virgomerry/11227682

Bullies On Board?

2011-08-03T04:25:00.000+02:00

Bully methodology has taken root in the administration of many institutions. When local government, schools, banks, the airlines & the transport police, etc., become coldhearted & brutal, they've lost concern with service excellence. Workers threatened with loss of job, operating under great stress, hijack too many social relationships. We must build healthy systems. Efficiency is not the key goal of living.

Rich Washington, Poor USA

2011-08-01T21:16:00.012+02:00

Hundreds of America's millionaire politicians gather in Washington and decide:
--- great wealth pays no new taxes
--- less funds for social redistribution
--- you poor, comfort yourselves in hell.

The needs & pressing problems of Americans are a different world from the US Congress, who help the rich and the corporate donors. Lavish spending on military industries. Of all America's wealth, 27% is split among 90% of the people -- a shrinking share must support more & more (link). Congress refuses to raise revenue from cronies with comfortable wealth, making Americans less talented or less fortunate eat shit.

Government Needs Talent

2011-07-30T07:01:00.006+02:00

Many highly talented people are never attracted to government service.

Government downsizing demoralizes & leads to personnel cutbacks. Private sector interests portray government workers as parasites. A fractured public service cannot consistently supply top-quality human resources, and good clever people often are desperately needed.

US President Obama supports huge pay for financial industry executives (link). But in contrast to self-serving astronomically-paid financial manipulators, our very lives, safety & well being rely on minimally-paid air traffic controllers, government bureaucrats, firemen, health inspectors, teachers, etc. Jobs threatened, they're stressed and unappreciated...

Most top people don't enter government. And too many who aim at politics, like Obama (who has become addicted to making war), quickly abandon their promises as candidates to grab supports from powerful private interests.

Public service is gutted.

Grief in Fukushima

2011-07-27T09:15:00.012+02:00

I'm willing to believe Fukushima's engineers & scientists are doing everything possible to fix or limit problems at the stricken nuclear plants.

Technical efforts are essential, but so are good communications with the public.

How dangerous is the Fukushima nuclear threat? I don't know. But local residents are worried, and officials sent to reassure them appear incompetent & inconsiderate.

The Japanese government has downsized to a dangerous level.

A fractured public service fails to consistently supply needed human resources. Watch the official clowns in this video - see the Japanese government's terrible response to crisis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVuGwc9dlhQ

Grief in Norway

2011-07-26T11:13:00.001+02:00

A smarmy weasel in Norway murdered some 77 people, mostly teenagers a generation younger than the killer. The dead were not directly known to him; they were defenseless against his weapons.

What should be done with this man? Perhaps he should be put in a room with the mothers for private discussions.

Forbidden Homemaking 101 ?

2011-07-24T10:23:00.013+02:00

Today is New York's first day allowing same gender couples to marry. Congratulations !

From today's New York Times: "New York is the sixth, and largest, state to legalize same-sex marriage. Several other states are considering following suit... But most states have either laws or constitutional amendments barring same-sex marriage, and federal law bars the United States government from recognizing same-sex marriages." The US Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) remains a grim prohibition, a forced denial of basic rights to minority people.

Massachusetts had the first legal same-sex marriages in the USA on 17 May 2004. US states often continue to bicker about whether such gay pairing is termed "marriage" or "civil union" or "domestic partnership" or something else.

Here in Sweden, gay couples were allowed "registered partnership" from 1995; marriage became gender neutral from 1 May 2009 after a long struggle (one champion for change was US-born Rita 'Rainy' Creighton, who tragically died in a motorbike crash before the legal normalization).

I believe "Homemaking 101" is a human right to which the State & Church might be invited to validate, but with which they should not interfere.

On a personal note, when my parents married in Massachusetts in 1956, they were legally prohibited to marry or cohabit in 14 U.S. states (my mom is mixed race, Hawaiian / Caucasian / Chinese, my dad is Caucasian). If my mother were Negro, they were barred marriage in a further 11 states (25 total of the then 48 states). Bad.

Anyhow, to those marrying today - Belated Congratulations !

Murdoch She Wrote

2011-07-23T11:57:00.000+02:00

Rupert Murdoch has positioned himself and his companies in a key nexus of power. Information is essential for democracy to function, and Murdoch firms have come to act as gatekeepers for news & commentary. Extreme concentration of money & power can seem efficient, but it's dangerous, intimidating and deadening.

Some reporting lacks civility, but a titillated public buys the output.

They are faulted for developing too-cozy relationships with those in power.

They're also criticized for bending the rules and for breaking the law.

As with the implosion of Robert Maxwell's media empire, we might hope any changes result in more and diverse voices among a wider concerned community.

Going to Hell - Community Despair

2011-07-22T11:16:00.011+02:00

Community is undermined by the incidents described below. It's painful to examine the assorted legal & ethical problems of Mrs. Gina Marie Clark (age 40, Marstons Mills, MA, USA).

(In brief:) Gina Clark ran the charity Touched by Angels, raising money for local accident victims & the critically ill. The organization was effective with fundraising: working with regional groups and businesses, soliciting funds from private donors in the community with true stories of local need and hardship.

A problem emerged: numerous people claimed to not have received their expected funds (link). Perhaps simple ingratitude, but many loud voices shouted scam. Ultimately, Gina Clark was arrested and charged dozens of crimes, including larceny by embezzlement, fraud, and more. Outside her arraignment, her lawyer Seth Roman (of Wilkins and Deyoung, Hyannis) stated "This is a witch hunt!" The charity is no longer operating.

Last week, Gina Clark was arrested (link) for shoplifting. She is accused of hiding assorted items worth $1093.89 down at the base of her shopping cart, paying $190.09 for merchandise on the top layer, and leaving a Kohl's department store with stolen goods. She reportedly claimed to the arresting policeman "That was not my cart, and I didn’t know how the items got in there." Such a defense might have been believable, although fingerprints or CCTV video might show if she'd handled the items. At a subsequent court appearance, her lawyer reportedly claimed something different, the shoplifting was a mere "misunderstanding" - Gina simply forgot about some items in her cart.

The public is left to wonder. Is it at all believable that someone selects nearly $1300 of goods, pays less than $200, and notices nothing? Is this lawyer's job simply to say whatever might potentially defend his client? One is left feeling the community system is hopelessly dirty & corrupt.

2011-05-05 fraud arraignment (link to YouTube video)

BackupBankroll® Joe DebtDupe

2011-07-20T10:20:00.008+02:00

Private bankers lend money & collect interest. They get more interest from weaker borrowers. When a borrower can't pay on time, the public instead must pay those debts.

Sound crazy?
Not for a lender bank. Look carefully at this "can't lose" excellent business plan - - politicians dispense taxpayer funds to private banks (or to weak borrower nations) and make you pay-in involuntarily.

The stronger of the world are already well-served with good banking relationships. So what can a hungry bank do? Push the marginal borrowers into high-priced debt. Any problem and Joe Public will bailout the bank for the note.

This happened in the USA with the housing bubble, and earlier with savings & loan companies; now the public shoulders sovereign debt of Greece. Banks have played the politicians and ultimately the taxpayers to backup bankroll their lending.

Banks have not "accidentally" found themselves in this situation. As financial brokers it is fundamental to their business plan. Buying-selling selling-buying, they collect whatever happens.

Lord Murdoch of Mordor

2011-07-19T14:26:00.009+02:00

When media baron Rupert Murdoch and son James Murdoch were invited to appear before the British House of Commons (Culture, Media and Sport Committee) they initially declined as being "unavailable." When then more formally summoned to appear, they claimed to be too busy (James Murdoch offered an alternate schedule 22 days after the assigned day). As public outrage grew, they finally agreed to appear as demanded.

Press & public interest are high. But who should be responsible for illegal spying by media that happened years ago? These cases involve national politics, huge funds and great power. They highlight incestuous relationships between media, politicians, and law enforcement. We're likely to hear of similar crimes in other countries -- by Murdoch-related reporters and also by others. Can we ever know what truly happened? What lessons can be learned?

We might feel sympathy for the Murdochs as they're being grilled; they claim to know little or nothing of procedures at their businesses. But wait - - these are the bosses of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, & other Foxholes, so better we recognize the Murdochs as cynically manipulative, super wealthy weasels.

The New Obama?

2011-07-19T08:53:00.014+02:00

Obama criticizing Alito: "...he consistently sides on behalf of the powerful against the powerless; on behalf of a strong government or corporation against upholding American's individual rights."
-- Barack Obama's U.S. Senate statement opposing appointment of Samuel Alito Jr. to U.S. Supreme Court (26 Jan. 2006)

Has President Obama morphed to serving the same Monster?

Wall Street Under Siege

2011-07-17T09:47:00.006+02:00

Corporate control of US politics is now threatened by a planned Wall Street invasion. Adbusters (link) invites activists to build a tent city on Wall Street, New York, from 17 September 2011. By awakening participatory democracy, they hope to separate money from politics.

Corporate-directed militarism is a gloomy nightmare that's led to national & worldwide misery -- though Wall Street wizards have thus far been immune. Brokers profiting from chicanery may yet see Nightmare on Elm Street become nightmare on Wall Street, The pigs will be out in force, busting heads & worse...

Do (while you can)

2011-07-16T11:27:00.007+02:00

Don't be a passive consumer, inhaling the smoke of corporate media & government spin while not yourself communicating. Passivity is for schmucks. In today's world, seek solutions or you're screwed. Too many business plans, big & small, distill to one word: Exploitation. Your home, bank accounts, health, job, etc. are under threat - escapism is not an option. Clam up and you're served on the half shell to the greedy.

But what to do?

Speak out. Talk to others about your worries & fears. Extract understanding & share with others. Starting a blog is easy and free. Build a web presence. Develop your brand. Your voice is important --- use it or lose it.

US Debt Default Strategy

2011-07-15T10:18:00.005+02:00

The US national debt is in the daily news. Elite government officials reportedly spend many hours, day after day, discussing options for cutting spending, raising taxes & revenues, or increasing the debt ceiling. The rating agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's are prepared to downgrade US sovereign debt, which will make assorted borrowing more expensive.

The people of the USA may be better served by default. US rogue regimes led by Bush & Obama squandered our money on overseas military adventures, against majority opinion (repeat polls show strong majorities for removing US troops from Iraq & Afghanistan). Future generations shouldn't be saddled with costly errors made by elitist fools & their wealthy promoters wasting public funds.

This 'rogue government' argument has been used by other nations when a prior regime has looted their national treasury for indefensible activities (sometimes assisted by the USA). Now it's our turn to be lectured that we should've thrown the bums out.

Sovereign credit ratings, United States of America:

Moody's Investors Service
USA long-term = Aaa
on review for possible downgrade 13 July 2011 (link)

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
USA long-term = AAA
USA short-term = A-1+
put on CreditWatch w/ negative implications 14 July 2011 (link)

Fitch Ratings
USA long-term = AAA
USA short-term = F1+
stable since 21 Sept 2000 (link)

Insane Spending: US Bombs

2011-07-09T07:58:00.003+02:00

Friday, 8 July, the US House of Representatives passed a new Defense Spending Bill. Support was strong & bipartisan, the bill passed 336-87. US wars in Iraq & Afghanistan are budgeted $119 billion, a figure only part of expected spending for brutal & wasteful US operations so far away.

Every three days the USA sinks $1+ billion making war on those two distant regions. Overall defense spending is five times as much. Insane.

Time to cut off USA adventurism overseas. Most operations have little to do with defense of the USA; they're counterproductive & antagonize local people. Neither should American taxpayers be paying Israeli bills; those billions of dollars are needed at home.

Rant !

2011-07-04T11:59:00.005+02:00

A key lie:
America = independence but elsewhere, no

I love independence. And I'm independent -- more than most people. I've lived decades in America, and decades outside. Around the world are plenty of independent thinkers & independent people, often happy, settled in nice places; Americans believing otherwise are wrong.

That's not to say independence is everywhere -- it ain't. And independence is not everywhere in America. Far too many folk are unemployed, homeless or bedraggled. Lots of Americans must kiss ass for job & health insurance.

Of course where taxpaying citizens view public servants as parasites, chronic bad attitude is a real problem (especially in cops). Most workers have insufficient vacation time. Stress is everywhere. Too many Americans are deeply in debt, living under threat of losing their home. Nearly 25 million US households might have their Homeowners Association dictating the color of their door or the frequency they must cut their grass - is that independence?

The US Government's run amok with surveillance, defense spending and overseas adventurism. Major growth industries are creepy "Homeland Security" and prisons. There's too little justice.

US politicians are a sorry lot. Americans electing hope & change got shafted. (to be continued)...

Hell for Free-Market Economists

2011-07-04T10:48:00.007+02:00

Bottom line of US government "economic downturn" policies:

government bailout = government subsidy

Unfair elsewhere.
- - - OK if USA... ?

Libya's new Minister of Oil

2011-07-04T06:55:00.009+02:00

What slowed the Libyan anti-Gaddafi advance?

--- Each rebel realized the foreign promise he'd be next Oil Minister was shared by many...

Wax Poetica

2011-06-28T07:30:00.000+02:00

Vignettes of life and experience
seldom distill into verse
a few fragments
or better nothing?

Yet even glimpses on paper
cheer the unknown poet
when instances
resonate again

Japan's 3/11

2011-06-25T04:00:00.044+02:00

The 3/11 disasters (earthquake, tsunami, nuclear accident of March 11th this year) have been - and will continue to be - pivotal for Japan.

In Japan more is gone than America lost on their 9/11... Lives, property and complacency are shattered. The nation is plagued with a poisoned seascape and a huge irradiated exclusion zone. Government & corporate "best spin efforts" gradually dissolve, as the nation and the world share horror & anger.

Awaken to the Power

2011-06-25T03:30:00.000+02:00

We're bred to ignore power, as if it weren't there. But by understanding power, we're empowered. So beware of fraud & deception; work at understanding the world, and make it better.

Glowing Wave Fukushima

2011-06-21T05:12:00.003+02:00

On the Nuclear Shoreline... sealife suffers.

Greece & the Eurozone

2011-06-20T18:43:00.001+02:00

The Greek economy is in trouble; the population is agitating, trying to avoid financial pain, but their system allowed much unpaid excess - it's likely they'll default.

Too bad for them.

But this will not cause the euro to collapse. Once the Greeks are slapped with the worst their creditors can dish out, the euro will stabilize -- strong as ever.

The Wall Street Journal and other American propaganda rags denigrate the euro, and have done so throughout its history. But they would - the euro is top competitor to the almighty US dollar, and by talking down the euro, they build up their own currency.

War Profits? -- Who Pays?

2011-06-16T21:28:00.001+02:00

Oversight

2011-06-15T09:54:00.003+02:00

The U.S. Federal Government is responsible for oversight in key areas such as nuclear power generation and regulating financial sectors.

But "oversight" is a weasely and flawed word.

First, the government didn't protect citizen interests in the recent financial meltdown. How could such 'overheating' happen? (Top salespeople and 'oversight' officials regularly switch jobs). Home mortgage-holders have been held to account, but banking & other big industries were bailed out. Risk-taking decisionmakers continue to be obscenely rewarded in those industries. Please note Wall Street's political donations.

Second, what does oversight mean? Squat. Nothing.

Oversight means to regulate or supervise, but oversight is also defined as inadvertent error to notice or failure to do anything.

Confidence you can bank on! A confidence game where you're the hustled mark.

Another example: Nuclear meltdown has yet to occur in US, but the USA has twenty-three GE Mark 1 nuclear reactors like the Fukushima disaster nuclear plant. Oversight?

Nuclear New England

2011-06-14T22:10:00.010+02:00

Nuclear accidents result in Exclusion Zones. Shown here on a local New England map are 20 & 50 km zones (12.5 & 31 mile zones; click for detail). The Fukushima nuclear meltdown (same design as Plymouth Pilgrim plant, with less spent fuel stored on site) resulted in 20 km radius full evacuation -- residents forced suddenly to abandon their homes, towns & businesses. The property remaining there is irradiated and unsafe. Polluted sea life, spitting distance from the accident, is further poisoning the oceanic food chain, causing unknown troubles...

Alternative power sources were labeled 'too expensive' -- yet the true cost of nuclear power was ignored; monstrous risks were overlooked.

Designers said it couldn't happen. Their failure in Japan has had heavy consequences...

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant, Plymouth MA USA
photo source: US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

In a Bad State - America

2011-06-12T13:52:00.002+02:00

America wages three wars in distant lands. Many other US servant governments are in trouble with their people. Meanwhile at home, basic infrastructure & education are underfunded. Government ignores the law, clever businesses go their own way, and there's no accountability. Deception (when discovered) is labeled "regrettable ignorance" - and we're thus deceived again.

High unemployment will jump higher when the bubble bursts on militarism, and that gravy train slows down.

Where will new jobs come from? What are America's promising growth industries other than military, "security" and prisons?