You Can't Blame The President For The Economy: George II

The New Yorker The Financial Page Going for Broke by James Surowiecki April 7, 2008 ... a law that Congress passed in 2005 which has made it more difficult for people to write off their debts. Filing for bankruptcy has become much more expensive. More important, while lower-income people can still declare Chapter 7, which takes away your assets but then discharges your debts, most middle- and higher-income people now have to declare Chapter 13. That means they have to pay their creditors monthly for five years before they’re free. Historically, the U.S. has treated debtors leniently. But the credit-card industry, which was the driving force behind the new law, insisted that tolerance had caused a bankruptcy “crisis”: the number of bankruptcies in the U.S. quintupled between 1980 and 2003. Irresponsible debtors, the argument went, were buying plasma TVs and fancy vacations and then declaring bankruptcy to escape their debts. And they were being supported by the rest of us, who had to pay higher interest rates and fees on our credit cards to cover credit-card companies’ billions in annual write-offs. Cracking down on those who “abused the bankruptcy laws,” President Bush said, would therefore “make credit more affordable.” And we’d all be better off. So are we? That depends on your perspective. The law did slash the number of bankruptcies—they fell by sixty-two per cent between 2004 and 2006. And the credit-card companies should be happy—their profits rose thirty per cent between 2005 and 2007. But the law hasn’t done much for anyone else. Interest rates and credit-card fees have not fallen as promised. And for debtors life has become significantly harder: many can’t afford bankruptcy—strangely enough, it’s possible to be too poor to pay the filing fees—and many others can’t qualify. These people will either spend the next five years having their paychecks garnished or simply muddle along, avoiding debt collectors and accumulating huge interest and late fees on their credit cards. This king, George II, has conspired and complotted to destroy the well-being of the citizens of this country. He has ignored those laws passed by Congress for our relief, and he has enforced those which result in our detriment. Who is calling for Revolution? Our lives are being undermined, sapped, and destroyed by the absolutism of George II: Globe Investor http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/GAM.20080328.RCAPITALISM28/GIStory/ Even on Wall Street, capitalism takes a hit Socialist-style Fed or financial saviour? BARRIE MCKENNA ...Guaranteeing Bear Stearns' portfolio of troubled investments sets a bad precedent by transferring potential losses from the market to taxpayers, complained Allan Meltzer, a professor of political economy at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University. "I do not believe the current system can remain if the bankers make the profits and the taxpayers share the losses." Others, however, said Mr. Bernanke may have saved the U.S. financial system from the cascading series of failures that marked the Great Depression of the 1930s. "Bernanke may very well turn out to be a hero here, when everything is said and done and the recovery comes," Jeremy Siegel, a finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton business school in Philadelphia, told the school's online magazine. Of course Bernanke is a hero. However, this does not change the fact that the Capitalist system in the USA has just been transformed into a new form of Socialism, implying thereby that the Capitalist system was just as faulty and malicious as the Socialists have been saying all along. And, a good deal of blame may be laid to the Republican Party and the Lobbyists for various parts of the financial sector. Greed makes fools of the wisest!

Markaz HaRav

How should one talk about these times?

Truly, the only valid use of Deconstruction is to speak of these times...times of slaughter...times of blood... We deconstruct our thoughts and speak in a "Meta-language" which lifts us out of the level where our hatreds wear rags and uniforms to a higher level where our hatreds wear evening dress.

Here goes: A Palestinian shot 8 students dead in Markaz HaRav.
A week before, more than 100 Palestinians were killed...
or once upon a time, many Palestinians were killed. The next week, a Palestinian entered a yeshiva and killed Jewish students.

Who is to blame? Who put these people in harm's way? Who has conspired to create these unending dioramas of death? No...no....deconstruct...many died, many die, many will die. How can there be cause and effect and reason within a world bereft of reason and science of propriety?

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Iran Brokers Peace

In case you do not see it in your paper or TV, Iran has called for an end to the fighting in Iraq.
See:  
http://www.juancole.com/  
McClatchy provides a lot of important detail about Sunday's surprising developments regarding the fight between the Iraqi government and the Mahdi Army. A parliamentary delegation from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's own coalition (mainly now the Da`wa Party and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq) defied him by going off to the holy seminary city of Qom in Iran and negotiating directly with Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr and with the leader of the Quds Brigades of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Qasim Sulaymani.

Prof. Cole's reference to McClatchy provides a link to them. They are, by the way, a superlative news agency. When I read such things, I find it hard to understand much Bush-speak about Iran. However, I find Bush-speak to be a primitive sort of pidgin that defies my understanding in general.

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Plastics

When I went on a tirade against plastic, of course I did not condemn quite 100% of plastics. They do come in handy. For example:

photo: http://dropsazulaniss.blogspot.com/

Not exactly your $200 sneakers and cleats specials, but they do the trick.

Ennuie And Accidie

If you are at loose ends, go to: DW-World.deDeutsche Welle the English edition of Deutsche Welle and vote that the Olympics ought to be banned...or do I mean boycotted? Rights are banned, undermined, and stolen. Big orgies of money sports are boycotted...or shoved down our throats, as if we were geese for the foie grasse.

Expressions Which Should Not Be Seen In Public

Not at all....unless, of course, you are reading the writing of Donald Goines or Charles Bukowski. I have always been amazed how expressions which in my youth were quite raw, close to the bone, and scintillating with sexual innuendo, have been transformed into the language of the drawing room... or the polite conversation in the presence of women and men ... or to have them land in the front room from cable TV. I was reading Greg Saunders in The Huffington Post, as is my usual regimen when I open the BBC after a slow news day and everything is yawns, and I came across an expression I don't think I have ever heard in mixed company: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-saunders/i-refuse-to-join-any-clu_b_94127.html "I Refuse to Join any Club That Would Have Me as a Member" Posted March 30, 2008 05:12 PM (EST) ...let me once again "reject and denounce" (to quote Obama) the implication that the world has been waiting to relive the mainstream media, scandal-of-the-week circlejerk of the Clinton years ... "Circlejerk"? I wonder, were I to write to their site a comment containing such words, would my comments not be surpressed? Yet they throw this in my face. (No...I take that back...one must tred carefully here, lest one fall into slapstick comedy.) Some of these expressions did not make the transition from the past of the male locker room to the present of the linguistic bomb on the evening TV. Recently, I asked someone if they intended to eat their vegetables without being cooked. "Eat it raw...?" was the expression. That one stayed back in the 60's, thank heavens. Now I know how my grandmother felt when I used to open my mouth.

How Insane Are They??!

Good question.

Well, the present administration is so insane that it is still pushing for its version of Iran: Axis of Evil in word and deed. The Reptilian Mind which rules Washington still lusts for war, and continues to imagine the threat of Iranian missiles raining down on Slovakia. (!?!) How do the sane people in government react?

1) The Intelligence community threatens to leak a report which differs from the administration unless the administration itself releases the report as it should have done months ago according to law.

2) Admiral William Fallon, commander of CENTCOM, has to retire to get his message out. Fortunately, his retirement is preceeded and caused by a controversial interview. This causes a brouhaha that even the dumb media is unable to ignore.

Perhaps there are others who are trying to sabotage the madness. How to measure success? Both Presidents Ahmidinejad and Bush have visited Iraq in 2008. Bush had to sneak in and out. He spent his time in a fortress. Ahmidinejad, on the other hand, came in in full light of day and went anywhere he wanted. When, indeed, will a high ranking American official be able to visit Iraq without slinking around like a dog? Don't know. Years, maybe. Maybe McCain's forecasted 100 years. Anyhow, on a lighter note, Andrew Sullivan writes on The War Criminals: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/03/the-war-crimina.html#more
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If A Tree Breaks In A Forest...?

I do not think the system is broken. However, a great many of the people are.

The Battle Of Midway II

Shall we ever deal with severe issues in a socially advanced way? When it comes down to the long-term health of the environment and, by implication, the well-being of our species, shall we ever be able to choose a balance between the long-term benefits and the short-term advantages and comforts? We have not thus far. One word: Plastics! BBC environment correspondent David Shukman reports on the plastic peril facing the remote Pacific atoll of Midway. Plastic debris collects around the atoll, scene of a seminal World War II battle, with serious consequences for its wildlife. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7312777.stm

"Greetings, people of Earth! We, too, are carbon-based. However, by virtue of our plastic molecules, we are virtually immortal.

We shall inherit the Earth.

Catch ya later!" P.T.F.E. Becker, fluoroethylene superhero, also known as The Teflon Kid.

National Call Someone A Nazi Day

I proclaim April 2 to henceforth be established as National Call Someone A Nazi Day. This allows for more flexibility than merely National Call Someone Hitler Day. Too many Hitlers spoil the soup. Himmler, Goering, Goebbels, Bormann, the list goes on, covering a veritable panoply of infamy. Why deny ourselves the pleasures of libel on a grand scale? There is a book out by a Jonah Goldberg currently which purports to trace the roots of Nazism to the philosophy of Liberalism. Ever cool. Mr. Goldberg has unearthed the startling fact that Nazis were "National Socialists"! He might have plumbed into the works of Alfred Rosenberg, too, but my interest in the pretentious fluff of Modern Day Opinion does not extend so far as to actually take people who seem to have quite deranged opinions and treat them as if they are entirely up to snuff, brain-wise, so to speak. So I shall not investigate the Rosenberg connection. One must assume that Mr. Goldberg has glossed over the entire parade of 19th century writers on German culture who were anything but Liberal, and whose effect on the NSDAP ( in which the "D" stands for "democratische" or "democratic" which leads to an entire NEW book for Mr. Goldberg!) were much more direct than the works of John Locke, say. I mean, talk about informative. I suspicion that Mr. Goldberg's coat of arms consists of a brace of Town Fools, sinister and dexter, presumably en rampant! Anyhow, to do my part for NaCaSoNaDa ( National Call Someone A Nazi Day, pronounced na-ka-so-NA-da), I shall demonize Huey, Dewey, and Louie:

The Age Of Memorex

I believe there is no difference between Cable TV financial news and this blog:  
News Finance and economics Beautiful woman
dududu8.blogspot.com ( if you want to go there, you are on your own!)  
2009年3月26日 星期四 "Hong Kong equities through train", as well as Japan and Singapore in the second half of the stock market may be opening up of China's investors.  

“the Hong Kong stock market direct bus” as well as the Japanese Singapore Stock market possibly opens in the second half of the year to the Chinese investors in the proposal the Hong Kong stock market direct bus in the technical arrangement, including the opening area, the bank which and the financial organ, the quota involves and so on, at present has prepared the ready, in the technology all things ready, only owes the east wind. What crest owes? 
National decision-making. In the past, because worried many, the government once “the Hong Kong stock market direct bus” will call to stop. But, opens afterward are possibly more than Hong Kong direct bus. That is, speaking of inland investor, not only may invest the Hong Kong stock market, but may also invest Japanese and the Singapore market. Although has one viewpoint to believe that promotes the external market the opportunity to be in inland stock market top digit movement, in the Hong Kong stock market low position movement situation is best.  
But, the policy was already formulated, was unable to know in advance the regional stock market's spot position several months ago. Although the Chinese Stock market is not good at present, breaks 3600 points from more than 6100, the condition has been horrible to look. But, Japan, Singapore, is not good including the Hong Kong Stock market, says from another aspect, the opportunities for investment is good....

The Missile Shield

Where may I find some rationale for the construction of a missile shield in Europe? I am serious. I mean, Iran does not have such missiles nor warheads. Furthermore, if Iran's president's quondam remarks be interpreted as threatening Israel, I do not remember a coda being added: "...and that goes fer Europe, too!" What is going on and why is no one questioning this? Do not say War on Terror, or I shall lose it. I suppose now the crazed mountain cave bearded blokes have missiles. What in the name of heaven is going on?

Starship Troopers

It is difficult to discuss films with people who do not see a lot of films. In fact, the discussions last about 5 seconds. If you are reading this, you probably have read other things and think, "He's not too awful a person to listen to."
Well, you would not know that from the people that I hang around with. I mean, they go out of their way to be obtuse. While eating Easter dinner, I happened to remark that I thought the movie "Starship Troopers" was interesting for the way it portrayed a realistic potential future militaristic something-"ism" in the USA.

I got about as far as saying that Robert Heinlein wrote the original novel. Blank stares. Once the odor of literature that was not quite "high" enough reached their noses, the elite turned away to speak of other things. And once again I was left alone with my thoughts. We shan't talk about "Starship Troopers" today, they all thought, nor any day...not on our watch! Anyhow, militarism fits in well with the present age of Bush & Bash. wikileaks, driven underground by the same forces that afflict Tibet: tyranny and absolutism, had a secret memo leaked to us, the American People.

It appeared in Iraq Today: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/index.html Classified memo from US Maj. Gen. Kelly confirms Fallujah Gulag

I spent the entire day inspecting the Fallujah city jail. I found the conditions there to be exactly (unbelivable over crowding, total lack of anything approaching even minimal levels of hygiene for human beings, no food, little water, no ventilation) to those described in the recent (18 February) FOX news article by Michael Totten entitled the "Dungeon of Fallujah". When queried the iraqis and marines present throughout my inspection as to why these conditions existed, three conditions were universaly cited as problems in Fallujah as well as the rest of Anbar.  

First, there is zero support from the government for any of the jails in Anbar. No funds, food or medical support has been provided from any ministry.  

Second, the police that run Anbar's jails are the same personnel responsable for investigating crimes. These jailer/investigators are undermanned and more often than not spend most of their time out begging and scavenging for food than investigating crimes. (It is unlikely the prisoners will eat today).  

Third, Anbar lacks trained Iraqi correctional officers (ICOS) to run the jails in Anbar. The development and employment of trained ICOS would enable the IP to focus on criminal investigation rather then jail supervision. I believe the Iraqi police are doing the best they can, and they literally begged me on humanitarian, moral and religious grounds to help them help the prisoners by somehow moving the government to action.



If you click on the line beginning "Classified..." you will be sent to wikileaks and you may visit them in whatever Siberia they have been sent to. --------- Admiral William Fallon sent us a secret message, too, only he made sure it was not so secret. It reminds me of something like Sherlock Holmes and the dog that did not bark. It is all a bit hazy.
However, by the Esquire interview and knowing the junk yard dog reaction of Cheney and the ensuing high profile retirement, Admiral Fallon ensured that he and his message would get center stage for a few seconds, pushing darling Petraeus out of the spotlight briefly. I do not seem to recall any of the cable bright minds getting the point, however. Speaking of General Petraeus, it is not his fault that he happens to be top dog during the Bush & Bash administration. Bush and Cheney, two men who act like the evil queen of the aliens in "Starship Troopers": breeding endless new plots of viscous evil. Bleeeh!

So, how's by Iraq? Let's see what Friday brought: From The Times (London Times) March 28, 2008  
Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched sides  
James Hider in Baghdad 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article3635838.ece  

Abu Iman barely flinched when the Iraqi Government ordered his unit of special police to move against al-Mahdi Army fighters in Basra. His response, while swift, was not what British and US military trainers who have spent the past five years schooling the Iraqi security forces would have hoped for. He and 15 of his comrades took off their uniforms, kept their government-issued rifles and went over to the other side without a second thought. Such turncoats are the thread that could unravel the British Army’s policy in southern Iraq.

The military hoped that local forces would be able to combat extremists and allow the Army to withdraw gradually from the battle-scarred and untamed oil city that has fallen under the sway of Islamic fundamentalists, oil smugglers and petty tribal warlords. But if the British taught the police to shoot straight, they failed to instil a sense of unwavering loyalty to the State. “We know the outcome of the fighting in advance because we already defeated the British in the streets of Basra and forced them to withdraw to their base,” Abu Iman told The Times.

Landing The Mother Ship?

I have a friend who has spent some time exploring the Nazca plateau. He believes the intricate carvings are intended to be seen from space, giving directions to alien pilots. Far fetched? Not too sure. Everyday I see more evidence of alien influence. The President, although not himself an alien, is definitely under the mind-control of the reptilian Vice President:

This may explain why a certain major city has been laid out according to plans which render it a mega landing strip for.....what?????

Shall we continue to be ruled by an Alienocracy?!

Our Lives In The Bush Of Ghosts 8: Gas

(Intro Note: Amos Tutuola wrote a novel entitled "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", hence my title.He meant a bushy terrain; I mean a person named Bush.)

Although I cannot write as well as Amos Tutuola ( this remark is supposed to elicit laughter from people au courant with African literary criticism...), I do have my own bush of ghosts, wherein baleful shades and other ghouls run their mercenary scams and spams. In their language, the Zombi language, they call us "brainpans" or "jitter nerve skeins", neither of which I want to know the derivation. The photo above is the Gas Station at the corner in the Bush of Ghosts.

Edward Hopper had a mystically beautiful painting of a gas station, titled "Gas"

You may clearly see how the years leading to the Bush of Ghosts has changed things around here.

Ron Paul Write-In

I still like Ron Paul. He has little charisma, he is not a good speaker, he sounds as if he has a sock in his mouth sometimes.... But he does tell the truth.

Bush Destroys The Future 2

Of course, he is aided and abetted by his cronies; i.e., the rest of us miserable zombies, walking around looking for brains to eat and money to stick in our pockets.

Right about now, a little Goya is again is in order to show the Present age destroying the Future, eating it own offspring, as it were, a la some Greek myth or tragedy of a special nauseating quality.

So I shall do a Carl Denham and bring this monster to the New World and show it to the masses. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present The American People, the Eighth Wonder of the World!! Eating the Future!!!

 

Chronos Devouring His Children by Goya

Dodged A Bullet?

For a good synopsis of how Wall Street almost laid another egg, go to the Economist: http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10881318 Crazy people are everywhere. They come bearing shotguns, derivatives, stocks, bombs...the list is endless.

Oh, Adonis!

As you may know or not, I am studying the Arabic language. Being a soul of brevity, I shall not burden you with my reasons. There is a Syrian poet, Adonis, about whom we find in The Asia Times:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IE08Ak05.html

In his essay "Poetry and Apoetical Culture", Adonis makes the remarkable claim that the nature of Koranic revelation destroys the possibility of poetry, and with it the possibility of life. Before Islam, the Arabic language was rooted in poetry; after the advent of Islam, poetic language became impossible.  

When this divine Revelation came to take the place of poetic inspiration, it claimed to be the sole source of knowledge, and banished poetry and poets from their kingdom. Poetry was no longer the word of truth, as the pre-Islamic poets had claimed it was. Nevertheless ... Islam did not suppress poetry as a form and mode of expression. Rather, it nullified poetry's role and cognitive mission, endowing it with a new function: to celebrate and preach the truth introduced by the Koranic Revelation. Islam thus deprived poetry of its earliest characteristics - intuition and the power of revelation and made it into a media tool. ... Poetry in Arab society has languished and withered precisely insofar as it has placed itself at the service of religiosity, proselytism and political and ideological commitments. [4]

 I cannot comment on this, for Adonis has experience which I do not. I am mostly interested in " intuition" which I have emphasized by bold font. Intuition is the source of all knowledge. In that time when the first family of living things came to be, there was no structure of knowledge save that within the structure of their own beings...that and their inter-relationship with the world. As they looked upon the world, their intuition guided them. God speaks not in words, rather through our intuitive life. If intuition be cut off, as Adonis says it is, then a person is dead and merely going through the motions of life.
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Superheros In Our Midst

Senator Clinton has apologized for using a nightmarish dream as a real experience: "I did mis-speak the other day. You know this has been a very long campaign [laughs] so occasionally I am a human being like everybody else." "Occasionally I am a human being..."??! Indeed.

Walking The Dogs

Betsy: Nice doggies. What's their names? Montag: (looking for an escape route) Cymbalta... Betzy: zim...sim... Montag: Cymbalta: C-y-m-b-a-l-t-a. Cymbalta and... Betsy: simballdah... Montag: Zoloft....( under his breath) I shan't spell it, you perverse urchin! Betsy: Kin I pet tha doggies?.........

Patrick Buchanan Strikes Out

There certainly is no joy in Mudville tonight; mighty Padraic has struck out.

Patrick Buchanan, herein much lionized and praised, has said:  
It is the same old con, the same old shakedown that black hustlers have been running since the Kerner Commission blamed the riots in Harlem, Watts, Newark, Detroit and a hundred other cities on, as Nixon put it, "everybody but the rioters themselves." Was "white racism" really responsible for those black men looting auto dealerships and liquor stories, and burning down their own communities, as Otto Kerner said -- that liberal icon until the feds put him away for bribery. Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America. Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation.  
White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.

I find his argumentum ad hominem directed at Otto Kerner to be evidence of a junk yard Limbaugh coming out. It is a trait I despise in myself and abhor in others. What am I to make from White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to? I already know. It is a lie. Oh, it is a mischaracterization based on the heat of the moment, but it will not bear any resemblance to any soon future reality; hence, a lie it is.

White America will not hold a dialogue. It will lecture. It is fond of lecturing. Dialogue implies listening at a deep level, not merely the superficial level of cable tv and most writers on the social scene, but at a profound level. It will not happen. I know these people. I have lived a long time. I am tired of chickens coming home, so tigers will change their stripes when hell freezes over...or when hell comes to earth.

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In the 21st Century...

The Reptilian Always Wins.

Vichy Democrats: Chinese Government Bans Tibet Catholic Easter Service

Vichy Democrats: Chinese Government Bans Tibet Catholic Easter Service Happy Easter from the Latter Day Han Empire

Friends Visit At Easter 2008

Easter 2008 Greetings, friends, and dine upon the leavened bread, the reddened lamb; drink well a whole round keg of wine and celebrate our luck to have made our friendly bonds before the tearful strife of war!

Brevity Is The Soul Of...Threat

The income of a man in his 30s is now 12 percent below that of a man his age three decades ago. Robert B. Reich March 24, 2008 http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=is_the_game_about_to_stop

The Dialogue On Race In America:1

I had a good laugh this A.M. after seeing the video of Chris Wallace talking to the 3 persons responsible for the on-air Fox and Friends about their coverage of Senator Obama and something his gramma said.

The truly clueless are precious. However, it is time for that racial dialogue. I think we should give kudos and awards for people and businesses that make the attempt: (1) Walgreens:

Our Lives In The Bush Of Ghosts 7

(Intro Note: Amos Tutuola wrote a novel entitled "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", hence my title.)

"It's not government's job to bail out ... those who made the decision to buy a home they knew they could not afford."

...Something Inflationary This Way Comes.

From The Asia Times

A bunch of government gobbledy-gook By The Mogambo Guru ...the latest estimate of M3 money supply by John Williams at shadowstats.com is that the damnable Federal Reserve is creating and expanding the money supply at a rate of 16.9% a year, and beyond that it was "the highest monthly growth rate ever seen for the M3 series (the Federal Reserve's calculation of the broad money measure dates back to January 1959). " What makes this so surprising is that "The prior record monthly annual growth for M3 was 16.4% in June 1971, and the inflation from excessive money creation at the time was a key factor pressuring the greenback, leading up to president [Richard] Nixon's closing the gold window and imposing wage and price controls in August of that year." Not surprisingly, then, he says, "The current surge in broad money supply growth has equally ominous implications for monetary inflation and dollar pressures during the next nine to 12 months, well into 2009." Yes. Wage and Price controls. I lived through those. How soon we forget. You know, with all this blather about free markets, one forgets that Bear Stern is actually a bail-out and there were wage and price controls less than 40 years ago. If I read all this aright, the savings of most people will be destroyed. My father-in-law attended school in Bremerhaven, Germany after World War I. His family lived outside the town in a rural area and he took the trolley to school. One day, he had to walk home, because the trolley fare had infl;ated so much between the morning ride and the afternoon that he no longer had enough money to pay for a ticket. Sweet memories soon to be revisited. I seem to recall that I wrote here about Vampire Economics, which is in its very essence just a scheme or ruse that allows ME the right to do things at YOUR expense. That is certainly what is going on now: a war being fought on credit! An unpopular war no one seems able or willing to stop. And an election which day by day seems more certain to elect a fellow who believes that a century or two in Iraq is just what the doctor ordered. ...And this anticipated inflation is already here, as the annualized, "SGS Alternate Consumer Inflation" for February was 11.6%, and the annualized inflation for the previous three months were also the same horrific 11.7% (November), 11.7% (December) and 11.8% (January). I caught on shopping for green peppers. Green peppers used to be $ 0.79 per pound and the fancy and colorful red, orange, and yellow peppers were about $ 1.70 per pound as recently as four months ago. Now green peppers are at the old fancy pepper rate and the colored ones are $ 2.70 per pound. And the prices for Easter were rather shocking. It is a good thing I get my lamb at Hassan Brothers. Next year, perhaps I shall only be able to afford the goat. Thank goodness gas is cheap. Now, beyond inflation, what you will learn from the above article is the duplicitous manner by which politicians have conspired to "adjust" economic measurements and figures in order to be able to gild the perfidious lily and make a sow's ear look like a silk purse. ...I am happy to report that Mr Williams kindly does respond to requests from subscribers, and is now introducing the SGS-Alternate Unemployment Rate, which sounds like a bunch of government gobbledy-gook, which it actually is, as it takes the Labor Department's measure of unemployment known as U6, which he says was at 8.9% as of February, and "adjusts" it by adding back "an estimate of the millions of discouraged workers defined away during the Clinton administration - those who had been 'discouraged' for more than one year." ...he said that the result of his work is that the first SGS-Alternate estimate of unemployment is a horrifying 12.8% for February! Suddenly, I am not hungry anymore. 12.8% unemployment! Roughly half the rate at the depths of the Great Depression! We know things are tough. They may get tougher. However, no one will raise taxes, no one will stop the wars, no one will control inflation... A generation of vampires is about to breath its last! The New Generation:

We owe HOW MUCH !!??

Easter 2008

(From my other site, but the poem is very appropriate.) Easter 2008 When archaeologists of old delights will find the ruins of our ancient kisses and delve into the warrens of this age and see the maze-like foundation of our lives: reconstruct the murals replumb the obelisk; and roof the halls of Herculaneum, and place the bodies at table encaustic. Shall they then find our candled nights of love that sparkle like the radyant rising sun? and drape the scenes with purple porphry sheets lest we old pagans contravene their faith? free us from this prison, and we shall fly away! and going up to Galilee to see anew the universal pulchritude!

Late For Easter

You can call me "Bunny", and you can call me "Hoppy", and you can call me "Chaud Lapin", but don't call me late fer Easter!

Hagee The Horrible Spells "Messiah"

I have been asked by one of the members of the Greybeards' Round Table why, in my last post referring to Pastor John Hagee, I used the Spanish language. Easy. Spanish is not my natal tongue. By using a language which is not the language of my birth, I think I can turn away the evil influences of words and photos depicting evil things. For one example, I have an old book on Exorcism. Yet I will not keep it in the living areas. It is stored in the garage with the excess books. Bad luck can only come of it being in the house. And bad luck can only come from mentioning Hagee the Horrible. If you think I am a bit obsessed by this, I ask that you remember that the soi disant Christian pastor does not believe Jesus to be truly the Messiah. He believes the fulness of the Messiah comes when Pastor Hagee's Horton Hears A Who version of the Bible is fulfilled. In other words, in Pastor John's own time. Hmmm? Perhaps the good Pastor Hagee thinks Messiah begins with the letter " H "?

Politics As Pornographie

Wherein Pornographie takes on reall politicall and social value, thus showing us the emptinesse of our notions of politics and societie. I keep getting Fox News and American Idol mixed up. They are both rather glitzy and heavily populated by smiling beauties. I suppose it is to be expected ever since I stumbled across the Ratty Right Townhall site where babes in T-shirts opine politically. I wonder whether this tendency to appeal to the lowest possible denominator of the populace to be the latter day form of panem et circenses? If so, then we must expect in the near future that Porn must not disappear from the Internet, but it will be transformed into something with a political message. This is not too far-fetched. Many political messages - Ann Coulter most definitely - are porney already.

From The Tyranny Of Empire, Oh, Lord, Deliver Us

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=57368
Rome, Mar. 20, 2008 (CWNews.com) -  

A Chinese government spokesman has flatly rejected the call by Pope Benedict XVI for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Tibet, saying that there can be "no tolerance for criminals." In a statement released during his regular public audience on March 19, the Holy Father had spoken of his concern about the bloodshed in Tibet, and urged both sides to have the "courage to choose the path of dialogue and tolerance." ... China insists on hegemony over Tibet-- a claim that is rejected by the Tibetan people. The leader of the Tibetan government in exile, Samdhong Rinpoche, told the AsiaNews service that his people were grateful for the Pope's public comments. The Pontiff, he said, had "voiced our suffering to the world."

If there be oppression, oppression is its own retribution, just as virtue is its own reward.

State Department Hijinks

Contract employees at the State Department who might have access to Passport Records are not hired from Kelly Services. They need a Security Clearance, and this is a BIG deal. Exactly why would someone risk the Security Clearance to look and see where exactly 3 people, Obama, Clinton, and McCain, were travelling? And why not some other candidates? Why not Romney? What is the true story?

Democratic Racial Divide

Commentators and writers, such as Robert Novak, are talking about the racial divide in the Democratic Party. It is too tedious for me to go into detail, so just google and go. However, it has been clear to me for at least the last 40 years that there is a racial divide in America, even though we pretend there is not. I have often wondered how we were going to go about dealing with it. I mean, surely we would have to deal with it sooner or later. Surely, by the time the last black male under 25 was whisked off to prison somewhere, all of us, black and white, would have to focus and actually perform. We are off to a slow start, but we are moving. Thank you, Senator Obama.

The Second Amendment

Branch Davidian Pennant

I support owning guns. I do, however, maintain that insane people should not possess them. If this seems odd and duplicitous, it is exactly what our society believes about guns, and I am a member of this society. One possible interpretation of the intent of the Founding Fathers is that the 2nd Amendment was designed to allow the citizenry to rebel against a tyrannical central government. Most people think that tyrannical central governments have disappeared.

The Tories at the time of the Revolution believed that proposition: that the central government, the reign of King George was no tyranny; it was a benign autocracy. Tyranny has remarkable genes, however. It tends to live long...and prosper.

I support the rights of the Branch Davidians who wished to, if not rebel, to withdraw from the social tyranny and protect themselves. They were cruelly slaughtered. Somehow the government wants me to believe they set themselves on fire. Possibly all the intelligence here is wrong, also. Our early experience of terrorism was domestic, brought on as a response to the government slaughter of the Branch Davidians at Waco. And there still are militias. Or did you forget that? If this financial crisis turns into depression, I believe we will hear of the militias again. And...get a gun, for pity sake.

God In The World: A Debate

I lied. There is no debate. I mean, really, I could not think of anything more dreary than a debate with some sort of atheist or-worse-agnostic about God this-or-that. God's in the world. That's that. Of course, we must hasten to add that if God were to be seen on the street, we should treat Him as if he were a homeless person or a squeegee guy. That, too, goes without saying. So, at the risk of appearing totally off the wall, I shall tell you a story about God in the world. During the run up to the War in Iraq, I had paid close attention to the news. I tend to read a great many foreign journals, having discovered a long time ago that other people have other perspectives. This is an important point of the story. So, finally as the USA approached the war, I sat down one morning and prayed. Then I meditated, letting a motif of "what is the real case?" sort of float along with the meditation. After awhile, I opened my eyes and said, "There are no weapons of mass destruction." I immediately realized this was fairly radical, not to mention odd and a long-shot. I mean, surely Saddam's housecleaners will leave behind some sort of detonator or uranium caked ash tray or something. You cannot dispose of everything- 100%! However, I took the position that there were absolutely NO WMDs. This put me in a group of about 10 people in the world. It also put me in an odd place if I were to debate the war. How would you like to debate something when your opponent has a decidedly bizarre belief: 100% of all possible WMDs do not exist in Iraq! Well, long story short...we know how that came out. Of course, I had not wagered any money on it either, so my sense of justification was and is mixed with frustration. Yet, we have within us the ability to see Reality. I needed prayer to help. Maybe you don't. I do not know. Reality is the world and God is in the world...how could we miss anything? I do not believe that God talks to people. As I have said before, I do not believe in God; rather I expect God. God is not a concept describing something that may or may not be true. My faith is not a scientific experiment. I expect God. God made man in his image. There are many men and many different viewpoints. ( there, that's that business about reading foreign newspapers. ) Therefore, God is Uniformity and Diversity, the One and the Many. I must go out and seek diverse opinions, then I must retreat from the world and meditate. In this way, I can attempt to take the many opinions and create a uniformity, that oneness being the opinion of ME, myself alone. The Divine does not exist solely within the singular area of my meditation. The Divine also exist outside, in the marketplace where many are gathered! This process of going out and then retreat is analogous to the divine: the one and the many...a going out into the universe and a retreat and withdrawal into isolation... ...then we come back from this isolation, and we have new wine and new wineskins!

The Financial Holocaust

and ex-Governor Spitzer and Bush. Eliot's Mess The $200 billion bail-out for predator banks and Spitzer charges are intimately linked By Greg Palast http://www.gregpalast.com/elliot-spitzer-gets-nailed/ ...Instead of regulating the banks that had run amok, Bush’s regulators went on the warpath against Spitzer and states attempting to stop predatory practices. Making an unprecedented use of the legal power of “federal pre-emption,” Bush-bots ordered the states to NOT enforce their consumer protection laws. John Conyers, if you can hear me....

IMPEACH NOW!

Bush Hands Out Praise

From The Cunning Realist: NYT:

After conferring with his economic aides at the White House in the morning in the first of two meetings on the turmoil, Mr. Bush singled out the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., saying that he had shown "the country and the world that the United States is on top of the situation.""I want to thank you, Mr. Secretary, for working over the weekend," Mr. Bush said.

The Night That Bush Killed The Future

Anniversary night; the night we invaded Iraq. The night we invaded Iraq was then night we killed the future. Now we must put on our annual awards show...in memoriam Whom shall we give this prestigious space to, in order to let them symbolize the corruption of the Ratty Right, a group or people with no understanding, no wisdom, no insight, and no morality? I was thinking of our old friend William "Billy" Kristol, but he already has his own bully pulpit from which to spread his errors. We shall let our show be hosted by Victor Davis Hanson from NRO, The National Review, and get a taste of where absolutist insanity leads.

http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson031803.asp March 18, 2003 9:00 a.m. War Has Come Next stop: the battlefield. The president reviewed the history of disarming Saddam Hussein, and reminded us it is not pretty: violation of the 1991 armistice accords, obstruction of U.N. resolutions, sanctions, and inspectors, a record of aggression, hatred of America, and a propensity to abet and engage in terrorism. He made a good case that we didn't ask for this war. But war nonetheless has come due to the 12 years of U.N. dereliction and the moral cowardice of the world — a policy of appeasement that nearly ruined the 20th century, but in an age of frightful weapons would surely result in global suicide of our own. The fact is that U.S. Marines will find more deadly weapons in the first hours of war than the U.N. did in three months. And by day two the world will have forgotten Dominique de Villepin and be listening instead to Tommy Franks, who will practice a different sort of diplomacy. Get out of town in 48 hours sounds tough — but not when it results in liberation, rather than subjugation, and reconstruction instead of destruction. Critics have claimed that Mr. Bush has backed himself into a corner; it is hard to see how when his promise was democracy and freedom for a tyrannized Iraq. We should not underestimate the power of his message of human liberty or the need of overwhelming force to ensure it. The EU, the U.N., NATO, the European street, the American Left, and a host of others, by failing to understand the post 9/11 world and its requirement to neutralize Saddam Hussein, have unnecessarily put their perceived wisdom, prestige, and influence in jeopardy — and with the liberation of Iraq they all are going to lose big time. Now the battlefield, Thucydides's harsh schoolmaster, will adjudicate what talk cannot. The only question remaining is not the ultimate verdict, but to what degree the past failure of allies to support the United States emboldened Saddam Hussein, cost the American military tactical surprise, complicated logistics, and needlessly raised casualties. Finally Mr. Bush's grim speech was a reminder why "a peaceful but not fragile" America is different from the U.N. and the nations that are in it. They either use force or embrace principles, but rarely both and never at the same time. It is impossible to imagine a French or German statesman ever giving such a tough speech about the price of freedom, and harder still to believe any of their people would ever listen to it. How dare this cretin mention Thucycdides?! The Greek Historians were men that used their minds. They were not led by the nose. Everything produced by the Ratty Right is similar to these lies. We long for the days when criminals could at least lie with some verisimilitude. This story also shows that the UN weapons inspectors were not forgotten, they were ignored. Thus, the lie that all the intelligence was wrong is clearly shown up for the falsehood that it is.

A Government Of Criminals

I am not sure to whom the title refers. Take your choice. Saddam Hussein's? Someone a little closer to home? Although it may be justly said the economic conditions are really beyond the control of one president, the problem with liquidity is not. Criminal policies have led to the present mess. Read the Financial Times or the Asia Times for pete's sake instead of listening to those incredible buffons populating Fox. All this brouhahah about Obama's pastor will not mean a hill of beans when you have lost everything, and the ex-members of government are living it up in Dubai and on their large rancheros.

Morning After

On Wednesday the stock market woke up with a hang-over which continued through the day.

I Love America

Yes I do. Do I love Andrew Jackson winning at New Orleans. Yep! Do I love Andrew Jackson stealing Indian lands and driving them forth into the wilderness? Err....probably...not. Do I love winning World War II and all the sacrifice that was made to win it? Yep! Do I love the present time when we will not even sacrifice for a war, but will lower taxes and pay for it on the grandkids' tab? Do I love how, during the oil embrago of the seventies, we all complained about the 55 mph speed limit, but we pretty much observed it and drove down demand? And non-essential lights were turned off and Christmas became dark? We missed it, but we all worked together. Do I love how at the present we let ourselves fall into the SUV trap, customers and auto producers alike, and now will not reduce our speed for any reason? Do I love how America welcomed my ancestors? Yep! If my ancestors had been grievously wronged, would I love that aspect of America? Doubt it. There are many Americas within the notion of "America". I can say quite easily and sincerely that I love America for (1) the genius of the Founding Fathers, and (2) despise America for lynchings. And I can go on and on like this. So can you. Let us not do so and give the pretense of acting as if we were adults for the time being.

The Seldon Vault Opens: Obama

Hari Seldon

note: I used a photo of Asa Kasher to represent Hari Seldon.

"...at this time, you have most probably received a speech from the first black candidate for US President. The entire country will have embraced the wisdom shown in this speech and the country will renew itself..."

At this point, the dignitaries gathered in the Seldon Vault looked at each other with surprise and dismay, for the speech indeed had been delivered, but the crumby Right could not appreciate it. What would happen now?

"...your course for the future is obvious."

There was pandemonium. The vault room quickly emptied and the people scattered in many directions. Quite alone now, the holographic likeness of Hari Seldon went on, unheeded. "...and most unfortunately, the Tibet people who risked their lives, knowing full well that the Chinese tyrants would kill them, will have died in vain on the altar of Olympic money."

Varia: March 19,2008

1 Robot Readers I received another comment from a robot reader. I am quite the rage. Anyway, he/she/it has its own blog which apparently has Robo-Porn on it. I hasten quickly to view it ( I do not receive many comments...and that is gross understatement.) and there was a very naked HP printer spitting forth a river of paper! I do not know what to make of this fascination of robots with my writing. One must assume that it is a timely warning to incorporate some things that interest real people. 2 Climate Science Envisat Makes First Ever Observation Of Regionally Elevated CO2 From Manmade Emissions "Using data from the SCIAMACHY instrument aboard ESA's Envisat environmental satellite, scientists have for the first time detected regionally elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide - the most important greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming - originating from manmade emissions." http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Envisat_Makes_First_Ever_Observation_Of_Regionally_Elevated_CO2_From_Manmade_Emissions_999.html

In a display of unprecedented ecology-mindedness, the Bush administration has stated its intention to put a warning label on elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide. From now on, you will not be allowed to be subject to the climate changing effects of elevated carbon dioxide without first reading the warning label: Warning: The Surgeon General has determined that living in a world subject to elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide is indeed hazardous to your well-being. 3 IMF and World Bank If what we foppishly call a third-world country, especially one where there is a substantial source of starving people, were to be in a financial spin similar to that in the USA, would the regimens which the IMF and World Bank forced on them be the exact same as Bernanke's rate cuts?

Obama's Speech

Mr. Obama's speech was the clarion call to the young and the brave. The crabbed and perverted may crawl back to their dens of talk radio and cable tv. Who needs their attitude? Remember that we cannot hate them; we hate their ratty form of conservativism which mocks all that is human in the entire history of Conservative thought.

Crack And View

The Federal Reserve has just run and gotten another rock of crack for the Stock Market. According to reports, it was some good s___. On another note, Andrew Sullivan has a thingie called View Outside One's Window, or something like that. I thought I might copy the notion and call it My So-Called Life. Now if I could find a writer to plagiarize, I would be quite comfy. Outside:

A Child's Book Of Wise Sayings: Bear Stearns

Wise Saying 21: "The Chickens are Fixin' to Come Home to Roost!"

Out Of The Closet

People often ask me why I do not write more often about God. Indeed, since the divine is in the title, so to speak, this aspect of the blog is perhaps a puzzle. Well, you would not really want to hear what I have to say. It is quite a struggle to make things palatable to readers. It is easier to go with the flow and scare the bejabbers out of the audience; that and the fact that I do not like to preach. Well, we have reached a point in our history where we may as well take off the gloves. Here goes: I think Barack Obama is too late. He may be able to pick up the pieces. The forces of hate and chaos and discord are joined in their next struggle. We see the society we knew crumbling about us, and we look wistfully as what once was like some latter day inhabitants of the late Roman Empire; like Ausonius we wander about and look at the fields suddenly coming back to their own and the aquaducts falling into disrepair. The structures is corrupt and failing. But what is much worse is that the very soul of our people has been deceived and misled and now we shall be turned out with no leader, no hope, and no faith. Note: I am sure that most people, were they to read this, think it is some sort of opinion piece. It is not an opinion. At this point, normal writing and reading etiquette requires that if I assert that something is not an opinion, then I ought to say what it is. At this time, you either know or you never will. It is not my job to try to teach the witless.

A Grandchild's Curse

One of Fox's stable of News Blondies has compared Obama's pastor to Hitler. Comparing people to Hitler is too easy. I know. I have done it myself. Very simple. The problem with comparing people to Hitler is, as I have mentioned before, that one does not see what's going on right now. As we spend our time trying to fit the present into analogous situations from the past, we pay absolutely no attention to the symbols we ourselves are now creating and which our grandchildren will use to vilify their compeers. In the future, our grandchildren will curse us. That goes without saying. Since we have had a Consumer culture, we shall pass nothing of substance to them: we shall have consumed it. Get it? Does it finally come clear to you idiots that what distinguish our generation of vipers from other generations is that, whereas others toiled and saved and passed wealth to us, we cheated, lied, and consumed and threw wealth away in misbegotten wars, thereby destroying the wealth. Get it? To consume well is to use value to create more, such as consuming bread to energize oneself to work, art, or play. We just consume. We create obese icons which we look at in news reports and cable tv: icons of pointless consumption, consumption that leads to nothing. The grandchildren will receive the deficit to pay off. So they shall have the BUSH deficit, a history of insufficient investment in the country: poor infrastructure, inadequate health care, education too costly for most people.... Judgement Day is not Skynet and his robotic minions taking over; it us we ourselves destroying what our fathers have built. Our grandkids will say some egregious fool they know is a "Bush". They will curse a foppish, self-important person who prattles about peace, yet does nothing to secure it, as a "Condi". They will refer with disgust to the greedy and amoral badger type personality who shuns the light of day as a "Cheney". The truly foolish will be called "Kristol" and " Feith" and "Wolfowitz". Let us try and save something for our descendents. Let us try and restore some sense of decency to our own souls. Ask for the resignation of Bush and all his conspirators.

The Election of Two- Oh-Eight, The Year Of Hate

McCain has been endorsed by His Intolerance Rod Parsley of Columbus, Ohio. Whom does Pastor Parsley hate? The list of those acceptable to him is much shorter. There was Obama's pastor. And there are McCain's pastors, all an intemperate lot who give full vent to their hatreds. I sense that Clinton does all her hating on her own. Are all Christian televangelists haters? And if so, why? What is there about the Christian population of this country that draws so many to the bright lights of hatred? Like hideous moths to some perverse flame. Why are all the people in the spotlight so full of hatred? I believe that we had better come up with an answer before the election.

Bar Mitzvah

My wife's nephew's son became a Bar Mitzvah yesterday morning. I seem to remember him playing the piano last time I saw him. He studied Hebrew and I was studying Arabic. We had pizza, chips and salsa, bagels, lox,... Lox is the limit of recall, not because I cannot remember more, but rather what possible reason is there to remember anything beyond lox? In particular New York Lox, cream cheese from Daiter's in Toronto, onions from the heartland of the USA, and capers from the Middle East. The word "bar" means "son" in English. It begins with the letter "beth".

Interestingly enough, the very first word of the Torah, bereshit, begins with the letter "beth". Hebrew is written and read from right to left, just as is Arabic, contrary to English which is read and written from left to right. So in Hebrew, as I write a sentence, what I have already written lies to the right of my pen, and what I have not yet written, that which lays in the future, will be to the left of my pen. Thus does the letter beth look towards what is yet to be written:

for the beth has closure on the side facing the past of the already written and has an opening on the side of the future which is yet to be written. The entire history of the Universe lay to the left and in the immense potential of the future of that very first letter beth of the Torah, so this is no small deal. The beth of Bar Mitzvah is a symbol of how your life changes from childhood into adulthood, a taking up the burden of the community and a closing on childhood. The things of childhood are not forgotten. The love that your parents and family showered upon you as a child are not taken down, packed away, and forgotten. However, the things of childhood themselves now become symbols of innocence, because they are no longer the things with which you live your life. The future of being an adult opens now, and the things of adulthood themselves are no longer just symbols; that is, things that your parents would tell you about, saying things like "Just wait till you're grown up!", for these things are now going to become real and no longer be mere symbolic words.

What is possible becomes real and what is real passes into memory in time. The Bar Mitzvah marks the point where you become aware that you are part of this Community of Future, Present, and Past. Welcome to the future, young man, young Bar Mitzvah!

!!!!?

You know who is going you know where to do you know what.

BUSH The Movie: 2

Edward Hermann is reported to have signed on as Douglas "The Schnorrer" Feith.

"WMDs? I told the President there are waa-a-ay too many vampires in Iraq."

Chickens Are A-comin' !

what's all the hubbub, bub?

I have decided that my new favorite expression will be, "The chickens are coming home to roost." Try it in various ways. "The CHICKENS are coming home to roost." "The chickens...THEY'RE comin'!" "Them thar chickens are a-comin!" "Chickens are coming, hide your heart now." What happened to cows? I mean, the cows certainly come home, although not to roost. Maybe we should say the cows are coming home to the barn...and sleep...and get hooked up the the milking machine. O.K. "The cows are a-comin' home to the milk machine!" Various other pets come traipsing home; cats, dogs, hamsters, ferrets. I see the cats a-gatherin' and the dogs are comin' home! This diversion leads us down that nasty road which leads to the present day Republican Party. Now we see that US Rep. Steve King has said that the "optics" of a President Obama would be mystifying to the rest of the world. I’ll just say this, when you think about the optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected president of the United States, and I mean. What does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam?" It would indeed be a puzzle. The rest of the world would look on, clearly amazed, saying things like: "I say, isn't he one of those negroes they are always complaining about?" "Don't the Americans usually sic the dogs on the coloreds instead of electing them president?" This is Republican vocabulary. A Rowan Scarborough column recently had: A senior Pentagon official said an Obama swearing-in "will give the Arab street the final victory, the best optics, and the ultimate in bragging rights. They win. We lose." Somehow Republicans think using "the optics" instead of "the sight" somehow gives one greater insight into the whole phenom. Many military officers are extremely brilliant. The one quoted above was not. He used arcane vocabulary to try to give the impression of foresight and mask the odor of the rotting flesh of his racism. Pastor John Hagee would say something about the Abomination of Desolation sitting in the holy place. He would, that is, if he hadn't already used that line on Popes Benedict and John Paul II. Republicans are feeling pretty good. My chagrin at this lasted until I saw John McCain talking somewhere about the corporate tax today. He was doing a mighty good impression of an 89 years old guy. He had a most unfortunate tremor or nodding of the head which made me think of nothing but old age. It was not his finest moment. Oh well. This is going to be good.

New Yorkers Fear Recession But Riddick Doesn't

The BBC reports that New Yorkers have been polled and dutifully said that they fear the onset of recession. Bully! If I may paraphrase Riddick, "Recession ain't what ya gotta be afraid of!". Recession's big brother and abusive drunken father and uncles are gonna visit. Them thar chickens are a-comin' home to roost!

I See The Chickens Circling

Barack Obama's Pastor said: "America's chickens are coming home to roost." and this referenced what we have come to enshrine in abbreviation as 9/11. 

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7297943.stm  

 Obama spurns pastor's 9/11 jibe 

It is so similiar to Malcom X's statement following the death of John F. Kennedy that it may be considered to be a quote. I may have an opinion, especially because I have had the time since 1963 to think about it. It may be construed to mean some thing like: If you wish to establish and maintain an Empire, you have to be ready to assume the burdens and pay the costs as well. Running an Empire is not all tea and crumpets. Very often the natives get restless. 

 As to Empire, recall we have troops yet in Okinawa, an establishment going back to World War II, a war which in reality has never ended, but has transformed into the push for empire by the USA and the USSR. It is still not over. The angry chickens are circling overhead. The buzzards are booking flights in. 

--

Comment on Morning March 13, 2008

I wrote that to love God is to have direction in one's life. Of course, I have been assailed by certain unnamed persons who said that this is the same old holy moly talk they've heard all their lives. Considering that they refer to such statements as "holy moly", one must conlcude that having heard it all one's life does precious little by way of assisting them to the Holy. O.K. I never wanted to prattle on unclearly about such things. Too many people already do so. There is no need of another person to whisper sweet nothings about God into peoples' ears. To love God is extremely analogous to learning a new language. My study of Arabic has reached a point where I do not have to "think", "reason", nor "run down a list" of words and meanings. I can say little things. This morning as I was showering, I looked at the water on the glass door. I thought : 'Ara ma'an 'ala zujaj il babi or I see water on the door's glass. Since it was a glass door, I continued on to: 'Ara ma'an 'ala zujaj al babi min zujajin or I seee water on the glass door's glass. At this point I just rubbed my fingers along the steamy wetness, having reached a point which is O.K. for learning language, but does not make a lot of sense otherwise. Just as one can speak without going through the syntax, grammar, and vocabulary of a language, so also can one live a moral life without going through the syntax of ethics, the grammar of morality, and the vocabulary of the Good. When it has become second nature so that you are not even aware that you are being good, that is when one loves God. If one is aware that one loves God and is good and they judge that there is a great difference between themselves and others who are not so, then that person is at the very first stages of learning to talk to God. In speaking of language, we would say they have just said their very first word. All the books on ethics and morality are primers for people who not only cannot speak, but they are almost mute. Morality is the soul speaking with God, in God's language, and speaking without intermediaries and translators and how-to books. Most of us are at the point where we know what is good and we see it in ourselves and see the opposite in others. Thus, we make everlasting judgements. Or so we think. These judgements are rather like confetti in the sight of God. And the wind blows them quite all away. To be good with God is just to be...good. Nothing else. You know what's good, you know to visit the sick, you do so, then you take off and do something else. You do not think of how good you are nor how bad somebody else is who is not visiting the sick. To do so would be like me trying to speak Arabic while thinking in English, "Wow! I'm really good and loquax at this stuff.". It doesn't work too well. Nor does the self-righteousness work. Our society is rife with self-righteousness. It is the not-too-secret sickness which renders us impotent. It is hard to learn a new language. It is hard to love God, for we do not wish to take the time. We believe that we do not need to. We are already the blessed.

Note To Obama And Clinton

I am quite aware that Hilary is a woman. You need not point it out to me. I was brought up in the USA, so I have breathed in prejudicial and saintly symbols and scenarios of women and womens' place in the world since my birth. I am quite aware that Barack Obama is black. I was brought up in the USA and have been imbued with the subtle and overt racism of the USA since my birth. I do not need it pointed out to me.

Morning March 13, 2008

To love God is to have direction in one's life. It is hard to feel that one has direction and that one is actively involved in some meaningful process. It is hard to feel that the hours spent at work and the hours spent commuting and the hours spent in the presence of cable TV are meaningful. It is hard to believe that everything is a part of an important progress through the hours of the Universe. We do not receive the blessing of meaning from our society. We receive the injunctions to obey and consume, but no one instills in us a sense of importance or value of self. We are supposed to derive it from people scampering on cable TV in iconographic settings, calculated to instill a worshipful devotion. All the icons of importance are empty. The icon of the go-getter, the movers and shakers, the multitude of creative geniuses in every art existent and yet to be, the halos of the dead who have been canonized on TV, the presidents who strut their time upon the decks of ships, the political geniuses who mask a deep hypocrisy... Emptyness is the hallmark of our time. The Love of God is the meaningful life. The Love of God is the Progress without end, bearing fruit throughout time and space, the salvation on Earth and anywhere beyond. ...and words, even these words, are just empty breath and smoke and vapor, unless, even while we speak, we realize everything word points to the beyond, not to the here and now. The Here and Now is passing. You cannot step into the same Here and Now twice. So as the words deflate, the meanings run away like stray dogs. Anchor your life's meaning to the Ever Changing, yet Unchangeable.

Mabus

Nos enfrentamos al nuevo Anti-Christo:

Books 1

I have so many books that I have decided to use them to insulate and patch the walls of my house in Provence.

Sorry, Kids

I may as well apologize now to my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and so on. I really did not back anything of Bushism, neither internationally nor domestically. But I was not in a position to effect policy, so you must suffer. The incredible Federal Reserve has attempted to introject $200 billion into credit markets. According to my understanding of monetary theory, this will exacerbate inflation. It should also lead to a further decline in the value of the US dollar. This is why you cannot afford to buy food and why your currency is worthless.

Admiral Fallon Retires

Admiral Fallon has tendered his resignation. I believe that he will be sorely missed. I have paid some attention to him over the past 3 years, and have been impressed by his abilities. I also read the article in Esquire and realized he would be in Bush and Cheney's sights, even though the article's load of fustian was created by the writer, not the admiral. He resigned today. Sometime during the night or when I awoke, I had a structure in my head about how a very unpleasant situation would develop. I thought to myself, "At this point, when we see Admiral Fallon go, it will all fall apart." So when I saw a report on his resignation, I was not too surprised, although it seems I should have been. Things are what they are. The President speaks on his war, Cheney goes to Saudi to beg, violence is still the rule in Iraq; there is a bunker mentality taking over as the cannons come closer. We are walking into the eye of the storm...and we are clueless in Gaza. Admiral William Fallon knew that he would be forced to resign after the article appeared. Admiral William Fallon could not come out and tell each one of us what the administration was up to, so he planned the article and his resignation to send a message to us, if we shall only be smart enough to read it. There are many good people who are actively involved in the work of this administration who do not wish to see any further evil done.

Note: When we see the Admiral go, it means that Bush has sabotaged everything the Admiral had tried to accomplish, and things will fall apart. For a different perspective on it, read: The resignation of Admiral Fallon will provoke renewed fighting in Iraq by Thierry Meyssan http://www.voltairenet.org/article155950.html

Skynet: Judgement Day

רשת שמיים

Skynet is just another analogy for what we knew was going to happen all along. Judgement Day in The Terminator is just another form of the structure of consciousness, a web of imaging and wording, that we amused ourselves with to flaunt our American belief of being somehow above and outside of the problems of the rest of the world; when Judgement Day comes, it comes for people in Darfur, it comes for people in Gaza, it comes for students in Jerusalem...but not to us.

Deaths in Columbine or Virginia Tech are mistakes. They could have been remedied by letting everyone on the campus have a gun. Or they could have been prevented by using Star Trek gizmos to scan for psychopaths. There is always a fix, no matter how insane it appears...sometimes even surpassing the madness of the original crime.

Skynet is now. Skynet has taken over the financial system and the Federal Reserve and the White House. Where is Solcom and why does he not help?

Hilary Clinton's 3:00 A.M. Advertisement

If we properly follow the logic of Hilary Clinton's 3 o'clock in the morning ad, we should immediately bypass not only Obama, but her as well, and elect the nearest member of the military, active or retired, to the presidency. Preferably a general or admiral, preferably one with "Buck" or "Bull" as a first name. In fact, if we wished to press the analogy of the ancient Roman Empire with the American Empire to its utmost, perhaps we should elect a mercenary to the office. I am sure that whoever runs Blackwater - I forget his name - would be quite available. Or, as a flash of genius, how about Ahmad Chalabi. He was supposed to be such a whiz kid for Iraq politics. I myself must have spent $2,000 out of my own pocket (in the form of taxes) to boost that odious chameleon. I guess what I really want to say is meet the new boss, same as da-de-dah-dah-de-de; I forget the words.