What’s funny about all the advances of personal computing, ergo the availability of wider and wider swaths of knowledge, is the cultural and technological forces are vying to create a level of public ignorance that is so high, so preposterous, so gianormous, that the foundation of our democracy is perhaps threatened.
It’s no secret that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright scandal tarnished Golden Boy Barak Obama’s bid at the US Presidency, nearly derailed it and certainly put up a huge obstacle for him to overcome in the Fall.. And you have to ask yourself why? It’s because the trend is that more and more people form their opinions about society from carefully constructed soundbites and juxtaposed images with specifically chosen music cues to shape YOUR opinion... as opposed to you making up your own opinion.
Pollsters know that people lie about race (still!); votes rarely come out and say they will not vote for someone because he’s black (‘cause most people are cowards and afraid to state what’s really on their minds). Instead, they say things like what was heard in West Virginia and Kentucky – that “race is a factor.” Which anybody with half a brain would call an understatement considering the populace of those two states and their history with KND (Keeping Niggas Down). In Kentucky, over 25 percent of Clinton supporters said race was a factor in their vote – about FIVE TIMES the national average for such a question. Clinton, if she really wanted to do something lasting, could and would ask her supporters why the color of a fellow Democrat’s skin is so important to their vote. That would leave these closet-bigots stumbling for words… as they yanked the dog-shit stained shoe out of their mouths…
The Republican cabal — composed of the religious fundamentalist extremists on social issues, the radical tax cutters or “supply-siders” on fiscal issues, and the saber-rattling NeoCons on foreign policy — has produced only superficial religiosity with a nasty bend to it, a woefully failed war that is bankrupting the present and the future of the country and record deficits that look to cripple the next generation (should the current recession not humble America to an economy that is filled with a bunch of “remember whens”)…
Barak Obama has an opportunity to usher in a new age in American politics that must re-define the Post-Cold War, Post-9/11 National Security Questions, figure out a way to make the US a producing economy instead of a consumer/service economy (the collapse of the dollar should led to that, if America still has the skilled workers to command the return of manufacturing jobs) and, lastly, have the moral obligation and attitude to tackle the issues afflicting our planetary environments. Otherwise, we look to have a dismal future, where the American Dream becomes the American Nightmare as the Pax Americanaa is radically and violently eclipsed by the Pax Sino.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Two Men Enter... One Man Leaves
As Exxon Mobil gets out of the retail gas business as it's no longer profitable for a company that made $404 Billion in revenue (that's like how much money was spent on the Iraq War in the same time frame). What is really going on?
So now that the presidential primary is down to the final two men, we're entering the Thunderdome stage of Electoral Politics in the United States. One could hazard to guess that the predicted President -- Barak Obama -- goes after the oil companies ON THE RETAIL LEVEL ONLY. So that it looks like he's doing something to combat the never-lowering-again price of oil.
In the 2nd installment of the Max Mad series -- the Road Warrior to some, just Mad Max 2 to others -- gasoline is THE source of all power in a destroyed economically-obliterated new world, where man is still reliant on gas and the infernal internal combustion engine -- even though the ones who could radically alter what is used for transportation and power creation, don't seem to have a clue on how to fix the problem.
We might see a scenario like Mad Max in certain areas of this country, but not wide-spread panic and civilization metal down, because the interior of the country -- probably where you'd expect this to happen, actually supplies food for the not just the US, but the world.
It's the cities on the Eastern and Western seaboard that will become real-life inspirations of such classics of the post apocalyptic canon -- shit like Cyborg and Space Hunter or even Ice Pirates (which is another posting all by itself -- the search for fresh water, perhaps it needs to come from Mars, hence that's why we're there?).
Society is contracting now, and widespread death is going to happen, but covens and gangs and cabals are going to form in the urban areas...
The last of the SuperCarriers is going to be something like the last of Hummers... imagine in a new variant of Mad Max that the Hummer, or just the SUV in general is like some holy grail piece of transportation. It might become that, it just might.
But back to Barry and Johnny-Boy, the world wants Obama to be running the US, because he represents a new form of governing the Great Satan (as Khomeni dubbed us, but as as John Perkins of Confessions of an Economic Hitman confirmed) and enabling the country to gracefully deal with the economic consequences that will continue to wreak havoc with the world's economy.
Thee Club of Rome (that group that mets and decides X) published a polemic in the 1972 called THE LIMITS OF GROWTH, which predicted another 100 years of growth at the current rate, before radical shifts would inevitably take place. They updated the thesis statement in 1992 and again more recently, revising their estimates DOWNWARD. The rapid growth of the 3rd World wasn't accounted for and the estimates is that we're looking at 40 to 60 years of growth before we as a planet hit the wall -- and people have to start dying.
So now that the presidential primary is down to the final two men, we're entering the Thunderdome stage of Electoral Politics in the United States. One could hazard to guess that the predicted President -- Barak Obama -- goes after the oil companies ON THE RETAIL LEVEL ONLY. So that it looks like he's doing something to combat the never-lowering-again price of oil.
In the 2nd installment of the Max Mad series -- the Road Warrior to some, just Mad Max 2 to others -- gasoline is THE source of all power in a destroyed economically-obliterated new world, where man is still reliant on gas and the infernal internal combustion engine -- even though the ones who could radically alter what is used for transportation and power creation, don't seem to have a clue on how to fix the problem.
We might see a scenario like Mad Max in certain areas of this country, but not wide-spread panic and civilization metal down, because the interior of the country -- probably where you'd expect this to happen, actually supplies food for the not just the US, but the world.
It's the cities on the Eastern and Western seaboard that will become real-life inspirations of such classics of the post apocalyptic canon -- shit like Cyborg and Space Hunter or even Ice Pirates (which is another posting all by itself -- the search for fresh water, perhaps it needs to come from Mars, hence that's why we're there?).
Society is contracting now, and widespread death is going to happen, but covens and gangs and cabals are going to form in the urban areas...
The last of the SuperCarriers is going to be something like the last of Hummers... imagine in a new variant of Mad Max that the Hummer, or just the SUV in general is like some holy grail piece of transportation. It might become that, it just might.
But back to Barry and Johnny-Boy, the world wants Obama to be running the US, because he represents a new form of governing the Great Satan (as Khomeni dubbed us, but as as John Perkins of Confessions of an Economic Hitman confirmed) and enabling the country to gracefully deal with the economic consequences that will continue to wreak havoc with the world's economy.
Thee Club of Rome (that group that mets and decides X) published a polemic in the 1972 called THE LIMITS OF GROWTH, which predicted another 100 years of growth at the current rate, before radical shifts would inevitably take place. They updated the thesis statement in 1992 and again more recently, revising their estimates DOWNWARD. The rapid growth of the 3rd World wasn't accounted for and the estimates is that we're looking at 40 to 60 years of growth before we as a planet hit the wall -- and people have to start dying.
BOONDOCKS -- Prognosticator of Black Culture
In a bizarre (but not really) case of life imitating art, R&B super-star singer R. Kelly was acquitted of all criminal counts of child porn… just Aaron McGruder predicted in his satire maybe about 3 years ago now. Hard to believe R. didn’t get convicted on at least one charge… but Dave Chappelle was mocking this piece of attempted justice on his brilliant social satire short-lived variety show. I find it hilarious the Kelly and the bitch he peed on both vigorous claimed that they weren’t the ones on that tape.
In other nigger-as-court-jester/entertainer news, apparently a group of investors is hoping to get Michael Jackson to appear in some Vegas shows… to raise money to combat his enormous debt load, and to rehabilitate the maligned and talent-forlorn once-dubbed King of Pop’s image. But why do that in the first place? That man-child has lost his luster almost ten years ago.
Oh yes, I forgot, America loves the comeback story almost as much as it loves the underdog story. And we love to see those who we built up (only to tear down) revive themselves in a way doesn’t convert them into complete jokes… although Jackson missed his chance to start the road to recovery by bowing of the 25th Anniversary of THRILLER performances at this year’s Grammy Awards. He could have just done a quick maybe 5 minute version of Billy Jean and then taken a helicopter and gone back to where ever he’s been hiding since the alleged child fucking acquittal (the man should never have gone to trial in the first place, but that’s another story).
It’s no longer shocking that these celebrities transgress society’s moral compass and then walk like the most innocent person possible; Average Joe gets gang-raped forever (or until he commits suicide) for a child molestation charge… because you usually go down for that, and that’s not a sign you want hung on you when you go to the state pen.
In other nigger-as-court-jester/entertainer news, apparently a group of investors is hoping to get Michael Jackson to appear in some Vegas shows… to raise money to combat his enormous debt load, and to rehabilitate the maligned and talent-forlorn once-dubbed King of Pop’s image. But why do that in the first place? That man-child has lost his luster almost ten years ago.
Oh yes, I forgot, America loves the comeback story almost as much as it loves the underdog story. And we love to see those who we built up (only to tear down) revive themselves in a way doesn’t convert them into complete jokes… although Jackson missed his chance to start the road to recovery by bowing of the 25th Anniversary of THRILLER performances at this year’s Grammy Awards. He could have just done a quick maybe 5 minute version of Billy Jean and then taken a helicopter and gone back to where ever he’s been hiding since the alleged child fucking acquittal (the man should never have gone to trial in the first place, but that’s another story).
It’s no longer shocking that these celebrities transgress society’s moral compass and then walk like the most innocent person possible; Average Joe gets gang-raped forever (or until he commits suicide) for a child molestation charge… because you usually go down for that, and that’s not a sign you want hung on you when you go to the state pen.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
BMW... Some bitches?!?!?
So I’m watching some old shows on the DVR last night, and I come across an ad from BMW… it’s of water (well, CG water) forming the outline for an unannounced hydrogen-powered 7 Series… and the tag line is some bullshit like, “when the world is ready, a BMW 7 Series is ready for the world.”
Now here’s the REALLY fucked-up thing about this ad, in particularly this car… back in 1988 when I was in high school, there was a blurb in BusinessWeek (I saved the article for years) in which BMW was doing track testing of a 7 Series that ran on hydrogen… twenty years ago! Fucking two generations and maybe 6 model updates… and we still haven’t seen this car get close to becoming a production car… they’ve obviously worked out the kinks to a hydrogen fueled car (with water as the “waste exhaust”) since then, and they’ve probably road-tested the hell out of this car.
It just tells you how much of a stranglehold the oil companies have on the automotive consumer market… and that GM and Ford probably can’t master the technology, so they can’t enter into collusion talks with ExxonMobil, ConnocoPhillips and the rest of the robber barons who have been making profits the likes the planet has never previously seen (perhaps even conceived).
Oil and its byproducts are one of the few products on the market that buck most economic laws of supply & demand…
But I think that BMW is a bunch of bitches, because they could be leading the way with this technology, they could be partnering with companies like Chevron (which claim to be an “energy” company) or Shell or even new Green companies in rolling out the infrastructure to support autos like this.
Although… who am I kidding thinking that corporations would do anything for the public good – that’s one of the reasons why there are corporations, so people can act like complete assholes in the name of money and decadence and not really be held accountable for such behavior.
I mean, when I was in junior high my history professor was telling the class how his brother worked on a research unit at one of the big three (at the time big four) auto makers and they created a carburetor component add-on that they junky late 70s to early 80s averaging 70 mpg. Once they presented the research study to the board, the researchers were given a pat on the back, asked to sign all sorts of non-disclosure documents (in lieu of HEFTY sums of money) and then lab work was stuffed in box – much like the Box in the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Even though I am a conspiracy theorist, because my teacher related this story on a tangent (and I’ve heard about all sorts of other tech breakthroughs that have been silenced and squelched throughout the decades) I’m most inclined to believe it and ever since then I’ve been waiting for Detroit to unveil this decades-old technology.
The Internal Combustion Engine ranks up there near the top as one of the most malignant engineering creations known to man. And the oil companies make a shitload of their profits from just refining oil into gasoline…
People in the country are loosing their ability to stay afloat financially by using credit cards to pay for shit like gas, gas in the cars!!! At like 14+% APR.
There’s a movie I’ve been catching pieces of on cable the last month called MAXED OUT… and it’s about the problems with Debt in America and the scurrilous tactics of the Credit Card Companies and the Banks that hand out subprime loans. It’s all a spiral that takes us all down the shitdrain…
Now here’s the REALLY fucked-up thing about this ad, in particularly this car… back in 1988 when I was in high school, there was a blurb in BusinessWeek (I saved the article for years) in which BMW was doing track testing of a 7 Series that ran on hydrogen… twenty years ago! Fucking two generations and maybe 6 model updates… and we still haven’t seen this car get close to becoming a production car… they’ve obviously worked out the kinks to a hydrogen fueled car (with water as the “waste exhaust”) since then, and they’ve probably road-tested the hell out of this car.
It just tells you how much of a stranglehold the oil companies have on the automotive consumer market… and that GM and Ford probably can’t master the technology, so they can’t enter into collusion talks with ExxonMobil, ConnocoPhillips and the rest of the robber barons who have been making profits the likes the planet has never previously seen (perhaps even conceived).
Oil and its byproducts are one of the few products on the market that buck most economic laws of supply & demand…
But I think that BMW is a bunch of bitches, because they could be leading the way with this technology, they could be partnering with companies like Chevron (which claim to be an “energy” company) or Shell or even new Green companies in rolling out the infrastructure to support autos like this.
Although… who am I kidding thinking that corporations would do anything for the public good – that’s one of the reasons why there are corporations, so people can act like complete assholes in the name of money and decadence and not really be held accountable for such behavior.
I mean, when I was in junior high my history professor was telling the class how his brother worked on a research unit at one of the big three (at the time big four) auto makers and they created a carburetor component add-on that they junky late 70s to early 80s averaging 70 mpg. Once they presented the research study to the board, the researchers were given a pat on the back, asked to sign all sorts of non-disclosure documents (in lieu of HEFTY sums of money) and then lab work was stuffed in box – much like the Box in the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Even though I am a conspiracy theorist, because my teacher related this story on a tangent (and I’ve heard about all sorts of other tech breakthroughs that have been silenced and squelched throughout the decades) I’m most inclined to believe it and ever since then I’ve been waiting for Detroit to unveil this decades-old technology.
The Internal Combustion Engine ranks up there near the top as one of the most malignant engineering creations known to man. And the oil companies make a shitload of their profits from just refining oil into gasoline…
People in the country are loosing their ability to stay afloat financially by using credit cards to pay for shit like gas, gas in the cars!!! At like 14+% APR.
There’s a movie I’ve been catching pieces of on cable the last month called MAXED OUT… and it’s about the problems with Debt in America and the scurrilous tactics of the Credit Card Companies and the Banks that hand out subprime loans. It’s all a spiral that takes us all down the shitdrain…
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Do Votes Count?
Well... only in the right circumstances, otherwise they're liable to get thrown out. As if it needs to be said again that Florida is having trouble getting properly represented in US Presidential politics. After yesterday's DNC Rules Committee ruling Florida and Michigan will receive half votes for their entire delegations to the Democratic National Party Convention in Denver in August (which is really right around the corner if you think about it).
After watching the HBO TV Movie "RECOUNT", I have to really wonder what goes in Florida? Why are the people who run the show on the ground, and in the official corridors of power, unable to get the democracy right? If what we saw, and is accurately documented, about how the actual people ignored the from the top rules on how to execute a recount -- if necessary -- goes a long way to show why the Florida Democrats fucked themselves by breaking the national rules as to when they were going to hold their primary this year... which resulted in the current debacle.
I don't think the Michigan and Florida delegation should be seated, or get their votes... what should have happened it a new primary should have been held. Yeah, that would have cost a lot of fucking money, but the candidates didn't get to canvas the area, roll out their get of the vote machinery and get a true accounting of what the people wanted.
Since that was never really on the table, providing a split of the delegates is perhaps not the best thing to do, but it certainly isn't the worst... at least for Barak Obama. Now for Hillary Clinton it's a kick in the buck-teeth. But what her supporters have failed to realize, especially the feminists, is that while it IS TIME for a viable woman presidential candidate, Bill's spouse with all the baggage of the final Clinton White House years, is DECIDEDLY NOT THAT CANDIDATE.
One could make the argument that the reason Dubya was elected was because the GOP did such a fantastic job at demonizing Clinton and his wife, that the desire to get ANYONE in the office who was the opposite of Clinton was necessary for the good of the country. Interestingly how the man that was installed has engendered the same kind of "get that son of a bitch out" hatred and vilification by the general public.
What's at stake now and what the Voting Block of 18 to 35 year olds need to consider is -- the time is NOW to make a change, not just in the politics of Washington, but a change in the direction that the country is heading down...
Dubya is the Nero of the Pax Americana; his fucking inability to govern, to manage his own affairs, to lead his underlings and to devise a clear vision for the country in the 21st Century has effective set fire to the country, its financial markets, its economy, its stature internationally, and its future.
He trade integrity for access (for his father's ilk), which is never a good bargain in life.
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