AIG went a-mugging

It disappoints me that whether we have a Republican president or a Democrat in the whitehouse Wall Street gets what it wants at our expense. That is not democracy, that is plutocracy, or government by the richest.

The richest are best at generating wealth for themselves, but Justice and seeking the common good are the pillars of a stable democratic society. I sez, these two types of authority are incompatible, and as plutocrats begin to generate resentment (via injustice) they will certainly have to rely on violence to maintain Power.

Is it in America's best interests to willfully engineer fundamentally dishonest markets? Will investors entrust their money to such banana-republic-machinations?

Few news sources tackle such questions, but one is Democracy Now. In this clip Amy Goodman looks at AIG as if it were band-leading us to corpocracy:

Part one:



Part two:

Don't make Christopher angry.

Money in, Money out?

It is my opinion that many Wall Street CEOs are little more than thieves stealing wealth from their investors. It is a situation out of control and that threatens America's well-being. Every time I think I am disgusted enough by the combination of excess pillaging and ... oversight, there comes another story about the antics of certain corporations.

In this Washington Post article one thing stands out to me. The corporations involved in swindling their owners all gave heavily to president Obama:

Another failure, another bonus

These robber barons do more than gorge themselves at the trough, they eat holes in the trough and bite the hand that feeds them.

Flash facts

Health-care spending accounts for 17 percent of our entire domestic product.

Source: The Cause of My Life

Bread in the mouth

Imagine that you you saw a homeless person while out walking one day, whom asked you for food, and that you went to your city councilor and got him to pass a law making it illegal to skip a meal. Imagine next that a police officer, knowing the man that sought succor from your person was hungry, levied a fine against him for failing to feed himself.

If the object is to feed the hungry man, does that approach make any sense?

My answer is that it does not, and it will not if you substitute the case of an uninsured man for the case of an underfed one.

Only in Washington would so many work so hard to undermine the simplicity and economic advantage of a single-payer system, which covers everyone, including even greedy insurance company executives that spend their time promoting their self-interests at a cost of human suffering.

Où est le changement?

To lots of otherwise sensible people president Obama is political comfort food. They are always ready to dine from his menu of rhetoric. I must admit that it is understandable that they are hungry after 8 years of famine.

I wish I could suspend my cynicism and my critical thinking and eat a hot dog as if it were a steak dinner. I would certainly eat a lot more steak that way.

But, I can't, and so I say that there isn't any worthwhile difference between George W. Bush and Obama when it comes to ignoring the problems on Wall Street, nor in their respective "solutions". The same policy, cash for trash, closes the (over)sight and opens the wallet. Rather than punishing the reckless, the whitehouse has been rewarding them proportional to their mismanagement.

What has been going on is a politically-motivated redistribution of wealth. Whenever politics plays a role you must remember the words of John Lennon and "follow the money."

Who paid Obama?

Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Lehman Bros.

Who were the treasonous recipients of innumerable welfare dollars?

Goldman Sachs, for one

It is little wonder that Republicans keep calling Obama a socialist, since he is giving public money away to those who didn't earn it. Of course, I don't know why they didn't say the same thing about George W. Bush. Perhaps he was their political comfort food?

What Wall Street wanted it got in spades, even though it could lead to the destruction of America (for as goes wealth, so goes military might).

Cynicism is a heavy burden but it seems like a compass that points true in Washington.

Ukulele on fire

In the sprit of Roy Smeck, my friend Craig Ventresco dazzles at least two senses with this performance of 12th street rag. It was recorded July 9th, 2008 at Cafe Divine in San Francisco:



If you liked that, here's another:

The idol of Nay

I try not to write too much about Sarah Palin, because obviously she has an attention credit disorder, even more-so than your average politician. Also, she is a hateful and pridefully-ignorant bumpkin that thoughtlessly incites American-dividing sentiment for personal gain. Also, like so many Republicans these days, what she has to say can be summarized as "No."

This newest twist in her hidden-hand political life, however, is worth laughing at. She "wrote" (wink-wink) this op-ed which the Washington Post published.

The op-ed can be summarized by the word "No."

Whomever are pulling the strings in Sarah's back ought to spend their time more wisely.

Sen. Franken Archives

Our newest senator:

Franken wins

"The Supreme Court has made its decision and I will abide by the results," Coleman said outside his St. Paul home. Appearing relaxed, he said he had congratulated Franken and was at peace with the decision.

More info here

Those rebels, scofflaws, and activists that want genetically modified foods to be clearly labeled as such refer to genetically modified corn as Frankencorn. This associates GMO and Dr. Frankenstein's madness rhetorically.

Now, the question is, will people associate Franken corn with Al Franken?