Naked and Insane

This thin fabric
Completely naked underneath
Take off this pound of material in public
And go to jail
Jail
We are completely insane

Bout Time

I think it’s safe to say after watching the election campaigns – it’s less about the candidates and more about fear, anger and the public's distrust of Washington. Since it is republicans voting for Trump and since republicans control congress let us remember a vote for trump is a vote against the republican leadership, a vote against congress. 8-13% approval ratings have long since been ignored by congress, as long as individual congressmen and women are reelected, it’s business as usual. But people have simply had enough, they’ve had it with Washington.

Fear and anger we can place the blame on all around. From Bush's mushroom clouds, to political strategies designed to cajole and terrorize voters as a means to election and a pathway to consolidate power. And lets not forget our media, fear = ratings = money, 24/7. Turn your country into a nation of victims through exaggerated threats and its people will eventually erupt in anger. Play the fear card long enough as means to power and/or wealth and eventually what you get in return is seething rage.

It appears the whole greedy tapestry is about to unravel. This election tells the politicians, the media, the entire corrupt system that enough is finally enough. It is all about to implode.

Bout time.  

 

Impartiality and Our Supreme Court$

Antonin Scalia died in a five-star resort in Texas he was not paying for. His room costs upwards of $1000 per night - but cost him, nothing. His host had an issue brought before the court just a year previously, miraculously the court refused to hear it - helping Scalia's host, immensely.

Justice Scalia was no stranger to freebies - a lot of freebies. Between 2004-2014 Justice Scalia took 258 trips paid for by private citizen - freebies. That's 26 trips a year. If each averaged a week - that's 26 weeks out of a 52 week year spent traveling on someone else's dime. Half-time work, half-time free travel - not a bad gig. Places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Hawaii, Ireland, Switzerland. That's conservatively about 2 million dollars given to him in free travel in 10 years - roughly his entire 10 year salary, pre-tax.

The Citizens United case on campaign finance was supported by Scalia and Thomas after both attended a posh political retreat in Palm Springs - free of charge, paid for by Charles Koch of the Koch brothers who benefited from the decision immensely. Some would argue that this decision has done more harm to the American political system than any other single act in history.

I think at the very least it is fair to say that Justice Scalia and others on the court have danced very close to the line on many occasions - raising questions as to their impartiality. If these handful of people - these supreme court justices - have the power to halt and perhaps even destroy historic international accords to curb global warming, agreed to by almost every nation of the world, then there can be NO DOUBT AT ALL as to the justices ethics and impartiality - none.

This nonsense has to stop - now.

Republicans Obstruct Our Democratic Process

Senators Mitch McConnell and Charles Grassley tell us that the opening of a seat in the supreme court gives the people of this country a chance to “decide who they trust to both lead the country and nominate the next Supreme Court justice" in this election year.

I thought that's what we did in 2012 when we elected President Obama with a majority of the vote, for the second time. By blocking Obama's nominee they obstruct for political purposes and deny the will of the people.

Oh how they would howl if democrats would ever try to do the same. Mitch McConnell's stated goal was to not allow Obama a second term. It was not to govern, or to do the will of the people, or even to compromise - it was to obstruct. At least he's consistent.

A Journey Through Time II

The light from this galaxy left it 10 million years ago, just now arriving at earth to be captured in this photograph. With this light we see 10 million years back in time.

There were no humans 10 million years ago.  In fact the first creatures in the human lineage were just splitting off from gorillas in the evolutionary tree. Humans themselves would not appear for some 9.7 million more years.

Earth was cool and arid. Grasslands and savannas were massively expanding on land, kelp forests in the oceans. Parts of the Rockies were lifting again, exposing huge sheets of granite we now see today. The southern California mountains, the San Andreas fault, the great rift valley in Africa all first appeared. North and South America were separated taking another 6 million years to join at the isthmus of Panama. Dinosaurs had long since died off but mammals and especially apes thrived - some 200 different species of apes alone. Chocolate, owls, dogs, elephants, lions, even the ability to metabolize alcohol were just evolving into existence.

Across all of what would become North and South America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia, through dark forests, thousands upon thousands of miles of open grasslands, across towering mountains, all the oceans - not a single human being. All of human history yet to occur - so much yet to come. And you are there in this moment.

Dishonest Government and Conspiracy Theories

We live in the age of conspiracy theories. We have the malignant 'No one died at Sandyhook Elementary' or for that matter at any of the mass shootings in the last several years, theorized by kooks who persecute the families of the victims calling them frauds and actors, claiming that all these events have been staged by Obama in an attempt to take away everyone's guns. Or the latest - Obama had Scalia killed. To my personal favorite - 9/11 was perpetrated by the government.

Now this one is a whopper. They would have us believe that agents of the government in the weeks leading up to the world trade center attack, skillfully placed thousands of explosive charges on every level of both buildings of the twin towers, site unseen. Then they had the hijackers fly the planes into the exact levels of the buildings, just above the explosive charges, without setting any of them off prematurely. Then they ignited these charges, one floor at a time, perfectly timed to cause the buildings to collapse on themselves. Oh never mind there were no explosive retorts heard by anyone. They back up their claims with highly scientific 'proof ' like jet fuel burns at a temperature well below the melting point of structural steel. Wow instant scientists - except of course forgetting structural steel becomes like molasses at jet fuel burning temperatures and would lose its ability to support the weight of the structure. It doesn't need to melt - just needs to bend to its breaking point - oops.

I'm not surprised that there are people who feel that an hour spent on the internet transforms them into structural engineers and scientists. I'm not surprised at people needing conspiracy theories to fuel their ignorance, paranoia, hate. What I am surprised at is the number of otherwise 'intelligent' people who go along with this tripe. But then again let’s look at what we are dealing with, our government, the history of its truthfulness with the American people and then maybe we can get an idea why these theories abound.

I believe, as do many, that Chaney is capable of rationalizing the death of 3000 innocent Americans in order to shore up and win support for hegemonistic agendas abroad - for the 'greater good'. He is capable of ignoring terrorist warnings; he might even be capable of abetting terrorists in non-traceable ways - probably without their knowledge - if it served his purposes. He's just that kind of guy. But orchestrating this? – the government just isn’t that good.

Unfortunately, we have a long history of such in our leaders. We were mislead into escalating the Vietnam war by President Johnson after congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave Johnson legal justification for deploying US conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam, in response to what has since been found to be a fabricated attack on US naval forces by North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. Nixon and Kissinger lied about bombing Cambodia and Laos and the continued bombardment of North Vietnam - killing an estimated 2-4 million Vietnamese civilians in our name – all the while denying it. Reagan sold weapons to our enemy Iran to win hostage release while illegally supporting rebels in Nicaragua with the Iranian gun sale proceeds - this even after the rebels had been accused of raping nuns and other atrocities.

I could go on. People not trusting our government to be truthful, or even ethical, even about the big stuff, is well deserved and goes a long way to explaining the proliferation of modern conspiracy theories.

Says a lot.

Republicans are Sore Losers

The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has set off a battle over whether the republican controlled Senate will consider anyone President Obama nominates as Scalia's successor.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the republican leader of the senate, has rushed in to announce, in a thinly veiled attempt to promote the republicans politically conservative agenda, that the Senate will not consider any Obama nominee - implying there simply isn't enough time left in Obama's term. Never mind the Senate has never taken more than 125 days to vote on a successor nominated by a president and on average, has taken only 25 days to either confirm or reject, or to have the nominee withdraw. President Obama has 340 days left in his term. 

The republican leadership should recall that Obama was elected by the people of this country - twice. He is the only President since 1944 to have won with majorities, not just pluralities - twice. By denying Obama the right to nominate a successor to Scalia for legitimate consideration by the Senate - the republican leadership obstructs purely for political gain and denies both the will of the American people, and what is right and fair for this country. What a bunch of sore losers they are.

Only Talent Saves Lives

Prestige is for shoring up false faith in order to temper fear.
Prestige is self promoted to cover for a lack of talent.

Seeped in ritual, historical garb, and false hope prestige is always unrealistic, paper thin, hollow.

Talent, for all the ages, is just what it is.
Prestige - trimmings, rituals, robes, pomposity - a pathetic two dimensional, hierarchal human construct that will always pale in the presence of talent.

Medicine in my experience.
Stay away from perfect white coats and chiefs of anything. Academics and arrogance.
Medicine remains crude and often even harmful - arrogant about what exactly?

Prestige may feel good, help you 'trust', help the insecure, massage the narcissists.
But only talent saves lives.


  

Go Bernie!!!

Hillary and Bill Clinton have played the sexist card against Bernie Sanders.
Barack Obama all through his campaigns and presidency never once played the racist card. He could have, multiple times and with good reason, but he chose not to, not even once. He's better than that.

I don't want a victim as my president.
Nor do I want a cheap, opportunistic, politician who is willing to play any card to win.

World politics is a tough arena.
Whining about unfair treatment because you're a woman isn't going to cut it - at least not with me.
And - Bernie Sanders is not a sexist.

The Clintons in one fell swoop have sealed the deal with me.

Go Bernie!!!

Crazy is as Crazy Does

You want to know crazy?
Crazy is when you pay a professional - who is as crazy as you are - to give you a test in order to tell you how crazy you are.
Now that's crazy. 

Still Paying the Price

The headline reads, "Toxic Loans Around the World Weigh on Global Growth".
So, easy enough - let's declare war on toxic loans.
I mean after all we've declared war on drugs and war on terrorism.
Lets have a war on toxic loans.
I can see it now - calling in an air strike on reams of loan papers. Mounting a ground assault against high risk debt. Better yet - build a huge wall around less toxic debt and have China pay for its construction.

Except you cant declare war on a brick of cocaine. You cant declare war on "terrorism" - it's a strategy to instill terror. Its not cocaine, its not terrorism - it's PEOPLE, people are the problem.
And it's not toxic loans - it's the corrupt people who sell these loans in order to make money - there's the problem. Ah if only the headlines read Toxic Loan Lenders Around the World.....

We were supposed to have learned this lesson from our last great recession, except that the crooks who caused the mortgage, derivative fiasco were never prosecuted. They and all the others in our thoroughly corrupt, unstable world economy are still free to continue extending high risk credit, free to continue to rack up bad debt, in order to enrich themselves - world economy be damned - and we are still paying the price.