As America entered the horse latitudes of summer, befogged in a muffling stillness on deceptively calm seas, we were distracted for a while by visions of a pale death angel moonwalking across the deck of collective consciousness. Eerie parallels resound between the sordid demise of pop singer Michael Jackson and the fate of the nation.
Like the United States, Michael Jackson was spectacularly bankrupt, reportedly in the range of $800-million, which is rather a lot for an individual. Had he lived on a few more years, he might have qualified for his own TARP program -- another piece of expensive dead-weight down in the economy's bilges -- since it is our established policy now to throw immense sums of so-called "money" at gigantic failing enterprises (while millions of ordinary citizens wash overboard, without so much as a life-preserver). Anyway, Michael Jackson was on the receiving end of one huge bank loan after another long after his pattern of profligacy was set and obvious. They threw money at him for the same reason that the federal government throws money at entities like CitiBank: the desperate hope that some miracle will allow debt servicing to resume. Michael could burn through $50-million in half a year. It didn't seem to affect his credibility as a borrower. When his heart stopped last week, he was living in a Hollywood mansion that rented for several hundred thousand dollars a month. You wonder how the landlord cashed those checks.
Like the USA, Michael Jackson was a has-been. He hadn't recorded a song worth listening to in over two decades. He had done almost nothing but spin his wheels, hop around the globe from one place to another at enormous expense, and make himself available for award ceremonies to stoke his ego (and give advertisers a reason to promote some televised award show). He existed strictly on image, an anorectic figure nourished by moonbeams of attention, famous for saying that he loved his worshippers when the truth was he merely sucked the life out of them. In his last years, he even looked a bit like Nosferatu, the personification of the un-dead, and his fascination with ghouls was the basis for his biggest hit way back in the last century. A zombie nation deserves a zombie mascot.
He was a poseur, vamping in weird military outfits as though he were a five-star general in the Honduran army, or a character from a melodrama by the reprobate Jean Genet. He once materialized during halftime at the Superbowl in a shower of sparks, thrilling the multitudes while grabbing and stroking his sex organs, as though that was a heroic activity -- and indeed the nation seemed to emulate him as its culture became dedicated more and more to acting out masturbation fantasies. America was a fat man jerking off on the sofa watching a vampire of no particular sex vogue deliriously on the boob tube.
More than once the authorities tried to pin charges of child molestation on him for suspicious activities at his boy-trap, Neverland Ranch, with its carnival rides, private zoo, video game galleries, and inexhaustible supplies of sugary treats. The first time he settled with the alleged victim's family for $22-million. They just walked away with the loot and happily shut up. The second time, he moonwalked out of a court-of-law while weeks later jurors mysteriously went on TV to say, well, they did kind of think after-the-fact that he really did those things he was accused of, but, you know.... The defendant himself behaved as though his trial were a TV celebrity challenge show on another planet, arriving on one occasion twenty minutes late in pajamas with some lame excuse about a backache. He spent the last years of his life wandering a few steps ahead of his creditors, gulling concert promoters into "comeback" schemes (with walking-around money up front), and with three bought-and-paid-for children, obviously not his own, for consolation.
When he dropped dead last week, the nation's morbidly maudlin response suggested a cover story for the relief of being rid of him and all the embarrassment he provoked. One CNN reporter called him a genius the equal of Mozart. That's a little like calling Rachel Maddow the reincarnation of Eleanor Roosevelt. A nation addicted to lying to itself tells itself fairy tales instead of facing a pathology report. Yet, like Michael Jackson, the undertone of horror story still pulses darkly in the background. The little boy who grew up to be the simulation of a girl was really a werewolf. The nation that defeated manifest evil in World War Two woke up one day years later to find itself stripped of its manhood, mentally enslaved to cheap entertainments, and hostage to its own grandiosity. Maybe in grieving so exorbitantly over this freak America is grieving for itself. All the loose talk about "love" from the media and the fans gives off the odor of self-love. America is "the man in the mirror," the gigantic, floundering Narcissus, sailing into the stormy seas of history.
"America is ... the gigantic, floundering Narcissus, sailing into the stormy seas of history."
But not necessarily doomed. America can yet right itself. And storms do subside.
The analogy between Michael Jackson and the United States is pretty strong but I wouldn't limit it to simply the USA (USA! USA! We're the greatest! USA!) but apply it more widely and say that the Homo sapiens are the Michael Jackson of the animal kingdom. Not only is humankind living way beyond its means it has transformed in a grotesque manner just as Michael Jackson rejected his natural face and replaced it with a horrendous mask, a byproduct of science & technology against Nature.
Just as Michael Jackson died before his time, the Homo sapiens are accelerating the life cycle of the species and headed to an inevitable and well-earned extinction.
Incidentally, there is a two hour program about the disintegration of America's infrastructure on the History Channel:
http://www.history.com/shows.do?episodeId=452430&action=detail
Which, incidentally, I am very much in favor of the crumbling of America. Our civilization was built to last between 50 - 100 years ... which the vast majority of the infrastructure already over 50 years old.
It can all crumble to dust.
What I recommend is that everyone wait for the end of civilization on the beach:
http://www.flickr.com/dmathew1
If you don't love Nature you might as well live on Mars.
All the coverage of Michael Jackson is a waste of spectrum space, but of course the MSM these days doesn't want to report anything serious, like the commercial real estate market about to implode.
Jim: This is such brilliant writing it took my breath away. Thanks!
Spencer
TheNothingStore.com
A courageous (and all too accurate) post. I predict a record volume of hate mail in response.
The passing of the celebrity creation that was Michael Jackson has only pointed out the weird "Alice in Wonderland" qualities of reality. Yes, he sang some good songs and made some cool spins and moves in his youth. Okay, great. But in the interest of the almighty buck and all that having lotsa of bucks can do for one; he was elevated, used, abused and allowed to live a satirical life before everyone; great fodder for the tabloids TV shows, press and blogs.
That is what the West has degenerated into, a freaking side show. The masses pay n attention to the fleecing of the economy but dam if they miss and Idol or Dancing with the Stars. Yeah, we are as doomed as the idiots who never missed their spot on the bench to watch lions maul Christians.
Asoka -
I respectfully disagree. If a near collapse of our entire economy can't shake American's to the core of their being, what can? I see no change in how people behave...and the MJ freak show is, as Jim suggests, a perfect metaphor for our pathetic "culture."
When you hear people comparing the death of Jackson to that of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, you know something is seriously fucked up!
Pilt
Now that was a good post mate. Kiddie fiddlers like MJ should not be remembered as anything else.
Our whole culture is screwed either USA, UK or AU.
Thanks for really capturing what were my flighty thoughts. Distilling them into prose I could not argue with.
Salute.
Finally someone has nailed this "story." I have been shocked by the amount of media attention Jackson's death has generated. Thanks for telling like it really is.
Michael
I retract what I said as it it is the ravings of someone who is not well themselves.
Well stated. I've wasted more than 15 minutes in the past four days watching over-the-top recitations of the man's greatness, and all I can say is, "huh"? True, Jackson gave the world soome fun music to listen to, and some iconic dance moves, but would the world mourn any number of other pop stars the same way ? (George Michael and Ricky Martin immediately come to mind...) I'm going to continue not paying attention to the circus, because I already know the media script...live funeral coverage; wailing fans who drove (at only $3.00 a gallon) 1800 miles to line up at 1 am for a good spot to watch the funeral procession; Al Shaprton and Jesse Jackson elbowing each other out of the live shots...Kunstler nails it again, this debacle is no more than America grieving for its bankrupt, surgically distorted self, wishing for a few more days in the bright light of stardom.
California flensed its productive citizens to gorge its unproductive and reproductive residents (with vigorish for Sacramento do-gooders). It achieved a "Great Society" triumph for the indigent, addicted, and imprisoned - also hemorrhaging green for the diseased elderly. It created the most expensive and second worst public education system in the nation (tested average IQ of the 60% who make it through high school, 91).
01 July kickoff for State of California bankruptcy, Officially $21 billion in the crapper (but closer to $50 billion given debts pushed into the future). CA treasury is nothing but gas fill 01 August, even by optimistic projections. The Controller is eloquent,
http://www.sco.ca.gov/eo_pressrel.html
Grant funding assumes intellect is a scarce and valuable resource that demands rationing of financial support. Social activism assumes poverty is an abundant and valueless resource that demands unlimited financial support. Rather than foster brilliance we allocate for its suppression. Rather than discourage poverty we demand it.
Michael Jackson is an archetype of of process without product. The universe exacts a terrible price from those who believe algae will power their future.
Just as the dinosaurs are now known to us as birds, we will change to fit into whatever the world becomes.
Did the dinosaurs become extinct? What does change mean?
6 billion is probably too many. Getting to a smaller number will undoubtedly be unpleasant.
Good Luck!
My Monday JHK fix never disappoints:)
Comment - "If you don't love Nature you might as well live on Mars."
Great line. So true!
piltdownman said: "I see no change in how people behave..."
Let me show you then. Look at the personal savings rate in America in first quarter 2008. It was zero percent.
Look at the collective USA personal savings rate in 2009. It is six percent.
Do you not see a change in behavior from one year to the next? Here is a graph if you want to see the change in how people behave visually.
http://www.bea.gov/briefrm/saving.htm
To be sure MJ was a freak that is the buy-product of having far too much money and power in the hands of one man. But let's admit that any one of us could have turned out the same way given the same circumstances. From the time that kid was 5 years old, every whim, desire, and fantasy he had was met. I would have surely killed myself by the age of 20! The biggest lesson here is that the only thing that tempers mans propensity to kill himself through self indulgence is the struggle. That is why I believe that while Jim is correct in his belief that America is on a crash course with disaster, it is in this struggle that we will work something out by necessity. ( I do however hope this is not the case with the Republican Party. They can just die!)
So rest in peace sweet Prince! You have truly earned a place in all our hearts.
"In May 2009, the personal savings rate hit 6.9% just surpassing the 50-year average of 6.83%."
From 0% in 2008 to 6.83% in 2009.
I would say that is evidence of behavior change.
http://chartingtheeconomy.com/?p=1384
So I'm guessing you are not a fan of MJ!
Actually, neither was I. I expect MJ will assume a larger than life afterlife. How long before we start seeing MJ doppelgangers in mainstream American shopping malls? How long until we see the headline, "MJ Still Alive!"?
I agree, however, that MJ is the absolutely perfect mascot/emblem for modern day America.
Dave - Erstwhile Urban Wanderer
Feh. This disappointing post shall be known as the "America is like Michael Jackson" post, and I haven't seen such a far-fetched and overwrought analogy since the "America is like the Dark Knight" post. Stick to writing about you know, Jim, since your ear for culture is tin. I'm pretty indifferent toward Michael Jackson, BTW, which might be why this was so boring.
Asoka -
The nominal savings rate has increased temporarily, simply because credit is not as available to most of them and people are ostensibly "scared." If that stat holds for five years, I'll retract my statement. Until then, I consider it a blip on the radar.
Pilt
What postitnote said. Jean Claude Baudrillard wrote the definitive "Michael Jackson is America" essay years ago, and without the huffing and puffing.
"In May 2009, the personal savings rate hit 6.9% just surpassing the 50-year average of 6.83%.'
From 0% in 2008 to 6.83% in 2009.
I would say that is evidence of behavior change."
Asoka - point taken, Amerikins finally started to wake-up and realize how screwed they were, how ridiculous thoughts of a retirement along the 13th hole in a grand villa are and that they need to save. Wow! It only took a freakin' Depression to wake SOME of them up. The rest are wailing for MJ!
It took decades for Rome to totally fall apart in fits and starts and so to for the devolution of the US Empire. Some people obviously are "getting it"...belatedly and putting cash in the bank rather than continue to stoke the Consumer machine. However, the act of saving rather than consuming is itself bad for economic recovery based on growth baby GROWTH! We have a long way down to go until we stabilize for awhile at whatever level that maybe; than Social Security and especially Medicare take out the rug again.
As I struggle to understand what was so great about MJ, I only have to look to members of my own family, a niece who adored him at the age of 13.
That seems about the right age to like MJ. She eventually outgrew it and now considers him a vapid poser and degenerate, a decadent and sorry excuse for a human with no moral or social conscience.
I agree. A country that would idolize such a man is likewise in a state of moral and social ruin.
WE are all so smart after the fact, aren't we? So wise, so learned. Michael Jackson is but one sorry ass who did his gig then died. Lots of people worldwide regaled in his entertainment provided. We should be downcast and disappointed. Jackson is no proxy for anything, nothing, nobody. Zillions of people of huge accomplishment die with varying amounts of fanfare, varying amounts of residual detritus being left for our benefit, or just left. If anything, Jackson's passing won't stop people from attending concerts served up by show biz tripe. Casinos will continue, if not in Moscow. The message? Man is not perfect. Elevate man to absurd heights and this is what you get. If anything, concertgoers will rush to buy tickets to shows to assuage the loss of one of their heroes. Is this bad? Help is coming. Thanks to varied legislation in the present and future under the Kingfish, we'll have less and less money to waste on the Jacksons of the world. Will we welcome King Obama with glee?, as it appears many worship the guy already. Spending emotion and money on Jackson is no better or worse than pissing away money on anything else in the world. Man is imperfect and will continue to be disposed to this end. This is news? I felt Jimbo's writing was particularly downcast this week. Well crafted, but I see no reason to elevate Jackson to the level of anything but another person who will soon depart in body as mere carbon dioxide, subject to Waxman-Markey taxation. Jackson, ultimately, was only as big as those who chose to elevate him to superhuman status in their fantasies.
No. No. NO! The reported deaths of Jackson are just part of the unreported conspiracy. Don't believe everything you read. On good authority the National Enquirer will be publising an in depth investigative report along with the latest pics from an unnamed paparotzi that breaks the news that Jackson is living in Mississauga (yes Mississauga not Mississippi). The part that we may well doubt is that he is sharing a pad with Elvis. Can't we all wait to see this spread!!!
No. No. NO! The reported deaths of Jackson are just part of the unreported conspiracy. Don't believe everything you read. On good authority the National Enquirer will be publising an in depth investigative report along with the latest pics from an unnamed paparotzi that breaks the news that Jackson is living in Mississauga (yes Mississauga not Mississippi). The part that we may well doubt is that he is sharing a pad with Elvis. Can't we all wait to see this spread!!!
Let’s all congratulate ourselves for being above paying any attention to Michael Jackson’s death. Then let’s talk about it all morning!
Jim, maybe for next week’s column you can draw some parallels between the USA and recently deceased pitchman Billy Mays? You could title it, “From Mays to December”.
Ouch!! I felt nothing but loathing for MJ for most of his career; I can't stand the sight of anyone trying make a spectacle of themselves, no matter how talented they may be. But, JHK, I think you may have gotten this wrong. The conclusions I had drawn about MJ turn out to be wrong. Yes, the man was unspeakably stupid and silly, but pedophilia was not his game. A great article with link posted below points to a gay drug abuser with numerous illnesses surrounded by handlers and enablers seeking personal ernrichment at MJ's expense. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196009/Im-better-dead-Im-How-Michael-Jackson-predicted-death-months-ago.html
Not watching TV, I've been somewhat insulated from the onslaught. Of course, it was all over Twitter and the other toobz this weekend, but not that difficult to filter out. There are many leftovers from the 80s, some good (dance music), some harmful (Reaganism), some just "meh" (MJ).
But there are some good parallels here. Like MJ, we burned out a couple decades ago & have been coasting on our prior achievements since then. Like MJ (before Thursday), we can still command a lot of attention and (as JHK points out) throw other people's money around like nerf balls. We could regain our dignity, if not our riches, by turning off the TV and thinking for ourselves for a change.
As for the MSM, I think they're more lazy than complicit in any kind of Evil Plot. Covering a celebrity croaking garners more ratings for less effort than, say, yet another CONservative Pharisee governor banging a bimbo in Buenos Aires. In a way, you can't blame them, but at the same time, they wonder why more and more people consider them irrelevant.
In the FAR Future, people are poorer, wiser… and maybe happier. Episode 94 begins the end of the story (but not the world).
What's the frequency Kenneth
Is your benzedrine, uh huh.
R.E.M.
http://sbillinghurst.wordpress.com
HOW TO MAKE METHAMPHETAMINE
I stayed away from the TV over the weekend, as it got to a point that a documentary about Farah Faucett's losing struggle with cancer actually came as a relief--talk about methadone to get away from heroin! I decided to quit cold turkey instead.
BTW, the patience of a lot of serious news junkies wasn't the only thing tested. Many news and social networking sites went under on Friday evening as well. CNN and other news sites reported crashes and slowdowns all over the Internet because of people's reaction to the death. In addition to CNN's site itself, Google News, Twitter (30% of all tweets were about his death), LiveJournal, TMZ, Perez Hilton's blog, the L.A. Times, MSNBC, and AOL instant messenger all crashed or slowed down. As CNN quipped, "Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with him." Imagine what would happen if something really important happened. The worst part is, maybe nothing. :-7
On another note, a friend of a friend shot some photos of an abandonded factory in Detroit and posted them to a community about urban decay.
http://community.livejournal.com/urban_decay/2272076.html
Scroll down to the fourth one. The graffitti reads, "The age of the car was cute, but can we grow some food now?" Thought you all would appreciate that one.
Fair enough James, great post, appreciated the apt metaphor but he was a dancer of great genius.
For 8 yrs I sat front row center and watched PN Ballet in Seattle, in Paris, every year I watched the finest dancers in the world, I know many modern dancers, i've studies and enjoyed dance, and Michael was better than the greats, he didn't dance to someone else's choreography, he created his own. We see his style from bottom to the very top of fine dance art.
Yes, he was a freak, one of the 6 genius types that live at any given in time on this planet, in the various art disciplines...but if dance is the most natural form of artistic expression, he was simply preternaturally gifted, he was beyond.
People can project all day long about his weirdness but there's a reason they didn't need to explain Mj in the villages of Ethiopia like they did Elvis, etc, he truly touched every point of the earth, and that was no coincidence, people everywhere really, truly responded to his talent.
Again, great metaphor, I couldn't help but mourn this gorgeous angel, but i also couldn't think much of what you wrote, in my own way. Great way to capture a seminal moment in American histroy
It never fails to amaze how the Jackson affair is getting almost as much attention as the Kennedy and King assassinations, and how ignorant the general public is about what is going on within the Beltway and in the world in general..... Pseudoscience reigns over logic and reason, Oprah is the authority on everything, and stupidity and vanity are held in high regard.
Do you not wonder why there are so many recent TV shows like Life after People, The Crumbling of America, and other shows about disasters? Have you been to your bookstore lately and looked around at all the gloom and doom? A mass extinction is a real possibility. The resources of this planet are getting used up and tapped out by a race too greedy and stupid to care. Resources that will take geological time to replenish, if ever. Whatever life comes after the human race will hopefully do a better job, after Mother Nature and Father Time hopefully have restored this planet to its primeval state. Or maybe, too much has been ruined, and destroyed, and maybe there is only one to a customer.
Jim, you hit the nail on the head...A somewhat nasty sounding post, but said just like it is, no sugar or cream, like my coffee.
BTW where is all the publicity about Farrah and Ed Mc Mahon? They were human lives that at least ended with some dignity and class. Why do people worship at the feet of so many losers and eight balls?
A brave post. Thanks for the read.
There is a racial component to your comments Jim. More skewering of the deceased than necessary. But that's understandable. We are a nation with a troubled racial history. Something we've yet to fully deal with (Obama's election doesn't count. The subject for a different post).
I agree with some of the other comments in this sense. Michael as a symbol of our current pathetic culture may be less representative than someone like former Enron Chairman, Ken Lay; who may or may not be deceased, depending on which story you want to believe.
I'd say Ken Lay, and an almost endless list of current players who are just like him, represent far more in full, contemporary American culture.
Oh yes. We are screwed.
Thanks Jim for the great essay. I wonder if his demise might of been caused by running out of air while inflating a blow up child doll. The world would have been better off if Michael Jackson had pursed a career as Avon or Mary Kay sales rep.
NOT TO GET OFF SUBJECT BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW EXACTLY HOW MUCH MONEY HAS BEEN GIVEN OUT BY THE GOVERNMENT IN TARP AND TO GM ETC?
I WAS CURIOUS AS TO HOW MUCH EACH ADULT AMERICAN CITIZEN COULD HAVE RECEIVED DIRECTLY IF IT WAS GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE INSTEAD?
It was fascinating to hear music critic Toure - who never heard a hip-hop record he didn't like - go on about how Jackson integrated MTV. Yes, MTV played only white performers before Jackson came along, and that was intolerable. But Toure, himself black, went on about how Michael Jackson liberated popular music from racism because he was a black performer who gained a large white audience. News flash: Louis Armstrong did that in the twenties. And Toure made it sound like nothing of any artistic value was played on MTV before Michael Jackson came along - just staid performance videos from boring, white guitar bands. He didn't say that, but he implied it. I'd be surprised if he even acknowledged the existence of white guitar rock.
You can't criticize Michael Jackson now, but you couldn't even do so when he was alive - his fans wouldn't tolerate it. Madonna fans are the same way. Ho ho, wait until she dies - I'll make Jim's comments on MJ look milquetoasty when I'm done burying (not praising) her!
"When you hear people comparing the death of Jackson to that of Jack and Bobby Kennedy, you know something is seriously fucked up!"
Yeah. Jackson left behind some evidence of talent. Jack and Bob???
For some reason, this week's rant left me wanting. Comparing the state of the nation with MJ? Deep down, something does not fit.
And all this crap about MJ's self-indulgent lifestyle: gimeabreak. Folks who knew him well agree that he lived in torment; perhaps his demise shows one cannot spend his way out of hell.
It is well known that Joe Jackson is and always has been a philandering asshole. (Did you see him answering questions about how the family is coping with his sons death? He plugged his next recording project!!!) If MJ's mother had any self-respect and toughness, she would have dumped Joe and possibly spared MJ the intensity of his torment. And his mother preaching to him that sex is wrong outside of procreation, while, as a young child, he had to watch Joe and his older brothers doing young groupies after their shows. (When the statistics are that the couples average doing it 2x-3x weekly? When women ovulate once a month, of course it is more about pleasure than procreation.)
JHK, master of metaphors--which is why I look forward to Monday mornings to read your weekly compositions--this time you are off the mark with using MJ to illustrate the sick state of the nation...On the other hand, maybe your methaphor is accurate: MJ, with all his money, could not buy healing; citizens, with all their taxes to construct governments and appoint kings to administer justice and beneficial public programs, cannot by security and peace.
(I am beginning to wonder about the merits of the Mosaic approach to government: laws for each citizen to live responsibly, and to take responsibility for others; each family was given a plot of land to work to provide for themselves and widows, orphans and foreigners who could not because they had none. No, we "other" nations spend our money trying to buy security by appoint kings, with their constant administrative trials and errors, to provide and insure our care. And they fail to deliver while we watch, helplessly from the sidelines, them live in luxury and excess. (We bought Obama's "change" line, but does he practice what he preached? The nation is bankrupt and still the leader takes up residence in subsided house, but his is not the usual housing project, no, it is an obese white house, with chefs, grounds keepers, limos, private airplanes, and an entourage of bodyguards to keep him safe? Why the hell did our leaders of long ago think they needed a white house anyway. And, oh, they need to live in a protected environments because of society "outliers" who might hurt them if the leader lives publically and unprotected. What a contradiction in terms: we, the commoners hire leaders to protect us when these same leaders hire guards to protect themselves from us.
To take your MJ metaphor a line further, at least MJ had the inspiration to name his compound NEVERLAND.
Michael Jackson was not like other guys. I mean, he was different. He was nervous, and his socks were too loose. ;-)
Bravo, James.....Bravo.
Best damned editorial I've yet read regarding this freakish ass-clown.
If I were dictator for a day, I'd force every media outlet in the country to publish today's article and would force every drooling M.J. "fan" to read it or hear it read to them - over and over again - until they swore off the Kool-Aid forever.
Yeah! And when some of the banks returned the funds, WITH INTEREST, and the taxpayers made a profit, I want to know how much each taxpayer made.
You have outdone yourself this week, Jim!
The media's obsession with this freak is a clear indication of how unserious we all are.
I do not see a point to criticize MJ. He had musical talent but otherwise he was just a mentally sick person.
It says a lot about temporary US media and public if they idolize the one who should have been in mental institution in the first place.
Excellent article Jim. I think we are so afraid to say something true that is not 'positive' that we give ourselves over to fake sentimentality.
Michael Jackson was a talented sicko, and his fanbase say a lot about who we are, and the sort of people we idolise, and how easily they pull the sheets over our eyes.
I must admit to a private sense of sadness when I heard he had died. Because a lot of that life was tragedy, and as you say, horror.
Excellent post this week. I especially liked the parallels drawn between the myth of MJ and and the myth of modern America. Hyperbole and self-loathing masquerading as self-love seem to be our overriding attributes these days. Its as if the gig is up and everyone knows it, but of course no one can admit it for fear of unleashing the ensuing panic.
Fortunately, these little "media escapes" that celebrity deaths/scandals/stunts provide help take our collective mind off the real troubles that beset us on all fronts. If this is any indication, things will only get more surreal as we spiral ever tighter around the worm hole.
Consultant writes:
"There is a racial component to your comments Jim. More skewering of the deceased than necessary."
Poppycock!
You simply choose to infer racial animosity because the target of the critique was black, (or used to be, anyway, before he turned ghoulish white....)
My read on Kunstler is that he hails from a Left-of-Center worldview that is, inherently anti-racist in outlook. However, the reason I read Kunstler is that he appears to have become a more independent thinker as he has grown older - which generally happens to most of us over time.
Most Lefties would not dare say anything critical of a recently deceased black celebrity, lest they offend the Gods of Political Correctness, but Kunstler fires away - as well he should - and proclaims the truth as he, and millions of other sane, civilized people saw it.
He has, in my view anyway, just performed a much-needed public service.
Mr. Kunstler,
Now that has got to be one of your best! I don't know shit about Michael Jackson, and never followed his lifestory... but your depiction and comparison.. to America is very, very interesting; and I suspect accurate. It is amazing how far 'magic', or perception management of 'image' goes towards manipulating those who desperately want to believe it is true. Amazing.
JHK sez:
"The nation that defeated manifest evil in World War Two woke up one day years later to find itself stripped of its manhood, mentally enslaved to cheap entertainments, and hostage to its own grandiosity. Maybe in grieving so exorbitantly over this freak America is grieving for itself. All the loose talk about "love" from the media and the fans gives off the odor of self-love. America is "the man in the mirror," the gigantic, floundering Narcissus, sailing into the stormy seas of history."
YEP! Sorry "folks", the journey in Neverland has come to an end; time for Wendy ('Mercan peep-holes and MJ fans)to grow-the-f***-up and stop living vicariously via the idiot-box.
I tend to agree with Jim's "maybe" posited in the second sentence [here], as it seems to be a glaring symptom the cognitive dissonance that's been allowed to fester in this society for far to long. The great awakening [tm] will surely be a time of danger and much [easily predictable] madness.
beware...prepare
"...and when the politicians do their own killin',
then killin' will truly become a sin;
Maybe then I'll awake from this haunted dream,
of blood and adrenaline."
You nailed this one.
I remember when Michael's sister Latoya went on the "Rolonda" talk show back in the 90's and said she was certain that her hyper-famous brother was sexually abusing young boys and that he needed to held accountable for the harm he was causing. That such an extraordinary occurence passed by largely unremarked was a testament to both Michael's turbo-charged celebrity status and also the extent to which Latoya is generally not taken very seriously at all. To extend Jim's analogy, people who are aware of in just how much trouble we are as a society are regarded by the mainstream as a bunch Latoyas, a bunch of silly flakes to be largely ignored.
Dear Jim,
I feel so horrible. It is early in the morning. I am fifty-seven. I had posted blog entries all day yesterday and the day before, and I was reactionary against people I know.
reactionary, adj. Characterized by reaction, especially opposition to progress or liberalism; extremely conservative
Was I? I just looked that word up. I do not wish to be saddled with adherence to that. I hate Republicans. I was hoping for a more eclectic word for people with a shitty disposition.
I was laid off from my job in construction in Las Vegas last week. The job lasted twenty-five months. The out-of-work lists for all hiring halls in my union for my trade stand at around a hundred, which is very high. I want to thank you for the link to your position on Las Vegas, the one with "fricasee" in it. My standard is to lever confrontation, pity, contempt, and rage against real people face-to-face, as if you had sent me to Las Vegas. I had to enjoy your essay by myself. My employer, Perini Building Company, was the best I have ever had. Of course, six people were horribly killed on the job, so those workers' next of kin would not sing the praises of Perini. If you wonder what 'horribly killed' is, it has to do with the number six. If you include the heatstroke victims and the heart attack victims, the number swells to something more embarrassing, and I do not have it. This is cut in half vertically and horizontally, falling seventy feet, having a wall fall on you guys, just one thing after another.
The readers of your blog who comment are severely impaired with respect to their literacy, but you have had much improved proofreading. Thank you. You have boosted the quality of the work and still maintained your accessibility. You have gone through a slight rough patch with the anti-Semitism with flying colors and I am with you.
Who am I to make comments? I am fifty-seven, like I said. Blow it out your ass.
I do tend to find living people and, this is writing, I encourage my reader to ram it, ram it, ram it up your poop chute. I implore him or her to stick it where the sun don't shine, and I am only telling you this. When I write, and I have written everyone, I put it in "fan letter" format.
That is funny to consider that if technology cannot save us whether literature has ever saved us.
Of course, a story goes with it. The "us" in there but who you read into it are the literati, not the factotums.
The saving itself is tensioned to a shorter timescale than we observe, which is your right under Article XLII of the Superbowl. It is poetic license.
Let's have a look at your 2009 predictions for this month:
I can't even do it; it is too long. the first thing is that Obama did not do anything you said, and you should not have said he tells the truth.
Just reading that makes me mad. There is no "outside" for you to dump on. You have NYC in your backyard; you are in a conspiracy yourself, rich Jews. Look at Madoff's wife: $125,000 a year for life, and the local media anchor here in San Diego, Dan Plante, suggesting this is low because she is a billionaire, used to much more. I have started to throw books out (I had to move). Here you are writing about the dead. Do not write about the dead! Write about confronting the living, you lily-livered coward. That's weak. They put one word, "Gotham" in a movie and you are writing about it. Oh, oh. I forgot. You are doing fine this year. I am washing overboard, an ordinary citizen, one of millions!
You do not say anything about the planet Mars! I realize we have serviced Hubble; that was trick, but NASA is trying to get to the Space Station aboard Endeavor and we do not wish to become untethered and float off in our space suit! The last thing we need is Mars' baleful gleam--that reminds me. I live in the places you visit. What kind of third-rate notebook do you use to make sketches of these streets? You can never get it right. How do you find the bathroom in your own house?
Like Elvis,like Sinatra,and Janis Joplin, Morrison,Hendrix.....MJ was a human whose massive Talent pushed him into a realm of fame beyond his ability to handle. Forcing extreme behaviors of Vanity and drawing to public view demons from his childhood .
Artists are not Accountants.
They make their living by exposing emotional interpetations of themselves into artforms.
It is the naive fool who skims the obvious TV Network propaganda and makes total judgment on an individual based on the Trash News.
MJ was genius. As Quincy Jones put it , he was pure expression who propelled his craft of lyric and dance beyond fashion.
Yea ,he was weird and a flawed person. But then so am I.
But , as an artist, I may have more insight into the consciousness of such a master. I can feel the positive of MJ as much as conforming to the politically correct negative.
I like you James, and I like what you have to say about that which you have knowledge. But like MJ,
you assume your boundaries of expertise traverse areas of which you have so little knowledge.
Stay on point.
I was never a fan of the Jackson 5 or of Michael Jackson growing up. As an adult, I did not grow to like the music they produced, leaning towards classical and blues instead. Either way, I have read a number of tributes and testimonials on quite a few news networks and websites extolling the virtue, talent and tragedy that was Michael Jackson.
I don’t get it folks……I really don’t. When all is said and done, M.J. did nothing more than any other rock group; he made and sold records. That is the sum of it. He did not produce a new medicine, he did not invent a better solar cell, he did not develop a hardier strain of wheat; he sang songs.
Here is a strange caricature of a man, beset by a hatred for his own visage so powerful that he spent all of his adult life trying to transform himself from a black man into a white woman. Michael devoted his energies not toward the betterment of mankind, but to the construction of monuments to self. He lavished tens of millions on himself in well publicized shopping sprees, during which he purchased things of extraordinary cost not because he had any need for them, but simply because he could. His temple to himself, “Never Land”, stands as a testimonial to his self aggrandizement and his sustained fantasy of remaining a child forever. No one bothered to tell him that monkeys, giraffes, zebras and carnival rides cannot stop the ticking of the clock.
His seeming inability to reconcile with becoming an adult, led him to pursue children in a voracious and un-healthy manner. These pursuits led to multiple accusations of molestation, accusations which ultimately destroyed his career and drove him into exile in the Middle East. While in Bahrain, he made promises to a Sheikh to write his memoirs, do a movie and perform. These promises were broken when he returned to the United States, conveniently forgetting about the millions of dollars the Sheikh loaned him during his stay.
Whether he was unable or unwilling to produce children in the traditional manner I do not know. I do know that he paid women to bear children for him, stripped them of their parental rights using money and coercion and brought the children back to his ‘Temple to Self’, to be raised by a series of Nannies and Butlers. These children were forced to wear scarves over their heads, obscuring their faces from view. He was snapped while dangling one of them [as an infant] over a balcony rail at a hotel. They were given weird names, in true Michael Jackson tradition. Blanket and Prince Michael come to mind. How the hell do you go through life with the name Blanket?? His farcical marriage to the daughter of Elvis didn’t fool anyone. I believe it was an attempt to stave off rumors of homosexuality and/or paedophilia, but have no actual basis in fact.
In the end, he died.
After plowing through three quarters of a billion dollars he earned, and half a billion dollars he borrowed, he left this planet not better than he found it, but worse. The trail of lawsuits over the scraps will be legend. The children will suffer the most, because when you are as high profile as he was, the public will only remember the weird shit you did during your life, not the quirky songs that made him millions of dollars. The library of his music will most likely be granted to those who possess his debts, leaving his children to fend for themselves or to leech off of relatives. All of the faithful followers and nannies will disappear along with the money.
There will be an autopsy, accusations and recriminations. There will be lawsuits and investigations. What we will find out is what we already knew, that Michael Jackson died as a result of his own profligacy.
...all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredoms amused..."
Arthur Jensen
and one more thing:
fuck the entitlements of the united states of neverland. i do not want my health care and SS; when i can no longer can, i will walk off into the wilderness [and die], like moses and other OT icons did.
I am amazed at the number of people willing to ignore the child abuse and berate the victims.
Jackson is as innocent of child abuse as OJ Simpson of a double murder.
one down , eight to go.
The USA in modern times resembles no other culture so much as Weimer Germany.
Whether it is in our financial malfeasance and our government's determination to inflate our way out of the results, or our unspeakably degraded popular culture with its emphasis on violence and perversion, or the irrationality and lack of reasoning ability among even our most affluent and best-educated denizens as evidenced by the prevalence of belief in irrational religions as well as astrology,numerology and the occult- we are walking in the footsteps of the confused, terrified, and hapless people who collapsed their culture, pulled its underpinnings right out from beneath it, and gave us Hitler.
I've had to listen to wailing about this freaking pervert and child molester all weekend. This loser should have died in prison.
People with 8 years of higher education at elite schools know all the details of the lives of their pet entertainment celebs, but they've never heard of Hannah Arendt or Ludwig Van Mises, or Condorcet, or John Locke, or any of the other thinkers who, for better, or for worse, gave us the world we live in. There's no experience like having to listen to the graduate of schools like Andover prep and Middlebury College blather about her Past Life experiences. Almost everybody I meet believes in astrology, and these people have attended schools like Yale and Brown University.
We're now confronting circumstances that are really novel, with nothing but our reasoning ability to guide us. How can we cope when our so-called elites can't see through a belief system that any bright ten-year-old could stand on its head? I mean, when the grad of an elite Eastern "seven sisters" college really believes with all three of her brain cells that just because the stars form a pattern that to an Earthling might just look like a bull, your culture is in deep trouble.
The real tragedy is to have MJ's lifetime earning power and die $400 to $800 million in debt. And not because he overextended himself in philanthropy. It really makes you appreciate the pledges given by high-tech billionaires. Computer geeks obviously suffering less from self-aggrandizement than entertainers.
Two words have been discarded. let us begin: I forgot to put in my lengthy comment today (above), that I was laid off on a day, and I know, Michael Jackson dies, but I am a child of the H-bomb era. People like me can lead you through this. If we can't, enhh, who cares? I am a Flower Child and all this hoo-hah over a nigger does not do it for me. I needed more. When we had Haight-Ashbury, they had the Tenderloin, the Fillmore, something. You would not go down there on a bet. If your bus lets you off there, you are as good as gutted from sternum to pubis at age fourteen. They shoot heroin there. Kathy Frisee left the East Bay ghetto of Concord and became a prostitute in San Francisco, so you know that pussy had had blacks in it, and I had a chance before she went, and I DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO with it. She was redded out. I was eighteen. She fell down in the front doorway. I stepped over her to go see some friends I had not seen in a long time. She grabbed my ankle and said, "Steve, . ."; her tongue lolled out and she drooled. Her head tilted back, the eyes closed. I shook her loose. Damn!
But-what was I talking about? I am trying the "REPLY" to that person. What was wrong with what you said? I do not have to type your name, huh? Pretty good.
Okay. It is, "Weimar", Laura. The word with the "e" there, perhaps you were thinking, is "wiener".
You are mentioning numerology? Lau-ra, I am a scientist and I work on numerology. Still there (probably never was)? Lenny Bruce's last performance was June 25, 1966. He died in August. I was laid off forty-three years later. But, the deal is that 100,000 layoffs (I was one of four, just so you know: you can shit on your boss's desk in Vegas, he won't fire you). Uh, Laura, if I move this computer will you shit on my desk? I'll pay you.-100,000 layoffs, that might mean that the ramifications of the layoff process left only the excellent employees. We have a lean and mean economy! Yay, us!
Great article. MJs life is an excellent parallel to much of current US culture.
His demise portends our future I fear.
I hope he finds peace in his after life, if he has one.
You might have added, by way of analogy, that MJ (and the US) get to die a premature death with the most expensive health care money can buy; that MJ (and the US) get to die by excessive consumption of drugs while ostensibly fighting a never-ending, counter-productive "war on drugs"; and that MJ and his colleagues (and the US) really did think the world revolved around them (we are the world). And there is some irony in Kunstler's commentary coming on the same day as Madoff's sentencing - if MJ was a symbol of a debtor nation and that was far past its best-before date, then Madoff is the symbol of the vulture whose greatest talent was making money disappear through "financial services". Quite the week-end for the USA.
"He had done almost nothing but spin his wheels, hop around the globe from one place to another at enormous expense, and make himself available for award ceremonies to stoke his ego."
Whoops. For a moment I though Kunstler was referring to himself.
Well said, Loveandlight. It does tend to get old when you try to help people, and they just treat you like a crank. Even when everything going on, every pattern in nature, supports your argument. Nope. Nothing but ridicule.
Well, here's to all the Latoyas and Cassandras out there who are slowly making the world a better place, whether anyone is listening or not!
And one more time for good measure, even if no one's listening, find out about PERMACULTURE! It'll change your perspective...on everything.
consultant wrote:
There is a racial component to your comments Jim.
JHK replies:
That's just plain untrue. You're projecting.
Okay, yeah. "Maplepeg". You are not maple the way I want it. You must be furniture. "Do not make fun of furn", is my motto (I have scads of mottos). Maple the way I want it is actually mulberry, Googling, "diet of the silkworm", although they do eat maple, but the leaf I am thinking of is mulberry, then.
You have that right.
You all have certain rights, signifying problematic solutions to correcting you spiritedly.
"excessive use of drugs"? Do you realize that not only has the treatment of drug abuse not improved one whit since 1931 ("Narcotic"), but that this insidious word combination does two things: i. It allows advertisers to advertise lethal products, and: ii. It allows persons who are not yet incapacitated by using drugs to press for their greater availablity. I not only do not want to see beer, I do not want to see "beer". While you are trying to establish an economy, we are going to be stopping you at every turn. This is revolution in the shadow of genocide. ETHANOL.
Donny-Don--
I've published four books since the year 2000 and received one award. Fuck you.
--Jim Kunstler
"Donny-Don--
I've published four books since the year 2000 and received one award. Fuck you.
--Jim Kunstler"
Wow man. That makes you special. (Not!)
It's too easy to hate on MJ. Yes, he hadn't released any good new "product" in a long time. Yes, he was strange. But that's just the thing. It's almost as if he were custom crafted for others to either love or self-righteously judge, the ultimate idol and scapegoat. Would any of us (including you, JHK) have turned out any "better" if given the same childhood? I doubt it. Your vilification of him just seems like a facile dig that says more about your own cast of mind and heart than any objective truth about either MJ or America.
In many ways both good and bad, his life was extraordinary and singular. But he doesn't deserve to be judged and vilified and made into a metaphor by people who never actually knew him.
It's too easy to hate on MJ. Yes, he hadn't released any good new "product" in a long time. Yes, he was strange. But that's just the thing. It's almost as if he were custom crafted for others to either love or self-righteously judge, the ultimate idol and scapegoat. Would any of us (including you, JHK) have turned out any "better" if given the same childhood? I doubt it. Your vilification of him just seems like a facile dig that says more about your own cast of mind and heart than any objective truth about either MJ or America.
In many ways both good and bad, his life was extraordinary and singular. But he doesn't deserve to be judged and vilified and made into a metaphor by people who never actually knew him.
The problem my fellow Americans, is bleach, and our obsession with whiteness. From Wonder bread, to Madonna's hair, to Farrah's Arse to MJs face. Bleach Kills! To all the blue/white toothed obsessed crest strip wearing masses: in short order, we will begin to see the results of direct ingestion of peroxide via the gums/mouth. In a 'world made by hand' future, carving wooden teeth may make a comeback! Wealth Recovery tip: Buy stock in denture fixating gels or go back to dentistry school. Tally ho!
To Asoka:
You say that you are in favor of the crumbling of America. Would you rather live in present day Communist China? Zimbabwe? The old Soviet Union? Sudan? Zaire? The list could go on.
I suggest you read Toynbee. The condensed 2 volume will do nicely. His excruciatingly detailed analysis of civilizations in disintegration will set your associations to the present and show you the specific examples of doom.
JHK has detailed some of them from his painter's POV. For one deteriorating expertise in architecture (housing, public buildings etc)is one example.The falling into barbarism in terms of citizens, art, music etc. It always occurs. And empires do not fail due to outside causes (altho they often seem like they do)they fall from internal exhaustion. Integrity, work ethic, greed, etc.
We have gone beyond Toynbee's rout and rally phase into clear disintegration. The best we can hope from Obama is the establishment of the so called Universal State. We see Putin trying to re-establish the Soviet Union (second chances have occurred throughout history, not often, and short lived usually)and he may succeed. Obama may be our Augustus who established the Romabn Universal State and gave the Romans another 300 years of so called peace. The breakup of the Universal State is characterized by massive rebellion and internal wars. Again think the former Soviet Union when all its satellites began to secede and start mini wars. Also the middle east conflicts are a result of the balance of power in the cold war disintegrating.
katnip kid said: "To Asoka: You say that you are in favor of the crumbling of America."
Whoa, there, partner. You got me confused with David Matthews. Read the first post of this week's comments for my position.
What I, Asoka, said was:
"America is not necessarily doomed. America can yet right itself."
Get along now, cowboy...
And then I offered objective, concrete evidence that Americans are capable of making behavioral changes on a national scale by showing the increased personal savings rates from 0% in 2008 to 6.9% in 2009... change is possible.
We are not all just sleepwalking toward the abyss as so many on this blog prefer to believe. We are perfectly capable of stopping and changing direction.
None of our problems were created by extraterrestrials. None are intractable.
We created 'em, and by golly, we can fix 'em.
Rather than condemn Michael Jackson one needs to understand him in terms of the work of Alice Miller. (She has a website.) I expect her to soon write extensively about him.
His early life in performance echoes the early life of Buster Keaton. We know him but few know how he was shaped to be the type of performer he became. I will tell you but do read Alice Miller on him (Picasso et al and I think she has a long essay on Hitler but not sure.)Her compassionate and intellectual acumen on distorted childhood is awesome.
Buster Keaton was in a performing family who traveled the vaudeville circuit. Mother, father and child. Often they would be one small town jump ahead of the child welfare authorities. Here's how they worked. They beat and tortured Keaton onstage. He was ordered to take it all deadpan, no cries, no emotion, nada. If he let any emotion escape him in body language or voice or any other way, he was beaten unmercifully afterward. Through the threat of severe punishment this child learned to mask his every emotion and came to be the dead pan comic we all love. Famous and loved and always miserable in his personal life from his early childhood deprivation and beatings.
I have heard MJ's father told him to dance faster because members of the audience were going to shoot at him and he had to escape the bullets. I suspect that this was made in a sort of joking way and not the way the media has portrayed it. He was on tour, hid under the bed while his brothers balled their groupies, and just had no childhood. By 25 he was almost 2 decades into a successful career. It must have seemed like an endless one to him.
I also think of the great filmmaker Fassbinder (German) who had really made his film mastery work by the age of 19 documenting German's rise under Hitler and its beastly war and persecutions, and its aftermath. He so brilliantly portrayed his country that we have an historical account on film altho it is fiction. His TV series Alexanderplatz is a 6 hour wonder of the entire unfolding of that history in pseudo documentary for TV audiences. It is rarely shown but kill yourself if you deliberately and casually miss it in your area.
His parents were disciples of Rudolph Steiner (bio-dynamic gardening, Waldorf Schools, etc)and he was making all his own decisions by the age of 4. A heavy drug user he OD'd at 19 I believe or not much older but had completed his life's work by then which rivaled that of any major filmmaker in film history.
Matt Taibbi's latest rant, The Great American Bubble Machine, an expose of Goldman Sachs and the carbon cap and trade charade as the next great bankster bubble. Same as it ever was. OEO had it right. Those of us naive enough to believe in Obama last fall are beginning to get a clue.
You are ripe to read the incomparable Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, recently suicided.
the USA, the entertainment state is lovingly detailed. The only force of integrity is AA in the book and has 150 pages of footnotes.
The defining novel of the end of the 20th century.
And our H.P. Lovecraft the clairvoyant who predicted so much of what passes for reality now.
If you like Kunstler you will love Ursula LeGuin.
So here I am again from Wales in the UK. The weather has been very good this week - we don't normally get weather, just brief samples of different things for a few hours.
So, our Prime Minister relaunched himself and his policies today. Closer examination showed it was actually a re-wording of the one he launced in April, which was identical to the previous 2 relaunches. He has yet to grasp the two fundementals of the peoples unhappiness with him namely that his policies are rubbish and secondly we don't actually like him as a person. In the recent Euro elections his party polled less than 20% of the popular vote. We have a General Election in less than a year's time and he and his ruling party are going to be slaughtered.
On to the crisis. We keep being told that the crisis is bottomed and the only way is up from here. Trouble is, it's rubbish. We've no money, the government is busy creating gilts which it then prints money to buy. I haven't quite figured the mechanics of this out but somebody somewhere eventually has to pay and I have a feeling it's us - the taxpayer. Our stockmarket continues to flounder - two steps forward, two steps back - unemployment is rising rapidly, the government has delayed publishing it's spending report because the Bank Of England disputes the figures and suppositions it contains, small and medium buisnesses are falling like soldiers at the Somme and oil is starting to creep ever upwards threatening to suffocate any shoots of growth (should they actually exist in the first place). Oh, and Michael Jackson is apparently dead. He turned deathly pale and collapsed 20 years later.
Interesting article for this week:-
http://kunstler.com/clusterfucknation/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=new_pw&token=ac84d5476888de5ead59b07c4d4df99f466c6e77&email=adwilliams134%40aol.com
So take care my trans-atlantic buddies and I'll speak to you all next week.
reference the above - I put in the wrong link. Here's the proper one !!! Doh!!
http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_08/dorsch021709.html
James, thanks for a very funny post.
I consider it a gem of cultural criticism.
I have been sending it to my friends. Everyone got great laughs out of it. Yeah, not all folks are mesmerized by the relentless media praise and eulogizing of our Moonwalking Genius.
I am posting a comment here. JHK is online. I thought I had "gone too far", with my previous comments maybe, but he did not ban me. Whew! That was quite the attitude adjustment. Remember in "The Gift of he Magi" how an unfortunate misunderstanding led to a set of tortoise-shell combs, umm, a watch-fob, keck-mumbly umm, platinum, RoSEBud, . . .clunk.
A leemay Ling has been sent to your email assword recovery.
CHEMISTRY POST
"Morpheous". Oh, God, Jim. Could you imagine Edgar Poe trying to make a buck with compound vowels? For Christ's sake, it has "fey" in it. It just shows how sterling it is to get free writing. Son, try, "Morpheus", cf phosphorus.
Bleach is an interesting facet of chemistry; I have always wanted to add things to things and just whiten them, not break them into fragments.
Somehow I have come to identify bleach with chalk. The snap of a stick of chalk seems to have a high-pitched note to it, if the chalk is light, with an open cell structure; as if the chalk is under tension like glass. Perhaps I saw some bleach with a brown stain, and a piece of chalk with a brown stain like rust, and I confused the two. The smell of something will often give a clue about it being related to something else, and does bleach smell clean?
I raised a spoon of fine white powdered methamphetamine to my nostril and insufflated it. It was some of the racemate. No cut was there to give it an ethyl ether, ethyl acetate, or mannite buff. My brain took off, zing!, and the pain extended up that nostril to the tops of my sinuses and seemed to go on into my brain. My ear tingled hot, itching. I worked my jaw, a single tear came out of that eye. "Smooth!", said I.
I felt the tissue in my nose undergoing such an intense burn that I was sure it must be necrotizing under the extremely caustic acid or base, or, yes-bleaching effect of that snort. I am sure that this is what Kurt Cobain refers to in his song, "Bleach", by Nirvana.
Oh, now we're going to quote that piece of shit-not! I like that. Where'd you get that NOT! shit? I like that.
So, Morph, your sarcasm, . . .is appreciated, appreciated. You do not really like the cosmetic superficiality of the bleacheroo, do oo? Okay.
A peroxide is an unstable compound; it is an oxide, take water, hydrogen oxide, with another oxygen atom, to give hydrogen peroxide. H2O --> H2O2.
Household H2O2 is 3% in water. The 35% is rocket fuel, the 98% is blue in color, not found in laboratories, just made, studied, neutralized.
Boil ether dry and it makes peroxides famously, equivalent to adding water to acid to dilute it.
Two scientists died in a rocket test facility being closed in Santa Susanna, Calif. when they attempted to destroy a half a paint can of an exotic peroxide.
Household bleach and swimming-pool bleach are sodium hypochlorite 5%. That is the sodium salt of hypochlorous acid. Chlorous, chloric, perchloric, going up in oxidation. Chlorine has four valences. I have never liked valence. Even Wiki starts out, "Over the last century, . . .", hey. Why not, "FOR a century, TWO CENTURIES AGO"? The word comes out of 1425.
The use of chlorine gas to purify drinking water has been replaced by an unbelievably huge 5MW ozone facility I worked on at Lake Skinner, Calif.
Ozone is a pollutant at ground level, rotting tires, and at altitude it forms a protective shell over the biosphere. Carl Sagan was one of the niggling scientists who complained that a nuclear war would do something which must happen like the ice caps melting, that is, anyway, which is the stripping away of the ozone layer, from volcanos maybe, and that all plants die, and you yourself would come outside and crawl back into the hole in fifteen minutes, from sunlight.
Permanganate is used in cocaine processing and has been seized at Long Beach once when two ships from China on their way to Colombia stopped there. They thought they had a free pass, but there was a fluke, a retiring DEA chief.
The ions, anions such as hypochlorite or permanganate, are counterions, and either one may be valuable. Cations are counterions to anions. An electrically neutral ionic compound is the only kind there is.
Soap is titrated for NaO, sodium oxide, a theoretical species. The caustic lye, added to long-chain carboxylic (fatty) acids to make soap, is NaOH. NaO formally taking another oxygen, 2NaO + O, gives Na2O3, sodium peroxide, and now we are getting closer to Michael's face bleach, because that is hair bleach. Benzoyl peroxide is zit bleach, but look: UV light, or just exposure to sunlight, is an acne treatment. Why? It is because a high-energy photon of UV light promotes an electron to a higher energy level. It just sits there unpaired, same as a free radical, and that is the mechanism of your bleaching action.
I like numerology, so I took the number of electron rest masses in the proton rest mass, 1836.1524, and I made a date, in 1836. I looked up that year and two chemists are in there. One of them became very rich by developing a new bleaching powder for cotton. For a time, he had the largest chemical company in the world. The other one, Curtius, discovered iodine, but he did not patent it, and he died in poverty.
jimini said: "OEO had it right. Those of us naive enough to believe in Obama last fall are beginning to get a clue."
You mean we should have elected McCain/Palin and our problems would be solved?
McCain/Palin would have continued the Bush plan: lower taxes, get rid of regulation and have the government spend like there's no tomorrow on war.
Even today Cheney is still making noises about how Obama is wrong to want to stop the war in Iraq.
The USA elected the right president. We would be in much deeper shit with the other guys, maybe nuclear shit. Bomb, bomb, bomb... bomb, bomb, Iran.
"If you don't love Nature you might as well live on Mars."
Nature is a broad topic. There is plenty of Nature to love on Mars, in fact a whole planet load. Dave, you gotta get out with the Navahos and the Buddhists more often. You may not be human loving, but you are biotic loving, and are missing some cool aspects to Nature.
I'm going home tonight and hugging my bags of N-P-K fertilizer.
I am going to eventually dip into this well one too many times.
Courtois was the man's name. I thought that post did not look right. He dicovers iodine in 1811, dies in 1838, so I did not lie; he was very sick in 1836. That would be analogous to Jacko 2007 (National Enquirer)
If I would have just previewed before posting! Oh, well. This is the straight scoop: I looked up both the neutron and proton rest mass in the light of today's internet options, but our numerology power is lagging. I do not feel comfortable doing parts of a year, not the way we write dates, eg, March 15, 27 B.C. The events above are for 1838. In 1836, Sam Colt patents his revolver, in 1971 Alice Cooper puts it into a song, "Desperado", 1836 the Beagle sails with Darwin aboard. Can I have a collective groan? Thank you.
Nice article this week. Thanks for having the balls to write it.
Did someone really compare Michael Jackson to Mozart? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Uh, let's see, "Bad", and the Jupiter Symphony. Um, hmmm, "Man In The Mirror" and the C Minor Mass. Um, hmmm, "Smooth Criminal", and even the most trite of Mozart's early piano sonatas.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
As a young boy, Michael Jackson had a remarkable gift - he had a great voice and sung with a tremendous passion, charisma and pathos. Same with Frankie Lyman and a lot of people. Trouble is, Michael Jackson never grew up and as a man he could never come close to singing with the genius of a Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Chris Cornell or any other truly great singer. One even has to wonder about his song-writing talent, given that he had the top session musicians to work with, guys who are amazing jazz musicians who probably improvised most of that stuff thinking, "when can i leave and go play some Monk."
As for the dancing, I just don't get it. He could move his body to be certain, but his choreography of that leg twitch, to crotch grab to hat take-off and then put back on over the drippy curl, (which he did over and over and over again from 1986 - 2009), looked like it was stolen from a siezure back-stage of a Milan fashion show. It wasn't interesting. The moon-walk. Go to the subway in New York any day and you can see more interesting choreography from cultures all over the world.
I think this was a great article making a good analogy. There is such greatness and artistry in America - genuine genius and amazing musicianship that goes unnoticed. Michael Jackson and his genius, in my opinion, are a fiction. He was talented to be certain, but he was surrounded by a marketing machine and his celebrity took on a life of its own. Michael the persona and entertainer was great. Monkeys, our cousins, will fore-go their regular feedings just to sit and stare at a picture of celebrity or alpha males. Michael the musician is nothing to write home about.
To be sure, he had some sort of charisma that could be sold to billions of adolescents around the world. That may ultimately be his epitaph. "Here lies a guy who was very talented and sold tons of records and was an iconic figure. Mature adults didn't buy his records, or see his concerts."
His legacy may be the opposite of Mozart's. He will be ceremoniously buried in a golden grave by his benefactors who will milk every last dollar out of his death and legacy. His musical and dance legacy however is another matter.
Don't expect his music to ever be studied in a conservatory. For that matter, as a musician who hangs with cats from all genres, most don't ever listen to his music and say to themselves, 'Wow! That is amazing. I wish I could do that.' And then set out to spend years learning from his mastery. That kind of respect and reverie is reserved for true masters of music. (The western classical masters; the "ethnic" tradition masters; the jazz masters; the rock and soul masters ...) He just wasn't that good. His marketing machine was.
How American. That is okay. The fascist marketing/media machine is losing credibility all the time. A music history professor of mine used the phrase, "the toilet of time", to describe the art that gets flushed because it just doesn't have the substance, (in terms of craftmanship, human expressive quality, pathos and depth), to be interesting, universal and worth investing time to learn by successive generations.
My guess is that Michael Jackson's substantive output is circling the bowl as we speak. It just
may bump into a red, white and blue empire on the way down.
Yes I agree with your take.
Why he is representative of the US? Here's why:
He came from a dysfunctional family like most of the rest of us. Those lucky few who don't get distorted are just that, the lucky few.
The corruption of the dysfunctional family is leading to the demise of the US. All civilizations fail from within and the family or the way infants are treated metaphors the entire culture.
Force a child to become a song and dance man. Or Tiger Woods father making a golfer altho that one seems to have worked.
The Williams sister being programed to become tennis greats.
And of course Mozart to become a great musician.
At how much personal cost. children are not property to live out parents' unfullfilled dreams.
For every jackpot (no pun intended)winner child/adult, there are milions who fall thru the nets (again no pun intended).
He became a freak through unbelievable childhood trauma. That he rose above that for awhile is his greatness because it was deadly. See my posts above on this and Alice Miller.
No his parents should have been put somewhere for destroying his soul. We only saw it for a short time in his music and dancing before his dysfunctional past and childhood presented the bill.
Jim
Poor choice in metaphor, you don't know much about the music biz do you? Stick with what you know and do well.
Ivan
Laura in addition to your wonderful authors, which I have read, (see my ID name) you need to add that of Alice Miller.
Only then will you truly understand Michael, his art and his life.
SEB,
Who in the what now?
McCain Palin would've been terrible from a personality standpoint.
From a policy standpoint, Obama has continued Bush's policies. Frankly, he has carried Bush's fiscal policies to a whole other level of insanity. Furthermore, he is bombing Pakistan. He also voted to give the telecoms retroactive immunity as one of his last acts in the Senate - after accepting the presidential nomination at the AT&T center, and tons of money from them and the other law-breaking, spy-assisting telecoms.
Why? Because as a Senator he is complicit in the war crimes, and the financial larceny. He is further complicit by using Bush's own states-secret arguments to prevent the release of torture information. It is likely that he knows that high level Democrats are as irrefutably guilty in the perpetration all the war crimes and violations of the constitution as Cheney and Bush themselves - Pelosi; Harmon; Frank ... ... All of them. It is time to wake up. Tell the Iraqi's that the 50K soldiers who remain in their country are non-combat, muchless the ex-SEAL military contractors.
Obama isn't the answer. It is time to put on our big boy pants and recall how democracy works. You find someone who represents your views and get them elected to the legislature. Once there, you have to follow their voting record and punish them at the ballot box if they do not follow through on their campaign promises.
Most of the things I hear people saying in support of Obama are childish and immured in a fantasy of having a nice daddy running the house now. (He's handsome, he's smart, his appointees are the best and brightest - uh, really? Geitner? Summers? Gates? Ironically, Obama promised more war and to further bankrupt our nation and he is delivering spectacularly. Obamania as a metaphor for America and our self-delusion should be the subject of another Kunstler piece similar to this Michael Jackson one.
I know Bush and Cheney were highly unlikable villains. That is no reason to run to another fantasy and support a seemingly nicer head of our fascist dictatorship. Hope and Fear are two sides of the same hollow coin.
The DLC strategy was to say, "We aren't Bush." The nation followed and said, yes, anyone but Bush and the banner he flew under. In tone Obama may be slightly better than the Liebermann/McCain/Palin mafia, but in substance it so far seems to be identical. The DLC and Obama wanted power. This may be one of those epic cases where they and their unwitting supporters find themselves saying, "Careful what you wish for."
Baaaaaa! Baaaaaa! Baaaaarack!
Baaaaaa! Baaaaaa! Baaaaarack!
Looking forward to the day when We The People bring about substantive change through our behavior and the legislative bodies, not through the administrative ones.
A fine piece of writing. A finer piece of analysis.
It's also time for you to say, Jim, that Obama is a fraud. NOTHING will change.
I don't think he intends to run again. He was the first African American President, and now a rich man. Those are the changes he believed in.
McCain Palin would've been terrible from a personality standpoint.
From a policy standpoint, Obama has continued Bush's policies. Frankly, he has carried Bush's fiscal policies to a whole other level of insanity. Furthermore, he is bombing Pakistan. He also voted to give the telecoms retroactive immunity as one of his last acts in the Senate - after accepting the presidential nomination at the AT&T center, and tons of money from them and the other law-breaking, spy-assisting telecoms.
Why? Because as a Senator he is complicit in the war crimes, and the financial larceny. He is further complicit by using Bush's own states-secret arguments to prevent the release of torture information. It is likely that he knows that high level Democrats are as irrefutably guilty in the perpetration all the war crimes and violations of the constitution as Cheney and Bush themselves - Pelosi; Harmon; Frank ... ... All of them. It is time to wake up. Tell the Iraqi's that the 50K soldiers who remain in their country are non-combat, muchless the ex-SEAL military contractors.
Obama isn't the answer. It is time to put on our big boy pants and recall how democracy works. You find someone who represents your views and get them elected to the legislature. Once there, you have to follow their voting record and punish them at the ballot box if they do not follow through on their campaign promises.
Most of the things I hear people saying in support of Obama are childish and immured in a fantasy of having a nice daddy running the house now. (He's handsome, he's smart, his appointees are the best and brightest - uh, really? Geitner? Summers? Gates? Ironically, Obama promised more war and to further bankrupt our nation and he is delivering spectacularly. Obamania as a metaphor for America and our self-delusion should be the subject of another Kunstler piece similar to this Michael Jackson one.
I know Bush and Cheney were highly unlikable villains. That is no reason to run to another fantasy and support a seemingly nicer head of our fascist dictatorship. Hope and Fear are two sides of the same hollow coin.
The DLC strategy was to say, "We aren't Bush." The nation followed and said, yes, anyone but Bush and the banner he flew under. In tone Obama may be slightly better than the Liebermann/McCain/Palin mafia, but in substance it so far seems to be identical. The DLC and Obama wanted power. This may be one of those epic cases where they and their unwitting supporters find themselves saying, "Careful what you wish for."
Baaaaaa! Baaaaaa! Baaaaarack!
Baaaaaa! Baaaaaa! Baaaaarack!
Looking forward to the day when We The People bring about substantive change through our behavior and the legislative bodies, not through the administrative ones.
cuddletuffy said: "Looking forward to the day when We The People bring about substantive change through our behavior and the legislative bodies..."
Maybe you missed it but there was a national election and millions of We The People voted and Obama won the election. But then you have probably missed they substantive change that has happened since January 21, too.
Also, there is a legislative body called Congress and Obama has signed quite a few laws already that the legislative body has passed. Little things like:
Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
Signed: Monday, June 22, 2009
Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009
Signed: Friday, May 22, 2009
Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act
Signed: Friday, May 22, 2009
Helping Families Save Their Homes Act
Signed: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act
Signed: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
Signed: Wednesday, April 21, 2009
Omnibus Public Lands Management Act
Signed: Monday, March 30, 2009
Small Business Act Temporary Extension
Signed: Friday, March 20, 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Signed: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act
Signed: Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
Signed: Thursday, January 29, 2009
You know, if Michael does represent America, is that really so bad? Sure, we don't stand for anything, may have been a child molesting old man who lived beyond his means from Gary, Indiana, but we were one talented artist and we had the moves!!!
Why focus on the over the hill dead guy? Why not focus on the good times? There was the 1982 television special where he revealed the white glove, the debut of Thriller on MTV... oh the dance moves I tried out on my parents' beige carpet! And I was only 6 years old!!!
I think the whole of human history is overwrought with the struggle for survival. Now that we have arrived here, there's no way anyone wants to go back to the hard manual labor and endless drudgery of the past. Look in people's eyes and instead of see fat, obese lotus eaters, see people living it up while they can!!
If American existed to lift a few peasants out of feudal slavery, to release children from work in industrial factories, gave some douchebag in Atlanta with a marketing degree a bean counting job at Coca Cola and a downtown loft to house his cats in, is that really such a bad thing? Can we just say, yes, we got fat and dumb, but we populated the earth and we made cool music videos about zombies and we piped in MTV into every common man's living room who in the Old World would have been a German geese herder...
Michael Jackson was an amazing artist. And America did something amazing things! You can't dismiss American in one he-was-a-child-molester comment! America was my childhood and so was Michael Jackson.
The sad thing about all this is every day thousands of good people, who work quietly in the background, doing good things for their families and community, die from whatever, with very little, if any recognition from the media or politicians, and when a high profile "celebrity" checks out everyone goes stupid. I've never seen Jacko down at the local markets on a Sunday morning helping with the barbecue to raise money for the scouts or the bushfire brigade.(I won't tarnish all celebrities with the same brush. PINK gave the Victorian bushfire victims a donation of $250,000. And she doesn't even live here. Don't like her music, but I like her attitude.) I'm sure Jacko probably did some charitable stuff, but he threw a lot of money away on monkeys and merry-go-rounds as well.
To Tenth Jager, who not long ago swore we would not no way no how withdraw our troops from Iraqi cities by June 30. Well, it is July 29 and our troops are now out. Obama got that one right.
(AP) Iraqi forces assumed formal control of Baghdad and other cities Tuesday after American troops handed over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for U.S. combat troops to finish their pullback to bases outside cities.
"The withdrawal of American troops is completed now from all cities after everything they sacrificed for the sake of security," said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "We are now celebrating the restoration of sovereignty."
Not July 29. The troops are out today... in June... as General Odierno said they would be... as Obama said they would be. We should never have attacked Iraq and they sooner we leave completely the better. It is one giant THREE TRILLION dollar waste of taxpayers' money.
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Trillion-Dollar-War-Conflict/dp/0393067017
THREE FUCKING TRILLION DOLLARS (AND THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN LIVES AND MILLIONS OF IRAQI LIVES) AND NO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION AND NO TAKING OUT OF BIN LADEN. WHAT A WASTE, THANKS TO BUSH!
Jim, as usual, your comments/editorial slash through the bullshit and strip away the sanctuary of denial we're locked in. Some of us will wake up some day and gasp, "Holy shit, we're fucked." Most of us won't because we'll never survive that reality. A few of us already have awakened and got the hell out. Keep up the good fight.
I never was much of a fan of Mikey. Maybe he was a perv. There were a few good songs in the "Thriller" days. That's a generation back. He's a has been, doin' the Vegas thing. "Thriller" may have sold more albums than Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." "Dark Side of the Moon" had way more staying power in the charts. It demolished the old record holder "Johnny's Greatest Hits" by Johnny Mathis.
The real good news and no one seemed to say anything today about it is that Bernard "I Made Off With All Your Money" is going to jail for a LONG time and no "country club," either. The judge threw the book at him. Let it be an example to those who rob the people. I hear there are more conspirators who may be seeing the inside of a cell soon.
I thank my lucky stars that I live in a walkable community where some people care about what's happening. There's some sensible developments in the infrastructure here. I only wish more locals would be as sociable as New Yorkers. Nothing holds a candle to The City.
asoka-da-producers sez:
"jimini said: "OEO had it right. Those of us naive enough to believe in Obama last fall are beginning to get a clue."
You mean we should have elected McCain/Palin and our problems would be solved?"
All problems solved? No. We just wouldn't be as fucked as we are now. But you ain't seen nuttin' yet. The Obamaniacles are just getting warmed up. Anyone with an IQ higher than asoka-da- producers (99.99% of the population) will soon have their veils of denial lifted. The reaction will not be pretty. The revolution will be televised.
Excellent Post Laura. I work at a University medical center, and the nurses, docs are all looking for magical non evidenced based healing solutions, and all sorts of "alt" med has sneaked in, while the resistant strains grow, and spread they worry about alignment of the stars, and magical herbs. JHK: Thank you an excellent, and brave post. Thinking, rational thought, all require hard work. It is easier to get on stage, grab my groin, dress up, put on make up, and make millions, all easier than do a skilled trade, or studying, and reading, and those math, and chemistry symbols, man it's hard. Locally as homes foreclose, and small business fades away, the county is trying to build a 100 million facility downtown that will have a theater, a bus station( NY state just cut funds for urban buses) and fill the rest with shops and restaurants. People will come downtown and it will make millions and provide thousands of jobs.
Rocco said: "I work at a University medical center, and the nurses, docs are all looking for magical non evidenced based healing solutions, and all sorts of "alt" med has sneaked in..."
This surprises me. Even the alt medicine fields (massage, midwifery, etc.) are evidence based and have professional peer-reviewed journals and monographs that are evidence based.
http://www.amazon.com/Outcome-Based-Massage-Evidence-Carla-Krystin-Andrade/dp/0781767601
Grounding Midwifery Practice in Evidence of All Types
Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, Volume 50, Issue 5, Pages 361-362
P. Murphy
Doing good evidence based practice is how you get academic credibility and the alt medicine people desperately want acceptance by the mainstream science community.
Usually I enjoy your gloomy pronostications, but the comments about Michael Jackson show you to be a dreary old man. I though that everyone knew that life, without art, is not worth living, and that often those that make the greatest art are our most eccentric citizens. I suggest that you re-think your condemnation of the greatest pop ARTIST of our time, or else run the risk of looking old, and tired, while appealing to a hateful,dying demographic.
His farcical marriage to the daughter of Elvis didn’t fool anyone. I believe it was an attempt to stave off rumors of homosexuality and/or paedophilia, but have no actual basis in fact.
You forgot there may have been something in it for Lisa Marie and her friends, too. She's a Scientologist, and the Church of Scientology might have been very interested in MJ's money and fame.
@asoka -
Yes, that is what Odierno, Maliki, and even the New York Times are saying. They had a parade and celebrations in Baghdad today.
Closer inspection of the news will show this is not the case.
You may have had too much of the Obama Kool-Aid, but at least you aren't talking about Michael Jackson.
http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2009/06/10/us-troops-out-of-iraqi/
10th Jager,
I don't have a TV and I was living outside the USA for most of the 80's and 90's, so I don't really know who Michael Jackson is. Nor do I care.
When they stand up, we stand down... that is what Bush told us... and now it is happening, in spite of your predictions that it would not happen.
The Obama Kool-Aid is so refreshing. He is bringing change in a methodical and cautious fashion.
Yes we can!
How did Jackson get away with it? Same way
OJ did-he's Black. Whites have been primed by non-
stop conditioning to worship Blacks. It's been go-
ing on for decades. Blacks are good.
Michael Jackson is Black.
Therefore, MJ is good.
Simple? Yes, but it works as the advertising
industry knows so well. It worked well eneough to
get Barack Obama elected. He is the end result and
crowning glory of their campaign to bring down the
West. Since his Advent, the onslaught of Black
glorification has increased tenfold. Beyonce has
been crowned the Queen of Pop. Steele as head of
the Republican Party. Holder as Attorney General.
Another Black as head of Nasa. And it shows no
sign of slowing down.
By all means read Toynbee's two volume study.
He states that of the two dozen or so major civ-
ilizations, not one has been Black. The only way
they're going to get one of their own is by taking
over our's and making us peasants, servants, and
technical advisors-like they did in South Africa
and Rhodesia.
turkle said
SEB who in the what now?
I received a verbal challenge from someone on this site who calls himself "turkle". The message consists of the following few words: Who in the what now?
First of all, why do you not get a clue from Kunstler himself? He does not pick on me. He is savvy. If there exists the occasional ranting, rambling disjointed commentary from an obviously disturbed psychiatric patient who claims to manufacture methamphetamine and readily admits to counting among his cherished moments encounters with the likes of Tex Watson, Richard Ramirez, and Herbert Mullin (Wikipedia), you might consider leaving it alone.
However, let us begin at the beginning: "Clusterfuck Nation" I am still tracking down. Recently, I saw "Bailout Nation". CFN may come from "used-car nation" (light bulb in head turns on). It's "pink carnation".
Now, on to Kunstler. He is a journalist. George Orwell, whom I worship, wrote an essay, "Why I Write". I just read it. Orwell was a master of political writing. A writer to him was a serious writer or a journalist, and journalists were more interested in money. Why Kunstler is writing, I.U.D.
Now, how is he writing? How is he driving? Call 1-800-EAT-SHIT. I meant Q.E.D. before. How was my driving? He is using metaphors, but not mixed metaphors, not even permissible ones. My son wishes he was a snake. I just looked them all up. Not snakes, metaphors. I wish I was on a ferry boat to the Isle of Wight.
Messed that up. However, high academic positions are held by professors of literature, and vastly wealthy authors fill the best-seller lists. What you see here is a new internet political writing phenomenon administering a knockout blow to the traditional media like a cerebral hemorrhage.
What I am considering just now is how the people take to the corporate desire to remake them as consumers. I just saw a comedy, "Land of the Lost". Being lost is a transient condition on the land. It is not funny. Pretty soon it is going to be land of the land.
Corps force the people into cookie-cutter sameness, and the people exhibit slavish obedience to it. I can't shoehorn obeisance in here, but look at how the electronic gatekeepers are causing us to bow down to an authority not even present. I better not work you over to beehives and incense, but I want to so bad.
This is the clusterfuck nation, and it is the fault of the corporations and at the same time the fault of the people for tolerating it. Note: I am not saying they're from Brataslava. They're slaves! They're chattel! I feel like an insect pinned to a board. I cannot be nonnegative towards this. There is no positive normal society in this country.
It's not Irish or Swedish, it's slavish. Is it Polish? Yeah, polish my German helmet, Turkle.
@asoka -
Jesus, I was really hoping I could avoid this, but the freak is dead and the media attention should subside within a week or so -
I don't understand... you are saying that if you had a TV or lived in the States, then you would care?
Besides, what does living overseas have to do with anything? MJ is probably a bigger phenomenon outside of the US, showing quite clearly that Americans don't have a monopoly on bad taste.
On Iraq: We have not stood down, we have 130,000 troops there who will not start coming home until September. The Iraqis haven't stood up.
There is this little issue called the Sunni-Shiite problem. The Sunnis stopped being insurgents because we paid them not to be (that is the dirty little secret of the "surge") and the Iraqi Army is basically the Maliki/Shiite Army.
Unfortunately, for you and Obama, history shows what happens in these situations: the indigenous security forces fold. This happened with the South Vietnamese in 1972 (the South Vietnamese army was 500,000 strong and the South Vietnamese Air Force was the 4th largest in the world with all the latest technology). And it happened with the Afghan government forces in 1988 when the Soviets left.
As things unravel, it will provide every opportunity for Obama to keep US forces and their "mission" fighting "violent extremists" intact.
The only difference between Obama and Bush is that in January 2009, terrorism magically disappeared from the planet along with a bunch of photos showing US torture of "illegal enemy combatants."
But the world led by the Celebrity Imperial President must still be made safe for democracy. This will be achieved by targeting "violent extremists" with drone-fired Hellfire missiles in Pakistan.
On Iran: Does your boy understand that by simply opening his mouth about a country that we have had no diplomatic relations with since 1979 and succumbing to Republican/Neoconservative pressure he gives the mullahs every excuse to crack down on the innocent protesters?
On Guantanamo: Good luck with that. Even if he manages to shutter the place by January, he will simply have moved the prisoners to the SuperMax in Colorado and will continue to hold them without trial or charges. Some change.
10th Jager said: "Besides, what does living overseas have to do with anything? MJ is probably a bigger phenomenon outside of the US"
I lived in a city of 2 million with seven FM radio stations and they all played 24 hour a day salsa. I lived among "salsomanos", salsa addicts, and I only heard salsa music in the streets, on the buses, in taxis, in businesses and homes.
So, MJ, whoever he is, was not on the radar where I was living. He only appeared in one salsa arrangement that I know of...
http://www.imeem.com/salsadn-efr/music/dOHzi4eA/michael-jacson-you-rock-my-world-salsa-version/
See Kunstler, you have awakened the racists among us. The racial component in your essay inspires haters like this one.
SEB, that was weird. Feel like I'm on drugs now, even though I ain't. Are you okay?
Ok, kids. These were not safe for work so had to wait. Here goes.
Did you hear McDonald's is coming out with a new Michael Jackson burger?
It is 50 year-old meat between 10 year-old buns.
So Farah Fawcett goes to heaven and God says, "You have been such a great person that I will grant you one wish."
She says, "Please, God, could you save all the children of the world?"
So God strikes Michael Jackson dead.
Yeah, I'll be here all week.
10th Jager, your geopolitical analysis is so brilliant. It is a real wonder Obama didn't tap you for his administration. Now we're all doomed, I'm afraid, because no one asked 10th Jager WTF was up!
Ya 10th, the troops moved out alright, from the Iraqi cities to the bases just outside the cities--change we can believe in, or at least asokas can believe in.
We are there to serve and protect our "interests" and those can be counted in 32-gal. barrels. We will never willingly leave Iraq until our interests are safely transferred elsewhere.
Jaego Scorzne said: "By all means read Toynbee's two volume study. He states that of the two dozen or so major civilizations, not one has been Black."
First, Toynbee's was a twelve volume study of history.
Second, it included ancient Black civilizations, such as the Egyptian civilization. Check out a map. Egypt is in Africa.
Third, Toynbee included Indus and Asian civilizations (India). Black people built the oldest civilization in southeast Asia, leaving megalithic temples and statuary in south India.
Fourth, Toynbee included the nappy-haired Arabic civilizations also. Arab myths agree that the Cushitic King Nimrod crossed from beyond the waters of Ethiopia in the earliest times with a fine crop of soldiers and established what was to become the world’s oldest civilization. Many existing sites in Iraq are still named after Nimrod. Nimrod ruled in Mesopotamia, in the area covering Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.
All the ancient traditions agree that Nimrod was a black man, and that his soldiers were Ethiopians and Azanians, from what is now called East Africa.
Fifth, the roots of "Western" civilization, culture, science, technology and religion are to be found not in Greece, but in Black Egypt and Nubia-Kush, Mesopotamia, Sabea and Black Naga India.
We owe our civilization to Blacks since the Americas were discovered by Spain, and the Black Moors who introduced advanced learning to Spain when white Europe was in the throes of the Dark Ages (about 400 A.D. to 711 A.D.)
We owe everything to Mother Africa. As you stated, Blacks are good.
So, if an Egyptian moves to America, are they, and all of their descendants to be called African-Americans? I have the feeling that they might not like that designation. What say Asoka?
So, if an Egyptian moves to America, are they, and all of their descendants to be called African-Americans? I have the feeling that they might not like that designation. What say Asoka?
OK, I've been reading JHK since "the Long Emergency," have been following this blog for about a year, and haven't spoken out until now, but I think this must be said.
In light of Asoka's reply to Jaego above, we can all now safely ignore everything Asoka says.
Asoka, your past comments could be excused as opinion, but to put forth that last statement as a collection of facts is just absolutely breathtaking in the magnitude of its idiocy. After that, how can anybody take anything you say seriously?
Just sayin'…
Seb, don't confuse surreal with stream-of-consciousness. The former resembles the latter, but its loops and branches all tie back to an overarching theme. 'Course, if you're going for SoC, you're nailing it.
Jaego, nobody's buyin' what you're sellin'. Besides the Egyptian and Nubian civ's, there's some dispute whether Sheba (as in, the Queen of) was situated in modern-day Somalia or Yemen. But there's no dispute about ancient Mali. The Romans traded with them, and were somewhat in awe of them. The name of their capital resonates through the ages as the stuff of legend: Timbuktu. Climate change did them in, as Roman overproduction of the northern African grain-belt created the vast desert we call the Sahara, which in turn swallowed the nation whole. Every so often, the shifting sands let archaeologists get a peep at their stonework.
The ancient Europeans weren't terribly concerned with skin color. Either you spoke Latin and/or Greek, or you were a barbarian. That was their line.
While we are on the subject of racism,last night on NBC"news"it showed US soldiers trying to murder some of the local population in Afghanistan or Pakistan,wherever it was.
It suddenly occurred to me everyone of those machine gun toting morons where white.
My next thought,why with only 51% of US population being white are there only whites fighting and getting killed,give or take a few blacks and no jews?
Is it the misguided,brainwashed parents fault of these unfortunate guys,fighting a so called enemy or is there a much more sinister reason,like genocide,run and operated by a certain group of racists?
Whatever else he was, MJ was an iconic figure, a marker, a measure. The hazy era before 1980 or so, for example, as "back before Michael Jackson's voice *didn't* channge." Cellar-dwelling baseball teams were like Michael Jackson: they both wore one glove, for no apparent reason. Say "moonwalk," and (unfortunately) more people will think of Michael Jackson than Neil Armstrong.
One more thing,the movies we rent,no matter how good or bad,lately have scenes and remarks inserted coming from the Arschficker tribe,obviously to pervert you or your kids to accept this type of lifestyle.
Next time you watch anything on TV coming out of the Hollywood cesspool,notice the blond guy is always portrayed as the Villain,and the blond bimbo always gets placed next to a black.
Do you see a pattern of racism??
One more thing,the movies we rent,no matter how good or bad,lately have scenes and remarks inserted coming from the Arschficker tribe,obviously to pervert you or your kids to accept this type of lifestyle.
Next time you watch anything on TV coming out of the Hollywood cesspool,notice the blond guy is always portrayed as the Villain,and the blond bimbo always gets placed next to a black.
Do you see a pattern of racism??
Speaking of washed-up icons, the Sony Walkman, celebrates its 30th anniversary this week. The BBC dug one of the originals out of some museum and talked a 13-year-old kid into carrying it around for a week and giving his impressions (and there's the child abuse angle). LINK There's one kid who now know how good he's got it… grumble
Gotta admit, those metal-case Walkmans were pretty sturdy. Too bad they eat disposable batteries like candy.
While I agree with most of your articles, this one is a bit over the top. Michael Jackson was a sad figure. A celebrity at age 5, he never had a normal life, nor the chance to become a normal person. No one could live normally being in the global spotlight 7x24 through the most difficult years a human being experiences. Yes, he was a bit creepy - but I'll reserve my vitriol for someone more deserving, like Dick Cheney, not some pathetic creature who lived in a glass cage.
"...the Homo sapiens are accelerating the life cycle of the species and headed to an inevitable and well-earned extinction..."
David, your fellow android Roy Batty from the movie Blade Runner couldn't have said that any better.
Whoopdy Do,
You mean the Toynbee set wasn't 12 volumes?
Thank you for your comment. Good to hear from you after a year. Your comment reminds me of a saying in Spanish: "No se puede tapar el sol con un dedo" (you can't cover the sun with one finger)
Sometimes I feel like giving up on the USA and then I realize that how could I give up when so many Americans have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and worship him... a black man.
It is a saving grace that so many white people in America have such an intimate relationship with a black man.
http://www.afromerica.com/knowledge/religion/doctrine/blkjesus.php
What Was the Race of Jesus Christ the Messiah?
Though archaeologists have now confirmed it, the evidence was already there in the Bible that the principals of the early Christian Church were black people.
Acts Chapter 13:1 reads, "Now there was in the church that was in Antioch certain prophets and teachers: as Barnabas and Simon that was called Niger…"
The Greek word being used in this quote means Black-skinned. 'Niger' is from ancient Roman, which became Latin 'Nagra' used to this present day for Negroes as well as Moranos (Moors), meaning a Black person. So we find that Jesus' prophets, teachers, his own disciples, relatives, his associates like Mary of Magdalene, were Negroes.
Meanwhile the wall street casino pump handle keeps going up and down,producing profits out of thin air for the criminal gang,still without oversight or regulation,while we are supposed to care what MJs second autopsy will reveal.
Mr Kunstler got it right,America indeed is too stupid to survive.
I loved JHK's piece, and I love your answer.
Really. So what if we're self involved, clueless, child molesting spendthrift?
We put on some great shows.
To asoka-
check out Michael Hudson's piece in Counterpunch for a different take of your rosy, "we're so much in the black, we're saving now" view
http://www.counterpunch.org/
Speaking of pathological narcissism, let’s not forget the Narcissist in Chief,
Here is what Wikipedia says about Cult of Personality:
"A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country's leader uses mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships but can be found in some democracies.
"A cult of personality is similar to general hero worship except that it is created specifically for political leaders. However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of non-political leaders."
………Obama is not seen by his admirers as a politician but as something holy. Klein (Ezra Klein, associate editor at The American Prospect) says “He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh.” The truth is that Obama is nothing but words! What is scary is that so many smart people are willing to fall for his empty words……………….
………However, what narcissists preach and what they do are two different things………
………Obama’s speeches are unlike any political speech we have heard in American history. Never a politician in this land had such a quasi “religious” impact on so many people. The fact that Obama is a total incognito with zero accomplishment, makes this inexplicable infatuation alarming………
………When you fall for someone to the extent that Obama’s followers have fallen for him, you surrender your reason and individuality to him willingly. When millions of people surrender their hearts and their minds to one person the result can be catastrophic. This is what happened in Germany with Hitler, in China with Mao, in the Soviet Union with Stalin, in Cuba with Castro, in Iran with Khomeini, and so on and so forth. Today, we think these men were monsters, but that was not what millions of their worshipers thought. Those people loved them. Dictators can’t dictate, unless people are willing to be dictated.…….
From Understanding Obama: The Making of a Fuehrer, by Ali Sina http://www.faithfreedom.org/obama.html Posted 9/22/2008
Speaking of pathological narcissism, let’s not forget the Narcissist in Chief,
Here is what Wikipedia says about Cult of Personality:
"A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country's leader uses mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships but can be found in some democracies.
"A cult of personality is similar to general hero worship except that it is created specifically for political leaders. However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of non-political leaders."
………Obama is not seen by his admirers as a politician but as something holy. Klein (Ezra Klein, associate editor at The American Prospect) says “He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh.” The truth is that Obama is nothing but words! What is scary is that so many smart people are willing to fall for his empty words……………….
………However, what narcissists preach and what they do are two different things………
………Obama’s speeches are unlike any political speech we have heard in American history. Never a politician in this land had such a quasi “religious” impact on so many people. The fact that Obama is a total incognito with zero accomplishment, makes this inexplicable infatuation alarming………
………When you fall for someone to the extent that Obama’s followers have fallen for him, you surrender your reason and individuality to him willingly. When millions of people surrender their hearts and their minds to one person the result can be catastrophic. This is what happened in Germany with Hitler, in China with Mao, in the Soviet Union with Stalin, in Cuba with Castro, in Iran with Khomeini, and so on and so forth. Today, we think these men were monsters, but that was not what millions of their worshipers thought. Those people loved them. Dictators can’t dictate, unless people are willing to be dictated.…….
From Understanding Obama: The Making of a Fuehrer, by Ali Sina http://www.faithfreedom.org/obama.html Posted 9/22/2008
Asoka, I got your one finger right here. ;-)
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I have to work for a living, though who knows for how much longer. At the risk of wasting the rest of my lunch break, not to mention a slice of my remaining lifespan, on somebody whose mind is completely shut (as evidenced by your first defense of calling anyone who disagrees with you racist), here we go.
In a spirit of open-mindedness, I really did go to your "Black Jesus" link, on the off chance I'd be enlightened.
Perhaps you're not aware, but even a perfunctory check of the source indicates the author, Dr. Malachi Z. York (not his real name), was convicted of over 100 counts of child molestation and sentenced in 2004 to 135 years in prison. He and Bernie Madoff ought to be getting out of jail at about the same time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Malachi_Z._York
Yeah, sure, that must be another Michael Z. York. The 100 counts were all trumped up. Wikipedia is just a big white conspiracy against the black man. And the fact that York perped nearly a small community's worth of children doesn't necessarily make him an inaccurate historian. But is he really somebody you want to quote in your argument?
In search of some further insight into your character, I also looked into your screen name. Did you take it from the circa 250BC Indian emperor, Ashoka the Great, or Ahsoka, the flat-chested 14-year old female Padawan in Star Wars: The Clone Wars? I only ask because, taken in conjunction with your support for the aforesaid King of Perps, er, Pop (who tried all his life to make himself white, by the way), I’m seeing a trend here. I have to ask: Are all the people you idolize child molesters, or is that just a coincidence? I admit, it sounds like Rev. York has had a lot more "intimate relationship" with black folks than I do.
Now that we’ve explored where you’re coming from, let me address your argument point-by-point.
1. Toynbee's original 12-volume set was later abridged & condensed to 2 volumes for those who didn't wish to devote their lifetimes to reading it, as Toynbee had to writing it. If you're interested in any other view of history than the propaganda you've already swallowed, you can buy them here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=toynbee&x=0&y=0
The fact that a writer refers to the 2-volume abridged set, instead of the 12-volume complete set, doesn't make that writer incorrect. No big deal, just bad reasoning on your part.
2. Just because the ancient Egyptians were African, doesn't make them black. They weren't white either, as you and Dr. York mean white, as in “#$@% white man.” They were in origin a Middle Eastern civilization, largely separated from southern Africa by the Sahara and connected to it only by the thin course of the Nile. The fact that they were temporarily subjugated later in their history by blacks from the south, and that there were indeed black pharaohs, doesn't make them black either. (See, I have no problem with black superiority in cases when it actually happened.) They were re-conquered even later in their history by the Greeks under Alexander the Great. (Hey, I bet he was a black man, right?) Cleopatra was by ancestry one of the Ptolemies, a Greek. Look it up. Now, for all I know she had some black ancestry as well, and maybe even bagged one or two black guys herself when Caesar and Marc Antony were out of town (or were they black guys too?), but that still doesn't make the Egyptians as a people black. To follow your argument, being conquered by the Greeks would have made them all white again. Maybe that explains it, huh?
3. I was going to request your sources indicating that "All the ancient traditions agree that Nimrod was a black man, and that his soldiers were Ethiopians and Azanians, from what is now called East Africa." However, I'll save you the embarrassment of quoting yet another child molester and just say your reliance on "Arabic myth" as a basis of your Nimrod theory reduces that whole argument to total myth, and makes you rather sound like a nimrod yourself.
Wait, wait, I'm just getting warmed up!
4. What we think of as Greeks (the Dorians) owed their civilization to the Mycenaens, who owed theirs to the Minoans, who were by their surviving artwork demonstrably not black. They may have been contemporaries of the Egyptians (still not black, see above) but even assuming they picked up traditions from black Africa, whatever wasn't wiped out when their civilization fell after the eruption of Thera and subsequent rise of Mycenae was lost when the Dorians came down out of Eastern Europe and conquered Mycenaen Greece. Hellenic civilization is not black African civilization. Jeez.
5. To say that America was discovered due to the Moorish influence in Spain is doubly wrong. By 1492 the Vikings had been in North America for centuries. The fact that they lost it back to the natives was not because of a deficiency in their culture (they had already conquered much of France & England via their descendents, the Normans, as well as laying the foundations for modern Russia) but a result of the Little Ice Age refreezing their northern colonies, and that they had not yet acquired weaponry superior to the natives', ie. gunpowder. The Native Americans were simply warriors enough to throw them out.
Go ahead, tell me the Native Americans who originally came across the Beringian land bridge from Siberia were black. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Ready for more? In 1492 Spain had just finished the Reconquista, driving the Moors back across the Straits of Gibraltar. (That would be Africa to you.) So it could equally be said that the New World was discovered because the Moors were no longer in Spain.
Christopher Columbus was Italian, not Spanish. (Or are you going to tell me he was black?) He had to convince the Spanish to sponsor his voyages. The idea wasn't theirs. They just happened to be living on the right beachfront property to launch the expedition.
6. Seriously, in light of the general spirit of this site, to say that we owe everything this travesty of a society has become to black civilization is ultimately insulting to blacks, isn’t it? And if you're about to say that our current predicament is the result of white meddling with, and corruption of, the pristine "black" concept of civilization, then go ahead and blame it on whites, but quit saying that we owe everything to blacks.
7. As for your subsequent claim about "Simon that was called Niger," anybody not trying to peddle an ideology would take that to mean Simon was nicknamed “Niger.” (Though he wasn’t called that by any white people, lol!) Now I’ll grant you, HE may have been black, but to lay that label on a whole class of people, namely Jesus and the disciples, sounds vaguely racist to me.
8. And before you go off calling me racist again, please note that I'm not saying white is better than black or vice versa. I'm simply saying that the US is for better or worse basically a Western European culture. I personally believe it's for the worse, and I don't deny we might all be better off as egalitarian hunter-gatherers living in equilibrium with nature. I also think we might be headed back to that state quicker than most people think.
But if you're so keen on Afrocentrism, maybe you ought to take a trip to the Old Country. See how well some of your brothers and sisters really are doing in, say, Zimbabwe or the Congo or Liberia or Sierra Leone. I bet you won't have any trouble finding someone to take your return ticket to America.
In the meantime, though, it is not helpful to get your factoids from black supremacists like Dwight York (aka Malachi Z. York, aka Issa Al Haadi Al Mahdi, etc, etc.). It just makes you sound like a gullible, ignorant race-baiter.
Also, I apologize to everyone else here for even giving you the time of day. I can see now that I’ve just given you an excuse to browbeat the rest of us with your ill-reasoned bullcrap, and I do really have to get back to work to help pay for your new government.
SO...as the state govt of california gets ready to ' go belly up' the LA Times puts this fellow on the cover FOR THREE DAYS!!!
Sunday may have been a 4th consecutive day but i didnt see sundays LAT!!
as the stae gets ready to write iuo's or whatever they are called...
and someone who many of us considered an evil no talent in death gets more press then regan/ford!!!
singer james taylor said it so well
' mj doesnt consume sugar...but hell take millions to shill Pepsi to the rest of us'..
ahhh such a loverof children and bearer of moral standards Mj was!
his dads uses mjs death much like he used him while living....to promote himself..and yes the other jackson...jessi is there along with ' rev' al....but even the 3 of them arent as disgusting as MJ!
RE:
Steve M. | JUNE 29, 2009 11:36 AM | REPLY
“It was fascinating to hear music critic Toure - who never heard a hip-hop record he didn't like - go on about how Jackson integrated MTV “
O yes how Mj contributed to our ‘ culture’
Or to see hilburns article on page 1 of La Times on fondly remembering MJ!
Even ex presidents ford and reagan didn’t get quite that much TLC in death!
As JHK notes all of this is going on as Obama adnaeusum bankrupt the usa and the state that the la times is published in is broke…how will it pay its workers?
COMMENT TO OTHER READERS HERE...FORGET ABOUT ASHOK
HIS BLOGS ARE ' CORNUCOPIAN NONSENSE ABOUT HOW IMMIGRANTS TO USA HELP IT AND ITS ECONOMY!
"As JHK notes all of this is going on as Obama adnaeusum bankrupt the usa and the state that the la times is published in is broke…how will it pay its workers?"
Say what?!
It's only Tuesday and it sure took a while to browse through all the comments. Maybe I'm a slow reader. I must say that almost without exception all of you are good writers (and JHK is the BEST writer, of course), although there sure is a lot of political ax grinding going on.
My wife and I have been disgusted at the Michael Jackson adoration that has been running nonstop on TV since news of his death. We'd rather watch Billy Mays pitch some oxyclean or whatever. Shamwow!
I've read The Long Emergency, but am afraid to read World Made by Hand. I'm not handy, and would hate at my age (59) to have to survive like Little House on the Prairie. So I'm desperately trying to pay down the home equity credit line on my house to a reasonable level to regain "equity" and hope that with a low enough monthly "nut", we'll have enough to retire with full social security and some 401k earnings. We'll see. I don't need much, I've come to learn that simplicity is a good thing, less to go wrong and less to maintain.
"almost without exception all of you are good writers"
Seriously? You need to get out more! ;)
Obama did not bankrupt the United States. There was an $18 trillion deficit (more?) when he took over, not to mention the however-many billion dollar yearly budget shortfall. Bush's final act was a $750 billion love letter to his friends at Goldman Sachs.
Get your facts straight instead of just blindly venting your anger.
k gleason said: COMMENT TO OTHER READERS HERE...FORGET ABOUT ASHOK
HIS BLOGS ARE ' CORNUCOPIAN NONSENSE ABOUT HOW IMMIGRANTS TO USA HELP IT AND ITS ECONOMY!
You need to read some United States history to see what a positive role Chinese, Blacks, and other white immigrant groups have played.
Immigrants have helped shape the United States since the beginning of time, they have been a major reason for the growth of the economy and they have allowed for the United States to be the diverse nation it is today.
I don't believe frugalman was blindly venting anger. Compared to the rest of us on here, me included, he sounds like a downright nice guy.
Frugal, I've read both. World Made by Hand is an excellent novel, well written and enjoyable on many levels, and will give you an idea of JHK's view of the endgame. I think the novel actually ends on a positive note, so you have no need to fear it. It sort of comes off like the last sentence of your post.
Though I have to admit I completely did not get the whole bit with Precious Mother and the locked-room mystery of Karp's cell. Maybe JHK could enlighten me?
Whoopdy Do said: "Asoka, I got your one finger right here." ;-)
And I can guess which finger it is! LOL!
Whoopdy Do said: "Sorry it took so long to get back to you."
No need to apologize. I post out of my joy. It matters not if anyone reads or responds. There are no rules that say you must "engage" with me. It's an anonymous blog after all with pseudonyms changing all the time.
Whoopdy Do said: "I have to work for a living"
So do I, and now it is my lunch time being consumed.
Whoopdy Do said: "...on somebody whose mind is completely shut (as evidenced by your first defense of calling anyone who disagrees with you racist)..."
I did not call you or anyone a racist. What I said last week, and I reproduce for you here is:
"asoka | JUNE 27, 2009 8:36 PM | REPLY
Regardless of what opinions people have, or what racist tendencies they have that cause them to believe immigrants are "a problem", the facts are otherwise."
You completely stripped out the context of the discussion about immigration. Do you deny some people with racist tendencies are opposed to immigration?
Whoopdy Do said: "...was convicted of over 100 counts of child molestation..."
You do a lot of ad hominem that does not address the ideas being presented. History is full of people who contribute valid ideas but have rather sordid personal histories. Some of history's finest have been convicted of crimes.
Whoopdy Do said: "In search of some further insight into your character"
This is a waste of time. You cannot determine the validity of arguments presented by researching a person's pseudonym on a blog.
Whoopdy Do said: 1. Toynbee's original 12-volume set was later abridged & condensed to 2 volumes
Point taken. You make a valid point here.
Whoopdy Do said: 8. And before you go off calling me racist again...."
I never have called you a racist. Or anyone else. What I said is that some people's position on the immigration question is influenced by racist tendencies. Do you deny that? (see asoka | JUNE 27, 2009 8:36 PM)
Whoopdy Do said: "Also, I apologize to everyone else here for even giving you the time of day."
I extend the same apology to CFN. Although this week's column deals with a black entertainer, this exchange is a bit off topic... and long-winded.
Whoopdy Do said: "I do really have to get back to work to help pay for your new government."
So do I. Lunch break is over.
The brothers appreciate all the taxes you pay!
There are probably a few aspects of each of our lives that are analogous to the "decline of America." Writing some kind of comparative narrative between MJ and United States is a battle best left un-fought.
Of some ironic note, is the growing mountain of media coverage and introspection into the "meaning" and influence of Michael Jackson's doings on the music world and pop culture.
How quaint it would be, if our kind handlers would see fit to amuse us with the same quantities of insights and minutia regarding the board members of Goldman Sachs, BOA, Citigroup et al. Yes, how about a little light shone for how these fine performers have reshaped American culture and the financial world?
Now there's some shows worth watching.
Dr. Doom said: "We are there to serve and protect our "interests" and those can be counted in 32-gal. barrels. We will never willingly leave Iraq until our interests are safely transferred elsewhere."
Dr. Doom, how do you figure a $3 TRILLION dollar Iraq war ($7 TRILLION dollars if you include Afghanistan) was to protect our oil interests?
Iraq's oil production is not even reaching its prewar production level. Iraqi officials have estimated that based on crude oil at $50 per barrel, international companies (China, UK, etc. not just the USA)who license to extract Iraq's oil could earn around $16 billion in total. Iraq, meanwhile, would get over $1.7 TRILLION.
A $16 Billion return for $3 TRILLION the USA has invested? Do you still maintain we are in Iraq for oil?
"Do you still maintain we are in Iraq for oil?"
You can't be serious...
georget,
Funny stuff. Obama as the next Hitler. You're killing me!
turkle said: ""Do you still maintain we are in Iraq for oil?"
You can't be serious..."
Care to comment on the substance of the post?
What is the ROI on a $3 Trillion investment to get back $16 Billion? Does that explain our being in Iraq? Are you serious?
Asoka, if we're not in Iraq for the oil, what you think we are there for?
Asoka, OK, in retrospect maybe I was a little too vehement. I expected you to go straight to Defcon 5 on the racism issue, & so launched a pre-emptive strike on your WMDs. Then it turned out you weren't using any! Damn, haven't I seen this scenario somewhere before?
In fact, I was talking about Afrocentrism, and not about immigration at all. I actually agree with your later post about immigration. We're all immigrants here if you go far enough back. And if you go even farther back, we're all African, too. I'm pretty sure one of my forefathers carried a stone hand-axe out out Egypt a bajillion or so years ago.
If I was living in Mexico these days I'd be doing my best to swim the river myself. I can't fault anybody for trying to make a better life for themselves, and it takes more cojones than I've got to set up shop in a whole new country.
Finally, I would concede that many of history's finest have indeed been convicted of crimes, but that argument could be construed on behalf of anyone from Hitler to Jesus. So we'll still have to agree to disagree on Rev. York and that whole Afrocentrism thing.
Whoopdy Do said: "If I was living in Mexico these days I'd be doing my best to swim the river myself."
With global warming drying up the water supply, you'll only need to wade across.
Thank you for the amicable response.
Farfetched said: "Asoka, if we're not in Iraq for the oil, what you think we are there for?"
I asked first. Do you think we are in Iraq for oil?
Have we gotten any? How much in monetary terms, compared to a $3 TRILLION dollar investment? Does the ROI math make any sense to you?
Yes, I think an oil-grab was Bush-league's initial motive. They made up a pack of lies (WMDs, Al-Qaeda connections) to justify the invasion by other means, but the original code name gave the game away: Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL), later amended to Operation Iraqi Freedom. You may remember that they were telling us that we wouldn't be out of pocket at the end of the day, that oil revenues would pay the bill for the whole operation? They may have actually believed that one.
Like everything else Bush-league touched, though, it went to hell in a handbasket pretty quick. It was a bad investment from the start, and Bush-league would rather torture himself than admit he was wrong about anything.
OK, your turn. Why do you think we're there?
The United States didn't want 300 billion barrels of reserves in the hands of someone who didn't like us too much and wanted to start selling that oil in Euros instead of dollars. Iraq already had contracts with Russia and France, among other countries. Guess what happened to those contracts when Uncle Sam invaded?
Conservative estimate of value of Iraqi oil reserves:
300 billion barrels x $50 / barrel = $15 trillion.
There is FAR more than $16 billion to be made by oil companies in Iraq. Where did you get these silly numbers?
Ask yourself:
Who will provide the Iraqis with technicians and equipment?
Who will buy that oil and in what currencies?
Who will transport and refine that oil?
The amount of oil owned by the majors has declined to less than 5% of known reserves. The US government being a major front for these oil companies, Iraq was basically an operation to gain control of reserves for the international oil companies. It wouldn't be the first time this has occurred.
See Dick Cheney's crayon circles around the gigantic Iraqi oil reserves during his energy policy meetings in 2000.
If we were there for the stated reason of toppling Hussein and liberating the Iraqi people, why have we not invaded half the countries in Africa with dictators just as bad as Hussein?
It is because Hussein was the excuse. America wanted access to that go juice, and Hussein provided a convenient excuse.
Do the Math.
This just in from the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/business/global/01iraqoil.html?hp
This is a fascinating article, because the numbers are going into contracts involving the companies expecting to make some money. Don't forget the risk involved - as in: the country breaks out in full-on civil war.
According to reporters watching the auction, the first round of bidding for the Rumaila field stalled when Exxon Mobil and a consortium of BP and the China National Petroleum Corp. both wanted more than the government’s offer of $2 for each barrel above a guaranteed minimum production level. Exxon said it would produce 3.1 million barrels daily with each additional barrel at a fee of $4.80, news reports said.
The BP consortium, which eventually won, said it would produce 2.85 million barrels a day and originally wanted $3.99 per additional barrel but settled for $2. Currently, the field is pumping around a million barrels a day.
If I am reading this correctly, it means that the consortium expects to pump an additional 2mbpd from just the one field, raising Iraq production to 4.4mbpd.
This is before they expect to turn a profit!
Looks like Dick Cheney was right after all.
And there are 42 gallons in a barrel, Doom. Unless you meant a 38-calibre one :)
Now that the work day's done, I can make up for lost time. Let me weigh in on this one.
I do think we went into Iraq for oil. Just because we didn't make good on the investment yet, doesn't mean it won't pan out. That's the reason we went to Kuwait the first time around.
I also think we went into Iraq to get rid of WMDs. Bear with me here. I don't know what Washington knew. I don't think Washington knows what Washington knew. We know Saddam had some -- he used them on the Kurds, and the Israelis bombed one of his reactors before he could go weapons-grade. Just because we didn't find any, doesn't mean we didn't have to go in and look. Did you guys trust him when he said he didn't?
But basically I think we went to Iraq for the same reason we went to Afghanistan: to upset the Middle East apple cart. This whole Arab-Israeli thing was a sideshow to us, until 9/11. Now we have have our troops next to Pakistan, on both sides of Iran (three sides of you count our ships in the Persian Gulf, and maybe on all sides if we have troops in the "Stans" to the north). We're also next door to Syria and Saudi Arabia. In short, there are no potential troublemakers over there who aren't looking at our tanks just across the border. The argument even extends to North Korea. Whether or not you count Israel as a troublemaker is a different topic.
Was it worth the cost? We could argue that all day. There haven't been any more attacks on American soil. In historical terms the cost in lives has been light. I think our losses so far in this war are on a par with, say, the D-Day invasion alone in WWII.
Does anybody want to fight them over here instead of over there? Isn't that why we have a military?
Now that the work day's done, I can make up for lost time. Let me weigh in on this one.
I do think we went into Iraq for oil. Just because we didn't make good on the investment yet, doesn't mean it won't pan out. That's the reason we went to Kuwait the first time around.
I also think we went into Iraq to get rid of WMDs. Bear with me here. I don't know what Washington knew. I don't think Washington knows what Washington knew. We know Saddam had some -- he used them on the Kurds, and the Israelis bombed one of his reactors before he could go weapons-grade. Just because we didn't find any, doesn't mean we didn't have to go in and look. Did you guys trust him when he said he didn't?
But basically I think we went to Iraq for the same reason we went to Afghanistan: to upset the Middle East apple cart. This whole Arab-Israeli thing was a sideshow to us, until 9/11. Now we have have our troops next to Pakistan, on both sides of Iran (three sides of you count our ships in the Persian Gulf, and maybe on all sides if we have troops in the "Stans" to the north). We're also next door to Syria and Saudi Arabia. In short, there are no potential troublemakers over there who aren't looking at our tanks just across the border. The argument even extends to North Korea. Whether or not you count Israel as a troublemaker is a different topic.
Was it worth the cost? We could argue that all day. There haven't been any more attacks on American soil. In historical terms the cost in lives has been light. I think our losses so far in this war are on a par with, say, the D-Day invasion alone in WWII.
Does anybody want to fight them over here instead of over there? Isn't that why we have a military?
Damn, I always get that gallons per barrel number goofed up.
Listen asoka, what do you think access to that oil might be worth in 5, 10 or 20 years post global production peak? Today's prices are meaningless relative to future worth. Get the picture?
@Whoopdy Do -
Yes, thank you for your analysis. Oh, by the way, Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, and Paul Wolfowitz and his crazy band of neoconservatives called. They want their ideas back.
Wow. That was a well thought-out, insightful reply, Rico.
Since those are the guys who got us in Iraq, I must have nailed it. Thanks!
"We could argue that all day."
Umm. No. You could argue all day. Most people would probably just ignore you since it's all been said countless times before. But thanks for sharing. We were all born yesterday.
The current American foreign policy tactics/strategy are simply unsustainable. You forgot to include a monetary analysis or a look into how we are going to supply soldiers for this fight for the next 30 years.
In case you hadn't noticed, we just expanded into a third country (Pakistan).
And not a single conflict or country we are currently engaged in is considered what was termed an MRC(Major Regional Conflict) in the 90s. The US Military is tasked with being able to fight two of these simultaneously. Now how did you think that was going to happen?
And what exactly is it about our current deployments that are preventing terrorists from striking the US?
9/11 was launched from Boston by people who had been living in Florida and trained at American flight schools.
Go read a book, Jackass.
" don't know what Washington knew. I don't think Washington knows what Washington knew."
Looks like Rumsfeld wants his ideas back, too.
Mj's greatest contribution?
Using his world superstar status to pimp Pepsi to an entire new generation.
The Type Two Diabetic Generation owes much to Mr. Jackson and his benevolent influence. Why would they want to listen to an "Uncle Tom" like Dr. Satcher or waste their free time planting an organic garden like Mrs. Obama.
The King of (soda)Pop, indeed.
Asoka,
Iraq was about unfettered (now tell the truth, how many times do you get to work THAT word into conversation daily?) ACCESS to oil in the region, not just whatever we could steal from the Iraqis directly (although I'm sure that had Bush administration officials licking their chops as well).
The ROI question goes out the window as well when you're using Government resources (at the direction of recently converted private sector officials) to enable private sector profits (socialized risk vs privatized profits - A GREAT DEAL IF YOU CAN FIND IT!). Since the Government did almost all the "investment," the "private sector" reaped almost 100% profits. Of course there WERE political payoffs involved, but rest assured those were off the books (many involving nothing more than future guaranteed employment/stock option offers), and likely passed onto paying customers as well anyway.
Geez, haven't you read the countless number of critiques/exposes of the Bush/Cheney regime over the past 8 years, nevermind the increasing number of press pieces documenting the fact that the Obama administration is just a kinder/gentler/slicker version of the same. These guys aren't necessarily smarter than us (although many are), but they DEFINITELY ARE better connected than us, and have LONG SINCE lost whatever little compunction they ever had about leading the herd to the slaughter. Once again, GOOD WORK if you can find it!
Wake up dude. Your naivete is showing.
Dr. Doom,
Future profits for Iraq, not for USA companies.
This is from Bloomberg:
"Iraq will earn 100 times more than the foreign companies it hires to develop the deposits, the minister told parliament in Baghdad on June 23. The deposits being offered in the first licensing round may yield $1.7 trillion in profit for the country, based on an oil price of $50 a barrel, while oil companies seeking service contracts will gain $16 billion over the 20-year life of the contracts, he said. "
That is $16Billion over a 20-year period! Profits? That is pig feed.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=ahkCD3H9rrT4
Johnny Rico,
Excellent! Couldn't have put that better myself.
jimini, dr. doom, etc.
Where are the profits for USA companies? They will be under contract. Iraq will make 100 times as much as the private companies. The companies will only make $16 Billion over a 20-year period.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=ahkCD3H9rrT4
Until you can show me that the USA and/or private USA companies are actually making a profit, your theory that the USA invaded Iraq for oil is bankrupt.
Ahh... the young! So easily convinced to take up a cause. And your source is Bloomberg?
Do you actually read responses to your posts, or just regurgitate the same party fare on command?
Farfetched said: "OK, your turn. Why do you think we're there?"
I think Iraq was invaded for psychological reasons and the occupation continued for religious reasons.
Bush wanted to finish what daddy Bush didn't do: get rid of Saddam Hussein.
After that was accomplished the neo-cons had this "clash of civilizations" thing going and convinced people it was an Islamic jihad we were up against, instead of an isolated group of extremists who did not in any way shape or form represent Islam.
I'm not seeing any economic payoff after six years and TRILLIONS of dollars spent. You cannot point to any profits made by private USA oil companies and say: "See, we invaded Iraq for oil"
Iraq is running the show anyway, letting out licenses where they earn 100 times more than the private companies from China, UK and whereever else.
The removal of Saddam (and the Sunnis) made it possible for Shia to become dominant, giving Iran more influence in the region. So Iran was to be the new enemy. But it's not working out that way since Obama recognized that the Iranians are not monolithic, many Iranians are on our side, pro-democracy and against the mullahs.
So, that is my basic answer: the invasion was for psychological reasons (father/son stuff) and the occupation continued for religious reasons (jihad/crusade stuff) and it was all a big mistake that has actually weakened our position since Saddam was what was holding Iran in check and Saddam is gone and Iran is ascendant.
I have yet to see oil profits being made in Iraq as the reason for the invasion of Iraq. Iraq is not even back to the levels of production enjoyed pre-invasion after six years of occupation. And I don't expect the situation will improve. I certainly hope we get out completely by 2012. Step one has been completed: we are no longer kicking down doors and terrorizing families in Iraq's cities.
«I'm not seeing any economic payoff after six years and TRILLIONS of dollars spent. You cannot point to any profits made by private USA oil companies and say: "See, we invaded Iraq for oil"»
Personally, I think it was a bad investment. In the same way the Challenger had some trouble with an O-ring. They probably really believed it was going to pay off, as well as taking care of the psychological & religious components.
I have to go easy on you and reject your thesis out of hand. You can do better, and perhaps one day you will. Rest assured, this effort wasn't it. And NO, I'm not even a professor.
Jimimi said: "I have to go easy on you and reject your thesis out of hand"
It is perfectly OK that you reject my thesis. I am open to hear other opinions.
Thank you for allowing the possibility that someone might have a theory other than "we invaded Iraq for oil." I did provide figures from Bloomberg so my opinion is backed up by some factual data. (Or is Bloomberg not reporting the Iraqi contracts accurately? Do you have any reason to doubt Bloomberg's reporting?)
Jimimi said: "I have to go easy on you and reject your thesis out of hand"
It is perfectly OK that you reject my thesis. I am open to hear other opinions.
Thank you for allowing the possibility that someone might have a theory other than "we invaded Iraq for oil." I did provide figures from Bloomberg so my opinion is backed up by some factual data. (Or is Bloomberg not reporting the Iraqi contracts accurately? Do you have any reason to doubt Bloomberg's reporting?)
Asoka,
Very good, we'll take this up another day. At least you're in the game, and that in itself is remarkable.
@Asoka,
"I certainly hope we get out completely by 2012."
Yeah, I'm sure the US will turn its giant military bases into madrassers(sp?) by then.
Change it to this and it might be more accurate:-
"the invasion was for pathological reasons (father/son stuff)"
@Asoka,
"I certainly hope we get out completely by 2012."
Yeah, I'm sure the US will turn its giant military bases into madrassers(sp?) by then.
Change it to this and it might be more accurate:-
"the invasion was for pathological reasons (father/son stuff)"
I agree with the Brother from another Plan-et, sort of anyway. We went to war at the behest
of the Zionists (called NeoCons in this country.
They have vowed to make the Middle East safe for
Israel by destabilizing every Muslim Country.
Google the "Project for a New American Century"
and also "Securing the Realm" for the straight
Israeli perspective. Direct access to the oil is
a nice perk that is probable becoming more impor-
tant now. But the original intent was purely pol-
itical as far as I can fathom.
The central core of the Armed Forces is
Whites from the South and Midwest-always has been.
America owes the despised the Scots-Irish more
than they can ever imagine. Since the draft was
dropped, standards have gone up, and few Blacks
can make the grade. There is an IQ test, called
by another name, and as anyone who has ever gone
to school with Blacks or taught them knows, they
just don't have it. With the increased demand for
troops, America is now turning to immigrants from
Central America and even Africa-standards have
been dropped again. They are offering an acceler-
ated path to citizenship through enlistment. Yes,
shades of the Roman Empire. Hopefully, Whites will
see through the whole charade and stop enlisting
entirely.
Lastly, the North Africa of classical times
was far more fertile and was full of White Men-
Blonde Libyans, Moors, Arabs, Egypitians etc.
Blacks were present as mercenaries and slaves.
Blacks have encroached upon these lands for the
last thousand years, especially as they embrace
Islam. In these multiracial civilizations, founded
by White Men, Blacks are at the bottom. Over them
are the mulattoes and quadroons, and over them are
any remaining Whites. No surprises-it's like that
in the Carribean. And it's like that in America.
When the Pure Blooded Negro Marcus Garvey walked
into the New York NAACP, he was amazed to see not
one Black person. It was all light skinned Obama
and WB DuBois types. Historically, they don't
like the full bloods, and full bloods don't like
them. It's a class thing based on biological fact: the more White Blood, the higher the IQ on
average. Marcus Garvey was a fairly smart man and
evidently, a great speaker.
Jaego Scorzne,
If you're serious, I feel sorry for you. If you're not, the joke's not funny.
Don't know about comparing the US to MJ, however, I do have to agree that the re-writing of MJ history has gotten to be a bit much.
I just can't put the alleged diddling of boys out of my mind long enough to care about his contributions to pop culture...
Anyone see that the freaking House of Representatives had a moment of silence in honor of Michael Jackson?
Unfuckingbelievable.
Just curious...do they have a moment of silence to honor every soldier that dies in Iraq or Afghanistan?
When news of MJ's death hit the news there was the inevitable flood of reaction ... initially, all in a positive light. I wondered how long it would take for someone to publicly recognize that the King (of Pop) had no clothes. The answer turned out to be about 3 days. Thank you Mr Kunstler. This is one of your best essays ever.
"Just curious...do they have a moment of silence to honor every soldier that dies in Iraq or Afghanistan?"
Um, no, not that I know of. But periodically congress votes to authorize $100 Billion or so in an Emergency War Spending Bill.
This allows more soldiers to be properly equipped and fed before they die.
"Jackass?" What are you, three?
I should have known better than to try discussing strategy with a military genius of such magnitude that he gets his screen name from "Starship Troopers."
I think what I said went over your head. I wasn't arguing that the current military strategy is right, or sustainable, because I don't think it is, and anyway the government doesn't care about any of that. I just said why we're there. Going into Pakistan only bears me out, and I already explained why our current deployments help prevent attacks on our soil. We weren't at war over there when those terrorists got their training here, remember, and there haven't been any attacks here since then. Do you really want to argue that?
The object of modern warfare isn't to win. It's just to keep the enemy busy over there rather than over here, and to maintain a crisis that can be heated up as necessary to help take the home front folks' minds off their domestic problems. You recommended I should read a book. You should try "1984."
And don't be calling everyone names again because it's not polite and makes you sound like a child. Just run along back to your sci-fi and let the grown-ups talk. But first, go ahead and take the last word, because I know you have to have it. I'm out of here.
Immigrants have helped shape the United States since the beginning of time, they have been a major reason for the growth of the economy and they have allowed for the United States to be the diverse nation it is today
--------------
You're barking up the wrong tree!
Don't you get it? Who cares about race or whether or not immigrants were positive for the US. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. It's a NON-ISSUE.
Most people here believe there are just TOO MANY PEOPLE on this planet, period. And we don't care about their color. A person is a person!
And if we care about our survival, it's not by taking in more immigrants that we're going save ourselves. Most here think that at 300M, there are already TOO MANY people in the US for sustainable living. So none of you arguments are going to convince them about the benefits of immigration.
Most people here believe there are just TOO MANY PEOPLE on this planet, period. And we don't care about their color. A person is a person!
------------
Correction: Maybe I'm assuming too much. Anyway, I don't care about race and I think there are too many people.
danm said: "Most people here believe there are just TOO MANY PEOPLE on this planet, period. And we don't care about their color. A person is a person!"
I'm with you that far. And a bit farther. At what age did you get a vasectomy? I got mine at age 19 after reading Ehrlich's THE POPULATION BOMB.
I would like to go one step further to your statement. In addition to "we don't care about their color. A person is a person!" I would add "I don't care about their legal status/nationality. A person is a person!"
And support more funding for voluntary sterilization. I made many people happy when they found out there would be no little Asokas running around!
:)
To Ang re "Unfuckingbelievable."
Yeah ..... next thing you know they'll be having a moment of silence for Billy Mays.
To Ang re "Unfuckingbelievable."
Yeah ..... next thing you know they'll be having a moment of silence for Billy Mays.
PICKENSPLAN.COM
I was listening to ' coast2coast' and between updates on micheal jackson....with live commentary from deep pockets chopras son gotham!
LO AND BEHOLD BOONE PICKENS !!!
he thinks nuclear energy is green!
hes also concerned with usa security but didnt mention our southern non border!
he also didnt mention the HOT AIR MOTOR CARS that supposedly will be available soon in france..if they do come online they will be hard for the oil companies to supress worldwide...
for more on boone see:
PickensPlanThe Pickens Plan will utilize these tremendous resources to build a bridge to the future – a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing ...
www.pickensplan.com
PICKENSPLAN.COM
I was listening to ' coast2coast' and between updates on micheal jackson....with live commentary from deep pockets chopras son gotham!
LO AND BEHOLD BOONE PICKENS !!!
he thinks nuclear energy is green!
hes also concerned with usa security but didnt mention our southern non border!
he also didnt mention the HOT AIR MOTOR CARS that supposedly will be available soon in france..if they do come online they will be hard for the oil companies to supress worldwide...
for more on boone see:
PickensPlanThe Pickens Plan will utilize these tremendous resources to build a bridge to the future – a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing ...
www.pickensplan.com
PICKENSPLAN.COM
I was listening to ' coast2coast' and between updates on micheal jackson....with live commentary from deep pockets chopras son gotham!
LO AND BEHOLD BOONE PICKENS !!!
he thinks nuclear energy is green!
hes also concerned with usa security but didnt mention our southern non border!
he also didnt mention the HOT AIR MOTOR CARS that supposedly will be available soon in france..if they do come online they will be hard for the oil companies to supress worldwide...
for more on boone see:
PickensPlanThe Pickens Plan will utilize these tremendous resources to build a bridge to the future – a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing ...
www.pickensplan.com
PICKENSPLAN.COM
I was listening to ' coast2coast' and between updates on micheal jackson....with live commentary from deep pockets chopras son gotham!
LO AND BEHOLD BOONE PICKENS !!!
he thinks nuclear energy is green!
hes also concerned with usa security but didnt mention our southern non border!
he also didnt mention the HOT AIR MOTOR CARS that supposedly will be available soon in france..if they do come online they will be hard for the oil companies to supress worldwide...
for more on boone see:
PickensPlanThe Pickens Plan will utilize these tremendous resources to build a bridge to the future – a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing ...
www.pickensplan.com
Republican Michael Scheuer was interviewed by Glen Beck yesterday. Last chance the GOP has is bin Laden. Republican traitors to the USA.
SCHEUER: ...the only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Because it's going to take a grassroots, bottom-up pressure, because these politicians prize their office, prize the praise of the media and the Europeans. Only -- it's an absurd situation. Again, only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them effectively, consistently, and with as much violence as necessary.
That's the goplets. Party Before Country, now and forever.
When its all said and done, after all the verbal masturbation about everything we are programed to be concerned about, we are fucked.
If you live in an urban area I recommend you read Kunstlers book, The Last Emergency , a couple more times. Then rethink your plans for the next decade and stop wasting time worrying about Bullshit that has no resolution. Those that control our destiny couldn't give a flying fuck what we worry about.
Get real and start learning all you can about making yourself capable of self sufficiency. Enjoy the process. You might like it.
I did, I do.
Now Im here to help others.
One last MJ & USA analogy. The US, like MJ, perfected some time ago the illusion of moving forward while walking backwards.
asoka-the-producers sez:
"I'm with you that far. And a bit farther. At what age did you get a vasectomy? I got mine at age 19 after reading Ehrlich's THE POPULATION BOMB."
Why the hell didn't your old man get one as well?
"If we were there for the stated reason of toppling Hussein and liberating the Iraqi people, why have we not invaded half the countries in Africa with dictators just as bad as Hussein?"
Duhhhhhhh? Maybe because none of them had already invaded Kuwait and violated 17 U.N. sanctions, FUCKTARD? But then thats just a guess.
"We weren't at war over there when those terrorists got their training here, remember, and there haven't been any attacks here since then."
I think a few 'heres' 'theres' 'thens' and 'whens' need to be swapped around in that statement.
This article sums up nicely much of the mainstream feeling about Obama's push for "change we can believe in." Unfortunately, it's the kind of stuff that people who are merely keeping count of how many bills get passed are missing.
Obama is choosing to be weak by Clive Crook in the Financial Times.
Commander-in-Chief Obama weak?
Ask the Taliban how weak he is.
From the Washington Post:
U.S. Marines Launch Major Operation in Afghanistan
"The operation will involve about 4,000 troops from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which was dispatched to Afghanistan earlier this year by President Obama to combat a growing Taliban insurgency in Helmand and other southern provinces. The Marines, along with an Army brigade that is scheduled to arrive later this summer, plan to push into pockets of the country where NATO forces have not had a presence. In many of those areas, the Taliban have evicted local police and government officials, and taken power."
AS GOES CALIFORNIA
the golden state is broke and issuing IOUs...
many public 2 year colleges are closed for the summer...no $ to pay for summer session...
as went california goes other states..or are they too broke as of today?
michigan has 15% unemployment
AND WHAT DO THOSE FOLKS DO WHEN THE UNEMPLOYMENT RUNS OUT?????? do they riot? run obama out of office?
zsazsa,
"Duh", "fucktard"...are you 12 years old or just mentally retarded?
Israel has violated more than 10 times as many UN resolutions as Iraq, and we give them billions of dollars a year and free weapons.
Various parties in the Congo have violated god-knows-how many UN resolutions. And the US does nothing.
So much for your shitty "guess".
Besides repeatedly invading its neighbors, Israel is not a democracy.
How can a state that stifles dissent of its own Jewish citizens (like arresting people for peacefully passing out leaflets), imprisons 4 million Palestinians behind ghetto walls, bypass roads and a blockade, and treats another 1.5 million as second-class citizens, be democratic?
@asoka -
Please, please don't embarrass yourself anymore on foreign policy. Scheuer was well respected by the left wing during the Bush years as a former CIA analyst who had broken with the party line about the war on terror.
The Glenn Beck piece took his views out of context.
Read This:
http://www.amconmag.com/blog/exiting-afghanistan/
As far as Obama being a tough C-in-C. Whatever. It wasn't too long ago you were saying the campaign there and in Pakistan amounted to war crimes. I think you are a bit confused.
Besides do you know how many times in the last two hundred years at least three different superpowers have tried to take and hold those valleys?
On your insistence that American troops have left Iraqi cities. Well, you were wrong. My information comes from the same source you were using, but just a day later:
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/06/30/gen-odierno-concedes-troops-remain-in-iraqi-cities-wont-say-how-many/
JR, I think you are missing the point about troops in the cities. It doesn't matter how many troops, if any, remain in the cities.
Even if there are some troops in the cities they are no longer operating autonomously. They are there at the pleasure of the Iraqi government.
If Iraq needs them back in the cities, Iraq is free to call on them at any time... and the USA soldiers will come running when Iraqi whistles. When Iraq needs cannon fodder the USA soldiers will die instead of Iraqis dying. Iraq is in control.
Tavis Smiley and guests Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson on MJ...
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200906/20090630.html
I just gotta laugh & cry, but not at the death of MJ. At the idea that Bernie Maddoff will spend one day in jail.
Oh, come on, you know that he will be herded into prison in a big show for the huddled masses, but about an hour later he will be quietly slipped out and taken to a private jet and taken to some plastic surgeon in Switzerland, then after a few weeks of recovery, he will join Kenny Boy in So. America and spend the rest of his life enjoying drinks on the beach (while watching the local thong clad women) and some of the best beef in the world.
Oh, what about the guy still in prison? He'll get stuck and die and be quickly cremated so no one gets a close look at the look-alike.
MJ's sad waste of a life is pathetic. Ever heard of Winchester house in San Jose, CA? It was built by the widow of the man that made the Winchester rifle, used to kill millions of native Americans.
What did she do with the guilt that wracked her all her life? Did she build homes on the fucking reservations for all the starving 'indians' without any real shelter? No, she kept adding rooms to her house to appease her hubbies ghost, and to assure her a long life. She COULD HAVE done so much to help the NA'S, but she didn't.
Just like Californication now, the Republicans have sworn to Grovel Norquist to never, ever even consider raising taxes. Instead they will let the whole state go into bankruptcy.
The cuts in government services are already affecting the poor, elderly and handicapped, in other words those who can least afford the cuts, all so that taxes won't be raised one cent on millionaires & billionaires.
Oh, this country is screwed.
Oh, Asoka, please take the rose colored glasses off, please.
You say we didn't go into Iraq because oil is (was) now only $50/bbl, but don't you recall how much it went up to last year, and gee, it seems to be creeping up that away again. Someday it will be over $100 or even $200/bbl, perhaps they it may be profitable to lil' ol' 'Emerican oil companies? After all, better tho have access to it by force now and in the future than to let someone we don't know or like have control of it.
(How many big bases have we with drawn into there?)
I am getting disillusioned with the O-man.
Seems like its just: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
DanaJ
With all due respect, asoka, I think you are the one missing the point.
It is not about this or that fact. It is about your tendency to tout Obama's promises as fact and history.
Obama said he was going to end the war in Iraq. You believed this. He didn't.
Obama said he was going to close Guantanamo. He didn't. He ordered it closed by the end of the year. You took this as him having closed it. As we will see, at the end of the year the prisoners will simply be moved to SuperMax facilities on US soil where they will be kept in solitary confinement, without charges or trial after 8 years. Torture, in effect. No change, but a confirmation, in fact of Bush policies.
The Bush administration signed the Status of Forces agreement in Iraq. Not Obama. You said Obama would implement it. He failed at the first checkpoint. The troops are in the cities.
You say:
"Even if there are some troops in the cities they are no longer operating autonomously. They are there at the pleasure of the Iraqi government."
Based on what? Because Odierno says so? Petreaus? Obama? You?
Based on what track record do you think this is going to happen?
And if it does happen, do you realize it will be completely counterproductive in relation to the COIN strategy that had been implemented in that country since early 2007?
Remember McCain's comment during the campaign about how the US might be in Iraq for 100 years as long as American troops weren't being killed.
Obama won the election mainly based on his position on the war and his supposed opposition to that stance.
You and others ridiculed McCain's statement as further evidence that the man would start World War III.
I have no great love for McCain, but in retrospect it would seem that you have been a bit naive in your assessment of the future and of foreign policy.
You champion Obama's actions, but there is something that makes me think if it were Bush or McCain doing the same things, you would be accusing them of war crimes (in fact, you were, just 6 months ago).
I say this because you seem to be spending a great deal of your time defending your views. The reason is that frequently a large portion of your positions lack credibility.
This is also increasingly becoming a problem for Obama and why his approval ratings will drop significantly in the next year if something good doesn't happen to the economy soon.
The theme of politicians winning elections by promising everything to everyone and then finding different priorities once they became king is an old one.
Sadly, we never seem to learn.
JR said: "Obama said he was going to end the war in Iraq."
Obama said he was going to redirect USA forces from Iraq to Afghanistan/Pakistan and if you look at what was promised and what is happening, Obama is keeping his promise. The current offensive underway by the Marines is not happening in Iraq.
JR said: "Based on what? Because Odierno says so? Petreaus? Obama? You?"
All of the above, plus Maliki and the SOFA that has changed the USA role in Iraq as of June 30, 2009.
JR said: "The theme of politicians winning elections by promising everything to everyone and then finding different priorities once they became king is an old one."
So far, Obama is doing pretty much exactly what he said he would do during two years on the campaign trail.
Much of what you are saying is not based on the present reality of what Obama has done. It is based on your speculation about the future:
"his approval ratings will drop significantly in the next year"
Look at the reality of now: ""From a numbers perspective, Obama's track record (61 percent) so far is closest to Ronald Reagan's. Reagan's approval rating in mid-to-late June of his first year in office was 59 percent" (CNN)
"at the end of the year the prisoners will simply be moved"
JR, you have no idea what will happen at the end of the year or in the next year. What we do know is that Obama signed the executive orders, just as he said he would.
Labro posted:
"When its all said and done, after all the verbal masturbation about everything we are programed to be concerned about, we are fucked.... stop wasting time worrying about Bullshit that has no resolution."
Well said. Reading all the stuff that's been posted over the past few days, I'm struck by how little most of it is going to mean once the Collapse starts. Whether this country's ever deepening dumth is being caused by cultural decay, old-fashioned anti-intellectualism, or just the spread of bad genetics is a interesting question but it's also a distraction. Whatever is causing it, the condition cannot be changed in the constricted time frame before TSHTF. While I tend to agree more with Jaego than Asoka, I don't think it matters in the context of catastrophe.
Ditto for the ever fascinating question of who's really in charge. WASP oilmen or Jewish bankers? The EU or the UN? Langley or Tel Aviv? Whoever "They" are, there's nothing that can be done about them in the few years (or months) left before the house of cards they built comes tumbling down.
All people are the same, they're all just
people. Oh really? Just like all cars are the same, they're all just cars. Or, all dogs are the
same, they're all just dogs. See the logical fal-
lacy-assuming that all members of a class are
identical simply by virtue of being in the same
class. No one who knows dogs would say all breeds
of dog are the same. Any person who said so would
be seen as an idiot. No one who knows cars would
say that all makes are the same. And no one who
knows humans would say that all races are the same. There are differences in the size and shape of the brain as well as important hormonal differ-ences. As Brother Job intimates in a "World Made
by Hand", don't be around Blacks when the shit hits the fan. They're will go Katrina again and
there will be no calvary coming over the hill this
time.
My leaned friends... I am the the dotted line southern dumbass...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmWdnfFqhuk
Woe to the Mega churches built on the Freeways of death.
When he met her at the well what was she doing? American women know not how to fetch. The judgment falls on us men.
Gen. 6:2-4: "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose....There were giants in the earth in those days; and also afterward, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."
21) And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: (22) And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (23) And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: (24) And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him. (25) And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: (26) And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: (27) And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
Things change!
A man on a bicycle...
My leaned friends... I am the the dotted line southern dumbass...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmWdnfFqhuk
Woe to the Mega churches built on the Freeways of death.
When he met her at the well what was she doing? American women know not how to fetch. The judgment falls on us men.
Gen. 6:2-4: "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose....There were giants in the earth in those days; and also afterward, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."
21) And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: (22) And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (23) And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: (24) And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him. (25) And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: (26) And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: (27) And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
Things change!
A man on a bicycle...
More efficient than a bird in flight
Why was Jim E Carter the worst?
Why was Jim E Carter the worst?
Truly the best!
There can be peace in the middle east.
I have a dream.
jhk- please lay on my southern dumbass- no fan of the tide- I pray for the demise...
Well,now that our Tel Aviv bosses heard from the pope,that he'd like to see peace in the middle east,is it not about time we start attacking the Vatican?
Or is there a problem getting enough sons and daughters from the middle west to implement the latest wars dreamt up by the jewish banksters and wall street scum?
Through no fault of their own,the brainwashed American public really is too stupid to survive.
Well,now that our Tel Aviv bosses heard from the pope,that he'd like to see peace in the middle east,is it not about time we start attacking the Vatican?
Or is there a problem getting enough sons and daughters from the middle west to implement the latest wars dreamt up by the jewish banksters and wall street scum?
Through no fault of their own,the brainwashed American public really is too stupid to survive.
Well,now that our Tel Aviv bosses heard from the pope,that he'd like to see peace in the middle east,is it not about time we start attacking the Vatican?
Or is there a problem getting enough sons and daughters from the middle west to implement future wars dreamt up by the jewish banksters and wall street scum?
Through no fault of their own,the brainwashed American public really is too stupid to survive.
America
Like a Rock
But Dumber
Rhymes with Hummer
Rhymes with Bummer
Duhmerica Da Beautiful
Da Bigger Da Better
America
Like a Rock
But Dumber
Rhymes with Hummer
Rhymes with Bummer
Duhmerica Da Beautiful
Da Bigger Da Better
This week, I have two questions:
1) Which is the bigger credibility-hit, triple-posting or swallowing the Great Zionist Conspiracy?
2) Is Movable Type just as horrible as TypoPad?
Funzel: Nice try, troll. Take to your copy of Mein Kampf and your tin foil hat and go play somewhere else. The adults are having a serious conversation.
I think MJ was a genius.
Heal the World:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W61Q-EZ8R7M
What disgust me in MJ most of all. It is a man, who got everything in his life and he squandered it and ruined his life all by himself. it really reminds of what USA has done with its resources base and environment.
When I hear people say his father abused him, I cannot believe what I hear.
Ok, his dad is not the best in the world, but thanks to that "abuse" MJ became at least in music what he was.
People say he had no childhood. Pussies. What did he do? worked at the factory at 5? He danced and sang.
I wish those who say such crap just take and read a book by Russian writer Maxim Gorky about his life as a child which was typical in 19 century.
Every Friday they got beaten according to so called House rules which had place in Russia then. Slept on the kitchen and worked 16-18 hours every day. Poor MJ, I really do feel sorry for him :)
What disgust me in MJ most of all. It is a man, who got everything in his life and he squandered it and ruined his life all by himself. it really reminds of what USA has done with its resources base and environment.
When I hear people say his father abused him, I cannot believe what I hear.
Ok, his dad is not the best in the world, but thanks to that "abuse" MJ became at least in music what he was.
People say he had no childhood. Pussies. What did he do? worked at the factory at 5? He danced and sang.
I wish those who say such crap just take and read a book by Russian writer Maxim Gorky about his life as a child which was typical in 19 century.
Every Friday they got beaten according to so called House rules which had place in Russia then. Slept on the kitchen and worked 16-18 hours every day. Poor MJ, I really do feel sorry for him :)
@asoka-
Interesting facts that are not discussed much:
The only way the Maliki government managed to get the Iraqi Parliament’s narrow approval for the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that gave the US a legal basis to remain in the country beyond January 1 of this year was to promise a referendum, to be held no later than July 30 of this year.
That date is rapidly approaching and parliament has set aside the money to fund the vote. Maliki’s cabinet has sought to delay the pact, but has been rebuffed by parliament. It seems then that by the end of the month, a vote could be held which would hand the legality of the continued US military presence over to the Iraqi voting public.
The SOFA requires a year of advanced notice to cancel, so even if the vote fails the US would have until 2010 to complete its withdrawal of 131,000 troops from the nation. There has been no publicly released polling data on the likelihood of the referendum to pass, but a failure would at the very least seriously inconvenience President Obama’s desire to keep 50,000 troops in the nation “indefinitely.”
Iraq Vote
Turkle (the idiot) sez:
"Israel has violated more than 10 times as many UN resolutions as Iraq, and we give them billions of dollars a year and free weapons.
Various parties in the Congo have violated god-knows-how many UN resolutions. And the US does nothing."
Israel has not attacked neighbors unless provoked. Iraq invaded Kuwait,unproved, pure and simple. We kicked Iraq'a ass and told Saddam to be a good boy. He signed on the dotted line, saying he would be a good boy. He was a bad widdle boy. He now rests with the goat fuckers.
"Various parties heve violated god-knows-how many UN resolutions..." Good thing God does, fucktard, because you certainly seem to be short on facts. Nice try but you remain a moron. Now shut the fuck up...chump!
Rico,
asoka-his-ass is not worthy of a dialog. He is a brainwashed, moron. Save your energy for someone capable of a rational argument.
one-eyed zsa zsa
OEO's sock puppet,
Calling other posters f***tards, and other silly middle school insults, simply undermines your arguments and is the definition of irrational. It makes you look like exactly what you call other people, a moron.
I'm going to follow that line from Wargames, "The only winning strategy is not to play."
Because you just want to browbeat other people and call them names, I guess because it inflates your damaged, shriveled ego. I really don't know. A competent psychologist could have a field day with you and your strange internet pathologies.
Anyways, Mr. Rational, have fun crapping on everyone to feel better about yourself, at least until you get banned again.
Bye bye, now.
Report from Lost Angeles...
SHIKO......
'When I hear people say his father abused him, I cannot believe what I hear.'
Ok so im in tinsel town and have know several who were round MJ....
one said ' id see him as a child at the studios, no kids round him, the limo driver and the tutor....THATS NOT A CHILDHOOD THATS BEIN A CASH COW FOR DADDY !
that fellow said the same thing bout karen carpenter....SHE TOO DIED AN ANORECTIC!!!!
The gov. here says calis debt is 27? Billion...grew by 3 billion overnite!
and villaragosa..La mayors sworn in for term 2.
he of mecha saying:
of AN ACCUSED GANGSTER / MURDERER
HES A FINE YOUNG MAN...IVE BEEN FRIENDS WITH THE FAMILY SINCE HE WAS A CHILD!
my apologies for mulitple posts...i will now not repost when it says it didnt post because it does post despite what it tells me
I dont think most us citizens adore MJ
...its the media having a ' field day'
....which is to get those watching the tube to...DONT PAY ATTENTION TO THE RUINATION OF THE COUNTRY/ WORLD'
ATTENTION double and triple, quadruple posters and Jim e: what are you folks doing, trying to make JHK's stats look good?
After you hit "submit" button, wait a few seconds for the Confirmation page to load. Then you can select "view your latest post" plus continue reading those of others on the blog.
It's supposed to be simple, moron CFN fucktards.
If the late MJ best represents the American national character in the 21st century, then what does Celine Dion say Canadians? I'm guessing nothing because Canada's national character in 2009 to me is best represented by King Stephen the Harper and all the intellectual midgets who do his bidding. Hell, if MJ was frightening in all his depravity, then the ideological pit bull up in Ottawa who apparently doesn't believe in Global Warming, Peak Oil or Evolution must be truly terrifying when you consider the implications.
turkle sez:
"Calling other posters f***tards, and other silly middle school insults, simply undermines your arguments and is the definition of irrational."
Hey FUCKTARD, grow a pair. (Hint: Not tits.) Now suck it up and shut it up, wus.
And by the way you little puss, you ended up whining about a few aptly applied names I chose for you. You did not address the fact that your post, criticizing my post was a vapid, poorly framed, irrational piece of dog fuck. What up wif dat nancy-boy? (Not that there is anything wrong with nancy-boys aside the fact that they tend to whine a bit much.)
And by the way you little puss, you ended up whining about a few aptly applied names I chose for you. You did not address the fact that your post, criticizing my post was a vapid, poorly framed, irrational piece of dog fuck. What up wif dat nancy-boy? (Not that there is anything wrong with nancy-boys aside the fact that they tend to whine a bit much.)
And by the way you little puss, you ended up whining about a few aptly applied names I chose for you. You did not address the fact that your post, criticizing my post was a vapid, poorly framed, irrational piece of dog fuck. What up wif dat nancy-boy? (Not that there is anything wrong with nancy-boys aside the fact that they tend to whine a bit much.)
And by the way, wus-boy, you ended up whining about a few names aptly chosen to fit your affliction. You dodged my crit of your crit. Why? Because you had nothing to reply of my charge of your empty, vapid argument. What a fucking nancy-boy.
Wow man! This leave a comment section works exceedingly well. (Fucking NOT.)
Doom sez:
"After you hit "submit" button, wait a few seconds for the Confirmation page to load."
Unfortunately, the confirmation page does not always load. You often end up in blank-page-purgatory with no option but the refresh button or the back button. Whatever, its all a pants load regardless.
I heard about MJ's death just before setting out on a raft trip down the San Juan. It had no effect on the water level, geological column, wild life, plants, sedimentation rates, temperatures, river currents, length of the oars, visible stars, sunrise and set, phase of the moon, growth of my beard, etc. Must not have been that important.
First,
I would like to thank the participants of this blog for providing extremely entertaining postings. There is enough turd flying around here to build new empire state building. Internet at its best!
As to MJ story, judging by responces here,JK certainly touched a raw nerve in the populace. MJ was and is a representation of where our once great country is at this moment in history: flamboyant but poor, naive but perverted, creative but washed out, eagar but tired, diverse but racist, reaching but closed-minded, entertaining but bored.
Our big ship is listing to port, water level is rising slowly but the band plays on, and people pretend nothing is amiss. And so far, we have time to post entertaing comments on various blogs and discuss things that we can not effect. But the manual labor of tending fields or ramaging through trash to find something to eat is not so far away. I still hope there is a dignified way out of this mess.
First,
I would like to thank the participants of this blog for providing extremely entertaining postings. There is enough turd flying around here to build new empire state building. Internet at its best!
As to MJ story, judging by responces here,JK certainly touched a raw nerve in the populace. MJ was and is a representation of where our once great country is at this moment in history: flamboyant but poor, naive but perverted, creative but washed out, eagar but tired, diverse but racist, reaching but closed-minded, entertaining but bored.
Our big ship is listing to port, water level is rising slowly but the band plays on, and people pretend nothing is amiss. And so far, we have time to post entertaing comments on various blogs and discuss things that we can not effect. But the manual labor of tending fields or ramaging through trash to find something to eat is not so far away. I still hope there is a dignified way out of this mess.
Will Toure ever shut up? He's always on MSNBC, defending Michael Jackson's "genius." Seems he lives at MSNBC now. Toure - too special to go by a last name - thought Jackson could do no wrong, and insists Jackson integrated pop music (he did not),crowing smugly about how Jackson broke raical barriers on white radio. Ever notice that black radio doesn't play white artists? Toure doesn't even acknowledge white music's existence, he must think Crosby, Stills and Nash are a law firm!
Will Toure ever shut up? He's always on MSNBC, defending Michael Jackson's "genius." Seems he lives at MSNBC now. Toure - too special to go by a last name - thought Jackson could do no wrong, and insists Jackson integrated pop music (he did not),crowing smugly about how Jackson broke raical barriers on white radio. Ever notice that black radio doesn't play white artists? Toure doesn't even acknowledge white music's existence, he must think Crosby, Stills and Nash are a law firm!
Will Toure ever shut up? He's always on MSNBC, defending Michael Jackson's "genius." Seems he lives at MSNBC now. Toure - too special to go by a last name - thought Jackson could do no wrong, and insists Jackson integrated pop music (he did not),crowing smugly about how Jackson broke raical barriers on white radio. Ever notice that black radio doesn't play white artists? Toure doesn't even acknowledge white music's existence, he must think Crosby, Stills and Nash are a law firm!
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
But wow, check out those stats!!!!
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
But wow, check out those stats!!!!
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.
But wow, check out those stats!!!!
I just signed in at about 1:40 EST didn't read all the commenst since my last one, just saw Doom's at 12:57.
What's the deal?
I pay pretty close attention to the "number of comments" number so I don't have to bother clicking if nothing changes.
I'm pretty sure it said 234 before I went out tonight, 6 hours ago. It says 234 now. So my first thought was that all my comments and OEO's would be gone.
But this is not the case.
My next thought(hope) was that all the new douchebags who have been poisoning this site for the last few weeks had been removed. I'll have to investigate.
[note to Jim: spellcheck is flagging "douchebag" - you're gonna need to fix that, it's a word, dude, just like dude is a word, spellcheck doesn't flag dude, how about shit, nope, shit is a word, too]
Still 234.
OEO, I gotta be on my best behavior, or I'm gonna get my ass banned again.
Asoka is not a bad guy, he's just slightly confused politically and intellectually in my humble opinion. In his favor - he takes us on. Even if he constantly loses. That's hard work.
I'm gonna play good cop for a while.
Always got your six,
JR
PS - Super Happy Bob Tunamelt is no longer with us.
"Will Toure ever shut up?"
I have no idea who "Toure" is. Will you shutup? Are you fucking retarded? Who watches MSNBC all day?
Ever heard of Oprah? Jerry Springer? Get a life, jackass.
"he must think Crosby, Stills and Nash are a law firm" Was that supposed to be funny? I almost pissed my pants. You should do standup.
Triple Post. The only thing that could have saved you was a quadruple post.
Doom obviously gets a pass, he was begging JHK's webmonkey to intervene by example. Doom understands and never even double posts.
.
.
.
Okay. People! Over here!
Listen up.
Blogging 101.
After you hit the submit buttom.
Chill out.
DO NOT hit submit again when you do not immediately see your brilliant comment.
STOP thinking your worthless, stupid comments are important.
In this way, we can all avoid seeing your stupid, boring writing and thoughts 3 times in a row.
Now go back to your pathetic lives.
-Ari Gold
jr said: "Asoka is not a bad guy, he's just slightly confused politically and intellectually in my humble opinion. In his favor - he takes us on. Even if he constantly loses. That's hard work."
JR, thank you for those kind words.
It is not hard work. Change comes quite naturally. I am not so concerned about being "consistent" so I write whatever I please, which may very well be different from what I wrote in the past. For some this will appear as intellectual dishonesty, for others as evolution and willingness to change positions given new facts, for others, like you, it just looks like confusion.
In any event nothing I write here is of any importance.
@asoka -
I was going to write a long piece responding individually to each of your responses to my last piece (about you), but I just don't have the energy tonight.
I appreciate your good humor.
It is hard work. Some of the hardest. Don't sell yourself short. You are going up against Rico, OEO, sometimes Yarra, and others.
I don't know about those other guys, but I've got an agenda, and I'm not gonna quit until my mission (as Tom Cruise laid it out to me)is accomplished.
"Brainwash asoka back the other way." That's what Tom said to me.
So I'm gonna convince you, one way or another.
We can do this the easy way, or we can ...
"Brainwash asoka back the other way." That's what Tom said to me.
Tom Cruise, the Scientologist, said that? Are you a Scientologist, too?
Do you have expertise in brainwashing? I deserve the very best professional brainwashing... and dry cleaning, too.
Worldwide Real Esate Mafia
At what point did minimum rents become greater than minimum wages ? Why didn't anyone notice ? when did rents become more than 700 to 800 dollars a month while wages stagnated at exactly the same price as minimum rent ? who designed this ? And you can notice that it was designed from an international mafia - thugs - criminals who decided to rob most avergage to poor workers in the name of a home. When was it decided that having shelter was no longer a basic right ? when was it considerd a luxury ? Is water or food a luxury ?
This system of creating high rents to force people to buy and brainwashing people that the more their homes go up in price the "richer" they are is the biggest international scam ever. It is incredible that in so many countries and economies you see the same scam over and over again. In JAPAN they are not allowed to make multilevel apartments in the middle of Tokyo to keep prices up and houses of limited availabilty, they tear them down every 30 years, they have insane prices, and yet the japanese, with all their scientists and great "research" can't see this monopolistic robbing of their people right in fron of their eyes ? They don't notice ?
The same systems apply to the USA and EU, the details may change somewhat but the goal is to keep prices of buying or renting as high as possible, to give money to a bunch of parasites that don't work or do anything "productive", but simply rob the money from average workers in the form of huge rents/mortgages.
Prices in the USA, the EU and JAPAN have to get down to no more than 20% of minimum wage, that is no more than 200 to 300 dollars a month rent for an average home in all markets. That is what is needed to keep the economy going and "growing"! The only thing that grows is the price of rents and mortgages, this robbing has to end!
Now the G8 international economy forum starts, and they will continue with the old crap of the need to downsize companies, offshore, outshore, cut costs which always means cutting the wages of workers, always, etc. It is always the workers fault, they have to always learn "new" skills, always "training" for "new activities", always downsize, always layoff, etc. etc. This then is supposed to give the workers and their "families" the confidence to keep running the "consumer" economy. Are they nuts ? With all these cuts and all these "optimizations" which means less and less money for workers, no one in their right mind would do anything but save.
By the way, peak oil is not the real problem facing western society (the 3 macro regions of USA, EU and JAPAN, and some others Canada, South Korea). But PEAK WORK - LABOR. There is not enough justifiable work available anymore, there is not any kind of work - profession that justifies the pay levels and amount of employment needed. There is no real financial or technical imperative that forces societies to have so many people at work 8 hours a day. The real mega problem is that work is disappearing, becoming obsolete. The real problem is not the end of energy, but the end of any kind of work, and especially any kind of high paying work. This is because our technological society has created huge EXCESS CAPACITY in all productive endeavors. Most work has been automated by computers or outsourced to India or Indonesia at 100 dollar a month wages. Therefore we need free salaries, cheap rents and mass transit.
"PS - Super Happy Bob Tunamelt is no longer with us."-JR
So who was Bob Tunamelt? Did I miss the memo?
"PS - Super Happy Bob Tunamelt is no longer with us."--JR
So who was Bob Tunamelt and why is he no longer with us?
Doom wrote:
“Someone needs to tell Jim is new blog site is fucked up.”
Shhh. Somebody got sold on the idea of “change = good”. Even the old one was not quite this buggy. Tutto bene and all that.
Jim E, your posts take the cake for “things that make us wonder what meds people stopped taking”. Alex, for $400 how about Abilify, Biston, Cogentin, and Thorazine plus 6-point restraints in a rubber room?
8M wrote: “When did rents become more than 700 to 800 dollars a month while wages stagnated at exactly the same price as minimum rent ? who designed this?”
This process happens everywhere whenever wealth & population are increasing in an expansionary system. The same process happens in Boston, San Diego, Paris, and Rome both now and thousands of years ago. Rising housing values force the lowest-paid workers out to the periphery of the map, to enjoy both long commutes and marginal earning power.
Nowhere in the bill of rights or the constitution does the word “affordability” appear.
Just because this thing looks like a tail doesn't mean it should get pinned on some poor donkey.
"So who was Bob Tunamelt and why is he no longer with us?"
Sorry. I thought you monkeys could figure shit out. I miss Holmes.
Bob Tunamelt was my clever (so I thought) name for Bob Snowjob. He is gone. And he was a douche.
It is obvious I still require OEO for my most clandestine missions.
Sorry, Sorry.
My bad. I apologize. I simply. I'm sorry. I messed that up. I'm sorry. I simply did not calculate how important dale might be. Him plus Snowmelt must be like at least two seconds. Thatz thum importan shit.
Morning JR. Where is our good strawman Dale anyway? The last I heard, he had somehow morphed from “we'll muddle through” and “PO is 20 years away, not to worry, just keep shopping” to “uh-oh, maybe this PO thing might happen earlier than that”.
Or maybe Dale was just keeping part of my chair warm for a bit. I couldn't tell which.
"Tom Cruise, the Scientologist, said that? Are you a Scientologist, too?"
Asoka, c'mon dude. Are you crazy? Why do you think I'm Johnny Rico?
I keep my mouth shut.
The only people I talk to are Holmes, Bif, OEO, zsa zsa, Nudge, Petreaus, Dave, The Lizard King, Haile Selassie.
No. Serious. Cruise isn't into that. He's just lookin for publicity.
And also, oeo and zsa zsa are different people.
OEO is probably the most loved commenter on CFN. zsazsa is most likely his cousin while he gets his shit together. I'll flank zsa zsa. But nigga need to get his name back on. I'm jus sayin.
"So who was Bob Tunamelt and why is he no longer with us?"
Sorry. I thought you monkeys could figure shit out. I miss Holmes.
Bob Tunamelt was my clever (so I thought) name for Bob Snowjob. He is gone. And he was a douche.
It is obvious I still require OEO for my most clandestine missions.
Morning, Nudge.
No way. I know a fractured community when I see one.
Kiss, and make up, and I'll verify.
Dale is not part. he can rot for all I care.
I want you and OEO. You and OEO. Dale means nothing.
Am I right?
If I went on CFN right now and said "dale", nobody would know what I was saying. Am I right?
I don't care. You can use me as a proxy. I'm the runner. Everybody like Johnny Rico.
"Rising housing values force the lowest-paid workers out to the periphery of the map, to enjoy both long commutes and marginal earning power"
It is also called ROBBING THE POOR. It is also called speculation, it is also called setting people against each other, a kind of hidden warfare, also a warfare amongst the poor, it is also called beating up the weaker class. This is also known as that old fashioned MARXIST IDEA of CLASS WARFARE.
So where is the so called "common good" ? What good does a society have in common ?
It is also called a monopoly by the powers that be that crush out those that can't pay the amount of money required to simply rent. It is also known as violence, essentially HATE, as in HATE another person by not letting them live in at least basic shelter. I could go on, but this has to change. We need cheap rents, not some worldwide thugs that buy up properties and force people to buy homes and constantly jack up the prices. Thanks for protecting THUGS ...
We also need free salaries, like 800 dollars a month worldwide, rents at 200 dollars a month for 80 square meters, and mass transit. This is what must be imposed by force, by revolution, by all means, by WAR.
8M wrote: “We also need free salaries, like 800 dollars a month worldwide, rents at 200 dollars a month for 80 square meters, and mass transit. This is what must be imposed by force, by revolution, by all means ..”
Again, please show me where in the constitution or bill of rights or in any federal, state, or local laws (here in the United Parking Lot of America) affordability is mandated.
You post the same schtik every week, right? I remember that assturd RCJ and his badly-spelled barely-English rants about greed, stuff he obviously spent many hours sweating over in Notepad, pecking it out one key at a time, probably with his tongue stuck out sideways.
Again, this is an effect in search of a cause. Just because some people got rich off the bubble doesn't mean those same people orchestrated the bubble. Causality, please?
JR, this place has gone to the socks.
It is also called ROBBING THE POOR. It is also called speculation, it is also called setting people against each other, a kind of hidden warfare, also a warfare amongst the poor, it is also called beating up the weaker class. This is also known as that old fashioned MARXIST IDEA of CLASS WARFARE
-----------------
It is also called population growth.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but have you ever thought that not everyone can live in exactly the same spot?
And if that's the case, how do you redistribute the land in a fair manner?
If you've lived in your house for 30 years and paid it off, I'd love to see your reaction if some government agent just came in and told you to share because it's not fair for all the new citizens.
Yeah, I know.
I'm meeting Nudge for Lunch, Asoka on Tuesday.
I got it.
Danm, didn't they already try that communism thing over in Russia? Didn't work too well AFAIK. 8M's position on government seizure of private wealth would probably be 180° different if s/he had a few million dollars in patiently-earned and -saved money, or expensive property.
Should 8M choose to do so, s/he can always emigrate to Cuba to live under that kind of system. Didn't they recently relax the travel restrictions?
«the confirmation page does not always load. You often end up in blank-page-purgatory with no option but the refresh button or the back button.»
When you see the blank page, hit the back button then END to skip to the bottom of the page. If your comment isn't there, hit Refresh. Works for me. I usually see both my comment posted & in the text box.
«I'm meeting Nudge for Lunch, Asoka on Tuesday»
JR, you're not bullshittin' us this time, are you? We want to hear all about it!
Jim - don't dis Michael Jackson. You know nothing about him. He sang with maturity at age five. He never went to music school, but he has the kind of musical mind that can hear all voices in harmonies with, let's say, six parts. He never studied classical music, but he began writing it before he died. How did he learn to - by listening to it, of course. He had perfect pitch. You don't have to wear a coat and tails and sit at a Steinway in Carnegie Hall to be a genius. I don't know of a classical pianist alive today who can do with his body in relation to the keyboard when Michael Jackson could do with it in relation to a dance floor. His invented new ways of singing, dancing, and songwriting. And besides all that, he was a beautiful human being. And, puh-LEASE,leave off with the pedophilia stuff already. He was set up. He didn't do it. It's old already.
8M, in my experience, the poor do a pretty good job robbing themselves. No, seriously, I'm not joking. Just go into any peckerwood section 8 hovel, trailer park redneck riviera, etc, and what do you see? Everyone's got color televisions & cable/satellite, plenty of beer, plenty of cigs, plenty of motorized toyz, and lots of kids. Oh, and they all whine about not having enough money. LOL. Bwahahaha. Cause, meet effect.
Tell me please when you find some poor people who've managed to scale their living costs to what they can actually afford.
Hi Far :)
JR claims he'll meet up someday, but he'll probably fall off the wagon again before it comes to pass. God, I'll be fricking ancient by the time he gets around to it. You'd think he'd want to meet while I'm still skinny.
So you believe in the trickle down effect ? that innovation, new technologies will create millions of new high paying jobs for engineers, researchers, designers, the service economy ? That there will be all these high paying jobs in the USA, EU and JAPAN ? That there will be all these new inventions waiting to be discovered out there ? All these new applications requiring programmers, computers etc. ? (All these "square wheels")
So you don't think there is any EXCESS CAPACITY worldwide in all productive endeavors ? Do you know that we have a few million redundant workers worldwide, that we could potentially build millions of more cars and homes without hiring new workers, but can't because of the economy ?
Did you know that automation and computers have automated millions of jobs ? and the rest of low class labor can be done in Indonesia for 100 dollars a month ?
As far as there being too many people for home prices to get down, this is BS. only 10 % of USA territory could host 50 billion people in 5 or 6 level concrete apartments, like those in PARIS, and you would still have alot of extra space. The reason why homes cost both to buy and rent is because a dominating social class wants it that way, a silent majority of homeowners in the USA, EU and JAPAN (about 60%) vote governments that have all the interest in jacking up the values of homes and rents. A majority represses a poor minority, so this is why governments want everyone to buy homes, to be part of the majority that squeezes the weaker minorities.
Get a clue, NUDGE, and by the way, how will Peak Oil play out with the "long commutes" ? Enjoy the value of your home, NUDGE, I can tell you own and probably rent out homes and make alot of cash. Good for you...
"Just go into any peckerwood section 8 hovel, trailer park redneck riviera, etc, and what do you see? "
Umm, Fudge in her pants? Staring in windows, longing for acceptance?
8M, I believe in precious little beyond what I see. Trickle-down hasn't worked. Communism hasn't worked. Globalism hasn't worked. The bailouts haven't worked.
Just observing things. Pointing out observations does not imply the presence of any workable system with which to replace the things that caused such messes. Just sayin'
Even the most desperately-poor, scraping-by people I know personally still have Netflix subscriptions, cellphones, multiple nice vehicles, credit cards, plenty of cigs, more televisions than I have (0), etc, and still purchase $200+ electronic geegaws for their kids.
Groceries & rent are much easier to keep up with when you don't spend on much else.
Hi Zsazsa. Seen Dale anywhere?
"Just observing things."
Water. Sky. Pink. Dog. Turbo-charged cat. Idiot. (Wow, this really is fun!) Yawn. Yawn with spittle tracks. Zzzzzz...
«Enjoy the value of your home, NUDGE, I can tell you own and probably rent out homes and make alot of cash. Good for you...»
Wow, that truly got a LOL out of me! I thought you'd been around a lot longer than that; you would have known better. Nudge is one of those few non-wealthy people who live well inside their means, and I mean well inside their means. Think stereotypical penny-pinching New Englander. (Oh, and she rents.)
Nudge is right; the poor (and hell, the middle class for that matter) doesn't know how to manage their wealth. 'Course, they're aided and abetted by marketroids who want them to buy their shit, and by an educational system that doesn't even try in most cases to teach money management.
Nudge:
What I find the most amusing is the sheer number of people who don't see that life has always been about access to resources and the fight for them. I guess it's because up to now, we've always had more more land to absorb our population overflows.
It does not seem to have occured to them that America got populated because of increasingly limited resources in Europe.
Many will argue that there are plenty of resources and we only need to share. But the reality is that by making life better for everyone, we will only get even more population growth, further exarcebating the problem. Malthus was essentially right. What he did not realize was that there were still vast expanses of land that could still be exploited. We're now reaching the limit as East and West are now starting to meet.
The other point that many people seem to miss is that there is no easy way to fairly distribute our resources. Everybody complains about how inefficent our system is but as the population gets bigger and stretches out over more area, often zones that should not even be ihnabited the level of complexity can only rise and make justice even harder to attain.
Sorry but IMO, we've reached the point of no return. Mother nature will decide when and how to redistribute. In the meantime, the aggressive ones will lose patience and attack to get their perceived fair share and even more.
Anyone expecting some kind of justice out of the system is just a patsy.
Blame the victim. They are doing good to the economy by buying consumer items, since they can't do much else, with the money they make. This is not a discussion on the merits of the poor or how they behave: everyone sucks and behaves badly, so this is not really the point.
The point is the way the system is set up: it is intentionally set up so as to force people to buy homes, in all the Western economy markets. Rents become higher than mrtgages, people buy, and you have a dominating clas of home owners, that will do anything to increase the values of the homes, and jack up the rents. Anyone who can't afford or compete is locked out, and must pay high rents/mortgages to this silent majority of parasites, of worthless crap, just like those worthless crap of poor you talk about, since all people suck equally.
JAPAN is an excellent example: they have been trying to prop up their consumer economy for decades since they have been in a depression for at least 20 years, but they dare not touch anything regarding housing and home prices and real estate. They don't allow to build multilevel apratments in tokyo, they have huge prices, they tear down their homes every 20 years to rebuild them and help the local monopolies, etc. And all their public stimulus money goes to "other things", when they could have buitl millins of homes - apartments and drastically reduced the prices of rents or homes. But they dare not touch this sacred cow. What fools. The UK is not much better, look at the insane prices in London, a 50 square meter house costs 500,000 dollars, in Tecas you can buy a McMansion with that money. Actually the US is a bit better off, but the US constructs restrictions by laying off workers and forcing them to move into the cities or urban areas where all the "new hot jobs" are, hence the prices go up again even there.
It is a worldwide Mafia, a worldwide plan to use real estate, homes, and rents to make as much money as possible off the weaker minorities. And those minorities are for the most part honest workers, not trailer park trash like you believe all the USA who rents or does not own a home is.
8M:
Yes the world is screwed up. But what is your magical solution? Tell me how you get to take away from Dick and give to Harry without creating WW3?
"It is a worldwide Mafia, a worldwide plan to use real estate, homes, and rents to make as much money as possible off the weaker minorities."
So, you're upset because the global mafia has conspired against you? OK. Hey, while we're on conspiracy theories, was 9/11 an inside job?
1) In JAPAN allow building 5 or 6 story apartments (like in PARIS), in most of tokyo that is occupied by small crappy single family homes. The governmet can build a few millioon homes, that would be enough to drastically reduce demand, hence prices both for rent and to buy.
2) London can use the same system as tokyo, since even in london most of the city is occupied by suinlr family homes. The government or PRIVATE BUILDERS can build a few million homes in apratments, creating more supply than demand.
3) In the USA, PRIVATE COMPANIES can by all forclosed homes and rent them out at a decent price, say 300 to 600 dollars a month even in the expensive LA, or NY areas.
It can be done, it would cost only a trillion dollars to build them in all the Western markets USA, EU and JAPAN.
But they won't do it, they preferred to throw away a few trillion in "bailouts".
This is the solution, cheap rents, but all those western governments are threading carefully to protect and hope home prices keep going up. And these governments are voted by and protect the interests of a silent CONSERVATIVE majority that wants rents and home prices going ever higher. The weaker minority can go to hell.
Also all of these areas have almost no population growth, so the excuse that there are too many people is BS. It is pure and simple greed, pure HATE on behalf of these governments. The USA, EU and JAPAN, the three stooges.
Hi Far :)
It's a sincere regret of mine that more people do not assume moron active roles in their own financial situations. Take for example the poor people I know personally, mentioned in the previous post. If they were to cut back on /luxuries/, they would have more money for /necessities/.
There is no magic to what I do. Pay cash, avoid the hidden debit card charges. Do the laundry by hand and hang it to dry .. no energy consumed other than to pump the water, and no money dropped into machines at the laundrymat. No smoking or alcohol. No television. Sew clothing instead of buying it. No AC. No restaurant visits. Work to constrain the consumption rates of gasoline and electricity.
Sadly, most residents of the UPL have simply got their spending priorities askew .. they put the same amount of energy into getting luxuries that hungry third worlders put into just getting enough food to scrape by. Thus I have little/no sympathy for the “poor” who nonetheless have a passel of kids, multiple televisions, multiple vehicles, cigarette & alcohol habits, cable/satellite service, plenty of electronic geegaws, nice store-bought clothing, restaurant habits, and so on.
Again, they've already tried this “seize from the rich by force” thing many times in world history. Always ends the same way. Huh, isn't the classic definition of insanity something like “doing the same thing again and again but expecting a different outcome next time”? Yup, that's us alright. To quote the famous demotivational poster, all of us is dumber than some of us.
Hi Far :)
It's a sincere regret of mine that more people do not assume moron active roles in their own financial situations. Take for example the poor people I know personally, mentioned in the previous post. If they were to cut back on /luxuries/, they would have more money for /necessities/.
There is no magic to what I do. Pay cash, avoid the hidden debit card charges. Do the laundry by hand and hang it to dry .. no energy consumed other than to pump the water, and no money dropped into machines at the laundrymat. No smoking or alcohol. No television. Sew clothing instead of buying it. No AC. No restaurant visits. Work to constrain the consumption rates of gasoline and electricity.
Sadly, most residents of the UPL have simply got their spending priorities askew .. they put the same amount of energy into getting luxuries that hungry third worlders put into just getting enough food to scrape by. Thus I have little/no sympathy for the “poor” who nonetheless have a passel of kids, multiple televisions, multiple vehicles, cigarette & alcohol habits, cable/satellite service, plenty of electronic geegaws, nice store-bought clothing, restaurant habits, and so on.
Again, they've already tried this “seize from the rich by force” thing many times in world history. Always ends the same way. Huh, isn't the classic definition of insanity something like “doing the same thing again and again but expecting a different outcome next time”? Yup, that's us alright. To quote the famous demotivational poster, all of us is dumber than some of us.
Huh, the three stooges were a bunch of slapstick clowns that couldn't find their way out of a wet gunnysack even with sharp scissors. Wouldn't running a secret, global-sized conspiracy (the veil of which is only rarely pierced by sharp & observant bloggers like 8M) require a little smarts?
(apologies if parts of this are a dup .. waited 10 minutes for the original comment to appear)
It is always absolutely hilarious to return to the comment thread at Kunstler's site and watch the subject segues.
This topic went from Michael Jackson and his pathetic existence to george bush, to Tom Cruise, to the Three Stooges.
Absolutely the cheapest entertainment I get each week.
Thanks folks!
It is always absolutely hilarious to return to the comment thread at Kunstler's site and watch the subject segues.
This topic went from Michael Jackson and his pathetic existence to george bush, to Tom Cruise, to the Three Stooges.
Absolutely the cheapest entertainment I get each week.
Thanks folks!
Jimbo, this blog software is even more buggy than TypoKey, which was legendary.
8M, to add something to the above post .. none of this is new stuff. Here is a lovely quote from Charles Dickens that sums it up quite well:
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."
What's oh-so-interesting about the current times is that so many people whooped it up in so many ways during the bubble's expansion phase. The numbers tell us that the average household accumulated $10K in debt annually during the bubble years. That was from back when our savings rate was negative, if you remember that time. That extra money (whether it be consumer debt, McMansions, vehicles) enabled more than just the obvious excesses: it also enabled whole sectors of the economy (like the manufacture of egregiously-large SUVs, Hardly-Ablesons, flatscreen TVs, etc, as well as the restaurant & entertainment industries) to expand way out of whack relative to the fundamentals.
We are now in the contraction phase of the bubble. Given that so many Americans have so little understanding of what parts of the economy are stable vs unstable during a bubble run-up, we can expect as many people to suffer from the return-to-normalcy as did well during the expansion phase.
Is this how to make this thing work? You send in a post, wait 10+ minutes for it not to appear, then post something else, and only then does the b0rked software nudge itself and realize it fell asleep on the job?
This page should always have a live link to the following Internet Butthurt Report Form for the benefit of anyone who feels hurt by what's said here:
http://roadriverrail.livejournal.com/391030.html
"In the USA, PRIVATE COMPANIES can by all forclosed homes and rent them out at a decent price, say 300 to 600 dollars a month even in the expensive LA, or NY areas."
STFU, moron. "Say 300 to 600 dollars a month"? Based on fucking what? Try and educate yourself a bit and do a little math. I quickly looked up average home prices in LA and the cheapest areas are averaging a quarter million dollars. I