Per usual, my friends, time is short. I'm finding plants to be pretty nifty things. It's like being a conductor...in extremely slow motion.
Those interested in more pics/details can view my Flickr set here.
There just isn't any time for writing right now, so here is a picture summary of the last six weeks. Writing is worthwhile, but for now these things seem more so. Thus, my time has been devoted to them.
A good overview. Well worth the 45 mins, and certainly time better spent than watching I Can Take A Bigger Dump Than You (or whatever the hell they're putting on the rube tube these days).
"The faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to Ingsoc, and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. In short....protective stupidity."-- Crimestop, Orwell's definition
I must have been about 10, which would have put my brother at age 8. There aren't too many concurrent details to include about this time other than to mention that, for various reasons, my ego had inflated itself to such a size that it was a miracle that it could support it's own weight. He had never liked school (for various reasons that no one bothered to ask about; reasons that likely wouldn't have been listened to if they had come up), and thus did not do well at it. It wasn't that he couldn't, he actively didn't. I enjoyed school more often than not (for various reasons that no one bothered to ask about-myself included; reasons that likely wouldn't have been listened to if they had come up), excelled at my studies, and gladly soaked up the consequent-but always very temporary-approval and accolades.
My father worked in a factory my whole life, a time when it was still possible to do such work for a wage that would support a family. But this was the 80's...the Gordon Gekko's of the world were being born, raised, and lifted up for our adoration, and adore these people, I did. I loved the suits. Slick and shiny was obviously the way to go, and of course this was supported by the fact that my father always tried to motivate by saying that I ddn't want to get stuck doing what he was doing, and that I should get a job where I work with my head instead of my hands. After all, God (my parents version) gave me the capability, and like God, the system we live in will love and reward those who exhibit diligent submission and faithfulness. The doctrines of religion and culture infused themselves one into the other, and it was around this time that I decided these things were manifest evidence that I was headed for great wealth and success. After all, I was nothing like my father. That was my brother's department. He was as much my father as I was my mother, a realization that would have come in very handy had I taken the time to think about it, given the manner in which my parents related to one another, or rather didn't, or couldn't, as was most often the case.
My brother and I were outside in the yard playing and messing around, and per usual, we began arguing about something. I can't remember the particulars of the thing but they aren't important, other than the particular that I was trying to impose my will in the same manner that the will of others was regularly imposed upon me, which is to say by way of a lot of screaming and/or physical force. Of course, as is always the case, conflict in this manner continues until both sides tire and the thing fizzles, never reaching any sort of conclusion or resolution. But on this day, as the thing wound down and my brother walked away I decided that it was time to pull out the big guns, saying something to the effect of "Yeah? Well it won't be too much longer and I'm going to be wildly successful and rich, and you're such an idiot you're going to be stuck working in a factory your whole life."
The ignorance and cruelty in that sentiment is so heinous and unbounded that it's difficult to leave its admission sitting on the page.
It wasn't until later on the next day, when I noticed my father not only wasn't speaking to me, he wasn't even looking at me. I couldn't figure out why. I asked, but any response was clipped and generally short. Something was obviously very wrong, and in my ego-haze, I just couldn't imagine what that might be. But there was no question it had something to do with me, so I persisted in my inquiries because it had been two days and I was starting to freak out a little bit. Finally, what should have been more than obvious was finally made clear. My brother hadn't "tattled" or run off to Mommy and Daddy. He was so crushed that they noticed immediately and made him come clean. It couldn't have been difficult. He was too small a vessel to bear such poison and his cup naturally ran over, splashing onto my father, and as we stood there on the porch three days later and he told me what the problem was, the true virulence of this thing I had unleashed made itself known. He wasn't angry like I had come to expect. I could see in his eyes that I had cut deeply enough that it was still all he could do try and stop the bleeding. There is no room for anger when pain is all-encompassing.
If my statement had affected my father, a grown man, so deeply, then its effect on my brother was surely more consequential. Of course that statement has the benefit of hindsight, because at the time I was so simultaneously awed and shamed by just the abstract of what I had done I couldn't apologize enough. Its prominence in my mind slowly ebbed away over time, but while the statement 'time heals all wounds' may be a correct one, it's worth remembering that when wounds heal they tend to leave scars, and scars have a tendency to hang around much longer.
*****
I haven't seen my brother in about three years now, and I'm supposed to be going back to the Midwest to visit soon. While we haven't seen each other in some time, we tend to speak on the phone once every week or two and such calls usually last an hour or more in what I thought were amicable arguments/discussions regarding the goings on of the world. Evidently this is not so, considering the hostility with which I was suddenly blindsided this evening, based on my arguing the demonstrable point that feeling some way about a thing is not the same as actual knowledge and/or experience of the thing. The response to this was quite suddenly 'oh, you just think you're so much smarter' and 'try to dumb it down for us country bumpkins', etc. Way out-of-bounds stuff that was completely unjustified given the topic at hand. I don't need to further belabor the details of how the discussion further devolved and ended with nothing accomplished because it was something that didn't really need to happen in the first place.
After spending a bit of time nursing my righteous indignation the above memory, stark and ugly, "reappeared out of nowhere" as they say, provided an opportunity to practice the very thing I constantly preach, which is that we must try and understand the other side of a thing instead of trying to make ourselves feel better about being correct on a specific point. It's not that I think my brother harbors a grudge that's two decades old, but at the same time it seems like it would be ignorant to ignore the ways in which our past has the ability to color our present. It is much easier to dwell on how right we are than it is trying to understand why the person we are at odds with thinks we are wrong, but making efforts to gain this understanding, whether our individual indignations are justified or not will prevent the empty hostilities which cause us to arrive in these situations to begin with.
The scars that we inflict, just as much as the ones we carry, all have a great deal to say. Perhaps that's the reason they stay around so long.
(I've been monopolized over the last couple of days with errands and trying to give the Mrs. a break from the frenetic wunderkind. At least one of the pieces I thought would be ready by now just isn't, so in the meantime I thought I would try and jot down a few broad thoughts on the recent 'scare')
'Don't Panic' and 'Chill Out' signals are beginning to work their way to the surface. The collective breathes it's sigh and folks ease back to "normal" as fast as their minds will take them. While panic (even the perfectly warranted or understandable kind) should be avoided at all costs, chilling out to any great extent might not be the best idea. Things haven't been chill for nearly a decade, and become even less so with the passing of each day.
On 4/27 I wrote as a note on my shared items with this article:
Insider company with deep roots/history/connections, in another oops! moment at the same time coordinated national pandemic exercises are occurring or in the process of ramping up.
New Orleans style Beta Test, ramped up to the global level.
I'm working on some more posts, but these things take time. Until then....
Twitter, Fuck Yeah.
Otis nailed it down:
The key to appreciating Twitter is to accept that it is just a thing. It’s not a revolution. It’s not the second coming of Edward R. Murrow. It’s not even all that brilliant. It’s just a cool little tool that can be great in the right hands. It’s easy to be disappointed by something you hold up as important. So, don’t hold Twitter up. Use it or don’t use it, as long as you don’t expect the second coming to be preceded by a “@believers I’m on my way.”Truly, it is great fun trying to cram as much as possible into those tiny message constraints. Pretty soon, we'll have Tweeted so much into so little that we'll be able to Tweet everything into nothing. That said, I'm currently working in the interim on achieving The Grand Tweet, hailed by all as a pinnacle of both brilliance and revolution. It could come at any time, so make sure you're following me.
The more one reads of this, the harder it is to credit Obama's statement today that "this is a time for reflection, not retribution." At least when it comes to the orders of our highest government leaders and the DOJ lawyers who authorized them, these are pure war crimes, justified in the most disgustingly clinical language and with clear intent of wrongdoing.
>And cannot every criminal on the face of the earth now claim the Obama defense: "Surely, your honor, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past. So let's forget the fact that I (raped/murdered/robbed/tortured), and move forward, shall we?" For the Obama defense is nothing other than the Nuremberg defense: "I was only following orders. I was given assurance by the highest authority that my actions were legal in all respects." Is this what we have come to? Is that what now constitutes bold, progressive action? Is this, really, part of our "core values," an essential embedded component of our "national greatness?"
After the Department of Homeland Security’s report on “rightwing extremism” was leaked and posted on Infowars and other alternative news sites, so-called conservatives wasted little time blaming the Obama administration for the report.
However, recent evidence reveals the report has nothing to with the supposed “Marxist” (as Michael Savage and others would have it) persuasion of the Obama administration. It is a product created by a government not interested in the artificial divides of the right-left paradigm and concentrates on one primary objective – to demonize and criminalize all effective opposition. [emphasis mine]
The “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” document was produced during the Bush administration, as a quick check of the PDF document’s properties reveals. It was created on January 23, 2007. In other words, the document is not a reflection of the supposed sinister political coloration of the Obama administration, said by many “conservatives” to be socialist or Marxist. It is a document produced specifically as part of a larger effort to demonize and eliminate all opposition regardless of political persuasion. [emphasis mine]
An earlier report produced by the Strategic Analysis Group, Homeland Environment and Threat Analysis Division of the DHS concentrated on “leftwing extremism”Leftwing Extremists Likely to Increase Use of Cyber Attacks over the Coming Decade), again demonstrating the government does not hold an ideological bias when it comes demonizing groups and individuals opposed to the government.
Glenn Greenwald lays out current circumstances quite plainly in his latest, Obama and habeas corpus--then and now:
"The Obama DOJ is now squarely to the Right of an extremely conservative, pro-executive-power, Bush 43-appointed judge on issues of executive power and due-process-less detentions. Leave aside for the moment the issue of whether you believe that the U.S. Government should have the right to abduct people anywhere in the world, ship them to faraway prisons and hold them there indefinitely without charges or any rights at all. The Bush DOJ -- and now the Obama DOJ -- maintain the President does and should have that right, and that's an issue that has been extensively debated. It was, after all, one of the centerpieces of the Bush regime of radicalism, lawlessness and extremism." [emphasis mine]It would do well for everyone to read the post in it's entirety. Well-inured partisans of all stripes should perhaps to read it more than once. The subject matter of his post directly relates to a statement I made previously.
"Both marquee candidates will continue the War Machine, both think the idea of domestic spying and retroactive immunization of the corporations that aided in the same is just dandy, and lest we forget, both were/are in full favor of robbing you and several more generations of large gobs of money to bailout the International Banks (oops, I mean, Stabilize the Economy), in spite of the loud and unequivocal “No” issued forth from the majority of citizens in this “democracy”. Of course this is only the very abridged, very short summary version to point out for the nth time that the only Change We Can Count On will be the exact opposite of what many people have fooled themselves into believing."
The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology got into this seeming nonrational element in voters' thinking when it reported an experiment with people known to be either strongly pro- or anti-Democratic. [...] There was a clear tendency for them to forget the material that didn't harmonize with their own preconceived notions.Indeed. Now, in order to ensure we do not labor under any illusions as to the nature of those "same methods that business has developed to sell goods", let's let the purveyor's speak for themselves.
Several political commentators (Reston, Dorothy Thompson, Doris Fleeson are examples) took special note in 1956 of what they felt was the growing role of "personality" in American politics. Dorothy Thompson called it the "cult of personality." Sociologist David Riesman, in noting the same phenomenon, considered it a part of the trend to other-directedness in American Life. Americans, in their growing absorption with consumption, have even become consumers of politics. This has brought an increased emphasis on giving the nod to the best performer [read: Actors--HH]; and in evaluating performance the "sincerity" of the presentation has taken on increased importance. He pointed out, in The Lonely Crowd, "Just as glamour in packaging and advertising of products substitutes for price competition, so glamor in politics, whether as charisma--packaging--of the leader or as the hopped-up treatment of events by mass media, substitutes for the type of self-interest that governed the inner-directed."
Not only do the American people, the depth-probers concluded, want political leaders with personality, but in the Presidency they want a very definite kind of personality. Eugene Burdick, teacher of political theory at the University of California, made a study of the qualities of the perfect president while serving as fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. (this is the same Eugene Burdick who in 1956 brought out a best-selling novel The Ninth Wave on irrational trends in politics.) Dr. Burdick found that the perfect President doesn't arise out of great issues, but becomes "great" in our minds because of his personality. He becomes "great" to the degree that he becomes a "father image" in our minds. Burdick relates: "Recent polls and psychological studies reveal the extent to which the President has now become what psychologists call a 'father image' in the average American home." Burdick summed up (in This Week) a composite picture of the perfect president: "He is a man who has great warmth, inspires confidence rather than admiration, and is not so proper that he is unbelievable. He must have 'done things' in another field than politics, and he must have a genuine sense of humor. His stand on individual political issues is relatively unimportant...[who wants to have a beer/hang out with the guy?--HH]"
[...]
In early 1956 Nation's Business, which is published by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, happily heralded the new, businessman's approach to politics. It proclaimed: "Both parties will merchandise their candidate and issues by the same methods that business has developed to sell goods. These include scientific selection of appeals [to emotion, ego, etc.--HH]; planned repetition.... No flag-waving faithfuls will parade in the streets. Instead corps of volunteers will ring doorbells and telephones.... Radio spot announcements and ads will repeat phrases with a planned intensity. Billboards will push slogans of proven power.... Candidates need, in addition to rich voice and good diction, to be able to look 'sincerely' at the TV camera...."
"As early as 1941, Dr. Dichter [considered to be one of the fathers of Motivational Research] was exhorting ad agencies to recognize themselves for what they actually were--"one of the most advanced laboratories in psychology." He said the successful ad agency "manipulates human motivations and desires and develops a need for goods with which the public has at one time been unfamiliar--perhaps even undesirous of purchasing." The following year Advertising Agency carried an ad man's statement that psychology not only holds promise for understanding people but "ultimately for controlling their behavior."As an illustration of the truth in these sentiments consider the following (keeping in mind Democrat, Republican, Being Green, USA!, etc., as brand concepts along with consideration of your own childhood and adult "education"):
"A firm specializing in supplying "education" material to schoolteachers in the form of wall charts, board cutouts, teachers' manuals made this appeal to merchants and advertisers: "Eager minds can be molded to want your products! In the grade schools throughout America are nearly 23 million young girls and boys. These children eat food, wear out clothes, use soap. They are consumers today and will be buyers tomorrow. Here is a vast market for your products. Sell these children on your brand name and they will insist that their parents buy no other. Many farsighted advertisers are cashing in today...and building for tomorrow...by molding eager minds" through Project Education Material supplied to teachers. It added reassuringly: "all carrying sugar-coated messages designed to create acceptance and demand for products...." In commenting on this appeal Clyde Miller, in his The Process of Persuasion explained the problem of conditioning the reflexes of children by saying, "It takes time, yes, but if you expect to be in business for any length of time, think of what it can mean to your firm in profits [and control-see Dichter statement--HH] if you can condition a million or ten million children who will grow up into adults trained to buy your product as soldiers are trained to advance when they hear the trigger words 'forward march.'"
[...]
When at the beginning of the decade television was in its infancy, an ad appeared in a trade journal alerting manufacturers to the extraordinary ability of TV to etch messages on young brains. "Where else on earth," the ad exclaimed, "is brand consciousness fixed so firmly in the mind of four-year-old tots?"...What is it worth to a manufacturer [or, say, a government captured by business--HH] who can close in on this juvenile audience and continue to sell it [on the many various aformentioned brands--HH] under controlled conditions year after year, right up to its attainment of adulthood and full-fledged buyer [voter--HH] status? It CAN be done. Interested?" (While the author was preparing this chapter he heard his own eight-year-old daughter happily singing the cigarette jingle: "Don't miss the fun of smoking!")
The Influence Game: Firms Reap Seeds of Lobbying
Anyone with any research on the subject of influence-peddling under their belt will see that the article treads in shallow, nay, surface-level waters. However, the shallow must be broken in order to go deep, as it were, so I'll use it.
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Big companies that spent hundreds of millions lobbying successfully for a tax break enacted in 2004 got a 22,000-percent return on that investment -- proof that for those who can afford it, hiring a lobbyist can pay handsome dividends.The spoils go to the true bi-partisan pragmatists, hiring former-actors to interface with current actors in service to an agenda/business plan.
The figures, compiled by professors at the University of Kansas for a study to be released Thursday, offer a rarely seen glimpse of how the lobbying business works, and why -- even as President Barack Obama vows to curb lobbyists' influence -- the industry is booming as never before."
"Lobbyists say they're not surprised by the findings, which prove what they tell their clients all the time: You can't afford not to have a seasoned Washington player on your team."...sitting around on street corners..." ought to tell everyone what they need to know (for the umpteenth time) regarding the true effectiveness of street protesting and other such action. I'll ask the question again from yesterday, "...how can anyone say with a straight face at this point that the Mass of Proles (to say nothing of the individual) has influence of any consequence on any of these things whatsoever?""There's literally no way that you can take an action in Washington by simply coming to town and sitting around on street corners waiting for it to happen -- you really do have to have professional help," said Robert S. Walker, a former Republican congressman whose firm Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates lobbies heavily on transportation, health care, energy and trade matters. "It would be like going to court without a lawyer."
"But the data alarm some watchdog groups that worry ordinary Americans who can't afford representation by a well-paid lobbyist will lose out in debates with companies and interest groups who can."Ah yes, the standard line trotted out, for "balance" of course. Gosh, ya think that might, perhaps, happen someday? I'm sure glad it's not the case now. Hurry everyone! We've got to Hope harder!
"The nonpartisan group recently released a study comparing the amount spent by bailed-out banks on political contributions and lobbying with the amount of money they got from the Wall Street rescue fund, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The results produced eye-popping rates of return, an overall 258,449 percent for the $114 million they spent on campaign donations and lobbying."
(Note: Before beginning, it should be noted that while the questions referenced below were asked most recently by EasyCure, but are not at all unusual. They're same ones I'm hearing with increasing frequency from a very wide variety of people, which is why I'm trying to tackle them. The responses are in general and not specifically directed.)
Two questions were asked in the comments of the previous post:
Is there anything that can be done while working within the system, or does the system need to be dismantled?
"The System" is an all-encompassing term which will naturally mean different things to different people, based on their individual knowledge and experience. So, while it's difficult to narrow down an answer that retains some semblance of reasonable simplicity and accuracy while not encompassing several volumes when speaking of The System, it's worth a shot nonetheless.
Two definitions of the word system jump out from Merriam-Webster:
(1) f: a form of social, economic, or political organization or practice <the capitalist system>
5: an organized society or social situation regarded as stultifying or oppressive : establishment 2 —usually used with the
I think that both of the above will do well for our purposes, with one caveat. In regard to the first definition, I would assert that it is economic organization and practice that is the main driver of the social and political spheres (for at least the last couple of centuries). Placing them in a hierarchy, to my mind, would look thus: The Economic drives The Political, both working in tandem (through setup and institutional control of political parties, agencies, mulit-nationals, think-tanks, endowments, trusts, etc.--all functioning together as extensions of the economic arm ) to drive The Social. Of course, one could argue exceptions to this generalization, but that's why they're referred to as exceptions.
But no doubt about it, that motherfucker is oppressive.
Now, to draw nearer to an answer the first thrust of the question having to do with "working within the system", we must first address the latter portion asking if it needs to be dismantled.
The system does not "need to be dismantled". It is currently in the process of being dismantled, by design, right before our very eyes. This takedown has been in process for quite some time. If you disagree with this statement, then what, pray tell, do you think the controlling elements of this system are doing with their constant talk and promotion of New World Orders (which, by the way, I noticed yesterday in glancing at the teevee at work, that CNN has already in some spots, and in great Orwellian fashion, changed over to "New World Promise"), international currencies, global frameworks, rejecting "protectionism" in favor of the Free Trade rubric, the necessities of "regional governance" and other supra-national/international economic/political entities? Do you really think that it's simple stupidity/ignorance/naivete/greed that leads these power blocs to uniformly persist in their increasingly draconian restrictions of individual freedom, centralization of power, and their general "we need a bigger hammer" approach in all spheres of our existence? And lastly, throughout all of this, how can anyone say with a straight face at this point that the Mass of Proles (to say nothing of the individual) has influence of any consequence on any of these things whatsoever?
You are working within The System now, at this very moment, whether you like it or not. You were captured by it the moment you were born into this world. Your very survival depends on it (The Economic, remember?). The System as it has been, your shaped belief in it, your very reality, is being dismantled one piece at a time. The real question is, "Will you, as an individual*, continue to stand by and watch in a state of learned helplessness as a more restrictive and pervasive 2.0 version of The System (the blending of the communist and capitalist--privatized profits and socialized losses being one small but manifestly rampant and obvious example--with the technological/scientific control overlay) is constructed on the rubble of the old?"
*the many references to "the individual" above should not be taken in any way as some sort of evangelism toward the recently popularized Rand-ian narrative of "Going Galt". The cold hyper-individualism of the Rand philosophy is every bit as dangerous and counter-productive as any collectivist system, as both of these lure the individual (as well as the mass) to rigid and ultimately harmful extremes.
And so we go into the next question....
Is it enough to vote out every incumbent for the foreseeable future, or is full on revolution the only thing that will save us?
The first portion of this question is framed as though voting out every incumbent were a realistic possibility, and also seems to be based on the assumption that if indeed such a thing were possible, that the replacement would be better by default. (If it were possible to replace all incumbents with non-acting ham sandwiches I might be inclined to agree, but unfortunately for all of us, this is not the case.)
What is the biggest "factor" in modern electoral politics? What is the one commonality of every "election"? What is the one thing that is endlessly hyped; that crucial thing that makes candidates "electable"?
You know the answer to this as well as I do, and thus we find ourselves face to face once again with The Economic driving all things in The System, which compels me not to even get into discussions revolving around "Electing More and Better X".
As far as the last portion of the question, let's touch on the use of the words "full on revolution." It's another one of those statements that is very common, but is bound to mean many different things to many people. Also, in an effort to not drag out what has become a lengthy post, the reader might refer back to the above diatribe addressing the dismantling issue--the idea is the same. There is already a "full on revolution" happening, and it has been at work for some time. That fact that it has been working through very slow and consistent incremental methods (up to 2001, when it began speeding up noticeably and continues like a snowball rushing downhill) does not make it any less a "full on revolution."
I think the best way to finish these thoughts is to hit up Jaques Ellul once again. From (1964) The Technological Society, Chapter 6: A Look at the Future:
"A question no one ever asks when being confronted with the wonders of the future concerns the interim period.
[...]
When we reflect on the serious although relatively minor problems that were invoked by the industrial exploitation of coal and electricity, when we reflect that after 150 years these problems are still not satisfactorily resolved, we are entitled to ask whether there are any solutions to the infinitely more complex "hows" of the next forty years. In fact, there is one and only one means to their solution, a worldwide totalitarian dictatorship which will allow technique in its full scope and at the same time resolve the concomitant difficulties. It is not difficult to understand why the scientists and worshipers of technology prefer not to dwell on this solution, but rather to leap nimbly across the dull and uninteresting intermediary period and land squarely in the golden age. We might indeed ask ourselves if we will succeed in getting through the transition period at all, or if the blood and the suffering required are not perhaps too high a price to pay for the golden age." [take special note here, and think anew on the constant calls for "necessary sacrifice" that emanate from the "elected" godheads--HH]
I found a stream this morning and watched the announcement of Timmeh Geithner's "new" plan (details of which were "leaked" all through the weekend) this morning, and then spent my free chances throughout the day reading what some others had to say about it. Much of it was very, very silly.
(Not a single "bold and swift" plan goes by where I'm not amazed anew at the persistence with which people insist on continuing to frame these things in partisan terms, as though it's Bush's, Obama's, or hell, even Clinton's fault. These guys have little or nothing to do with anything unless it involves reading off a teleprompter, doing photo ops, signing papers that are set in front of them, and collecting their payoffs for the same.*
These are just the obvious and recent examples, of course.
Granted, Obama stil has to get through the next four years before he starts getting the real payoffs, but I'm sure the Executive perks serve to tide him over fairly well. Bush, well his payoffs have begun, but at a lower rate due not to "bad performance" as most are trained to think, but rather "bad performance" in that he was even more of an embarrassing and excessively drunken monkey than his handlers thought he would be. Clinton's performance has maintained (he was always very good at performing) and he continues to be rewarded regularly en route to deeper degrees of Elder Statesman status and prestige.)
Sorry about that digression. It's often difficult to refrain.
Oh yes, New Bold and Swift Economic Plans, by Timmeh. If you haven't gotten down and dirty with the details, I enjoyed Mish's roundup a great deal, and I promise you'll certainly get more out of it than reading the Serious and Respectable rags.
That being said, in thinking about the extent to which the public (and many, many future generations) are being looted and pillaged, along with all of the vastly silly partisan and/or generally false writing about the same--serving to further distract everyone taking part in The Great Circus-- I thought I might share some bits of truth from Jaques Ellul's The Technological Society.
From Chapter 5, Human Techniques:
Some effects of propaganda, however, are already clear.
1) The critical faculty has been suppressed by the creation of collective passions [see: Bush Hate, Obama Worship, blind partisanship in general--HH].
[...]
The suppression of the critical faculty--man's growing incapacity to distinguish truth from falsehood, the individual from the collectivity, action from talk, reality from statistics, and so on--is one of the most evident results of the technical power of propaganda. Human intelligence cannot resist propaganda's manipulation of its subconscious [focus on the use of the word "subconscious" here--this is what television programming speaks to directly, and how the opinions of the mass are formed--HH].
2) A good social conscience appears with the suppression of the critical faculty. [see, for example: Lowering your "carbon footprint"--HH]
3) Propaganda technique, moreover, creates a new sphere of the "sacred." As Monnerot puts it: "When and entire category of events, beings, and ideas is outside criticism, it constitutes a sacred realm, in contrast to the realm of the profane." [see: current widespread assertion that the "debate" onGlobal WarmingClimate Change, 9/11, etc. has been settled.--HH]
Perhaps it's the increasing appearance of the sun as spring pushes its way to the forefront. The fact that I'm finally finished with this year's self-incrimination ritual (the climax of which is always the same--I get robbed), has surely played its part. The reasons abound, really, but whatever they are--real or perceived--the current state of affairs has me itching to jump back into the pool and start peeing.
So to speak.
The last 2.5 years have been a period of massive personal deconstruction and redefinition (think more Rising of the Phoenix, less Madonna), and while that process is (and should be) ongoing, it's time for the new to emerge and engage.
I've started on teh twitters. Follow me, all ye faithful.
I got on the YouTubez. My channel is here, if you're so inclined. I haven't really done too much with it yet, but it's where any future John Wayne Gacy and Naked British Guy episodes will appear, if they do, and I will continue to slowly but surely add clips I'm fond of or that I feel are relevant as time goes on.
I've also been dragged into the outer circles of the Facebook cult, although I rarely attend. For the most part, it's simply another way for the more active cultists to feel the reach of my mental tentacles (mentacles?) without having to leave their virtual enclave. I pop in every now and again, run around and say hello, and that's that; staying too long makes me feel like an indentured hamster and/or like I've just made the decision to begin dabbling in heroin. Just a little here and there, that's how it always starts.
Besides, I was obligated to jump on, really. How disappointed would you be to look for me there and find well, I dunno...not me. I know I'd be disappointed-perish the thought. Life has enough disappointments without having them heaped on unnecessarily. (Editor's Note: Warning--as evidenced by the last few sentences, newly emergent Human Head may unintentionally come across as a pompous ass.)
******
Life with a child continues to be a fundamentally surreal experience. As we approach Anna's 14th month on the planet, the Mrs. and I find ourselves continually challenged, amazed, and generally worn the fuck out. The current phase? Separation anxiety. And boy howdy, it's a sunuvabitch.
Despite everything, though, there's no joy in this world quite like it.
(My baby loves her some Outkast)(fervent O followers may want to smoke some Hopium before reading...)
National Security Advisor James L. Jones, speaking at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy.
From the transcript on the Council on Foreign Relations site:
"Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through Generaal Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today."
The ridiculousness continues.
Naked British Guy joins John Wayne Gacy in the basement for games. See the burgeoning friendship that bears witness to our truly apocalyptic times in this taut and gritty roller-coaster ride of human emotion.
I'd call it not safe for work, but I don't know where you work. Who am I to make that call?
The warm and fuzzy. 2008 Summary in Pictures.
We started here:
Hit the midway point around here:
And ended here:
I've been barfed on, pissed on, and shat on more times than I can count*. On the other side of that, I've also been (more times than I can count) hugged, looked at, and smiled at in a ways that I wouldn't have imagined were possible, that are unique for me and not duplicated for anyone else in the world. For that one person, I am completely and utterly The Balls. Guess which of those things I care less about.
*is that sentence going to get me a bunch of unwanted fetish hits, you know, on a post with pictures of my babygirl? I don't think so since Google doesn't index me anymore because of my having been a bad advertising boy. This makes you a very exclusive intheknow audience. Haha Google, foiled you again.
Gone before you know it. I've been working on something for the last 3 days that I desperately wanted to publish, but it's grown into something that's going to require a great deal more consideration and work. It will be ready when it's ready, I guess.
I despise resolutions (or rather, what they've become), so here is a wish for you, one that I carry for myself:
To find greater Happiness, Health, and Wisdom in the coming year, to understand more clearly what these things are, and to not let them be defined for you.
Best to all.
Now that Vegas has been slept off and normal life returns with all of its "normality" (such as it is), snippets of the latest adventure beg to be mentioned. Those folks searching for a properly entertaining trip report that haven't seen one yet should click themselves post-haste over and read Derek--the man just held another Trip Report Clinic, per usual. If I had the means I would, at a minimum, make sure he traveled to Vegas on a quarterly basis just so the world could be exposed to more of his gold standard and bar setting recaps. Get over and check Pauly's various entries, too, crafting special reports as only he can (and seriously, if you ended up here before The Tao then your priorities are seriously out of whack--fix that).
And now, with the preambles out of the way....
*Everyone I spoke with over three days was variously skull-fucked and/or ass-raped by BlackJack. It amazes me even after all of these years that people still play that game. (This coming from the guy known to find his way onto a Let It Ride table and Wheel of Fortune slot at least once per trip, but in my defense, at least the degrading orifice invasion is gentler. A good rule of thumb is, if you're gonna get fucked, at least avoid getting slam-fucked.) Blackjack=Bad news. Run fast, run far.
*I used to enjoy The Venetian, until this trip, when I came face to face with the $9 bottle of beer. I don't care if I had a fucking billion dollars, I would still get worked up over a bottle of beer being Nine.Fucking.Dollars. That's 900% markup at liquor store prices, and you know a place like The Venetian definitely isn't paying that rate. Truly odious and offensive.
*Regardless of the lack of coherent explanation as to just why it is so, the Geisha Bar at the IP is still the heezee. There is no better place on this planet to pull up a chair and watch Dealertainers bring The Circus of Desperation to a fever pitch. The Mariah Carey that wasn't really Mariah at all. Bily Idol looking way too young and entirely too sober. There was, however, Freddy Mercury, and while his flame burned quite a bit brighter than the real Freddy's ever did, that first performance during peak brainfry transported me to some other place, like having my mind shot from a rainbow cannon. All I could do after it was over was turn to Pauly and ask, "Did that just happen?" The answer eluded him as well. Strange times for the ill-equipped.
*The MGM does indeed have great beds. It's too bad I only spent about 7 hours in mine.
*I was overjoyed to be able to attend the Gracie and Sweet Sweet Pablo nuptuals, which were just as they should have been. In the words of Mrs.Head when the anouncement was made, "It's about time."
*More of the Geisha Strange included me somehow getting involved in a nearly 3-hour conversation with some random old guy at the bar named Mike, who was very angry at the world. I dropped some knowledge on him, he kept asking questions, and so I dropped some more--any opportunity to evangelize the Surreality of Things should be taken. I left a happier person in my wake and was able to reset after being shot from the Queen cannon. Everybody wins.
*I was there for the bustout hand between Michalski and Professional Keno Player Neil Fontanot, and I'm here to confirm that what you've heard is true. Dan played like a pussy and Neil had to bust him (the turn card betting action brought a waft of tuna-meltishness that demanded a call). But you already knew that.
What you may not know is that we may see the re-emergence of a dynastic war that up to this point had been thought by many to be long forgotten. Over the course of two evenings with PKPNF, while cruising the cosmic gelcaps and discussing the intricacies of the various degrees and general longevity of universal vibrations and how they relate to the world of the Keno Profits and Working Girls, I was also given a glimpse at a troublesome family history with its roots in the last name Fontenot. The lost spelling of the name is actually Fonteneaux, from a long line of numerological seers originating in The South, of all places.
It's here that students of history will know what I'm talking about. For hundreds of years, in the land now known as New Orleans, a pitched war of attrition went on for decades between the peace-loving Fonteneaux gypsy-seers and the warlike angle-shooting Polish clan (exiled some time before from their own homeland for various acts of highly suspect nature), the Michalski's. Public sentiment at the time was turning towards Keno (and it's derivatives) and away from the devious three-card monte racket the 'ski's were running. Neil's 6x's great-grandfather was accused of "charlatanism" by a co-opted magistrate and was condemned to prison by a corrupt local jury that had been mortally threatened by the Michalski's who, while this sham of a criminal prosecution was ongoing, were simultaneously rigging the local Keno games to discredit the Universal Vibration theories being advanced by the Fonteneaux tradition. He died in that prison, and for many many years it was assumed that the Fonteneaux clan had all but disappeared. However, to the surprise of many it seems they've simply been underground. As the current age continues its slow death in preparation for advancing into the new one, Neil, carrying on the family tradition determined that the opportunity presented by this burgeoning awakening of consciousness demanded that he step once again to the forefront and advance the Universal Vibration Method. But it seems that fate is not kind. Neil found himself met at the table, after so many years of obscurity and relative peace, by another Michalski, .
After spending a decade at Chino (on more trumped up charges for inadvertently bankrupting a local Keno parlour in LA for picks that were, quote, "too perfect"), there's one thing that PKPNF has learned that his forefathers never did. There comes a time where there can be no more running. You have to stand up and not be a punk.
Neil smelled Pussy on the turn bet, and for all of the persecuted ones in his clan who came before, he beat that thing inside-out.
But animosities continue to simmer, and few know what the future might hold, least of all me. I'm currently trying to arrange a sitdown/phone call with Michalski to get confirmation as to whether or not the rumor is true that he made it known to a few people (the Freddy Mercury Dealertainer being one of these, who would neither confirm nor deny) that he was going to shank PKPNF right in the neck for that public humilliation.
Oddly enough, though, when I relayed these wind-borne tidings to PKPNF, he simply wondered aloud how many times Michalski wanted to stab him, as that might be one of the missing numbers from the Final Keno Play prophesied and handed down through Fonteneaux oral tradition.
I'll keep everyone posted as I can as the situation develops.
*I got my bad-beat dollar from Sweet Sweet (but Shifty) Pablo. Seriously, do not try to stiff me monies. I will ride your ass like the paper delivery boy in Better Off Dead, but unlike him, I've got the juice running and a gang of hard pipe-hittin' niggahs ready to go to work.
*Truly, it was truly fantastic seeing everyone after a two-year absence, and great being able to meet a few that I hadn't previously.
(And in case I don't get back here before the New Year, Happly Non-Denominational ChrismaSolstiHanaKwanzooFestikah to you all.)
"So corrupted indeed and debased was that age by sycophancy that not
only the foremost citizens who were forced to save their grandeur by
servility, but every exconsul, most of the ex-praetors and a host of
inferior senators would rise in eager rivalry to propose shameful and
preposterous motions. Tradition says that Tiberius as often as he left
the Senate-House used to exclaim in Greek, "How ready these men are to
be slaves."
--from The Annals by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Book III
As someone who is of the NO VOTE mind (and truly, there are precious few of us), I thought it might be beneficial to expound a bit on the subject. While I don’t realistically expect to change anyone’s mind so close to such an “historic” election (aren’t they all?), I do hope that it will get a few thinking in a different direction and perhaps provide some food for thought going forward as the Next Chosen Savior/Leader inevitably fails to magically deliver the goods on a myriad of ambiguous and unrealistic promises. The following should not be mistaken for a directed attack against anyone, as it is intended to be a short discussion of personal principles regarding the general notion.
So ends the qualifier portion of this entry.
Over the last few weeks there has been the predictable building of fevered crescendo toward The National Elections, and with it various incarnations of the You Must Vote drumbeat, replete with massive “Look at the increased turnout!” and Rock the Vote or Die media and campaign festivities of the day/week/month. After all, it is said, this is our responsibility as democratic citizens, our Sacred Right. Those who do not use this tool (which is imbued with all of the magical properties of Thor’s hammer, to hear some tell it) consequently have no right to speak and will not be heard. They will be treated with general derision as ne’er do wells who don’t want to be “part of the solution” and don’t want to “effect change” by joining their democratic brothers and sisters in the booth. Incoherent, Impractical, Not Pragmatic, Unserious, and many other terms are passed from the talking heads down to the great unwashed who dutifully parrot the same. Everyone keeps everyone else in line and all are reminded to keep their eyes on the ball, as it were. A great many claim to shudder at the very thought of the NO VOTE, and are resigned to doing their Sacred Duty for better or for worse. Indeed, the forms may be many, but the overall message is the same: Your vote is the most precious and valuable thing you have and you MUST use it.
The thing left unsaid (but relentlessly implied) in this message is that while you must use it, it’s only value lies in using it within the given confines of the presented “choices”, and further, within the confines of the system in which those choices reside.
In the area of the two “choices” presented, well, that’s not really a choice, is it? Both marquee candidates will continue the War Machine, both think the idea of domestic spying and retroactive immunization of the corporations that aided in the same is just dandy, and lest we forget, both were/are in full favor of robbing you and several more generations of large gobs of money to bailout the International Banks (oops, I mean, Stabilize the Economy), in spite of the loud and unequivocal “No” issued forth from the majority of citizens in this “democracy”. Of course this is only the very abridged, very short summary version to point out for the nth time that the only Change We Can Count On will be the exact opposite of what many people have fooled themselves into believing.
And the cry goes to the heavens, “But there are still third party candidates to support! You shirk the Sacred Duty!”
This was certainly considered until thinking about it within the larger context of the system in which these choices reside.
Apart from the ridiculously poor choices presented to us as the Serious Candidates, there is this additional issue of the voting system itself having become compromised outright by “faulty” optical scanning equipment, electronic voting systems which are ridiculously easy to hack (physically and remotely) as well as mass voter disenfranchising (which, imo, is simply a divide and conquer distraction to take away from a more widespread and in-depth discussion and understanding of the aforementioned electronic fraud machines).* It didn’t take long for UltimateBet’s thoroughly compromised system to come to mind. Regardless of how many soothing PR releases are issued with thumbs-up, stating “We’ve got it fixed now! You’re safe, the game is fair, we swear it!” I don’t think it’s too far afield to say that any person choosing to play there in spite of this knowledge is a willing sucker who leaves their self wide open for more of the same.
Know what I’m sayin’?
The system has been and is demonstrably co-opted and corrupted. Taking part in a system giving such a blatantly false choice is certainly no way to foster real Hope, to say nothing of effecting positive or worthwhile Change. This system that rules us is utterly vile, corrupt, and murderous as it heaps insult onto injury by paying nothing but lip service to anything good, right, or true. It makes a mockery of all things thoughtful and having conscience. I refuse to take part in such a system, to the extent that I possibly can, any longer.
I’m tired of being told I am rich by same people who empty my pockets. I’m tired of being told how free I am while more bureaucracy and technology are levered in a concerted effort to dictate my every thought and move. I’m tired of my seeing fellow human beings debased in every way. I’m of the slogans and badges and bullshit in general and I’m tired of hearing people who ought to know better tirelessly following the same.
Not voting is voting. It's a vote of No Confidence. It is the realization that the only positive and real Changes I can effect are those that I make manifest in my individual thought and deed. I believe that when those individuals who instinctively understand that something is very, very wrong and desire to take back their individuality, intelligence, and conscience truly realize this and begin reclaiming these things for themselves, then we may indeed see the beginnings of Change for the Better that is, for once in our short lives, something more than a mirage.
In the Articificial Age, Hope that is given by others can only be suspect. Hope found in ones self is one of the last real things remaining.
(cross-posted at Verbosities)
