Something to consider: When USA was attacked 9/11/2001, who benefitted? USA attacked wrong country & invaded it & is still there 12 yrs later. Cost $trillions, most $ went to 'contractors' (ie mercenaries) & weapons manufacturers.
Bush family profited directiy via Carlyle Group investments, a private weapons/military investment. Cheney profited directly via Haliburton stock & kickbacks. Muslim nations -- under assault by USA military who call them terrorists, despite USA using drone attacks vs civilians, 'night raids' into people's homes, and widespread institutionalized torture of civilians.
Just saying that ... whatever you think you know, maybe the OPPOSITE is true?
ie Dept of Defense = Dept of War
ie Terrorists = Civilians trying to survive in an occupied country
ie USA Military = foreign invaders testing out new weaponry on lesser armed civilians
ie war motivated by 9/11 attack = Christianity vs Islam (Crusades) or Racism (ie USA vs non-white countries)
I'm confused why Bush & Cheney & cohorts are not held accountable for lying to USA, for attacking wrong country, for torturing people & authorizing global torture practices, or for blocking & misleading the investigation of 9/11.
And when I say confused, I mean -- WTF?!?!?!
/end rant
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
rant on deceivers.com about Michael Moore
I posted the following comment on deceivers.com, after reading their article about Michael Moore hiring non-union workers here (awaiting moderation):
http://deceiver.com/2011/03/07/michael-moore-supports-unions-and-non-union-labor/comment-page-1/#comment-65107
Wow, what a bunch of hate-spewing commentators! Gee, are you all so 'great' and Michael Moore is not b/c he hired non-union people to shoot his film? As someone that has worked with several unions and for unions, I say --> SO WHAT?
No one is perfect, and he is by no means perfect. But what he does well is tell a story that so many ignorant buffoons (probably some of you included) had no idea -- that the US medical system is cruel and inhuman and looks like crap compared to Europe or Canada, that Bush & Cheney did some unusual shenanigans around 9/11 (and before after, like lying about Iraq & leaking a secret agent's ID to the news & cheating on the voting machines), that the financial failure was caused by greed, that private corporations are predators upon their workers and their locales of operation, etc etc.
Unlike you idiots, who make fat jokes & think you are making critical commentary, Michael Moore actually is taking action and getting things done. And he never insults people (like Bush Jr) for being idiotic moronic jerks!
So, you are making less than $40 an hour? Well, don't blame the unions! Unions caused labor income to go up, work hours to go down, and profit going to the upper ranks to drop. Paying union labor (or non-union labor, like In&Out Burger, Peets' Coffee, etc) a decent wage and medical coverage does not make require your end-product to be more expensive. It can affect the price, but it doesn't have to.
What makes your products more expensive is excessive executive compensation of $1 million and up (which is more than $20k per week) and large profits going to share-holders.
I agree that some union jobs are overpaid relative to the work done. But so what? How many executives do nothing but sexually harassing employees while being paid $500 per minute? Or hwo about the executives who fail their company and make it go bankrupt while collecting their huge salaries?
Frankly, I don't care if a cop or fireman is paid well, or if the guy screwing the bolts into my car is paid enough to pay attention.
But you FOOLS who blame unions for the USA's financial problems have everything backwards.
Big business (executives, board of directors, & shareholders) want to maximize profit at the expense of labor compensation, seeing it as an unnecessary cost to be minimized. This is why we have sweatshops & child labor & prison labor. Unions want a fair (at least 'livable') wage paid to employees, regardless of what they are doing.
When you insult a worker doing a job like picking fruit or screwing in bolts or cleaning toilets, consider this -- would YOU rather do that job? And secondly, is it such a bad thing that the worker doing that hard job gets enough money that they can feel like they are doing right by their families?
One of the commenters here said they had a college degree -- well good for you! But guess what? It's good for getting you a job where the company won't want to pay you what you are worth, in order to push the profit upwards towards the executives and away from you! And you can whine all you want about workers below you charging too much, but you'll be yelling at the wrong people.
The current financial crises were caused by rich bankers stealing money from middle class & poor people by issuing loans which should have been illegal or at least unacceptable. But instead they were playing with other people's money and they took chances, and lots of people jumped in for the ride. But when the housing values started to drop, the government stepped in and bailed out the richest, not the poorest. Homeowners lose, bankers pocket their money and spend millions on lobbyists to move on & not look back. Zero criminal prosecution for billions of dollars lost by stealing, by negligence, by not doing their jobs of due diligence while pocketing millions of dollars!!!
Guess what? If no one goes to jail for fraud over this, it will happen again! (Have you noticed all those commercial real estate vacancies, by the way?)
And you people want to blame the workers for this?
So if you want to blame and accuse, go after the real criminals. Michael Moore is a great filmmaker (and yes, he uses spin. But so what? Fox is 99% spin and 1% facts, Michael Moore is 5% spin and 95% facts) and story teller, and he is not the powerful 'overlord' whether he has $50mil or $500 mil. He's telling the truth about the people with so much money that htey measure their wealth in the billions, in multiple currencies and assets, and they own the war machine (The Carlyle Group, Haliburton, Bechtel), they own the oil machine (BP is only one of many including Exon, Shell, Texaco, etc), and soon they will own your water.
It upsets these wealthy people to be forced to spend their money on social welfare and social good. They'd rather have the FREEDOM to spend 'their money' as they like. That's why they are fighting taxes and government social spending (social security, medicare, medicaid).
WHY?
Because the uber-rich don't care if you die young, if you suffer in misery in the street impoverished, if you lose your income in a oil spill or environmental nuclear mistake, if you can't pay your medical insurance, or if you are homeless.
When you have $100 in your pocket and won't give a homeless guy a dime, that is how the ultra-wealthy feel about the working class and the poor people. Who cares, they are just scum anyway! Someone else will deal with it, or maybe that person will just die & leave me alone.
This is why they don't want you to know what is really happening; they want to keep you blind, divided, and conquered. You probably don't know what Smedley Butler did to G. Bush Sr's grandfather, a nazi-supporting banker & fascist, either.
"In November 1934, Butler told the committee [Congress] that a group of businessmen, saying they were backed by a private army of 500,000 ex-soldiers and others, intended to establish a fascist dictatorship." And guess what? Bush now has a private army of Blackwater mercenaries (rebranded Xe Consultants) and other CIA mercenary organizations who don't need American democratic approval b/c they operate under a black budget of drug money and CIA 'secret treasury'.
So if you blame Michael Moore for your woes, you are a FOOL. Blame the Bushes, blame the CIA, blame the uber-rich. Who has killed millions of people, & who is making movies trying to make people wake up?
http://deceiver.com/2011/03/07/michael-moore-supports-unions-and-non-union-labor/comment-page-1/#comment-65107
Wow, what a bunch of hate-spewing commentators! Gee, are you all so 'great' and Michael Moore is not b/c he hired non-union people to shoot his film? As someone that has worked with several unions and for unions, I say --> SO WHAT?
No one is perfect, and he is by no means perfect. But what he does well is tell a story that so many ignorant buffoons (probably some of you included) had no idea -- that the US medical system is cruel and inhuman and looks like crap compared to Europe or Canada, that Bush & Cheney did some unusual shenanigans around 9/11 (and before after, like lying about Iraq & leaking a secret agent's ID to the news & cheating on the voting machines), that the financial failure was caused by greed, that private corporations are predators upon their workers and their locales of operation, etc etc.
Unlike you idiots, who make fat jokes & think you are making critical commentary, Michael Moore actually is taking action and getting things done. And he never insults people (like Bush Jr) for being idiotic moronic jerks!
So, you are making less than $40 an hour? Well, don't blame the unions! Unions caused labor income to go up, work hours to go down, and profit going to the upper ranks to drop. Paying union labor (or non-union labor, like In&Out Burger, Peets' Coffee, etc) a decent wage and medical coverage does not make require your end-product to be more expensive. It can affect the price, but it doesn't have to.
What makes your products more expensive is excessive executive compensation of $1 million and up (which is more than $20k per week) and large profits going to share-holders.
I agree that some union jobs are overpaid relative to the work done. But so what? How many executives do nothing but sexually harassing employees while being paid $500 per minute? Or hwo about the executives who fail their company and make it go bankrupt while collecting their huge salaries?
Frankly, I don't care if a cop or fireman is paid well, or if the guy screwing the bolts into my car is paid enough to pay attention.
But you FOOLS who blame unions for the USA's financial problems have everything backwards.
Big business (executives, board of directors, & shareholders) want to maximize profit at the expense of labor compensation, seeing it as an unnecessary cost to be minimized. This is why we have sweatshops & child labor & prison labor. Unions want a fair (at least 'livable') wage paid to employees, regardless of what they are doing.
When you insult a worker doing a job like picking fruit or screwing in bolts or cleaning toilets, consider this -- would YOU rather do that job? And secondly, is it such a bad thing that the worker doing that hard job gets enough money that they can feel like they are doing right by their families?
One of the commenters here said they had a college degree -- well good for you! But guess what? It's good for getting you a job where the company won't want to pay you what you are worth, in order to push the profit upwards towards the executives and away from you! And you can whine all you want about workers below you charging too much, but you'll be yelling at the wrong people.
The current financial crises were caused by rich bankers stealing money from middle class & poor people by issuing loans which should have been illegal or at least unacceptable. But instead they were playing with other people's money and they took chances, and lots of people jumped in for the ride. But when the housing values started to drop, the government stepped in and bailed out the richest, not the poorest. Homeowners lose, bankers pocket their money and spend millions on lobbyists to move on & not look back. Zero criminal prosecution for billions of dollars lost by stealing, by negligence, by not doing their jobs of due diligence while pocketing millions of dollars!!!
Guess what? If no one goes to jail for fraud over this, it will happen again! (Have you noticed all those commercial real estate vacancies, by the way?)
And you people want to blame the workers for this?
So if you want to blame and accuse, go after the real criminals. Michael Moore is a great filmmaker (and yes, he uses spin. But so what? Fox is 99% spin and 1% facts, Michael Moore is 5% spin and 95% facts) and story teller, and he is not the powerful 'overlord' whether he has $50mil or $500 mil. He's telling the truth about the people with so much money that htey measure their wealth in the billions, in multiple currencies and assets, and they own the war machine (The Carlyle Group, Haliburton, Bechtel), they own the oil machine (BP is only one of many including Exon, Shell, Texaco, etc), and soon they will own your water.
It upsets these wealthy people to be forced to spend their money on social welfare and social good. They'd rather have the FREEDOM to spend 'their money' as they like. That's why they are fighting taxes and government social spending (social security, medicare, medicaid).
WHY?
Because the uber-rich don't care if you die young, if you suffer in misery in the street impoverished, if you lose your income in a oil spill or environmental nuclear mistake, if you can't pay your medical insurance, or if you are homeless.
When you have $100 in your pocket and won't give a homeless guy a dime, that is how the ultra-wealthy feel about the working class and the poor people. Who cares, they are just scum anyway! Someone else will deal with it, or maybe that person will just die & leave me alone.
This is why they don't want you to know what is really happening; they want to keep you blind, divided, and conquered. You probably don't know what Smedley Butler did to G. Bush Sr's grandfather, a nazi-supporting banker & fascist, either.
"In November 1934, Butler told the committee [Congress] that a group of businessmen, saying they were backed by a private army of 500,000 ex-soldiers and others, intended to establish a fascist dictatorship." And guess what? Bush now has a private army of Blackwater mercenaries (rebranded Xe Consultants) and other CIA mercenary organizations who don't need American democratic approval b/c they operate under a black budget of drug money and CIA 'secret treasury'.
So if you blame Michael Moore for your woes, you are a FOOL. Blame the Bushes, blame the CIA, blame the uber-rich. Who has killed millions of people, & who is making movies trying to make people wake up?
iPhone 4 - a very good device, but not perfect
Copy of a comment I posted in re:
Today In IOS blog
http://tii.libsyn.com/wtf-is-wrong-with-the-ny-times
I had iPhone 3 & now iPhone 4. I feel it's an upgrade, particularly in *speed* (main flaw of iPhone 3), but I wouldn't harsh the commentary (news article) so extremely.
My first corp smartphone was a b/w blackberry w/great email. Battery lasted 7 days w/heavy use. My iPhone battery may last 1 day w/o recharging. My gf's iPhone 3 (I gave her mine) may last 2 bc she's a light user.
iPhone is my fav smartphone so far (had Treo, Blackberry, & Android 1.0). But it is not perfect by any means.
I chuckle w/people's hatred of AT&T & love of Verizon: all phone co's are bloated bureaucracies w/little reason not to overbill & under-service. (Another testimony to capitalism's myth of competition generating 'best of breed'.) my 3-4 yes w/Verizon included regular incorrect bills, a mischarge of $250 for texts, and a far higher rate than AT&T's monthly bill -- for a Treo w/far lower internet usability than my iPhone now.
So, while I tell folks that iPhone 4 is *the slickest computer* I've ever owned, it is not perfect.
Main flaws IMO include:
AppStore 'iron grip' over apps, locked down OS (so I can't disable or modify dictionary for flawed autocorrect -- why does 'me' get replaced w/'mr'?!?!), no simple option to have a small keyboard w/buttons instead of LCD KB (on Blackberry my touch-typing rate was fast. On iPhone, I can't type OK finally -- but not comparable speed.), 'sandboxing' of apps blocks a lot of basic info-sharing (music, files, etc) & requires redundancy or copying, and IMO a major flaw: app purchases w/o previews, very hard to get refunds, & general Appstore navigation *sucks*. Actually, if I'm going to point out flaws, let me rip iTunes a new one: iTunes acting as a 'gateway' for iPhone interaction reminds me of AOL being a gateway to Internet. As a Mac & Windows user, I was surprised when I was *required* to install a bloated iTunes on my PC to sync, that iTunes always has components running in the background, always attempts to re-do my file structures, and often will not let me sync the phone until I update iTunes (& recently required me to update QuickTime & overwrite my purchased QuickTime Pro). So I'd like Apple to open iPhone file structure and not require me to use iTunes for anything.
But to re-state: this is an amazing smartphone. W/a few essential apps (for me incl Dropbox, Evernote, Filer, TapForms, QuickOffice, AppShopper, Tune-In Radio, NetFlicks, CraigsPro+, etc) + awesome built-ins like email, safari, & calendar, it is the best I've used so far.
+ thanks to Google, my contacts stay sync'd wirelessly & my Calendar stays sync'd. Wireless sync (w/o the insult of a 'MobileMe' extra fee) seems essential. And I'm sure glad I got an iPhone *after* copy/paste was implemented & I'm glad Apple added multitasking as well (altho if u donthave iPhone 4 u r screwed there -- which is another frequent apple flaw IMO; screwing early buyers).
I am a fan -- but I'm not a brainwashed 'Apple-nationalist' like so many folks.
rekzkarz.com
Today In IOS blog
http://tii.libsyn.com/wtf-is-wrong-with-the-ny-times
I had iPhone 3 & now iPhone 4. I feel it's an upgrade, particularly in *speed* (main flaw of iPhone 3), but I wouldn't harsh the commentary (news article) so extremely.
My first corp smartphone was a b/w blackberry w/great email. Battery lasted 7 days w/heavy use. My iPhone battery may last 1 day w/o recharging. My gf's iPhone 3 (I gave her mine) may last 2 bc she's a light user.
iPhone is my fav smartphone so far (had Treo, Blackberry, & Android 1.0). But it is not perfect by any means.
I chuckle w/people's hatred of AT&T & love of Verizon: all phone co's are bloated bureaucracies w/little reason not to overbill & under-service. (Another testimony to capitalism's myth of competition generating 'best of breed'.) my 3-4 yes w/Verizon included regular incorrect bills, a mischarge of $250 for texts, and a far higher rate than AT&T's monthly bill -- for a Treo w/far lower internet usability than my iPhone now.
So, while I tell folks that iPhone 4 is *the slickest computer* I've ever owned, it is not perfect.
Main flaws IMO include:
AppStore 'iron grip' over apps, locked down OS (so I can't disable or modify dictionary for flawed autocorrect -- why does 'me' get replaced w/'mr'?!?!), no simple option to have a small keyboard w/buttons instead of LCD KB (on Blackberry my touch-typing rate was fast. On iPhone, I can't type OK finally -- but not comparable speed.), 'sandboxing' of apps blocks a lot of basic info-sharing (music, files, etc) & requires redundancy or copying, and IMO a major flaw: app purchases w/o previews, very hard to get refunds, & general Appstore navigation *sucks*. Actually, if I'm going to point out flaws, let me rip iTunes a new one: iTunes acting as a 'gateway' for iPhone interaction reminds me of AOL being a gateway to Internet. As a Mac & Windows user, I was surprised when I was *required* to install a bloated iTunes on my PC to sync, that iTunes always has components running in the background, always attempts to re-do my file structures, and often will not let me sync the phone until I update iTunes (& recently required me to update QuickTime & overwrite my purchased QuickTime Pro). So I'd like Apple to open iPhone file structure and not require me to use iTunes for anything.
But to re-state: this is an amazing smartphone. W/a few essential apps (for me incl Dropbox, Evernote, Filer, TapForms, QuickOffice, AppShopper, Tune-In Radio, NetFlicks, CraigsPro+, etc) + awesome built-ins like email, safari, & calendar, it is the best I've used so far.
+ thanks to Google, my contacts stay sync'd wirelessly & my Calendar stays sync'd. Wireless sync (w/o the insult of a 'MobileMe' extra fee) seems essential. And I'm sure glad I got an iPhone *after* copy/paste was implemented & I'm glad Apple added multitasking as well (altho if u donthave iPhone 4 u r screwed there -- which is another frequent apple flaw IMO; screwing early buyers).
I am a fan -- but I'm not a brainwashed 'Apple-nationalist' like so many folks.
rekzkarz.com
Graveyard Shift Perspective at 2 weeks
Well, I've been working ~ 2 weeks graveyard shift 11pm-7am at a TV station, here's a few tidbits I've observed:
4-5am is a hard time to stay up. Coffee works very well on me with occasional Coke or Chocolate to keep awake, plus I take a nap from 6-9pm before the shift, but there's still a wallop ~ 5am, almost like the ocean tide rolling in (Could it be the sun? An electromagnetic wave? A global pulse?). Humans haven't really figured out WHY we need sleep, and no doubt some scientist somewhere is trying to figure out the cure for sleep, so for now I'll just theorize that we need time to run daily 'systems checks' on our hardware and software.
Maybe at 4-5am the body's supernetwork says "hey, dude, we the cells in your body need to power down & start fixing stuff!! So we're going to start making everyday things more challenging -- like reading, or walking -- and we're going to double the effect of gravity on your bones -- but we'll resume normal function as soon as you drop unconscious for 6-10 hours." Right.
So, a bit about TV content: start rant
Infomercials -- some are crap &rip off's, some are interesting inventions, & there's really no way to tell which is which from the infomercial itself. However, apparently people need the following issues taken care of NOW:
Now that I'm forced to watch so many, I see infomercials as both more critical of society than the Simpsons or South Park, and also a continuation of the long cherished art of the scam, the con-artist, the huckster selling snake oil to the ignorant public. Plus all the various payment ruses add insult to injury, like "free trial", or "return after 30 days", "only pay $29.99 today ... and then we'll bill you monthly", or "normally it's $500 but it's your lucky day -- you are in the right place and tonight, just for you, it's $29.99 -- if you call now".
My favorite infomercials are the ones that present themselves like a regular TV show with an audience and a host, and then they attempt to 'delve' into the product as though they are reporters digging out the hidden facts: "Really? Can it REALLY do this?" or "But that's impossible, how can this really work?" or "That's simply incredible! Amazing! Fantastic! And anyone can do this?" WOW!
Even if any of these things are REAL INCREDIBLE INVENTIONS, if you order anything from the informercial phone numbers, it's probably asking to be targetted by all the most predatory businesses from that day onwards.
Religious zealotry - Now that I've watched 10+ episodes of religious-obsessive programming, I think it's interesting -- sort of. (Kind of like a medical student looking at a specimen or something?) From my POV, it seems like these people are too obsessed with what happened to a guy 2000 yrs ago, and not interested enough in what's happening now, like that we could feed the world, that war is outdated & unnecessary, that we have an internet and a chance for global harmony, etc.
These shows are kind of interesting b/c this specific priest/Pastor says some stuff in Hebrew, and seems to think that now he's really got the core ideas b/c he can read them in Hebrew. I wonder if he's considered that Jesus (Jehoshua) was a Jew, and that all the ideas Jesus was offering were framed with Judaism, so maybe it'd be a good move to discover Judaism? Naaaaaaah
Sidebar: I did learn (not from this show, but previous inquiries -- most listed in Wikipedia on Paul) that Apostle Paul was the only one that hadn't met Jesus, who was not a Jew but a Roman. As a Roman, "Paul confesses to having “violently persecuted” the “church of God” prior to his conversion." Apostle Paul departed from tradition after he converted by arguing that Jesus' teachings could be disseminated to non-Jews who didn't have to observe any Jewish rituals or practices, but only had to believe in Jesus. Paul of Tarsus -- this guy really messed stuff up! It's like he got rid of the meat of the religion & replaced it with a fast-food substitute.
I've been surprised that I do occasionally like some of the wisdom these guys discuss from the bible -- but all of this obsession with Satan & 'the Number of the Beast' and so on is just sad. It's interesting for me to hear them discuss why they support the troops & how war is ok in the Bible. One pastor talks about how he'd like to put the peaceniks in front of the troops (was as though he didn't realize Jesus was a peacenik too -- which he probably didn't). It's unfortunate that these supposed religious leader guys have missed the mark so greatly, reading moral fables as though they were factual stories.
The ONE positive of watching this 'fast-food religion' is that it re-enforces my beliefs in expanding world-views, openness to mysticism & spirit, belief in the living Earth/Sun/Universe, my complete lack of belief in any anthropomorphic deity, and lastly these shows remind me that most people don't know WTF is going on & lean on others for truth -- and these leaders also don't know what's going on, but want to make some money and lead the masses.
end rant
4-5am is a hard time to stay up. Coffee works very well on me with occasional Coke or Chocolate to keep awake, plus I take a nap from 6-9pm before the shift, but there's still a wallop ~ 5am, almost like the ocean tide rolling in (Could it be the sun? An electromagnetic wave? A global pulse?). Humans haven't really figured out WHY we need sleep, and no doubt some scientist somewhere is trying to figure out the cure for sleep, so for now I'll just theorize that we need time to run daily 'systems checks' on our hardware and software.
Maybe at 4-5am the body's supernetwork says "hey, dude, we the cells in your body need to power down & start fixing stuff!! So we're going to start making everyday things more challenging -- like reading, or walking -- and we're going to double the effect of gravity on your bones -- but we'll resume normal function as soon as you drop unconscious for 6-10 hours." Right.
So, a bit about TV content: start rant
Infomercials -- some are crap &rip off's, some are interesting inventions, & there's really no way to tell which is which from the infomercial itself. However, apparently people need the following issues taken care of NOW:
- Body -- destroy fat, rip those abs, get a super butt, hide fat under girdles to 'loose weight instantly', work out at home on strange machines or doing bizarre excercise maneuvers,
- Women -- remove unwanted hair, make ugly wrinkles vanish, cover up female bald-spots, zap horrible acne,
- Men -- preserve wanted hair, get a good shave, a good shower, a robotic massage, pain relief with electrodes or pills, make your thang bigger/better,
- Meals -- make fast & cheap incredible food at home with various blenders,
- Brain -- enhance or subdue certain qualities with various pills,
- Wealth -- receive abundance by asking the universe (but with a special $90 method on DVD's to do it),
- How to Live -- ask God (via Pastors & Reverends) what they should be doing -- & then pay for the info,
Now that I'm forced to watch so many, I see infomercials as both more critical of society than the Simpsons or South Park, and also a continuation of the long cherished art of the scam, the con-artist, the huckster selling snake oil to the ignorant public. Plus all the various payment ruses add insult to injury, like "free trial", or "return after 30 days", "only pay $29.99 today ... and then we'll bill you monthly", or "normally it's $500 but it's your lucky day -- you are in the right place and tonight, just for you, it's $29.99 -- if you call now".
My favorite infomercials are the ones that present themselves like a regular TV show with an audience and a host, and then they attempt to 'delve' into the product as though they are reporters digging out the hidden facts: "Really? Can it REALLY do this?" or "But that's impossible, how can this really work?" or "That's simply incredible! Amazing! Fantastic! And anyone can do this?" WOW!
Even if any of these things are REAL INCREDIBLE INVENTIONS, if you order anything from the informercial phone numbers, it's probably asking to be targetted by all the most predatory businesses from that day onwards.
Religious zealotry - Now that I've watched 10+ episodes of religious-obsessive programming, I think it's interesting -- sort of. (Kind of like a medical student looking at a specimen or something?) From my POV, it seems like these people are too obsessed with what happened to a guy 2000 yrs ago, and not interested enough in what's happening now, like that we could feed the world, that war is outdated & unnecessary, that we have an internet and a chance for global harmony, etc.
These shows are kind of interesting b/c this specific priest/Pastor says some stuff in Hebrew, and seems to think that now he's really got the core ideas b/c he can read them in Hebrew. I wonder if he's considered that Jesus (Jehoshua) was a Jew, and that all the ideas Jesus was offering were framed with Judaism, so maybe it'd be a good move to discover Judaism? Naaaaaaah
Sidebar: I did learn (not from this show, but previous inquiries -- most listed in Wikipedia on Paul) that Apostle Paul was the only one that hadn't met Jesus, who was not a Jew but a Roman. As a Roman, "Paul confesses to having “violently persecuted” the “church of God” prior to his conversion." Apostle Paul departed from tradition after he converted by arguing that Jesus' teachings could be disseminated to non-Jews who didn't have to observe any Jewish rituals or practices, but only had to believe in Jesus. Paul of Tarsus -- this guy really messed stuff up! It's like he got rid of the meat of the religion & replaced it with a fast-food substitute.
I've been surprised that I do occasionally like some of the wisdom these guys discuss from the bible -- but all of this obsession with Satan & 'the Number of the Beast' and so on is just sad. It's interesting for me to hear them discuss why they support the troops & how war is ok in the Bible. One pastor talks about how he'd like to put the peaceniks in front of the troops (was as though he didn't realize Jesus was a peacenik too -- which he probably didn't). It's unfortunate that these supposed religious leader guys have missed the mark so greatly, reading moral fables as though they were factual stories.
The ONE positive of watching this 'fast-food religion' is that it re-enforces my beliefs in expanding world-views, openness to mysticism & spirit, belief in the living Earth/Sun/Universe, my complete lack of belief in any anthropomorphic deity, and lastly these shows remind me that most people don't know WTF is going on & lean on others for truth -- and these leaders also don't know what's going on, but want to make some money and lead the masses.
end rant
RED ROOM blog entry -- OBSESSION is my ART and my TOOL
RED ROOM sends me an email, asks me, ""What are your obsessions? Your passions? Your fixations? ... Just tell us what's on your mind--a lot of the time. " A nice, harmless invitation for me to blog on their website.
I wonder, why do they care? Does anyone in the USA really care what I think? Then I realize ... Ah yes, they are trying to get more 'hits' and 'views' on their website, which increases their stats and (theoretically) makes them look better to advertisers. They ask me to talk about myself, which they will in-turn re-package and give to their viewership for free in hopes of more 'hits'. Even my composing on their website generates 'hits', so they have already won. I'm fine with that, however, because it's a win-win world and we can all build partnerships of success -- at least they said that in my last business class.
This is the new economy, it seems; an economy about hits and views and commodification of other people's lives as Blogs in order to market and sell them to a viewership that never pays for the product -- however, someone seems to have forgotten the MONEY piece, at least for us little folks.
MONEY, the medium of exchange where one valuable item is evaluated and traded for another valuable item. Something is not working in this equation here. Advertisers are messing things up, don't you think? Advertisers are paying pennies to have their ads put up with your content, which actually is NOT adding value but subtracting value and annoying viewers, but the viewers contentment is not seen as a valuable thing. Advertisers are STEALING part of your brain-space and not paying you for that. So the equation is already fucked.
The topic of money arouses in me a powerful temptation to rant about the CRIME of the Wall Street Bailouts. In fact, I can't resist writing the number out: $750,000,000,000 in bailout money to the banks. The bankers just did the largest bank-robbery in all of known history, and the media 'explained' it away, and then moved on to Sports.
I want to rant further on the insanity which enabled Bush Jr to give away billions of dollars with minimal oversite to the richest Americans, but instead I will stop here and invite you to read any of MY RANTz on MY BLOG on MY SITE, rekzkarz.com. (Aha! I can pitch and market and sell myself EVEN AS you are pitching and marketing and selling me! So there!) I have a bunch of posts about the Bailout Robberies. In fact, I even shot an entire video of RANTz about the state of the USA, but this is not the place to market my videos... or is it?
Back to the topic: Obsession
I feel I'm an expert. I've been clean and sober for 13 years. A sober addict, I still attend 12 Step meetings and give my hand out to newcomers who are for the first time imagining the possibilities of living life without being trashed constantly. Many new people to 12 Step Programs may not believe such a thing is really possible. 13 years ago, I didn't.
But new people keep on coming, and some of them get sober. They change, they grow as people. They move past the alcohol and drug abuse, and once those drugs have faded many realize the obsessive quality has not gone away, but 'graduated' to other things, like food, sex, internet, gambling, objects and cluttering, relationship addiction, and more.
In un-fucking themselves, they have woken up -- and realized they were fucked.
But the good news is that the same skills learned in getting clean and sober can be used to clean up the other stuff. And many of us do that, successfully.
But does that remove the underlying obsessiveness?
I have been doing an Artists' Way group for the past 5 months. It's a powerful transformational meeting on Monday nights at a humble local restaurant. We started with 12 people, and now we are widdled down to three. We are not the strongest or most successful of the bunch -- we are the ones who feel there is a benefit in meeting. Last Monday, we experimented using a "Coaching Yourself" book and I felt it was very successful. We uncovered some common truths about ourselves that none of us realized we shared: Obsession, and the desire to force ourselves to perform rather than enjoying ourselves.
I generally see obsession as one of my strengths. I'm 'intense', people find me to be a 'powerful' personality. Obsession runs counter to balance, so I need to remember to eat, walk, find time with friends & my girlfriend, laugh, etc. But it is so powerful, the desire to continue what I am doing, that I can do superhuman feats (even now that I'm without drugs), such as:
- operate my computer for 12-18 hours straight without food, water, or a pee break
- stay up from midnight to 7am for several nights working on a project
- work a 12 hour day on a film set, and then work another 12 hours that night at home
- compose a song, edit and do multiple versions, and upload it to the internet (the 'tapes' on my blog site)
- send 50 emails in a day, update multiple blogs, touch my facebook account, & do graphic design work
- watch 10 hours of TV on a DVR (but with fast-forward, I can squeeze in 12+ hours of actual content)
and the superheroic feats continue... I had always associated these unique skills with my 'unique nature', my 'extreme personality', being driven or inspired, and later my 'addictive nature', my 'ADHD', and so on. Several doctors have wanted to give me psych medicine (and I tried some) to cure me. To fix me. To make me more like ... everyone else. This is the goal? To make me more able to do a corporate 9-5 job, to work at a supermarket, to be a bank teller. The goal was to make me "normal".
I'm grateful that I wandered into a Kundalini Yoga class years ago in Los Angeles where the Sikh Yoga Master began talking about ADHD several minutes after I had wandered (late) into the class. He said ADHD is not a disease or an ailment, it is not something needing to be fixed. He believed ADHD people need to be given the tools to create, and then released to do their creations.
Awhile back, I decided to re-label my world. I come up with new ones daily. So far, here's a few good ones to reclaim my language from 'them'.
- Right to Life Supporter = Fetal Rights Activist (or better yet, Fetus Protector)
- Socialist = a supporter of fairness and sharing
- Marxist/Communist = a potentially violent believer in sharing
- Anarchist = a person who believes, "if I'm not hurting anyone, leave me the fuck alone!"
- Capitalist = an advocate of "let the rich be rich, let the poor be poor"
- 40 hour 9-5 work week = slavery (albeit with some consent on the part of the enslaved)
- Non-violent Crime = occurs when a person who is not able to work for a reasonable wage opts to engage in non-violent actions (drug dealing, shop lifting) to survive. Also a term for not wearing your seat-belt, smoking cigarettes near a door, public nudity, public sex, and using any drug that hasn't been endorsed by the Government, including smoking a plant.
- NEWS = programming by media (and government and corporations) which informs but will not outrage people enough to demand justice. A conscious propagandistic manipulation of the population. News is a product to be consumed and not cause problems with the entrenched system of oligarchical capitalism.
- Conservative Republican = Fascist (a believer in a strong union of government, business, and religion, where the upper class is far above the lower, sometimes offering protection for the poorest, sometimes guaranteeing death for the poorest)
- Democrat = Centrist (a moderate position, someone ready to compromise, but doesn't completely advocate the total exploitation of the poorest parts of society or the world)
- Radical = Left Winger (a revolutionary who believes in change, and often in concepts like 'freedom', 'equality', and 'sharing'.
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) = Artist
I know somewhere in my head that a BLOG entry should be short and sweet, and have some nice pictures, in order to keep the reader's attention and be more easily consumed. A BLOG is not a book, and reading something on a computer screen is not a fun activity like reading a book. (Know why? Computer screens are flashing direct light into your eyes constantly, painfully burning images onto your retinas. Books are the joyous observation of natural sunlight bouncing off an artfully designed wood-like material covered in wonderful patterns. Aaaah, it's soothing really, and despite the regrettable loss of trees, the light is generated without us creating pollution.)
So I guess I'm done.
No, I forgot, I want to add one point. When we are challenged by Obama, teachers, mentors, friends, or whomever, to question what we are being told, how do you DO that? Yes, I'm asking you. I can offer the following suggestion: Take whatever is being told to you, rephrase it with your words, say it (out loud if necessary), and see if it makes sense. If not, you are being lied to. Here goes a few examples:
Bailout of banks -- "We need to give more public money to the institutions we are all giving our money to, because they have mismanaged our money." <-- does that make sense?
Iraq War -- "We need to send our troups to a foreign country where the USA overthrew the leadership because the USA thought this country had attacked us because our President implied this, but now we know they didn't attack us, so we need to stay there and kill the terrorists there to help them to have a democracy like we have." <-- does that make sense?
Economic Crisis -- "Because housing prices dropped and no professional financial people predicted that, the USA needs to loan the largest lenders public money to loan to private businesses, or the 'free market' economy will collapse. Furthermore, because of this crissi, it is acceptable for large businesses and State Governments to lay off massive numbers of their employees and have salary cuts, but the government cannot force businesses to limit the salaries of their highest paid executives."
Obession is a tool ... against bullshit.
This blog entry is reposted on RED ROOM - here.
3am Rant re: Gateway Pundit's stupid article claiming Iraq War actually kills less Iraqis than Hussein's Leadership
There was a ridiculous article tagged in Yahoo News as one of the most read Blog articles, from GateWay Pundit, "Bush Saved Hundreds of Thousands of Iraqis From Saddam's Reign & Clinton's Embargo", about how killing Saddam Hussein actually cut down the number of dead folks in Iraq because Saddam Hussein and Clinton's blockade killed many more people. It's a stupid, misleading article.
Of course, I had to respond to that -- but what a joy to discover that a bunch of right-wingers had commented. So I hopped in there also.
It's so hard to discuss articles like these b/c they start with so many dumb assumptions. The idea that a foreign country can attack another country (for no reason), occupy it for years, steal from that country, and THEN argue that it is helping those people ... Sounds vaguely familiar. Colonialism, I presume?
Since my rant is copied below, I'll copy/paste some of other people's inane posts so we can get a chuckle (or a groan):
I'd make the point that these comments are freakin' dumb (and abrasive), but they do that for themselves, no?
Here's my RE-posting of my 3am RANT on his Blog:
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And then I invited them all to come & post over here on my blog.
Maybe someone will take me up on my invitation? C'mon, do it!
And here's a pic of the 3D animation I'm working on for LAUNCHED short film.
I've been pleasantly suprised at how good it's coming along.
This still shows the LifeRaft vehicle where the crew lives and is 'trapped', floating above the Earth.
Of course, I had to respond to that -- but what a joy to discover that a bunch of right-wingers had commented. So I hopped in there also.
It's so hard to discuss articles like these b/c they start with so many dumb assumptions. The idea that a foreign country can attack another country (for no reason), occupy it for years, steal from that country, and THEN argue that it is helping those people ... Sounds vaguely familiar. Colonialism, I presume?
Since my rant is copied below, I'll copy/paste some of other people's inane posts so we can get a chuckle (or a groan):
- People who fought in Irak or anywhere else fought so you would have the freedom to come to this site and say your insanities. You fuc...g asshole! - Craig
- I've served my country in the U.S. Navy. Just wondering how many of the neo-cunts have. - General Lee
- I thank the men and women who volunteered to risk their lives, and who died, in wars to protect the people around the world, and Americans, including ungrateful liberals who throw you under the bus because they are self-serving and gutless. - Your Liberal Hippie Mama
- I yearn for true conservatism that is based on nationalist fervor and a rendering of the original intent of the Constitution via a Federalist model of restricted government. ... I desire to give the jihadis what they truly deserve--total war. - Publis Mare Hoc
I'd make the point that these comments are freakin' dumb (and abrasive), but they do that for themselves, no?
Here's my RE-posting of my 3am RANT on his Blog:
Dear Righty anti-Leftists,
How many homes & cars does John McCain own? How about President George Bush or GW Bush? Any idea? More than 10? Sure! More than 15? Hmmmm...
Do you understand what concepts you are opposing? 'Liberals' and the Left are what have inspired 'grass-roots' changes in the world, including democracy, women's right to vote, the end of slavery, public schools, a 5 day/40 hour work-week, and hopefully many future positive changes like a living wage, public medical care, etc.
What side was Jesus on when he attempted to change the world to a new path of love and respect? Wasn't he (the ultimate) Leftist?
Did you know Jesus was related by blood to these Islamic folks? Islam and Christianity and Judaism are all interconnected, and extremists exist in all groups (and generally those folks are missing a few brain cells, dontcha think?).
It's not just "them", it's any zealot of any religion can do really bad things and think God wants them too -- but God doesn't.
God wants us to take care of this garden we're living on, and help out the animals too while we're at it. Is this a hard message to understand?
War is the sign of a lack of imagination.
So, now that we are in the middle of a massive bailout of the upper classes, I hope it makes a few folks on the Right (who aren't rich) pause for a second and think ...
Where is my bailout?
Why is all this $$$ going to executives who made really bad decisions?
The Answer: In the USA, we live in a class-based society (similar to the systems of royal kingdoms and extreme poverty of years ago) where the wealthiest 5% do their best to keep a low-profile as they continue to live off and grow most of their old money. If you aren't in the 'clique' of money, you probably aren't on the inside of this group.
The American dream of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is real for only the fewest of folk -- but it's not likely for you to become ultra-rich. However, for a child born ultra-rich, like the Kennedy's, Rothchild's, or Bush's, even a complete lack of intelligence is no obstacle ... even to becoming the President of the USA.
If you have a net worth of less than $100k, being a right-winger just means that you don't understand how power works in the world -- or you have submitted already to an overlord.
If you're rich, it makes more sense, since the strategy is:
1) Keep poor people poor = good cheap labor
2) Offer incentives to help exceptional people rise to the top -- on the backs of their fellows in strict competition
3) Keep poor people ignorant of their history
4) Hide and obscure the fact that there are extremely rich from those who are poor
5) Make sure that you argue not based on facts and history, but on a false morality, name-calling, and rhetoric
6) Push for policies of over-population and constant war
7) Divide and conquer your opposition
8) Hide your policy of protecting the wealthiest behind distracting moral issues of oppression
9) Always downplay how wealthy you are
10) Manipulate people with non-issues to ignorantly push for important issues about private wealth (vs public)
OK, that's enough ranting from me for one night.
And then I invited them all to come & post over here on my blog.
Maybe someone will take me up on my invitation? C'mon, do it!
And here's a pic of the 3D animation I'm working on for LAUNCHED short film. I've been pleasantly suprised at how good it's coming along.
This still shows the LifeRaft vehicle where the crew lives and is 'trapped', floating above the Earth.
REkzRANT #4
Latest REkz RANT#4 -- Obama or McCain, other Americas, and more. Two new characters make their first appearances.
Nuclear is Green? Sure, and I'vegot a bridge to sell you...
I was shocked and amazed months ago reading an issue of Wired lamely describing nuclear power as 'the new Green power'.
What's most amazing about people arguing nuclear power is a green power is they rarely seem to understand that when green power sources break down or have problems, nothing is destroyed. Also, I'm not sure where nuclear power enthusiasts want to place the nuclear waste, but IMO it should be on their property. Bush just bought thousands of acres of land, let's put all that waste on his land! HA
We are a democracy, yes? When do we get to vote on whether we use earth-friendly power sources or earth-unfriendly power? Oh, that's all passed to our democracy representatives, the rich people who clearly share our interests and desires on where to lead our country and our planet. Bush is clearly 'just another US citizen' with the good heart who wants to help out... or not.
NOT.
Bush is really 'just another rich US white Aryan racist' who is doing his best to accumulate and maintain a power division between rich and poor, while pulling out as much revenue as he can (for family, cronies, friends) before they can push for Armageddon and the earth will blow up and they'll be judged for how much successful capitalism and exploitation they achieved.
I think the whole 'red state/ blue state' boxes we lump US states into are so poor b/c the USA is largely PURPLE. Some groups have more influence in some areas, but many elections are decided by so few votes... and tampered voting machines.
Personally, I want to see Cindy Sheehan elected as a rep for SF because her main goal is to get Bush's Impeachment on the table, which Nancy Pelosi (IMO a traitor to the USA and also impeachable) has blocked, an act which violates the US Constitution.
I've already heard Obama speak about his desires to make conciliatory gestures to the Right Wing to get some things he wanted passed. (Listened to his speech yet in Berlin, Germany? Give it a listen!) Did anyone ever hear Bush or Reagan make pleas to reconcile with the Left Wing, or them express willingness to negotiate??? It's always Left that appeases, and the Right that demands less partisanship while getting their way in most areas and robbing the poor people blind.Has anyone in US media called the latest scandal, the USA home loan scandal, anything like fraud or crime or even a disgusting mismanagement of funds by corporate leadership? Is there any accountability? Have any of these 'free market' advocates suggested that the banks which mismanaged loan practices be forced to suffer for their bad management?
I find it amazing how fast it all gets pushed back to the public and tax revenues to bail out another American banking fiasco. (Does everyone remember that Bush Sr's brother was the head of an S&L during that scandal? Do you think he paid even one cent for his own accountability? Or did that entire scandal get paid by the US public in the form of taxes.)
I was just in Venezuela for the month of June filming a documentary. From what I was able to see, I guarantee you that 90%+ of what the US media covers about that country is falsehood. The 'horrible and dictatorial' revolution taking place in Venezuela is called SOCIALISM. The people who are benefiting are POOR PEOPLE who now have free medical, subsidized food prices, subsidized gas prices, and incentives to purchase their homes.
The revolution in Venezuela is their government is taking oil revenue (which is enormous), nationalizing it, and re-distributing that wealth to the people suffering ath the lowest levels.
Can anyone imagine the USA doing that with our 'record billions in profits' that are going right into the hands of corporate executives with no accountability for the gas price hikes which are destabilizing the US economy... imagine if those record profits were taxed at a higher rate, and that money instead went into:
a) free medical for all
b) schools
c) food subsidies
d) gas subsidies
e) free college educations
The reason Bush gave everyone a '$600 spending incentive' is because his presidency has stolen more public money than they expected (via illegal warfare, contracting private mercenary firms, Haliburton, allowing 9/11 to happen w/o taking any action -- despite being informed prior to the (supposed) attack, and more), so maybe it was guilt money...?
Bush went after Social Security, b/c the wealthy are not comfortable with poor elderly people living comfortably after slaving their whole lives for wealthy executives, and while he was trying to privatize that money they were arguing it was because the social security fund was unstable -- and then he advocated spending trillions to kill Iraqi people in a country that never attacked the USA. Priorities? Oil over people, military before public, guns before butter. Did you really have any confusion here anyway?
Nah -- Bush doesn't suffer an ounce of guilt. He feels he's chosen by God. That money is to help you all spend happily while the USA splits into a society of wealthy landed aristocracy and poor serfs, with a middle class getting shattered by govt corruption.
Whew! Long rant!
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