July 13, 2012

Mitt Romney and the Bain Refrain

I keep hearing an overwealming resonance in the media surrounding the lies that presential hopeful (or should we say wishful?) Mitt Romney has told concerning his time at Bain Capital. He refuses to tell the truth on the matter and in the stark face of independent confirmation that he obfuscated at the very least if not outrightly lied about it. It's become a firestorm. Or possibly a shit storm. More likely the latter, because I think that with all the publicity the Bain dissemblmement is getting following the wake of the many other seeds of scandal Romney has sown in his campaign (such as his stolid refusal to lay his tax papers on the table flouting decades of tradition) that it is rapidly proving to become his achilles' heel. As I've stated before, thieves in the night shun the light and Romney's caginess over his past business dealings (which are the very foundation his compaign hinges on) is sure to be the death of his bid for the presidency. And the core of the abscess is sure to be the lies over Bain Capital.

July 12, 2012

a list of some of the words I hate most

Most people have a list of words they consider vulgar or insulting even if they aren't swear words per say. Here's a list of some of the words I hate most.


Corporation
CEO
Executive
Elite
Republican
Conservative
Bank
Bailout
Tax
Rich
Wealthy
Default
Foreclosure
Aristocrat
Fiat
Debt
Investor
Derivative
Hedge (as in hedge fund)
Congress
Senate


There are probably several more but those are the most poignant ones right now.

July 11, 2012

Revelation 18: 2: A cage for every unclean and hateful bird

"And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird."

Revelation 18: 2, New American Standard Bible Copyright 1995


Do you ever get the feeling we're living in the End Times? I sure as hell do. (Pun quite intended.)
The Book of Revelation is traditionally a very difficult book of the Bible to interpret but it seems pretty clear two things from this quote: The 'Babylon' to which the writer of the Book of Revelation was referring does not seem to be the Babylon of old-it is some other nation being being referred to as a metonymy, and the demons and unclean spirits and 'hateful birds' are spirits of corruption, larceny, greed, etc.

So which nation on Earth seems likely to be this new 'Whore of Babylon'? Well it could be anyone or maybe one that doesn't exist today. But I would bet on it being right here. The Whore of Babylon will be home grown. We have the precursors for a system such as that laid out in Revelation now. A global financial system, in which wealth is traded horizontally among the tiny ultra elite class who freely trade in goods and slaves. This isn't here obviously yet but let's examine the writing on the wall.

We already in this nation have a system in which a sovereign government has no right or ability to print its own money-the only legal entity in the nation is the Federal Reserve-a conglomerate of private banking intererests. Now this is old, old news and it's like beating a horse skeleton to repeat it but bear with me. Consider that this is a form of bondage which keeps the American citizen and the American Government both held in sway to the will of the Banks. A form of financial slavery of which we are all born into. A one world government will have a single currency which will probably be fiat and will be controlled by a tiny handful of powerful elite.

The one world government of the Book of Revelation will have total control over all aspects of life including commerce, religion, finance, etc. We don't don't have a one world government right now but we have in our midst a tiny prototypical experiment, The European Union. While it looks like it's in serious trouble and maybe on the verge of collapse it still stands that this monolithic system has already been tested. There are only a handful of institutions which would be able to rule a One World Government. The financial system will probably be something like that in Bolshevik Russia and I dare say that Catholicism will probably be the religion as it is one of the few institutions with the power to influence world politics on the scale in which it does. And it goes more or less without saying that the only kind of government that could possibly stand as a One World Government would be a tyranny and a police state. An autocracy. The evidence for this is spelled out in Revelation also. And if you want a model for this sort of activity going on today there are a number of police states out there, Indonesia being a notable one. England also is absolutely obsessed control of the population in fine detail.

Another (frightening) aspect of the One World Order of Revelation is the routine trade of slaves (souls) as goods. If you believe the world will never see slavery again well, I wouldn't hold my breath. Already it appears that the status quo is gearing up to create two classes of people-the ultra rich and the ultra poor. I ask you-how will these permanently unemployed ultra poor survive? And if you don't believe that American institutions already embrace a form of indenture that's little above slavery take the case of the notorious 'Ipod City'; Apple's Ipod manufacturing plant in China where the workers literally earn pennies a day and live in dormitories and where conditions are so bad that the workers made shows of jumping off the railings from the upper stories of the plant in suicide while American Executives visited the plants. This Apple here-Good old Steve Jobs' company. He must be rolling in his grave. I don't think he would have approved. Either way it's become what it's become. The company's response? Put nets up to stop people from jumping to their death. American Industry's response in general? Threaten China that if it attempts to enact laws protecting its workers and holding American Industrialists accountable for such Human Rights violations that it will withdraw industry and funding from China. And right now the Chinese are living the 'American Dream' through American funding. If Industrialists can get away with this kind of enforced servitude today who knows what they'll be able to get away with in the future.

This passage might not be very persuasive to some but to me I see all these things unfolding just as spelled out in the Book of Revelation. We're in the embryonic stages of the 'Great Tribulation' now. It's all prophesy coming to the fore as my father would say.

So what do I suggest? Vote now while you still can because who knows how long we'll still be able. The Whore of Babylon could be right around the corner with her cup of filth.

July 11, 2012

Well, today I had my day in (kangaroo) court..

Citi Mortgage foreclosed on my family's property of 50 years today after months of waiting. I'm now facing homelessness. And all this on the tail of a massive campaign to forestall foreclosures and evictions by dozens of individuals and jurisdictions. All too little too late for me.

I will however continue to support the various foreclosure moratoriums that I come across in the hopes that this won't happen to any more people than absolutely possible.

Now I won't rant because nobody likes a whiny, crybaby ass complainer (I'm definitely not Tea Party material!); but I will say one thing for the record.

Citi Mortage sucks ass!

July 9, 2012

'Bones' should go the way of the dinosaurs

I'm not a big fan of television. I pretty much agree with the old adage that it's an 'idiot box'. In fact I don't even own one. But I do have occasion to see some of it visiting friends. Some of it like Dual Survival is ok. Most of it is pretty horrendous. The show 'Bones' definitely fits into the latter category. The following is my little rant about one of the worst shows on TV.

For those of you who are still blissfully unaware of this horrible show's existence I will give you an outline (But don't expect it to be very accurate or detailed since I'm usually trying to avoid watching this.)

The show stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz as Temperance 'Bones' Brennan and Seeley Booth respectively; a Forensic Anthropologist (or something) and an FBI agent. The two work to help solve crimes for the FBI (I presume) out of the back of a museum of all things. During every episode one or more sets of various human remains of unknown provenance are unearthed and studied by the protagonists. I have to say that I'm not aware of what city the story takes place in, nor will I bother to look it up-but I don't want to live anywhere in which a set of unidentified human remains is found on a daily basis. Oh, and get this: said remains usually turn out to be the result of foul play, meaning that where ever the place is that the story takes place, it has an unusually high homicide rate! How all-American!

The show involves a number of truly bad elements which make it in my opinion the dramatic equivalent of toxic waste. Hackneyed, screwball characters, tawdry, pretentious dialog, preposterously bad science, and my favorite-gobs and gobs of sickening human remains often found in bizarre and outre circumstances.

The show unabashedly showcases such earmarks of crapiness as an Brittish intern who can't relate to others without continually spouting trivia, be it apropos to the situation or not; a fantastic rapid prototyping machine that somehow wondrously casts full size articulated skeletons using visible green beams, and an absurd, magical crime reconstruction computer akin to a crystal ball which shows you precisely how a crime took place via a hologram when you input a few known parameters! The episodes often repeat some hook or central theme to such a degree that it becomes a refrain ad nauseum: One character repeated the phrase 'It's amazing!' repeatedly each scene in which he was shown.

The two major points of contention I have against the show are the Mylar thin and transparent characters and the terribly amateurish technical writing. The main characters themselves, Bones and Booth- a Forensic Anthropologist and a bureaucrat are in themselves the epitome of stereotypical in their roles: A cloistered, out-of-touch ivory tower intellectual and a hard nosed shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later badass. While Booth is a little more normal (for values of normal where these types are concerned) Brennan is of a highly intellectual bent, very bookish and ecclectic (read: weird) and seems to be disconnected from the way every day people think so such a degree as to leave you wondering if she isn't bat sh*t crazy.

Then there is the truly horrendous scientific writing. Now, everybody knows that it's not an entertainer's job to educate us, but at least having it somewhere in the right BALLPARK can't hurt, right? In one episode the show's resident mycologist whose name I don't know and won't bother to check mistook a slime mold for a fungus (it is in fact a protist-a eukaryote in its own distinct kingdom) evidently based solely on its common name. In another episode Booth seemed to suggest that carbon steel had been completely supplanted by stainless in every application; hence a dagger with a carbon steel blade must date from sometime during WWII! In yet another horrific episode we see that a small bucket full of Magnesium shavings has ignited torching a truck to the state its steel is partially molten! And on and on and on and on......

The tawdry, 2 dimensional characters, technical grade dialog and highschool science are all just great but the one thing that endears this show to me the most is the utterly sickening states in which the eponymous bones are discovered. Never do we find a nice clean skeleton simply lying in the woods somewhere (Which admittedly is rarely the case, but as you will soon see the Bones writers have a real affinity for pushing it)...No. In one episode we find a group of skeletons covered in pink, slimy things from the bottom of the ocean which turn out to be deep ocean Boneworms. (The episode made a big deal of the colorful name 'Boneating Slime Flower'). In yet another episode we find a set of remains lying in a coating of yellow jellyish stuff; the aforementioned slime mold. And in the worst one of all in my opinion we find in one episode a skeleton encased carbonite like in a giant chocolate bar! Said skeleton is discovered when a group of chocolatiers saw into the outsize bar releasing a flood of decayed glop. I couldn't touch a Hershey's bar for weeks!

Oh, one one more little nagging thing I couldn't stand about the show: Practically every episode was named 'the skeleton' something or other......Real creativity there. I guess they figured hey! It worked for Harry Potter!

All in all this is a show that I wish would hurry up and take its rightful place in the fossil bed with the other extinct horrible shows.

July 5, 2012

Whither Trayvon?

It seems that the nation at large has forgotten Trayvon Martin, the 17 year old who was slain in February by the crazed, self -appointed 'neighborhood watch' leader George Zimmerman. The incident created widespread outrage when it happened. Now there's silence.
I know it's natural for such issues to cool down after a while, don't get me wrong. People have a tendency and a desire to want to 'move on' which is natural-lest we dwell on it forever and never recover. But it seems unfortunate to me that such issues generally pass out of the public eye once their sensationalism is passed. Once it ceases to be the hottest new headline people move past it and seek other sensational headlines to titillate them. I personally am continuing to follow the case, to the degree there is any more press being reported to follow.

I feel somewhat gratified in hearing that Zimmerman is back in jail. Personally I hope he stands trial. The case is not over even if the media considers it a dead issue. His family and friends still desire justice.

Just a thought.

July 5, 2012

Twilight of the Elites: America after Meritocracy: A personal review

Hello fellow readers.

I'd like to offer you my thoughts on a book I finished reading recently. Now, I'm not a professional book reviewer or critic but I do read a LOT. I've been reading habitually since I was a child-everything from fiction to documentaries and how-to. So I feel qualified to at least recommend or disrecommend a book.

As for Twilight of the Elites by Christopher Hayes, I would put this one low on my list of reading priorities. I would not suggest NOT to read it but I wouldn't rush on it- First off I thought the subject matter was disappointing. It seemed to me that out of the seven chapters in the book the author spent six of them more or less stating the obvious. The final chapter 'Reformation' suggested some various ways in which we COULD very simply reform the nation's government and cited various other nations' strategies for creating more egalitarian societies. He then goes on to state, again, the obvious problem: It would hinge upon forcing the elites already in power to give up much of that power.

So the title of the book is a bit misleading: What with national approval of Congress at an all time low, along with trust in our pillar institutions, and with new books damning the failures of our nation's elite month by month it wouldn't be hard to imagine that Twilight of the Elites points to the eminent demise of this situation in our country. But it's more of a discussion of why such a system must eventually fail. (So far unfortunately, it hasn't-which is what I was hoping to hear in the book.)

As far as the last chapter goes, speculation on how to make a more egalitarian nation-well I will say this: Speculation is only any good if it leads to a solution. Otherwise it becomes simply grasping at straws, and even takes time and resources from actively searching for an answer.

I won't say the book doesn't have its up sides. The author is a clearly accomplished speaker and is good at making his points. I just don't think the points clued me personally into anything I wasn't either already privy to, or would have been had I bothered to meditate on it.

One more thing I found highly unusual about this book is that the author frequently curses openly in the body of the book using phrases like 'fucked up' and 'hot-shit'. I'm not against cursing personally-in fact I'm quite fluent in vulgarity. But I can honestly say that though I've been curses a plenty IN QUOTATIONS in a documentary I've never seen them directly in the body of the work. I would not disrecommend the book merely on that point but it is highly irregular.

In closing this short (and admittedly inexpert) review I would like to suggest you put reading this one off for a little later.

July 5, 2012

Bad Democrat! NC Representative Becky Carney is an Imbecile

If you live in the State of North Carolina (As do I) or have been following the news you probably know about Senator Bev Purdue's murdered Fracking Bill veto. It was murdered by the illustrious Rep. Becky Carney, who 'accidentally' provided the deciding vote to cancel the veto!

So now, fellow North Carolinians, you and I have to contend with the threat of toxic seepage in our water supply. And if you live anywhere near me, in Fayetteville, you know that utilities providers like Public Works Commission (PWC) are already brutally unforgiving.

But don't fret- we have two years in which to get things straightened out. Personally, I can attest that Becky Carney is one Dem that I will NOT be voting for next time around. If I see her name on a ballot I'll certainly do my level best to vote her out, and I suggest my fellow North Carolinian Democrats do the same.

North Carolina is a beautiful state teeming with verdant natural diversity, culture, and history. I've always been proud to live in North Carolina and I would not want to live anywhere else. I personally will continue to fight the Fracking Bill tooth and talon until we've driven a dogwood stake through its heart and buried it face down in hallowed ground. I cannot, will not allow a hazardous and wasteful process like fracking to destroy this beautiful and historic state so that greedy GOP elites and continue to fatten themselves at my expense.

If you've followed the news the claim is that Carney's vote was an 'accident'; that she was tired and pressed the 'wrong' button. I am not sure if it was sedition or incompetence that caused this disaster but I assure you we don't need incompetence in our state any more than subterfuge. So fellow Democrats in North Carolina; I urge you to vote with me next time around (assuming this Representative quit her job-which would be just as well) and take this bungler out of our leadership system. Mistakes this costly are inexcusable in this day and age.

April 4, 2012

Dear American Tax Payer: I am grateful for the meals you provide. Thank you.

Ah, hello there reader. I was hoping you would stop by. I wanted to thank you for my dinner last night. You didn't know you kept me from going hungry, did you? Well, you did.

You see, I'm a North Carolina Food and Nutritions Benefits recipient. Read Foodstamps. I depend on Foodstamps to get by. If it were not for that I would have literally nothing to eat.

You might say "Don't you mean dear 'government'?" No. I don't The Government set up the Food and Nutrition Benefits through the Department of Social Services. But it's taxpayer money that funds it. As far as I no no politician spends a single dime of his or her own private money to fund EBT benefits. (If you happen to know impirically that one of them does I urge you not to hesitate to post a link so I can post a thread thanking him or her as well.)

I'm very serious about my gratitude to those who pay their taxes and provide me with meals. This is not a joke or some tongue in cheek slight. Were it not for you ladies and gentlemen I would practically starve as would untold other Americans who are out of work or do not have enough work, or can't pay for enough food for themselves or their dependents.

I know paying taxes is a bitter pill to swallow. And I know in this country the taxpayer has little to no control over where their tax dollars go. But if it were up to me and I had the say over the little bit of taxes I pay, being unemployed, go- I'd put most of it into programs like the EBT program.

Some people reading this might be cynical enough to call people like myself that live off the public purse leechers or parasites. I'm not saying that in some cases people are not receiving public benefits who shouldn't be. It was the same with the food bundles that my church used to give out every Wednesday, which I participated in. Many of the people getting those bundles had plenty to eat. Many more did NOT. In most cases people like myself receiving public food and nutrition benefits aren't looking for a handout, just a hand up. The real parasites are the ones on Wall Street who make it necessary for American Tax dollars to feed the unemployed. Their destructive and self serving financial and economic policies have led to declines in employments for years now.

So I say to you, Sir or Madam Tax Payer: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate the fact that because of your sacrifice, I have a little to eat each month. Please don't be uptset at myself and those like us. We're trying. In the meantime we thank you. In fact, reader-if you benefit from Foodstamps or another public service provided by the taxpayer purse and you want to express your gratitude please leave a reply with a thumbs up emote in it so everyone who reads this can see that you're grateful as I am.

April 3, 2012

Believe me when I say that Jesus was DEFINITELY NOT a Homophobe!

I wish I had one of those shirts myself. I'd wear it proudly. And just to be clear, I'm a white, male, straight Christian! But there are plenty of verses in the Bible that hold this up.

Quoting and probably paraphrasing is the most well known verse in the New Testament:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever should believe upon Him should not perish but should have life everlasting". It says whosoever-not the straight, white, rich people. 'Whosoever' would seem to me to include gay people as well. Then there are some other ones such as:

"For we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God', and 'Whosoever cometh unto me I shall in no wise cast out'.

Jesus was salvation. He did not turn anyone away.

Now, that having been said, The Bible also said a couple things that seem contrary UNTIL you understand what was meant, such as:

"No dogs shall enter Heaven" and "Not all who cry 'lord, lord!' shall enter Heaven. What does that mean? Well, when it says 'no dogs' it means homosexuals. BUT here's the kicker: Once you're saved you're no longer under the law. you're under GRACE! Which means you're no longer a dog. You're a saint. God no longer sees the sin. It's behind His back.

And the second one is good lesson to rich Goppers that spread this kind of hate. If 'not all who cry 'lord lord' shall enter Heaven then what happened to 'whosoever cometh unto me, I shall in no wise cast out'? Sounds pretty contradictory. But stand back and take another look. Some people cry 'lord lord' but don't mean it in their hearts. They are hypocrits. They don't really believe in God or Jesus Christ. They just want to use religion to spin doctor their public appearance. When Jesus said 'whosoever' he meant whosoever believed.

Here's one more thing for rich hypocrits to consider: Jesus said also "When ye have done until the least of these, ye have done unto me also." I'll let the meaning of that one sink in a little.
Sorry to write a novel but I thought this was important.