Profit from Meltdown USA

The USA has entered a meltdown. I'm sad about it. But what can be done? We're locked in decline -- by a corrupt corporatist system.

Can individual Americans profit during this meltdown?

Sure. It's best to protect yourself & your loved ones - and money may not be the best path to protection.

Breakdown is likely because of hopelessness. What opportunities or trends promise a better life ahead? Far too few...

Education & public health are in decline. Security and 'correctional' services are major growth industries. Police & military hog increasing chunks of all public spending.

As with programmed trading, the poor get squeezed to become poorer & poorer. They're also demonized. As these dispossessed grow in number, they threaten & endanger America's elite, and destabilize the shrinking middle class who serve them.

If civil unrest leads to widespread looting, or insurrectionary "redistribution" of wealth, fortified buildings & neighborhoods may be quickly targeted - perhaps by their own security guards.

The government has already instituted changes circumventing the US Constitution. They now hold US citizens indefinitely without charge or trial in military detention centers under Section 1021(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Torture is called "enhanced interrogation" but used as punishment. Banks & media drive oppression, and they profit from the churn.

This topic needs more analysis. Send your comments.

New Tax on Banks

The looming grim "fiscal cliff" can be easily avoided, in a way most Americans would find painless: add a new financial transaction tax.

The financial industries do not adequately pay their way. It's past time for The New Financial Transaction Tax. Or call it The Money Market Tax.

At less than a tenth of one percent, such a tiny tax will not bring doom & gloom to the world (though big bankers & financiers might say so. Major economists favor the tax). We might thus escape mechanized corruption.

In a culture of greed and payoffs, self-regulation is clearly insufficient. We must build safeguards into our systems. Tumbling the conspiracies years later is too little, too late. But the oversight bodies need resources - thus the Money Market Tax.

Recognize both Bohner & Obama are in the pockets of big bankers. Remember the bailout gifts & TARP? Instead of "hiring" the losers who'd caused the meltdown (at millions of dollars per financier) they could have directly helped the people. They've given immunity to hundreds of bankers & finance scum whose frauds cost trillions, and who remain personally wealthy. The bailout was dirty and irresponsible.

Look in the news for big banks paying huge fines - they've criminally stolen our future, and now pay pennies on the dollar without admitting guilt.

Ask your national lawmakers, left right & center, for The New Financial Transaction Tax.

Call it something catchy, and make the system work. With a Money Market Tax, our world will be a better place.

Transaction Tax Fences Cliff

It is long past time the USA should institute a financial transaction tax (sometimes called "Tobin Tax"). Many American people have been burned by mechanical speculation and robo-signing. A small financial transaction tax will be a step forward for the public. Financiers need to be fenced-in, not bailed-out. They take pride in holding the nation hostage; we must clearly say  - No More.

A Bagel for Hagel ?

Former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, Chairperson of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, is being considered for the post of US Secretary of Defence, and the rightwing lobby for the State of Israel is reportedly against him.

I don't know Chuck Hagel, and I'm unfamiliar with his policies. But Cabinet officials follow Presidential directives. Given Hagel's long public service, and being twice wounded in action serving in the US military, I assume he's patriotic.

Israeli patriotism is not American patriotism. If the Israelis don't like American leaders, too bad. American policies must focus on what's best for America. Israel is not our Master - and shouldn't dictate America's path.

AIPAC flirts with treason.

Insane McCain

John McCain, the 76-year old US senator from Arizona, should retire. Hard living has taken a horrible toll on body & mind. He's served well, and is a great example of a warrior who should honorably retire. Sure he's reluctant, and hesitates to admit weakness & decline, but he must be encouraged to depart.

Public life is rough & bitter. Hang it up Senator.

So sad for his legacy... if faltering & doddering lead to him being labeled "insane McCain"...

Impunity?

Too much state-sponsored violence & abuse hides under the rubric of patriotism. A key problem is greed - especially among big industrial interests. Let's encourage them to police themselves, as their interests are often in competition. Otherwise we are fed bullshit by corporate media.

There are no good reasons the USA should occupy Iraq or Afghanistan. Let's bring our warriors back to the homeland, and spend domestically. Almost everyone will be better-off.

Tyranny and legal impunity are like diseases, quickly infecting others. The wider community must condemn such shenanigans.

Torture Glorified

Mark Boal (writer) and movie director Kathryn Bigelow have glorified torture in their 2012 film 'Zero Dark Thirty' -- reportedly making it seem tortures generated the information that lead U.S. forces to finding Osama Bin Laden.

Not many of us will be tortured. Thankfully. But after this whitewash in the US of A, more people are likely to be thus sacrificed. Maybe Boal & Bigelow should be entered onto Russia's blacklist of human rights violators, along with other buddies from the Waterboard Club. Inciting torture is similar to inciting hate crime.

(Scum such as John Yoo, David Addington & Nino Scalia are certain fingernail removal works wonders, yet barely hurts).

Krawcheck Devils

Sallie Krawcheck
 -- Opportunistic bankster bitch, spawn of Citigroup & Bank of America. For five cents profit she'd sell yo mortgaged ass to the devil. Dog-eat-dog till the big hounds eat you. Sallie's a crony capitalist in makeup, a creation of spin & too-slick PR.

Magnitsky - Manning Laws

Russian poster boy Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky (Сергей Леонидович Магнитский) was a Moscow lawyer & corporate auditor whose activism against Russian government corruption led to he himself being arrested & held without charge in Moscow's infamous prison Butyrka (Бутырская тюрьма). In 2009 Magnitsky died in police detention.

Magnitsky's death was variously blamed on negligence, torture, or poor medical care. His whistleblower claims of massive tax fraud and accusations against specific powerful officials clearly put him under great threat, and his close links to foreign business interests raised further suspicions.

Magnitsky's abuse & tragic death has become a cause célèbre around the world, a symbol of bad government that is corrupt, unaccountable and ruthless. The Magnitsky case also highlights collusion between the press, government officials and powerful private interests, who repackage stories as weapons for purging and realigning leadership factions. This is likely to become more pronounced with the passage in the USA of revised US-Russia trade legislation that demands Russian officials linked to human rights violations face travel restrictions & asset seizures. 

As the USA unilaterally puts together a "Magnitsky List" against Russians previously protected from accountability, the Russians are threatening to highlight dirty American officials who've similarly operated above the law. Might such checks & balances become a step forward for human rights?

Human rights violations are far too frequent in our world, with many governments turning a blind eye to torture, unilateral warfare, illegal military occupation, and extrajudicial punishments. Magnitsky is one of tens of thousands murdered by assorted nations via bureaucratic difference.

Sadly, media relations budgeting determines who is freedom fighter or terrorist. Naming human rights offenders is a highly political process sure to fuel further collusion between media & governments.

The Russians might highlight the cases of Daniel Ellsberg or Bradley Manning or Muhammed Ali or Julian Assange or a host of others who've suffered retaliation or abuse for their efforts. Surely the USA has hundreds of weasels who've actively crushed human rights both home & abroad. String 'em up!

Who are the public employees responsible for extrajudicial killing and holding hostage huge swathes of our world? Ultimately our enslavement relies on faceless officials and belief in their immunity.

    

Onward & Upward

An anonymous comment to another blog very much worth reposting:

"Good executive talent is relentless about improvement, bad executive talent is relentless about maintaining and managing their own personal ‘image’ in the eyes of their superiors. The result is that good executive talent will regularly change course to correct errors once they realize that methodologically superior avenues are available, while bad executive talent is always making excuses for their errors and staying course."

"Matter of fact, I’d go so far to say that is one thing is a total dealbreaker if I recognize it in any of my people. Show me a man who stands around and makes excuses for inoptimal decisions worried more about how it reflects on him personally rather than his responsibility as a manager, I’ll show you a man who’s packing his desk within the hour. It’s something I’ve learned to recognize very quickly and I have fired people for just that within the past 12 months."

Thanks Anon & Elliot Silver.

Hating Colin Powell

US Secretary of State Colin Powell went to the United Nations Security Council in 2003 and promised "every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence."

He lied. The cost of his lies about Iraq was tens of thousands of lives lost, and a huge outlay of funds to militarists that continues to destabilize American society. Costofwar.com estimates spending for the Iraq war at over $800 billion, or nearly $3000 per person in the USA. Of course, if you also lost loved ones, you might somehow celebrate their sacrifice.

Anyhow, Powell supposedly now feels his UNSC presentation was a "painful" incident. I can't agree - compared to tens of thousands (maybe millions) of others, Colin Powell knows little about pain.

Earlier in his career, Colin Powell earned respect & honor before he abandoned his integrity. Honor is not something turned on & off. He schemed to deceive us, harnessing his honor to forces dark & horrible. It's especially painful as we were led to expect better from Powell. We were played like dumb chumps.

Powell, Bush, Cheney & Blair should be in prison. The others were already corrupt, but Powell especially might have changed the world positively. He did the opposite.

Last week, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice had the opportunity to cast a vote for Middle East peace that would have echoed for years. Sure it would have disobeyed her government and it's masters, and likely she'd have lost her job. But she'd have done the right thing, and become a hero to millions.

When Tommie Smith & John Carlos stood on the podium at the 1968 Olympic Games and silently demonstrated for Black Power, their effort was ridiculed & condemned. Years later they are seen as heroic & courageous. We can't expect so many others to stand proudly and refuse to compromise to hatred and prejudice, but the torch of human rights is not extinguished. Some people will step forward in the face of crushing power to work for a better world.

2 Wrongs ! !

Millions of innocent Jewish people were tortured & murdered by the Nazis. All Germans and associated peoples share some responsibility for that Holocaust.

Some Jewish survivors and others migrated to the Middle East and re-created the nation of Israel. The people displaced there were different from those responsible for the Jewish Holocaust. Land was taken from the native peoples, and still Israel continues to advance and occupy the land of others. Many Israelis now believe their ultra-right factions and squatter settlements undermine the nation's foundations, though some claim persecution & security needs as justification. Other Zionists claim divine guidance.

Surely to torture and steal from the innocent is unsustainable and wrong.

Sophistry & Deception

The UN General Assembly's upgrade of Palestine to observer state status was immediately condemned by the USA. Echoing earlier argument by Israeli UN Ambassador Ron Prosor, the American UN Ambassador Susan Rice highlighted the need for direct negotiations by the parties involved.

Surely this is correct.

However, looking at the status of Israel and that of Palestine, bilateral dialog was avoided in part due to imbalanced status. Israel is a full member state of the United Nations, while Palestine was an observer entity. Palestine has been easily marginalized. Indeed (link), even Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert came out in favor of Palestine's bid as grounds to move talks forward. This result, to upgrade Palestine, is a better option than to downgrade or suspend Israel from UN membership.

Do these parties truly want peace? On both sides, 65 years of hostilities have damaged many moderate peace-loving families. Let's hope this is positive change. Hope in support of peace.

---------------------------------
138 nations voted Yes
(Among the 27 EU nations were 14 Yes votes, 1 No vote, 12 abstentions. Overall, supporters outnumbered opponents by a 15 to 1 margin)

9 nations voted No
Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Panama, USA

41 nations abstained
Albania, Andorra, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Croatia, Dem. Rep. of Congo, Estonia, Fiji, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malawi, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Togo, Tonga, UK, Vanuatu

Do You Matter?

Today at the United Nations, the General Assembly will vote on recognizing Palestine as a UN Observer state, upgrading their status from UN Observer "entity"

Seems a storm in a teacup. In either case, there's been no progress with the peace process for far too many years.

Both cases are non-member status.

In the BBC's online report, they mention how key countries are expected to vote. Is your nation mentioned?  Japan?  Korea?  Sweden?  Do you live in a key nation?  What decides which nations are important?  Do you matter?  If not, why not?

Debt-or Alive

The General Petraeus scandal's Lebanese-American socialite has begun fighting back over media portraying her as less than wholesome. Jill Gilberte Khawam Kelley's lawyer has released materials claiming businessman Adam Victor made "false and defamatory" statements "intended to portray Ms. Kelley in a false light." Kelley is also reported to have filed a complaint with the State of Florida over her former attorney Barry Cohen violating attorney-client privilege by talking to the media.

But according to her local Tampa Bay Times, in the decade since arriving in Tampa, Ms. Kelley and/or her husband have been subjects of lawsuits nine times, often for non-payment of debts. (link)  Seems too frequent. And her 37-year old twin sister, who lives together with her, is embroiled in a $3.2 million bankruptcy, perjury allegations, and a nasty custody battle. Both sisters have reportedly failed to pay for separate past legal services from Arnold Levine, another Tampa lawyer.

So perhaps they are not the most desirable of clients, though each sister claims close friendship with former CIA Director David Petraeus & Army General John Allen (and both generals provided glowing character references for Natalie Khawam)... The Kelleys have reportedly hired star Washington layer Abbe Lowell and  famed publicist Judy Smith to assist them. Was payment in advance required?

Why should we care? Most people work hard to settle their debts. Scams & bankruptcies undermine confidence. Now we see key people in the military & government intelligence as none too smart...The Madoff swindle & the bailout of big corporations after 2008 showed key US systems as not simply imperfect, but corrupt. Signs of immanent major breakdown...?

Native Sexy

Victoria's Secret (a lingerie firm) recently celebrated Native American Heritage Month by highlighting a controversial outfit in their annual fashion show. A nearly-naked female wore a feather headdress / war bonnet, which seemed to mock Native American symbolism of men earning feathers for strength & bravery.  The sexy skimpy theme was highly criticized, drawing the attention of Sasha Houston Brown:

"These contemporary instances of cultural appropriation and stereotypes are really byproducts of ongoing colonialism, systemic racism, and the deliberately false narratives perpetuated about Native peoples by white society. Cultural commodification and dehumanized stereotypes extended far beyond any single corporation, retail franchise, or celebrity. Despite what dominant society and mainstream media say, Native culture is a vibrant and living culture. We are not a relic of the past, a theme or a trend; we are not a style or costume; we are not mascots, noble savages or romantic fictional entities. We are human beings and, despite all odds, we have survived"

Dirty Oil Must Pay

There's been an unreasonably low financial settlement between the US Federal Government and BP over the huge BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The disaster, where operations by BP and its subcontractors Transocean and Halliburton went ballistic, killed eleven people directly, leaving oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for more than three months (and leakage may be ongoing), and was a huge black mark on the industry overall.

Because of the impact on tourism and the food supply, the largest accidental oil spill in history is too often labeled "Deepwater Horizon oil spill" or "Macondo blowout" rather than "BP Gulf disaster" or another more descriptive label for the area's poisoning.

Part of the penalty for this preventable ecological disaster should be creating a subsidy fund for renewable energy projects. A major wind energy facility in the northeast USA, Cape Wind off Cape Cod,  is expected to generate substantial energy without the danger of spills and ecological mutation. The dirty oil & nuclear producers should not simply pay all the costs for their accidents, but also be forced to subsidize the basis for undercutting their industry. They've skewed costs by cutting corners - now let us all support cleaner energy.

Stop the "Smartphone"

The most recent incarnation of mobile phones (cellular phones) are now called "smartphones" -- because they upgrade their predecessors.

But that terminology is not sustainable.

First - the phones are not so smart. They may seem so now, but in the next two years this crop will be functionally challenged and seem inadequate.

Next - these contraptions are no longer simply phones. They are computer, camera, GPS, audio recorder, music player, etc. The phone function & characteristics are not so central to product definition now.

We need a new name for them gizmo. A good name can be used for decades.

I suggest "commby"

Commby is "communications" paired with "By" because it's near (proximity). And it's a communication combination machine, with multiple functions.

Commby - a short sweet name for great technology.

Manufacturers are busy creating their own machines and devising proprietary names. This name should be open source. 

Where's my commby?

Walmart Wages War

 

Does Walmart overpay its workers?
Surely not.

 

Crime Redefined, Ignored

The American people have been burgled. The face of organized crime in America is the fixer - the financial industry fixer, banking industry executive, Treasury appointee, the Fed insider.

They continue to skim. But in their big play of 2008-09, these scamsters robbed America of  trillions in real wealth. 

They've yet to answer for their crimes. Stooges & paid accomplices in government shield the monster scam, insisting "the bailout was necessary." The huge money transfers to private interests can't be legitimized as fair, or deserved -- so that's ignored.

The fleeced citizenry are uncomfortable, but passively carry on.

But bank robbery can be prosecuted years afterward... Ill-gotten gains can be partially recovered, and thieves punished. 

Pres. Bush to Egypt?

On American Thanksgiving Day, former US President George W. Bush indicated a potential willingness to return to public service -- as President of Egypt.

Responding to an Imaginary reporter who mentioned he (Bush) "was in denial about his sinking legacy" the former President, apparently misheard, and mentioned "Egypt's Old Man River!" He claimed "Jes' like those fay-rows" he himself was ready to lead the region. Admitting he was "always doubtful" of former President Mubarak, he referred to the Bible story of a burning bush, before excusing himself to "take a crap."

Thanksgiving Haiku

Moist Thanksgiving walk

Vigorous yet comfortable

Embracing silence

Yankee holiday

Just another workday here

Celebrating love

Too much computer !

Red stinging eyes can't focus

I stretch for the keys

Short sweet dropped .com

Looks available, but wait...

This spelling's reversde

Leaving the turkey

I'm online sparring for drops

With Reberry-san

    -- Thanksgiving 2012, Haiku by 元気 Genki

Wicked Walmart

Workers at Walmart are pledged to strike on Black Friday (23rd November), the crazy US shopping day after Thanksgiving.

Many Walmart staff are the working poor - at salaries insufficient to pay for housing & food, they've no health or pension benefits when the employer keeps worktime below 28 hours per week.

American Dream for one family, nightmare for millions.

Walton family wealth = the wealth of 42% of all American families. Major owners of Walmart are the Walton family, whose wealth ($89.5 billion in 2010) equals that of the bottom 48.8 million American families.

The Walmart workers are not freeloaders, just regular folk slaving at unglamorous hard work. The 1% teach us to despise those lazing in entitlement programs. But in fact only their own rich kids do squat -- living large and lording it over America.

Entrepreneurs = only THREE PERCENT of the Very Rich
"According to both Marketwatch and economist Edward Wolff, over 90 percent of the assets owned by millionaires are held in a combination of low-risk investments (bonds and cash), personal business accounts, the stock market, and real estate. Only 3.6 percent of taxpayers in the top .1% were classified as entrepreneur..." (link)

Attacks on India

Yesterday the Government of India executed the sole surviving militant from the 2008 Mumbai attacks, where over 150 people were massacred.

Justice eludes the dead, crushing joys of loved ones lost.

Capital punishment is a feeble, extreme & primitive reaction to atrocity.

The most infamous unanswered attack on India in the recent past was the corporate greed attack on Bhopal, where Union Carbide's criminally hazardous pesticide plant spewed poison gas over hundreds of thousands of people, killing thousands outright, with tens of thousands victims permanently harmed.

Justice eludes the dead, crushing joys of loved ones lost.

Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) disavowed responsibility. These reckless parasites sucked the profits, passing costs & pain to the community. Chairman Warren Anderson jumped bail and fled India for the USA, where he's been protected from retribution. He's the infamous robber capitalist, and now over 90 years old. His prostituted talents fattened shareholder wallets, but soon he'll join Lucifer & many thousand piteous ghosts in sadness...

Capt Jean, RIP

I did not know Capt. Jean Frottier of Welfleet, who perished two miles offshore when his vessel Twin Lights capsized & sank last week. A part of Cape Cod was lost. Sympathy to family & friends.

Collective Retribution: Gaza

Killing civilians ?

We're led to believe Even their babies are guilty.

One day, after lengthy investigations, "a few mistakes" may be confessed.

Collective retribution and indiscriminate bombing are wrong.
Extrajudicial assassination will rebound badly.
Whether generating terror, or genocide: stop this punishment.

General Disorder

Top-tier US military commanders are under siege on the personal front:

Army General William "Kip" Ward
 ---- demoted one star for travel expense improprieties while Commander, United States Africa Command

Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis
 ---- passed over for potential appointment as chief of naval operations while being investigated by Pentagon Inspector General for use of military aircraft on questionable unofficial travel; ultimately cleared of misconduct

Army General David H. Petraeus
 ---- retired general abruptly left his civilian job as Director of the CIA over an extramarital affair; now under attack for questionable links to a Tampa-based socialite & security risk

Army General John R. Allen
 ---- nomination officially delayed as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (to replace Adm. Stavridis, above) due to investigations over interaction with a Tampa-based security risk

Perhaps all this (and much more) is coincidence?

These people risked & dedicated their lives for their nation. Now they are pecked to submission by the people they served and by administrative accountants for relatively minor missteps. As with the Bush-Cheney Republican Party's orchestrated ridicule of Senator John Kerry's honorable military service (Silver Star, Bronze Star, 3 Purple Hearts), the impact on other active duty & retired service personnel is substantial and offensive.

Destroying reputations & careers, weakening the command structure, demoralizing those in government service, plays into the hands of America's enemies. Who benefits?

We can be dragged to war by both our friends & our enemies.

Surely the interests of the American people don't either much overlap with those of friend Israel. Binyamin Netanyahu elicits standing ovations when waddling before the U.S. Congress (link) - but he's a fat foreign devil with an agenda different from our own.

Schmuck Award?

Here's a widely reprinted snapshot from summer 2011 of US Army General David Petraeus (Ret.) accepting a "community service award" from Jill (Gilberte Khawam) Kelley at her home in Tampa, Florida. At the time Petraeus was Director-designate of the US Central Intelligence Agency.

What exactly was this award? Was the award sponsored by "Friends of MacDill" or another group? What's printed on it?

Never Forget...

RIP Hostess Twinkies

Hostess Brands ownership blames the union workers for their shutdown (link), but management grabbed more & more (link), while trying to force labor to work for scraps.

The owners (hedge funds) now weasel again from their huge debts, protected by a "limited liability" system that allows cheating & stealing without proper penalty.

The 1% are bad guys (again). And again they seek to blame everyone else.

My favorite was "Susie Q"...

Reviewing Shenanigans

Assorted anomalies and shenanigans are now under investigation by a wide range of US officialdom interested in the circumstances surrounding David Petraeus, General John R. Allen, and some womenfolk.

This is good. Regardless of the personalities involved.

Hopefully any transgressions thus far are minor, and all our professional military officers can soon return to work.

But there are glaring systemic problems that need fixing. It's clear the system of giving "social liaison" VIP treatment to a civilian by United States Central Command (and probably elsewhere) was a security threat. Again, regardless of the specifics of this case, that loophole needs fixing. The potential for espionage is frightening.

Lebanese-American socialite Jill Kelley (a.k.a. Gilberte Khawam) cultivated friends in the highest military ranks and also in the FBI. Throwing huge fancy parties with open bar for our top servicemembers and public officials is laudable but somewhat scary. The many reports labeling her as "Christian" raise suspicions she's being deliberately distanced from non-Christian interests. Let us hope this case is not dirtier than it seems. Whatever the truth, the public's likely to be misled.