Greasy Corruption

Big oil industry interests in the USA continue poisoning the air against wind power.

Wind energy generation is a wonderful new industry thriving in Europe. There are a great many clever researchers and engineers, hundreds of manufacturers, thousands of employees in fabrication and construction. But in the USA, shadowy scumbags seduce lawmakers who raise repeated obstacles to this and other alternative energy sources.

We all know the high cost of cleanup when oil spills, we recognize the poison by-products of air pollution, the deaths generated by forcing a route to Middle East resource access.

Those costs are truly part of our overall costs of gasoline, electricity & heating oil. Clever corporations have manipulated us into paying for their infrastructure. Joe Public foots the bill, they suck away profits. And now they try to stifle cleaner alternative energy industries as competitors.

We are spooked by terrorists. But it's said "nobody wants to be a terrorist" - they'd prefer to be back home watching goats on the family farm. But now there is no farm, no home. It was all lost to crony capitalism - as some fat sheik linked to Big Oil introduced foreign warships and army bases in order to keep control and extract oil wealth.

Wind farms, solar & geothermal energy generation can be far quieter and preferable to grease power.

Big Oil should pay themselves for political adventurism in Iraq & Libya. We should halt all public funds flows to the rich nations of the Middle East. Recognize the greasy hand too often picks your pocket -- and just say no.

Serving Slavishly

Texas, USA: Last December, with 18 shopping days remaining to Christmas, single mother-of-two Shelly Marie Frey allegedly shoplifted at a Wal-Mart in Houston, TX. As the 27-year old attempted to leave without paying, she was shot dead.

The shop security worker, an off-duty law enforcement officer, shot Ms. Frey twice in the neck as she tried to escape in a car driven by a female friend. Another friend & two small children also in the vehicle (link) were not hit by the deadly gunfire into the car. 

The dead woman, a New Orleans refugee from Hurricane Katrina, was reportedly in financial trouble partly due to her 2-year old (now orphaned) daughter's struggles with sickle cell anemia.

 

Garbage Times

The New York Times has published an apologist article that provides justification for US Government covert assassination of its own citizens -- murder with no judicial involvement.

Perhaps we should be thankful the newspaper published some author names along with the article - this is lapdog media that often hides sources & composers of systematic misinformation. We're told "the culmination of years of painstaking intelligence work" is assassination, and of another "tragic error" that murdered a 16-year old American boy. Not a single word names anyone responsible, or demands accountability. Anyhow, one more dirty step in a shit-filled nightmare.

Remember how we've been told an untrustworthy Iraqi source nicknamed 'Curveball' under German control led us into war? Mmm -- sure; we're treated as suckers who'll believe anything. However did an American baseball analogy emerge? Just something to fill American heads -- an outward-looking diversion, imagery more palatable than visualizing ourselves as dumb suckers or sheep, or as evil murderers.

We are systematically led to believe we now live in a vermin-filled world, where our shadowy forces of goodness justly exterminate evil enemies in a system with no need for criminal charges or courtrooms. No review of procedures or target(s) need be offered. A US Government "State Secrets Privilege" (link) reigns supreme... ? whatevah.

Arbitrary? Extreme? Lacks transparency & accountability?  Sure !

Words such as safeguards, checks-and-balances, and "rights" as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution have been trashed. Officeholders repudiate the foundation of government.

 

Republicans Against Government

If we can't govern, No one will.

Free-range capitalist Republicans to Shut down Government ! 

With no checks-and-balances, you'll quickly die to trust us...  

RIP, Hugo Chávez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has died at age 58.
The world lost an extraordinary person. Many of his accomplishments are in full flower, others are mere seeds as yet. So many struggles, but not silenced by premature death.

Those whose faith is acquisitiveness & self-aggrandizement will never understand Hugo Chávez. But neither are such individuals deeply mourned at death: loss and grief felt by those closest to the grasping rich are counterbalanced and suppressed by pragmatic machiavellianism - the preeminent interest of Homo economicus is on any potential golden bequest.

Hugo Chávez toiled for more than self & cronies.

The works of Hugo Chávez were guided by a strong sense of liberation theology. We might hope the Roman Catholic Cardinals would also reflect on liberation theology, with focus on service & taking action against poverty, as they convene at the Vatican to choose a new Pope. Vital memories of a simple carpenter, fishermen and their small community must animate rigid, ossified doctrine. Please choose a Church leader with a great heart.

Rest in Peace, Hugo Chávez

Jewish Voice for Peace

"Jewish self-righteousness is taken for granted among ourselves to such an extent that we fail to see what’s right in front of our eyes. It’s simply inconceivable that the ultimate victims, the Jews, can carry out evil deeds. Nevertheless, the state of Israel practices its own, quite violent, form of Apartheid with the native Palestinian population."
  --  Shulamit Aloni (2006), Israel's Former Minister of Education

הצדקנות היהודית כל-כך מובנית בתוכנו, עד שלעולם איננו מוכנים ליטול קורה מבין עינינו. פשוט לא יכול להיות שהיהודים, שהינם הקורבן האולטימטיבי, יעשו רע. ובכל זאת, מדינת ישראל מבצעת אפרטהייד מובהק ואף אלים בשטחי הגדה המערבית כלפי האוכלוסייה הפלסטינית הילידית

(link to translation)  

Woof Meat

Industry & government regulators play the public as chumps. Processed food testing for horsemeat adulteration is a stupid, tiny response. Meat must also now be tested for other scuzzy fillers & unlabeled additives. The huge fraud trashed trust. Adding hundreds of tons of horse meat (some 2000 horses) to beef slurry is not accidental cross-contamination. The 750-tonne horsemeat fraud involving Spanghero reportedly continued (link) for six months or more.

Perhaps we're eating dead dog or road kill kangaroo...
'Testing' now is only for horse -- what bullshit !

How much you think we dum?

"Two days’ worth of euthanized animals sit in barrels" in California.  
Every year this one animal shelter "euthanizes about 25,000 animals."
A Los Angeles firm processes the animal carcasses to become fertilizer.
(8 Aug 2004, Bakersfield Californian, p.1)

Cross Wired?

For many years I've been a fan and regular reader of Wired magazine. But suddenly, what I considered hip & informed looks more shrewdly contrived & dangerous. I frankly (and foolishly) never thought about who owns the magazine and who controls it.

WIRED played a role in what's become the belated trial of Bradley Manning, heroic American military whistleblower / evil traitor / dumb shit (depending on your perspective). An early Glenn Greenwald report on the case (link) questioning the integrity and motives of key people whose actions led to Manning's incarceration. (Greenwald's most recent article in The Guardian labels Manning a "consummate hero" in spite of our "supine media"). Anyhow, I was triggered to question who owns WIRED magazine?

Advance Publications and publisher Condé Nast are controlled by Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., an 85-year old billionaire American, and his family. Their dozens of magazines and diverse news publications help fabricate & define America and it's values.
God bless us everyone !

Below are some WIRED sister publications:

Looking at information packaging, WIRED keeps hot company. Read with a grain of salt....

 

 Create fantasy while despoiling the world...

 

 

E minus one

Andrew Breitbart died suddenly a year ago today.

He was only 43 years old, but he'd made a name for himself as a right-wing asshole who scorned the weak and repeatedly vandalized others' efforts to help the needy. He was fond of dirty tricks, loudly argumentative, a shameless self-promoter, and a willing tool of ruling elites. He also had a loving family. He scoffed when friends asked him to kindly reconsider his extreme condemnations. Unlike Lee Atwater, Breitbart died unrepentant; his last breath on a dark roadside perhaps a sneer at the local Highway Dept.

Andy died without warning, from a deformed heart.

What's his Eternal reward in afterlife? 

Banker Trust?

Jacob J. Lew has quietly become U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

Let's hope Jack Lew serves the wider population and not simply the banking industry. Wall Street financial flim-flams should raise more protests and penalties from Washington.

I'm a bit skeptical when looking at his signature, a series of squirls and a dot. Perhaps he's iconoclastic, or maybe taking the Mickey? Ask your local graphologist, or wait & see how he performs.

We're Lunch

We're Lunch
                                 by Genki

Each should pay our debt, or die
Assert paragons of wealth
Joe Peon fails to comply
Outmaneuvered, lamed in stealth

As bossman takes his pounds of flesh
His lawyers drain the blood
His busboys keep the silver fresh
Our scraps lie in the mud

The well-endowed grab all the gold
And stand upon the slow
Rich whims are instantly bankrolled
We slaves inherit "no"

Oscar Night

We enjoy Oscar Night at my house, though the late timing has us next day picking up the pieces...

Jane Fonda wore a bright yellow dress (link). At 75 she still seems in pretty good shape (after breast cancer, knee & hip replacement, and back surgery). Perhaps she's also had other nips & tucks, but yoga clearly helps.

It was only in reading afterward about the Academy Award night show that Fonda came to my attention, as one writer to a news blog commented about honoring her husband's military service:
     "beiing a Vietnam Vets Wife never watch anything when the Traitor lady is on. He was almost killed over there and too many buddies that didn't make it... just had to turn the channel,and miss the rest of show."

Fonda in Vietnam was a bit before my time, but damage & death done by that war and the warmakers is a responsibility others should admit & answer for: Cheney, Kissinger, Kennedy, McNamara, Colby, Rumsfeld, Nixon, Rockefeller, etc. are truly criminals. Killing and assassinating Southeast Asian farmers & their families, shooting antiwar protesting students at Kent State & Jackson State, trying to club & bayonet democracy into submission - these were the worst of deeds by horribly misguided American men.

Cheat Armstrong

Lance Armstrong is now an admitted liar and cheat. According to the transcript of his recent interview:
 
Oprah Winfrey: Did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance?
Lance Armstrong: "Yes."
Was one of those banned substances EPO?
"Yes."
Did you ever blood dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance?
"Yes."
Did you ever use any other banned substances such as testosterone, cortisone or Human Growth Hormone?
"Yes."
In all seven of your Tour de France victories, did you ever take banned substances or blood dope?
"Yes."

Lance Armstrong also defiantly bullied honest people who got in his way. He repeatedly sued, suborned & manipulated. He perverted the legal system.

This is a person without decency. He's surprised his sponsors dismissed him, but America's too lenient. He's a professional thief - an admitted swindler. He's been promoted as a hero when he's a fraud. Armstrong personally stole over US$200 million (link) while his marketing partners traded on his fraud and pocketed billions.

It's tough to find any positive lesson in this cesspit. Lance enjoyed more than a decade of fame & fortune that someone else deserved. Put him in a prison cell with Bernie Madoff, both me-me symbols of corruption and heroic belligerent selfishness.

Lance Armstrong's repeat actions over many years shame his family and his community. Those who wore his yellow bracelet, or purchased products he endorsed, are fiendishly betrayed. He brazenly deluded himself, the State of Texas and his nation. He should be shunned as scum.

We Fools Pay

Nuclear power plant near your home or work? Take note! Think of your community's future and your home investment. In a flash it could all be wiped away or made forever worthless. "Fukushima" has become a word meaning poison, foolishness & danger. "Experts" wave thick safety studies and smile assurances - but disappear with profits when things disintegrate. You'll be on your own, with few resources, perhaps injured, radioactive, and in deep shit.

"Benefits of atomic power favor the utility companies while the costs from meltdowns & accidents are shouldered by the public."
     --  Jon Queally

“The Fukushima disaster exposes the shameful defects in a system that only requires nuclear operators to pay a fraction of the costs of a disaster and does not require suppliers of reactors to pay anything."
      -- Aslihan Tumer, Greenpeace International

(source link)

If I wus Zionist

The State of Israel is expanding - displacing all who impede or obstruct מדינת הלכה‎ -- our Halachic state destiny.

Some nations will be enemies, but our Covenant with Yahwe thy Elohim promises:
Exodus 34:24 שְׁמוֹת
כי אוריש גוים מפניך והרחבתי את גבולך ולא יחמד איש את ארצך בעלתך לראות את פני יהוה אלהיך שלש פעמים בשנה׃
"For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land..."

Israel need not stand alone.

Over the past few centuries, the United States of America has displaced or integrated many peoples who are no longer challenging her expanded territories. Likewise, let us cleave to America. We can calm her doubts, find protection in her shadow. America distracts our enemies.

Relations with non-Israelite peoples will be complex, suffering day to day, and year-to-year. But our expanding settlements & outposts, Judea & Samaria and onward, continue outward progress over the longer decades.

Dream of Jerusalem undivided ... and a Greater Israel ...
בשנה הבאה בירושלים

Poem du jour

A poem's something no one needs
Such efforts ain't considered deeds
Yet reading clever turns of phrase
Can alter life in basic ways.

Please don't imagine this like that
My leisure play that wraps up flat.

Criminal Pass the Buck

Retailers and apologists are claiming that the horse-for-beef scandal is not really a health problem, simply mislabeling. I wholly disagree. Food Fraud is Dangerous to Health

First, this is criminal adulteration of food to gain unjust profit. Substitution of horse for beef is potentially just the the tip of the iceberg. Those companies such as TESCO, ICA, Findus, etc., that have put their brand and label on counterfeit food should be severely penalized. Corporate officers should be arrested and imprisoned. The companies should be fined severely. They must be held responsible for quality assurance.

Findus claims their quality control uncovered a problem, they acted quickly & properly, and they're now being penalized unjustly. But the scale of this problem suggests management was complacent or indifferent in important areas, and lax with due diligence. As with sanitation, it is insufficient to be clean "sometimes" or to say "we washed six months ago" - constant effort & vigilance must be built into operations. Findus perhaps did not properly invest in those dimensions, and instead pocketed that money. What have they done with such past windfall profits? I don't feel much sympathy. Corporate profit-seeking can easily kill. Thousands of children in the USA were killed by "swill milk" before purity became more rigidly enforced; and China's 2008 melamine milk scandal reportedly harmed 300,000 people. Profiteers care nothing for our health; they kill for money.

for more see: Lutter, Randall (2009) "Addressing challenges of economically-motivated adulteration." US Food and Drug Administration. (ppt file) 

Degraded Valor

Lame-duck US Defense Secretary (and former CIA boss) Leon Panetta instituted a new military award for support services that ranks above the Bronze Star awarded for heroism and valor.

"The Distinguished Warfare Medal" can be given to anyone in the military contributing to operations with accomplishments regarded as exceptional. Examples cited by the Defense Department include someone detecting a computer virus, or those stationed thousands of miles from any conflict who operate remote-controlled machinery.

Sly way to dismantle military precedence & honor. For those careful of their own safety it's a boon, allowing them to step over soldiers decorated for valor in battle. Another example of the political game behind American society.

750 tons of Horse

We're told by the French government (link) the horsemeat scandal originated in France, involving 750 tons of horsemeat. That's maybe 1500 horses? A sizable herd... a huge amount of meat, and quite different from beef. Key people claim total surprise. Bullshit.

Aussie Outlaws

Australia has two black eyes in the past two years as regards outreach and citizen support services.

The country appears to have done little or nothing to protect Julian Assange, editor of WikiLeaks, from intimidation & harassment.

Sweden has filed charges  xxx

Sweden has issued a European Arrest Warrant that Julian Assange be detained. Supposedly, the detention and extradition is for further questioning by the Swedish Prosecution Authority over allegations of sexual misconduct. But WikiLeaks reporting has so embarrassed top officials worldwide that it's been suggested Assange is in danger of sudden rendition to the USA, or assassination.

Whatever the case, Assange is a citizen of Australia -- and his government seems to have done squat to help anyone.

The second Australian case is Ben Zygier, imprisoned by Israel, held incommunicado, and a suspected suicide in December 2010. Zygier had apparently changed his name to Ben Allen for espionage purposes; he was also known as Ben Alon, Benjamin Burrows & Benji (link).  More recently he's been referred to as "Prisoner X" because of assorted mysteries regarding his identity, crime(s), and mode of death in custody two years ago. Until this week the Australian Government was quiet about the uncommon incarceration and death. But The Guardian (UK) reports Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade has now "launched a review into how its diplomats handled the case." To prevent reporting about the case, the Israeli government had imposed a gag order until today that began in March 2010, nine months before Zygier's still-unexplained death. Treatment of the Australian, held in secret without charge, has brought Israel's secret prison system back into the spotlight (link).  And Australians now ask if their government did enough for the detainee before he died (link) ...

Food Industry Scams

Consumers are often tricked & scammed. Safety agencies and industry watchdogs offer some protection with purity rules and labeling standards, but regulatory efforts are bypassed by "delay, defang & defraud" efforts by profit-hungry producers.

California consumers were recently led to believe that to label foods containing GMOs (genetically-manipulated organisms) would be prohibitively expensive, resulting in thousands of job losses & an epidemic of lawsuits. Over six million voters wanted labels on food detailing genetic-engineering, but 51.4% of the electorate last November voted against "Proposition 37". The concealment group included Monsanto, the California Republican Party, and Pepsico. This "no" group used illegal tactics, and spent $46 million to defeat the measure, more than five times more than Prop 37 supporters.

Future battles with anti-corporate activists will be tougher.

Nearly Every Daily Newspaper in California is Owned by a Huge Corporation...

The present spotlight on minced meat is scary. We're introduced to "value" products (processed meat products using cheap mince). These products contain mechanically recovered meat (MRM, nicknamed "pink slime") and the disinewed meat (DSM) of assorted creepy creatures. We've not yet been informed during this scandal of mortuaries supplying cheap meat, or any flow of meats from stray pets or animal hospitals into the human food supply. But worst practices of course are kept hidden. We must demand clearer labeling and reward whistle blowers for details of fraud.

Eat Shit

A Luxembourg-based scandal over mislabeled horsemeat lasagna is growing at a gallop.

As the story gets fleshed-out, we're told the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) demanded companies test their meat products for adulteration. But according to the FSA website (link): "Tests will be for the presence of significant levels of horse meat." Note the key weasel-words "significant levels"...  And what of significance testing for other creatures & critters?  They should also inform the meat-eating public about levels of phenylbutazone ("bute"), an anti-inflammatory drug no longer approved for human use, but still prescribed for horses & dogs.


We're also told of today's (Sat. 9 Feb) "urgent" emergency DEFRA Summit (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) discussing adulteration of the food chain and rising public concerns. The BBC reports those attending included:

• Environment Secretary Owen Patterson
• Food and Drink Federation (Findus is a member)
• Federation of Wholesale Distributors
• British Retail Consortium
• Tesco
• Sainsbury's
• Asda
• Institute of Grocery Directors
• British Meat Processors Association
• Co-operative Food 

The Independent notes "Major supermarket chains are at the talks, as well as retail, distribution and consumer groups. Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Lidl were all invited but did not turn up."

In past food scandals, the UK government has reassured consumers about safety when in fact government officials did not know shit. Because this stance supports producer interest, it's important we ask which consumer groups were at today's DEFRA summit? Remember well the broken trust when the UK Agriculture Minister (John Gummer, now the ennobled Baron Deben of Winston) tried to reassure a public scared about vCJD BSE. He sought to feed a beefburger to his four-year old daughter Cordelia in front of the press, asserting we had "no need to be worried" though in fact there was danger.

If supplies do threaten safety - will we ever hear about it?
What if meat products contain something worse than horse ?   
Animal shelters and mortuaries can also supply cheap meat.

A Mare Trifle?

The Swedish firm Findus recalled it's "Beef Lasagne" (link) after the product was found to contain mislabeled horsemeat instead of beef. The corporation notified Livsmedelsverket (Sweden's National Food Agency) and sought to assure consumers there was no health danger if eating the bogus product.

The news threatens to saddle the firm with serious problems. The BBC reports the Findus supplier Comigel of France supplied the bad meat. Comigel made the meals in Luxembourg with meat sourced in Romania by the French company Spanghero. The UK Food Standards Agency ordered testing for the dangerous veterinary drug phenylbutazone as it became clear Findus had lost control over product ingredients. Many people suddenly are enraged about adulteration and illegal mislabeling of food supplies.

More firms & foods are being questioned, drawing attention to complex supply chains of variously labeled products. Axfood has recalled their Eldorado Lasagna Bolognese, Willys Lasagna Bolognese & Hemköp Lasagna Bolognese. McAdam Foods, Silvercrest & Rangeland Foods of Ireland, and UK-based Freeza Meats have also been tainted by the scandal.   Supermarket chains Tesco and Aldi in the UK, and ICA & Coop in Sweden are also involved. Retailers who stock mislabeled goods mistakenly are unfortunate, but those selling trash under their own-label should be severely prosecuted. By putting their brand name on a product, they assure us of its quality. It's now not enough to claim surprise after profiting from our gullibility; these corporate outlaws must be reined in.

Earlier this year in Sweden it was found that over 95.5 tons of bogus imported pork had been dyed, mislabeled, and sold as beef. An estimated 320,000 "beef tenderloin steaks" (200g) were trustingly eaten by consumers throughout the country before the scandal came to light.

These are prime examples of how corporations need oversight and hefty fines from government. Right-wing corporate interests encourage us to dismantle "too expensive" government -- but we need stricter checks & balances on overgrown, gluttonous corporations. Profit maximization makes businesses prone to cut corners at everyone's expense.