Fiscal responsi.. wha?? - America's Economic Collapse

Reading various articles @ Watching America.com I get the strong impression that many people around the world are shaking their heads with great disapproval at recent actions of the American government and the American people themselves. Actions taken in attempt to remedy the global economic crisis. It really seems that our government is missing the point entirely. It's so busy trying to cling to the 'fake economy' (based on credit, massive lending and transitive bonds) it can't even the room crumbling around them.

We've spent decades coming up with convoluted economic systems that in effect magically create debt without exchange of any goods or services, as seen in sub-prime loans, unregulated interest on credit, etc. It was so easy for companies to make money off the fiscal ignorance of the American people.

What kind of world is it where companies can quite simply "oh btw ima raise yer interest kthnxbai."? It makes absolutely no sense and undermines the foundation of our entire economic system. You can't expect more money without offer of any service or goods.

Consistently I hear President Obama offering words of hope, that the stimulus will inject enough money to keep us afloat, that we should continue to consume as 'normal' in an attempt to put money into the economy, that the recovery rests upon the backs of the workers. Sure it sounds comforting but I'm deeply and sincerely concerened that we're on the precipice of a massive collapse.

“An economic depression, although traumatic, is not the end of the world... Moreover, if managed wisely, it can deliver fundamental benefits: a cleansing of excess debts, a reduction in the cost of living, and a firmer foundation for subsequent growth.” - U.S. financial analyst Martin Weiss

Watching America: On Mexican Border Security

Risks of Militarizing the Border

Full article translated by Patricia Simoni

Original Article (Spanish)

"Militarization of points along the border by the Mexican government and police reinforcement ordered by U.S. authorities across the Rio Grande are not necessarily correct steps in the fight against drug traffic, representing, instead, bilateral, ambiguous security. After all, the border between the two countries is only one realm of organized criminal activity, a place to gather and express in particularly violent ways the symptoms of a process of social and institutional decomposition much greater than the space on either side of the border, itself. The passage of drugs, arms, and criminals over the common border is, in effect, the culmination of processes that gestate and develop over time, processes that require attention from both governments in geographic areas far from their common boundary, with spheres of action much broader than police and military.

... In summary, measures announced yesterday by Washington, as well as the satisfaction expressed by the Mexican government, have put in place a flawed security strategy - shared, though it is - to focus on fighting superficial expressions of the complex and deep-rooted problem of drug trafficking. If the goal is eradication of the base of [drug trafficking] and other crimes, then the governments of Calderón and Obama should not focus on police and military pursuit, which so far have proved inefficient. Instead, they should address the social, economic, and institutional factors that foster these crimes; undertake effective policies to combat addictions, in order to reduce the demand for illicit drugs; combat the corruption eroding the institutional structure of both countries and, in Mexico, develop and apply a coherent strategy to fight misery, to alleviate poverty, and to reduce lacerating social inequality."

Alphonse Mucha

The art this man has produced is glorious. I love the lines and contours of Art Nouveau as a general rule, but some of the works by this man are just simply astounding.

I like her

Kate Micucci that is:



She has lots and lots of wonderful songs with wonderful things to say in such a beautiful way.
Hooray! Hooray!

And she herself is absolutely beautiful at that!

Michael Parenti on Capitalism’s Self-Inflicted Apocalypse

“The free market does not work. It’s not free. It’s not really a market. It’s a plunder and it has to be done away with.
”

Rational Scale to Assess the Harm of Drugs

I've found a scientifically sound way of categorizing substances that I will and will not use until my life is in its downward slope and nearing its end.

In the accompanying picture you will see a list of substances that are commonly abused in modern society. They are listed according to the mathematical mean of physical harm, dependency and social harm. This is according to the Rational Scale to Assess the Harm of Drugs developed by Prof. David Nutt FMedSci, Leslie A. King PhD, William Saulsbury MA and Prof. Colin Blakemore FRS.


I resolve to participate in the consumption of substances with a physical harm rating no greater than 1.5, nor any substance that has attained greater than a 2.5 in any individual category of physical harm. My own personal principles.

As you can see personal principle 1 (seen in black) has ruled out Heroin, Cocaine, Barbiturates (nervous system depressant, mild sedative/anesthetic), Ketamine (a form tranquilizer), Benzedrine (psychoactive sedative), Amphetamine and Buprenorphine (opioid). Personal principle 2 (seen in red) rules out Tobacco, on the grounds that the chronic use risk is too high.

One might find it curious as to why Alcohol is ranked so highly and yet I still choose to participate in its consumption. Let us look at why it is ranked so high: this is due to a combination of the potential for dependency of the substance, as well as the social harm it potentially can cause. My thinking is that these two categories can be managed on an individual basis determined by a person's will. Some people, do not have the psychological or physical traits required to control their actions in a safe manner when it comes to this particular substance. Some, however, do.

Be smart.
Stay safe.

I Love You

so very deeply, not even I can grasp it's depth.

Time != Money

Everyone's heard that saying Time = Money. Bah. You bloody capitalists trying to make a commodity of every damn thing possible..

Time is not a commodity.
Time is all you have.
Time is your life.
Don't go around selling away your life.
Treat your life and your time here with some respect.

Cherish it. Love it.
Don't whore it off hoping to get something in return.
I see it all too often, people trading their time for some material value.

Sure, maybe you could sell your time and make all the money in the world.
But all the money in the world is never going to be able to buy more time on this planet..