The richest 400 Americans, all of whom are billionaires, are hoarding as much concentrated wealth as 150 million Americans combined. Here is the list:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/
Let's take a closer look at the top ten:
1. Bill Gates: think about all of the people working in all of the industries that helped make Bill Gates rich, all of the people who built, shipped, and sold the products that made him rich, think about how many of those people were underpaid while Bill Gates amassed his outrageous fortune. It's wrong.
2. Warren Buffet: this guy never created anything, never had an idea, never contributed anything to the world, he has just played Monopoly his entire life.
3. Larry Ellison: same argument as Bill Gates, distribute the wealth more fairly by paying people fair wages.
4 & 5. Charles and David Koch: took over Daddy's business, underpay their employees and exploit their wealth and influence to rig the system in their favor. Despicable people who earned nothing, ever.
6. Christy Walton: inherited an inheritance when her husband crashed his own plane, ludicrous wealth gained off of the backs of all the underpaid employees, not only employees of Walmart but all of the various industries that contribute to Walmart's operations. Earned nothing, ever.
7. George Soros: same as Buffet, never created anything, contributes nothing, plays Monopoly.
8. Sheldon Adelson: this rich fuck owns casinos, contributes nothing worthwhile to society, essentially a parasite.
9. Jim Walton: ludicrous wealth gained off of the backs of all the underpaid employees, not only employees of Walmart but all of the various industries that contribute to Walmart operations. Earned nothing, ever.
10. Alice Walton: ludicrous wealth gained off of the backs of all the underpaid employees, not only employees of Walmart but all of the various industries that contribute to Walmart operations. Earned nothing, ever.
These people are money hoarders. Half of them inherited the businesses that keep them ludicrously wealthy. Together they are hoarding 291 billion dollars.
Lamenting the future of America.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
NEVER ADMIT YOU'RE WRONG
There is clearly a Republican edict to NEVER admit you were wrong. We all enjoyed watching Palin insist that she was right, Paul Revere really was warning the British, and now we get to watch Michelle Bachmann refuse to admit that the founding fathers in fact DID NOT work tirelessly to END SLAVERY. The obstacle she faced was that she cleary was wrong, what she said was bewilderingly ignorant. So how do you avoid admitting you were wrong when you couldn't have been more wrong? Bachmann chose the "robotically deliver whatever your deflection team came up with" route. First she praised the Constitution, the same document that originally upheld slavery and eventually declared that slaves were 3/5 of a person, then she craftily babbled about John QUINCY Adams. The fact that he was not a founding father but rather the son of a founding father doesn't matter, what matters is that he sounds like he was a founding father...close enough for government work. How could any thoughtful, honest person watch this exchange between Bachmann and Stephanapoulos and still consider voting for Bachmann? They couldn't.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Why Capitalism is Evil Part I
Capitalist businesses always want more, no matter what. It is never enough. Therefore even if they are raking in billions of dollars in profits they will find an excuse (it is less than last year, less than a competitor, etc) to cut costs in order to make even more. Cutting costs usually means one of two things, 1) taking more away from the workforce (pay/benefits/work environment) in order to throw the extra wrung-out loot on the ever-growing pile of loot, or 2) finding cheaper means of production, i.e. inferior ingredients/parts or less safety in the workplace. In Capitalism there is no room for the concept of ENOUGH. Every parent teaches every child to share and to play fair, but under capitalism these concepts do not exist, yet these same parents who teach these important values to their children, to share and to play fair, are fine with the Capitalist ethos of never sharing, never playing fair, but rather taking and keeping more and more and more and never ever stopping the taking and the keeping and the owning and the hoarding and the looting.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Waiting for Jor-El
In the recent documentary Waiting for Superman David Guggenhiem attempts to explain why our nation's public school system is failing. He reserves most of the blame for bad teachers, immune from discipline thanks to tyrannical teacher's unions. Guggenheim fails to recognize that America's parents deserve a good portion of the blame for why their children are not learning. Quite the opposite, Guggenheim casts the parents as the heroes of his film. Of course there are many wonderful parents who work hard to create opportunity for their children and help their children succeed, but in my opinion one of the major contributing factors to the problems in our schools are the many parents in this country who pay little or no attention to what their children might or might not be learning in school. It is easier for them to let their kids watch TV or play video games all night than to help them with their homework. If children are not read to and do not see their parents reading they will not grow up to be readers. These parents break their children, then send them to the schools to be fixed. It is much easier to educate a nurtured child than to fix a broken one. Guggenheim also fails to address the fact that the public at large seem to value their own bank accounts more than the educational system. The problem is PRIORITIES: the priorities of the citizens, the priorities of the parents. Selfish people. And then there are the teachers, many of whom sacrifice a great deal in order to devote themselves to a noble cause. These are well-educated people who are woefully underpaid, despite what your politicians will have you believe. They work long hours and endure a great deal of stress, despite what your politicians will have you believe. Many, fuck it, MOST teachers are devoted people, and the opposite of selfish. Guggenheim's film does them a great disservice.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Inside Jobama
I just watched Inside Job and found myself face to face with a very harsh reality. The film does an excellent job of exposing who the "financial crisis" culprits were and how they perpetrated massive, widespread fraud, and then, at the end, we get to see Obama appoint half of them to official or advisory positions in his hoax of an administration. No one could watch this film and not realize that we were duped and Obama never was who we naively thought he was. I am shocked and saddened and never expected this harsh reality to unfold, I cried real tears the night the impostor was elected, but at this point it is undeniable--he is not on our side. Our only hope lies in a viable alternative candidate, one that can either defeat him in the Democratic primary or one that can run against the Republicrat conspiracy entirely, I hate to call it a "third party" because the whole party system must go. The battle to break the "two party" stranglehold may be the most significant battle this country will ever face. America exists because of the American Revolution, but America will no longer exist unless we win the battle to end the two party farce. Watch Inside Job--these greedbots were more than willing to destroy the companies they were running in order to enrich themselves and their cronies...why wouldn't they treat the country the same way? They will destroy America in their insatiable quest for unquantifiable wealth. They don't want simply to be wealthy, they want everything, they want imaginary supernatural wealth. The world is their board game and they want to win at any cost. What drives them? Who are these people? I cannot answer these questions. But they want to write the rules then win win win. They want to burn us all and snort our ashes or just swallow us whole. No scraps.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Homeless Children
How could anyone be proud to live in a country where the phrase "homeless children" is even part of the lexicon? According to 60 Minutes the poverty rate for children in this country will soon reach 25 percent, and many of these children are finding themselves living in cars or cheap motels.
In this country "poverty" means a family of four with a combined income of LESS THAN $22,000/year. That means a family of four could be bringing in less than 2000 dollars a month and still be considered ABOVE the poverty line.
Contrast the concept of "homeless children" with the concept of "heir to the fortune." Fortunes are being inherited for the third and fourth time, fortunes that can be traced back to slavery or an era when people worked 12 hour days for pennies. Fortunes that should never have been amassed and are undeserved by those inheriting them.
The more the middle class shrinks the less customers there will be for all of these companies motivated only by greed and shareholder dividends. Eventually, lacking an adequate customer base, the economy will collapse, and finally the wealth will have to be redistributed. I believe that this eventual redistribution was about to take place, the free market was actually working, and then the government handed out billions of dollars, free money, no strings attached, to the vampires and parasites. And so, our undead zombie of an economy will lumber along for awhile, but eventually the head will fall off and the "heirs to the fortune" may find themselves rebranded "homeless children."
In this country "poverty" means a family of four with a combined income of LESS THAN $22,000/year. That means a family of four could be bringing in less than 2000 dollars a month and still be considered ABOVE the poverty line.
Contrast the concept of "homeless children" with the concept of "heir to the fortune." Fortunes are being inherited for the third and fourth time, fortunes that can be traced back to slavery or an era when people worked 12 hour days for pennies. Fortunes that should never have been amassed and are undeserved by those inheriting them.
The more the middle class shrinks the less customers there will be for all of these companies motivated only by greed and shareholder dividends. Eventually, lacking an adequate customer base, the economy will collapse, and finally the wealth will have to be redistributed. I believe that this eventual redistribution was about to take place, the free market was actually working, and then the government handed out billions of dollars, free money, no strings attached, to the vampires and parasites. And so, our undead zombie of an economy will lumber along for awhile, but eventually the head will fall off and the "heirs to the fortune" may find themselves rebranded "homeless children."
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A National Disgrace
I keep hearing people complaining that teachers only work nine months out of the year. It is true that the average school year is 180 days. 180 school days. Remember weekends? In actuality the average school year begins in late August and ends in mid-late June. That's closer to ten months. So teachers have two months off, not three.
In every country in Europe workers get at least 20 paid vacation days. In France and Finland, they get 30. In most of these countries it is required by law that workers are granted this vacation. In other words, Americans are suckers, and those American suckers are just jealous that teachers get the time off they would all get if they just had the balls to stand up for themselves and not be duped and taken advantage of.
A ten month work year is simply the nature of the teaching job, and if we want to attract quality people to the job we have to accept the reality of the job. We all hear about how CEOs have to be paid tens of millions of dollars per year because that's the only way to attract quality people to the job (granted, it's hard to find a person devoid of conscience and empathy, willing to give non-stop rimjobs to Wall Street). No one seems concerned that we attract quality people to the teaching profession. At this point anyone who pursues teaching is making a conscious sacrifice. These are people who have rejected other professions in favor of a job that is less rewarding financially and in terms of respect given, but more rewarding in terms of conscience and self-respect. Teachers become teachers because they want a job that means something and is a positive force in the world. Many jobs are just the opposite, and many Americans who pursue those jobs are complicit in evil and should be ashamed of themselves. It pains me that they are not.
The Daily Show recently pitted Fox News shitmouths against themselves and exposed them as the corporate shill Wall Street rimjobbers they actually are. "One point of comparison was the matter of salaries. As Jon Stewart showed via clips from Fox, when a repeal of the Bush tax cuts for those making $250,000 and more was proposed, the Fox pundits asserted that people who make $250,000 a year are not rich. They even made the odd claim that if a family in that income bracket had four kids in college, then they would be close to poverty." They were also defending the scandalous bonuses that the banks and Wall Street were handing out to the scum that just crashed the economy, bonuses funded with money taken from the American suckers, the taxpayers, in the bullshit bailout. What happened to the FREE MARKET? Bank of America and Citibank should no longer exist. They crashed and burned and the taxpayers built them a time machine.
In contrast, "when the same pundits considered the average salary of $51,000 for Wisconsin teachers, they regarded it as a rather excessive amount of pay. This seems rather an odd claim from the same folks who claimed that $250,000 could be regarded as being close to poverty. It seems to be a matter of basic math: $250,000 per year (plus) falls into the “not rich” and “close to poverty” zone, then $51,000 per year should certainly not be rich and should probably be in the poverty zone. After all, $51,000 is a lot less than $250,000."
Americans don't seem to respect teachers or the profession, but of course what they are most concerned about is that money coming out of their paycheck. After all they need that money to buy their children video games and DVDs so the little bastards will leave them alone. Then they send those kids to school but who gives a shit if they learn anything.
FYI: the stuff in quotes was purloined from The Philosopher's Blog...http://aphilosopher.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/fox-news-war-on-teachers/
In every country in Europe workers get at least 20 paid vacation days. In France and Finland, they get 30. In most of these countries it is required by law that workers are granted this vacation. In other words, Americans are suckers, and those American suckers are just jealous that teachers get the time off they would all get if they just had the balls to stand up for themselves and not be duped and taken advantage of.
A ten month work year is simply the nature of the teaching job, and if we want to attract quality people to the job we have to accept the reality of the job. We all hear about how CEOs have to be paid tens of millions of dollars per year because that's the only way to attract quality people to the job (granted, it's hard to find a person devoid of conscience and empathy, willing to give non-stop rimjobs to Wall Street). No one seems concerned that we attract quality people to the teaching profession. At this point anyone who pursues teaching is making a conscious sacrifice. These are people who have rejected other professions in favor of a job that is less rewarding financially and in terms of respect given, but more rewarding in terms of conscience and self-respect. Teachers become teachers because they want a job that means something and is a positive force in the world. Many jobs are just the opposite, and many Americans who pursue those jobs are complicit in evil and should be ashamed of themselves. It pains me that they are not.
The Daily Show recently pitted Fox News shitmouths against themselves and exposed them as the corporate shill Wall Street rimjobbers they actually are. "One point of comparison was the matter of salaries. As Jon Stewart showed via clips from Fox, when a repeal of the Bush tax cuts for those making $250,000 and more was proposed, the Fox pundits asserted that people who make $250,000 a year are not rich. They even made the odd claim that if a family in that income bracket had four kids in college, then they would be close to poverty." They were also defending the scandalous bonuses that the banks and Wall Street were handing out to the scum that just crashed the economy, bonuses funded with money taken from the American suckers, the taxpayers, in the bullshit bailout. What happened to the FREE MARKET? Bank of America and Citibank should no longer exist. They crashed and burned and the taxpayers built them a time machine.
In contrast, "when the same pundits considered the average salary of $51,000 for Wisconsin teachers, they regarded it as a rather excessive amount of pay. This seems rather an odd claim from the same folks who claimed that $250,000 could be regarded as being close to poverty. It seems to be a matter of basic math: $250,000 per year (plus) falls into the “not rich” and “close to poverty” zone, then $51,000 per year should certainly not be rich and should probably be in the poverty zone. After all, $51,000 is a lot less than $250,000."
Americans don't seem to respect teachers or the profession, but of course what they are most concerned about is that money coming out of their paycheck. After all they need that money to buy their children video games and DVDs so the little bastards will leave them alone. Then they send those kids to school but who gives a shit if they learn anything.
FYI: the stuff in quotes was purloined from The Philosopher's Blog...http://aphilosopher.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/fox-news-war-on-teachers/
Monday, March 7, 2011
Phuck Philanthropists Part Deux
Okay, I did a little math and I wanted to share it with whoever might read this. Christy Walton is the 4th richest person in America and the 12th richest person in the world. She inherited this ludicrous fortune from her deceased husband John T. Walton, the son of Sam Walton. So I guess she inherited an inheritance? Anyway, on Wikipedia they refer to Christy as a PHILANTHROPIST because:
"Between 2002 and 2006, she contributed $3.5 million from her then $16.3 billion net worth towards philanthropic efforts."
So here's the math:
3.5 million is 0.2147239263803681% of 16.3 billion. Thus her "philanthropy" is the equivalent of a person with $100,000 generously parting with 214 bucks. Would you call the person donating 214 bucks a philanthropist? If they worked for Walmart you might, since that is ONE WEEK'S PAY. The average take home pay of Walmart employees is under $250 a week.
"The salary for full-time employees (called "associates") is $6 to $7.50 an hour for 28-40 hours a week. This pay scale places employees with families below the poverty line, with the majority of employees' children qualifying for free lunch at school. When closely examined, this amounts to a form of corporate welfare, as the taxpayer subsidizes the low salaries."
In other words, if Christy Walton really wants to be a fucking philanthropist she should pay her goddamn employees a decent wage, not to mention all of the peripheral industries Walmart negatively influences. Christy Walton is not a philanthropist, she is a money hoarder, money she did not earn, money that should be distributed to the many employees Christy Walton rides the backs of. Christy Walton is complicit in evil, thus Christy Walton is evil.
By the way, between 2006 and 2010 Christy's net worth increased from 16 billion to 24 billion. In other words it appears that Chisty is throwing 2 billion per year more on her pile of undeserved wealth. What a philanthropist.
Friday, March 4, 2011
War on Dumb
So where is all the money going?
In 2010 federal and state governments combined spent a total of 40 billion dollars on the War on Drugs, a mostly pointless endeavor and a "war" that they are clearly losing. We have way too many people employed in law enforcement in this country, and they are well-paid and retire young. The hype is that they are all heroes but the reality is that most of them are no such thing.
It's quite simple, we need to prioritize and look to the future. If we do not prioritize with the future in mind, it is my belief that the United States will FAIL. The United States is falling behind every other industrialized nation in terms of education, technology, economics. We need to trade the war on drugs for the war on dumb, OR ELSE.
We must also launch a war on Wall Street.
In 2010 federal and state governments combined spent a total of 40 billion dollars on the War on Drugs, a mostly pointless endeavor and a "war" that they are clearly losing. We have way too many people employed in law enforcement in this country, and they are well-paid and retire young. The hype is that they are all heroes but the reality is that most of them are no such thing.
It's quite simple, we need to prioritize and look to the future. If we do not prioritize with the future in mind, it is my belief that the United States will FAIL. The United States is falling behind every other industrialized nation in terms of education, technology, economics. We need to trade the war on drugs for the war on dumb, OR ELSE.
We must also launch a war on Wall Street.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
More analysis of Walker-Koch call
Koch: Now you’re not talking to any of these Democrat bastards, are you?
Walker: Ah, I—there’s one guy that’s actually voted with me on a bunch of things I called on Saturday for about 45 minutes, mainly to tell him that while I appreciate his friendship and he’s worked with us on other things, to tell him I wasn’t going to budge.
Koch: Goddamn right!
Walker: …his name is Tim Cullen—
Koch: All right, I’ll have to give that man a call.
Walker: Well, actually, in his case I wouldn’t call him and I’ll tell you why: he’s pretty reasonable but he’s not one of us…
That "not one of us" line is a doozy. It's disturbing. Who's the us? It has that "cult" vibe. The cult of greed.
Walker: So this is ground zero, there’s no doubt about it.
Why would you call balancing the Wisconsin budget "ground zero?" And the 9/11 imagery is impossible to ignore--they want to do to the middle class what al-Qaeda did to the World Trade Center. Because why? GREED. Insatiable greed. They are driven to own and control everything. Why? I think it's mental illness. Perhaps people like this are sociopaths. It's impossible to relate, why do they need more, more and more? Isn't more money than they could possibly ever spend enough? No, it's not. Because there is some kind of game being played by these people, and they want to win, and winning means...scorched earth? Endgame.
Koch: You’re the first domino.
Walker: Yep. This is our moment.
Another clear admission that this is not about balancing the budget but about setting a precedent so that union-busting can spread and our rights will fall like dominoes. Goodbye middle class, hello feudalism.
Koch: We’ll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.
Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that —because we thought about that.
This is the bit causing the most trouble for Scott Walker. Why? Because he clearly admits to having considered doing something nefarious.
Walker: Yeah, well, thanks. This is an exciting time. This is — you know, I told my cabinet, I had a dinner the Sunday, or excuse me, the Monday right after the 6th. Came home from the Super Bowl where the Packers won, and that Monday night I had all of my cabinet over to the residence for dinner. Talked about what we were gonna do, how we were gonna do it. We’d already kinda built plans up, but it was kind of the last hurrah before we dropped the bomb. And I stood up and I pulled out a picture of Ronald Reagan, and I said, you know, this may seem a little melodramatic, but 30 years ago, Ronald Reagan, whose 100th birthday we just celebrated the day before, had one of the most defining moments of his political career, not just his presidency, when he fired the air-traffic controllers. And, uh, I said, to me that moment was more important than just for labor relations or even the federal budget, that was the first crack in the Berlin Wall and the fall of Communism because from that point forward, the Soviets and the Communists knew that Ronald Reagan wasn’t a pushover. And, uh, I said this may not have as broad of world implications, but in Wisconsin’s history — little did I know how big it would be nationally — in Wisconsin’s history, I said this is our moment, this is our time to change the course of history. And this is why it’s so important that they were all there. I had a cabinet meeting this morning and I reminded them of that and I said for those of you who thought I was being melodramatic you now know it was purely putting it in the right context.
How is balancing the 2011 budget a defining moment? They discussed what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. Do what, balance the budget? And the "dropping a bomb" analogy? Or the Reagan analogy? That was union-busting! Yes, once again on the surface it all seems to be about union-busting, but that is just step one of the plan. It's about liquidating the middle class. Regardless, Walker is openly admitting here that his intent with this bill reaches far beyond balancing any budget, that it is all part of a broader plan, a grand scheme. Feudalism.
Koch: [Laughs] Well, I tell you what, Scott: once you crush these bastards I’ll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time.
Walker: All right, that would be outstanding.
Outstanding and illegal since Koch is a lobbyist/campaign contributor.
I'd say the thing that is made most abundantly clear by this call is that Scott Walker is a moron, but he has been indoctrinated and trained. By who and for what? I think this conversation makes that pretty clear as well. David Koch is an obscenely rich, power-hungry man without scruples, and Walker eagerly lays it all out for Koch, he won't shut up, on and on, as if he's telling his boss everything he has been up to, because Walker works for Koch, Koch and his cronies--the "us" that the "not one of us" refers to. Is that a conspiracy theory? No, because it's all right there in that phone conversation. Unfortunately it is not obvious enough to prevent those who want to be duped from remaining duped, but it's there. They are out to enslave us. They want America to one day look like this: the rich (minority, the ones who own everything) and the poor (majority, the ones who produce everything) and no in-between. Why do they want this? That's the scariest part. The only explanation is they are without conscience, incapable of empathy, just gaping jaws and gnashing teeth. Monsters, for lack of a better word. Dead would be a better word.
Walker: Ah, I—there’s one guy that’s actually voted with me on a bunch of things I called on Saturday for about 45 minutes, mainly to tell him that while I appreciate his friendship and he’s worked with us on other things, to tell him I wasn’t going to budge.
Koch: Goddamn right!
Walker: …his name is Tim Cullen—
Koch: All right, I’ll have to give that man a call.
Walker: Well, actually, in his case I wouldn’t call him and I’ll tell you why: he’s pretty reasonable but he’s not one of us…
That "not one of us" line is a doozy. It's disturbing. Who's the us? It has that "cult" vibe. The cult of greed.
Walker: So this is ground zero, there’s no doubt about it.
Why would you call balancing the Wisconsin budget "ground zero?" And the 9/11 imagery is impossible to ignore--they want to do to the middle class what al-Qaeda did to the World Trade Center. Because why? GREED. Insatiable greed. They are driven to own and control everything. Why? I think it's mental illness. Perhaps people like this are sociopaths. It's impossible to relate, why do they need more, more and more? Isn't more money than they could possibly ever spend enough? No, it's not. Because there is some kind of game being played by these people, and they want to win, and winning means...scorched earth? Endgame.
Koch: You’re the first domino.
Walker: Yep. This is our moment.
Another clear admission that this is not about balancing the budget but about setting a precedent so that union-busting can spread and our rights will fall like dominoes. Goodbye middle class, hello feudalism.
Koch: We’ll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.
Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that —because we thought about that.
This is the bit causing the most trouble for Scott Walker. Why? Because he clearly admits to having considered doing something nefarious.
Walker: Yeah, well, thanks. This is an exciting time. This is — you know, I told my cabinet, I had a dinner the Sunday, or excuse me, the Monday right after the 6th. Came home from the Super Bowl where the Packers won, and that Monday night I had all of my cabinet over to the residence for dinner. Talked about what we were gonna do, how we were gonna do it. We’d already kinda built plans up, but it was kind of the last hurrah before we dropped the bomb. And I stood up and I pulled out a picture of Ronald Reagan, and I said, you know, this may seem a little melodramatic, but 30 years ago, Ronald Reagan, whose 100th birthday we just celebrated the day before, had one of the most defining moments of his political career, not just his presidency, when he fired the air-traffic controllers. And, uh, I said, to me that moment was more important than just for labor relations or even the federal budget, that was the first crack in the Berlin Wall and the fall of Communism because from that point forward, the Soviets and the Communists knew that Ronald Reagan wasn’t a pushover. And, uh, I said this may not have as broad of world implications, but in Wisconsin’s history — little did I know how big it would be nationally — in Wisconsin’s history, I said this is our moment, this is our time to change the course of history. And this is why it’s so important that they were all there. I had a cabinet meeting this morning and I reminded them of that and I said for those of you who thought I was being melodramatic you now know it was purely putting it in the right context.
How is balancing the 2011 budget a defining moment? They discussed what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. Do what, balance the budget? And the "dropping a bomb" analogy? Or the Reagan analogy? That was union-busting! Yes, once again on the surface it all seems to be about union-busting, but that is just step one of the plan. It's about liquidating the middle class. Regardless, Walker is openly admitting here that his intent with this bill reaches far beyond balancing any budget, that it is all part of a broader plan, a grand scheme. Feudalism.
Koch: [Laughs] Well, I tell you what, Scott: once you crush these bastards I’ll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time.
Walker: All right, that would be outstanding.
Outstanding and illegal since Koch is a lobbyist/campaign contributor.
I'd say the thing that is made most abundantly clear by this call is that Scott Walker is a moron, but he has been indoctrinated and trained. By who and for what? I think this conversation makes that pretty clear as well. David Koch is an obscenely rich, power-hungry man without scruples, and Walker eagerly lays it all out for Koch, he won't shut up, on and on, as if he's telling his boss everything he has been up to, because Walker works for Koch, Koch and his cronies--the "us" that the "not one of us" refers to. Is that a conspiracy theory? No, because it's all right there in that phone conversation. Unfortunately it is not obvious enough to prevent those who want to be duped from remaining duped, but it's there. They are out to enslave us. They want America to one day look like this: the rich (minority, the ones who own everything) and the poor (majority, the ones who produce everything) and no in-between. Why do they want this? That's the scariest part. The only explanation is they are without conscience, incapable of empathy, just gaping jaws and gnashing teeth. Monsters, for lack of a better word. Dead would be a better word.
Phuck Philanthropists
The New Yorker article about the Koch brothers calls them philanthropists. Apparently a philanthropist is an obscenely rich person who distributes some crumbs on a whim to whatever museum or theater they'd like to be associated with in some way, because they don't have an inspired or creative bone in their bodies, so they buy whatever bullshit recognition they crave. I remember when Joan Kroc, third wife of Ray Kroc, died they were literally gushing on the nightly news about her philanthropy and it made my skin crawl. Joan Kroc married into a fortune that was made off of the backs of exploited workers who were underpaid, mistreated, with no benefits, and I am not just talking about McDonald's workers but all of the workers in the numerous industries McDonald's negatively influenced (beef, potato--read Fast Food Nation). The fortune that Joan Kroc doled out on a whim while no doubt basking in praise should never have been hers to dole out, it should have been more fairly distributed amongst all of the aforementioned workers in the form of better pay, better working conditions, and some goddamn benefits. To me this seems like common fucking sense! I don't begrudge the Krocs getting rich, but that rich? And that way? And then to be praised as a philanthropist when she mercifully croaks? It's nauseating. This is why mainstream journalism in America is such a joke, they always miss the real story and fall for the bullshit facade. So phuck philanthropists, these fortunes should not have been amassed but more evenly distributed in the first place. Call me a socialist, I'm not afraid of that label.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Scott Walker unwittingly exposes Republican conspiracy
Scott Walker (thinking he is talk to David Koch): ... Brian [Sadoval], the new Governor of Nevada, called me the last night he said-he was out in the Lincoln Day Circuit in the last two weekends and he was kidding me, he said, "Scott, don't come to Nevada because I'd be afraid you beat me running for governor." That's all they want to talk about is what are you doing to help the governor of Wisconsin. I talk to Kasich every day-John's gotta stand firm in Ohio. I think we could do the same thing with Vic Scott in Florida. I think, uh, Snyder-if he got a little more support-probably could do that in Michigan. You start going down the list there's a lot of us new governors that got elected to do something big.
Okay, if this is all just about balancing the budget in Wisconsin why would Walker care about all of these other governors doing the "same thing" in all of these other states? Obviously by "same thing" he does not mean "balancing the budget." His conversation with the fake Koch makes it abundantly clear that this has nothing to do with the Wisconsin budget, that is just the cover story, this is about a Republican conspiracy to strip workers of their rights across the country, and it is all ultimately a part of the grand plan to install an updated version of feudalism in this country. I mean, what else are they up to? You tell me.
Okay, if this is all just about balancing the budget in Wisconsin why would Walker care about all of these other governors doing the "same thing" in all of these other states? Obviously by "same thing" he does not mean "balancing the budget." His conversation with the fake Koch makes it abundantly clear that this has nothing to do with the Wisconsin budget, that is just the cover story, this is about a Republican conspiracy to strip workers of their rights across the country, and it is all ultimately a part of the grand plan to install an updated version of feudalism in this country. I mean, what else are they up to? You tell me.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Palin comparison
No one asked her, but Sarah Palin still had to give her two cents (literally, that's all her thoughts are worth) on what's going on in Wisconsin (what's going on is the Republican governor is using a concocted budget crisis as an excuse to break the state employee's union, and this all might just be a smokescreen to hide the privatization of state-owned power plants and other utilities).
And Palin's words of wisdom?
"Real solidarity means everyone being willing to sacrifice."
UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE. Am I the only one choking on the irony of that statement? Because she could just as easily be describing PAYING TAXES, something her teabag lemmings rail against. Here's how it works in a Democracy, if that's what this country really is, even though I would argue it is not because a two-party system does not a true Democracy make, the only system that runs this country is Capitalism, an out of control and sinister version of Capitalism, but I digress, here's how it SHOULD work in a TRUE Democracy, everyone contributes his/her FAIR SHARE, and EVERYBODY benefits. Look at it this way, if you've done well for yourself in the good old U.S. of A, consider if you had been born in, say, Bangladesh, or Haiti. How well might you have done for yourself there? You owe your good fortune to the country that afforded you the opportunities, opportunities which you then capitalized upon, and now, when it comes time for you to give back, to contribute, to help make your country a better place that can offer more and better opportunities to others, when it comes time for you to be "willing to sacrifice," you balk!? You scream MINE like a child!? And then, irony of ironies, you call yourself a PATRIOT and wrap your selfish ass in a FLAG? Right wing hypocrite motherflakers! What could be more patriotic than paying your taxes and thereby helping to make your country a better, stronger place?
"Real solidarity means everyone being willing to sacrifice."
Pay your taxes, teabaggers, and stop whining. Are you proud of your country or not? There's not much left to be proud of thanks to dolts like Palin. So prove it. Prove how goddamn patriotic you are. The cliche put your money where your mouth is has never been more apt. Let's have some goddamn solidarity!
And Palin's words of wisdom?
"Real solidarity means everyone being willing to sacrifice."
UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE. Am I the only one choking on the irony of that statement? Because she could just as easily be describing PAYING TAXES, something her teabag lemmings rail against. Here's how it works in a Democracy, if that's what this country really is, even though I would argue it is not because a two-party system does not a true Democracy make, the only system that runs this country is Capitalism, an out of control and sinister version of Capitalism, but I digress, here's how it SHOULD work in a TRUE Democracy, everyone contributes his/her FAIR SHARE, and EVERYBODY benefits. Look at it this way, if you've done well for yourself in the good old U.S. of A, consider if you had been born in, say, Bangladesh, or Haiti. How well might you have done for yourself there? You owe your good fortune to the country that afforded you the opportunities, opportunities which you then capitalized upon, and now, when it comes time for you to give back, to contribute, to help make your country a better place that can offer more and better opportunities to others, when it comes time for you to be "willing to sacrifice," you balk!? You scream MINE like a child!? And then, irony of ironies, you call yourself a PATRIOT and wrap your selfish ass in a FLAG? Right wing hypocrite motherflakers! What could be more patriotic than paying your taxes and thereby helping to make your country a better, stronger place?
"Real solidarity means everyone being willing to sacrifice."
Pay your taxes, teabaggers, and stop whining. Are you proud of your country or not? There's not much left to be proud of thanks to dolts like Palin. So prove it. Prove how goddamn patriotic you are. The cliche put your money where your mouth is has never been more apt. Let's have some goddamn solidarity!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
God Don't Make Mistakes
One thing I would like to do periodically here at Chinese Colony is deconstruct contemporary country lyrics. One might ask, "But isn't this a political blog?" The answer would be well, sorta, yeah, but these lyrics are quite political. It is my contention that many contemporary country songs are full-blown propaganda for the right wing facade of the American (Christian) Dream. Propaganda is a mind game, myths are propagated and stereotypes are reinforced and hopefully the masses are kept dumb, docile, duped.
Today's song is performed by one Jamie O'Neal who was born in Sydney, Australia and got her start as a backing singer for Kylie Minogue. How she ended up being a shill for the religious right is anybody's guess.
So here are the lyrics to O'Neal's 2007 single "God Don't Make Mistakes."
It was one of those days
when she couldn't find
a single ray of sunshine
and there wasn't even
a cloud up in the sky
After 13 years at the factory
they said sorry maam but we're downsizin'
that's the way life is
good luck with the rest of it
she looked me in the eye
and said this ain't the first time
I've taken the fall
but let me tell you girl
what's gotten me through
is keepin' faith through it all
Cause there'll be dead ends and road blocks
tough times and hard knocks
seems like your always wonderin'
why you're at the right place
at the wrong time
wheels movin' but you feel stuck
like your life's spinnin' in a big mud
when you're out there runnin' around
on a wild goose chase
there's a reason to keep believin'
God don't make mistakes
Everybody said you got to give it up
you can't keep that child
It's just too tough at seventeen
you're just a baby
well she cried and she prayed
and made up her mind
said this beautiful life
that's growin' inside needs a chance
to have a hand in God's plan
well everyone told her they'd
never get by
why he just turned sixteen
made it straight to the top of his class
the captain of the football team
yeah.... there'll be dead ends and road blocks
tough times and hard knocks
seems like you're always wonderin'
why your at the right place
at the wrong time
wheels movin' but you feel stuck
like your life's spinnin' in a big mud
when your out there runnin' around
on a wild goose chase
there's a reason to keep belivin'
God don't make mistakes
oh, there'll be dead ends and road blocks
tough times and hard knocks
seems like your always wonderin' why
you're at the right place
at the wrong time
wheels movin' but you feel stuck
like your life's spinnin' in a big mud
when your out there runnin' around
on a wild goose chase
there's a reason to keep belivin'
keep belivin'
God don't make mistakes
yeah, yeah oh, God don't make mistakes
So in the first verse a woman loses her job but shrugs it off because...God don't make mistakes. Yes, God planned for this woman to lose her job and God will get her a new job...at Walmart. This woman does not resent the employer that exploited her until they found a way to replace her with a machine or a Bangladeshi juvenile. She doesn't rant about tax breaks, deregulation, stagnant wages, lack of benefits, widespread disregard for humanity, the insatiable corporate drive to wring out every last cent. Her "faith" keeps her dumb, docile, duped.
Then we get to the chorus, where the title of the song is explained. Bad things happen, but they happen for a reason, so just sit on the couch until God's plan unfolds. Whenever I hear a phrase like "God don't make mistakes" I always want to say, "Well, thanks for polio and ebola then, asshole." Thanks for the little fish that swim up people's dicks and suck their blood until they die! I mean, does God think that shit is funny?
In the second verse we are presented with a trite and simplistic anti-abortion rap. Once again it all relates back to God's plan. Even if the baby is born with its heart outside of its body or Tay-Sachs disease...God did that for a reason. All God's plan. Gee, thanks God.
This song is a grating example of why, anytime anyone says something like "everything happens for a reason," I want to waterboard them.
Today's song is performed by one Jamie O'Neal who was born in Sydney, Australia and got her start as a backing singer for Kylie Minogue. How she ended up being a shill for the religious right is anybody's guess.
So here are the lyrics to O'Neal's 2007 single "God Don't Make Mistakes."
It was one of those days
when she couldn't find
a single ray of sunshine
and there wasn't even
a cloud up in the sky
After 13 years at the factory
they said sorry maam but we're downsizin'
that's the way life is
good luck with the rest of it
she looked me in the eye
and said this ain't the first time
I've taken the fall
but let me tell you girl
what's gotten me through
is keepin' faith through it all
Cause there'll be dead ends and road blocks
tough times and hard knocks
seems like your always wonderin'
why you're at the right place
at the wrong time
wheels movin' but you feel stuck
like your life's spinnin' in a big mud
when you're out there runnin' around
on a wild goose chase
there's a reason to keep believin'
God don't make mistakes
Everybody said you got to give it up
you can't keep that child
It's just too tough at seventeen
you're just a baby
well she cried and she prayed
and made up her mind
said this beautiful life
that's growin' inside needs a chance
to have a hand in God's plan
well everyone told her they'd
never get by
why he just turned sixteen
made it straight to the top of his class
the captain of the football team
yeah.... there'll be dead ends and road blocks
tough times and hard knocks
seems like you're always wonderin'
why your at the right place
at the wrong time
wheels movin' but you feel stuck
like your life's spinnin' in a big mud
when your out there runnin' around
on a wild goose chase
there's a reason to keep belivin'
God don't make mistakes
oh, there'll be dead ends and road blocks
tough times and hard knocks
seems like your always wonderin' why
you're at the right place
at the wrong time
wheels movin' but you feel stuck
like your life's spinnin' in a big mud
when your out there runnin' around
on a wild goose chase
there's a reason to keep belivin'
keep belivin'
God don't make mistakes
yeah, yeah oh, God don't make mistakes
So in the first verse a woman loses her job but shrugs it off because...God don't make mistakes. Yes, God planned for this woman to lose her job and God will get her a new job...at Walmart. This woman does not resent the employer that exploited her until they found a way to replace her with a machine or a Bangladeshi juvenile. She doesn't rant about tax breaks, deregulation, stagnant wages, lack of benefits, widespread disregard for humanity, the insatiable corporate drive to wring out every last cent. Her "faith" keeps her dumb, docile, duped.
Then we get to the chorus, where the title of the song is explained. Bad things happen, but they happen for a reason, so just sit on the couch until God's plan unfolds. Whenever I hear a phrase like "God don't make mistakes" I always want to say, "Well, thanks for polio and ebola then, asshole." Thanks for the little fish that swim up people's dicks and suck their blood until they die! I mean, does God think that shit is funny?
In the second verse we are presented with a trite and simplistic anti-abortion rap. Once again it all relates back to God's plan. Even if the baby is born with its heart outside of its body or Tay-Sachs disease...God did that for a reason. All God's plan. Gee, thanks God.
This song is a grating example of why, anytime anyone says something like "everything happens for a reason," I want to waterboard them.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Bipartisanship vs. Blind Partisanship
I can't think of a better example of the stark difference between how Republicans and Democrats operate than new Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker, a Republican, barely took a breath before beginning to rape and pillage. He killed a high speed rail line that was virtually a done deal, put the kibosh on biofuel and wind power projects, and launched an unprecedented de-unionization attack (literally, he called up in the national guard) on state workers. Clearly he believes strongly in the Republican vision for America--a Chinese Colony. Contrast Walker's sleazy efforts with the Obama administration's apparent ineptitude. Democrats consistently appear feeble and weak, incapable of accomplishing (or unwilling to accomplish) anything of substance and easily smeared and bullied by Republican counterparts who shamelessly pursue, without hesitation, a short-sighted agenda fueled by greed and bigotry, but also enabled by what I think is a pervasive and dangerous naivete. They will make the Chinese Colony a reality.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)