October 2008 archive

Is that possible?

Historically revolutions have been the last resort of The People. When things get bad enough, The People take to the streets. Organizers organize, rabble rousers rouse, polemicists polemicize, but until The People put the boot to the street it is not a real revolution. There are always years of outrages jointly suffered through to call upon to motivate The People. There have almost always been years of people railing and writing against the current regime and trying to get The People to take to the streets, and finally, some last straw appears on the horizon and bingo, revolution happens.

Can that happen, can it be conveyed to those in power that it is happening, without the boots in the street?

Because The People saw in St Paul what the ‘law enforcement’ minions of the Ruling Class do to folks bold enough to put their boots in the street these days and it wasn’t pretty. Jackboots tasers and streams of peepr spray in the face are pretty damn good deterrents. .

The People aren’t stupid, either.

It has always been the fearful image of the mob, the popular uprising, the revolution knocking down the doors of government that has been the nightmare of the Ruling Class. Year after year they feather their own nest and make decisions that benefit them and their cronies while using various degrees of obfuscation as necessary to disguise the fact that the Ruling Class rules for themselves and only pays the fear inspired image of the torch and the pitchfork the minimal lip service required to keep The People complacent. Eventually though they get too arrogant, or their is some unavoidable conflict between the interests of The People and the interests of the Ruling Class (such as a financial crisis) and they forget to pay lip service. Or gamble that they can keep it quiet or spin it so that The People don’t notice. Or they are forced to choose to publicly and blatantly screw The People or screw themselves. Like, now.

Finally! Gosh! There ya go! Well, doggone it! You Betcha! Also!

Uh, it’s not what what you think. I’m retired….so with all the other old geezers, I’m an Election judge. Gets me out of the house, what can I say?

I’m a YOUNG Election Judge! So I get to put together all the booths and set up the Optiscan and Accuvote machines….and get to play around with the “voter Blackberry” named AskEd. The others like to do the ballot counts and pass out the voter sheets and check the registrations. I also get to handle all the forms like Provisional Ballots and Signature Capture.

So I got the news….the Election Commission called and asked if I would be the Technical Judge!!! I told them sure, I’m doing it already. They were so happy!???? Now what am I in for?

** Now as a consideration for my dear friend OPOL as well..whose excellent essay “They Better Hope We Don’t Wake Up” also burns as truth in my soul.

Cross-posted from the Wild Wild Left

(…this started as a response to Gottlieb’s reply to Proximity1 in Ed’s PROMIS essay but grew beyond what I had to say to him into a general essay on the subject…)

I was going to ask first, somewhat glibly, “Would you then come back & help?”

Then as thoughts of Pandora’s Box came into my mind, it grew into ponderings too large to be ignored, not a subject for glibness or levity.



This may be the biggest decision America has had to face in light of our current conditions and the available technology in which they will be dealt.

So, this isn’t just a reply to his comment anymore, but a thought to those who would say “riot” lightly.

It is also a question for those who are ready, and say “riot” not lightly, but with full intent.

Read on for my thinking. Consider well before you leap my friends, for when we leap there really is no going back. And most of us would not live to see the fruits of our actions.

I went to a conference in Las Vegas this week. I didn’t gamble that much because I don’t generally win at games of chance. I dropped maybe 20 bucks on the slot machines but there was plenty of good people watching in the various casinos. I went solo and partnered up with another girl or two who were also going solo. I discovered that it is very common for bridal parties to go to buffets, a large percentage of people who go to Las Vegas have had a lot of plastic surgery. One night we played “find the boobs” and picked out all the women who had breast augmentation. I got to see what a two thousand dollar purse looked like.

Nobody looks all that happy while they gamble, they either look intense or zoned out like a zombie. Maybe Americans need to find new hobbies. Like being awake and thinking or making better food choices. I didn’t sleep very well in my hotel even though the bed was very comfortable because they hotel didn’t provide dogs or cats to hog the bed. I was at the Las Vegas Hilton which I think was pretty middle of the road by local standards. And what the fuck is up with charging four dollars for bottled water that I pay a buck for in Tennessee? One night we accidental stumbled into the employee area in the back of some hotels and found a vending machine with bottled water for a dollar so we stocked up.

I took a few pictures…..

I shot this from the top of the Rio Hotel…..

This very attractive young woman was more than happy to pose since  I was not a drunken middle aged man trying to paw her…. down on Fremont Street…

A few more on Fremont Street….

During the Vice Presidential debate, Sarah “Energy Expert” Palin continued to demonstrate either her fundamental ignorance about energy realities or her fervent desire to mislead as many American voters as possible with half-truths and un-truths.  We’ll put aside the whole question of Sarah’s dealings with oil companies and the national gas pipeline and the problems of clean-coal discussion at the debate, but lets take a few moments to discuss the implications of Sarah’s various words about “energy independence”.   Remember, Sarah reminded us that energy is her subject:

“governor of an energy-producing state, and kind of undo in my own area of expertise, and that’s energy.”

Okay, what did Miss Energy Expert say about energy issues?

Thought folks might enjoy this, wether a Dylan fan or not, some good stuff and a free listen as well as downloads

It comes from the NPR Music Notes – All Songs Considered newsletter and site.

Exclusive Preview: Bob Dylan’s ‘Tell Tale Signs’

Undisclosed Location: Population 2

Check Shotguns And Booze At The Door

For Treasury Dept., Now Comes Hard Part of Bailout

 

 By MARK LANDLER and EDMUND L. ANDREWS

Published: October 3, 2008  

WASHINGTON – It will be one of the world’s largest asset management firms with an impressive $700 billion war chest. Nothing short of the global economy depends on its success. And the Treasury Department has barely a month to get it up and running.

The bailout bill that President Bush quickly signed into law on Friday must do what financial experts have been unable to do for the last year – put a dollar value on mortgage-related assets that no one wants, move them off the books of ailing banks and unlock the frozen credit markets.

Judge: Government not free of toxic trailer suits

Ruling says there’s evidence FEMA delayed response over liability concerns  

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS – The government is not immune from lawsuits claiming many Gulf Coast hurricane victims were exposed to potentially dangerous fumes while living in trailers the government provided, a federal judge ruled Friday.

The ruling said there is evidence that the Federal Emergency Management Agency delayed its response to concerns about formaldehyde levels in its trailers due to liability concerns. The preservative can cause breathing problems and is classified as a carcinogen.

USA

US shocked by spate of abandoned children

• 14 given up by parents under new Nebraska law

• State to reconsider age limit of 19 after criticism

Ed Pilkington in New York

The Guardian,

Saturday October 4 2008

Authorities in the United States are reeling from a sudden spate of children being abandoned by their parents and guardians under a new law that allows caregivers to leave any child up to the age of 19 at hospitals without fear of prosecution.

In Nebraska in September alone, 14 children were abandoned in hospitals and another was mistakenly taken to a police station, which is not covered under the law. In a further case, an 18-year-old presented himself for safe keeping, but was not placed in foster care because he was too old.