Une Cadavre

I was tempted to cite several posts from a few years back that forewarned of some of the darkness. Though I'll be the first to admit that I never thought it'd be this bad.

Instead, here's a joke, courtesy of P-Dawg. As is said, many a truth is told in jest....

DEDICATED TO: Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Congress, AIG, The Fucking Banking System, hedge fund managers, the IRS, HMOs, health insurance co's and insurance co's in general (actually sanctioned gambling casinos), drug companies, lobbyists and the politicians who do their bidding, mass media asleep at the wheel, walmart, the dumbya administration...

AND ANY OTHER JERKOFF SHITHEAD FUCKNUT WHO'S GOT THEIR HAND IN MY WALLET AND/OR BILKED/SOLD OUR COUNTRY DOWN THE RIVER FOR PERSONAL GAIN OVER THE GENERAL WELFARE.

GO FUCK YOURSELVES.

THANK YOU.

The kids filed back into class Monday morning. They were very excited. Their weekend assignment was to sell something, then give a talk on productive salesmanship.

Little Sally led off: "I sold girl scout cookies and I made $30," she said proudly, "My sales approach was to appeal to the customer's civil spirit and I credit that approach for my obvious success."

"Very good," said the teacher.

Little Jenny was next: "I sold magazines," she said, "I made $45 and I explained to everyone that magazines would keep them up on current events."

"Very good, Jenny," said the teacher.

Eventually, it was Little Johnny's turn. The teacher held her breath.

Little Johnny walked to the front of the classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher's desk. "$2,467," he said. "$2,467!" cried the teacher, "What in the world were you selling?"

"Toothbrushes," said Little Johnny.

"Toothbrushes...???" echoed the teacher, "How could you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make that much money?"

"I found the busiest corner in town," said Little Johnny, "I set up a Dip & Chip stand. I gave everybody who walked by a sample. They all said the same thing:

"Hey, this tastes like shit!"

Then I would say, "It is shit. Wanna buy a toothbrush?"

Mitch Mitchell, R.I.P.

As the Boomers grow old, we're now seeing people that made their mark from that era dying off. Mitch Mitchell was one of them.

I love drums, the rhythm and heart of music, and among musicians, Mitchell was respected. Unlike Experience bassist Noel Redding, Jimi would continue to use Mitch once that band had ended. He played with Jimi at Woodstock, and with Billy Cox replacing Redding, a later incarnation of the power trio. I don't know much more about his personal life save for what's in his Wiki, which says that he began acting, was self-taught and then took a few drum lessons at Jim Marshall's. (he of the legendary Marshall amps, used almost exclusively by Jimi and tons of other guitarists) He made a career for himself drumming sessions, playing in a few bands, was influenced by the great Elvin Jones, and then received a fateful call up from Chas Chandler that would forever cement his place in rock history.

I love Mitch's playing, which some critique as too busy. I don't agree, and certainly Jimi didn't. He seemed like a cool dude; it's a shame that creative people like Mitch (he was only 61) who bring so much enjoyment to the world die when devils are running amok.

Play it, Mitch!

Jane Elliott

As we enter into a hopefully new and improved phase of race relations with B-rack's election, I thought it'd be appropriate to talk about a true genius on the subject. In my opinion, very few white people really "get it" when it comes to race and power. The poster boy for white anti-racists is Tim Wise, who, while I think he makes sense, truth be told he says nothing that people of color haven't covered before. His value is in that hopefully, whites will listen.

Jane Elliott is far more valuable as a white anti-racist, her legend cemented in her famous "brown eyes/blue eyes" exercise. There's plenty of info on the web about her that I need not repeat. What is remarkable to consider is the context within which she originally devised her exercise, the crucible of the 60's in America. Because while that time is marked by its historic turbulence, it was also an awakening of a new consciousness emerging. What I mean is that as an awakening, it was the beginnings, and as such, there was still plenty of resistance, ignorance and bundles of naivete. In this setting, in the tiny town of predominantly white Riceville, Iowa, greatness emerged.

In the 80's, as I was about to go back to school, PBS's venerable series Frontline, ran a special commemorative viewing of A Class Divided, the documentary about Elliott's famous experiment. (Originally, I believe, it was called The Eye of the Storm. Frontline re-broadcast the original film, and brought back the students as grown ups to talk about their experiences) It is without a doubt one of the top ten films I've ever seen, insightful and moving like none other. It has, as I like to quote in these situations, what Breton said of Cesaire:

That unmistakable major tone...

It is so painfully and beautifully human.

I've been lucky in my life. A few years back Ms. Elliott came to UCLA to talk, and we got to meet. She is so friendly, down to earth and practical. More - and this is where her work is far in advance of Tim Wise - she goes beyond talking; she does. Jane Elliott transcends teaching, or rather, she elevates teaching to the level of great art.

There is a pristine moment toward the end of the film, after the children, having gone through the exercise, like little wounded birds, emerge from their own intense crucible within a crucible. And they are joyous. As you watch, if you have a heart, it soars with every kid.

If you value my opinion, or even if you don't, take a chance. If you care about race relations, what real education can and should be, watch. Don't do it now; wait until you have a quiet moment this weekend. Eat first, grab a cup of coffee or tea. Relax. Turn off the boob tube, your cell. And devote an hour of your life to this film. I promise you, if you care about what it is to be human, in this world, at this time, you will see.

Watch A Class Divided

The Biggest Thugs

I'm hopeful for B-rack, but the reality is that we are spiraling out of control. Make no mistake; what's going on in Amerikkka is nothing less than the biggest thugs committing the largest heist in history. For those of you who read here, I urge you to tune in to CNN's Lou Dobbs, virtually alone in the mainstream media in his unabashed calling out of this theft.

Remember, the mainstream media has a major role in this. They are a sham, when so much is at stake, they are not informing us of the reality happening right now.

Before he was elected, Howard Stern said that dumbya would bankrupt the country. Howard Stern! That has now come true, and dumbya's new record low approval rating does little to console a country out of control. Folks, if someone doesn't do something to reign in Congress to let them know this is insane, we are selling my daughter's generation down the river. And that pisses me off. It should piss you off as well.

And if it doesn't, you need to ask yourself and everyone you know why it doesn't.

Note to B-rack; you need to consult with David Cay Johnston. Now.

Courtesy of Dobbs today, here are the points every American needs to be aware of, the first major deconstruction of AIG:

$85 Billion for the first looting

$60 Billion for the second looting

NOW they are asking for an additional $27 Billion because AIG is struggling to meet the terms of its agreements.

"more money, cheaper rates, more flexible terms - it's historic, in US financial markets, where one institution has this much money available to it."
-Bill Bergman, Morningstar

Reduced interest rate on $60B as a result of this re-structuring

FED buys:

$40 Billion of preferred stock to be bought by treasury

$22 Billion from Fed to buy "toxic loans" ie: mortgage-backed securities

$30 Billion to guarantee credit default swaps, ie: unregulated insurance contracts that are in reality ultra risky bets, the highest stakes gambling in history.

==================

In the background, GM hits 60 year low for share price; bailiouts now heard... haven't they received 25B already???

Just Go NOW. PLEASE.

I watched B-rack's press con today, and remarked to Fish that it was such a relief to see a president (yes, he is my president, not the bozo there now) who's smart, articulate, deliberative, analytical, self-aware... and just poised. I then remembered that some kids' sports have a "mercy rule" whereby if one team is slaughtering another then the game is halted to avoid further embarrassment.

We outghta have a clause like that post-election, where we can just tell dumbya and his thugs to get the fuck outta Dodge now.


Art: Shephard Fairey for MoveOn.org

EVERYBODY'S an Expert

So I've been inundated with info about Barack, particularly the guessing game about cabinet nominees. Emanuel's already accepted CoS. Richardson's on the short list for SoS, and Volcker for the Treasury; personally, I sincerely feel that this country desperately needs David Cay Johnston advising economically. And Johnston's a Republican! Hillary was conspicuous by absence.

I would think Schumer's gotta be in there somewhere. But Tom Friedman needs to be tapped. He doesn't have micro down, but he has macro. Muhammad Yunis should be tapped for micro-lending. In an astounding turn-around, Mike Milken (!) is now working with Yunis on micro-lending; they already have a program up and going in Queens. Think about what this does for everyday folks who are hurting, or just have dreams of entrepreneurship, but no capital, no connections, no collateral. If America is to realize more fully its sloganeering rhetoric of "anything's possible" then that must include opportunity. This is a proven, sober and very economically sound path. It's humane, it has a heart. It's battle tested.

Here are a few more ideas:

1. SUSTAINABILITY CZARS - This needs to be a committee because it's so important. I agree with Tom Friedman that a "Green America" is energy forward, environmentally conscious, entrepreneurial, geo-political, and economically conservative AND stimulating. It'd take another essay to explain all of those, but, back on point, this committee should contain sub-committees on:

A. ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Entrepreneurs are the base, they are the ones taking the risks and developing the Google's of Green - HELP THEM. They are good for America, good for the economy. They are key in helping wean America off of our addiction to oil. OPEC's got us by the balls - this is the way out. That in turn gets us out of South Asia and our insane war mentality that has oil as its motive. The madness ends here, with a coherent strategy for sustainable energy.

These green companies who go on to develop and flower are good for the economy; they create jobs that people can feel good about as opposed to being just another cog in the wheel of corporate America.

B. HEALTH CARE - The number one reason for foreclosures, combined with this insane system of adjustable rate mortgages and derivatives, hedge funds, over-leveraging, etc., is health care issues. Bankruptcy's as well. This is a major economic, health and welfare issue. With tens of millions of boomers heading into retirement, our broken health care system is headed for crisis - it already is in crisis.

But Barack's plank on this issue will do nothing to solve the central problem, that is, the oligarchy that has a stranglehold on health care. This is because the oligarchy - comprised of insurance, HMOs and drug companies, are way to economically powerful. Any one of those three has lobbyists with deep pockets and banks of lawyers. Citizens can't possibly fight on that level.

Until Barack and congress decide to address this central problem, health care in America will loom as a major social and economic problem. There's no other way. Solution? Single payer. This is a major reason why I voted for Cynthia McKinney.

2. WARS - We need out of Iraq. The SoD must have a mandate on a clear plan for dis-engagement including infrastructure for Iraq. Most Americans aren't even aware of the reality that Iraqis don't have running water and electricity, let alone jobs and a viable economy that sustains living sanely. All of Iraq, save for ONE region: the oil producing south. What does that tell you about the lie the dumbya administration said: "It's not about oil." Bullshit. The plan must also include giving aid health care-wise to Iraqis as well as our service people. The Walter Reed scandal is shameful and more evidence of this administration's utter disregard of our young people who have suffered. When a person has been injured, it effects their whole family - COMPENSATE THEM, TAKE CARE OF THEM, IT'S THE LEAST WE CAN DO. This madness must end now.

In each case, there's massive amounts of work. The keys are:

1. To assemble good teams
2. Formulate clear plans - Budgets, schedules, reporting, accountability
3. Get them up and running
4. Communicate - The time has come for an administration to consistently communicate with us. Taking a page from Howard Dean, Barack's team mobilized on the Internet in the modern age. He and his advisers should not forget that. How easy is it to set up a Barack blog where the public could read updates, give commentary, etc.? Rahm Emanuel or whoever ends up being press sec could oversee this and staff it with people who monitor it. Companies - forward thinking companies - now do this, the most obvious example being Google.

These are my first ideas in the immediate blush of this post-election.

Good luck brothaman - you'll need it for this mess you've inherited.

More later.

Barack

My biggest fears have been waylaid; leading up to the election, I was telling friends how I wouldn't be surprised if Barack lost - hey, there are vast regions of this huge country that don't like my sort, let alone Blacks - and that if it came to a showdown, the devils would take a page from Florida and resort to some sort of trickery, as they did with Florida in Gore v. Bush. Neither's happened, Barack's the president, so a sigh of relief.

While I'm much happier that Barack's our president than the retardican alternative, I have problems with him, chief among them his recent advocacy of and voting for the bailout. Then there's his take on the healthcare crisis, one which will do nothing to break the oligarchy of HMOs, drug and insurance companies that dominate it with their lobbyists and lawyers.

But he is president now, and if I had a meeting with him I'd tell him to keep it simple. There's such a shitload of disasters he's inherited that his governance now becomes one of management. This is key. He's got to concentrate on a few, maybe a couple of things and take baby steps. Show some gains, get the team assembled for tackling the particular problem, get them up and running and then move on to the next. His biggest potential mistake will be if he tries to do too much.

He must also be honest and say that that's what he's going to do. Last, taking a cue from Howard Dean, his team was so savvy in terms of tapping the net. He should remember that.

I took Renee to the airport today, she's gone off to Hawaii for school, and I'm empty nesting, missing her already. But we have a Black prez. Just as I see a small light trying to break through in my daughter to find herself, I see a small ray of light for our country. Barack's slogan: "Yes we can." And as cynical a curmudgeon as I am, in this desperate time, I want to believe.

Go do your thing, brothaman.

And how did I vote? Well, I voted Black. Cynthia McKinney.

The Forever Fight

On the eve of this "historic" election, I question the whole shebang. One thing puts it into perspective, and that's the bailout. Both Obama and Old worn-out man (hereafter, Owom) advocated and voted for it. For years now I've tried to explain my side as an independent, mainly, how both of these parties have sold us down the river. And yet I see friends and relatives biting on the Obama plank as if termites.

That's no small thing. My old man came out of the service, and, with the aid of the GI Bill, he and moms bought a modest house at a reasonable price, just as tens of thousands of families in the post-war era did. They constituted the burgeoning middle class that the American style of capitalism would nurture and extract from in symbiotic (vampiric?) ecstasy. Note; I'm fully aware that that was also a Norman Rockwellian painting, mostly devoid of peeps of color.

That was the creation of American capital's greatest achievement: the middle class.

While there were of course hard interrogations of "the system," most notably the 60's & 70's, they did nothing to overturn the system of a corporate run state system.

And yet, for better or worse, there was economic prosperity in America, albeit at the expense of poor people of color throughout the world, via the new colonialism of global capital.

One of the things I've been telling folks, most notably at the local YMCA where in the steam room coffee housing it up has reached a fever pitch, is that under this administration, four decades of building a prosperous middle class has been trashed.

Let me say that should he win, Obama's election is nothing more than posturing, mere puffery and will do essentially nothing to create true change in America and the world it runs. This is because of the system of capitalism we have that caters to the political donor class (hereafter, "pdc"; thank you, David Cay Johnston) - that class of economic slobs who Obama and Owom helped bail out. Incidentally and lest ye think me fishes too much:

Obama's biggest contributors include Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, National Amusements, Inc. which is the parent company of Viacom and CBS, Citigroup and, Goldman Sachs which is "his number one banking contributor.
--John MacArthur, president/publisher, Harper's

I single out Barack here because it's a forgone conclusion that Owom is just out to lunch when it comes to anything modern, but of course he is just as guilty of taking from and in turn catering to and serving the whims of the pdc.

But as deluded, mislead and under influence of the ultimate narcotic, money (but in reality the chasing of money), at least those who invest and believe in our system have hope. Let's face it; realistically, it's peeps like me that have no hope.

Just look at health care, one of the major trains speeding down the tunnel toward us. There's a fundamental reason why health care will forever remain privatized and corporate controlled, and it has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with capitalism American style. Too general? Okay, consider, the American health care system is dominated by three industries: HMOs, insurance and drug companies. Any one of those three is a major lobbying source with deep corporate coffers and armies of lawyers waiting to do their bidding. (Because it's their economic imperative; Surprise! Lobbyists and lawyers on this level don't live in East LA) Three of these giant industries together all working toward keeping the system in place (the root of "conservatism" is "conserve," after all) constitutes a tripartite oligarchy that is the bully of bullies. Within this system they cannot be beat.

And anyone who rails against socialism, consider, EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the judicial and executive branches as well as congress has socialized health care - FOR LIFE.

But they refuse to give it to the American people.

I will advocate for Barack over the old, worn-out man simply because he's smarter, more modern and is at least capable of choosing a vp candidate. (again, within the context of our system) But people, my dear mudpeeps, family and friends, don't suffer under the illusion of anything fundamentally changing should Barack win.

Where is the kindness and intelligence that will save us...?