Grateful Dead

Earlier in the week, there was a story in the news about a NYC bus driver who caught a 7 year old girl who had fallen from a three story building. Had that bus driver used his better judgment, instead of inserting himself into the space between the 40-50 pound falling object and the ground, the girl would have likely died. Our judgment is mostly a function of our intellect, but reason is only a part of who we are.

"Apocalypse Now" - Colonel Kurtz's monologue at the end "I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us." (Boy, I'm in a mood today)

As I've mentioned several times, the ongoing dispute between the US/Israel (backed by other Western nations) and Iran is still picking up steam. Israel/West wants Iran to give up all nuclear ambitions. Iran says these ambitions are only peaceful. Nobody believes that Iran is not involved in uranium enrichment that will ultimately result in the 2nd country to possess an Islam Bomb (Pakistan being the other). The war is well underway. Israel has bombed targets in Iran before suspected of nuclear ambitions, at Osiris I believe, and the US/Israel have engaged in cyber-warfare to destroy centrifuges. Israel has threatened to bomb the suspected sites unilaterally once again but has not done so mainly due to US diplomatic pressure exerted to allow sanctions to work. These sanctions are very severe. The world financial community has even pulled Iran's SWIFT code. This does not allow them to transfer money bank-to-bank anywhere in the world. The latest development is that Iranian-backed militants blew up a bus full of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria yesterday, killing seven and wounding more than a score others. A week or so ago the US engaged in nuclear saber-rattling. This all looks very dark. There aren't many bluffs left for the West/israel to play if they get no deal from Iran. Syria is about to fall. The Middle East is in turmoil. I know I'm only getting bits and pieces of this story. Ominous. Biblical. Don't think we'll have to wait for the end of the Mayan calender for this to play out.

The Greens just held their nominating convention last weekend. This group along with the Libertarians have been the most organized and long-standing political entities trying to mount a challenge to the current political paradigm. The Libs has some success this year and they had a number of delegates pledged to Ron Paul to go to the nominating convention with and make some noise. In Massachusetts those delegates had supplanted some long-standing Republicans who were not going to be able to attend. Invoking some made-up rule the Repubs. stripped those delegates of their credential because they had "failed to deliver in time an affidavit swearing, under the penalty of perjury, that they would support Mitt Romney’s nomination for president." My point here is that whenever a third party makes a challenge the Dems or Repubs flex their muscles and throw them out. Jon Stewart made a point of spotlighting how the press ignored Ron Paul. There are so many institutions that marginalize third party candidates that it would seem to be impossible for one to break through. Then there is the argument that Ralph Nader's independent run for the White House only allowed Bush to beat Al Gore in 2000. He got 2% of the vote but the election was so close it is hard to deny the logic of it. Even though it really only becomes true when the election ends up being that close. The point of all this is to say we have the illusion of voting for who rules us. In fact, it takes such a huge amount of money to run a campaign and qualify for the ballot in all 50 states that there really is no way a third party that is not in the "Big Money" circle can mount a serious challenge. It's despicable, And the people who deny this reality are silly and stupid. I liked Johnman when he was on this thread but he was one of those people who really believe we have meaningful choices within the system. It's such a joke. I hate to vent without having anything new or creative to offer up but I just don't see a set of circumstances that would allow a charismatic leader to rise up and be elected by hordes of followers. The powers that be would be calling him/her the anti-christ, among other things.

...but we're too strung out to achieve that kind of function. In his Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Karl Marx notes that "Religion is the opium of the people (Die Religion... ist das Opium des Volkes)." Marx' statement rings true to me, only what's changed now is that we worship at the altar of commerce much more than we did in Marx' time. At this point, I'd say it's highly unlikely that the People will ever take back the power because we've become dependent on the system to which we've ceded our authority; it'd be like a junkie trying to get clean by killing his or her dealer.

and I think it's incredibly pathetic that it has to be us." - Jerry Garcia "Representative" democracy creates consolidation of political power, and that creates the financial equivalent of mechanical advantage. So called "special interests" buy legislators votes for backing the proposed legislation that their own staffers write which is designed to enhance their own market position and presence. And it only works because it's economically viable to make it happen. Remember, with these special interests, the bottom line is always dollars, specifically the Net Present Value of those dollars. For those of you not familiar with the term, NPV is math, not philosophy. It's nothing more than a calculation. It's the Lowest Common Denominator for how MBA types look at the universe. The founding fathers had a pretty good idea, although I suspect they would scarcely recognize what it's turned into. I won't pretend to speak for them, but I have a strong inkling given their contemporaneous writings that they would be appalled by what has evolved as the Legislative branch. I choose to believe they opted for the representative model rather than the Athenian model of strict pluracracy to address the the inherent latency in communications extant in their time. That latency no longer exists. I believe that the next phase of the American Revolution should be focused on this issue in particular. I may be naive, but I'm prepared to have some faith in the rank and file population to choose to do the Right Things, and eschew the Wrong Things, like war in support of enhanced corporate profits marketed under the banner of Patriotism. It's high time people started pointing out that that particular emperor has no clothes. It is economically unviable to buy off a majority of a national direct electorate. Problem solved in the only terms these types understand and respect. Our government here in the USA has long since stopped fearing its citizens, and that's the first thing that has to change. We The People are supposed to be the Boss, and it's high time we started acting not only like we understood that, but that we actually meant it.

It is so very hard to be interested in anything that comes out of either candidate's mouth these days. You just want to scream "Give me fresh air!" Nobody is talking about anything remotely interesting and the debate is so very carefully framed. The level of discussion has fallen to such a low point that it takes barely a sentence from the moderator's mouth before the two sides go at it tooth and nail. This has turned everybody off to such a degree that nobody wants to discuss it. And I don't blame anybody for that attitude, At the midpoint of summer the campaign still appears to be a close contest if it were based on the popular vote. Unfortunately, under our arcane system, it is the electoral college, the elite 535 (435 Reps. & 100 Senators) that actually determine the next ruler. This gives greater weight to the more populated states. Representatives are apportioned per 500,000 people, Given this system, the managers of campaigns split the country into sure win, sure lose and those states that have a chance to go either way. In the 12 swing states this year Obama has a healthy lead in the majority of them and the undertone of the campaign is a heady optimism on the side of the Obamites and general hand-wringing on the part of the Romulans. While it appears that Romney has only a very slight chance of winning the election Obama would be well advised to read the lyrics of Uncle John's Band: "When life looks like easy street there is danger at your door". Current events can undo the most carefully laid plans and it certainly is a minefield out there. Negativity rules the day. Why it is human nature to respond to negativity rather than ignore it and pay attention to positivity is beyond me. I think people feel so unempowered and disenfranchised by the current system where there are two parties for the rich and corporate elite. The only debate among them is how much alms to give to the poor. It is really outrageous that our "republican' form of "democracy" has come to this. And a sad joke for the rest of the world churning in our wake. Will I vote this year? No, because the state I live in makes it a certainty that it doesn't matter. If I had a chance to vote in a critical swing state would I? Yes, because I believe I am my brother's keeper and I want more alms to go to the poor. It is sadly reduced to this. I wish I had choices that made more of a difference. I think the common people picking their own leaders has always been an elaborate hoax,

I hope they got the rest of it on good video.

that she is!

Officious dweebs like that should be chained to the front of the "It's a small world after all" exhibit at the Disney park least convenient to them for a week. And then billed for the airfare, transfers and entrance fees required. You'd think Sir Paulie could have requested Special Dispensation from his pal Her Majesty...