GDAEman

August 19, 2010

Revenge of the Bull

Politics aside...

Pick on a bull and what do you expect? I didn't know a bull could jump so high... several meters. But, desperate bulls do desperate things.

Sources:

Associated Press, "Bull leaps into bullring stands in Spain, 40 hurt", August 19, 2010.

August 13, 2010

More Examples of Left & Right Collaboration

Maybe you've experienced this. You take interest in something you've not noticed before, say a car of a particular color. Then you start noticing this thing all over the place when you didn't before.

Maybe that's what's going on with me and the thesis I'm pursuing about the potential power of principled people on the left & right joining forces to challenge the power and policies of the establishment. I've been addressing this topic in the past few episodes of GDAE Podcast:

Part 1: (20-min abridged) - The Thesis of the Left & Right Joining Together. Motivations and Defining the Thesis. Real-world example: Challenging the Consolidation of Media Ownership.

Part 2: (30-min) - More than a Hypothesis: Real-world examples of Left/Right Joint Efforts to Challenge the Establishment. The call to "Audit the Federal Reserve."

Part 3: (30-min) - More Real-world examples. The late-1800s Populist Movement & the current movement calling for strict adherence to 10th Amendment of the US Constitution.

Now I'm starting to see more real-world cases and other people observing this social phenomenon. The Tea Party movement, for the most part, is NOT a part of this left/right coming together. That's in part because it's partly co opted by corporate sponsors and demagogues like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck (tho the concerns of its diverse membership are similar).

This is also not about establishment conservatives who reject the Tea Party, or , or at least hold them at a distance. Tho, there can be some intersection these principled establishment conservatives too. One example is the conservative and liberal lawyers who challenged the constitutionality of California's Anti-gay marriage Proposition 8. (The two lawyers were conservative Ted Olsen and liberal David Boies, the two of whom battled each other in the Bush v. Gore 2000 election coup). But lets face it, Olsen & Boies are part of the establishment mindset.

It's hard to pin down this phenomenon, in part because it is diverse and complex. But, when you hear the examples and discussions on the previous podcasts, it starts to take shape. I'll be expanding on more examples in the August GDAE Podcast, so stay tuned.

Sources:

Originally posted on Challenge the Establishment Blog.

August 9, 2010

What Does Israel Have to Hide?

Israel: UN won't question IDF soldiers in Gaza flotilla probe

Sources:

Haaretz, Aug. 9, 2010, By Barak Ravid and DPA.

Feather Installation Bruges

This installation art with feathers was in a church in Bruges, Belgium.

Feather Installation Art, Bruges Belgium

We also got to meet "Mangoboy" who hung where we ate breakfast in our Bruges B&B. I thought it was kinda funny.... like he's running from a tidal wave.

Mango Boy, Bruges, Belgium.

August 3, 2010

Michelle Bachmann is an Alian Lizard

I'm all for reforming the corporate-corrupted culture of Washington, DC, but I'd prefer not having lizard people lead the charge.

I received an e-mail that reads, in part:

I am pleased to announce that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has agreed to keynote our Robert L. Bartley Gala Dinner this November 9th!

Buy Your Table or Tickets Today!

And, while they are selling platinum sponsorships at $25,000 a pop, and gold ones at a mere $10k, they are also challenging the ruling class:

Congresswoman Bachmann is indeed a friend of liberty. Elected in 2006, she represents a newer class of Congressional representatives tired of the Beltway politics of the 'Ruling Class.'

In her short tenure in Congress, Rep. Bachmann has developed a reputation as a principled reformer who stays true to her conservative beliefs while pushing for real reform of the broken ways of Washington.

I guess it's Spectator Magazine's event. Creepy if you ask me.

July 25, 2010

GDAE Podcast Episode 32

Common Interests on the Left & Right - Part III

Left & Right Populists: The American Populist movement of the 1800s with Jim Hightower (Bill Moyer's Journal).
Left & Right United: The Tenth Amendment with Michael Boldin (Mother Jones Magazine).
Green Economy: Energy efficiency and jobs (Demand Side Podcast).
MUSIC: Brazilita, a sweet little version of the song Brazil.

Play Episode 32 from this page:

Click to Download Episode 32.

Listen to Part II in the series, Episode 31:

Listen to Part I in the series, Episode 30, (20-minute abridged version):

July 22, 2010

Sense of Desperation

As we hear that the Obama Justice Department reached settlement with Goldman Sachs there are many reactions. My reaction is that the establishment is feeling desperate, fearful of a teetering capitalist system that cannot tolerate the implications of an honest judgment.

Goldman Sachs designed an investment package of subprime mortgage loans that was highly likely to fail, invested in its failure, but sold it to others as a good investment. They get caught, and by most accounts by analysts who understand these things, the record Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) penalty of $550 million is well below the $1 Billion that was expected as a baseline for settling this fraud case. But you don't have to take the word of the analysts, the reaction of Wall Street was a sigh of relief expressed in terms of a rise in Goldman's market value that greatly exceeded the penalty amount.

This is just one example of many in which the establishment's fear of a teetering economic system has led to tepid, dishonest policy. The inability for the Washington establishment to consider a single-payer system is another example. We're told that there simply wasn't the political will, and that the insurance and other health related industries were "too strong." I suspect the real reason is that the capitalist economic system is too weak to endure a transition from the current inefficient, paper-pushing health care system to a more efficient one.

I'm sure there are many other examples.

For Your Convenience:

Contact the Broadcast Media
Contact the Newspapers
Contact the US Senate
Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

July 19, 2010

Fitzgerald "Irony" or "poke-in-the-eye"?

Back in late 2008, the most popular question posed on President-Elect Obama's Change-dot-Gov web-Question Box, in 'round 2, came from Bob Fertik, of New York City, which read:

Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor (ideally Patrick Fitzgerald) to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?

According to the July/August 2010 Mother Jones magazine, Fitzgerald has been assigned to investigate the CIA and torture. Unfortunately, the investigation is targeted not at the torturers, but at human rights investigators whose trails led them to CIA operatives.

You see, if, as a human rights attorney, your trail leads you to CIA personnel, and you put pictures of them in photo line-ups for your torture-victim clients to identify... then maybe you're exposing the identity CIA personnel even if you don't expose the person's name. Yes, as predicted by George Orwell and others, it's a wicked web that has been woven by the powers-that-be.

But it strikes me... is this simply irony that Fitzgerald would be given this assignment, or is it a poke-in-the-eye of the people calling for a full investigation of the US torture activities?

Sources:

Mother Jones Magazine, July/Aug. 2010.

Establishment Shudders when Left & Right Unite

I've been exploring the potential for the left & right to unite on common interests. Imagine the gravity of an informed populace discovering that the labels of "left" and "right" are a barrier to people power.

This is more than a hypothetical. I've included several real-world examples of this in the past two episodes of GDAE Podcast (GDAE Podcast: May 2010 Episode and June 2010 Episode).

Today, I've posted yet another example on my Challenge the Establishment blog, entitled, "The Right, the Left and the 10th Amendment."

Sources:

Mother Jones, July/August 2010.

July 18, 2010

Glenn Beck & Goldline's Tag-Team Scam

I bought gold bullion at 600$ / oz.... it's now around $1,100. It's just a hedge against paper money going bust. Nothing wrong with that.

BUT... some unprincipled elements in the right-wing are exploiting fear and pushing bad gold purchases. Glenn Beck and Goldline International have been exposed in a Mother Jones article entitled Glenn Beck's Golden Fleece.

In short, Beck is pushing Goldline, and Goldline is hard-selling old 90% gold coins that have a buy-back value that is about 30% - 35% less than what they sell for (regular gold bullion buy-back spread is about 5%). They argue that it's "safer" to buy "antique" coins, because the U.S. Government is less likely to confiscate them (grain of truth alert).

It's a scam, plain and simple. Ironically, it's the Glenn Beck followers who are getting screwed.

Sources:

Mother Jones, Glenn Beck's Golden Fleece, May/June 2010.

July 17, 2010

"Breaking up the Banks" becoming Mainstream?

A member of the Federal Reserve Bank, Richard Fisher, has said

A truly effective restructuring of our regulatory regime will have to neutralize what I consider to be the greatest threat to our financial system's stability -- the so-called too-big-to-fail [banks].

So, if anyone ever poo poos the intent to "break up the banks," inform them that a president of the Dallas, Texas Federal Reserve proposes doing just that. Referring to a more desirable international agreement to limit bank size, Fisher goes as far as to say

If we have to do this unilaterally, we should.

For Your Convenience:

Sources:

Jim Hightower, Progressive Populist, May 1, 2010.

July 7, 2010

The Reader

Saw the movie, "The Reader" last night. I was struck by the suffering of the less fortunate people in wake of the war-makers. I couldn't help but transfer that to the anguish for so many people today that has been caused by Bush's wars, now owned by Obama.

Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover...

Kate Winslet won the Oscar for best actress in a leading role. Ralph Fiennes plays the older Michael Berg, David Kross plays the younger.

Add it to your list if you've not seen it.

July 6, 2010

Israeli Settlements: Two Thoughts

Two thoughts on the Yahoo! News headline, "Israeli settlements cover 42 percent of West Bank." First, by Israel allowing, dare I say "promoting," these settlements they are making a two-state solution nearly impossible; there can't be two states if all the people are blended together. Israel is almost guaranteeing a path to a one-state solution.

Second, what's up with this story even being in the mainstream media?

Sources:

Associated Press, "Israeli settlements cover 42 percent of West Bank.", AMY TEIBEL, July 6, 2010.

June 27, 2010

McCrystal's Rolling Stone Interview: A Modern Pentagon Paper

General McCrystal has done us all a big favor by his frank exchange in the Rolling Stone article, "The Runaway General."

Perhaps it was his subconscious at work, but McCrystal has laid bare some of the realities of the situation... Michael Hastings and the Rolling Stone magazine editors also deserve some of the credit.

Don't get me wrong; McCrystal is a murderer, and a danger to our democracy. He covered up the Pat Tillman cause-of-death, he surely condones the use of torture, and fails to understand that the United States should be run by civilians, not the military. But, he's like the Washington (Moonie) Times; he says things others won't say, and in that way, he has been valuable. McCrystal has released the effective equivalent of the Vietnam Pentagon Papers on Afghanistan.

For Your Convenience:

Contact the Broadcast Media
Contact the Newspapers
Contact the US Senate
Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

June 25, 2010

Financial Underhaul

The Yahoo! News headline "Bank stocks soar on financial regulation agreement" pretty much says it all. We are a corporate state. Reclaiming the power of the people over the corporate state is the next major multi-generational struggle on par with overcoming slavery, child labor standards and women's suffrage.

"They come out of this big-time winners," Bob Froehlich, senior managing director at Hartford Financial Services, said of financial companies. "Two years later, people will look back and say 'My gosh, nothing really changed.'"

Democrats in charge... Republicans in charge... "My gosh, no difference."

June 23, 2010

Good News for Tea Baggers & Anarchists

Who me not posting enough?! True.

Saw the headlines today: "Atlantic Divide: Europe and US Disagree on Continued Simulus Spending."

What's in it for Tea Baggers and anarchists? Tea Baggers want Obama to stop deficit/stimulus spending, and anarchists want to smash the system. Well, Europe is poised to stop stimulus spending and that very well could accelerate the crumbling of the system.

The UK Independent reports:

[German] Chancellor Angela Merkel flatly rejected warnings from President Barack Obama that Europe's attempts to save its way out of the debt crisis could put fragile global economic growth in danger.

Not to get into nerdy economics, but the track record from the US Great Depression and the Japanese malaise of the 1990s indicates that deficit spending to prop up a flagging economy has merit. However, the debate on both sides is a bit moot. Stimulus spending might work, but it would probably just prolong the inevitable.

My judgment is that the US has crossed the Rubicon; the US is now a great power in decline. It has been going that way for decades... Detroit, MI and surrounding area is a stark case-in-point, but books are filled with all sorts of statistics on the decline in manufacturing, jobs, income, etc..

Now, with Europe cutting the spigot of stimulus spending, and putting the screws to the needy in the face of the rich getting richer, the Tea Baggers can say "What's good enough for Europe is good enough for the US," and the anarchists can sit back and smile as the establishment system teeters.

Sources:

The Independent of UK, "Merkel rejects Obama warnings that cuts will damage global recovery," June 23, 2010.

June 16, 2010

Fixing Wobble in Dahon Folding Handlebar

Problem: The hinge where the handlebars fold down from the frame has a slight wobble as if the locking mechanism has a little play. The locking mechanism includes a pad on the handlebar-side of the hinge, which has several allen key screws.

Short-term Fix: Building off the shim concept of break_2_fix, consider the following (it's working for me):

Material: Get some heavy foil, just a little 3 x 3 square is fine... heavier the better, within reason.

General Concept: Create a foil shim to mold over the locking mechanism to make it have a tighter lock. Warning: This is a bit crude, so use some good judgment in adopting this solution.

Tools: scissors.

Setting: Observe the part of the hinge attached to the handlebars. In the center is a silver metal pad that has the allen wrench screws on top and on one edge. This is the pad that moves to lock the handle bar. The part of the pad that is arch-shaped has a lip on it. That lip slips into a grove on the part of the hinge attached to the bike frame when locking.

Process: Cut a 3" x 3" square of foil. Lightly press the foil over the "pad" referenced above to create an impression of the nearly square-shaped pad (square-shaped except for the arch along one edge).

Use the scissors to trim the foil to within about 1/8-1/4-inch of the outline of the pad that is now molded into the foil.

Carefully mold the remaining foil over the pad. Fold it down firmly on all edges taking particular care to fold under the part on the arched lip of the pad.

Extra: You can use a blade of the scissors to carefully cut little half-moon slits in the two holes on top of the pad where the allen wrench screws are; carefully fold the edges of foil, at the slits, down into the holes to improve the foil's grip to the pad (I considered glue, but.. doesn't seem necessary).

Trial: Carefully lock the handlebars into place. If it seems too tight, don't force it. If too loose, you could try two layers of foil or other refinements.

My outcome seems to be just right. Locking it into place seemed, if anything, to make the foil better molded to the locking pad mechanism.

Good Luck

June 15, 2010

Revoke BP's Corporate Charter

Surely you've heard about British Petroleum's track record from the British colonial days through a litany of felony crimes. Being a "corporation" a privilege, not a right.

By now you also know about corporations being defined as "persons" by a corrupt robber baron era US Supreme Court. So, if a person is a serial felon, including negligent homicide, they "go away," usually to prison. They can no long do business, or anything else in society for that matter.

It's time to seriously consider taking the corporate privilege away from BP. And, in these days of internet activism, there is a Facebook campaign to revoke BP America's corporate charter.

Details here: http://bit.ly/9djBTb

Join the "Revoke BP's corporate charter" (facebook) group .

Sources:

The Punk Patriot.

June 14, 2010

Iraq War: March 2003?

June 2002:

Iraq bombing begins. US military will fly 21,736 sorties and attack 349 targets between June 2002 and the start of the war.

Sources:

Mother Jones, Chronicle of a War Foretold, Tim Dickinson and Jonathan Stein, Sept/Oct 2006.

June 13, 2010

Sad State of Corporate Media

Progressives know the corporate media generally sucks. But it's sad in another way too.

From a Kentucky political strategist:

"The newspapers are gutted – and everybody who is left is doing three other jobs. As a result, it feels like there is little accountability for candidates about what they say. It's cover at 2:30 and file at 4:30 without thought or research."

Walter Shapiro continues:

As a veteran of eight presidential campaigns, I know there is a virtue to being there in person rather than virtually. Reading the polls and watching TV ads may equip you to loudly opine on cable news shows, but it is no match for interviewing the candidate, listening to the stump speech, gauging the mood of the crowds, and quizzing voters in diners and BBQ joints. Traveling with candidates (particularly in states like South Carolina and Kentucky where personal campaigning matters) gives you a sense of nuance about who they are as people and politicians.

Woody Allen got it right: "Showing up is 80 percent of life."

Sources:

Walter Shapiro, Nikki Haley and Rand Paul Races: Where Have All the Reporters Gone? June 11, 2010

August 19, 2010

August 13, 2010

August 9, 2010

August 3, 2010

July 25, 2010

July 22, 2010

July 19, 2010

July 18, 2010

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July 7, 2010

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June 27, 2010

June 25, 2010

June 23, 2010

June 16, 2010

June 15, 2010

June 14, 2010

June 13, 2010

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