Freedom, i-dom, me-dom, where’s your we-dom?
Your ego, your freedom, your privilege. Is any of it earned, or even real? But the plight of our brothers and our sisters is real. Let’s focus on that.
All posts tagged: usa
Outdated politics in a time of global crisis
Complex societies require complex politics, which again require a highly educated public. We have neither. We have simpleton politicians, half of which claim to hate government, and a corporate media news circus that breaks everything down to the lowest common denominator.
A conversation with Edward Snowden in Hawaii (February 14, 2015)
On an unusual gloomy Saturday morning in Honolulu I was lucky to attend a (video) conference with Edward Snowden who called in from Moscow. The event was hosted by ACLU Hawaii and all 800 seats sold out in advance. The demographic was mainly older (60+) but with a handful of younger curious onlookers, activists and journalists. The moderator Aviam Soifer joked that he knew that some homeland security and other intelligence agents were in attendance but that they had to pay their $5 cover like everyone else and sit idly by while their most wanted man spoke to us in (virtual) person. It’s the kind of humor that flies really well in Hawaii – equality, absurdity and aloha. It’s a fine mix. The event opened by showing the academy award nominated documentary CitizenFour so that everyone who hasn’t followed the Snowden story obsessively could be on the same page. It’s a really great documentary – emotional and human with the urgency of an international spy thriller. Snowden especially comes across as composed, a man on …
True currency is time and love
You know that old bullshit saying ‘time is money’? Uh, no. This is a rather short addition to the 10 Steps, but it might be one of the most important. Realize that the only true currency is time and love. Money is an illusion but it can get you in some deep trouble so live within your means. You have build thick skin in order to resist advertising and focus mostly on needs, and only the occasional wants. Human beings are the only species that have to pay in order to live on this planet. The powers to be figured this out long before the rest of us and found the perfect system of control – money. If we don’t play by their rules we go to prison, which robs of us the only two things of true value in this life – time and being close to those we love. Imagining a world without money is actually a really hard mental exercise, but very rewarding. You immediately run into the most obvious downsides – …
Terrorize this
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the irony of all the world’s leading governments “taking a stand against terrorism” by launching the most massive surveillance apparatus the world has ever seen. And the perpetual warfare in countries with vastly different cultures than the West and victory is only declared when the countries more or less resemble the Western ideal of the corporate state. And if that’s not bad enough, how about those flying killing machines called drones that they like to launch over countries not even declared war upon, making sure that for every civilian killed, 20 more revenge-bent “terrorists” pop up. And let’s not forget about the West’s own citizens, in their desire to protect us against dark boogeymen, every ounce of privacy awarded us through the ages are wiped out in less than a decade “for our own protection”. Hey, sociopaths in charge, guess what? Living has always come with certain risks. One of them is death from unexpected events. Like falling in the shower. Or getting shot by your gun-crazy …
Everyone we know is brokenhearted
I think Joshua Ellis just made my blog obsolete with this amazing, somber, absolutely human post. Please, please read it. I also think, whenever I get down in the future, I will just go back and read this and spare everyone my take on contemporary sadness. Not that everyone’s pain isn’t valid, it is just so… the same. Without further ado, go read: Everyone I know is brokenhearted.
Get some real news on YouTube
Here’s a little secret. I, devout film and TV show follower, haven’t owned or really watched TV since 2004. As much as I love movies and stories, I really really can’t stand what TV has become. Reality shows are stupid, the news are Orwellian brainwashing tools (“War will bring peace, etc, etc”) and commercials are the biggest waste of human potential. They’re not even trying to sell us stuff anymore; they just assume we are already so stupid that we will jump up and buy whatever junk they put in front of us because they make it shiny and it’s on TV. Not that anyone has money to buy anything outside necessities these days anyway, so I guess now commercials are mainly there for tradition’s sake. Luckily, none of this matters because YouTube has made it possible to evolve beyond TV. First off, if you haven’t done so already, install AdBlock. It will allow you watch YouTube uninterrupted and also block most ads and popups all over the internet. Sites will load faster, look cleaner …
The embarrassing path to good coffee (goodbye Starbucks)
After spending Monday sighing over that the internet won’t shut up about Breaking Bad because it’s not really that good, I decided to catch up on Season 5 (I’d seen up to season 4 a year ago), probably because I hate feeling left out when it comes to Hollywood. That was three days ago. 14 episodes later I have re-emerged and I have pounded my fists on the bed and yelled at my computer on three separate occasions. I have also barely spoken to anyone nor seen sunlight. I’m a little confused as to what my life is right now. But I love coffee so let’s talk about coffee! My journey to appreciate coffee started, embarrassingly, with Starbucks. Now I call it candy-coffee because let’s face it, most of the concoctions they sell are 3 parts syrup, 1 part coffee and 6 parts milk but at the time I was convinced that a white chocolate mocha (WCM) was this mysterious adult beverage called coffee. And it was delicious! It probably still is but at least …
Making the World Safe for Banksters: Syria in the Cross-hairs
Originally posted on WEB OF DEBT BLOG:
“The powers of financial capitalism had another far reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole.” —Prof. Caroll Quigley, Georgetown University, Tragedy and Hope (1966) Iraq and Libya have been taken out, and Iran has been heavily boycotted. Syria is now in the cross-hairs. Why? Here is one overlooked scenario. In an August 2013 article titled “Larry Summers and the Secret ‘End-game’ Memo,” Greg Palast posted evidence of a secret late-1990s plan devised by Wall Street and U.S. Treasury officials to open banking to the lucrative derivatives business. To pull this off required the relaxation of banking regulations not just in the US but globally. The vehicle to be used was the Financial Services Agreement of the World Trade Organization. The “end-game” would require not just coercing support among WTO members but taking down those countries refusing to join. Some key countries remained holdouts from the…
Noun: Sanity (good sense, soundness of judgment or reason)
I was too young to really understand all the variables leading up to the Iraq invasion in 2003, but in 2013 I don’t have that excuse. I believe that Syria is our generation’s Vietnam war, and now is the time to decide what side of history you want to stand on. Only this time, the repercussions are truly global. On one hand you have “western” proxy governments ruled by a handful of multinational corporations that profit from war, environmental catastrophes and keeping the global workforce in poverty. Add to that a bloated military that costs over $600 billion a year and suddenly the need for perpetual war doesn’t seem so far-fetched. And the most incredulous part? This is still considered by most to be the “right” side. Because it is the side backed by media and the people in power. I could write a whole dissertation on why humans apparently crave hierarchies and why we see to have an almost worship-like mentality towards those who mange to climb to the top. Most herd or pack …
honeythatsok 