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Black metal has a real Nazi problem
But it has little to do with one infamous figure.
Kim Kelly Apr—12—2019 02:28PM EST
It's never a particularly good time to be a black metal fan, but whenever our beloved, bastardized genre is dragged into the public eye, the results range from cringeworthy to outright dangerous. Heavy metal in general has had an image problem since at least the 1980s, when the Satanic Panic had moral authorities across the nation clutching their pearls for dear life, and Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center went on a crusade against the unholy influence of now-iconic names like Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, Venom, and Black Sabbath.
Nearly three decades later, metalheads are still struggling to shake the general public's negative assumptions about them, and much of the music itself remains fairly inaccessible to the average listener by dint of its abrasive, distorted character. The mainstream media is very bad at covering heavy metal, and particularly black metal, which is arguably the most theatrical and controversial of metal's many, many subgenres, making it ripe for terrible takes.
Whenever you see the words "black metal music" in a non-music outlet, there is always an overeager emphasis on one or more of the same three things: Satan, corpsepaint, and/or church burnings. The latter has been the go-to choice since the spate of murders and arson that characterized the Norwegian black metal scene in the early 1990s. It's a useful crutch for a writers who probably have next to no interest in weird screechy music, giving them the option to ignore anything that happened after 1995 instead of actually delving into the extraordinarily complex musical, social, cultural, and political history of this continually evolving genre.
This is all mildly aggravating, but recently the media allergy to actually giving a flying fuck about black metal as an art form with a legitimate cultural legacy has landed us in a position in which a 21-year-old man named Holden Matthews, the son of a Louisiana sheriff's deputy, has been charged with setting three historically black churches alight — yet the media focus from outlets like CNN, the Today show, and Rolling Stone (which should really know better) has been on his music taste instead. As these articles will tell you, in 1992, in the midst of Norwegian black metal's rise to prominence, Varg Vikernes, the frontman of Burzum, one of the genre's most influential bands, set a stave church ablaze in Bergen, triggering a string of copycat arsons across the country and ensuring that the genre's history would be rooted in blood and ash (he later went to prison for arson and murder after stabbing his former bandmate 37 times in the back).
As a result, church burnings have become part of black metal's mythology, and there's certainly a chance that Matthews's interest therein is what sparked his terrible idea. Bringing up these blazes in the Northern sky is colorful, but tired; it's the Piss Christ of lazy writing about metal — a metonym for those who know precisely one thing. Is it perhaps more likely that the kind of person who would perpetuate a hate crime of this magnitude was already harboring something uglier in his heart? Where, for example, might a cop's kid have learned lessons about using violence to terrorize people you don't respect or see as human? I wonder.
There are several layers to all of this, and a lot of questions that beg answers. Does metal — specifically black metal — have a Nazi problem? Yes. Is it complicated? Also yes. While there are genuine neo-Nazis lurking within the scene, most bands that fall under the "National Socialist Black Metal" (NSBM) tag aren't dreaming of Hitler specifically; the semi-subgenre is a haven for of white supremacist, white nationalist, fascist, racist, anti-Semitic, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, and otherwise bigoted viewpoints, but calling them all "Nazis" is an oversimplification. Naming their specific strains of hatred makes it easier to push back against the fascist creep.
White supremacists have long seen extreme music scenes — from hardcore to industrial to neofolk to, yes, black metal — as fertile recruiting grounds.
The fact that Matthews has liked Varg Vikernes memes, has a (almost certainly shitty) band called Vodka Vultures, and is interested in various pagan and "heathen" religions isn't necessarily a sign that he's a budding neo-Nazi. It's an indication that he's a typical nerdy black metal fan, albeit one who was probably germinating some extremely bad opinions. Burzum is an undeniably prominent band and Vikernes is one of the genre's most infamous figures; literally any metalhead with a passing familiarity with black metal knows who they are, and why it's best not to wear a Burzum shirt around metal folks who don't suffer racist fools. Most of us grew up on Burzum, myself included; rejecting the band and its tainted legacy often came later.
The frightening part of all this is how utterly unremarkable Matthews is within the context of this subculture — there are thousands of young men like him who like and do the same things, yet, crucially, they have managed not to commit hate crimes. The sad fact of the matter is that without a sustained metal community effort to guide them away from far-right rhetoric, that may soon cease to be the case.
Are Vikernes and the crimes he and his idiot racist teenage friends committed in the early 1990s in Norway the driving force behind what Matthews did in 2019? They may have provided a kernel of inspiration, but focusing on them misses the point. Far less ink has been spilled over the implications of his father's profession, the racial dynamics of his parish, his affinity for swastikas, or other aspects of his internet use. Matthews was spurred to commit these awful actions by something, but zeroing in on black metal as the culprit is short-sighted and careless. If reporters are truly interested in making concrete links between black metal and right-wing extremism, they could tap into the current culture war raging within the scene, or analyze the ways that white supremacists are using the internet to push "apolitical" metalheads towards fascism and further radicalize those who are already on the brink.
White supremacists have long seen extreme music scenes — from hardcore to industrial to neofolk to, yes, black metal — as fertile recruiting grounds. When wielded in the wrong hands, black metal's nihilistic bent, fierce individualist streak, violent history, deep-rooted tolerance for intolerance, appreciation for aesthetic shock value and overall offensiveness, and baked-in affinity for paganism offers a particularly slippery slope down towards full-blown Nazi bullshit. This is how we've ended up with so many NSBM bands and, while their musical output is uniformly terrible, it's important to remember that spreading their ideology is their overall goal; it's white-power propaganda dressed up in leather and spikes. Given the extremely online character of the modern metal community, there is also some overlap with the world of gaming and other internet-based communities like Reddit and 4chan, which welcome "offensive" behavior and are already hotbeds of white-supremacist organizing. That's how we got Jeremy Christian, the self-described white nationalist and black metal fan from Portland who murdered two people in 2017 after attacking two young women of color, one of whom was wearing a hijab.
There is a growing faction of antifascist and vocally leftist metalheads in the black metal scene, but a much larger percentage of fans prefer to cling to the veneer of apoliliticality, or to push back at efforts to address issues of inclusivity and bigotry. There's been an upswell in reactionary rhetoric as of late insisting that Nazis "aren't that big of a problem" in the black metal scene; I'm of the opinion that even one is too many, and ignoring this problem in an age of heightened political tension and right-wing terrorism is a dangerous, cowardly move. Despite the protestations of those who would prefer to ignore them, there is still that noxious underbelly of white supremacists, racists, and literal neo-Nazis running roughshod over a genre of music that they do not deserve and should not be allowed to pollute. They have been met with less resistance than necessary, which is something that some in the current generation of metalheads are seeking to rectify.
This is why hand-wringing over Vikernes when members of Atomwaffen Division — a neo-Nazi group responsible for at least five murders — are showing up to sieg heil at a Horna show in Texas is not only irresponsible, it's dangerous. Vikernes, yes, is a colossal piece of shit who has done more to foist a neo-Nazi agenda on the genre than anyone else, and he deserves every ounce of blame and vitriol for what he's done; however, he's the tip of the iceberg, and we're barreling full steam towards the bottom. If you want to care about "Nazi black metal," care about it by doing the research, naming active threats, working to connect the dots between seemingly innocent bands and their NSBM counterparts. Care about it by talking to antifascists and metalheads who are working to counteract and eradicate its poison.
Falling back on tired, damaging "metal fans are crazy/weird/evil" tropes is one thing, but creating a corpsepainted smokescreen for the real problems at hand is another. The media's tendency to glom onto easy, well-trodden narratives obscures the real issues at work — the intersection of racism, white nationalism, and police brutality that surely has far more to do with this jagoff's actions than his affinity for one of black metal's worst (and most extremely online) figures.
Fight the future.
Kim Kelly is a writer, editor, and radical political organizer in New York City.


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Reimagine Campaign
The House Rosenwasser Built: Neuroscience at Jefferson
Reimagine Campaign Stories
Neurosurgery at Jefferson has come a long way since 1887, when Dr. W.W. Keen removed the first brain tumor in America.
While advances in medical knowledge, research, and technology have propelled the healthcare field as a whole, the rapid growth of the neuroscience department at Jefferson can be largely attributed to one man: Robert Rosenwasser, MD.
Dr. Rosenwasser came to Jefferson from New York University in the fall of 1994, when he was presented with the unique opportunity to help establish a neurological hospital.
Prior to Rosenwasser's arrival, neurology at Jefferson was largely focused on spinal cord injuries and spinal surgery. He assembled an elite team with the intention of shifting to a paradigm of subspecialization in neurosurgery. This idea of bringing together specialists from a variety of backgrounds was ambitious and unprecedented in the neurological field. This wouldn't be the only first that the Neurology Department would go through under Rosenwasser's leadership.
"There were several gamechangers when we came to this region," Rosenwasser recalls. "We really had first-mover advantage in technology and skillset."
Rosenwasser himself was the first neurosurgeon in the country to be dual-trained in open and endovascular surgery. Jefferson was also the first neurology department to conduct stereotactic radiosurgery for brain tumors and vascular malformations.
Despite initial apprehensions, the shift to subspecialization ultimately worked and launched Jefferson to the forefront of neuroscience on a global scale, but Rosenwasser felt there were still more improvements to be made.
While working as a researcher, Rosenwasser found that he would often need to reach out to other labs within the Department and get permission to use their facilities. In one such instance, Rosenwasser needed access to the Farber Institute, which strictly focused on degenerative neurological diseases. In an attempt to utilize available resources, he met with Vickie and Jack Farber to discuss using their labs—despite being in a different research area—which the Farbers graciously allowed.
The results of this seemingly mundane conversation sparked an idea that would revolutionize neuroscience at Jefferson.
Rosenwasser proposed that all neuroscience enterprisewide be housed under a single umbrella institution, a proposal unanimously accepted by the Farbers, the individual departments, and Jefferson leadership.
"It was clear that we could establish something special where two plus two equaled 10," Rosenwasser says. "It wasn't just additive; it was synergistic."
The founding of the Vickie and Jack Farber Institute of Neuroscience launched another series of firsts at Jefferson, as several fellowship programs were created in the fields of neurocritical care, neurovascular neurology, brain tumor surgery, and functional and epileptic neurology.
As the Department of Neuroscience has emerged as a leader in clinical practice and research, so too has it grown as an education institution. "They really do go hand in glove," Rosenwasser says about the relationship between education, research, and training.
As a prolific institution with a high publication rate, Jefferson attracts the best and brightest students in the field and is training the next generation of doctors and researchers.
The future of Neuroscience at Jefferson is bright. As an industry leader in clinical practice, research, and education, Jefferson is redefining the future of the field. As technology continues to advance, infrastructure grows, and National Institutes of Health funding dwindles in D.C., the Department of Neuroscience needs the support of patients, families, and advocates to ensure that Jefferson stays at the forefront of healthcare.
"We should be defining what is relevant in neuroscience," Rosenwasser says. "And to do that, it takes enormous investments."
Support the Vickie & Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Harris Co. Commissioners court rejects DA Kim Ogg's request for more prosecutors- What's Your Point?
HOUSTON (FOX 26) - This week's panel: Wayne Dolcefino, media consultant; Bob Price, Associate Editor of Breitbart Texas; Antonio Diaz, writer, educator and radio host; Michelle Leal, co-chair Latino PAC; Laura Moser, former Democratic congressional candidate; Charles Blain, Director of Urban Reform; join Greg Groogan talking about the Harris Co. Commissioners rejecting District Attorney Kim Ogg's second request for more prosecutors.
HOUSTON (FOX 26) June 26, 2019 Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg met again Wednesday with Commissioners Ellis and Garcia a day after they voted down her request to fund additional staff to review thousands of cases tied to the officers involved in the botched Harding Street raid.
Commissioners Garcia and Ellis, along with Judge Lina Hidalgo, took the majority in the vote to shoot down the district attorney's request. They say part of why they did that is timing—a major funding request that was sprung on them last minute.
"We had had no conversations about this," said Garcia.
"Late Friday night, I found out about it maybe about 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock," said Ellis. "Looked at it late Friday night. Over the weekend couldn't get much informations."
They voted down the request to fund 10 extra D.A. staff members to supplement what is currently four staff members reviewing 1,400 potentially compromised cases that were previously prosecuted.
"There may very well be people sitting in jail and/or prison that may very well be innocent," said Garcia. "So she's got some immediate pressure."
Commissioner Garcia says, after the meeting with D.A. Kim Ogg Wednesday, he is open to taking another look at her funding request—with more time to review it this time.
"After the meeting today I think we're at a good place," said Garcia. "We're having some good discussions about how to move forward on this item as well as the justice system as a whole."
Whereas Commissioner Ellis says, more than adding extra staff at the D.A.'s office, an independent entity needs to be added to the review process.
"Waking up and saying, 'Oh, we see a problem. We're gonna look at ourselves,'" said Ellis. "You gotta at least look at it with someone."
They also talked with Ogg about how to avoid similar potentially corrupt cases in the future.
"How was it so easy to go and get a search warrant?" asked Ellis.
"There should be a policy from the district attorney's office that coordinates those instruments that got us here," said Garcia. "If the district attorney's office had been a part of the cog of that search warrant process, maybe we wouldn't have had the tragedy that we had."
District Attorney Kim Ogg declined Fox 26's request for an interview today.
Masterchef Junior renewed for season 8


New DHO Logos - Need Input!
At this point I am still working the designs - but here are my favorite so far. Give feedback and I will make adjustments based on the feedback.
I like the current white-blue-black version.
Set three gets my vote.
Set two if you change the type "comradery, mentorship, gaming" to the same as the title then I think I'd go for that.
Yeah, I'd like to see Set 2 with a sans-serif font.
I like the modern, in part because the red outline makes the DHO pop a bit more than the blue/orange.
I like them all. Remember when it comes to imprinting, basic colors can cheaper than "custom" colors.


Joint Standing Committee - The Joint Standing Committees and Joint Select Committees of the 129th Maine Legislature with links to information about the members of each committee.
Joint Select Committee on Joint Rules - The Joint Select Committee on Joint Rules of the 129th Maine Legislature with links to information about the members of the committee.
Standing Committees of the Senate - The Standing Committees of the Senate of the 129th Legislature.
Standing Committees of the House - The Standing Committees of the House of the 129th Legislature.


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Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the foggy, misty, rather raw and cold island of Nantucket! Looking more like a early spring day here at the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), than an early summer one, chilly temperatures, and some left over moisture in the form of our friend 'fog' that tends to 'happen' over on the grand 'ole 'isle of Nantucket! Where you can either "walk the plank" or have a great time! Really just depends on your timing…
So how about 'them courageous men and women' in that horrible puppet–force-ably televised 24/7–show in Washington D.C., once called the U.S. Congress? Once a noble meeting place, steeped in the art of the great debate, armed with actual intellectual acumen. One that, 'at the end of the day', witnessed 'sworn enemies' come together for a drink at the local watering hole, leaving the bickering behind them, because after all, they did work for 'them American people' now don't they? Do they?
"This isn't Russia Danny…is this Russia?" (credit the great SNL original, Mr. Chevy Chase, playing "Ty", an aloof and out of touch plutocrat; scene taken from the classic film "Caddyshack", circa 1980).
Thanks to the SCOTUS 2010 "Citizens United v. the F.E.C"–where we all found out that Walmart, ExxonMobil and Koch Industries have a pulse and can crack a joke–the crew of that once proud and important/relevant U.S. Institution are only in attendance these days to cast a vote dictated by the puppeteers, the men pulling the strings behind the curtain.
The men who bought their soul.
It is the saddest spectacle a history major could be forced to accept. The 30 million or so strong "Christian" voting block will most likely vote GOP, voting against most if not all of their own collective best interests, drawing a white hot line in the sand between madness and reason. Factor in 'them gerrymandered districts, voter suppression in 30 states (to some degree or another), and of course the grand daddy of 'em all, "Citizens United"! As this dagger to democracy will allow the ushering in of an estimated 1 billion dollars spent by one or two men. Transforming and elevating the word "FOG" to a whole new level.
That is the news folks, on this Monday–High Noon–the 29th day of June, 2015, coming to you LIVE from the salty, fresh and happy shores of a little sand bar created 11,500 years by the Last Great Ice Age. So come on down and visit US, we will, as always, leave that ever glowing LIGHT on for ya!
Second Hand News
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the cool, windy, rain driven island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this soggy Sunday morning–the 28th day of June, 2015–coming to you LIVE here at the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), experiencing some delays at the Steamship Authority as mighty winds and high seas are keeping some people on Nantucket a little longer than expected–AHOY! That's OK, I am sure Island Pharmacy has plenty of board games to keep the kids occupied and while your at it, you can pick up that prescription prescribed by your doctor because the TV machine told you to "ask him about it"…
Ah, America, the land of plenty, a nation flowing with milk and honey. At least it is for those with the wherewithal to steer the sheep to their own extinction. To harsh? Get rid of that propaganda brainwashing machine, throw your cell phone into Nantucket Sound (or any convenient body of water you may be able to locate, if you were in Denver (2 feet of water downtown!), a few nights ago, with the flooding and all, that would have been a good time to do just that, yes, throw away 'the things of man' and reintroduce oneself to the great outdoors before in vanishes into thin air…), and wake up to reality in this illusion called life on planet earth in these toddler years of this 21st Century.
The reality of what we feed our bodies, minds and souls every day is a subject rarely spoke about at any great length or urgency in this country. Take the growing consumption of GMO based processed food stuffs in the U.S. trending right along with the growing obesity/diabetes epidemic sweeping the world. Coincidence? No one really knows what is in a GMO, oh wait, this just in, it seems a chemical of some kind, "Roundup", is at the heart of the say Monsanto corn or soy seed, a company that has effectively "patented life", therefore, logic would dictate that we are 'feeding the world' poison.
A prominent, extended, well thought out, professional French study (that was dismissed by big GMO corporate law firms, thus the general public at large), found the same lab rats used by Monsanto (for three months, not nearly enough time to find the truth as to the cause and effect of injecting this manipulated DNA strand into seeds that we, as human beings, ultimately put into our bodies. Especially seeds laced with poisonous weed and insect repellant!), rats eating this GMO based corn, got very sick indeed, with many ills born upon them; tumors in females and male rats having liver and kidney problems, both races gaining unusual amounts of weight…
To "prove" it's "worthiness" of receiving a G.R.A.S. ('generally regarded as safe'), stamp of approval from the FDA, or "Food" and Drug Administration–a designation not given out lightly, that is, unless you are a giant multinational corporation that has a spare couple hundred million bucks laying around to throw at one of the revolving door 'watchdogs' for this nation's well being–Monsanto did not have to do much. As the noble vocation of farming in the U.S. has become a form of slavery, for most small farmers in this nation can no longer keep the seeds from their own crops after harvest, as much of that land was pollinated by Monsanto's patented GMO "Roundup Ready" corn/soy seeds, hence forcing said 'family farmer' (quickly becoming a thing of the past), into buying the Monsanto seed or face a law suit that would effectively sink his farm.
In Norway, GMO's are banned and throughout Europe products must be labeled "GMO" if they contain any of the man made manipulated DNA. Not in the good 'ole US of A by gosh by golly! None of that big government for me! Of course the GOP candidates (all 1500 of 'em!) for president speak with forked tongue. On the one hand, he or she just loves them billion dollar subsidies for the corporations like Monsanto, creating this wonderful 'food' like source for all the world, but he just hates feedin' all them poor black kids in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Detroit, St. Louis, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, Portland, Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, well, you get the picture.
Which is a bigger number: 400 or 155 million?
One number represents the richest and the other the poorest in so far as their share of our nations income as it were. Both are equal in total accumulated wealth. In other words, four hundred people have as much money as 155 million, and that is being conservative. Hence, the concept of a GRAND CANYON and the gap between the haves and the have nots…
Meanwhile, down at the ranch, the good folks running the mind control over at the corporate owned media (propaganda) outlets just keeping that tired old, second hand "news" rolling on down that river you have found yourself stuck on without a paddle (or a compass!)…
Have a peaceful Sunday folks!
To your health! 2.0
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the off and on again rainy, cool, raw island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this twenty-sixth day of June, 2015, a very damp & chilly one out on the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), as the little sand bar created 11,500 years ago by the Last Great Ice Age 'steadies' itself for yet another busy week end filled with visitors from all around the world. People from China, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, New Jersey, we got 'em all! So why not plan a vacation to this once in a life time place? A destination where 'the old world shadows hang heavy in the air'; a spot that haunts back to the days of 'yore when our pal Paul Revere was "a ridin' all over town, shootin' his guns off like a wild man, lightin' those 'ole oil lamps up and warnin' US all the British are comin', the British are comin' the British are a comin' by gosh by golly! Your darn tootin'! Or was it the other way around? Either way, 'dat Paul Revere was a real American, not like that bum we have in the White House. You know that "commie" President Barack Obama, who will be a one term president with your help America!" (credit the comic stylings of half Governor of the great state of Alaska and former candidate to become the Vice President of the United States of America, Ms. Sarah, "ooh, don't give me that guff', Palin. A very "busy" woman as of late, for she will be performing on a national stage once again with all the other clowns in this unfortunate political 2016 presidential election process currently underway…a real life circus coming to your town soon!).
As we all know by now President Barack Obama did get elected to that second term, thank God, and yesterday was handed the second confirmation that his signature health care initiative, the "Affordable Care Act", signed into LAW in 2010, will survive at least until the end of said term. Indeed Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court of the United States–"SCOTUS"–proved he was not all bad when he held up a new challenge to the law, a weak challenge to a typo really, claiming the law did not explicitly state that those citizens not living in a state not having a "independent state insurance exchange" were not eligible for the Federal subsidies implicitly implied when the law was first written in 2009. Millions of people would have been thrown off the program and thus, the high court decided in a 6-3 decision to uphold the integrity of the law as written, allowing for those insured people to continue to receive the federal assistance by way of federal subsidies regardless of the state they reside in, even if that state does not have a 'state insurance exchange' set up.
This was a huge win for this fine president, who has brought forth to fruition the vision Senator Teddy Kennedy, as pictured above. Affordable health care for every day Americans was the will of the Last Lion of the Senate, stating many times on the Senate floor that, "…health care is a right, not a privilege," (as many in the GOP would have you believe).
But perhaps the real reason the health care law was upheld by this nation's highest court of law revolved around the insurance industry, as cynical as that may sound. Insurance giants, powerful corporate force in this nation, have, over the course of these first few years of this much needed law (with much improvement to come, fingers crossed!), come around to the notion that this Affordable Health Care law may actually be good for business in the long run, for it has opened up markets that here to for were unavailable due to undesirable risk pools, complications with state taxes, the interaction with the individual state insurance laws, etcetera.
Regardless of the reasoning behind Chief Justice Roberts decision on this one (as opposed to the wrong call in the "Citizens United v. Federal Exchange Commission case that same year of the ACA in 2010; "wrong, the opposite of right!"), the president should consider celebrating when he comes to Martha's Vineyard this summer. His work has saved countless lives and brought this country at least close to on par with every other advanced and progressive economy on the face of the planet. After all, is this not the very definition of 'what you do to the least of us'? Making someone's life breathe a little easier? I imagine–although it would never be"reported" on FOX "news"–a few in this 'not your grand father's GOP' are breathing that sigh of relief right about now. Knowing that some in their respective districts are getting their wish fulfilled. A modest wish that includes health care for not only themselves, but for their children. Defenseless kids who, in this day and age of GMO filled crap (80% of food at your local market has some nugget of 'the GMO' in it; causing health problems world wide), are fatter and sicker than ever. We need to take care of OUR people; not some billionaire and their bloody unholy profits!
Have a great week end folks and may this country be blessed by a higher power than Comcast!
Water Worth, the third…
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the wonderful, beautiful, breezy, cool, golden sun laden island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this amazing Cape day, plenty of sun, pure blue sky, with 'ner a cloud in the atmosphere, in many more ways that one. Today is the twenty-fourth day of June, 2015, a Wednesday to be sure, although after getting back from Barrier Beach, I could care less…
That is the attitude of many in this great nation regarding our finite water supply, a supply that is almost out in the great state of California. I find it sad that even now, in this great water crisis all over the Western U.S., not to mention countless other locales around the globe, that we allow the big "frackers" to continue their errant ways, with not a single member of the U.S. Congress willing to take a look, let alone a stand, at this sick, twisted, vile and deadly practice of pumping millions of gallons of water down a hole, laced with 596 deadly chemicals that do leak into the water tables–all exempt via the 2005 Dick Cheney special, the infamous "Halliburton Loophole" that allowed big oil and gas companies to drill on public lands while simultaneously being exempt from any environmental regulations. No regulations on fracking, none. This filthy 'fracking' being the new energy boom, 'natural gas' (Methane), taken from the fractured shale formations deep under this nation's soil, such as the Bakken in North Dakota and Montana, with several others creating hundreds of thousands of wells that are systematically polluting the air, water and soil to the degree to which man has never witnessed before…–with the water undrinkable in most wells around the country. Many people getting extremely sick and dying prematurely from the poisonous (to all living things) airborne chemicals they are breathing in 24/7 from giant, ugly wells that are literally right outside the front door.
Many have no choice in the matter, for their lands buttress those lands that "belong to you and me", and thus, have no say in the poisonous pollution emanating from these toxic well sites. The Clean Air Act (1970) and subsequent Clean Water Act (1972), signed into law by then U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, are now officially dinosaurs, a joke to people like David and Charles Koch of Koch Industries, who dabble in that arena from time to time. Indeed, the EPA looks the other way, for most of them work, play together, it is, they say, a very cozy relationship, industry and the EPA these days, truly a revolving door between big multinational corporations (oil, gas, banks, agriculture, big pharmaceuticals, etcetera), and the powerful shadow government. The Corporatocracy now calling the shots on this nation's environmental policies, therefore, one might say we have already lost this democracy with that little letter 'd', or are on the verge of doing so.
But perhaps there is still hope. It takes only a few lights to put out the dark. You are that Light. Wake up to this simple FACT and demand better for yourself, your family and for the future generations to come. They too, rich and poor alike, deserve the three basic rights, principals rather, and those are of course (credit the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson), "…Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". This current path of the turbo charged monetary-market system, this so called "Free Market", with it's weapons of debt, inflation and interest, is just not sustainable in the long run.
For this beautiful, perfect, natural Earth only has so much water (and other resources). Using this precious gift for some random individual's profit, while simultaneously poisoning millions of Americans with these 'top secret' chemicals, all 596 of them that the EPA does not even know about, well, it just does not seem right.
Have a good rest of the week folks!
"Hope it's a wonderful coffee shop Jack" 2.0
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the sunny, warm, always stunning island of Nantucket! Great to be with you once again on this perfect beach day here at the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s). Just returning from a bike ride to Barrier Beach in Hyannis Port, whirring past the Kennedy Compound at high noon this 22nd day of June, 2015, wondering what Jack would have been up to at the ripe old age of 98…
Hope you are all well and happy today on this Monday wherever this message in a bottle may be reaching you. Be it the South, the West, the North or the East, one thing is clear, the American people have been sold down the river. Believe me!
Take the U.S.D.A., one of our many institutions in this very rich nation, well, rich to those at the very top. This fine grouping of people responsible for just about everything under the sun regarding the foods this country consumes, is the instrument and indeed weapon used in keeping this country's children undernourished and in failing health due to the obesity epidemic; a direct result of the highly processed foods that are subsidized by said United States Department of Agriculture, an institution that at one point, after the Great Depression, helped family owned farms. The subsidies provided to the big Ag corporations via this corrupt corporate, I mean government entity is astonishing. Especially considering the whole issue of food scarcity in the U.S., with more and more of our children going to bed hungry. A family of three, if they're lucky (and make slave wages of 24,000 dollars a year or under), receives about 250 dollars a month to feed themselves with. I defy anyone reading this to try a 'food stamp diet' for said month and get back to Sea Cape Cod and let us know how you made out. Come on David K., you know you like a good challenge! The fact that there are more and more and more food deserts in this United States of America–every major city has one–brings us full circle to the fatal problem of bad food=bad results.
Soy, Wheat, Corn, and a few other grains are the crops most sought after by the greedy Monsanto's of the world. For they know, no matter who is in the White House, their bread will be buttered by those 'policy makers' in the form of advantageous policies that keep America hooked on salt, sugar and fat. Type 2 Diabetes now common place in children that until only a few decades ago never got that older person disease. It's like the U.S.D.A. is condoning the poisoning it's own people, while they give billions every year to these monstrous corporate food giants who have spread their garbage to nation after nation after nation; the destruction of diseases like Diabetes rampant in those far off locales as well, bringing that whole concept of economic slavery, I'm sorry, GLOBALIZATION, under closer scrutiny.
Fruits, vegetables, natural grains, seeds and other healthy foods are not available to the masses any longer, as those crops receive less than 1 percent of U.S.D.A.'s billions given out every year in the form of subsidies that make bank for the 'farmers' who do what they are told by their overlord Monsanto or the like. Those monies "invested" in the corn and soy crops, crops that yield a golden bean freeing the big executives to buy another Gulf Stream to fly over to say India; attending to the other slave trades in the frightfully sad and tragic "emerging markets", the (shameful), vast "empire" called the "free-market" system, or "monetary-market" system that is decimating the planet's resources for their own greedy short sighted and short term profits, leaving future generations, billions of real people, our own brothers and sisters of the world, as we are really all one, twisting in the howling winds of our time…
Have a nice 'corporate' week ahead folks!
Beautiful, what is this velvet?
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the rain driven, thunderous, white lighten' hot island of Nantucket! AHOY! And Happy Father's Day to one and all Dads out in the world today, may your day be filled with roses of all forms. The rain is coming down in buckets here at the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), this 21st day of June, 2015–the Summer Solstice–indeed a soggy Sunday high noon moment and although that precipitation may postpone the BBQ or the beach, golf or some kayaking, here in hub of this little sand bar there is an old car show steaming down Main Street, so come on down and pay US a visit! We will, as always, leave that light on for ya! And judging from the energy of last night on said street by the Sea, well, one might say that the spirits are in high gear 'round these here parts…
Very few realize how much a good man means in the grand scheme of things. Someone once said to me that 'anyone can be a father, but to be a "Dad", well, that takes some special magic does it not?' We were all born naked, helpless, vulnerable and 'alone' in this world. 'Tis true that for those men and women lucky enough to have had that good man looking out for us, well, it there anything else to say? So I say, if Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh gets some roses on that special day, so too should our collective fathers over this 'series of tubes' called the Internet. Thankfully, bringing some love back into this world even if it upsets those who are not awake to that Force.
Have a great day Dad!
Economy of thought
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's VIneyard and the gloomy, misty, foggy and rather cool island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this nineteenth day of June, 2015, a Friday to be sure, as one witnesses all of the people from around the world whirl down Pleasant Street on their way to the Steamship Authority, hopping aboard either the "Iyanough" (fast ferry to Nantucket), or one of the traditional car ferries, such as the "Eagle", the "Nantucket", the "Gay Head", or the "Sankaty", indeed, all said vessels will take one to that glorious island that now boasts the 'richest zip code in America'. Truly a great shift from the days of 'yore, when Paul Revere was, "…a 'ridin' through town, shooting his guns off, lighten' up 'dem gas lamps that were already lit, um, ooh yeah, I almost forgot, he was ridin' all crazy like that 'cause see, he was warnin' them American settlers you know, that the British were comin', or was it that he was warnin' them British that the Americans might be comin', either way he was a patriot through and through 'dat Paul Revere and he wouldn't be takin' none of this liberal malarkey no way no sir, he would take to his second amendment rights and solve all our problems the old fashioned way, through blind aggression, greed, and the ever ending lust for power?" (credit the comic stylings/'ancient' politically nonsensical historical theater to the great half Governor of Alaska, VP nominee and killer of innocent wolves from the relative safety of a helicopter, indeed, please give it up for Ms. Sarah, "I can see Russia from my house", Palin. A woman who could have literally been the president of this great land of OURS.
I bring up that oldie but goodie for the same reason the GOP is bringing back the same old song and dance, sad and depressing, tired, 'tried and true' dog and pony show, from 2012. A pathetic grouping of mostly aging white males, real boot lickers, whose rhetoric, insane as it is, sounds strikingly familiar to the 'voice' of the Koch Brother's "Americans for Prosperity" fake grass roots mirage that wishes to purchase the Executive come November of 2016.
Make no mistake about it folks, if GOP operatives (politicians) are successful–rather the shadier than shady shadow government, i.e. Bilderberg Group among many others–in taking out the rest of what is left of American unions, the only political voice for those without a voice (and for the most part it already has), not only is the democracy we all know and love (with that little letter 'd', an idea, devoid of ego, thus, devoid of corruption, really, the whole problem in a nut shell…), in jeopardy, so too is the environment, our health and our future as a species.
The insane need to push for profit over people, to the point where this beautiful home, the only one the human species has and knows–home to ALL living, breathing things–well, will go gently into that great by and by. Lights out. Future generations only able to see Polar Bears in photography books…
And then what will CNBC talk about, the economy?
What economy?
Knock, Knock 2.0
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the golden sun laden, breezy, dare I say awesome island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this glorious Wednesday morning out on the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), the 17th day of June, 2015. One for the books as it is, for if one likes perfection in the weather department, taking a break from all of that liberal "nonsense" about the hoax of global warming (while billionaires prepare their bunkers for the 'end times'…), today is your day to be on this exquisite sand bar created 11,500 years ago by the Last Great Ice Age, referred to as "Yanno" by the peoples who inhabited these shores for millennia, only to be introduced to "the things of man" (credit Tom Hanks in the classic film, circa 1990 "Joe versus the Volcano", also starring the impeccable Meg Ryan), hence the loss of innocence; that sacred connection indigenous peoples spiritually felt towards the land itself. Land they knew they did not own, lo, quite the opposite, they felt as if they belonged to said land, the only home they had. For in that home was everything they needed. Such as what German philosopher Maslow once coined 'Hierarchies of Need'. Right off the bat one needs the basic elements of clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and clean soil to grow food to sustain life itself. Two, humans need shelter, to wit the native American Indians found in the the land itself, bringing them the chance to fulfill the third human need, the need for love and belonging, a sense of community with one another, bringing those third and fourth needs to fruition in the fifth need…more divine in nature, the need to self actualize, transforming one's consciousness, becoming more aware, enlightened if you will. Not in an attempt to "become" somebody, rather becoming more who you already are. That is true harmony that ultimately leads to peace among men.
Not what the military industrial complex and the new world order had in mind I can assure you.
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the still raw, misty, cool and cloudy island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Tuesday morning–the 16th day of June, 2015–another 'good day for ducks' at the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s). Looking above one can make out the early morning golden fish above famous "Baxter's Fish and Chips"–at the end of Pleasant Street on Hyannis Harbor. So come on down and visit US! We will, as always, leave that Light on for "ya"!
Progress; what does that word mean to you?
For the past 200 years or so–on this little blue rock we all call Earth and 'home' for the moment–mankind, in the name of that word, has mindlessly ripped her apart like a bag of GMO filled Lay's Potato chips. Now that Monsanto Corporation (the same company that produced the deadly nerve chemical "agent orange" in another illegal war named "Vietnam"…), has literally patented 'life' with their genetically manufactured ("Round-Up" corn and soy seeds), organisms, it seems that the end is nigh. Especially when one takes a hard look at the world wide obesity epidemic with reason being unknown? Really? How much more progress can man take?
This is just one aspect of the problem of "progress". With over 7 billion people now living on this resource limited celestial body–9 billion in the not to distant future–it is hard to see how the current 'way of doing business' can be sustained. Coupled with the fact we now live in a 'free market', monetary/market system, a dog eat dog driven global corporatocracy', run by wealthy bankers , oil/gas men and other various wicked industrialists, who rape and pillage our earth at will for their benefit only, sending the planet into an economic and environmental tailspin, perhaps spelling the end of this experiment called man. Take for example what these multinationals have been doing to countless third world countries via debt. And when the deal and corporation is all done and the damage done, the poorest of the poor pick up the tab at the "Four Seasons" for said executives, as they leave the country(s) barren and burnt, devoid of it's once rich natural resources, decimated forever via poisonous fracking fluid, spilled oil, leaving no clean water, air or soil in that cursed wake these multinationals left for the 'least of us'... Multinationals' to "progress" with this "economic" insanity until this beautiful world is burnt to the crisp, leaving no "economy" to speak of. You know, say it with me, "…at the end of the day".
A day that may be coming sooner than you 'think'.
Make no mistake about it folks, multinational Oligarchs are running the show now. But that is always subject to change. Akin to ancient Rome around 476 A.D.–an empire much like the one we have today in the United States–the income inequality became too top heavy, not strong enough at the core to carry it's own weight, thus collapsing like the house of cards it has truly become. With all breaks going to that top .001; perhaps a little 'trickling down' to the lowly top 10 percent, ever struggling to 'make it' to the 740 Park Avenue level someday, fingers crossed! Done in so many ways, but mostly via the outrageous deferred compensation packages that allow CEO's to pay only 15 percent in taxes while the person typing their "Heartland Institute" memo is paying double that. And the many, many other monetary policies over the past (almost) four decades. We subsidize the "new farmer"–e.g. slave driver Monsanto–to the tune of billions a year, ironically while the cowardly puppet GOP representatives take food out the mouths of poor American babes. All done under the umbrella of an insane philosophy, Ayn Rand's playbook; laughingly entitled, a "Pathway to Prosperity".
Has Hollywood called for the movie rights yet Congressman Ryan (R–WI)? It would dovetail nicely with the horror movies the industry is putting out these days!
The big picture is this: the earth cannot sustain this "progress" for very much longer. In fact, with the emergence of China on to the world stage in 1978, now the world's largest economy, with roughly 200 million people of 'affluent' consumer status growing to 1 billion soon, the race for the world's last remaining resources is on in full throttle mode, with no end in sight. Is this progress or a suicide mission?
Oh, and the weather… Have you been watching the weather?
"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son" (credit 'Dean Wormer' from the classic 1978 film "Animal House", starring the late, great John Belushi and Karen Allen).
That is precisely what we as a nation (and now world), have become. Consuming too much because we have been brainwashed into thinking that will fulfill us somehow and 'make us' into 'the person we want to be, and 'deserve' to be. This constant barrage of Madison Avenue wizard Ads coupled with policy mandates via sophisticated think tanks like "Americans for Prosperity" are killing the very soul of this country, turning it's unaware victims into Facebook junkies who are only on this planet to serve the stockholder needs of Apple or IBM, Monsanto or Koch Industries.
On a clear day…
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the sunny, warm, muggy island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Friday afternoon–the 12th day of June, 2015–a rather hazy, hot and humid one out on the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s); expecting some real nice weather this week end, so why not come on down and visit US, we will, as always, leave that light on 'for ya'!
Being unplugged from the corporate media circus for the most part these past few months has been a real calming change, creating real Joy. Instead of the being constantly assaulted by the mean, loud and sometimes insane cattle calls, the crazy, insidious dog whistles, the wink wink, nudge nudges from super creepy talk show hosts, you know who you are "Billo the clown!" (credit Keith Olbermann), the constant fear mongering, the never ending war/violence/general chaos, the incessant lies, the bad suits, and, the dare I say, the Dr. Goebbels like propaganda that only grows louder now by the day as the 2016 U.S. Presidential race heats up. Add to that all of the fun pharmaceutical Ads, chalk full of all those zany side effects, and hell fire, you got yourself a party!
The American public has been duped, manipulated and used by the multinationals for decades, but this sad, small minded, brainwashing tale shoved down the collective throats of an otherwise bright, honest, and forth-write group of people will eventually collapse of it's own weight. Someday soon I pray that these good, living, breathing and wonderful "American people" will wake up to the reality of "globalization" and come to understand what it really is: economic slavery for the vast majority of the Earth's population.
If they were only armed with Knowledge.
Beginning in 1978, we have allowed the wealthiest among us to make all the rules in this "free market" economy. We all know that no market is free from rules. It just depends on who benefits from said rules and who is hurt by them. Moreover, who makes them. In the past three and a half decades, those rules in this 'free market' dog eat dog, global in scope, lean, mean, take no prisoners, capitalistic, monetary-market system, have all gone the way of those at the top, who continue to exponentially rake it in, mostly by destroying the environment and playing God with this 'central bank, the Federal Reserve Bank (as 'Federal' as "Federal Express", created in 1913 by the Master's of the Universe–the private banking giants–that still rules today. For to make money, the private "Fed" knows it must keep the masses in perpetual debt; ruling with an unflinching, uncaring iron fist!), that keeps the 'New World Order'' humming along like a fine Swiss time piece.
"…Oh, no, no, no, you don't understand, this is a Tag Heuer! It can withstand five atmospheres! It is waterproof up to 300 meters and can tell time simultaneously in Berlin, London, New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, and Sthtad!" (credit Dan Aykroyd in the classic 1983 cinematic gem, "Trading Places"; the story of a young man who was thrown from his lavish position at "Duke & Duke"–an 'investment bank–as well as his luxury townhouse; not to mention the bank manager closing his account and forcing him to 'surrender' his precious credit cards. Oh yeah, his beautiful girlfriend dumped him on the court house steps… "Winthorp" pleading with the man behind the pawn shop counter to believe him when he says that his watch was 'not hot').
"I paid over $15,000 only two months ago for this watch in Prague…"
"In Philadelphia, it's worth fifty bucks."
Enjoy the week end!
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the sunny, warm breezy island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Thursday morning–the 11th day of June, 2015–a real summer day out there on the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), so get out there and enjoy it!
There has been a lot of talk about this Grand Canyon gap between the haves and the have nots in this great country of ours over the course of the past five years or so, becoming more vocal everyday. Where did it all come from? Back in the 1970's there was a lawyer for the dreaded tobacco industry, named Lewis Powell, who was eventually appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by then president Richard Nixon. But before that, he released an infamous memo to his corporate brethren, mainly in a response to political/economic/consumer protection advocate Ralph Nader, whom the corporate establishment at the time feared greatly. This confidential memorandum entitled, "Attack on American Free Market System" outlined a plan of action to re-take it's power, privilege and pomp, not to mention it's circumstances, from those wishing to curb it's powerful intentions; most of which were and are unholy indeed…
Influence peddling became rampant with many high priced New York lobbying firms moving south to Washington D.C. where they would cozy up with senators, congressmen and even presidents; the goal being a successful fruition of the express wishes of his or her Master. Legislation would now be written by the corporations themselves, e.g. the shadowy A.L.E.C., 'American Legislative Exchange Council', irregardless of whether or not it reflected the will of the American people these men and women were supposed to be representing. In this fated memo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce a road map was forged; a corporate takeover of American public institutions. He called for American corporations to become far more aggressive in molding American politics and the law. An enormous buildup of corporate lobbying power aimed squarely at Capitol Hill in the latter part of the 1970's created those intimate relationships between CEO's and say the Executive branch, or members of the U.S. Congress, resulting in policies that favored the wealthy, while simultaneously (on purpose), badly and sometimes mortally damaging middle class and working poor families. The lobbying industry going from a 400 million dollar a year (the 1980's), endeavor to well over 4 billion in this early part of the 21st Century. The result being the wealth of top 400 'earners' in this nation now equals the wealth of over half the U.S. population: 150 million people.
The 'grand' and unholy plan of the plutocratic class is to starve the U.S. government of most of it's former tax revenues, i.e. eliminate as many taxes on wealthy individuals as possible, people who can afford to pay that fair share. Moreover, demanding the corporations they own pay next to nothing in taxes, while politicians who work for them, turn a blind eye to all of that off shore money. Because of the George W. Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, tax revenues in the U.S. have dropped of a cliff; to the lowest point in our history as a country at 15%. We can't pay for basic social services: roads, bridges, hospitals, police, fire, schools, the things of a civilization. GE, for example, made 5.1 billion dollars in profit in 2011, according to the Institute for Public Policy. The CEO made out with 15.2 million and GE received a tax credit, a rebate of 3.3 billion. What is wrong with this picture?
Tax breaks, loopholes, clever accounting (i.e. theft), have resulted in the effective tax rates (1950-2010), dropping from well over 50% to it's all time low of 12.1%. The same holds true for personal income taxes, especially the ultra-rich, who have seen their tax rates plummet. In 1994, tax rates for millionaires have dropped by more than 25 percent in those past two decades, and for a handful of extremely wealthy individuals at the top ("the top 400″), the .001, those 'income' taxes have dropped by well over 50 percent.
Bush slashed the capital gains tax rate on investments to 15%, nearly half of what the rate was under then U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The big LIE, or 'argument', was that these tax cuts would benefit all of us. There is no evidence of that being true. In fact the polar opposite is, with the GDP, an economic indicator most often used by economists, falling like a lead balloon, into negative territory, from a healthy 7 plus percent in 1985. O growth since the infamous Bush tax cuts of 2003. A real line of demarcation if you will. Those tax cuts have ballooned the national debt by 2.9 trillion dollars. Paul Ryan (R-WI), a political puppet for the Koch Brother's "American's for Prosperity" think tank, has put forth a turd called "the Path to Prosperity". This joke of a budget would slash and burn the social safety net while adding another 4.6 trillion to that debt. While CEO take home pay has increased from 20 times the amount the average worker makes (in 1965), to to well over 231 times that amount today. An Ayn Rand special from hell.
The argument that 45 percent of American workers pay no income taxes at all, a negative tax liability if you will, holds no real water, for those poor working people pay plenty in sales taxes, property taxes, payroll taxes, gasoline, cigarette, liquor taxes…, all while not nearly making enough money in a dead end job that does not pay a living wage. Not to mention the fact most, if not all of 'those people', have no real opportunity to get ahead. Indeed, how could they? Living in such a rigged and unholy system that rewards the cheaters, liars and thieves. Infant mortality being 4 times higher for poor families than their wealthy counterparts.
"Men" like Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, with the help of think tanks and shadow government entities like "the Heartland Institute", are engaging in the real class warfare going on in this 21st Century America. Succeeding in turning that middle class resentment (regarding the state of the U.S. economy), against their poorer fellow citizens, who are clearly not to blame for this sad state of U.S. economic and social affairs. Instead of taking aim at the policies 'encouraged' by the .001 percent who are to blame for this crumbling of the United States of America. Puppets like Ryan have convinced his constituents in Wisconsin to vote against their own best interests, e.g. Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker winning his recall election with the help of a whole boat load of Koch $, while tying one hand behind their backs when it comes to getting their collective voices heard. Make no mistake about it, this is a national agenda. Unions–public sector unions–being the primary target.
For if billionaires like the Koch Brothers can run unions out of the picture, they effectively take out that critical voice that speaks for those without a voice, hence the purpose of a union to begin with. By simply signing a bill, Scott Walker effectively ended collective bargaining for unions in the state of Wisconsin for the foreseeable future; voices silent as well as opportunity for said workers in a once proud and robust public state…
Opportunities drying up like a reservoir in California.
In the game of "Monopoly", expensive properties like "Boardwalk" and "Park Avenue" are increasingly out of reach for at least 90 percent of Americans. And because the game is rigged (politically, socially, economically and every other way imaginable), in favor of this ever more controlling/manipulative/vicious/Machiavellian power player–the .001–it is not a shock that the ever growing Grand Canyon gap between those living at 740 Park Avenue and those living just a little north of the river that separates them will just continue to grow, until our 239 year old democracy–paid for in blood, sweat, treasure and tears–with that little letter "d" becomes the Kleptocracy "Mother Russia" has already become.
"This isn't Russia Danny… Is this Russia?"
(credit the great Chevy Chase from the classic film "Caddyshack", circa 1980).
Flight of Fancy
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the cloudy, misty, soon to be thunderous island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Tuesday morning–the 9th day of June, 2015–expecting a stormy day at sea sir! Indeed, this little hamlet and all her visitors may want to seek some 'higher ground' as it were today with the passing of some thunderstorms streaming across this long stretch of sand created by that Last Great Ice Age 11,500 years ago…
Recently, we have begun to hear the rumblings on the various U.S. news outlets–a vast ocean of choice and variety lacking content and truth (save some choice cable news programs, they know who they are!); perspective and vision–of all of the King's men, i.e. the 1500 or so Republicans vying to become this nation's 45th President, speaking up about income inequality, staking the claim that they are the right man (or woman) to 'take care of it'. This new wave of economic populism, sparked by "Occupy Wall Street" and other movements like "Moral Mondays", is now chic; hip even in David Koch's 'new world order', this morally hijacked "not your grandfather's" GOP.
The reason is quite clear. In fifty years the political landscape, as well as the environmental one, will look far different. Much browner then it does today. And with this ever changing demographic–plus the fact this kind of Grand Canyon Gap between the haves and the have nots is unsustainable, toxic and ultimately fatal to any civilization (let alone a democracy with that little letter 'd'; as written and envisioned by men far greater than those currently serving in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives), past or present (see ancient Rome for example)–any Republican with half a brain will come to the conclusion that if he or she wishes to remain relevant in the coming decades, he must adapt to the reality on the ground.
And not put his head in the proverbial sand.
"Why is the coach floating down the street Daddy?"
Chatham, Massachusetts est., 1664
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the sunny, beautiful, breezy island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this 7th day of June, 2015, a wonderful day on Cape as Sea Cape Cod makes good on it's second installment of 'better know a district', I mean 'better know a Cape town or island'…, no need for invoking copy-write infringement Mr. Colbert, if that is your real name sir!
Chatham was first settled by the English in 1664, the township (pop., 6,125 by 2010 U.S. Census), was originally called "Monomoit' based on the indigenous population's term for the region. 'Chatham' now home to Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge', located on Monomoy Island. Native America tribes who lived in the area before European colonization included the Nauset, specifically the Manomoy, or Monomoy people.
Many locals today will point to their collective elbows to help tourists and some family members alike, just kidding, where the town lies on a map when compared to the rest of the Cape, being the whole of the arm itself, just one long sand bar created 11,500 years ago by the Last Great Ice Age. Even early on Chatham thrived, with it being a whaling, shipping and fishing center from the early days going forward into this 21st Century. Much of the beautiful 18th Century architecture afforded by Chatham's success can still be enjoyed today, attracting tourists from all over the world every year.
Chatham Lighthouse-established in 1808 by our third U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson to protect ships circling the Cape–was moved from that original position (erosion), and rebuilt across the street in 1877 out of cast iron where it sits today. One can enjoy a pleasant walk down Main Street, about as quaint as it gets (mom and pop stores gladly dwarf corporate entities), after a day body surfing at the many beaches (Coast Guard Beach being one of the best!), or after a long bike ride on the awesome biking trails that take one out to Cape Cod National Seashore, eat a delicious dinner and then take in a Chatham Angler's baseball game, part of the Cape Cod Baseball League, on the peninsula for collegiate athletes.
Whatever you decide to do in this amazing town, you will, for sure, have a smile on your face!
Have a pleasant evening everybody!
Two for dinner?
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the misty, raw, 'miserable' island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Saturday morning–the 6th day of June, 2015–a 'good day for ducks' as the saying goes here in old school New England. Coming to you LIVE, like our friends above, from the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s); just happy to be here quite frankly…
Following up on yesterday's philosophical point regarding mankind's central 'problem', i.e. ego, one could point to Descaretes for the 'original sin', or error, really one and the same... For it was this 17th Century philosopher–many consider to be the 'father' of modern day philosophy–answering a fundamental question, "…is there anything I can know for certain?" Offering the world, "…I think, therefore I am". He realized the fact that he was always thinking, and that was beyond doubt. He equated this 'thinking' with Being. Eckart Tolle noting; identity.
I am=thinking.
Three hundred years later came along Jean-Paul Sarte who said, "…the consciousness that says 'I am' is not the consciousness that thinks". What does he mean by this? Tolle states, "…When you are aware that you are thinking, that awareness is not part of thinking. It is a different dimension of consciousness. And it is that awareness that says "I am". If there were nothing but thought in you, you wouldn't even know you are thinking. You would be like a dreamer who doesn't know he is dreaming. You would be as identified with every thought as the dreamer is with every image in the dream. Many people still live like that (see FOX "news" anchor Bill O'Reilly for another 'talking point memo'! Good Lord!), like sleepwalkers, trapped in old dysfunctional mind-sets that continuously re-create the same nightmarish reality, (see FOX owner Rupert, 'arrggh matie', Murdoch for more details!). When you know you are dreaming, you are awake within the dream. Another dimension of consciousness has come in."
Tolle continues, "There are many accounts of people who experienced that emerging new dimension of consciousness as a result of tragic loss at some point in their lives. Some lost all of their possessions, others their children or spouse, their social position, reputation, or physical abilities. In some cases, through disaster or war, they lost all of these simultaneously and found themselves with "nothing". We may call this a limit-situation. Whatever they had identified with, whatever gave them their sense of self, had been taken away. Then suddenly and inexplicably, the anguish or intense fear they initially felt gave way to a sacred sense of Presence, a deep peace and serenity and complete freedom from fear. This phenomenon must have been familiar to St. Paul, who used the expression "the peace of God that passeth all understanding". It is indeed a peace that doesn't seem to make sense, and the people who experience it asked themselves: In the face of this, how can it be that I feel such peace?"
"…The answer is simple, once you realize what the ego is and how it works. When forms that you had identified with, that gave you your sense of self, collapse or are taken away, it can lead to a collapse of the ego, since the ego is identified with form. When there is nothing to identify with anymore, who are you? When forms around you die or death approaches, your sense of Beingness, or I Am, is freed from its entanglement with form. Spirit is released from its imprisonment in matter. You realize your essential identity as consciousness itself, rather than what consciousness had identified with. That's the peace of God. The ultimate truth of who you are is not I am this or I am that, but I Am."
–Eckart Tolle
"Yeah…, did you get that memo?" credit the film "Office Space", circa 2010)
Forgetfulness of Being
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the sunny, crisp, beautiful, calm island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this 4th day June, 2015, another gorgeous day outside on the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s). 'Yet another incredible day', is a cliche here on this little sand bar created 11,500 years ago by that "Last Great Ice Age", so please come on out and SEA the reason it is considered the top vacation spot on the east coast of this United States of America–Massachusetts being the spirit and the birthplace of OUR sacred democracy; you know the one with that little letter 'd'?
But hurry–with the rising ocean levels and the fact the 'new world order' is hijacking that democracy–it may just be an underwater Corporatacracy by the time you get around to booking your flight!
Some may ask, especially if you from another planet (please see FOX "news", although this concept would most likely go right over their collective heads), yes, some may query, "…why is this insanity of run away greed/income inequality gone wild, epic global carbon/chemical pollution that is destroying our fragile ecosystem(s), perhaps forever, this bitter and violent racial divide, a never ending war based on money, the list goes on and on, yes, why, why, why?"
The question may be answered in the fact most of the planet's population has been duped by a much larger and devious ego. Eckart Tolle, famous author of "A New Earth", wrote an answer to that age old question that has dogged mankind since the dawn of civilization 10,000 years ago. After that aforementioned Great Ice Age receded, man began to settle down and create a permanent 'home', a home that worked because the whole of that first grouping of people all wanted the same thing; namely safety, consistency, collective abundance and what they first conceived of 'a future'; not just for themselves, but for the whole. A tribe that worked in concert with the land, air and water–not against it. In other words, they no longer roamed the land as hunter/gathers, they erected a teepee and called that land fill in the blank.
Over the millennia, there has been a collective cementing of the ego, a rigid and dangerous "Forgetfulness of Being" as Tolle wrote. "…Ego is always identification with form, seeking yourself and thereby losing yourself in some form. Forms are not material objects and physical bodies. More fundamental than the external forms–things and bodies–are the thought forms that continuously arise in the field of consciousness. They are energy formations, finer and less dense than physical matter, but they are forms nonetheless. What you may be aware of as a voice in your head that never stops speaking is the stream of incessant and compulsive thinking. When every thought absorbs your attention completely, when your are so identified with the voice in your head and the emotions that accompany it that you lose yourself in every thought and every emotion, then you are totally identified with form and therefore in the grip of ego. Ego is a conglomeration of recurring thought forms and conditioned mental-emotional patterns that are invested with a sense of I, a sense of self. Ego arises when your sense of Beingness, of "I Am," which is formless consciousness, gets mixed up with form. This is the meaning of identification. This is forgetfulness of Being, the primary error (original sin if you will), the illusion of absolute separateness that turns reality into a nightmare."
Of course I could not be speaking of the current political adventure we have in this great nation, "civilization" as it were, because those guys at "Americans for Prosperity" would never manipulate the masses via powerful Madison Avenue wizard Ad campaigns (1billion will be spent in the 2016 presidential bid by the Koch's via "Heartland Institute", among other front companies); brainwashing Ads that convince said "American citizenry" that their (GOP) egoistic brand is superior to the other, and that they, the Republicans, really "have your back". Hogwash!
The only purpose of a politician in this 21st Century America is to execute the will of the people. NOT to do the bidding of the billionaire class, or one or two individuals.
Of course, our now blind and very activist (SCOTUS), Judiciary (ironic no?), has made that impossible (for now); as "Citizens United v. F.E.C." and "McCutcheon v. F.E.C." have ripped that fundamental pillar of our democracy from it's foundation, perhaps forever.
Who knows, if a GOP puppet like Scott Walker, Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz is launched into the White House, maybe the Koch Brothers' will have a change of heart? Begin reading Eckart Tolle, become a vegan, meditate twice daily with Oprah, follow the advice of Jesus by giving away that 100 billion dollar "nest egg". All while signing up for the peace corps and cooking dinner for the 500 or so human beings that are truly at the low end of the food chain, the "least of us".
Those hoping to get a bed tonight at the "Pine Street Inn"; a homeless shelter in Boston…
Stranger things have happened.
Cape Cod calling…
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the still rather chilly, cloudy and clearing island of Nantucket! Great to be with 'y'all' on this lovely Wednesday morning here at the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), with a gentle northeasterly breeze keeping the sand bar and bobbing islands on the cool side of June, this third day of said month, in the year of our Lord 2015…
One could ask in this world of (never ending) blind and dangerous consumerism we all participate in today–threatening to destroy our planet–'what Lord do you speak of sir?'
The extension of the knee jerk reaction to the events of September 11th, 2001, i.e. "The Patriot Act", in the form of "The Freedom Act" was passed into law yesterday, taking away the NSA's ability to on spy on otherwise innocent American citizens, but still with wide access (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), to said records. But they will be 'safe' (right?), with the giant multinational telecom corporations; monster conglomerates with no real oversight and/or loyalty to anyone.
Sounds like a great plan, I am sure there will be no abuse of that power in the future…
Henry David Thoreau–a famous American writer/philosopher/naturalist/political scientist–wrote a book called "Walden" in the mid-19th century, 1845 to be precise. He lived for a year and a half in a hut on the banks of this now important body of water, clearing his mind of civilization for that moment in said 'time'; freeing himself from all it's rules, customs and conventions. Thoreau's fascinating, detailed account of his sojourn on the shores of Walden Pond brings alive a whole world–fish and birds, trees and crops, sun, stars and seasons. Seeking solitude, one might conclude he found clarity and intellectual freedom.
REAL FREEDOM.
Here is an excerpt from this magnificent work, an American original written before the American Civil War that only began 16 years later…the chapter is entitled, "The Pond in Winter." A simple passage dedicated to my dear friend Lanore Lynch, a wonderful mother, who unexpectedly passed away last night. May yours be the Kingdom of God. May you forever rest in Peace.
Have a nice Wednesday folks!
…"What I have observed of the pond is no less true in ethics. It is the law of average. Such a rule of the diameters not only guides us toward the sun in the system and the heart in man, but draw lines through the length and breadth of the aggregate of a man's particular daily behaviors and waves of life into his coves and inlets, and where they intersect will be the height or depth of his character. Perhaps we need only to know how his shores trend and his adjacent country or circumstances, to infer his depth and concealed bottom. If he is surrounded by mountainous circumstances, an Achillean shore, whose peaks overshadow and are reflected in his bosom, they suggest it corresponding depth in him. But a low and smooth shore proves him shallow on that side. In our bodies, a bold projecting brow falls off to and indicates a corresponding depth of thought. Also there is a bar across the entrance of our every cove, or particular inclination; each is our harbor for a season, in which we are detained and partially landlocked. These inclinations are not whimsical usually, but their form, size and direction are determined by the promontories of the shore, the ancient axes of elevation. When this bar is gradually increased by storms, tides or currents, or there is a subsidence of the waters, so that it reaches to the surface, that which was at first but an inclination in the shore in which a thought was harbored becomes an individual lake, cut off from the ocean, wherein the thought secures its conditions, changes, perhaps, from salt to fresh, becomes a sweet sea, dead sea or marsh. At the advent of each individual into this life, may we not suppose that such a bar has risen to the surface somewhere? It is true, we are such poor navigators that our thoughts, for the most part, stand off and on upon a harborless coast, are not conversant only with the bights of the bays of poesy, or steer from the public ports of entry, and go into the dry docks of science, where they merely refit for this world, and no natural currents concur to individualize them."
Green & Gold
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the raw, misty, foggy, haunting island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Monday morning–the 1st day of June, 2015–a darn right chilly one out on the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), leaving behind in it's wake the glorious week end had by all here on this little sand bar created 11,500 years ago by the "Last Great Ice Age"…
I mention that historical fact only to remind all just how quickly 'time' passes; a seemingly insignificant blip in that time/space continuum, living a life on this blue rock in the infinite expanse of our known universe. It is, in a word, staggering. Of course, that matters little to the GOP in the United States of America, whose main goal over the course of the next 18 months or so will be to pull as much wool over the American citizenry's eyes as possible ensuring(?) the outcome predicted by George Orwell (1984) so many moons ago; saliva dripping from the mouths of the various monied interests who are now (for all intents and purposes) controlling power in many local, state and federal positions.
Coming to the Executive branch soon? Again? Can you say, 'read my lips, no new world order'? Sure I knew that you could…
On Tuesday of last week, a former Mayor of Burlington, Vermont–home of the University of Vermont (Go Catamounts!)–now long standing U.S. Senator from said state, Bernie Sanders, announced his bid to become this nation's 45th U.S. President. His platform is simple. Break up the big banks by reinstating the Glass Steagall Act of 1933, change monetary policies thus tackling the Grand Canyon gap between the haves and the have nots (ever growing) in the this very wealthy nation, improve on the Affordable Care Act by eventually making it like most other progressive countries, 'medicare for all', restore simple ethics, sanity and a moral compass to what Washington D.C. has become, expand Social Security, address the cataclysmic environmental challenges ahead, i.e. global warming, feed and educate OUR people, invest in American jobs through badly needed infrastructure programs (and by not passing another multinational trade agreements, i.e TPP and others that only benefit the international 'new world order', e.g. Oligarchies around the globe), ban GMO's, investigate and expose secret societies and lobbying firms for who and what they really are all about, among many other pressing and logical issues. But most of all, immediately repeal the 2010 SCOTUS decision "Citizens United v. the F.E.C.", which effectively ended this experiment called democracy with that little letter 'd' in it's tracks simply because corporations are now giants, with all the rights of living, breathing human beings–without any of the liability–allowed to fuel political campaigns with unlimited monies, drowning out the concept created by men far greater than present political puppet$ of one man/woman=one vote.
And with the subsequent McCutchen decision that followed soon after by a 'non activist' John, "wink, wink, nudge, nudge", Roberts' U.S. Supreme Court, allowing individuals to donate unlimited amounts, e.g.(s) Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, well, one could reasonably argue that this nation has been taken for one long and painful ride to nowhere while a few greedy bastards on top made out like the bandits they ARE; laughing their way to banks they own…gambling with your money.
Good Luck Vermont Senator Sanders; good luck indeed!
WE, "the people" (all 315 million), have the intelligence, heart and wherewithal to do just about anything. All WE ask is for a fair shake and some honest brokers, lo, real leaders to do their jobs. Not the bidding of men whose lives are only invested in their investments.
There is a path forward. The question is will WE take it?
"I took the road less traveled", said author Scott Peck, "…and it made all the difference."


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Play'n GO Adds Another Powerhouse Operator in Italy with SKS365 Agreement
Play'n GO continues to cement its reputation as Italy's favourite casino entertainment provider, after SKS365 became the latest top tier operator to bring its games to players in the country.
SKS365's Planetwin365.it brand will bring an initial 100 Play'n GO titles to its players in Italy, including the world's most popular online slot, Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead. At least 10 more games will be launched before the end of the year.
Lucia Pittiglio, Account Manager Italy for Play'n GO, said: "Since launching in Italy in 2018, our priority has been on providing the very best in casino entertainment to players. This partnership with SKS365 is another important step in our mission, and the addition of another top tier Italian brand underlines just how highly regarded our content has become in Italy."
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"We appreciate how Play'n GO releases a steady stream of diverse content, including games that resonate so strongly with the Italian market such as Rocco Gallo. We're looking forward to working closely with the Play'n GO team so these games reach the audience they deserve."
Push Gaming Broadens Belgian Profile with Circus Partnership
B2B gaming supplier Push Gaming has seen its partnership agreement with Belgian...
Odds On Compliance Announces European Expoansion, Names President
Odds On Compliance, the technology and consultancy firm specializing in sports betting,...


Electricity is a key part of modern society and omnipresent in homes. When it comes to all things electrical, homeowners choose to leave the installation and repair work to licensed professionals. They are right to do so because licensed electricians have the necessary know-how and experience to handle any issue in a safe and efficient way. Trying to DIY an electrical issue can be very dangerous, sometimes even fatal.
Still, a responsible homeowner should get informed about the possibilities for improving the electrical system of their home and seek help from licensed Warwick electricians to do the actual work.