Saturday, August 4, 2012

____ For President: Choose One of Two

I am a social and fiscal progressive. I have some issues with our president, but I am for the most part glad he holds the office. I like that he and his wife keep an organic garden on the WH lawn.

People may have strong opinions about how similar the two-party candidates are, that they are owned by corporate interests, and have unfortunate policies. But there are key differences, however small (and I don't think they are small), and the vanity vote or non-participation are both selfish options. If we had four more years of papa Bush, does one think our economy would have built 21 million jobs under him, and our government shrunk, as was the case during Clinton's presidency? Without Ralph Nader, Gore have been president, would a ten year war-by-choice with an already defanged Iraq have been waged? With a McCain presidency, would healthcare reform even be discussed?

To characterize Romney and Obama as "whores" and dump them in the same bin is patently inaccurate and harmful to the process. It is distilled, self-congratulatorty, pious whining from the far left. I would wager there is a LOT more nose-holding happening on the Republican side for their nominee-in-waiting, but they will march to the voting booth and pull the lever for their candidate. Democrats would be wise to follow suit, and post-election stay involved with the process, express displeasure, outrage, and the whole range of emotions that come into play - under a second Obama term; or perhaps the far left would prefer to gripe under the cloud of a Romney Administration?

Writer Robert Parry "sticks the landing" in his article:



http://www.alternet.org/

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Unbalancing Occupy Wall Street, Part I

     I have in mind a Social Theorem, or at least the seed: all of the inconsistent application of police activity across the nation, all of the heated political rhetoric, the sympathizing, posturing, and demonizing, the quotidian observations, the TV and radio talking head smearing commentary and dripping sarcasm, the corporate avoidance, the celebrity engagement, the EVERYTHING...is all an orchestrated dance.
     First, let's consider our country's large, metropolitan police forces: these departments do not exist in a vacuum.  They are the closest thing we have to an "in house" military, besides the National Guard.  They are well coordinated, and talk to each other.  Given the impressive array of technological tools and (mostly) generous budgets our large-city forces enjoy, the chances that they are NOT talking to each other are slim.
     So how best to deal with the most popular domestic uprising since the 1960's? Simple, revisit the '60's counter-counter culture strategy, only this time with a flotilla of technology in tow.  Develop a well-tuned strategy of response at a national level, with a core goal: unbalance and discredit Occupy Wall Street.  
     UNBALANCE: employ a good cop/bad cop (really!) city-by-city "let them peacefully camp overnight" and "tear gas and rubber bullet" policy grab bag.  Now that OWS is solidly present in every major American city, the movement presents a clear threat to the status quo - this will not be tolerated, and the police forces have instituted a strategy that will be rolled out with increased intensity.  Make no mistake, this is a chess match, and the establishment is thinking several moves ahead.  Keeping the organizers unbalanced and guessing if what happened in Oakland can happen in their city too, or possibly the passivity displayed by the Albany Police will visit them instead.  I am cynical on this point, not believing for a minute the latter force is "on the side" of the OWS movement.  There is an army of stalking horses surrounding the movement, and they are doing more than whispering to each other. 
     DISCREDIT: The reaction for the first several weeks of OWS was non-reaction - ignore or downplay the crowds and they will evaporate.  That didn't work, as OWS self-replicated and gained traction at a torrid pace.  So then they were termed "mobs" by the conservative talking point machine in Washington, DC and their reliable media bobble-head toys...that lasted a couple of 24-hour cycles.  When it became clear that this was not Tea Party Redux, and what was growing had - in principle and scope - the makings of a genuine movement, complete with a list of demands, soon followed by the impressive 99PercentDeclaration (a thunderous answer to "they don't know what they want," "they are bored/unemployed/don't want to work/dirty fucking hippies," etc.), a whisper and smear campaign was launched.  What OWS really represents is an anti-semitic, pro-muslim, marxist cabal fixated on overthrowing the virtuous, money-cultivating capitalists upon which this great nation was built, and so must be destroyed.
     Stay tuned.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Don't Forget Fukushima


It is my sincere hope that the short-attention-span-24-hour-news-cycle-consuming-public hasn't shelved this critical story that continues to unfold. Or worse, not ask the hard questions and think critically about what the Fukushima disaster really means, for all of us.

If there are any remaining questions or denials regarding the impact one nuclear plant disaster can have GLOBALLY, this article should help dispel it.

And so... "What are officials hiding about Fukushima?"

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Exclusive Town: Aspen, CO or Woodstock, NY?

An update on the ongoing saga of Woodstock Commons, a 53-unit rental Workforce Family & Senior Housing Community under construction near the center of Woodstock, NY; the story presents a unique blend of colorful, crazy, and urgent.  To be continued, without question...


A few, loud NIMBY BANANAS hen-pecked the Woodstock Planning Board into actually considering revocation of the special use permit granted in August, 2010, after construction started...convening an unprecedented post-approval public hearing, despite no violations cited, and no due process exercised.

Environmental concerns were carefully and comprehensively studied and designed into Woodstock Commons, over the course of a 5-1/2 year planning process

It is but one more reason that we have a serious problem, where too few hold sway over too many. "Exclusive" towns like Woodstock, NY need to urgently address the great disconnect they have with the PEOPLE.

The all-too-vocal leader of SAGE, Iris York, points to Aspen, CO as one such exclusive enclave where such housing couldn't possibly exist. And why would lower wage earners even want to live there?

In reality, Aspen offers up at least 39 rental properties (with several hundred studio, 1, 2, & 3BR units), according to the Aspen/Pitkin Housing Office Rental Work-Force Housing map:

Aspen Housing Map

It turns out that Aspen gets it; Woodstock and it's self-appointed Elite do not.

Let's get on with the work of creating new and healthy homes for deserving families and seniors.


Original New York Times article

Friday, October 7, 2011

A Country Run By Pychopaths


I suspected as much:

Indy UK - The Difference Between A Politician & A Psychopath: None



    • Oh, darn...





      There are a number of American politicians who've been caught doing something illegal, unethical, mind-bogglingly self-destructive, or all of the above. And yet, none accept that they did anything wrong.



    • ...it gets worse!






      The following commentary includes material obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Behavioral Analysis Unit.



    • The final word for the night, courtesy of Dr. Hugo Marietan, professor at the University of Buenos Aires. He explains the 3% of the general population as being pychopaths thusly:

      QUESTION: "How to distinguish a psychopath politician from the one who is not?"

      ANSWER: "A basic characteristic of the psychopath is that he is a liar, but not any liar. He is an artist. Lies with the words, but also with his body. He acts. He may, even, pretend sensitivity. You believe him over and over because he is very convincing. An usual leader knows that he has to accomplish his function during an estimated time. Once the task is accomplished, he leaves. The psychopath, however, once he is at the top, no one can get him out: he wants to be once, twice three times. He can’t release the power, and least of all rely it on someone else. Perhaps, you remember someone like that? Another distinguishing feature is his ability of manipulate people. Arround the psychopath leader, we can find submissive people, who under his persuasive effect are able to do things that otherwise he wouldn’t."

O+ Festival: A Healthy Start, An "Open Source" Future?

      I like Dr. Cingel's original concept of "trading art for health care," and the O+ Festival has deservedly received attention outside the bubble that is the Hudson Valley, and our fair city of Kingston.  I think the time is ripe to take it to another level, and place it in the public domain as an Open Source that reaches all across the land.  The 90 bands that vie for 25 slots should all have a venue, well beyond the creative coolness that is Kingston. 


      The cause should expand well beyond artists and health care, and quickly become a model for bartering accessible health care for those who may not wear the label or carry the cache of "Artist." 


      Dr. Cingel and event organizers need only look at the viral, wild expansion of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, going from zero to sixty thousand in a few weeks time, and understand that people are hungry and ready for social movements that are not only designed for small sub-groups of the populace, but open, accessible, and beneficial to all that need real solutions and viable alternatives to business as usual. Otherwise, the Third Annual O+ Festival will be much like the first two, with solutions geared narrowly and a few bands and a few doctors competing for rather than expanding the base and great promise the concept offers.


      It is good, and healthy - it could be great, and revolutionary.


Wall Street Journal Article: Trading Art for Health Care

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Fracking Observations, continued...


Anybody see this?  Anybody care?  160 million cubic feet of natural gas wasted, in North Dakota alone, EVERY DAY.  Do you trust the oil & gas companies when they advocate an URGENT NEED for more hydrofracking across New York and along the Marcellus Shale Formation?  They cannot even manage the wells already drilled and "functional."  


NY Times article on North Dakota Wasted Gas



AND because math is fun:


96.7 cubic feet of natural gas 1 therm; 400 therms consumed annually per household (CA) = 38,680 cubic feet


 160,000,000 / 38,680 c.f. = 4,136 households


4,136 households X 365 days = 1,509,824...that's how many houses of 3 occupants each could receive electricity, FROM THE WASTED NATURAL GAS IN NORTH DAKOTA.


The next time you hear someone spew about the alleged virtues of natural gas drilling, tell them to go hydrofrack themselves.  As if the chemicals in the ground and water wasn't enough of a reason to ban the process outright, already!