"News that's not known, or not known enough."
Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. |
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My hope is no longer audacious by Siegfried Lemelson Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Obama hands McCain the election I fully agree with the sentiments, though not the conclusion, that Obama will lose. His 180 on the new FISA law was revealing, and his promotion of Bush's "faith-based" social services concept was a mind-boggler. Moreover, he is campaigning on a platform calling for more rebate checks next year, a chicken in every pot, and two cars in every garage. In short, he is buying votes wherever he can find them. Unfortunately, the U.S. is in a very dire situation because of politicians using the U.S. Treasury to buy votes, and more of the same is just pathetic. Sad... I now expect a rolling tsunami of bankruptcies and bank failures, plus on-going foreign policy catastrophes requiring continuing military expenditures — leading up to other debacles relating to Medicare, Social Security, etc. This relates to the fierce debate now about deflation versus inflation... Most of us think of inflation as higher prices, but the debate is based on money creation and destruction. Printing money is the root cause of price inflation, but defaulted debts destroy money. The answer to which happens, or both and the order they occur is now something that needs to be looked at geopolitically... Inside the U.S., our politicians will continue over-spending until something forces them to stop. That means that money destruction will always be met with greater and greater deficit spending and bail-outs by the taxpayers. Globally, there are trillions of U.S. dollars floating around which could be used to buy up U.S. assets, and to buy "things" outside the U.S. (playing "hot potato" with the dollars to spend them before they lose all value.) Plus, foreign governments are printing their own money in vast quantities. So the U.S. could experience "deflation" of money, and yet there could still be plenty of money outside the U.S. And that could mean that things we buy cost more even though we are, on average, too poor to afford them even at the cheaper prices... This is like, say, L.A., where East L.A. is relatively poor, and Beverly Hills is fabulously wealthy. One part has deflation and the other has inflation, and for good reason: rich people probably don't want to heavily invest in East L.A., and the poor people in East L.A. aren't very welcome in Beverly Hills. So that status quo remains for year after year. The *experience* of the individual depends upon location... Now... what this all boils down to is that the U.S. dollar is going to lose another ½ or more of its purchasing power during the next 1, 2, 5 or 10 years. That is my belief. There may be "deflation" of the money supply, and there may be cheaper or higher prices of various "things", but on average, a buck in tomorrow's world will buy you what a quarter or fifty cents would buy you today. And you might not even have a buck if the economy inside the U.S. really turns to shit, which I fully expect... So what Kunstler is saying here is good stuff, except that his ideas about...
... DO NOT APPLY TO THE US as a whole — they are valid for individuals with foresight, wisdom, the wherewithal, and the courage to act. The politicians will not and cannot accept a pragmatic approach to Reality. That would lose them votes. The other side of the coin, inflation, is equally valid, and I leave that discussion to the lovely Aden Sisters. Finally, about Obama... my hope is no longer audacious. I expect nothing and hope for nothing from him or the other politicians. They've doomed the U.S. as a whole. Now it is time for individuals to tune out the nonsense and take care of their own personal business in a way that corresponds to the real Reality — and the first step is to find The Truth, discarding The Lies. Your Truth may be different than mine, but perhaps one day we'll meet somewhere and break bread, have a cup of tea or toke a toke, and we'll laugh about all of this Siegfried Lemelson  Nearly the last sane, sober and sincere voice by Herb Ruhs, MD Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Visualize high-altitude nuclear explosions You make my jaw drop (often, actually, but again today). It's kind of breathtaking. It does make some serious sense...Well, I guess that is a good thing, but the actual news in this situation is that publicly available information can be jaw dropping, that common sense based on readily available information ranks as a man bites dog lead. There are a number of candidates for most important untold story. My candidate is the almost total absence of meaningful public discourse on EVERY issue of critical concern. It has become popular to denigrate the people with terms such as "sheeple" by elitist commentators supposedly on the "left." It is a cheap shot to make fun of people under the influence of stealth anesthesia and wrap around propaganda campaigns. I don't consider myself better than my anesthetized neighbors. I am just the beneficiary of unique circumstances beyond my control that make me more resistant to the anesthesia. Not totally immune. I have been snookered numerous times and try to remain alert to the possibility that I am again being misled. With the choking pall of lies that we live in, it is essentially impossible to always resist mental manipulation. To paraphrase the man, let he who is without delusion cast the first aspersion. Please go to the web site and read this interview of Vidal by PressTV. Herb Ruhs, MD Politely, if you please by Xauriel Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Woke up in opposite world again I work as a telephone survey interviewer, and let me tell you, people like this guy make me mad enough to spit. First off, they refuse to learn the difference between telemarketing and statistical research (we follow somewhat different rules, here in Canada at least). Second, they can't be bothered to display even a minimal degree of civility to a person who earns their living and pays their taxes performing a somewhat distasteful but necessary job. I'm sure they're more than happy to buy products designed using market research, take advantage of government policies implemented based on public opinion polls, and otherwise benefit from the vast amounts of scientific data we produce; but god forbid someone should dare to interrupt 'the dinner hour' with a randomly generated call. Yes, you should have to go to the minimal amount of effort necessary to actually let us know that you would prefer not to receive our calls. Politely, if you please. You live in a country where the water is clean, the food is plentiful, and there is practically no chance of dying in civil war or genocide. I think the occasional minor annoyance of an unsolicited phone call is a burden you can bear with a bit of dignity and decorum. Xauriel Happy conservatives by JR Mooneyham Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Millions of Americans are embarrassingly ill-informed and they do not care that they are Note that this is one of the two main ways conservatives stay happy: they ignore anything which challenges their world view: This may help explain both why conservatives might tend to be happier than liberals, as well as why they (the conservatives) also make so many mistakes. It may be they're thinking too fast, and too often rushing to judgement. While that behavior is very satisfying for them, it leaves in its wake a slew of disasters and tragedies. Study explores manic thinking The second thing conservatives do for happiness is have kids. For they then derive happiness from ignoring or escaping from those creations, too (sort of like how so many neocons the last year or so have been busy disowning their roles in causing the Iraq war): The joys of parenthood:
JR Mooneyham (www.jrmooneyham.com/) It doesn't work on our classic computer, but I'll take your word that it's good. Helen & Harry
Not our choice by Jeanette Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Obama hands McCain the election No. Zibignew Brzezinski, Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller etc. are installing whoever their bosses want in the White House. Jeanette An answering machine by Pappy Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Woke up in opposite world again I'd like an answering machine that handles phone calls differently based upon whether a number if on my approved list. The machine could:
Option #1 is the most sensible option, but wouldn't it be nice to input an Internet-vetted list of telemarketers so they all get #3 and the machine is smart enough to prevent your phone from ringing in the first place? Pappy Brutal by Brellrai Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re No, by golly, she wasn't kidding Your response to Xavier Onassis was brutal, and it seems to me that if it was necessary to say it at all it certainly wasn't necessary to publish it and humiliate him. Brellrai Xavier's letter was clearly intended for publication, and we published it. A response was necessary, and my response was difficult but not brutal. Tell me how you'd respond. Helen & Harry
Difficult to know by Wig Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Bush-lite As always it's difficult to know just what Obama is suggesting. He pontificates lofty concepts but isn't clear on the "fine print" details. He's proposing expansion of/restoration of the rules preventing such funds from being used for religious purposes.But isn't that the story with the usual politico? But then, he's claiming to be a "new kind'a" politico isn't he? Ohhhhh wait till tomorrow he'll change (issue a clarification) of what he meant to say. Wig Into the dumper by Chris M. Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Starbucks to close 500 more shops Maybe this is why the market is going into the dumper. All those stock analysts can't get their dose Espresso Roast to feed their caffeine cravings. Chris M. New and old nightmares by MonkeyMan Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Visualize high-altitude nuclear explosions Geez, Dr. Herb, you should write children's stories. Just kidding. I used to read all of the Nuclear Holocaust survival novels growing up. I get very clear images of post blast landscapes and anarchy in the cities and towns. But I relaxed at the end of the Cold War. I thought the nightmare would never come to pass. Then we had a few biological attacks and I thought, OK, this is the new nightmare, I have to worry about bugs I can't see. I grew up being taught that anything Communist or Socialist was evil and I linked nuclear arms and communism in the same fear. Scares the be-jesus out of me to have the old nightmare back. I would do almost anything to end the current administration, but a nuclear bomb seems extreme... MonkeyMan It's a living by Enderpanda Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Woke up in opposite world again She says in her best little old lady voice, "Can you hang on a second?" then she blasts them with a referees' whistle...I'm pretty sure that's illegal, and furthermore unethical - I hate telemarketers too, but they're just doing their jobs. Enderpanda Since 1912 by Garyp714 Thursday, July 3, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Obama hands McCain the election Only the Democrats would foment such a position. The slogan should be: "Democrats: Fucking themselves with disunity since 1912!" Garyp714 |
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