Visions In My Mind

What's to come?, is the question on the minds of many in the Western World (not for the elites of course, this is just a slight hiccup). After the House Of Representatives failed to pass the massive corporate welfare bill and the financial markets' tanking yesterday, things feel really uneasy. I cannot believe how Bush's alarm and break from his staunch free market stance has influenced my feeling towards the bailout proposal. After almost eight years of lies and propaganda, his concern appears honest and not indicative of some insidious economic shock therapy to transfer wealth from public to private hands (although it is probably the case). I chalk it up to my ignorance on all matters related to the economy except the basics needed for societal function. That aside, should the idea of federal intervention in the economy die and the crisis continue to escalate, what marco social, economic and political ramifications would it have for our nation? Is this the quintessential the end of the Amerian Empire?

Socially, the nation will crumble. We already exhibit extreme hatred and prejudice against each other based on race, religion, size and other superficial bullshit. Should our way of life end, that security blanket will burn to dust. Numerous civil conflicts will break out. Helter Skelter realized. Race vs. Race. Believers vs. Non Belivers. Poor vs. hired guns employeed by the rich. Take the current gas shortage for example. Folks are violating each others rights due to a temporary decrease in supply for an important commodity. If the other shoe drops and everything goes to hell, anarchy will reign until the federal government true facist face manifests.

Representative government will die. Democracy will be buried and pissed on. The oligarchs will rule with no shame. The idea of a middle class will become a fantasy. No upward mobility. You're either born rich or poor and no inbetween. Eventually, the fragmented members of the the lower class will band together against the authoritarian state and those class based violent revolutions of the third world will occur on American soil.

The totality of the Shock Doctrine will be applied to its country of origin. Only the rich can afford to live comfortably while the rest of us will dwell in Bushvilles or Obamavilles.

That brings me to another point, Obama! I have this strange feeling the shadow government is setting him up for failure or assassination. Obama will inherit a clusterfuck. The War on Terror will be fucked. The economy will still be fucked. Our energy strategy will also be fucked. How can a man promising these sweeping populist changes achieve sucess? HE CAN'T. Obama is being setup to be that black, liberal politician that promises change, but can't get shit done due to the enormity of the nation's fucked-up-ness. Or, they'll kill him because he doesn't play ball, even though he appears to be doing so.

Ok. Ok. I am a compulsive exaggerator, but the future looks grim for the USA.

Ideas For Second Essay

As of right now, I am not sure of the topic for my second essay. Initially, I wanted to use the growing trend among Internet Service Providers of imposing bandwidth caps and usage charges for residential users. I choose this topic because I am an internet junkie. I download at least two gigabytes of data a day. As a hardcore user, I am vehemently against caps and usage charges. My personal connection to this issue dates back to the mid ninties before broadband, MySpace and Napster.

It was a time when bulletin boards, chatrooms and IRC were the dominant social networking mediums. My Internet Service Provider was America Online. For a reasonable fee, maybe $10-$15 from what I can remember, America Online granted me access to the World Wide Web using the highest rate at the time, 56 kilobits per second. As I downloaded documents and other assorted materials (infer as you like), one key service issue was never made clear in all their fancy advertisements with 3.5 disks begging me to sign on. THE FUCKING USAGE CHARGES!

Those insidious charges added $1400 to the month’s phone bill. My family was furious at me, especially my mom since she had to find some way to pay it. I was a sophomore in high school and unemployed. America Online never made clear its usage policy. All those fucking ads with join now and get a free month bullshit suckered me. AOL could have a least displayed my quota and the amount used and had remaining after signing off as a courtesy to its customer.

After that incident, I was without an internet connection until 2000 when the broadband market opened up and promised faster service and unlimited access for a reasonable monthly fee. This business model apparently worked until a couple years ago when they began imposing caps and usage fees. The only American ISP I know of that imposes usage fees or will soon start is Comcast. I believe an ISP in the UK and Canada do the same. My own ISP, ATT, speculated that they too may follow Comcast’s footsteps.

This issue connects to a larger movement by corporations to further regulate what we access and put a bullet into Net Neutrality. The corporations hate Net Neutrality and want it dead. A decision is still pending on it in Congress. Perhaps it’s a means for ISPs to recoup revenue lost from legal fees when file sharers are brought to trial. Again, I’m not sure at the moment. I do believe these bullshit caps and charges violate the purpose of the World Wide Web which is free and open access to information.

I may stick with this until a better idea materializes.

The Shape Of Things To Come

After watching the short movie on the unlawful detainment of innocent Muslim men, it did not leave me shocked or surprised. I was aware of these unlawful detainments caused by the so called “War on Terrorism”, “War on Terra”, “War against Islam fascist” or whatever it’s called today. These state sanctioned crimes arose out of the greed that Bush’s “War on Terror” created and Cheney’s one percent doctrine of the defense and national security apparatus doing whatever it wants if there is a one percent perceived threat against American interests. In a hunt to find Bin Laden and Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, the defense and intelligence apparatus distributed millions of dollars to warlords and tribal chiefs to inform. Instead dreaded, evil terrorists, innocent men were swept up in the dragnet due to its easy profitability. This event is one of many events in the nation’s history that brought shame and disdain upon us.

I am really not sure who this event has any implication on how I see the future. While I empathize with these men for being subjected to this unlawful treatment, it is not a top concern for me since I have no personal stake in this issue. I’m not a Muslim or know any Muslims who were victims of a rendition or unlawful detainment. The United States has been an outlaw nation for a long time now. Some would argue since its inception. Issues that shape my opinion of the future are the current plight of the economy, quality of the job market and the two faced government. These issues are immediate and affect me directly. Hypothetically speaking, it is possible to relate the video with the issues that govern my opinion of the future.

Should this $700 billion ++++ corporate welfare not work out and the economy continues to decline causing the cost of living to shoot up higher than it is and massive joblessness, the government will declare martial law to deal with the inevitable social unrest. The police state will be more realized than it is now during this second Depression. Until the rest of the military can be transported back home, fragments of our armed forces, government law enforcement agencies and mercenaries will do the rounding up of activists, protestors and anybody else they can touch and place them in interments camps, courtesy of your friendly war and disaster profiteer, Halliburton. Once the civil unrest has been quelled, the government will create an atmosphere of paranoia amongst the populace. TIPS program times 100, enormous networks of informants, surveillance drones, targeted assassinations of labor and rights activists and all the other authoritarian shit that was illegal inside for use domestically now perfectly legal due to protect Union.

Hopefully this is just another paranoid vision of mine, but the potential is there.

People

After taking a look at stuffwhitepeoplelike.com, I was more amused than offended or finding it stupid. The site is quite detailed in its perspective of all things white. It portrays a certain segment of white America. The adult, middle class white liberal comes to mind. The site certainly doesn’t discuss the likes of poor and rural whites. Instead of stuffwhitepeoplelike.com, the site’s title should have been stuffwaspslike.com.

Some of the stereotypes featured on the site were quite humorous. The bumper sticker entry really tickled my funny bone as I have observed this first hand countless times. When I see a car on the road littered with bumper stickers, I always assume the driver is white. I enjoyed the entries on the Toyota Prius, the hatred of corporations and the obsession with Japan, but not all whites share those interests and ideas and having those interests and ideas doesn’t make one white.

The Prius is a great fuel efficient and nicely designed car (sure as hell wish I had one instead of what I have now). I try to avoid Wal-mart at all costs (even though I eventually give in and buy their shit. can’t pass a bargain) and hate corporations that employ slave labor practices to make their products (hypocrisy wins again cause the shirt I’m wearing a I type this was probably made by some 12 year old Pacific Island girl making five cents an hour). I bought New Balance shoes because they were American made, love Apple products and some aspects of Japanese culture.

Unless you’re the uptight, race baiting type, it’s really difficult to find the site offensive. Most of the stereotypes are positive and cast whites as detailed and sophisticated. Like assuming all Asians are geniuses in Math. I wish that was a stereotype for blacks instead of the assumption that you were involved in organized sports at some point in your life or have a huge prick. Conversely, there is a similar site for blacks titled, Stuff Black People Love.

The site and its spin offs are just poking fun at our silly divisions. They do not truly represent an entire race of people. Just the stupid shit we make up and do to maintain an identity.

Omens

My days of believing in superstitions, myths and urban legends are long gone. It’s a waste of brain cells trying to rationalize bullshit. I step on cracks in the ground, adore black cats and have no qualms about opening an umbrella indoors, but a series of events Friday challenged my current attitude toward superstitions.
From the moment I got on the road to go to school, I was disgusted and pissed. My state of disgust had nothing to do with any drama in my personal life, but the erratic drivers on these Georgia roads. As a motorist, there is no avoiding them unless you can afford your own personal driver, but I don’t think you’d still be considered a motorist. They are out at all times of day and in all types of weather.

I live in somewhat of a rural county in the midst of being swallowed up by suburban sprawl. The town has the typical long stretches of two lane roads common in small towns. It usually takes me five to seven minutes to travel down the road that leads to the interstate on-ramp, but not that day. This slow driving, elderly (I’m assuming) person turns onto to the street and drove 15 MPH, adding about five minutes to the start of my commute. I shouted profanities until the slow driving fucker turned into one of those auto maintenance franchises.

My interstate drive to school was typical. Traffic wasn’t too heavy and had no close calls of colliding into someone or something or someone or something colliding into me. Too bad I did not have the same luck after I left school.

The first close call was on that stretch of I-20 East that runs from the I-285 connector through Lithonia. As I was merging into the middle lane from the left passing lane, a van, that was probably speeding, almost collided into the back of me. Luckily, there was no incident, but lots of profanities. I FUCKING hate driving through there. Many of the motorists there drive like arrogant and selfish pricks.

My luck ran out after getting of the interstate and proceeding home to pick up my aunt to bring her to do her errands. It was my intention to bring her into town to do her errands first then stop at the grocery store to pick up my own items. Convenience was the primary factor. Unfortunately, she persuaded to go to the grocery store first. After I’m done at the store and back on the road, I needed to make a left turn at the intersection to go into town. As I was in the process of merging into the turning lane, this woman sped down the road and side swiped the front of my vehicle. The deputy came, took our statements and since we were both at fault, no one was cited. I did not look when I attempted to merge and she was speeding. Surprisingly, I wasn’t upset. No profanities, just calm. Now my vehicle has a front bent bumper and a large scrape. I’m also out of $500 due to the deductible of my auto insurance.

So the moral of the story is, I guess, is be extra observant. Look both ways before merging into lanes, making turns and crossing the streets. DON’T ASSUME. And finally, DON’T BE A PUSSY!!

When There's Blood In The Streets.......

What does this say about the disparity between rich and poor, considering it occurred on two of the arguably worst days for global finance in the last decade?

Buy dead animals encased in tanks of formaldehyde. How this passes for art and why anyone would pay well in excess of hundreds of thousands dollars for such art is beyond me. I think it is gross arrogance and tastelessness that enable folk to purchase this morbid art. It has no meaningful or significant value. It doesn’t inspire or inform.

It does not take a master statistician to prove far beyond a shadow of a doubt that the divide between the rich and poor grew tremendously as time progressed. The global working and middle classes have been under constant assault by greedy, self interested governments and corporations for decades. This past week, decades of financial greed and waste culminated in the near breaking of the global economic system. The situation was so dire that the free marketing cheerleaders of the Bush Administration had to provide corporate welfare to near dead finciaial companies. The government justified the bailout with the notion that these corporations were “too big to fall” and could have plunged us into another Depression type situation. While I do not want the nation and world to experience a global depression, the impression of the government bailing out these financial services companies is quite disturbing.

As I continue to watch, read and listen to coverage of the financial crisis, I cannot help but think of Naomi Klein’s excellent book, The Shock Doctrine. In The Shock Doctrine, Klein debunks romanticism of free market capitalism. Her thesis is that in order for unregulated capitalism to flourish, society must experience some sort of shock to accept the new economic order. Shocks include coups, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, subversion of civil/human rights and most importantly, privatizing government services and assets which shifts public money into private hands. The idea is to establish a clean slate to build a free market utopia. Typically, before arriving at this blissful economic state, union leaders and critics are disappeared, food and fuel cost rise exponentially overnight and the middle class dies with one striking blow to its pocketbook.

For some reason, I see this massive bailout as a shock or series of shocks, if you include 9/11, Iraq and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, from the Bush Administration. I would not place all the blame on the Bush Administration because this result was a long time coming, but the administration’s behavior did nothing to change the existing order. We are being told by an administration that privatized important government functions such as waging war, collecting and analyzing intelligence that American taxpayers must cut a $700 billion welfare check to companies that profited from the deregulated system responsible for this mess.

What is to come of this shock? I wish I knew. Even the goddess herself Naomi Klein doesn’t know for certain and neither do Congress, the Sectary of Treasury or Wall Street insiders (perhaps they do and this is just another propaganda campaign to do some insidious shit). Funny that Bush and Paulson are against providing aid to Americans on the short end of the economic stick (myself included). Socialism for the elites, and a GO FUCK YOURSELF to us peons of the lower classes.

9th Wonder

This coming Monday is an important day for superhero geeks (myself included kind of. only a partial superhero geek). The long awaited premiere of NBC’s soon to be cult classic, Heroes, returns to the airwaves. In its third season, the series will focus on villains. So, that got me thinking. If I were to gain an extraordinary ability, what type of ability would it be and how would use such an ability (honestly, I can’t of anything meaningful to write about so I picked some elementary bullshit)?

If I were to gain an extraordinary ability, I would want progressive psychokinetic ability. What the fuck is that you asked? Well, my ability would be more than just telekinesis. Moving and breaking objects is just kind of lame although my ability will incorporate those talents. By progressive psychokinetic ability, it would enable me to manipulate all states of matter (solids, liquids, gases and plasmas. a little chemistry lesson for you). With this ability, I could part the Atlantic Ocean, pull apart a car, move a cloud of toxic gas (I guess if I could see it) and fling people in the air as if they were getting abducted by grays all with my mind.

Regarding its progressive nature, I would not initially posses these god like powers. I would have to acquire or mature into the higher concentrated forms of my ability.

I would channel my powers through my hands and eyes. Hand channeling would be the preferred method as it is most potent. Excessive eye channeling would give me nose bleeds and send me into a seizure like state.

As for as wielding this power, I would try my best to keep it covert, but I’m sure a simple asshole moment would have me show it off. I would not use my power for sadistic purposes (unless it’s well deserved) like pushing someone into oncoming traffic or splash someone’s drink in their face. First, I’d use it to enrich myself like robbing top tier drug dealers (spare the low level pusher men) and mobsters. I’d be practically invincible so why not? I have no doubts the government would be on to me by that time since I would probably touch at least one of their criminal assets in my robbing spree. Once the heat gets on me, that’s when it gets epic. The lone god like geek vs. the elites.

I’d battle against the government agents, Blackwater or whoever. They’d abduct my family, threaten them with harm if I don’t surrender myself to them so I give in. Once in their custody, they blast me with radiation which weakens me significantly, I go lose control of my power and dematerialize everything within 500 miles. Destroying everything within that radius. The end.

Oh and my uniform would consist of a black pea coat, a grey dress shirt, black slacks, black dress shoes and a pork pie hat. Yeah, uber cool.

You probably hated reading this as much as I hated typing it, but my mind is shit at the moment.

BEST TOPIC EVER!!!

List your top ten "desert island" albums (music you couldn't survive without if you were inexplicably stranded alone in the tropics), why you chose them and a link to info or a video from the artist(s). Your iPod, boombox or record player has an unlimited power supply, but you may only carry these 10 albums (no singles).


Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life
I cannot live without this album. That's it.
Sir Duke

The Brand New Heavies - Brother Sister
A lovely acid jazz record that soothes me when I'm down.
Never Stop

James Mason - Rhythm of Life
A great album that epitomizes the soul jazz sound of the 70s. Good record to chill out to and pass time.
Sweet Power Of Your Embrace

A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm
Tribe is the only rap group whose music I dig and enjoy. Their lyrics are coherent and intelligent. Tribe's love of jazz is evident on each track which beat sampled one or more classic jazz tunes.
Bonita Applebum

RAMP - Come Into Knowledge
This is a rare gem for any jazz head. It keeps me cool and at ease.
Daylight

2000 Black - A Next Set Of Rockers This is a great indie gem out South London. A mix of broken beats, jazz and R&B. This album chills me the fuck out while driving or just unwinding.
So Right

Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun
Usually, an artist's sophomoric release blows, but defintely not in the case for E. Badu. This album is perfect. It is one of the few albums I can listen to in its entirety. The instrumentation is organic and alive. The lyrical content diverse, smart and thought provoking. One of the best contemporary R&B albums ever made.
Didn't Cha Know

Paul Simon - One Trick Pony
This is the record I turn to when I feel like shit. It's my therapy. Has a nice blend of rock, blues and R&B. A perfect fusion.
A Long Long Day

Steely Dan - Aja
This is the album that got me hooked on Steely Dan at the tender age of 11. The naritives and creativity both musically and lyrically by Becker and Fagen is something that cannot be replicated. These men are true masters of their craft.
Black Cow
Peg

Donald Fagen - Kamakiriad

A nice soulful and jazzy record by a living legned. Fagen's lyrics are so rich and imaginitive. Its a true musical trip without ingesting, snorting or shooting up something.
Snowbound

Ghost Of The Past

How fair is this and what does it say about the United States legal system?

I am quite conflicted over the outcome of this particular case. As a black American male, James Ford Seale should remain in jail until death for his past violent transgression, but legalistically and as a firm believer in equal application of the law, Seale’s attorney made a convincing argument that warranted his release.

While the murders committed by Seale and his associate were heinous, as one of the victim’s brothers echoed, the truth has been revealed. For the rest of Seale’s natural life he will live with public shame of being an evil, murdering racist piece of shit. From the article, Seale would have had access to cancer treatment in prison. Hopefully, he is not able to afford or receive such treatment on the outside. Harsh, yes, but he deserves it. If you were able to drown two young men because of their skin color and who were of no threat to you, then you don’t deserve shit to alleviate your pain. At some point in his life, he must experience some form of physical pain and agony comparable to what his victims felt.

Legally, he deserves to be released. The law weighed in his favor. I do not see the outcome of this case as an indictment against the American justice system. It wasn’t a race base law that set the statue of limitations for kidnapping at five years and the feds case was weak at the time.

Seale is in his last days. The truth is out. The world knows of his depravity and inhumanity. He will die as a murderous racist piece of shit which is fine with me. Truth trumps vengeance and revenge.