Political Beast

Food Safety and Modernization act

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:56:00 +0000

Food Safety and Modernization Act being stalled. Harkin D-IA and Enzie R-WY need your support. Big Ag and Lobby groups with ironic misnomers are blanketing their offices. No mention of price control on seed and fertilizer to protect small farmers. Amendments we need are 1)Compliance Fees and 2)Small Farm exemption, and both are on the table. This should circumvent risible earmark moratorium as it would prevent massive food suppliers from changing states and or litigating they're way out of many infractions.

Sens. Harkin's (202) 224-3254 and Enzie's (202) 224-3424. If you've never called a DC office, it takes 5 minutes, isn't about arguing, and doesn't really factor all what you say. It's more like a running tally of support/oppose on issues; and all they'll ask you for is your zip code. 2 minutes if all you say is "Vote Yes on Food Safety and Modernization Act." Senators feel the super squeaky bum time if only a lot of you're from their state, so don't feel you need to leave them out. Stinking Corn and Hutch R's-TX have identical "unacceptable in any form" stance on the bill. Tell them why they shouldn't.

A beast, a blue, a Hank McCoy

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Expect a reboot soon.

I can't be sure what you can expect. I only know that I am going to try to be more relatable instead of letting the dickbrains drag me down to their level.

Nicer, and with the minimum swears absoluteéy necessary.

Health Now in HD

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Hate This Evil Bullshit

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:07:00 +0000

I hate the world.

I am going through life, abated, when something or someone happens that has me absolutely incensed. I realize I am enjoying the distractions but, my hate of the world is renewed.

I've written dozens of posts here, but I get back to the feeling I have when a truly evil atrocious joke, piece, or poetry burns a spot across my page. I hesitate before I send it out into the world. What makes the difference, you ask? That we relinquish the responsibility for the masses, even to the extent to which we feed the Zeitgeist, the large inexorable woolly mammoth of civilization that won't suffer a few extra calories, here or there.

All the better if some of us can make money for just saying exactly what the rest of us are thinking-Just write what will be popular- Who can fault that, right? They are doing what you would be doing if you had the talent. Plus, taking a strong position and sticking to it mortalizes the Endless vampire news cycles.

Am I giving you mixed messages? I almost love the world. Yet, I hate this fucking evil bullshit and the fact that you cannot tell the difference. I don't think you're necessarily evil. I only know there's a problem when the inept fucking mongoloid Congressmen trying to make the small sliver of people that contact them feel better and complain less don't realize that their jobs are about standards and if allowing, idealism.

Sure, the Inferi sound like humans, but that comes out of a pecuniary efficiency. From a business aspect, there is no problem. Losses being felt in newspapers are healing themselves through cutting edge graphics packages and by introducing dramatic storylines to every fucking fifteen minutes of 24-hour news coverage. Whether conservative or liberal, even when we examine an honest-to-goodness journalist, most of their bosses are micro-managers-penetrating-skulduggery more than they are writers, news editors, or journalists. They don't have to make sense. They are paid executives which pull in numbers. Viewers already hold the prejudices they do. We just sell them the sounding board. No one listens. How is anybody supposed to win? Viewers just need to hear themselves talk back at them. Such is the American infatuation with himself.

Only I don't get my sounding board. I wish there was something I could turn to. Even The Daily Show and Today in Washington don't express the outrage I have for what good Christian Americans did to destroy hope in America, and what they are being used for to destroy today. I am thinking very succinctly about posting a religious experience post to let my little brothers and sisters know what I think we can take from yout religion. We have been doing so all along, and to deny a candid exchange would be to leave it in the hands of the morons and idiots who used to run that Ferris Wheel churches. So I am writing, here and there, and using as few tricks as possible to make the best arguments I can these next few posts. I do my research, and only have not written about health care because it is so difficult to find useful data to formulate an argument.

I want to state here that I am in full support of President Obama and the executive branch. I only think that Congress is full of pussies. Fuck you too, Senator Cornyn. You talk out of the side of your mouth.

I don't know that much about Republican officials. They seem, by and large, better than their constituents. This part should have more detail, but this part isn't directed at Republicans.

I'd wager the better part of my life that 25% of Democratic officials are ill-gotten seats. In lean times, this proportion may shrink, but I tend to believe that the reverse is true. It has nothing to do with being marginal or sensible or right. Politics attracts the personalities that are good at manipulating people, and more than half the time, they are incredibly bright. It's easy to run for elections if you're this type of person. Sure, the defeats are heart-rendering and victories exhilarating, but this type of person thrives on these lifestyles. There are only two types of decisions: unconscious or desperate. With steel resolve, a politician knows the life of desperation. He feels dead when it is over. And if he's lucky, only after he's retired does his appetite become embarrassing.

Congress quakes a confluence of evil. Like corpses filled with lava but bubbling in a matrix on the skin doesn't break or incinerate, only smolder. Sorry to go through some basics here-Maybe I am repeating them to make it clear for myself, but important members of Congress position so that they become experts on their local complexities. The theory is that near enough of them spread across the land sooner or later we have experts on every possible problem the country could face. That the Congress should convene on a Federal level and use tax-levied funding to see what works. For every unique obstacle, we'll have applied aggregate solutions. If they can keep their contractors and sub-authorities honest, soon the public will discover what works best.

The problem is this lowest 25%, the ill-gotten seat, a percentage no less catastrophic in the Republican party. The games they play for blood and glory. The petty Congresswomen only know how to manipulate, and because of the short terms, they can afford to run on their selected issue the duration of their terms. They only refine their bullshit, and learn how to take a hit. They know one day a big hit may come, and if it does, they are not surprised. They have been practicing for this day, and they change their game to Survival mode, hoping to God you and him buy their bullshit so they can come back in as little time as it takes for voters to remember what next thing is most important to them.

Health Care

Biggest problems.

What it needs to be, short and concise version:

1. Satisfying the moral imperative. Health care can kill you. It sounds funny, but if indeed you are dying of a terminal disease, not only must you carry on your fight so that your family doesn't think that you want to give up on life and on loving them, but you must head to your grave knowing that you will leave an insurmountable and rising debt for the family you leave behind. Insurance companies do not like to carry terminal patients with lasting and expensive health procedures and medications. THIS WILL NEVER CHANGE. It is government's omral imperative to look out for the welfare of its citizens when such a large imposition of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness is not only ever-present, but looming larger.

2. Controlling costs. I don't know how to fix this. I don't have the access to understand how new machines are sold or which new medicines are the results of innovative breakthroughs as opposed to marketing for profits. Raising revenue for researching the terminal diseases without raising taxes may not be a possibility, but as a person without medical health insurance (or medical needs) even I would be willing to pay more or even a significantly larger portion of my paycheck if we decided as a country that we would take care of everyone who got cancer. We should be able to indirectly control health costs if we can manage to provide the significantly smaller population of those afflicted with cancer. This can itself show government's commitment to refrain from running health care totally, but also provide a necessary testing ground for government involvement in an expanded and pervasive public health care program.

3. Diminishing abuses and patient med-seeking. I could understand all of these 'grassroots' demonstrations going on at townhalls if they were saying "WE DON'T DESERVE FREE HEALTH CARE." It is a stretch, but make the Medicare/Medicaid deduction larger, but make it so that while not everyone is covered for all of the preventative measures Americans would no doubt abuse, no American would need worry that a serious, terminal illness would wipe out their family as well as extinguish their life.

4. Non-permanent oversight by Congress. Only temporary with the fiat options to forcibly readjust costs that insurance and pharmaceutical companies do to drive their CFOs submissive. Treat for-profit hospitals like businesses and charge them the above corporate rates based of their market share so that conglomerates do not form amongst hospitals the way they have between health insurers, or at least to slow the rate at which this indirect price manipulation is occurring.

5. Political offense. Call the Republican leaders by name pussies. Call them upstarts. Call them by name and accuse them of being bitter, schoolyard bullies who refuse to add anything constructive to an initiative that not only needs to take place, but that will take place. Tell them that they need to realize that if they are this uncooperative, they get no motherfucking cookies- no motherfucking chocolate milk- nothing but sent to bed. Democrats need to use their idealism and take a bullet for the 2010 elections. Obama is still President. He needs harsh and SPECIFIC named criticism to leak. Then he needs to say that those statements, while unprofessional, are not out of character with the opposition named. It will be potentially disastrous if fuckwads can interpret these comments as the President criticizing poor little Republicans as a whole. There needs to be some primary footage or media recording to leak out later so that people, even those opposed to the President or his health reform initiative now, will realize through the battering of a 2010 election that the fuckwads playing for their side are worse than the Democrats they believe are the enemy. I don't like Pelosi either, but she's a sight better than most of what's available.

The Importance of Researching News Stories

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:04:00 +0000

A lie isn't the other side of a story; it's just a lie.

Is Credit Bad For Your Health?

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:03:00 +0000

Two more things today, handled only briefly. The first will be health care in terms of what the Democrats should do to combat the barrage of flaming arrows unsheathed upon this very important campaign promise/legislative juggernaut. The second will be a brief strategy to combat supposed Credit card company fees and penalties to you, brave consumer.

1.
This is the way to come at socialized medicine.

It'll be expensive, but the whole point of pooling resources is so that no one as a United States citizen should ever have to suspend their life and liberty because of the costs they incur just trying to be healthy. That's the nexus. Cancer and Alzheimer's are the kinds of infirmity that take happy retiree out of his home and dump him out the the street. It is a desperate condition, but handling these seriously debilitating diseases will be good for all of us and virtually impossible to vote against. Still, until the streams of revenue can be located, the scope should not only be legislated as limited in scope but also temporary. The implementation of further Heathcare rights will be continued on the basis of concurrent success.

The next part of the health care argument is more callous. We already spend upwards of $2 trillion credit (the opposite of cash money) on Medicare and Medicaid, a number that will only increase for the next 15-25 years as more of those entering their golden years are living longer. Not to mention that in about 35 years, all of us, their kids, will be those golden year patients. I don't know what I will be like when I am that age. Right now I can hardly think about wanting to continue on living if my faculties were significantly diminished. I cannot really understand wanting my spouse to prolong life if she were sick or not present. I do not believe there is value in life inherent to it living and breathing. I believe there is no value in life unless you actively can procure it for more than just yourself. I have not yet hit 30, however, so my mind might change. I'm still as cocksure and manipulative as I've ever been, so I do not expect my views to living will change a great deal. It's funny the things that DON'T change.

The cost of health care will surely not be going down from the sheer number of patients. When insurance companies and hospitals were given the free reigns of the corporate bull, they decided to save or trample patients based on how their outlook for the fiscal year. They lost their ability to go unregulated. Instead of providing good care, they provided more care. They award hospitals that make the extra tests and keep a good stable of lawyers to keep their lawsuits from catching wind. Often, they award patients with connections to medical boards through the labyrinth of personal wealth and big business instead of providing care on any kind of moral basis. First do no harm? Since when did that include Above all, Do nothing that costs too much.

No one is saying that universal health care will be all or nothing. Obama is not trying to get new legislation whizzed through Congress so that the junkie homeless person can go into the Emergency room if it's too cold outside. He is not trying pass laws into motion that will allow pregnant teens to get medical attention unabashed. They are aware of frequent flyers and have a plank in there about monitoring repetitive patients. Personally, I am with the idea of American justice where you can make practically any mistake there is if you're willing to pay for it. They might sway a few Republican Congress members over to their side if they introduced certain plank that incurred extra charges to the guaranteed significant Americans that used a free health care system to the point of abuse. The single payer system is good even if that means we all pay a fee that is a percentage of our monthly wage. That is, the single payer that we all put money into will be part of but in addition to the Medicare deductions each paycheck. No, that is not disincentive to earn more. It just means that you are paying the same amount everyone else is for your health, some people just have more or less money than you do.

This is also separate from Federal funding that is being put into the very good idea of electronic records. You may always know what's going on with your health, but if doctors can access real time empirical data on how patients with certain illnesses are being treated and how they are getting better, well that is good for patient and doctor.

Whatever happens, universal healthcare is sure to keep legislators busy for decades.

It is also incredibly smart for the President to make this Congress' bill. I think it is very likely that a foundation-laying bill will be hammered out by the end of the summer, and that most likely, we will see Obama signing a Health Care Rights bill by the end of November. Of course it's going to toss back and forth between House and Senate a couple times, but bi-partisan should mean more than 1 Senator and 3 Reps from the other side. The biggest problem will be reconciling a private health insurance option with the simultaneous payments into Medicare and whatever trust is set up for pay for the Health Care Rights provisions. The superficial answer is that while you will have the option to purchase personal health care, the incentive to do so will be similar to those of Canadian citizens. They purchase health care if they want to have access to highly desirable doctors and facilities. Or if they happen to be traveling in a country without universal health care. Most likely patients paying for premium care will be able to pay both--- and get good use from both. It will be interesting to see what 'networks' arise in response to "private health insurance" allocations in a new bill.

2.
The second thing is the credit card bill of rights. There are things the President can and cannot do. Barack Obama could sign the bill into law. He couldn't tell credit card companies to chill the fuck out with all the credit cards they issue. He cannot tell them not to charge you once they try to make up black they're losing. Listen up, people. The credit card companies stocks are going to go down. The drops will come really quickly in about 2 months, most likely because credit card companies find it inconceivable that they've been operating above their means. The country needs to have a booming industry, but a lot of the troubles that happened in this country came from rampant spending that isn't getting paid back. If the average credit card debt is $10K credit (the opposite of cash money), multiply that time 150 million people. THAT'S 1.5 TRILLION dollars. It's a wonder and an act of blind faith that those companies are not dirt nap cheap.

As consumers, pay off your credit cards. Use debits for dinners and vacations and such. If you want to make your credit score better, use the 12 month no interest for store credit cards that will undoubtedly pervade the consumer market and pay those off within that year. Get new ones from a new store. The number you have is less important than the amount you owe on them altogether. Use notebooks or some app like Quickbooks to track your spending and payments month to month. I prefer notebooks because I just don't trust that information to the Cloud.

Here's the thing. Start paying down your credit cards now. As soon and as often as you get fees or rate increases you believe are unfair to you, the good credit card holder, let them know that you will not be continuing with their company as soon as the bill is paid. Find out who the person's on the phone boss is and short letter to them telling them that they should really consider how to deal with their parent companies' irresponsible, bubble growth. They will listen. They have to now.

Default Lending

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:58:00 +0000

Just a few things. The real news is jam-packed with frivolity. Whose fault is this? When did the biggest sin currently affecting public policy arise? No, I wouldn't call it the exchange of money for the passage of legislation. Though in that realm of usury and 3rd Circle sins, accepting money directly is sufficiently more corrupt than accepting campaign contributions. Ted Stevens is still a harsh, egomaniac not made for this world so don't let him back in if he tries it. State prosecutors just fumbled the ball on that one. He is guilty. He even got caught. He just didn't have to pay for it. This time.

We cannot do as much to fix politicians at the moment. What we can do is try to whip or waterboard journalistic mediums back into shape. Hell, they have the easiest job in the world. Newspapers and policy magazines still do an admirable job. The former does a good job of providing context and supporting evidence for the brief slant we get from officials. The magazines are built on the edifice of a particular agenda, but they are fair in their imbalance. They provide the critical reader with enough material that we can see the wires and the cutouts. They present manuals for demystifying the magic tricks and obfuscation coming from the many hundreds of magicians both foreign and domestic. You just have to match the manuals up with what the other ones are writing.

Let's try to knock out two things here. Nancy Pelosi and Abortion.

1: Nancy Pelosi knew of torture. The Executive is obligated to inform the Joint chiefs and Congress of war operations, usually the Speaker of the House and specific committee Senators. She was not the only one who knew. If the question is what we should do about it, well then I say lock her up along with Bush and Cheney. If you're shocked that the Democrats were, to say it politely, shrinking violets when it came to standing up to this administration since 9/11, you've not been paying attention. The Democrats were right to support the President. Bush's administration was wrong to take that good will and deceive its citizens while acting like a steroid stepfather over in the Middle East. She knew, but if the Republicans are trying to hammer her on this apparent hypocrisy, they need to punish themselves for being the main offenders. Lock em up! Bulk up the Alexandria Federal Detention Center, put the government officials in one wing, the Gitmo detainees in another, make it a tourist attraction, and show how alive equality and justice are here in America. If Republicans are truly outraged at Pelosi's actions after she found out what was going on, well they should reexamine what they think about Colin Powell. If they are still insistent that she should have blown the whistle on CNN, they should read the US Code 47,606 as pertaining to Powers of War sections b, c, and h.

2: Abortion is repellent. I've seen the videos and read the pamphlets. I know how hard it is to have such a decision touch you. It's brutally painful, not something I'd like to ever have to repeat. I wasn't involved in the decision. It was made without my knowledge and I only found out almost a year later. It crushed me and has nearly ruined me so far as intimacy goes. I do not wish that pain on anyone. I recoil when I hear that the right to abortion is only the woman's decision, I have never considered the choice of terminating a pregnancy an area of State or Federal governance. Whether you would like to save the babies or not, you cannot use your religion as justification. If so, you are as guilty as Pelosi when is comes to knowing about the suffering, greed, and murder that occurs on this Earth with so little as a Bible college or tubes of toothpaste sent their way. God, if he exists, is not going to punish you for voting for a man who supports a woman's choice while letting you off the hook for the 50 other injustices you daily come in contact with your casual dismissal. While I do not desire a nanny state, I do think that a social more can be implemented without a religious case being made, and a limitation of 1 abortion be allowed per woman per lifetime. Having shared the burden of an abortion, essentially without notice, I also would prefer criminal fines for mothers and fathers who try to stave off the responsibility of making this serious judgment.

Oh yeah, and teach kids that while Abstinence is best, condoms are relatively effective. Also tell them that sex is an awkward and ridiculous thing, and there are a lot other things they need to get good at before that will make the getting of sex much easier down the road. Perhaps here school can also teach something about marital ethics during their sexual education class. You can get AIDS or something else awful from just one unprotected coitus. It is abominable to lie to teens about the ineffectiveness of condoms. Talk to your kids. Don't always be their friend. They need guidance. Sometimes they need a villain. You are that parent.

Torture Or What We Really Need To Worry About

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Tue, 12 May 2009 07:01:00 +0000

Amidst the looming and interweaving topics clouding American judgment on what we really should be dealing with, let's dispose of the torture situation.

We cannot rule torture completely out in all situations.

We cannot make it standard operating procedure. If torture is going to be used, a clear line of responsibility should be drawn. Bush did know and approve of torture. It was 'legalized' by a series of letters by military lawyers, Rumsfeld, and Rice. Bradbury and Bybee are the patsies so everyone higher could keep their names out of the fire. This is the greatest political legacy Bush left, the Domino Demagoguery. Every ill the Bush Administration faces is simply the work of some dynamic undersecretary or demi-God official that got all of Bushie's good intention turned around. We remind you not out of spite, but because we should all be aware when governments at the state and locals levels echo this strategery.

We cannot torture out of emotion and without just cause. The biggest problem with Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay torture techniques was that it was done not only by CIA officials but also by untrained US soldiers, and privately funded, independent security forces. This loose approach to the collection of information lead to lots of bad intel. We stormed into innocent homes and friendly villages, bombed country sides and empty bunkers because our detainees wanted the torture to stop.

We are fighting a war without borders, without generals, and without a long term objective. It is a fallacy to believe "We are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." That is true only to the extent that our deployed soldiers and overseas citizens provide closer targets. What the US needs most is the spread of our most basic conviction: That America is good. Not every citizen is brave enough or equipped to play ambassador in the Middle East. So we should be damn grateful to soldiers that both learn the significance of Muslim and Arab; but also teach, by example, the valor and honor of being American. Indeed, they must be better than a large number of us. Counter-insurgency implemented by Gen. Petraeus will prove to be ineffective in the short term but possibly the solution to permanently shifting developed Islamic countries over to the side of religious tolerance and vigorous trade. Iraq will no doubt erupt once US forces leave. It will be short-lived however, as the majority of Iraqis want to return some semblance of regular life. Seeds have been planted, and they see the next obstacle as standing shoulder to should with nations like Saudi Arabia and Iran. Gen Petraeus' problem is now recruiting soldiers who can jive with the mixed-in, ambassadorial, counter-insurgency strategy that puts US soldiers in direct contact with local populations in order to shift their allegiances from Taliban to us, the Peacekeepers.

Now, What We Should Really Be Worrying About. The Threatdown for Obama's Administration and the forseeable future.

1. Right-wing Agit-prop
2. Iranian Nuclear Weapons
3. The Budget and Banking Pitfalls
4. Left-wing Agit-prop
5. Russian Military politicking
6. Taliban operations in Afghanistan and Iraq
7. UK Conservative party and Chinese financiers sabotage
8. Unstable countries such as Pakistan and Somalia

Here in my car, I feel safest of all

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Sun, 10 May 2009 15:16:00 +0000

I was watching C-SPAN this morning. I like to tune in at least a few hours every week, and almost every morning after something goes down.

Mona Charen was a guest on Today from Washington. I hear makes a lot of appearances for parenting and motherhood, so I hate to dis her on this of all days. She's an empty head. She represents herself as a syndicated columnist for the National Review. That's not exactly true, even less so if you listen to her. If it was true, her job would be to present rigorous debate in the forum of political punditry. She didn't deserve the blanket attack against Jews from a fellow Republican call-in, but she's nearly as vile in her dismissals of Democratic and Obama actions of the past 110 days. Basically, she is boring. Check her out and vilify her on her sites and to the editors of papers she's syndicated to if the feeling strikes you. I'm sure it will. And she just does not justify our aggravation.

Now what I really want to talk about.

Stress tests seem to be an exercise of Government control over financiers. Banks are mandated to reduce costs by these stress tests. Essentially, they are told they must generate liquid assets in about a month. This should allow Geithner's team to understand how banks have previously hidden bad assets, and simultaneously help the banks to reduce operating costs.

I can understand how there appears a disconnect between my previous post and this one. Banks are local and must survive. The Difference is that auto companies can try to survive no matter what country they are in. They've informed the Treasury they will not survive unless they cut their costs, cutting jobs, and manufacture offshore. However, factory towns are decimated in the process. Here is a point where I disagree with Geithner's plan. Do we really need auto companies to survive? Banks are integral to the fabric of even neighborhoods, but wouldn't we just buy a better car if American companies could no longer produce them?

Bailing out banks helps wealthy financiers as well as middle income mortgage payers and lowest bracket survivors. Bailing out auto companies when they are doing little to nothing to protect American infrastructure, consumers, or their employees makes little if any sense. SO should the taxpayer save them?

I will continue to investigate this further, but my gut feeling is 'No.' This is meant to appease voters in Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois who thought Obama was going to swoop in and save their jobs. Unfortunately, auto companies are worried primarily about their bottom lines. Their profits should not be a government concern.

To hammer this home, I stated in my last post that Socialism has some very pertinent and useful applications in the automarket. Innovate! should be the bumper sticker that carries this point across. If American car companies don't want to share its breakthroughs (and we cannot really afford to as yet) with foreign companies, we should develop a new engine or fuel delivery or core technology that is patented on these shores, uniquely American, and marketable to the globe. This is a place where Big Government can do the job that much power is warranted for. They should mandate that these American car companies monthly or quarterly think tank their ideas until they revolutionize the personal vehicle. Treasury, Commerce, Ways and Means, Republicans and Democrats together should be force the R&D of American auto industry to meet and share this information with each other until someone breaks the riddle and gives us something both economically and practically solvent.

Maybe then we can stop with Green energy lip service and tackle the Power Grid next.

And don't forget the assuredly fatal problems of Social Security and Medicare if nothing drastically wise gets done.

Now a gay woman killing the Liberty Tree of America.
.
.
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Naw, just kidding, It's Wanda Sykes being funny at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.

Happy Mother's Day.

Deprivational Therapy

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:13:00 +0000

Obama's economic plan is a gamble, and if the well-to-do are going to scream "Holy Bloody Murder!, Obama is destroying the American way of Life!" we are going to have to stop them.

Figure out what the most is you can spend this year on buttressing the economy. Now cut that in half. Cut that in thirds if you are truly a conservative economist. (You still have the second and third budget to 'correct' the course.)The goal of reintroducing confidence in the economy seems a little far-fetched. Even more so since the only way companies dig so far out of the holes they've dug is to innovate, drastically improve their costs, or miraculously improve their market share. The biggest concern that Treasury Secretary Geithner has is on the innovation front.

Even when companies are able to have a breakthrough technology, it is not always accepted on the domestic much less the global market. Take a look at Dean Kamen's company DEKA. He's responsible for the gyroscopic motors of the iBot/Segway, and the self-contained water purification system that could wipe out 1.8 million deaths from waterborne illnesses each year. The top brass in the US and at WHO may not want to save that many people's lives in Third World countries, but this is not moral absolute yet.

We can only be good people if most of us are good people, and that ain't the case.

Auto companies are cutting their costs, discontinuing some brands, spending less on advertisement. They are highly exposed, however, as they are half-heart pursuing the oil companies and old ways of doing business(cynical and easier route) and only quarter-heart pursuing new technologies. They would really like to, so they imagine, but their reluctance only aids the improbability of their company striking it rich with the breakthrough. Here is a place where Socialism or the evolved and untested principals of Parecon (Participational economy) could manifest. International car companies are present in the United States, but anyone in the world would love it if they could solve the Chinese and American consumer problem. GM and Ford are experiencing from revenue influx from the novelty and status their cars bring them from foreign markets, but that will be short-lived. What we need are separate corporations working independently but then clearing all of the paths to corporate espionage by sharing designs and blueprints directly. I don't mean by giving GM the plans for Volvo, but by deciding together that an New Engine must be made. People from Suzuki and Honda and Ford and GM will all work separately, but at least once every quarter until this Engine is built and marketable, they will come together to share designs. The 2-day showcase for the public after the week long collective. After the design is made and we find something to replace the combustion engine, then they can go their separate ways back to trying to destroy each other. Right now they are all playing a public face of Green Innovation, but little is being done, and significantly less is being spent on R&D. Some companies seem to just be spending the money for the news coverage.

Give oil producers a price floor. Give Americans a price ceiling. Tell the oil manufacturers to get their costs down, and we're happy doing business. Work with OPEC but see if they want something other than defense dollars.

Banks. Just as they over-speculated, you have taught Americans to over-speculate. Just like in politics, sometimes you lose. Hard. Bush exemplifies two things you should not be tired of hearing now or EVER. They need to be ground into your brain-dome so you never forget it. If you want to elect an idiot-King, make them Vice-President. I think that Biden is actually effective as a VP for bringing the plaintive comments and old granpa austerity to the Executive. Don't you assholes make the comparison to Sarah Palin. She would have made an excellent Vice President, but I am convinced that under that strain of all the 100 days, McCain would be very sick or dead, and we would be far worse off. Palin as President would probably lead to pandemic Murder-suicides and the first murder-suicide to touch the White House. Sarah Palin knows some weirdos, so if it wasn't immediate, it was gonna be the in-laws. The Most Important and Second Success the Bush Legacy left (that you should always remember) is that he represented the elite notions big business has that they are entitled to their money.

(I cannot, as yet, comment on the stress tests.)

Capitalism: supplying the best products/services at the best price to serve the needs of the consumer

Corporate, legal-purchased definition of Capitalism: supplying demand enough to keep consumers buying things they don't need and if we're really good, things they don't even want. We could sell them a product, but they pay more for a dream.

Capitalist Pig: Them with enough money already they feel forever entitled to their current level and that they and their children deserve more. "Somebody's gonna get rich and somebody's gonna have to pay" is a mantra well-known in these circles. They makes decisions that effect thousands of people and do not always care how those people are effected; the bottom line is all they care for.

And I know how mentioning the name Bush sparks ire in your some of your eyes so that you cannot maintain focus on the important argument, but Bush was responsible for the 3 and 4th highest budgets in the history of the country. Most of that money apparently vanished. It is because he is a capitalist pig, and he believes that any of his deficiencies should be paid for by regular people.

There is less of the crony-minded commercialism coming out the Obama White House, so maybe this deviant, criminally negligent behavior will come to more of an end. I am very sure that Madoff is not the only person running a scheme like this. Understand that Obama is in a very difficult place. We have institutionalized injutice, a pay-to-play legal system, corruption with proper protocols. He loves America and understands that not all of this came about because of evil malingerers. Many of the safeguards in society that keep evil men in business are twisted from the good these safeguards meant to protect. You should check the AP wire stuff that doesn't get printed.

Obama is trying to account for all of the dollars spent. And he is thinking like a poor man (there is the gamble.) The good thing is that he also looking out for the poor men and women in the US. The maxim goes, If you are going to spend your hard-earned dollars, you better have something to show for it.
So I am glad that most of what he is spending will go into tangible improvements in the American way of life. Money is being spent, but that's money that should have been invested for the past 20 years. He is President. He is only guaranteed 4 years. If the American people are steered by their fears and not their heads and not their hearts, he's got to make the biggest dents in Americans' foreheads before he's out.

Homeowners have to take a hit here. Cities and Munis are going to have to take a smaller cut on property taxes. That will help. City planners cannot simply appraise homes at increasingly higher values according to real estate prices and re-zoning adjustments. That has been the Space Dollars episode of South Park, and it will lead to a future bubble burst/economic downturn. They have done this for decades in El Paso, and they are trying it in more and more places to try and boost State and Local revenue. There need to be methods of turning vacated buildings and offices productive by unconventional methods. Houses need to be revalued and in a way that perhaps re-values all mortgages and house payments to less than what they currently are. The banks should do this themselves but, with benchmarks. Regulation is going to need to take place in a variety of business sectors, particularly the ones that provide generic help to any member of any state. Too much regulation by way of standards still has the possibility of hurting smaller franchises, and they need protectionist policies. Small farmers to medium agricultural operations really need to be protected. Monsanto should be put out of motherfucking business. They are killing small farmers and poisoning you.

I've meant to start posting again the day of his 100 days. I should be back relatively regularly now. Next time with links and pics like normal.

Party for 2

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:36:00 +0000

It is curious how the Republican party thought they'd solved it. Especially since it is the end of the Republican party as they know it. I am skeptical to think a man like Karl Rove is motivated by anything like principles, but one thing that he believes in is that 10 years before the end of the Cold War, America found its center. I do not know anything about the downfall of the USSR, but I'm sure that if they had a guy like Rove, they'd execute him. Unless he was doing the executing.

Yes, we can all be glad we are neither former Soviet Russia or Fascist Germany. Yes we can.

I saw this weird speech from Ron Paul addressing members of CPAC. Here's their agenda for the annual conference, this Feb 26-28. Whether or not we can take them seriously will come down to whether or not these youngish Republicans can separate themselves from the current Party Machine while keeping those dollars.

Have you ever worked for a manager that, goods to gods, you would swear they wouldn't be able to do the jobs for what they so fervently harass your fellow underlings? Usually, the business model encouraged this behavior. All of the blame and intimidation flows down through multiple levels of management until it trickles down to you. Taking their shit is an unwritten part of your job description to hide the fact that no one above you has their shit together; you just have to listen to the bitching. And don't do anything that could get you locked up.

Masking the current Conservative movement as a return to Goldwater/Reagan/Gingrich politics is a defense plan for the Republican sham. And we have 10 years to defeat terrorism, find our center, and create a viable two-party system. Not with a photo. Not with a constant media feed. Not with empty rhetoric.

I don't think that a man like Karl Rove or Stephen Colbert or George Bush or Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow or Tina Fey believe that America can solve any problem in 10 years. (I only use that number arbitrarily as that's roughly the time it took to get pictures of Americans on the Moon or Reagan to swashbuckle those commies into submission.) They feel compassion for America and its struggles, but they don't have faith in the people. Frankly, you don't give them a reason to. I believe it though. For all the problems I have with you individually, I am grateful that there are so many of you making a diverse, miracle of a planet for me. Americans in brandishing unison are like the World's version of superheroes.

The reason we loved Reagan so much was that he made us all believe it for awhile. Capitalism was allowed to run free and the money was good. The 80s were more business immoral than the 70s, but we believed that Capitalism was the new God and answer for all sovereign ills. Reagan, whatever his values were, proves to have been unique where the Democrats at that time did not credit him. His illness and age made him 'dial it in' for his 2nd term, but the man he was in the 1st term allowed for it. The republican thought they'd solved it. Get a moral, stubborn, charismatic Leading man, and America will fall at your feet. Give 'em a Reagan, and we'll give them what they need. Bush is no Reagan. Bush II is no Reagan. Steele is no Reagan. He's not even a Sharpton. He's more of a character from TGIF family sitcoms trying to play it 'ethnic.' Jindal is like Chez called it, Kenneth from 30 Rock. No amount of stupid human tricks will turn your party around. Since you are not willing to apologize and move forward with a sharp, steady eye, you must abandon ship.

Obama is your Reagan now. Just as Reagan won the recenter privileges, Obama now was earned it. Give it some time. See how it is. It couldn't possibly be as bad as you are saying it is. and what's more, the outlandish things you say leave America with only one option. We are not going to board your Crazy Train.

Judd Gregg fucked up. Ron Paul is playing his cards in opposition to the Republican party, still naively clinging to the fact that he can make it his Republican party. Honestly dude, I like you. I'm telling you this because I believe America thrives with at least two parties. The ONLY way that Americans are going to accept a third party is to market it as the new Second party. Ron Paul, you are not in the position to take the reins from a Machine. Ditch those assholes. The only way they will ever change is when they die of old age or the guilt and hypocrisy of their vice. By Cardinals, we'd call it Pride.

The economy is in trouble. We are putting our faith in the dips and crests of statistical history. The major stimulus in the economy is coming from government dollars. If you look in the the Economist's Year in 2009, you can see that the graph of US growth these same dips and crests every year. No stagnation. For the past 3 quarters: Stagnation. The purely expansionist business model that exploded in the 1980s has been prevalent for nearly forty years now. America has never, as a nation, had to draw back. Every time we were met with hardship, the economy bounced back better than ever. The depressions might've been deep, but we could rest assured that for all but a latent period in the early 90s, the booms were massive.

The way I see the economic plan: It's a gamble. But what do we do when we spend money and we don't have a lot to spend. We put our money where we'll have something to show for it once it's spent. That is one of the main points of this second major stimulus package. The first one, Bush authored and passed along through 2009, threw money at the problem and over half of it is unaccounted for. We should try the people responsible for this treason, or at least this theft. It would probably be enough to seize their assets. They deserve to be dragged into the streets and torn to pieces by hand by the people they've robbed, but only if we're talking about justice here.

Obama's plan is a move towards socialist economic theory. That's not such a bad thing. I have always supported socialist thinking, but concurrently realize that a major problem with it is its lack of incentives. The best and the brightest should have more, and they should be able to work to whatever they choose to add to the overall productivity of mankind. The major destructive force of Capitalism is that is creates individuals who seek to profit without contributing to the overall productivity of God or country. A participational economy is far beyond what Obama would propose, but he is spending the money on education and energy and buttressing the middle class. He is making public risk more public-controlled. The government shouldn't have to deal with many of these problems (it isn't the government's fault that banks fail,) but the darker sides of Capitalism has become too prevalent to be trusted.

You do not fear this, but if the middle class would ever rise for the justified outrages we suppress, the politicians, corporations and lobbies quickly would all know the errors of their ways. More on economy in the future as this one is running long.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - GOP Govs at Odds

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

If you're feeling the Daily Show, you should check out the Obama is Hitler spot from Jason Jones? Where is that guy? Wasn't it Sam Bee that had the baby?

If instead you want to see all of that Ron Paul CPAC speech, here it is in three parts. He touches a lot of his regular points. You shouldn't be shocked by any of his shocking statements. He's been saying them for years now. The important thing is that he is raising his dissent inside the Republican epicenter. And he obviously has people behind him.

This last part is a different take on the war on terrorism. I do think he's right that Osama Bin Laden likes our Middle Eastern policy, but not as much as the oil companies do. He doesn't mention this. His only solution is to remove American interventionist policies from around the world. That's wrong, Ron. If you ever do get your party, drop all the crazy talk. Concentrate domestically but don't screw with foreign policy. It needs to be fixed, but you are not the man to deal with it.

Let's Call Him B-H.

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:08:00 +0000

One of the things that always bothered me about the communication among the Barack Obama camp was that we most succintly referred to him as BO. Some people always tended to use the more formal Senator or President-elect Obama, but for those whom efficiency is a standard, there was no other shorthand more used.

He's elected already. If we call him BH, it's another new piece to the cultural zeitgeist and more of the world making sense. Two scoops of Obama praise. His speech was the culmination of the week and the programming the most adept thank you to the nation for coming through for him. Hopefully the thank yous are over since the even tone of his speech was also his way of saying enough with the freaking fanaticism (though I would guess his nervousness was also reason for the even tone.)

He should be nervous. The whole world is counting on him. Still, the text of his speech far exceeds the delivery today. He deserved it. We have ourselves a President my lovelies.

I will say more about the content of his speech after we've seen some of it in action. Also, I want to find out what Bush's last actions in office were.

Did you check out the new website whitehouse.gov ?

BHO: Not Just The Regular First Inaugural Address

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:42:00 +0000

I am getting really ants in my pants excited about the Monday and Tuesday. I am volunteering for the national day of service and thinking about what can be done in February. I'll let you know when I come up with something. Monday is just a bunch of Obama volunteers talking healthcare at several venues locally. There are a couple of minority factions trying to lobby for Solar farming, Black history month activities involving Barack Obama in public schools, and getting state representatives to deny bailout funding for cable companies (they're asking) unless they help deliver one of Obama's campaign promises, Free Universal Wi-Fi. The current tactic being espoused by MediaMatters.ORG is free universal broadband, but whatever, I'll take anything over the freakin tiered internet that undoubtedly would have passed should another Executive won office. You still hearing that noise up north too? Now she wants to kill beluga whales in addition to polar bears. What, you didn't know that while some glaciers melt, others are getting larger? It's called Springtime. Gosh, I don't think you are educationed like a Governor would be. Who ever heard of a person without executive experience that didn't know what they were talking about?

I said I would never talk about her again. It appears as if we are somewhat unable to because of the stupid rules about terms of office. If we must, I remit we never speak her name. It'll be like that time that boy soiled his pants on the way to Sunday morning church when I was 10. Just too embarrassing to refer to directly.

I couldn't help myself, here is one more slideshow summing up the Bush years. You'll have to click because the Guardian is being really protective of this Steve Bell cartoonist piece. People still supporting Bushie should be ashamed of themselves. Defend whatever ideas you think are salvageable and worth defending but leave Bush's name out of it. He's the best evidence America has seen of how the entire American government can fail its people. We are huge and big and powerful but still not yet invincible. No one is.

This thing will be more link-heavy and informative when things get started again. I really haven't been doing much because there hasn't been much to talk about-- At least not the way I talk about them.

Moving of Minds

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:47:00 +0000

Holy Fucken Shit, Shut the Fuck Up You Spine Red Jelly Fish!

Before we can start talking about the Obama presidency, we should think we could wait til it actually starts. His moves have been spot on by the way. But he's just getting ready folks, ya'llz better duck those eggs for cover.

But seriously, whether you criticize the new President or are so humanly jaded as to gleam a little like old copper by the sea, you probably work for some tiny conservative rag that's always getting it right but no one ever looks to because it's the essence and holiness of Politics that sicks at your soul. And that, my friends, takes time. So hold your collective breath, but not too long. There's moving to do.

Or if you must pundit, reflect on the things we can take in perspective like:

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Good Riddance and Happy New Year!

Let's say we break out the fireworks on a New New Year's Eve. Fresh New Years Eve of Beverly Hills. The CIA Panetta appointment, by the way, is an exercise in focusing the combined efforts of this nations' military and intelligence might. He doesn't have foriegn intelligence experience, but he has been an a President's Chief of Staff. And fucking Arkansas shoot his own sister in the foot cause you were kissin on her Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff. Think Toby even though that Fed Reserve dude bears more resemblance. Calculating and boldness that can get some cooperation with DHS going. Cutting taxes? You know you don't say boo on a President who cuts your taxes. Let's see how strong Hope fuels a confidence shortage. It isn't wholly unlike The day after Christmas. It's a gamble, but if we *wistfully* could just keep the miracle going year round.

Something interesting has happened in my little town. The city council voted to referendum the legalization of marijuana. The argument is that legalization will stop the really massive and terrible Mexican murders and executions to decrease. "Crime is spilling over the border into our homes. A man was tortured." "Four were killed Jan. 1st in Juarez, Mexico." "Terrorists are going to bomb the Rio Grande and break a wide hole where jihadists can roam freely into our country to burn our women and rape our churches!" Thank you Whitest Kids and Brownback, R-KS.

The only short-term solution I can see is giving American citizens special status or consideration for traveling into Mexico. Crossing the border requires a passport for over a year now. It was shortly after that time that the violence in our sister city started to rise. No one was going over to Juarez unless they had family over there, and no one is going over there now because of the fear we might be robbed or kidnapped. The ransoms are usually egregiously absurd amounts of money like 30 million dollars or other such senseless crime. The lack of American commerce spilling over into their city is making the crime business a big time player once more.

That being said, I'd like to say Why pot is a bad idea.

Even if it were legalized, the American population is not responsible enough to handle a hallucinogenic substance. Alcohol may impair judgment, but you can stay high for years at a time, and there's no telling what cockamamie signatories Americans full of pot would be. It is an interesting idea to have something so benign as pot not weigh as a legal worry in life, but the trade-offs in American spirit and productivity are approximate to the costs. To do it to offset crime, as our city council voted unanimously in favor of considering, would be the wrong time to do it in the wrong city. If it is as I expect, wholly an ideological move, then it has already been a success. Good to mention it so long as it doesn't pass.

And if you're trying to point to some classic example to prove your point, let us remember what lesson we learned from recent documentation of one of our greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln.

I bet you thought more of Shakespeare before now, too.

As a general policy, I think that people should have to demonstrate a certain functionality and comfort in life in order to obtain a prescription for medical marijuana. This would take away the criminally violent incentive from the drug business, especially if it were illegal for anyone but the government to sell the stuff in this country. Even if the drug lords could buy the most ingenious Specs. on the market, they wouldn't be able to compete with the quality American agri-business can concoct.

I watched C-Span today and it was right out the gate with Guantanamo Bay. They are going to be relentless if Obama doesn't make filibustering seem like the biggest pussy roll in all of politics. Indeed, there are other ways the game is played and it would be in all our interests if we saw less Congressional bully pulpit.

Obama will remain tough on terror. Just realize this is for the long haul. There is no way to quickly defeat an enemy we've decided is a race, a religion, a people, and a part of the world. You cannot solve this problem on a map. The sake of one for the sake of another, principles are an asset. When it is the sake of many for the sake of just one, especially if that one's pride or any other sin is at cost, principles are liabilities. America will torture but not as a first means, and not to the extent that it becomes unregulated and untrained again. Guantanamo should close.

America the grand and beautiful idea can find another name to call it.

Any time we need to.

An email with the best of the past election, a list of handy informational sites, and the complex breakdown of the sites which will give you a pretty concise rundown of Obama's first hundred days. They are at least what I think he needs to address in the first hundred days and some explication as to the options. Just send me a pm or leave a comment and I will get you the info. Thanks.

How We Are Hungry

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 07:09:00 +0000

Dear David Plouffe,

I want you to send out a list of general goals as part of an annual or biannual agenda. I already see that a large amount of blame is going around on Capitol Hill. Before we can even get started, the people who are supposed to be giving this country direction are trying to take as little blame for the failures of government while assigning as much as they can to former colleagues. We cannot stomach any more of this domino demagoguery.

You asked us for money. You asked us for sweat and for faith and for our talents. You helped President Obama run one of the most exciting and proficient campaigns this country has ever seen. You inspired many of us not to respond to naysayers with insults and ire but with a method of information and finesse. The nation is forgetting this lesson too soon.

The time for gloating and conspiring and fear-mongering must be set aside until a real and advisable direction is set. Firing and having officials resign doesn't get rid of the problem. It just advances the news cycle. We are hungry for more of the good political discourse and real connections we made within our surrounding communities. If the people we've elected need reminding that they work for us whether we voted for them or not, we can show them how little effective they are when they put themselves above their station and their constituency.

I believe that what we need to do in this country is teach our leaders how to talk to us, the People. We have a task not easily achieved or that expects uniform results, but I see Republicans trying to blame a Democratic Congress while Democrats are blaming a Republican filibustering minority. They are trying to expose hypocrisy when most of those points are frame-up jobs part of the daily Congressional agenda. This machinery of politics goes unnoticed because many Americans lead very busy and crowded lives. The over three million people who gave to Obama's campaign are telling you that we can make room for a little more.

Set a national agenda for those cities and towns where grassroots organizations meaning to continue making politics real can all work in tandem. We can be strong locally, but if all our local work is being done in unison, we can effect a more permanent progress in American citizenship and strength. We both need and accept as many brilliant and talented Republican, Independent, Libertarian, and unaffiliated compatriots who do not share our politics to make this journey with us.

Website of the Office of the President of the United States, Change.gov

out of the desert,
Dan Duque

Time Out

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:37:00 +0000

Morning Recitation

The day does not wait for me to start.
Every moment I encounter, I want.
There are those who do not believe in what they can do.
They will try to decimate our world and what we believe in.
These are signs we are in real trouble and due for more.
All of us must preserve a little faith and much fight.
We must both want and give, inform and finesse.
We have no option to quit. Always come back.

I want my brother, my family, my wife to know beauty.
I know this sounds a little cheesy and grandiose.
I am addicted to influencing the outcomes.
We will get exactly what we deserve.
Smarter citizens make better citizens.
They with power will continue to enfeeble the weak.
They are only deluded of their strength if we ignore them.
They remain powerless only if we do not become them.

If you will be any help to anyone else at all and one of us:
You must be aware of every person in every room.
You must know what it is to be unselfish.
You do know that danger is inevitable fun.
You cannot allow yourself to become nervous or panicked.
Regardless of involvement, all actions are apart of the solution.
One of us must have answers for what we change things to.
Not just one, but somewhere in the ones here right now.
Teach and learn, talk and listen when appropriate.

We are the human race, meaning two things:

1.Nothing is as guaranteed as life being fragile, unpredictable, and short.
2.Life is the transmutability of change; reality is harsh and man-made.
And if a third, one must also understand to pass enough along to the next one.

Sweetness

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:06:00 +0000

I'm feeling awesome, befuddled, challenged, and slightly sentimental.

In 'It's black or white' America, I was raised to learn that Republicans were the wealthy who tried their best to preserve their way of living and reward their creative, industrious, intellectual peers while Democrats were those with limited business potential who rallied and decried any injustice visited upon them by the lesser wealthy-- and that the Democratic party included everyone else not Republican.

Welcome to Real America.

I see there is more than a 'fringe' of people who like neither party, do not wish to vote, do not understand what politics has to do with them. I even see it with a good number of people who vote.

I understand, "Socialism!! Muslim!! Elitist!!" is the way Republicans were offered to feel connected the the blighted McCain campaign. It energized them when they showed so little conviction of their own. They just had to repeat it and hope enough people were fool enough to repeat it too.

If you have convictions, then speak them. THAT is how we as Obama organizers were connected and passionate about the Obama campaign. We would have an idea and work within the framework to execute it. You should try it. We need as many equally brilliant people disagreeing with Obama and those that will be part of an Obama administration. I think you'll be surprised when you are listened to.

If you're young like me, you might like to read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. It was my "self-help" book during my past year volunteering and organizing for Obama.

It is unlikely that another party will rise without a stellar candidate, but if there was ever a time to think of rewriting the Republican, Democratic, or some third party's central ideology, that time is now. The Reps seems most ripe and most vulnerable, so I am a conservative who's brushing up on his Republican ideology to see where we can make some improvements.

Anyway, HST's piece of advice to men looking for change but unsure as to how to break the party machinery on either side of the aisles: Campaign like Real People. I will certainly take a lot of great and valuable information and friends from my Obama time (Lord knows part of me wishes we could speed up to 2011) but the issues and problems America faces are far more nuanced and complex than a Presidential race in America allows. Yes, Obama stayed grounded in reality (a far cry from many Presidential candidates before and against him) so we've especially got a lot to look forward to because Obama knows everything he's supposed to.

Wish all of us luck.

For all the people trying to pin down what won the election for Obama, I'm hardly buying the oversimplified loaves they're trying to sell. I just want them to realize two things: (1) Democrats easily could have lost this election. I certainly believe Hillary Clinton believed that anybody could beat a Republican in this election, but if the Reps were always going to go with a flashy dunce for their second horse, someone like Jindal or Romney could have done anyone serious damage. Especially if the Dems pick Edwards? And I'm guessing that close to 37% of America still hates the Clintons. 10 points isn't so much. McCain got 47% and (2)All of the news coverage is redundant and not quite touching on the fact that Obama was against an embarrassingly silly campaign.

The economy made all Obama's ground game this election a cakewalk. The fact that Obama made no large mistake (well at least not one that everyone had to sign on to lacking suicidal ideation) made our campaign unbeatable. All of the comedians and journalists and scientists and Nobel winners and world leaders could sign on because of the finesse and intrepid energy Obama embodies. Many factors helped Obama here, but any one of them different would have meant a slimmer electoral college margin, and in my estimation, a statistically possible loss. That Obama withstood the kitchen sink only informs the Republican party that this technique may not work ever again but certainly will not work against Plouffe, Obama and Axelrod.

I have only had a few days where I lacked confidence in Barack Obama's ability or likelihood in being President. I haven't been sleeping well, but I knew we were doing something awesome.

It's a frightening prospect to have to believe, myself, that there is a good portion of the 46% of people that voted against Obama WHO WILL NEVER find themselves capable of supporting Barack Obama. Hopefully that percentage is smaller than the better number of them who will at least see him as a politician with many qualities they'd like to see repeated in future candidates they nominate and elect.

Only if we are good enough do we make the world a better place.

Top Down

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:07:00 +0000

I know we've got to talk about the economy. It's hitting the fan. Economics is the softest of sciences because no matter how much preparation and study you have for current or years previous markets, there is no reason why such predicating factors have anything to do with the day tomorrow. We may think that common sense applies to economics, but such is not the case. Eliminating risk and spreading trade derivatives? Unlimited leverage and unconfirmed credit? Combating inflation by lowering interest rates? These fools are too cool for school. How else could we go from a free-market deregulation of banks started in the 1980s, and finished by Cheney in 2002 to the nationalization of certain investment, housing, and finance banks in 2008. How else could banks support their business infrastructure with gambling and free-for-all real estate lending unless they knew that the Treasury would step in to make the bad dreams go away. How?

Because America is a nation of competitive believers. We're not noticing that this is the worst type of nationalization. We are trying bailouts that have "worked" in the automotive, airlines, telephone, and utilities industries with the blind faith that we're not as screwed as we think. Deregulation and bailouts can work in the American economy for even vital industries because of the size of the economy and its consumer base. The airlines and trucking industries regulated themselves to some success. The FDA does an adequate job despite feeding us hormones, preservatives, and genetically modified foods. The market creates private institutions to monitor itself. The problem is that banks are not simply an industry. They aren't a sector of the market. If they can make their own rules about self-regulation, when they fail they directly effect the National GDP and all sectors of business. When they went unregulated, we were playing something out of 13Tzameti. Very bad luck even if you win.

The truth is that common sense does apply where we can do something about the economy. This might mean we have to regulate our lifestyles. We don't want to hear that we shouldn't have credit cards unless we're regularly paying them off. We don't want to know that unless we are buying and selling homes, there is no real advantage to owning your house over renting. If you're never going to pay your house off in your lifetime, rent. Don't get the maximum allowable home loan or more than one mortgage. If you are a homeowner and able to make money off your homes, then you are doing it right. Otherwise, find the sweetest spot you can rent and enjoy life. I'm relatively young, but there are some really stylish apartments, houses, and cabins I've found. As there are more difficult items to digest, we'll get to that after we win.

Hang on, now, this is a monster post.

On the upcoming deba(t)cle:

Calling Sarah Palin a champion of women's rights is utter nonsense. It's the same a seeing a Black Republican. It's the same as becoming an Alberto Gonzales. In her mind, she is the megalodon shark who's nature it is to rule the seas of lesser creatures. She might feel righteous, but there will always be a tinge of betrayal when she's among her hockey moms. She certainly seems to affect congeniality, but unless she doesn't understand that women's rights is already defined in politics, she is grossly misrepresenting her position as a champion of anything. Wasilla is a ritchie town north of Anchorage in a state that pretty consistently elects Republicans no matter who they are. Only 51 percent of registered voters elected her, and none of them really care much about national or international affairs.

Palin is exhibiting some of the greatest message discipline I've seen from the Elephants this year, but I can't help but think the reason is that she wouldn't know what to say if we asked her. She's buzzing the codewords that paint Obama as anti-Israel and Big Government. Unfortunately, her "reform" is new breed of conservative that makes government even bigger than their cross-party peers. Her strongest policy seems to be anti-Second Holocaust as long as we're talking Jews. She's inventing definitions of words and policies when she doesn't absorb the weight of the issues. What must she think ethnic cleaning means? Guessing that because she is a woman governor and says she favors equality of sexes, she somehow supports any government measures to build those bridges specifically is as wrong as dong—and she knows it. I was raised Assembly of God. For what good it offers, it also completely subscribes to rote gender roles. The reason she shoots guns and chops wood has more correlation with her daughter being impregnated by a self-proclaimed redneck than her being a champion human. I'm not giving her credit here. McCain's campaign is looking to garner approval by keeping her away from microphones or brokering deals with news outlets not NBC. The McCain campaign was more than willing to point to polls indicating she'd been treated unfairly. You know who doesn't treat Sarah Palin according to approval ratings by the American public? World leaders. It's a sad thing the Democrats have to.

I hope Biden is mean to Palin. I hope he stops and repeats to America what she just said to them. I hope he mangles her phrases piece by piece. I hope he prepares a few questions for her himself, you know, just in case she gets a copy of the test. I hope he doesn't try to attack her weak points---because that's everything. I hope he focuses the attack on a few things Americans can dismiss her for. She waits for the interviewer to answer the question if she can get away with it. She can't even answer the New Republic, American Spectator, the New York Times or the Washington Post--- anything she reads that keeps her afloat the very complicated globe. She had to hire a bloody city manager when she was mayor. She says ridiculous things like 'I am the Governor and I can do whatever I want until the court tells me otherwise." She was not joking a month before her selection when she was asked what the VP does. She believes that John McCain is a maverick with great judgement when he picks someone like her for Vice President. When you pick someone you don't know, you're not a maverick, you're trusting somebody else's judgement.

Plotting those treacherous waters, everyone from the Democrats to the leaders of every other country in the world are not concerned about Sarah Palin's abilities. Everyone including the Republicans are certain they can shoot the gas tank in her mouth if the movie gets too scary. Apparently, Palin doesn't know how alone she is.

Loved the New Yorker cover on her foreign policy experience. Talk about equality. That's bad when you can accurately report with a single cartoon frame.

That should conclude all I'll ever have to say about Sarah Palin.

On Mythologizers:

Americans are ready to have female Governors. Americans are ready to have black Presidents. Americans are getting used to the idea of brown Mayors. Minorites tend to blindly support whomever looks and sounds like them. I have seen it in local politics and it's annoying. I know that the exceptional brown people don't always get what they're worth, and I honestly cannot see the day we have a Mexican American President. I understand why minorites throng the way they do, but so many of the older generation are so rigid in their lore that they practically shoo out any younger people with any talent. Most of the politicians in my town aren't much more charismatic or bouffant than a church deacon. They know their position is precarious, and if too many people notice this fact, their ass is grass. Our change is slow train a coming. So much has already changed in the past 50 years that I understand how the older generation is resistant, but it is up to all of us to work together. Generations insulate too much and society has not legacy and loses its identity. If the capable among the older generation are willing to listen, we are ready to learn. Ideas fuse and divide though a very small, incremental process. I imagine that the changes Obama and my favorite of his younger and older suppporters ask of America might be as impossible as we're told, but they extend far beyond this election, this country, and this lifetime.

Buy a Dylan

Now to the outright evil mythologizers. It might be a good thing to have a nation lead by someone who will not continue the U of C, steroid-mad bulldog censure of anyone they deem an opponent. America can no longer afford dictating its needs and desires to every other nation. OPEC and the European Union ensure us of that. Eventually they'll come knocking. Revenge is a sacred rite. The NeoCons are from a school that teaches free market is the answer to all of society's ill. Dick Cheney has been the President for the past eight years. He has been part of the ideology flowing out from the Heritage foundation, Paul Wolfowitz, Bill Kristol and Irving Kristol Sr., Scooter Libby, Donald Rumsfeld, John Bolton, Robert Kagan, the recently defunct Project for a New American Century (PNAC), the more brand-savvy American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI), and coming soon, John McCain.

John stopped standing up for himself in 2003. By 2006, the McCain I would have voted for over Gore or Bradley or Nader or Bush was gone.

Neoconservatives have a strong pro-Israel stance. Unfortunately, they also have a pro-every other Middle Eastern nation stance, so long as they all remain obedient. This is not a conflict of interest in their minds. They support armament and funding missions with countries who hate each! In the same calendar year! They've backed Pinochet and Bin Laden in the past. There is no morality in their business, and government is just business to them. They are imperialists who more than likely would rather the gas prices remain high. They are nation-builders so long as those nations belong to them. They do not like OPEC or Saudi Arabia but meet and deal with them all the time. It's just business. They are more than willing to spread economic global interdependence(read: at peace with wars) with whomever might entangle themselves irrevocably. What began as a paradigmatic assault on Communism now has no worthy opponent left to fight. China has too many able-bodied. Russia is too happy with their oil wealth and as yet, remains too small. Those darn terrorists are too squirrelly and give bad intelligence too often. Iran only spends 4 percents of what the US does on its military. South America? They can only have wet dreams about N. Korea so many times. Good thing that missile slut Pakistan keeps flirting at our helicopters. They may get some sleep yet. They can't wait to send them our #1 export as soon as they start playing with the balls. Of course I'm speaking of top-shelf, wax-sealed, oaky Democracy®.

Single malt.

While they're at it, they are unloading on the only worthy opponents left standing in their way. So-called Americans that don't believe we're number one. They know that these people are really just Communists . They are principled enough to attack Democrats or Republicans so long as those targeted know enough to inform on them, and they've accepted that some casualties go with defeating these people.

I am being a bit unfair.

They are not all-powerful, but they have been gaining prominence and influence ever since Ronald Reagan concentrated their numbers in his administration. They only think they're all-powerful. Schemers like Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, and Cheney have no problem playing with the fates of many. They believe we are worse off without them. What was once a dwindling movement now has seeped into all facets of politics and could be responsible for the current deterioration of goverment.

John McCain is not one of them fully. Not yet. Several are employed as campaign advisors, and there are a couple up+comers we might be mentioning a few years from now. Unless he's a really strong maverick, he's gonna have to argue against their researched and concocted research--the same kind of experience with a successful record of fabricating national threats. I'd wager Neoconservaties have grown to a full 20 percent minority of the Republican party, though some may be abandoning ship into these 3rd parties. They are just patient enough to deal with so called paleo-conservatives, Newt Gingrich/Pat Buchanan/Robert Evans/John McCain types. They shouldn't at all be able to call Democrats Big Spenders and Big Government. No administration has spent more than Bush's administration. Though they, like the Borg, are physically adept at assimilating new races. You might becomes a master of the universe, but the trade off is that you become a mealy, lumpy business suit. What is my indirect proof? Leo Strauss. I know it is not logically connected, but here is his contribution to the birth of neoconservative Democracy®.

From Political

Possibly the one that made all the other mythologizers great, Leo Strauss believes that power is held by those who make the magic happen. Rather than supply truth liberally to a citizen, it is much more effective to give him an expansive, heroic belief. A man who will believe in power is more unwavering than a man who intellectually comes to his interpretation of truth. It will be less effective if our power wizards and chieftans try to compete with God, so it will be wise to ally our anointed mythologizers with the Word of God. Strauss believes that it is important to have religious conviction even though he did not practice any faith himself. I think he just wanted to say that politicians should let God take credit for their being here. It has worked in N. Korea, the Middlle East, America---everywhere but Antarctica. Rather than destroy tomes of history, Leo Strauss believed it will be more important to change it whenever it suits us. Believing in it ourselves is not as important as making others believe in it. Even more stunning, it seems implied to me that it is important that the mythologizers NOT believe their stories so as to remain ahead of both their followers and their dissenters.

Now think of people who fit this definition.

From Politics

Leo Strauss

Not believing the shit they're shoveling---can you think of a pundit or politician this doesn't apply to. I am not calling everyone a neoconservative. I hope they are less than 20 percent of the Republican party. My point is that this neo-conservative modus operandi is being adopted in its barbarian forms by almost every person who whiffs their ugly ass into politics. I'm talking to you Glenn, Hannity, Olbermann, Mathews, O'Reilly, Murdoch, Kristol, and Rove. We will see if Maddow keeps up her level of integrity. Kudos to all you regular people talking real policy with your fathers even if all they want to hear about is their grandchildren. My faith in this country is strengthened every time I run into one of you liberals at a pancake house or coffee shop. You actually are most often libertarians or veterans or dads, but you are the kind of liberal that I am. Not willing to be fooled into following in one direction because of what the beat of the drum sounds like. Skeptical because I know people are trying to fool me, not because I have given up hope. Liberal because I've been caught unawares before, and I didn't like the feeling.

All politicians may lie, but the Republicans have the megalomaniac cheaters and thieves in their corps. These smiling, congenial, outright evil men are not fully in control yet, but they want to be. Under the McCain administration, they would have a darn good chance of taking over. Karl Rove and Robert Kagan are already embroiled with his campaign. Even good soldiers grow old and tire of fighting.

On the Hotbed:

Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia are under two different subheadings. First of all, the regular people are all tired of being shot at. They are hoping that Americans will get the hell out fo the country. "Mission Accomplished" was a win-win. President Bush got approval ratings and Al Qaeda got Americans to leave the Holy Land, the first reason cited for bombing the Twin Towers. Even non-combative Arabs were happy about taht one. It is one fo the greatest insults in Islam to have infidels present in the Holy Land. Keep them importing and the people will be happy enough. Leave cordoned off Iraq and the citizens will be tempted to take their oil fields back. Secondly, Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia are their oil. The world will run out of oil as we insanely increase our need for it, but it isn't close to running out there. Iraq is greatly under-drilled. Iran is being paid by oil companies like BP and Exxon not to drill their oil. Saudi Arabia is the heart of OPEC, and can pretty much punish any other nation for producing too much oil, including the US of A.

Just a brief aside, South America has a giant, recently discovered oil field in the Pacific. It's owned by Brazil and Venezuela. We should look to them before we drill our lands. Yeah, I know Hugo Chavez hates us. Forget taht he's a brown man that hates you and what's the big deal. He's a nothing, and not because of the color of his skin. Drill Baby Drill! is just safer and more lucrative for oil companies in the United States. I don't know how Gingrich and Palin think that will last. Republicans have no interest in bringing the price of oil down unless it helps them win an election. Our country currently produces 8 millions barrels of oil domestically per day. I'd think that most people who are living beach front are also Republican and wouldn't approve of the smell or the pollution. Some have learned to live with an oil refinery in this town, but nobody is happy about it. Once an oil company ruins the real estate prices or beautful and precious Alaskan wilderness, oil drilling will not be so popular.

As far as foreign policy on trade goes, I will try to cover Russia, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, China, Taiwan, Pakistan, India, Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan on the next post. We've probably both had enough by now.

One last thing.

Know your lobbyists.
It isn't an easily navigable site, but if you really want to dig something up on lobbyists, there is some help. You have to have pretty specific information to snatch any results, so this isn't your starting point. Once you find what you need, you can search through copies of primary documents, trace contract payments, flesh out affiliations. Thanks to the Lobbying Disclosure Act.

Sarah Palin, Everyday Woman

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:08:00 +0000

I have a long post covering everything from the past month or so, but that doesn't have time for me right now.

But about the subject and title, Everyone just needs to chill the fcck out. Pregnancy was a completely unknown subject here in this election, but Palin actually seems a very adept pick now. Just two months left and people are seeing a softer side of McCain. Simply by association.

Who you gonna believe, baby? Me or your lying eyes?

If the Republicans succeed in making this another election about Nothing, (and the Democratic party responds with an equally favoring whirlwind of react quotes and conspiracies) people will go into the voting booths thinking that this election ain't too big a deal after all. I'm just gonna go with the Reality Television vote. I'm gonna pick the wazoo grandpa and the hot librarian. Maybe they'll appoint Mr. T, Joe Lieberman, and formers CEOS in all of the cabinet positions.

Casually but respectfully dismiss the antics of the Republican party, but don't give them all that steam. That only encourages them into more of this behavior in the future. And Remember, the Republican party banks on your ability to Not Give a Shit Either Way. That has been the secret to their success.

It'll stay that way in 2 months or 2 years if we keep acting like that horny local news reporter who covers the politician hoping to speak truth to power but ends up going to bed with dirty political scandal. Also, in two months or ten months, we will also really know how far along the pregnant daughter really is. After the election. I'm sure that came out in the vetting process.

One word of advice, America, Keep Your Panties On!

It's Simple Kids, Think of Your Own

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:43:00 +0000

Barack Obama's plan is little more than basic, responsible accounting and budget decisions. He believes in paying for programs as you go. This principle shouldn't be foreign to government, but nonetheless is little heeded in Washington.

Here is some background to what is called Paygo budgetary propriety.
Paygo PDF

Here is a trail of the missteps taken after PAYGO was abandoned.

Nov 2004 Better look out.

Mar 2006 Be ready to move.

Sep 2007 Before it snaps your legs off.

Feb 2008 So depressing, they even made these guys quit keeping count.

Now to the good stuff.

By electing Barack Obama, we will have a President in office on the side of the people. He understands that the accomplishments President Bush has made for friends and associates ultimately hurt this nation and them that have made personal fortunes with his help.

Barack's themes of Hope and Action are the clarion calls for Americans to represent the society democracy can allow. A strong middle class and opportunities to compete in a free market are vital to American lifestyles both here and abroad.

Here is the short version.

Aug 2008 or if you like,

Here is the more comprehensive plan.

Barack Obama will not be able to get everything he wants, but his plan represents a significantly prosperous shift that will benefit the majority of Americans. He will prioritize economy above all other domestic issues. Any changes he makes will be presented and explained to the nation.

This is not a matter of Democrat versus Republican. The United States of America is the epicenter of democracy for the world. We must show the world the benefits to democracy, free markets and capitalism. We must stand firmly against autocratic and plutocratic policies this country tends to adopt in times of stress and conflict. We must be at our greatest when times are at their most difficult. 'We' is everyone in America with ears, but especially the younger ones. We are the ones especially that need to show the rest of the world and the guaranteed opposition how their democracy will work better.

El Duque- El Paso Grassroots

El Paso Grassroots

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:42:00 +0000

delivered July 23, 2008 El Paso Main Public Library before forming our society.

the Philosophy

If you are hearing this tonight or reading this some day farther on from now, you are being gifted a true opportunity. It’s something you take with you everyday. It’s something you will have to carry out with you when you leave the room. American citizenship is taken for granted most of the days that we live. That’s one of its luxuries. When it’s time to pay our taxes, to visit the Naturalization office, to find a school for our children, or a home for our college graduate we think of it more as a burden. You look at the national polls and you’d think the bulk of Americans treat this living contract as some sort of gym card or shopping center membership. Indeed, that is the best example most of us are ever shown.

We are going to be a little different. We are going to be so different, we are going to go back to what the great men and women of American History have given us. We are going to ask of America as much as the great thinkers and progressive organizers have asked of her. We are going to honor the American Revolution, the Frontier Times, the families of the Great Depression, and that greatest generation that lived through WWII. There is much to learn there, and we will hope to God that we can live up to their standard. We are certain that a change needs to occur; in the plainest of terms, that change begins with accepting the responsibility and the burden that comes with living in America.

I am asking you to give your time and your money. I am not asking on behalf of any group or party. I am asking as your brother. I am asking this as a favor for your brother. I am your brother asking you to help me nourish your neighbor. See where a person puts their money and their energy, and you will know that person’s worth. I am so glad that you are here with us tonight. You see, I was asked to come forward.

Our change is a grassroots movement. That means that the people and the places will pass through a thousand phases before our momentum gives over to another ball rolling. We sharpen each other’s skills, multiply in our strength, and pass along the best of our abilities. If you cannot give money, then give your time. If you can offer expertise, please take the lead in your area or with an event. Show others you can do it better and we will listen and learn. Grassroots is a philosophy that gets its power from everyday people like you and me. Ego is wasted here. If you have a good idea, a technological advantage, or a hidden talent, we would love to have you with us. America gives more than it takes of its citizens. We would like you to give back freedom and liberty to America. We’d like to take freedom and liberty back to our homes.

We are but one grassroots movement. We are called El Paso Grassroots. We believe electing Obama is the bridge to what needs to come next in America. Winning in Texas is the point of forming this permanent society, but it is not the whole story. We are not accepting public funds or PAC funding. If you cannot make politics your life, we are not asking that. Make it your hobby. The idea is that if you invest yourself into it a few hours a week, you focus, and you get better at it. You even get to show off a bit when you get the chance. Give a little something of yourself each month. It’s what you can do, not what you can’t. We get good enough at this, and El Paso isn’t looked at as just a ‘dusty border town’ anymore. It is a proving ground for the future of politics-- a test site for immigration, healthcare reform, and global integration. We realize the position we are in, and we are humbly asking that you step up and take this opportunity for change.

______________________________________________

Thank you for reading. Now do the same in your town or email elpasograssroots@gmail.com for advice on how to get started.

Foreign Intelligence

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 05:15:00 +0000

A play by play on the FISA 2 vote.
I usually do not like Salon, but Glenn Greenwald's assessment is fairly straightforward. Like you, I was a bit wary of Obama's vote on FISA and against cloture. Now I don't feel so bad. He was with them most of the morning, but then once the power positioning was over, he wasn't playing games.

Obama has asked us not to rationalize his actions. We should pressure him and test him. He's gonna do what he thinks is right. So unconstitutional spying is going to be done on Americans and we're going to know about it. Fucking protect yourself. It's not like this is brand new. Free Speech does not necessitate anonymity or faceless volition. I hate the amount of information that is even collected on us. I hate that the government gives itself a free pass at the cost of virtually delimiting anything companies like Catalist, Voter Vault, Google, AT&T, Time Warner, Citibank, Yahoo, and what virtually anyone else might do.

You'll feel a lot more strongly when its your human face on the issue of data mining. Guilt is not the point. These pricks are not always motivated by finding you innocent or sticking to the facts. Still, it is worse to have bad information that cannot be checked and cross-checked.

This is maybe something that should be available. It's unfortunate that completely authoritarian hacks wield it now, but this is a messy business that might be suffering a bit from progressive rails.

I didn't really think I'd say something like that but, it's how I feel.

As for Obama, I do not know exactly what happened. I would guess Feingold, Clinton, Webb, and Specter could tell you better.

Or if you like the Senate session.

You'll need the newest versions of Flash or Real Player depending on how you finagle the C~SPAN site, but you're used to this kind of treatment. I would link to the Bushwackness signing the bill into law, but he's been on his toes lately not to stub any of them on the podium or the microphone.

We need security but, screw him.

Bad Science

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:06:00 +0000

"One of the foremost experts on global warming says he has solved the problem," WIRED magazine reports. Enlist an fleet of supersonic jets to diffuse a chemically stable form of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, allow chemical reaction to bond with water molecules in the atmosphere, and a reflective coating will bounce the heat from the sun back off the ocean. Sit back and watch the world temperatures drop, and Kablamo! global warming solved.

Holy Crap.

That is the stupidest suggestion I have heard to solve this problem. Sulfur dioxide, by the way, is the by product of burning coal. Chemically stable SO2? So at least it isn't radioactive, ionized, or electrically charged carbon gas. Fantastic. There's already a plastic soup layer in the Pacific Ocean. Why don't we just make it a dark plastic soup layer so all that coal smoke becomes unnecessary? I know this is a bit off topic for this blog, but how retarded is this? Has WIRED gone off its rocker? This from the same July issue that argues the Internet will make Scientific rigor in social sciences obsolete. Has WIRED gotten Tired? WTF?

One Horse Shy

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:06:00 +0000

Just a little harmless promotion. I love these shirts.

Buy Dear Republicans

Buy McCain is Old

Buy Oh Happy Day

Buy Made of Win

Buy Every Vote Counts

Do Not Drill Here

noreply@blogger.com (EstlinJack) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:55:00 +0000

Letters sent out to several Senators concerning the issue of domestic oil. I've included one of them just below this paragraph. It is important that you write to them even if its just to let them know how you feel about it. I know it feels like having more oil coming to us would lower oil, but in order for it to make its greatest impact, the oil reserves would be used up in a period of 5 or fewer years. We would be even more dependent on oil since even a modest decrease cut in prices would mean less conservation. As always, I encourage you to follow up any points of interest you read about with your own inquiries and investigation.

Senator Cornyn,

I have written to you on numerous occasions before. I have been impressed with your responses and the apparent tread you’ve made up Capitol Hill.
I am writing because I am deeply concerned about the state of leadership in the
Republican party. I truly believe that you plan on being different once you’ve fortified your position in the party. I know that you have Rick Noriega putting some pressure on your office, but if you are truly ready to start showing some of the leadership that will make you safe with the Texas constituency, I recommend make some alterations to the current plan to Drill Here, Drill Now.
Replacing fossil fuels is a matter or Sooner or Later. It is not a matter of Green v. American Business, oil company profits v. consumer costs, Democrat v. Republican. If we drill in America, we must use a significant amount of that energy to create a market-ready alternative energy source. Iraq is soon going to let Shell, Exxon and others onto their oil fields. Iraq is the most feasible solution to increasing the world supply of oil with any immediacy. I would push this information while at the same time ensure Americans that the environmental damage drilling on our soil could possibly be healed over a period of fifty years. Most importantly, emphasize that the oil reserves we do have go to replacing oil and petroleum in this country. The oil we get from outside is for our day-to-day needs. Also, see about withholding subsidies for refineries unless they contribute to the renewable energy initiative through stocks, research, or profit-sharing. Convince those companies that providing the world’s energy is far more lucrative than providing domestic fuels. Let them feel comfortable that the government is not instructing them on how to run their business. Let them be appreciated for the billions of dollars the Fed collects through royalties each year. Assure them that their windfall taxes will never see it’s way through Senate. Let them know you are on their side.
Like you, I remember seeing oil derricks all over Texas 15-20 years ago. I have seen the effects pollution has had on this wide open state and the Gulf of Mexico. I believe that some sacrifices can be made if we are able to create long-term solutions. I loath the fact that I ineffectively being sold on domestic drilling to lower gasoline prices when I would gladly pay more for a decent, humane alternative. I feel the pain filling up my Ford truck. I still would rather we do more than play politics for the oil vote.
I know that there are existing acreage and contracts that will allow oil companies to drill offshore. I still strongly oppose ANWR drilling or any drilling on in National Parks systems. I am fully aware that “ban” is semantically accurate as there is much public sentiment against offshore drilling by the communities it surrounds. What Drill Here, Drill Now is attempting is support build-up among the majority of Americans before they realize they’ve been fooled. 18.75% sounds like a good enough reason to perpetrate this hoax, no?
If I may, I would like to suggest a way of making the blight of your problem less disagreeable. People say they want cheaper gasoline, but here’s how to make the increased energy plants seem like something cause-worthy. Western Refining is located here in El Paso. It is something the locals look at with a sense of pride despite the smell that flows through a central commercial district and the surrounding neighborhoods. However it is one of the few large enterprises out of El Paso; and other, larger communities around the US might respond to a refinery the way El Pasoans react to our copper refining plant, ASARCO out of Arizona.
I am not an expert on energy. I do however represent the large constituency of people in Texas who do not like paying more for energy especially with little reprieve in sight. I know there have been many millions of dollars invested in Yucca Valley, Utah. I would gladly accept a nuclear plant in the neighborhood if it contributed locally, and lowered costs. I am a Texan. I would accept a nuclear pellet powering my truck if it was relatively safer than smoking or the Texas Sun. Please ask the leadership pushing for domestic drilling to reconsider. American oil reached it peak in the early 70s. We stopped drilling for reasons of cost, accessibility, and labor. We still pay for the expensive sand and tarpit oil from Canada and elsewhere; but it would not be unwise to pump a lot of funds and energy into extracting oil from domestic reserves when it would simultaneously make us more dependent on foreign oil once those reserves ran out, and enervate current trends toward conservation and alternative energy. Without a long term plan, this Drill Here, Drill Now strategy is malevolent and pathetic.
I thank you for your courage in leadership. The Texas constituency will thank you with their vote.

Sincerely,