End of an Era

This will be my last blog, as weird as that may sound. This blog has been a blessing and a curse over the year. Many times I reveled in putting my thoughts on events out there, and frankly other times I just wanted to be done with it all. But I made it through and I feel accomplished. I hope that the few people (less than ten for sure) that read this think I'm not too terrible a writer after all is said and done. I think I was able to improve myself over the year though, and I remember a few posts, such as my numerous Occupy posts, where my voice mixed in to create a balance between opinion and reporting that I really enjoyed. Being able to find articles and report on what happened is one this, but adding your opinion to the mix along with the non-bias of reporting and the opinions already out there is another thing entirely. Its a fascinating thing to do and Knowing that there's a chance that someone could read it is a sort of thrill. (Although no one ever did) Overall, despite it's tediousness at time, I enjoyed the blogs and hope I was able to grow as a writer because of them.

Break #10

Warning: Vulgar Language

Now that you've been warned, I'd like you to meet the typical video that I enjoy on YouTube. This ladies and gentlemen, is the summit of YouTube evolution, the apex of achievement. Not only does it have music, but that music is good. And not only does it have effects, but the effects are trippy. AND not only does it have a kick-ass guy, but that guy is a Tupac impersonator. Enough said people, I expect 50 viewings each by Monday.

Greece - Why they're such a wreck

Recently Greece has gotten itself into a bit of a pickle. With it's economic crisis not getting better, Greece is facing mounting pressure from the Eurozone, especially Germany, to take control of it's economy, as well as it's political environment. As these pressures mount from the outside, they also increase from the inside as well.
But there's much more to it. There is a big difference between how Greece is being discussed as compared to the other members of the EU. Of course some of it is due to Greece needing the biggest chunk, but the main reason is the causes for their issues.
Ireland had a housing bubble and an over-leveraged banking sector that blew up during the 2008 financial crisis. Before that, they had an exemplary budget policy, with low debt and surpluses, and their economy is strong and structurally healthy. They're in a temporary tight spot, but they do whatever they can to get out of it and it's really just a matter of time.
Portugal does have structural problems and some that resemble Greece's, but on a much smaller scale. They had overlooked the necessity to increase competitiveness when low wages and an educated work force alone didn't cut it anymore after the Eastern Expansion, and Poland, the Czech Republic and so on were eating their cake. They need to reform, but they're working on it and they'll get there eventually with a little help.
          Both needed some bailouts, they've got them; they're working on it, no problem. The notorious anti-EU crowd aside, no one is complaining about those bailouts, and there even is a relatively broad support for giving them a stimulus.
          Italy has had a high debt since forever. They were permitted into the Eurozone because of a clause that said entering with high debt levels was OK if a country was seen as working on reducing them, which they had been until they took a break from reforms after they had been let in, and, well, they were still on that break when the crisis hit.
          But they're working on it now and are going through structural reforms. They have a very strong industrial base in the North, and there's really no reason why their (Northern) economy wouldn't be just as strong as its Austrian neighbors. Give 'em a bit of time to enact reforms, and if markets stay calm they'll have some very impressive growth coming their way. If markets act up, however, there's a problem. Italy is the third largest economy in the Eurozone. There is very little room for error here.
          Spain had similar surpluses and low debt as Ireland, and a giant housing bubble as well. They were over-reliant on construction, which due to said housing bubble lead to wages increasing above of what their productivity would have normally permitted far too quickly, and they have nothing to replace it with.
          They've started out on very low debt levels, but their deficit is huge, their unemployment is scarily high and causes those deficits, and there are no credible plans that could fix it. Not because they don't try, they do, but because there simply doesn't seem to be an obvious solution.
They're the fourth largest economy in the Eurozone and sustaining them for the long term would be extremely expensive. That's a problem, a big one, but at least they're doing what they can and haven't needed any bailouts (yet).

          Now, Greece is a very special case. They combine an enormous debt and deficits with too low productivity. They do have qualified workers, but what little economy there is to work with is uncompetitive and tied up in red tape. They didn't have a housing bubble or a similar trigger, they got there over a long time in a slow motion train wreck, and it was allowed to escalate to this point because the fact that it was happening had been veiled by their corrupt bureaucracy -- which is seen as them having undermined the common currency. They lack the governance that is necessary to even begin to clean up this mess, and their electorate is about to vote a party into power that outright states that they don't have to because the Eurozone simply can't afford to let them descend into chaos. That there is some truth to that in case of a country that is responsible for a mere 2% of GDP is a big part of the problem.
            This all happened right after tax payers had to bail out banks that had made risky bets for high profits, and they don't distinguish between speculation and supposedly secure government bonds that hardly beat inflation -- Greek bonds yielded only very little more than German ones when banks bought them.
   Greeks see what they had to endure and compare their situation to how things were before the crisis. People in the core focus on what hasn't been done, and it's difficult to explain to them why they have to pay while some rich Greeks don't. In the case of Germany, that they had to go through unpopular reforms that Greeks reject fuels self-righteousness, and people pay way more attention to burning German flags and Nazi cartoons than to people cueing up in breadlines.

If you want to see more news about current Greek affairs, check out some of these links, there some interesting debate over some newly elected members of parliament which align themselves with a neo-Nazi party.

• http://rt.com/news/greece-new-government-fails-300/

• http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/05/201251513332434853.html

• http://ansamed.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2012/05/11/Greece-than-half-police-officers-voted-Neonazi-party_6854190.html

• http://www.theworld.org/2012/05/metal-bassist-elected-greek/

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9265930/Merkel-tells-Greece-to-back-cuts-or-face-euro-exit.html

Extra Break

Since I've reached the word count already this week, here's an extra break just because.

Break # 9

Heres the video I found this week. It's pretty trippy, which reflects my interests I guess. I just sat at stared at this for the entire thing, spacing out and focusing back in. Its entrancing. Shawn Knol shot these shots a few years ago of bubbles. Yeah, thats pretty much all you need to know. Enjoy

A Message to the Occupy Protestors...

I recently stumbled upon this well written and intriguing letter to the Occupy Wall Street movement from a former Tea Party member. It sheds light on how portrayal can ruin a social movement and how the media and government can work in tandem in order to achieve the misrepresentation and eventual demise of a movement. Here is the letter verbatim:

"I don't expect you to believe me. I want you to read this, take it with a grain of salt, and do the research yourself. You may not believe me, but I want your movement to succeed. From a former tea partier to you, young new rebels, there's some advice to prevent what happened to our now broken movement from happening to you. I don't agree with everything your movement does, but I sympathize with your cause and agree on our common enemy. You guys are very intelligent and I trust that you will take this in the spirit it is intended.
I wish I could believe this Occupy Wall Street was still about (r)Evolution, but so far, all I am seeing is a painful rehash of how the corporate-funded government turned the pre-Presidential election tea party movement into the joke it is now. We were anarchists and ultra-libertarians, but above all we were peaceful. So, the media tried painting us as racists. But when that didn't work they tried to goad us into violence. When that failed, they killed our movement with money and false kindness from the theocratic arm of the Republican party. That killed our popular support.
I am sharing these observations, so you guys know what's going on and can prevent the media from succeeding in painting you as violent slacker hippies rebelling without a cause, or from having the movement be hijacked by a bunch of corporatists seeking to twist the movement's original intentions. If you think this can't happen, it happened to the Independence Party and the tea party movement. Don't let it happen to your movement as well.
Here's how they turned our movement into a bunch of pro-corporate Republican Party rebranding astroturf, and this is how I predict they are turning your movement into a bunch of pro-corporate Democratic party rebranding astroturf. I believe many of these things are already happening, so take note.
1- The media will initially and purposely avoid covering your dissenting movement to cause confusion about what your movement is about within mainstream audiences. It might feel like this is to enrage you and make you appear unreasonable. Perhaps you will feel even invisible.
2- While the obsfuscation is happening, stooges will infiltrate and give superficial support, focus and financial backing to the targetted movement. In the tea party movement's case, it was the religious Republicans and Koch Brothers. In this case, it's many unions that cozy up to the Democratic Party (the organizations as quasi-human entities, not the members themselves) and Ultra Rich liberals who pretend to care, but frankly do not serve liberators and freedom seekers but rather the interests of some union leaders and the Democratic Party. Democrat, Republican, these parties are all part of the same corporate ruling system. Case in point: [1] http://www.debates.org/
3-The media will cover the movement only after this infiltration succeeds. Once the infiltration is completed the MSM will manufacture public media antipathy towards the movement by using selective focus on the movement's most repulsive elements or infiltrators on the corporate Conservative media side, while the corporate Liberal media will create a more sympathetic tragic hero image -- this is the flip side of the tea party, but same media manipulation tactics. I go into greater detail on this tactic: [2] http://vaslittlecrow.com/blog/2011/09/08/how-the-media-and-ideological-groups-manipulate-your-beliefs/
4- Someone in the Democratic Party will feign sympathy for the movement and falsely "non-partisan" entities provide tons of funding and unwanted organization, just as was done with the tea party movement by Republicans. Once people assume that the pro-corporate government operatives are their friends, they will hijack the movement and the threat of your movement will be neutralized.
If this new Occupy Wall Street movement is to survive, here's what needs to be done.
1- Loudly denounce violence and disavow the violent rabblerousers of the movement. They do not help the cause.
2- Be image conscious. Present your best face and call out those who act like fools within the movement. People are more likely to pay attention to you in your Sunday dress and bringing homemade food, than when you are drinking a bottle of Snapple and chomping on Big Macs while you are looking like a slacker rich hipster/unwashed hippie stereotype.
3- Accept that you've already been infiltrated by the corporate-funded government, and work hard to say, and state what your movement is and is not about. "No, this isn't about unions or liberals, conservatives or bored spoiled brats. This is about 99% of our population being exploited and manipulated for the sake of profit." "No we will not resort to violence." "Yes, all we want is for for the end of government collusion with corporate entities that are illegitimately recognized as people." And, so forth...
4- Don't forget who you are as the illusions are thrown at you. Corporatists are masters of illusions. That's the most powerful weapon they have. That's how they sell products you don't need and convince you to justify accepting atrocities for the sake of products Don't fall for it. Otherwise, your cause will be lost. Be wary of large donations from special interest groups or non-profit corporations that were not involved this movement from the inception. Special interests groups are not your allies. Non-profit corporations are still corporations, and unfortunately, too many of them care more about donations than doing the right thing. Killing a movement with kindness is easy.
5- Remain independent and focused. If you can, pick a face to represent your movement. Rosa Parks wasn't just a random lady in a bus. [3] http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/systems/agentsheets/New-Vista/bus-boycott/ -- She was chosen. You too can use the power of illusion against those who oppose you.
6- On the web, you can prevent a lot of hijacking simply by checking the small print, or going to the about pages of a group or individual. Non-profits and political action groups are legally obligated to disclose a lot of things, and you need to be aware of this. If the information is nowhere to be found, do a whois page. Image searches can also be helpful. Examine who is posing with whom. Company owner? Where is that company located? Did they have a convention/charity event?
7- If you hear people who you know are part of the machine saying stuff like, "Progressives need to be more like the tea party," don't accept it on face value. Always follow the money, study past statements and groups they claim to be part of. If such people are suddenly telling you to emulate organizations that they once consistently denounced as evil or racist, without any rhyme or reason, they are lying to you.
I wish your movement better luck than we had with the tea party movement before it got hijacked by the theocrats and corporatists. We used to be non-partisan too. We were the older version of you. But, I believe that as the media apparatchik and infiltrators start to twist your cause, you will understand the frustration us early adopter tea partiers felt and that we were not your enemy after all. A fascist oligarchy on the verge of winning is our common enemy. This should be your focus. Don't be dazzled by the illusion as we were. For the sake of our future, know who you are.
Thank you for reading. I would love to read your ideas on the subject. Correct me where I am wrong. Explain what is going right. This is ultimately your fight."

Controversy over 9/11 Trials

9/11

The date forever burned into the American consciousness. The day the homeland was attacked by an outside threat. The day that changed America forever. After the attack America was insecure, worried, scared. Soon we gathered together and in our frightened state of mind we passed the Patriot Act, increasing military and government power, which in some peoples opinion, went beyond the bounds of a democratic society. Wiretapping was often used and was suspected of being used in secret and without warrants, which was now within the limits of law enforcement. Enhanced security was put into place in almost every important site in the US. Airports became high-security places, with the TSA assuming control of affairs. Things went into lockdown. And the American people believed it was for the best, for our safety. We went to war against an enemy that had no concrete form, an enemy across the sea and surrounded by sympathetic people. We were the invaders. After awhile our status as saviors wore off and we became plain invaders, enforcing our rules onto a population that held within it a small minority of enemy soldiers. We could not win this war. But we were in it for closure, to feel like we got back at them for what they did to us. And now, with the military tribunal finally convening on the 9/11 conspirators, we may have closure. Maybe.

Since the 5 conspirators have been detained in Guantanamo Bay, there has been frequent worries about the legality of their imprisonment and allegations of torture have been brought up, such 'enhanced interrogation' techniques including waterboarding, or a simulation of drowning. Our brutal treatment of these men has given us next to nothing except a guarantee of hatred among them and their peers. This was shown earlier when the military tribunal met this week. As the court started the men accused refused to recognize the authority of the court and their lawyers supported this accusation. The men disrupted the court frequently by bursting into prayer, stripping off their shirt to show scars allegedly inflicted by US soldiers, and verbal outburts.All this among worries that they will not recieve a fair trial. The men refused to answer any questions and their lawyers demanded to hear the qualifications of the prosecutors, demanded a reading of the 87-page charges list, and prolonged the hearing any way they could.

To anyone this would be frustrating, but in this case even more so. I personally worry that with these men's reputation and actions that many people with refuse to listen to reason with the trial and instead stick with their gut reaction. There is little doubt in my mind that these men are innocent, and there seems to be no remorse in them at all. However, it is not wise for people to stoop to a lower level by branding them in a certain way. By comparing their actions to their Muslim faith, their geopolitical region, or their cultures. If people view these men as representatives of their entire region and religion (which many people unfortunately do) then we as americans we create a stereotype of stereotyping Muslims and arabs as terrorists. However, I fear this has already happened. AS this trial continues, I wish to see the US strive to be above the antics of those accused, and continue to stand on the higher moral ground. Let us not sink to their level.




FACTS: Guantanamo military trial

• Five suspects in the 9/11 attacks are being tried by a military tribunal
• The five suspects are: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Waleed bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi
• Charges include 2,976 counts of murder, hijacking and conspiracy
• The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for all five men
• Defence lawyers criticised the process, saying the men were tortured while in US custody, and are questioning the legitimacy of the process