Alone

Greetings good citizen, did you figure out what you were supposed to 'remember' yesterday?

There's a bit of a disconnect when it comes to our fallen veterans and the plight many of them face when the uniform is set aside.

While homelessness is particularly daunting for the aged, the whole situation stems from the mismanagement of our civilization that has been ignored by the corporate owned media which pretends what is rapidly becoming the largest sector of the population. DOESN'T EXIST!

To give you a comparison, you may not have ever met a 'transgendered' person [that the corporate owned media is obsessed with] But 99% of you know a homeless person and a good 75% of you have a homeless RELATIVE!

As the article explains (repeatedly) homelessness is 'a choice'. Some of you are mislead by this statement, especially those of you who vote Republican subscribe to the necessity of 'thanking' those who died for 'preserving' the 'wonderful way of life' the capitalist has inflicted on us.

Did I mention that capitalists were responsible for the Third Reich? Probably something worth keeping in the back of your head although the rabid capitalists among us prefer you forget.

Why do people 'choose' homelessness? Because the alternatives are prison.

'Shelters' are run like prisons. You have to report before sundown, once inside you can't leave until they unlock the doors in the morning and once the doors are unlocked you have to get up and out regardless of what it's doing outside.

This is done to 'dissuade you' from remaining homeless but here we run up against 'The Legendary' once again.

Man's 'inhumanity' to his fellow man isn't reserved for strangers, most often it comes rushing forth when a 'freeloading' relative comes knocking.

The ridiculously low unemployment figures belie the fact that the economy is so badly mismanaged that even entry level jobs don't go begging anymore.

And certain other jobs require more stamina than the average individual possesses.


In yet another 'reality check' good citizen, most of the 'voting public' is 'unaware' that the oligarchs have vowed 'never again' to be reined in the way Roosevelt [Franklin, the guy on the dime...remember him, savior of the free world and capitalism itself...but few remember it that way] did.

Seriously good citizen, those responsible for the trainwreck we call the 'Great Depression', rivaled only by the current constantly rolling Great Recession we have today, SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXECUTED!

Funny, it has returned to what it was like during the reign of sovereigns; you can't prosecute the King!

And it won't happen again, the swore they wouldn't let it happen! [And so far they have been good to their word.]

Understand, your continued poverty is the direct result of their mismanagement. Things SHOULD BE much different but today's capitalists are the product of our mismanaged education system.

"Last week I could not spell 'economy' and this week I is running one!"

The other important thing to 'remember' is this can't be fixed with the ballot box, the ballot itself is where they begin stacking the deck.

Let's suppose for a minute we get a bone thrown to us and Bernie wins the White House...do you think the greedy few will let him live if he attempts to roll back the 'excesses' of the Reagan Revolution?

Something about those who live to wrap themselves in the flag, they just LOVE state funerals!

My readers don't need pictures drawn for them. That said, the fight we face is for the very future of our species. Let those who would put their interests ahead of those of our species succeed and we face extinction.

How sad is it good citizen that the final curtain won't fall quick enough for those it would be kindness for?

Once again, thank you for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

Millions made 'the ultimate sacrifice' for this...

Greetings good citizen, Happy Memorial Day! I'd go on a tear about how half of us have no clue what we're supposed to be celebrating (besides this being one of the few holidays that survived the beancounter's axe...if you don't work in hospitality, emergency services or retail!)

If you work in the 24/7 world of healthcare or 'basic services' there is no such thing as a 'Holiday'. You'll get time off alright but it probably won't be 'family time' [depending on where you sit on the totem pole.]

I'm sure I'm not the only one that noticed we have a ton of days dedicated to the 'worship' of our 'Warriors'. Patriot's Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Armed Services Day, Veterans Day (which used to be Armistice Day.)

Today's modern warriors have been deployed more than at any other time in our nation's history...and you can only wonder what the unemployment rate would be if those 90,000 soldiers weren't being 'rotated' through our latest exercise in futility.

Then there is the other, off the books, jobs program...the Alphabet soup of 'government contractors' that offer employment to soldiers facing abject poverty and destitution when they finish their 'hitch'.

Naturally, that's not what the politicians or the Capitalist wants you to 'remember' on Memorial Day. You're supposed to be paying homage to the brave men and women who gave their lives so you could be exploited and victimized with impunity!

In a world where there are not enough jobs [never mind food] for everyone that needs both, China has decided to 'relax' their 'One Child' policy and what are Chinese parents who are a little 'late to the party' doing?

Break out the test tubes baby!

Yup, past your prime? IVF to the rescue... [said the man who half of his neices and nephews came from the same place...]

Not throwing stones good citizen, I understand the 'biological imperative'...I also understand who benefits from a 'slack' labor market, the capitalist buyer of labor! Over population is an imperative for the capitalist.

Between the suspicious fire that burned through the Alberta tar sands region of Canada (now fuel prices are on the rise again, surprise, surprise!) to the failed 'Arab Spring' that led to the failed Occupy what Movement.

What were we supposed to be remembering again?

Seriously good citizen, those in charge prefer the fact that most of you wouldn't remember your own name if your boss didn't keep shouting it at you! [No, you don't remember being named 'idiot' but you sure get called that a lot, don't you? Worse, usually you get called that for stuff HE made YOU do!

But you need to eat and like living indoors, those are the things you're thankful for. Maybe you should marvel for a moment that a whole pile of people that died just so a capitalist would be 'free' to put your nuts in a vise!

Let's run THAT up the flagpole and see who salutes!

Happy Memorial Day good citizen!

Gegner

Full spectrum awareness

Greetings good citizen, did you catch the piece HBO's VICE did with Edward Snowden? Like an omnipotent god, the alphabet soup of national security agencies are doing such a yeoman's job of capturing our private messages, so much so that they can't make heads nor tails of it.

Without an A.I. to sort it all out for them, our, er, communications are pretty much a pile of largely contextless jibberish already past its potential usefulness.

Snowden pointed to the Boston Marathon bombing as an example of this 'information overload'. After the fact it was revealed that the perps HAD set off some 'red flags' but not enough to warrant the level of scrutiny that would have prevented the tragedy.

While speech recognition software has come a long way since it's inception, it's cousin 'autocorrect' still leaves a lot to be desired. [So we can speculate with a fairly high degree of certainty that A.I. is still a hole, surrounded by server farms, that you throw money into.]

It's the 'development stages' when the 'inexperienced' A.I. is learning what's expected of it that the system will be the most dangerous.

As a 'training method' the system will likely be tasked with profiling 'everybody'...except the oligarchs, their names and communications will be specifically excepted.

Unsurprisingly, those running the test will be unaware that their system has 'holes/blindspots' but it's above their paygrade just the same.

Will somebody discover the missing profiles?

Depends on who has access...although we all know the most fleeting thing in existence is a secret.

Once the initial the furor dies down, how will those 'profiles' be used? Will employer's be able to 'buy' access to the files compiled on their employees?

How many careers will be ruined by an offhand remark, meant as a joke, made over the phone? The machine will 'probably' be able to grasp the idea of humor and could even disregard this from it's calculations EXCEPT those running the operation will turn that gate off. They won't trust the machine to make that kind of distinction.

Worse, humans, opportunists that they are, know blackmail can be a very profitable enterprise.

This is the 'nightmare' total spectrum awareness creates. We will train ourselves to never utter anything that could be turned against us...and what passes for civilization will collapse.

[How many times have I said THAT? I know, too many.]

It hasn't happened yet but we're inching closer all the time.

One of the primary pillars of civilization is 'trust'. Without trust civilization is impossible...so when the portion of civilization tasked with keeping the status quo safe places the populous under scrutiny, that bond is broken...and your civilization collapses.

Naturally, it makes matters worse when those in a position to know better adopt a 'what are they gonna do about it?' attitude.

Like they don't know.

Ironically, they're pushing us toward revolt for all the wrong reasons. They are hoping to reveal the 'traitors' among us when it is they who have betrayed the rest of us!

But I digress. If the idea of the government 'collecting' (and retaining for 'future reference') ANYTHING, regardless of context, you ever 'transmit'...you have to ask yourself, what kind of MONSTERS are running this place?

Like to have a gander at THEIR file? Can't, it's 'classified' (because it could affect their 'job performance'.)

This is what happens when THEY can keep secrets while insuring that everything YOU do is an 'open book'...even the slaves were better off than you are!

Making it official, you are now 'less than a slave!'

Which is to opine, good citizen, that when a 'civilization' goes this far off the rails, it's time to scrap it and start over, junking all the 'damaged components' of the prior structure.

Which is to (great danger in failing to be specific) 'reccomend' that the entire justice system, from top to bottom be scrapped. Hold a 'civil service' job? Time to join the, er, 'working world' (because the entire 'patronage' network is going to be wiped out, specifically screened for 'prior service'.)

Got questions? Hit the comment button and let the world know what's on your mind!

Thank you for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

The power of persuasion

Greetings good citizen, key to 'molding' the future is the power of persuasion. This unending 'assault' on your critical reasoning abilities is relentless; you are constantly being told things are better than the evidence you gather with your own senses tells you.

Just to give an example, today the NY Times reported the economy did better than previously reported...by .8%

Left to your imagination is what the 'margin of error' is when measuring that data and we all KNOW the contents of the basket they use to measure is constantly being juggled so the results are, by necessity, 'dubious at best'.

If we roll back to our original premise; 'the power of persuasion', we'd see the key factor here is planting the idea that the economy is 'getting better', even if the improvement isn't 'readily discernable'.

So it goes, you see black and the media tells you it's white...or some degree of gray that is too difficult to nail down precisely.

You see wage slavery and the media tells you you're lucky to have a job at all [with or without benefits, the company could be doing it for less in China!]

Can't live on what you're paid? Naturally it's your inability to manage money! Couldn't be your expense profile! You don't buy a single thing you don't absolutely need and you still can't make ends meet.

Yet come review time you're told competition is too rigid and they can only afford to give you 2 percent [again, you're told to be happy, there are people who aren't getting anything! (Missing detail: the new hires don't generally get raises.)

Beginning to see how the deck is stacked against you? Talk about 'death by a thousand cuts' everywhere you look you're being fed lies by the fist-full!

Is it any wonder the average HUMAN is frustrated and ready to pop?

How sad is it the only reason we don't kill one another on sight is because you've taught yourself to look out for the lies and you've also learned not to sweat the bills, what are they gonna do?

You've learned to COPE but you can't find a way OUT! You're inner Hippy wants to pool what little money you can get your hands on, chip in with some friends and buy a farm.

Live off the land, be your own man...except you don't know you the first thing about farming. You have a fuzzy idea that it's a lot of hard work and that it can be dangerous sometimes.

But you grow your own food and that has to be better than the monotony of stuffing bags for welfare moms at Mega-Mart.

Enter the Taxman. Now you have to make farming 'pay' because the town will take your farm from you if you can't pay your taxes, nevermind your vet bills.

Which leaves you with Plan B, the Lottery. "Win" enough money and you don't have to do peckerhead work anymore! You can also banish the idea of legally changing your middle name to 'No'...

You realize [hell, you even ACCEPT] that there isn't enough to go around. It's just your own 'rotten luck' [which most of us are still thankful for considering how much WORSE things COULD BE.] Still, it's hard to see those Mercedes and Corvettes cruising by while you're driving an econo-box you KNOW you paid too much for.

I mean WTF?

So we return to the 'web of lies'. If you can't win the lottery you have to at least figure out how to get on the 'right side' of the web of lies.

But, [and you're probably spot on] you get that sneaking suspicion that people on the other side of that particular divide were BORN THERE!

Getting frustrated yet? You should be.

You know what the problem is and you also know you aren't alone in your realization. Most people KNOW it's a management problem but nobody knows how to deal with it!

But you know that's not true either. You begin to suspect 'the founders' might have been too clever by half! If you want to change the deal they left YOU with, you have to do what THEY DID!


You KNOW it would never be as easy as getting change on the ballot, the self-interested zealously guard what you can and can't vote for.

Once again this disintegrates into an exercise in what you already know...although I just had an episode of 'if it had teeth you'd be dead now' play out with my daughter when I offered to point to the object she refused saying 'she knew'.

Well, turns out she didn't.

And you're just about at the end of your tether, aren't you? So it's best not to 'assume' what you do and don't know.

Do you see an exit [short of hitching a ride with E.T.]? Nope, the bag that formerly had 'secluded' areas is now pitch black. You CAN go 'off the grid' but you will eventually find yourself charged with 'criminal trespass' and a posse hunting for your sorry backside. [Again with the 'rumor has it'...in the Amazon, the posse tracking you down plans on eating you when they catch you. Call me a pessimist but I'm not seeing any 'daylight' in that direction either.]

Have I 'persuaded you' that there is only one acceptable 'exit strategy?' Probably not but soon it won't matter if you think its a good idea or not, you won't be given a choice...aside from the usual on, the one you get every day...Join or die.

Sound familiar?

Just because nobody uses that exact phrase doesn't mean those aren't your ONLY choices.

Because the term you're more familiar with is 'you'll do it and like it!'

Does it sound like a choice now? No? Well, the alternative is imprisonment and everything that implies once your identity is ripped away from you.

Better to die than to be ground down into unrecognizable pieces in a place that you can't get out of...

Now we return to 'The Legendary' once again. [For those of you suffering from short attention span, the full phrase is Man's legendary inhumanity to man.]

We inflict untold pain upon others solely because we can, knowing full well that we'd kill anyone who did the same thing to someone we loved...whether they were wearing a badge or not.

Using that benchmark, we are an insane race...because we refuse to put a stop to the madness. Makes you wonder how we live with ourselves for being relieved it wasn't us on the receiving end, eh?

You know this is only the tip of the iceberg, I could go on and on but there really isn't any point.

Why bring this up?

So you have something concrete to ponder the next time you're 'reminded' by some chiseler how 'well-off' you are.

I want to add a little sidebar here because there is a part of my 'design' I added specifically to combat 'the Legendary', I call it the 'personal responsibility' factor that will manifest itself in the return of dueling.

Today's wealthy have the power to have you sent to prison and broken if you 'displease' them and there isn't anything you can do about it. Worse, anyone with a badge can make your life a living hell and again, YOU are powerless (because the protection of the courts is reserved for those who can pay for that protection...

Under my design, called A Simple Plan, you would be able to, confront those who you have a greivance with, mano-a-mano. They can refuse to fight you but there are 'safeguards' built in to prevent the 'impromptu' battles that often stem from differences of opinion and the challenged can turn 'defense' into a decided advantage because the challenged gets choice of weapons.

FIRST thing to consider regarding the return of this barbaric custom is the 'knuckle-heads' that wear their hearts on their sleeves will be eliminated fairly early on. Despite it's popularity, actual duels were rare...partly because back then duels were 'to the death'. Under the new scheme, either side can petition the overseers for a 'non-lethal' contest.

This may embolden some but let me remind you, you can still be killed so consider just how badly you want to 'pay back' a foe before you go off half-cocked and challenge them. Probably better to make them challenge YOU!

You have to be wary when someone selects Tasers as their 'non-lethal' weapon of choice.

And yes Virginia, you choice of weapons will be limited...Bazooka's at ten paces is a non-starter, same goes for Howitzers!

Um, part of the protective portion [the part where the challenged has the choice of weapons, giving them the option of choosing one they are 'good' with like quarter staffs or halberds...or toothpicks if you want to insure non-lethality.]

If it is know you are an expert swordsman, it is less likely you will be challenged to a duel because most people these days aren't very good with a blade.

While I don't expect most people will pursue the martial arts to protect themselves from being singled out for a duel, It would go a long way towards a more civil society, you'd actually go out of your way to be 'polite' because insulting somebody is no longer a rigid middle finger and a grunting 'if you don't like it, sue me!'

Now you're gonna pay, one way or the other!

Yeah, personal responsibility, the world needs more of it!

while there will be a lot of ways to goad an opponent into challenging YOU, you have to be careful that you don't get yourself exiled in the process!

Go after somebody's kid and you're playing with more than fire! You WILL find yourself fighting for your life with a cast of equally as desperate characters in a place with next to NO resources.

One of the other things you'll work hard to protect is your reputation. What others think of you will be of vital importance to the kind of life you will build for yourself. Especially if the you ever fall under suspicion.

One thing you can't hide from it's your co-workers. If you're lazy, they know it. If you're a liar, they know it...if you're hard-working and helpful, they know it.

So you will not go off making any needless enemies by making anyone else's life more difficult, the quickest route to chalking up an impressive enemies list!

Why will you be the most helpful, cooperative, funny and kind work-mate anyone could hope for? Because those 'traits' will help you rise to the top of your field and could one day lead you to the leadership of our species!

Wanna make America (and the rest of the world) GREAT for EVERYBODY!

Get on board the bandwagon and support A Simple Plan!

In the infamous words of Arnold, 'follow me if you want to live!

Thank you for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

Jackass [and its many varients]

Greetings good citizen, unlike many of my peers I intend to post through the holiday weekend so I'm not going to post a fluff piece and head for the hills, I'm already where I'm going to be.

That said, we return to today's cryptic title, a reference to the recent upswing in paying people to humilitate themselves for cash.

Such is the 'desperation' of producers seeking semi-neutral content.

Specifically I was watching 'Alone' on Fox's National Geographic channel last night and learned that the prize dangled in front of these sucker's faces was a half-million dollars.

The show has an 'expert disclaimer' admonishing viewers NOT to attempt to duplicate what they are watching but the people depicted don't display an impressive amount of 'expertise' for the eye that never blinks.

And these people aren't on the set of Survivor, they have a goodly amount of camping gear with them, they all appear to have knives, axes and saws.

No tents but they have plastic tarps to use for shelter...but that's not the, er, 'disturbing' part.

One 'dominant' feature of the participants is age. None of them are kids and the other is...to varying degrees, they all seem 'desperate'.

I'm guessing the first question any of the wannabes had to satisfy is how 'money motivated' are you? They PROBABLY tested candidates for plant knowledge as well as what to do if they encountered various predators.

Not quite experts but a rundown of what they could expect, provided by people who ARE experts, would probably suffice for the show's purposes...and these experts were kept nearby in case any of the contestants ran into a rough patch or encountered one of the rarer set of circumstances that even the experts hadn't anticipated...which is to say the 'out takes' of this crazy idea are probably priceless.

But these shows have to stay 'on message' and self-reliance is probably THE most important/highly valued asset of the conservo-whacko mindset.

Conservatives 'CHERISH' their individualism, everything they have is their own personal doing. It is their courage and their determination that makes them who they are...[walking talking morons]

How sad is it good citizen that it is this level of 'self-delusion' that makes them such insufferable, self-absorbed anal intercourse receptacles!

IF mankind were NOT a social/tribal creature, it's safe to say we'd be EXTINCT.

We can do it but we're not equipped to be solitary hunter/gatherers, we need someone to talk to...and some of us just need someone to brag to, yeah, it's in our DNA.

So where do these 'rugged individual' FANTASIES come from?

Well, why don't we start with the people that insist they, er, 'earned' everything they have, all by themselves. We have no shortage of 'self-made' individuals (I stopped short of inserting the usual label as there are plenty of 'self-made' females out there these days, in fact, the 'back-bone' of conservatism is FEMALE!) Making the Trump phenomenon that much more baffling.

I hope you see where I'm going with this one. Once again we have a bought and paid for media sending their master's message that success is up to YOU when nothing could be further from the TRUTH, success flows from ALL of US!

Our modern life is COMPLETELY dependant on the daily efforts of millions but The Billionaire class can't celebrate the multitudes because the only explanation for 'abberations' like themselves is thievery.

But let us return for a moment to the other theme here, the 'Alone' part.

Even fairly well equipped, many of the show's participants are struggling to eek out a living [largely due to the constraints of the piece of Real Estate they were 'marooned' on. [Remember yesterday's warning?]

One of their greatest struggles (now that the show is stretching into it's second week) is...LONELINESS! Modern people aren't used to being so 'isolated' but you needn't travel to the Pacific Northwest to find yourself 'cut-off from the world'.

EVERY ONE of the contestants is competing for MONEY...and nothing will cut you off from the rest of humanity quicker than 'empty pockets'.

Although, admittedly, Empty Pockets is the fastest growing demographic of all as the purposeful mis-management of our civilization proceeds apace.

Yes good citizen, the pauperization of the working classes is intentional and the associated 'stratification' of the former Middle Classes is also 'on track' [to derail what passes for civilization sooner rather than later.]

Why do the theives want you to believe you are on your own? Well, you have a lot more to worry about if you have to tend to EVERYTHING yourself.

But it you band together, just as we have throughout the ages, since our arrival from the planet of origin, we'd get a lot more done!

But no, those in charge of keeping us at each other's throats insist on perpetuating lies that reinforce their impossible (and unnecessary) claim to fame.

United we stand, divided we DIE!

Since the media is dominated by this nonsensical 'lone wolf' model, it's difficult to corrrect the misperception that you do better alone than as a member of the team.

Problem is, team Billionaire is full up and not accepting new members so you have to start your own club but it can't be money based cuz we own that sucka and you ain't gettin' none!

NOW do you see them for what they are?

Thank YOU for letting me inside your head,

Enjoy your weekend and try to remember what you're supposed to be 'thankful' for...besides not having to report in on Monday.

Gegner

Devil in the details

Greetings good citizen, I often comment on the, er, not a kind way to say this so I'll just let you have it because you must have noticed this too...well, most of you have at one point or another.

Have you noticed just how many things are 'boob-proofed'? Not only are most systems multiply redundant but they also need to pass through many 'checkpoints and waystations' before reaching their final destination.

Depending on how 'critical' the item or system is (and the 'typical' amount of 'error' experienced/associated with the process) some systems are ridiculously redundant and still have a 50% error/failure rate at the initial sort. [Naturally a rate this high indicates the process itself needs refinement but I digress.
]
Our focus isn't on the multiple redundencies but the fact that certain 'systems' have back-ups on their back-ups to insure against failure. [You're blind if you don't think/believe capitalism isn't one of these ridiculously backed-up systems!]

The idea is as old as civilization itself. What I'm driving at seems to be too [old and honored] because it is the main reason the New Boss acts very much like the Old Boss, making the whole messy business of fighting for change 'futile'.

We haven't 'changed' the way things get done since the Pharaohs. We use the same BASIC systems/processes they used. It also explains why we keep finding ourselves back at square one EVERY SINGLE TIME!

If you look at history with a 'critical eye', just about every 'revolution' you examine is 'hijacked' before it concludes and the aftermath is little different than when it all started, leaving us wondering why they bothered in the first place.

It could explain why we haven't experienced a recent revolution attempt (except the few occassions where certain geographical areas 'revolted' for 'autonomy' and even those 'revolutions' have resulted in SSDD or 'pseudo-governments'.

Like they were given a kit and number to call if they had any questions regarding their membership in the Billionaire Boy's Club.

Which is to point out that if you don't want to take a journey back 5,000 years because next time, (which will be upon us before we know what hit us) we will be reverting back to the 'original' concept! We are going to have to 'break the mold'...and the trick to doing that is to be aware that the mold exists in the first place!

We can't do anything about the 'boobs' but the boob-proofing is definitely something we can manage so long as we're aware it exists!

Step one in boob proofing the boobs is resistance to change. Anyone who says 'but that's not the way we do it' is FIRED! It proves they are a BOOB and should not be in charge of any portion of the gatekeeping process!

The solution lies in rational operators, people who can see beyond the end of their own nose and don't need to be reminded to 'inhale/exhale'...like some folks you know.

The 'switch' from capitalism, IF DONE BY THE CAPITALISTS [and it will be if they aren't stopped] will result in a decidedly unfavorable deal for you and yours [unless you happen to be related to one of the victors, then it may not be all bad.]

This 'hooray for me' (and the rigid middle finger to everybody else) is precisely what we need to stop.

It will be 'advertised' as Equality at Last but it will be implemented as a 'share-cropping' system and you'll be on your own if you draw forty acres of desert and NO donkey. [Just as bad, if you get forty acres of rocks or forty acres of hillside, oh well, sucks being YOU!]

However if you end up with forty acres of rocky, desert hillside you get Yachtzee and your neighbor has to work it for you! [That's the capitalist idea of 'fair'. Mind you these are the same a-holes who claim a communist would take it from you to give to somebody else because they 'needed it more' while pretending they never heard of 'eminent domain', better known as 'legal theft'...capitalist style.]

IF you want to avoid landing in the same quagmire you've struggled to be free of all your life you have to be AWARE of why we keep ending up in the same place time after time.

I am not being 'unkind' when I point out what you already know full well: we are neck deep in STUPID around here! Keep the 'superstitious peasants' away from the levers and we SHOULD be able to coast to a stop.

Once again, your mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's OPEN!

Thank you for letting me inside your head, it's a nice day, maybe you can leave the windows open for a while?

Just saying!

Gegner

The case for optimism!

Greetings good citizen! (Threw the exclamation point in there to make a point, all is NOT lost.)

Nobody likes being the bearer of bad news but if you aren't facing reality, [which you have to admit is grim and getting worse all the time, it begins to look like all I do here is complain when nothing could be further from the truth] then you will remain ignorant of why there is so much suckage in your life!

After I complain I provide solutions. I Can't help it, it's how I was raised. 'If you haven't got a better idea, shut up!'

Well...turns out I have a LOT of 'better ideas'.

Understand good citizen, one man's heaven is another's hell, there's no avoiding that.

I'm not selling 'utopia', I completely understand 'viva la difference!' [In fact my 'design' incorporates the broadest of strokes so water can 'find it's own level' across the spectrum.]

I call it the 'Birds of a feather' program, intended to facilitate those with similar interests to live with/among like-minded individuals. The admonition here is 'choose wisely'! If you like the 'freedom' associated with being a 'biker' but are repelled by the associated 'lax attitude' towards hygiene you may want to extend your search before joining the first biker enclave you run into!

Within each of these 'enclaves' you'd find clusters that share more diverse pursuits. For example instead of beer or whiskey, if you looked hard enough you'd find bikers who were also wine connoisseurs (or at least affecionados!)

Point being that by belonging to a community that shared your interests, you would feel 'valued' instead of isolated like you are now.

Nobody is anxious to join the poverty club (although I daresay we're all a lot closer to becoming defacto members of the 'dumpster divers guild' if this downward spiral gets much worse!

Sadly, you know where that one is headed...yup, it will become the big guys vs the little guys and you know who wins that one.

Always with the competition and the might makes right BS...even when it comes to trash!

Don't get me wrong good citizen, I look at 'the legendary' [Man's inhumanity towards man] and think, 'They're not worth it' all the time, just as you do.

So why do I bother? Same reason you do I suppose. Some of them are A-holes but they're MY A-holes and I love them!

Which is where I leave you, good citizen; to ponder if money is the root of all evil or is the true answer LOVE?

Just something to consider, given what the foolish among us have sacrificed for the L word.

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

What you've become and where that leads...

Greetings good citizen, let's start today's missive with the observation that the ONLY place you are a 'citizen' these days is right here. {in YOUR head, in case you're wondering where 'here' is.}

Outside the realm between your ears, YOU have been reduced to less than nothing, an expendable piece of offal. [In case you wondered why nobody gives a crap what you think if they're not trying to weasel something from you. Your 'rights' have dwindled to less than zero, you have finally made the grade, you are LESS VALUABLE than a SLAVE!

The icing on the poop sundae is there isn't a single thing you can do about it. The wealthy already have 'more money than they can spend', going on strike isn't going to affect them one way or the other.

What IS going to affect them is the rope around their neck. If you want your 'personhood' back you're going to have to TAKE IT BACK!

While the, er, [we're ALL people] but the ones most effected by police violence have mounted a campaign they call 'Black Lives Matter' it highlights a more frightening point, the only lives that 'matter' these days are the lives of the 'superwealthy'.

Don't think for one second that because you're not black and unlikely to be 'mistaken for black' that you're safe. You're not. If you don't have Blackwater or some other private security firm on your speed dial, you're toast. [Which is to say if you have to call 911 you're just as likely to get killed as to be rescued.]

Is the job of recapturing your life looking more than a little bit daunting? Well, there really wasn't anything you could have done about it anyway. You're 'stuck' and you'll remain a 'non-person' until you A.) escape their sphere of influence (nearly impossible but rumor has it there are still uncontacted tribes in the Amazon.) Or B.)You can unite with the BILLIONS of other 'non-people' and retake our civilization.

Sadly, option/door C.) is kow-tow until you are murdered for collaborating or for resisting, pick one...and probably both if you flip-flop too much!

From appearances we may well be on the eve of the day when 'law enforcement' only exists to protect the wealthy, the rest of us will be 'on our own'.

Left to your imagination is whether or not the self-interested have instructed their criminal employees to keep extorting whatever they can out of us? [You know their credo, 'no mercy!']

While the billions of freedom fighters will be up against (initially anyway) an 'Alphabet soup' of elite fighting forces from around the world, the 'mindset' that engineered this sorry set of circumstances will, er, 'alienate' the protected and their protectors soon enough.

You might turn your head once or twice for the 'Me Tarzan, You hired help' BS but once they have a nutty and order one of yours 'punished' for displeasing them. Well, as 'gun rules' stretches into it's second month, the 'protectors' will learn just who has the 'upper hand'.

Which is to say the, er, 'revolt' won't have to go too long before the 'Masters of the Universe' become worm-food (money is useless in a 'gun rules' world.) So the 'contest' becomes between the oppressed masses, fighting for freedom and the former 'defenders' of the now dead 'masters'.

These people forfeited their place in human society when they chose to exterminate us for a 'paycheck' and they know this.

So their objective is no different, they were trained to be 'the best' and they will subjugate those who fail to fight them while killing the rest.

And the cycle will begin anew.

This is what Mr. Vonnegut referred to as Idiot's Delight, 'meet the new boss, same as the old boss!'

Not a particularly pleasant future to contemplate. You've lost all your life and now it looks like your kids are facing the same odds.

But all is not lost!

Funny thing about this is everybody is related to somebody and while most families hate one another, often for a variety of petty reasons...these family connections can pay big dividends if used properly.

The Key to turning this hopeless situation around is removing the teeny-tiny head of the 'elite'. The 'best of the best' are nothing without someone telling them what to do, when.


Good at fighting but planning isn't their strong suit. Take out their planner and you effectively take them ALL out!

Identifying this vital lynchpin is key to upending the current and coming 'world order'.

One of you KNOWS who this lynch-pin is.

Will you give them up?

That remains to be seen.

Lots on your plate good citizen, much to contemplate. I'll leave you with one final puzzle, one of YOU may know this lynchpin!

Do you?

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

PS: I have 'lobbied' for a strike following the upcoming presidential elections but let's face facts good citizen, money has zero influence on those who would toss you and your needs aside like a used rag. They also 'command' [have at their personal beck and call] the paramilitary 'corporations', staffed with former special forces members that were unsuccessful in getting their own reality show.

This is yet another glaring 'red flag' in our corrupt social system but, again, too late now. It is small comfort that these 'elite' forces will bite the hand that feeds them because they will also realize, as I explain above, that they became criminals when they chose a paycheck over civil society.

Once the supplylines break down and the 'exterminations' begin in earnest you WILL be forced to fight, as best you can with whatever you can lay your hands on, for your life.

Winning will hinge on your ability to leverage information. The goal will remain unchanged, to remove the 'head' from the beast.

Baffling

Greetings good citizen, I'm taken back a step by the realization that a decade has passed since the global economy crashed due to collateralized debt obligations {it has since crashed again due to market saturation and classic capitalistic greed, the old 'more for me' syndrome that drives civilizations into death spirals.

In yet the, er...I lost track, 4th I think CONSECUTIVE jobless recovery without an appreciable [which is to say detectable] salary increase and Wall Street inexplicably declares that the REAL ESTATE MARKET IS CLIMBING AGAIN!

A decade means a lot of 'fish' have come of age ignorant of the last crash. [As a society we have an extreme problem with 'selective memory'...especially when it comes to commerce or politics. If the corporate owned media is to be believed a HUGE number of us suffer from amnesia regarding who is responsible for what over the past 4 decades when the answer is a single word, Republicans!]

So it must be mind-blowing to see housing prices beginning to spike again when the number of qualified buyers has shrunk to a tiny number.

Which leads us to believe (like the non-leathality of tasers or the 'dietary benefits' of diet soda) that the only thing one needs to qualify for a modern mortgage is the ability to fog a mirror.

Like the Ad says, "Push Button, GET mortgage!" (Don't even need the damn mirror! The ability to push the button is proof enough!)

Which leaves us where, good citizen?

The 'Smart ones' will jump on this as their 'last chance' to catch themselves a 'greater fool'. The Wise ones will avoid this scam like the plague that it is and stand pat with the 'Devil they know'.

Will today's post save even one innocent individual from making a monumental mistake? Extremely doubtful, the 'greater fool' always believes they have it 'under control'.

How sad is it that this variety of hubris defines the (often miles wide) rift between ignorance and stupidity?

Fuel prices are on the rise again (because summer is here and heating is no longer a factor, can't/won't leave that money on YOUR table now can they?

Which is to point out, since fewer people are working it also means fewer are driving, [hell there isn't even the need to drive to job interviews anymore, so effective is over 50 disease!]

BUT it's one of the tools the elite use to keep YOU 'pauperized'.

Which leads us to yet another IQ test...

How many of you are 'aware' [without my telling you] that your poverty is forced upon you? That YOU can't get a job that offers you a better life because you weren't born to the 'right parents'?

[Which leads to the more disturbing question of how many of you resent your parents for not being rich?]

More perplexing, how many of you AGREE with the notion that a 'surplus population' even exists? [Two parter: If yes then are you a member of the surplus or the vital population?]

How did you arrive at your answer?

Does your head hurt thinking about these things?

Thanks for letting me inside your head, now take a couple of ibuprofen and try not to over-do it next time!

Gegner

Non-Lethal

Greetings good citizen, like airbags, it seems the 'non-lethal' method of, er, 'subduing' suspected perpetrators has killed a large number of, well, victims.

Most of us have seen people involved in 'accidental airbag deployments'...they look like they just went three rounds with Clubber Lang, [Mr. T's character in Rocky 4 I think] and while I haven't encountered one personally I'm sure some of you knows someone that's been 'tased'.

Just an idea here good citizen but the record for tasers, just like the number of grossly obese people walking around with a 'diet soda' in their mitt, leads me to believe that these 'law enforcement tools' aren't as advertised.

But that one was a given. They knew up front that Tasers COULD kill but they deployed them as 'non-lethal' anyway.

How many of you would be with me in demanding that the Taser corporation be sued out of existence and the proceeds distributed to the victims...as well as prosecuting [making them stand trial] of everyone that either tased a bound victim or tased their alleged attacker to death.

It's the 'tasing of handcuffed...er, 'captives' (that judges don't see fit to prosecute) Especially if the victim ultimately dies because of their injuries, that should be cause for immediate expulsion from the bench...not that it matters these days.

The vigilanties will clear the benches, at least of the ones too stupid to run.

But I digress.

I keep returning to our 'benchmark' and it's no accident. Electric cattle prods existed prior to Morning in America but it's only after the 'Reagan Revolution' that they turned up on officers utility belts.

Pepper spray? Hasn't KILLED anybody 'yet' but all we need is one allergic reaction with no epi pen handy and the next thing you know we'll have a corpse on our hands!

Because we have yet to see the 'responsible use' of ANY of this technology...nor have the 'investors' been honest regarding the deadly nature of their products.

Diet soda doesn't result in weight loss (even if its all you consume) and Tasers are deadly, which is to point out that you may not get a hole that requires surgery but because 'bug-brain' was told the method was 'non-lethal' he decides it's 'fun' to keep pulling the trigger until the charge is drained from the gun.

No need to remind you, Stupid is permanent and a taser isn't something to be given to the Stupid, especially to the Stupid with a sadistic streak a mile wide.

Is 'taking pity on a moron' enough to justify not prosecuting said moron for the willfull murder of a suspect?


Or is this a prime example of 'compassionate conservatism'?

Ask yourself good citizen, what does it take these days to remove an obviously unfit judge from the bench or an unfit officer from wearing a badge and a gun?

Because the level of judgement we credit a three-year old with is obviously missing from our modern Justice system. The people responsible for removing these obviously unfit individuals from their powerful perches are themselves unfit to do their job.

And it goes straight to the top. The 'problem' here is nobody knows where 'the top' is.

The president CAN order a Drone Strike on your civilian butt but he CAN'T order a judge to be removed from the bench because that's below his paygrade, someone underneath him is in charge of overseeing that. But who is in charge of overseeing that guy?

Which is how Schmoopy keeps getting away with not doing his job...because nobody knows who this idiot is!

Yesterday I told you HOW to do it, today I'm telling you WHY.

Any questions?

Gegner

The Path to Peaceful Change

Greetings good citizen, One of the 3 pillars of society is peace, it is essential for prosperity, which takes time to build. [The other two pillars are equality and justice, thanks for asking!]

When the ballot box is 'taken out of play' [by the self-interested] the peaceful route to change is blocked. Some may consider our collective inability to put change on the ballot as a failure of the system but the reality is the founders didn't want 'better ideas'...they didn't want anybody changing their baby!

We really can't blame them [because stupid is permanent] and they DID (albeit inadvertantly) leave the door open to change.

The ballot box isn't the only way you 'vote', your active participation in their many schemes and machinations are also a form of 'voting'...one that you do physically, in front of God and everybody.

But not going to church isn't going to bring commerce (and by extention civilization) to a screeching halt.

Want to be treated better? Stop putting up with it!

Sounds simple but what's to stop them from replacing you with a new trainee?

For that we have a different weapon, again as old as the hills, we call it 'shunning'.

Collaborators are shunned.

Not that any of you would notice these day with the closest any of you come to actual social contact being Facebook...

But that aside, it is the only tool left available, the other is 'taking it to the street' and we already know it has zero effect.

We 'protested' and things got WORSE.

Time to 'hit them where they live', in their greedy wallets.

Why now? Take a look at what they're giving us for President? [Not that such a job should be 'elected' which is next to winning a 'popularity contest' that has nothing to do with qualifications...and the two we're being told are the frontrunners are obviously not qualified.

But that's besides the point. Wall Street hasn't been prosecuted for cheating millions and gyping billions more. Nobody has been prosecuted for war crimes or the 'suspension' of Habeus Corpus and the abolition of the anti-usery laws.
[both done by Bush the Lesser...a.k.a W]

Notice the corporate owned media doesn't even run stories about payday loan scams because thanks to W, they're not illegal!

Now there is no way to get either of these civilization supporting laws back on the ballot, not through 'conventional means' anyway.

When people hear the word 'revolution' they immediately think violence but it doesn't have to be that way. [Worse, there are parts of the military that are praying the public will 'take it to the streets' just so they can kill them in some very peculiar ways.

Oh, what brings us to this discussion at this point in time?

Well, the internet is alive with the latest murder by law enforcement, yet another citizen was 'tased to death' while hand-cuffed in the back seat of a cruiser.

You can A.) bet the cops won't be prosecuted and B.) know that this man's death without a trial wasn't deserved.

The Secret Service gunned down a 'man with a gun' in front of the White House yesterday...no explanation given, we certainly hope the guy wasn't stupid enough to be waving it around, squeezing off random shots...but you'd think the article would mention something like that.

This is also why I beg you not to 'take it to the streets' anymore. Somewhere down the line the cops are being told by the deeply corrupt 'injustice system' that they will not be prosecuted regardless of what they do.

Bad enough politicians can exempt themselves from the law, when they pass that 'immunization' down to their minions, you have NO protection whatsoever.

Better to stop working, stay home and watch the whole corrupt structure fall apart.

Because they WILL listen when NOTHING is getting done.

A complete cessation of work means people will die but that can't be helped, they're going to die anyway, better they die for the greater good than the self-interested's greed/paranoia.

While putting an end to the constant indebtedness and poverty the self-interested inflict upon us is a goal worthy enough, we are within our rights to demand a little more, once we have their attention.

Here is what I propose we go 'on strike' for:

Full employment

Free housing (universal)

Free healthcare

Free On The Job training [like it used to be, before the beancounters got involved!]

End 'private, for profit enterprise' [Mother Nature doesn't have a cash register.]

Abolish all forms of 'hard currency' [all most crime is 'cash and carry'.]

Your money is for YOU, it is 'non-transferable' to anyone at anytime. When you die your money dies with you. When you buy, nobody gets it, it is simply erased. [which means prices are set by supply and demand, not by what the traffic will bear.]

Ironically Republicans will object to this one the most, NO Taxes! [Taxes only exist to bilk the public for what is free from nature.]

Better, retirement age will be lowered to Fifty [with mandatory retirement at age 70.]

Don't get too excited, we would first have to make sure the kids have the training they need to keep things running so you don't get to stand down tomorrow just because you turned fifty last week.

Government EXISTS to 'Protect YOUR rights'. The military exists to protect your freedom (and not greedy's financial interests...which no longer exist.)

If you're gonna 'lay it on the line' you may as well 'swing for the fences' and set our children free while we're at it!

There's more [like the part where prison goes 'poof', if you can't live by the rules then you will be sent to where there are no 'rules' to do the best you can with what you came here with. We call it what it was called in ancient times, Exile.]

Oh, and no more 'judges' OR 'the professional' interpretation of 'The Law'.

By original intent, those who must live under the law [which would now mean ALL of us] would enforce those laws to the best of their understanding. so no more 'judges OR lawyers' which turn the 'justice system into a three ring circus heavily influenced by...what else, Money!

Fall under suspicion of wrong-doing and it won't cost you a dime because the courts operate free of charge. Their product is justice and money has nothing to do with it.

Understand, debt is illegal which means claiming that somebody 'owes' you is a crime punishable by exile so you'd best just walk off life's funny bounces.

That said, get caught engineering those bounces and you'll be playing 'Survivor' faster than you know what hit you!

Can't say life will ever be 'fair' but the new version will strive to be a lot 'fairer' than is used to be.

I know you tuned out right after I proposed a general strike so I'll shut up now so your poor tired mind can absorb the implications of what I share here.

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

The Curse

Greetings good citizen, yet another Friday is upon us and another week has passed without a paycheck. [I know, I'm not trying hard enough! Not 'believing' isn't helping either...]

Victory belongs to us all while failure remains 'personal'. Which brings us to the 'curse' of living in the kind of culture the conservo-whackos [a.k.a Trump supporters] have created for us.

Your failures are yours and your victories are theirs. Don't question it, this is just the way it's always been.

So much so that I am restricted to writing about life's 'general pain' (which is bad enough) most of us have enough going in our lives that we don't need to be reminded 'life sucks then you die!'

How does it go again? "Pity mortal man, whose days are short and filled with woe!" That said, we don't have to dig too deep for the cause of this unfortunate set of circumstances, all we need to find the perp is a mirror .

No, this isn't an indictment or the accusation that YOU are a 'bad person' but I am pointing to what you already know, that you aren't a 'good one' because you let the BS continue while doing NOTHING to put a stop to it.

How ironic is it that you've been painted into a corner. If you take steps to 'correct' the evil that exists in your face YOU become the criminal!

We COULD fix our society but the criminals in charge would never allow it. A few tweaks to the law (the same thing that created this cesspool) would be all it takes.

Not that more than a few, er, 'relatively innocent' people wouldn't pay the ultimate price but the law has always been 'flawed' like that. We're back to the original proposition of 'the world isn't perfect' so we're going to have to settle for the best we can do. [Because and this is MY OPINION, anything would be an improvement over what's coming!] Besides, they aren't going to stop at 'a few' innocent victims, there will be billions!

But none of that is going to happen until some ONE, [yes good citizen, all it's going to take is ONE of you to grow a pair, stand up and let the evil-doers know YOU aren't going to take it anymore! The restless, oppressed masses will follow!]

That's 'revolution 101'.

And, naturally, you have to A.) survive the attack and B.) make it known that it's time to stand up!

[Occupy never made a point or it would have started then!]
,
The one factor that doesn't change is how 'the victors write history'. If you don't live/win, all you have succeeded in doing is committing 'suicide by cop'. [BTW, good luck letting the public know it's time to rebel because the Corp owned media will brand you a 'vigilante' at best and an outlaw in either case!]

Your bravery may inspire those that come after but it highlights the importance of 'planning'. It's not the kind of thing you can leave to chance. You need to create a 'mental' battleplan. If you write it down THEY WILL FIND IT and you'll be walking into a trap the next time you execute a step in your plan (especially if you're THAT anal!) which is to advise that the key to success is 'variability' that gives YOU the advantage of which target to strike, when.

Yet again I digress, [or at the very least, 'I preach to the choir'.]

Yet again no irony should be lost on the ancient admonition that conservo-whackos interpret as a 'curse', the saying attributed to Confucious that goes 'May you live in interesting times'.

Now most of us know this means ALL times are 'interesting' to the observer of life but the Conservo-whacko strives for 'stasis' with placid, mindless victims to exploit that will NEVER figure out things could be different than the hell the Conservo-whackos have made for us.

Seriously good citizen they want you to accept your fate...the question is will you and more importantly, will you accept it for your children?

If you don't wake up now it will be too late!

Thanks once again for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

Lies and the lying liars that tell them!

Greetings good citizen, thought it was high time I 'fessed up and admitted that THE CORPORATE OWNED MEDIA IS JERKING YOUR CHAIN SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY!

How many of you caught the 'newsflash' [actually it went on for the better part of an hour] yesterday regarding the 'violence' in Nevada between Clinton and Sanders supporters [guess what, there wasn't ANY!] and what this portends for the Democratic National Convention in Philidelphia.

Since Sanders supporters are the only 'sane' people [supporting the only sane candidate] it is unlikely they'd make the same error Trump supporters regularly make. Worse, just as yesterdays 'harsh words' were about as bad as it gets for Team Sanders, you now have to question the validity of the Trump campaign's claims that Sanders supporters are disrupting Trump rallies.

You can get Sanders signs anywhere, Trump has enemies inside his own party, Trump supporters are a few fries shy of a happy meal so put it all together and you have conservo-whacko on conservo-whacko violence, but that doesn't sell nearly as well as claiming they were Sanders supporters!

While both are overt instances of the shameless media lying to you let's examine a less obvious symptom of a 'consciousless media'.

Entertainment is just that, entertainment. It's up to YOU to sort fact from fiction. But how about when the media airs fiction and passes it off as fact?

This happens all the time and you are left in the dark regarding the true nature of what you're witnessing. If you grew up watching television then you are well aware of the 'bankruptcy of Hollywood', they spent all their 'good stuff' years ago and now they have to 're-imagine' old story lines to come up with 'fresh' material.

In a 'too clever by half' move, the morons in charge decided to follow their creationist fundamentals and lump Sci-Fi in with Fantasy.

Which is to point out the obvious, a society that 'believes' is much easier to control that one that needs proof. In fact, a society that questions things is a very hazardous situation to deal with so the 'dreamweavers' do everything in their power to re-enforce the mythology of Spirit in the Sky.

No irony should be lost on the fact that the 'Hosanna' crowd and the shameless supporters of conservo-whacko-dom are the same people, Fox Network.

Once again I am compelled to remind you that stupid is permanent, only ignorance can be fixed! All those lacking the 'mental capacity' to figure out that just because it's on the 'Science Channel' that doesn't make it true are on their own.

"But they just ran the real live 'Map of Hell' special, and it was just like the bible and the bible is true cuz it's the 'word of god'" [As imagined by humans...'God' didn't write a single page, nay, letter of it!]

Maybe that's where they get the chutzpah, The Bible was written by the church hundreds of years AFTER Christ allegedly came and returned to heaven...and it's been 'updated' several times since...[to keep it 'current' with present day church doctrine.]

So much for the 'word of God' [read: men with an agenda.]

In a world without hope God can be a powerful crutch, most often shouldering the blame when he fails to come through for you/the cause of the moment.

The priest solemnly intones, "It was the 'will of God" when we all know there's absolutely ZERO evidence verifying the existence of the 'Divine'.

Yet that doesn't stop you from dropping money in the basket when they pass it around.

If ANY of this is going to STOP it will be YOU that puts a stop to it, it's your 'belief' that keeps it going! It's YOU that keeps letting them get away with it.

Now SOME OF YOU don't want to live in a 'world without God', to you it's the same thing as admitting there's 'no hope'.

Which I suppose is easier than the truth, our hope IS you!

Only by rejecting your chains will any of us be free!

Literally!

Again I fear I give you more than you can handle but I have faith (and even dare to hope) that you're up to the task.

Embrace your humanity and reject the tyranny of those who claim to speak for the Divine [when they're actually speaking for themselves and their decidely perverted appetites.

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

We (and the media's bias against it)

Greetings good citizen, I recently called for a 'union' of like-minded individuals but it has become apparent that 'like-minded' is harder to come by than it used to be.

Gone is the sense of community or even what could be called 'common experience' in this world we share.

Now we all live on the same planet and we all live under the same rules so how can we be so 'divided'?

Can't begin that discussion without first explaining the 'Golden Rule'...there are three things people HATE, without exception, Cameras, mirrors and the TRUTH!

We are divided because the media made life 'personal'. They made it perfectly okay to put your own 'interpretation' on what's wrong with the world and encouraged you to 'celebrate your uniqueness!'

Once it was hip to profess to being 'Socially Liberal but Fiscally Conservative [like such a thing was possible, it's not.] Now you know anybody who spits out a line like that is really saying is 'I'm confused'...[or is just trying to avoid being labeled 'closed-minded'.]

Ever wonder why the CORPORATE OWNED MEDIA has become OBSESSED with 'wedge issues' [especially during the now year and a half long 'election cycle'?]

No irony should be lost on the fact that this 'fear of being labeled' has resulted in a generation that has NO Moral Compass.

None whatsoever.

So it came to pass that conservatives 'championed' gay marriage while rejecting it at the same time! Now they are championing 'trans-sexuality' while similarly claiming the 'moral high ground' of rejecting it as well.

And those 'posing' as Democrats just lie there like the roadkill that they are, 'steamrolled by their ideological opponents. [from both sides of the argument!]

It's nonsense like this that lends creedence to the deeply mistaken notion that the corporate-owned media has a 'Liberal Bias.'

When in reality most people wouldn't know a true liberal if they were bit by one! Almost everyone revers Franklin Roosevelt as the savior of the free world but few recognize that his brand of 'liberalism' was erased from Washington when LBJ left office.

Worse, there are those today who fail to recognize [but out of 'party loyalty'] are going to vote for the wife of the man who single-handedly erased the New Deal.

[But enough Hillary bashing.]

The real tragedy here is that (almost) nobody appreciates the significance of what's happening here.

This morning my homepage displayed two smiling youngsters, so innocent that what they KNOW about their own 'sexuality' wouldn't fill a thimble, cheerfully (but with zero appreciation for their act) affixing a 'trans-gendered' label to a school lavatory.

So, good citizen, who is the closed-minded 'monster' here? Me or the 'playing boths sides of the fence' corporate owned media?

Kids that don't LEARN RIGHT FROM WRONG from the ADULT COMMUNITY will be TOTALLY UNABLE to participate intelligently in their own governance!

See, these kids are being taught that 'tolerance' outweighs a respect for goodness. [With good being what advances 'social cohesion' and bad being what promotes 'abberent behavior'.]

What these kids aren't being taught is 'natural selection' results in 'normal attraction' and those not favored for normal attraction will take whatever they can get!

It is here we return to those 'three things people hate'. If you're not 'naturally attractive' you often won't admit that...even to yourself. How sad is it that often these 'easily frustrated' types will switch teams without giving the natural process a second chance?

Then they become 'rabid' about defending what often turns out to be a poor choice indeed. [Not that they'd EVER admit that!]

That's another thing about our new 'celebrate your mediocrity' society, nobody own their failures, even when they're punished for them...so nobody sees the advantage in 'improving' themselves.

AND we ALL 'pay the price'.

Not one of my more stellar missives but somebody has to defend the truth regardless of how unpopular it is.

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

Disturbing

Greetings good citizen, there are many disturbing aspects of modern life, not so much because they are new but because those in charge no longer care if you know.

What are you gonna do about it? Seriously, what?

Rightly so, the vast majority of us don't keep an army in our hip pockets 'in case of emergency' [and even if you DO have a 'posse', badass as they might be, it's still not enough to take on the Podunk Town Hall, never mind the 'Lettermen'.

Did you ever think we'd need so many different 'acronyms' to 'protect us' from who knows what?

How disturbing is it that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS A BRANCH OF THE 'SECRET POLICE'?

Somehow the truly disturbing part is the 'undefined' nature of the threat and the undisputed fact that ALL of them spend their time watching...US!

Worse, let's suppose we got an inquiry started to investigate, what, precisely, this alphabet soup was looking into, what do you'd think we'd learn?

Would it be something along the lines of 'you can't handle the Truth!

Or their other favorite 'pat' (Unassailable) answer: It's a matter of National Security, that's ALL you need to know.

Like you are a child, incapable of understanding.

How much you wanna bet if 'the truth' ever came out, 3/4 of the agencies could be completely eliminated (starting with 'homeland security'. We got along for CENTURIES without one, now we can't fart without their permission!)

Our [largely] dysfunctional government not withstanding, let's examine for a moment the 'way of life' these clowns are (supposedly) 'protecting'.

Don't have a job? Not their problem, People in China need to work too...make YOURSELF 'more valuable'! [Like that helps!] Why not just say, 'Not my problem, talk to the hand'?

Don't have a place to live? You're told 'Get a job'! [Wait, isn't that were we started? The 'get a job' but there ain't no jobs circle has been going on for years and it's directly responsible for the proliferation of the 'Alphabet Soup phenomenon...which serves as a 'jobs program' for talentless (but connected) college graduates.

How disturbing is it that if you have the presence of mind to draw attention to these 'inconsistencies' it is YOU that ends up on a 'watch list'?

Even more disturbing is how everything keeps circling back to 'The Godfather'; Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!

Well, if the ones that are supposed to be protecting us, don't trust us, is that screwed up or what?

Anyway, with fifty percent of us unemployed [yeah, it's that bad] and most of those having exhausted their benefits are either living with relatives or are on some kind of hand-out program; we have to ask ourselves just what the hell do [those running the show] think they're doing?

Understand the direct relationship between the 'pauperization' of the general public and the abrupt spike in billionaires. It didn't happen in a vacuum, certain 'rules' got bent [if not outright broken] and blindness was damn near universal [as far as law enforcement was concerned.]

Again, it's a matter of 'National Security' that YOU [most certainly] 'wouldn't understand'.

Ever wonder what it would be like if criminals ran the country?

Take a good look good citizen and marvel at why you never considered the idea before...

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

If [this] then [that]

Greetings good citizen, 'cause and effect' relationships form the basis of our understanding of the world around us...except when they don't.

This morning's NY Times tells us the Venezulian economy is crashing and burning as (big surprise) corrupt capitalists retake control.

One of the 'most disturbing' aspects of the Second World War is it was funded by capitalists that desired 'favorable conditions' for raping the planet (and exploiting the workforces of the world.)

The Nazis lost and the capitalist's role in that multi-million fatality genocidal act was 'reversed' by touting how capitalism 'defeated' fascism...Hitler would have been a footnote in world history if not for his capitalist benefactors.

Now the whole world is capitalist (despite the Chinese clinging to their (in name only) 'socialist' [fascist] government model)

Here in the West we are experiencing the worst of '*unbridled capitalism' that is having freakish results in our presidential race.

[*unbridled capitalism is when capitalists subvert the justice system to further their own aims, like firing unions wholesale...then legislating against retalitory action.]

The Nazis were 'hawks' in the extreme...how curious that both frontrunners (according to the corporate-owned media) are unabashed warmongers as well as shameless capitalist cheerleaders?

Are we truly doomed to relive the lessons of history because we failed to learn from them?

The Nazis lost WWII but the capitalists...they're still here, doing better than ever (especially since 'Morning in America'!)

I also encountered another news item that you won't find here in the corporate owned media echo-chamber...one that says Europe [probably not all but some of it] has a six hour workday.

This is what we call 'mother's hours' here in the US and it is sort of common. Back to today's 'cause and effect' theme, the greatest obstacle to a reduced workday is how our 'expense profile' is keyed to a forty-hour paycheck.

In order to reduce the workday we would need to also reduce the expense profile of the average worker...and it would be vastly superior if we were to put the people who make the whole operation function on a daily basis [people in the front office are 'overhead' and don't contribute directly to the bottom line...] worth their while by paying them a 'livable' salary.

In order to 'live' in today's society the worker needs to make in excess of three-hundred thousand dollars annually. IF you are making this amount today you are, by default, a member of the one percent! [Because the 50% point of the average worker is still hovering around the $25K mark.

We could easily readjust the debtload of the average family by making housing a 'gimme'. We could also create hundreds of thousands of new jobs by making maintainance on those homes 'free'.

The second significant cost savings could be realized from public transportation, again, free.

Reducing the workday means doubling the number of shifts, and we don't utilize efficient 'people movers' it's gonna be a mess and a half.

Rail, bus and [free] motor vehicle pools (on the idea of Zipcar) will satisfy the need to get around for most people. Travel for work? Company vehicles are the answer.

Although it is unlikely the 'more for me' capitalist would go along with any of these expense saving ideas.

See, the capitalist doesn't care about 'expense!' Spend it like water because 'expense' is built into the price, consumer be damned!

Yet some of you have your heads reeling...what would happen to that summer home that's been in your family for generations? What about that block of income property that keeps your cousin in the chips?

Poof...all 'trumped' by the 'greater good'.

If you think that's just 'wrong' then there's something wrong with YOU...starting with your upbringing!

[Some of you may not like what Gegner has to say but I don't believe in lying to you.]

Shelter is EVERYBODY'S right! No one should be allowed to exploit that necessity, especially the [for profit] banks.

So it is I marvel at the kind of society that's perfectly cool with the idea of paying twenty times what a stack of lumber is worth just so the investors make money.

Worse, the 'bidding wars' desirable Real Estate spark only prove the reality of 'the greater fool'...

This whole 'game' is proof of what a virulent 'disease' this thing we call capitalism really is.

Is there a 'better way'? Hell yeah! [But the capitalist doesn't want YOU to know about it!]

Let's see if this 'takes hold'...because its as plain as the nose on your face although you won't find a single history book pointing at this fact. The capitalists, after crashing the global economy in 1929, turned around and funded Hitler's war machine and walked away unmolested after not only those two incidents but also after the most recent bout of financial hubris [2007]

And they're still walking free today!

Just thought I'd share that with my 'oddly opinionless' readers. [That said, I can appreciate not wanting to draw attention to yourself in these perilous times...so keep your thoughts to yourself if that's what makes you comfortable. I honestly don't mind, I just find it odd...but I'm sure that label fits both ways.]

Thanks once again for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

Democracy: Defecit or Surplus?

Greetings good citizen, this morning I read a curious question that most of us don't consider. I suspect the 'kneejerk reaction' to the question "do we have 'too much or too little?' [Democracy]?" would be, 'just right'.

We don't have the gridlock the original opponents insisted we'd suffer and we also don't suffer from the 'paralysis' of having to vote on EVERYTHING before a decision can be reached/acted upon.

The original target had been set at 'slow and deliberate' and I suspect in our world of instant gratification we're still, er, 'on target'.

We don't have time to man and set up the polling places once the button has been pushed by a nuclear armed foe so we give that decision over to a 'leader'...which is why it is imperitive that we 'choose carefully' when handing over the power to wipe life from the face of the planet to a single individual.

We've seen the posing. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs insists he'd refuse to launch just on the President's say-so...but add 'extenuating circumstances' into that and now he's waffling.

It's easy to get sidetracked when 'weighing' how much Democracy is enough and how much is too much, like the little scenario we use in our example.

Some things can't wait so we have to trust we have selected 'the best person for the job'.

Now we have to ask ourselves if 'a popularity contest' is the best way to determine this?

But once again, I digress!

I think most people would agree, using 'Democracy' to select leaders in today's nuclear age is not only foolhardy, it's suicidal!

Rip away that feature and our (pretty much useless) form of Democracy disappears.

Is that why we spend half of every presidency running for office? [Yes good citizen, it takes almost two years to get elected president...and you have to wonder about that as well.] It's the 'illusion of participation' that's being propped up by the drawn out campaign process.

That said, it also fills the coffers of the corporate owned media and drives the 'news cycle' [pretty much] constantly.

But we still haven't addressed the question, are we suffering from a 'Democracy defecit or a surplus of Democracy?'

The article I read opines we are suffering the effects of a 'Democracy defecit' but I hit upon the reason why when I pointed out that the ONLY thing you get to vote 'for' is who will make decisions in your name without ever consulting YOU.

This is something most of us realize but have been raised to believe there's nothing we can do about it because 'expediency demands we trust our leaders'.

Democracizing the 'process' [using old-school thinking of paper ballots and operating polling places around working hours] is still considered impractical [despite instant national polling conducted by numerous 'reality' television shows.]

The fly in this particular ointment is 'hacking'. Voting from home would change the process considerably and we could create safeguards but the danger exists that the ballot would no longer be 'secret', that others would be able to find out how you voted. [Not that anyone these days has any illusions regarding their privacy.]

Nope, those who choose who will lead aren't about to relinquish their stranglehold over the ballotbox [that nobody but they can see.]

So now we have [partially] answered the question and find ourselves in agreement, we definitely suffer from a 'Democracy Defecit' (although there are those who would opine we suffer from a surplus, that we have 'too much freedom' but this usually segues into a rousing sermon on the wickedness of man and his propensity for evil...like that has anything to do with Democracy and the business of running civilization.)

Ironically, that's precisely the stand those who choose for us hold. That humanity is wicked, evil and easily fooled...wait, they may be on to something!

But I jest, good citizen. Not about the 'easily fooled' part but you know judgement has been prejudiced when you start off with a 'blanket accusation' of wickedness and evil.

Can we be honest and cut to the chase, the 'everybody knows' part? We, collectively, decide NOTHING. They agonizingly long and drawn out electorial process exists to provide the 'illusion of participation' just as the heavily massaged unemployment figures provide 'the illusion of successful management.'

Democracy as it was 'originally intended' has NEVER existed. Sure 'families' practice 'democracy' when sending out for Pizza or deciding which movie to see but Democratic government, never happened.

Ever wonder why you can find humanity clinging to life in even the most miserable and desolate parts of this planet? It's not hard to figure out.

The answer is 'freedom'. Living life on your own terms means escaping the machinations of the 'self-interested'. How sad is it that there's no longer anyplace [hospitable] to escape to?

Just a little punctuation mark on the truth that we suffer from an enormous Democracy deficit.

Which is to ask the other question, is what we have 'as good as it gets'?

Closer to the mark would be the reality that 'as good as our current brand' was ever going to get was after WWII and prior to Morning in America.

Emphasis on the WAS, it's all been downhill from there.

Ironic how computers hold the key to expanding participation [a.k.a democracy] but instead they are being used to curtail it instead...because WE don't get to DECIDE.

But I might as well be shouting at the bottom of a well. Over fifty posts and not a single comment? I'm good but I'm not that good.

Either way it is cathargic to get these thoughts out in the open. I can provide myself with the illusion I'm trying to change things but if I'm the only one here then we (as a civilization) have bigger problems.

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

The Divide

Greetings good citizen, I came across an opinion piece in the NY Times this morning submitted by an educator regarding the trend towards 'Liberalism' among the 'highly educated'.

Since Bobo was 'concerned' I got the impression he wasn't (or at least he didn't consider himself) 'liberal'.

He probably is more 'liberal' than he thinks but he brushes that off as part of the 'culture' he finds himself immersed in. If he were digging ditches, he'd be a flag-waving, patriotic, pistol toting, GOD FEARING factless conservo-whacko, foaming at the mouth every time somebody uttered that evil word 'tax'.

Well, this too set the 'hamster wheel' spinning. There are several 'divides' but only three are prominent. The most prevalent is the spiritual vs. the fact based and the second divide is the wealthy vs the poor. Both sides have huge, er, 'ignorant' components which brings us to the third divide, the smart vs the stupid.

Notice I didn't include the Conservative vs Liberal divide because it is really a face off between the fact-based and the spiritual.

Liberals make it a point to know the facts and weigh the evidence while conservatives prefer 'faith' and 'handed down wisdom' over 'dangerous and misunderstood' facts.

How sad is it good citizen that all of the divides come down to the most prevalent one, that of smart vs. stupid.

And the most crushing part of that divide is 'stupid is permanent', ignorance can be fixed!

Which is to opine that 'faith based' ANYTHING is dangerous because the stupid become violent when their beliefs are challenged! The intelligent accept that there are 'alternatives' and that the facts are in a constant state of 'flux'. If the facts change then so do the findings.

The faith-based don't like how knowledge can alter their long held beliefs. Especially if you're one of the few handing out faith-based knowledge (which is accepted as 'flawless'.) It's how you keep the 'rabble' in line.

Since the capitalists 'won' WWII, [and every alleged conflict since] the 'walls of ignorance' and the aversion to questions/transparency has multiplied.

To the 'victor' goes the spoils...so the planet is theirs now.

Which is why the media runs 'liberals' into the ground every chance they get because 'more for me' capitalism doesn't handle truth or questions very well at all.

You notice everything is top secret these days? Well they sure don't want you asking questions because if you knew the truth you'd be rioting in the streets!

This is how we get a political arena like we have now. It is intended to distract you from the deep issues the 'infinite earther's' don't want to address (or YOU to notice.)

Like the end of fossil fuel or the huge and growing homeless population. Ignore either one of these issues long enough and they won't have to explain them, civilization will simply collapse. [The 'responsible parties' plan on vanishing behind their gated compounds and estates, living off the 'prime real estate' they stole from the rest of us while we club one another to death over the last rat to be found among the rubble of the wasteland they created for us.]

Yup, I'd opine that the Smart/Stupid divide is the one that matters although the real 'test' will come when stupid comes to kill you. Will you know what to do? If you don't, you're dead.

The ONLY thing you can do about climate change is 'adapt', there is no choice 'B'. Even the end of 'commercially viable' fossil fuel will leave tens of thousands of gallons just sitting in tanks scattered across the globe, just enough so the maniacs that seize power play 'Mad Max' for a few months, then we all walk and migrate with the seasons/herds.

Although only the most remote herds will survive the starving masses eating everything in their path after the bottom drops out...and too few understand the concept of 'seed corn' never mind the importance of NOT EATING IT!

Which is to opine we will once again have a close encounter with extinction, especially once modern medicine collapses. Left unknown is the high unlikelihood that extinction 'on this planet' means our kind would vanish completely from the universe.

I count myself an intellectual and a somewhat liberal one at that. I think it's fairly evident that this is NOT the 'planet of origin' for our species, but that's just my 'opinion'. The facts just aren't in although the evidence is pretty strong.

The 'racial divide' is the primary evidence for differing planets of origin, the sexual divide is probably the most 'natural' and is not a 'true' divide at all. Two halves make a whole, how much more natural can you get?

That said, the sexual divide is primarily the smart vs stupid divide playing itself out. Men tend to view 'desirable mates' as property and women are 'of two minds' regarding just about everything...making it somewhat pointless to even attempt to explain. They love it but they hate it...enough said. Further hashing just muddies the water more.

Considering what they're (females) expected to put up with under capitalist slavedom, this inherent internal conflict is 'beneficial'. It allows them to cope with the incomprehensible.

But I (dangerously) digress and feel the need to flee this ackward line of reasoning.

There are other divides but I believe I've touched all the major/important ones. Most of the ones I've neglected are subdivisions of the major groups listed here.

I will once again direct your attention to the most important divide of all, that of Smart vs. Stupid. Conservatives view all 'facts' as 'dangerous' making them, by default, 'stupid' [because thinking for themselves makes their head hurt.]

That said I marvel that we (as a species) ever got off the planet of origin although, as we have seen repeatedly, it only takes one genius to advance us all, even if we don't (even partially) understand the ramifications of doing so.

Perhaps this is the 'curse' of mankind, to be aware that others are 'smarter' than you are and always being 'on guard' because of this...

Thank you for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

Suicide...or is it?

Greetings good citizen, while Futurists past dreamt of a day when 'drudge-work' was automated out of existance, liberating man to 'expand his mind'; the current imbalance between the laborforce and the requirements of industry reveals the horror of being made 'redundant'.

We don't have (worse, we don't UNDERSTAND) a society that rewards 'idleness'. While 'improving ones mind' has produced some astounding outcomes, the road to enlightement offers only sporadic (and then often miniscule) 'paydays'.

Yesterday's proposal to Unionize is driven by the NEED to focus leadership's attention on this behind the scenes crisis, one they're completely aware of but have copped a 'hands-off' attitude towards because their largest campaign contributors would be directly affected by their actions.

Capitalism is dead good citizen but to keep 'pay/go' running (the slaver's grip over you) they will re-establish monarchy where the simple act of questioning the crown's will carries a death sentence...sorta redefines 'you will do it and like it', doesn't it?

Yes, man's inhumanity towards his fellow man is legendary...so much so that it's a marvel we don't kill one another on sight! [Back in the really murky past, we did!]

But I (once again) digress.

I am NOT proposing Smack Water Jack get his shotgun...I am suggesting he pull it out of his own mouth.

Under a 'pay/go system, if you can't make 'ends meet' then you may as well be dead.

This is the crisis I'm referring to above. Many, having failed to 're-invent' themselves, reach the end of their proverbial ropes and end it all; giving their creditors the same 'rigid middle finger' society gave to them.

To make matters more poignant, the most frequent victims of 'self-directed violence' are the working poor {Remember those guys, the ones whose job doesn't pay them enough to live on?} Well, sometimes they reach the conclusion that the only way off the 'treadmill' our mercenary lifestyle has made for them is to step in front of fast moving traffic, although there's always 'over-medication'...

But don't be mislead, sometimes those around them get 'sick' of supporting the redundant one and they turn him or her out.

With no means of support and Clinton's nuking of the welfare system, they have no place to turn but the frail and growing more fragile 'safety net', the criminal ridden food pantry and homeless shelters that more closely resemble prisons than refuges, the way they are run.

Absolutely no irony should be lost on how 'Morning in America' turned millions out of public institutions established to help the handicapped and mentally challenged, with most of them now residing in the 'shelter system' for the burgeoning homeless population.

Add that to the 'churning' of the domestic workforce and you have more complete picture of the horrors of conservatism. Although those horrors are apparent in the platitudes and attitudes of its adherents: people in the shelter system 'did it to themselves'. When nothing could be further from the truth.

Which brings us full circle to the corporate owned media. If you don't go seeking answers elsewhere you will remain ignorant of the facts behind the decidedly corrupt regime running things. [Mercenaries anyone? A free nation has no use for 'soldiers for hire' yet our military is riddled with 'elite units' that answer to unknown masters.]

You don't need me to tell you that this is NOT how an 'above boards' government does business.

Worse, all of this has been done so 'A few could be rich'...

Um, since we're here, did you give any thought to that union idea? I'd love to get your input...

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner