Another Spiritual Journey

You know, looking back at things, I’m pretty glad I decided not to be a scumbag.


Sure, I know what’s running through your mind. You’re thinking I really wanted to be a scumbag but that I tried and failed. After all, to your way of thinking, everybody wants to be a scumbag but only the cream rises to the top. People who wanted to be scumbags and failed, litter the streets like so many homeless wheeling their shopping carts through neighborhoods where they don’t belong.

I was raised to be a scumbag. Went to scumbag prep school and attended a scumbag liberal arts college. The pressure was great to be a scumbag just like everyone else. Money, available sex partners, fine wine, acceptance, these were just a few of the perks that went along with being a card carrying scumbag.

I even tried being a scumbag for a while. Nice job, desk, air conditioning, sweet paycheck, respect of the community. All I had to do for eight hours a day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year, was see to it that everyone followed the rules and assure scumbags stayed on top of the social pyramid. Easy enough. Too easy if you don’t mind my saying.

Don’t exactly remember when I realized there was only one place the road I was on was leading. I was going to be a scumbag for the rest of my life. Easy street. Nice living and a comfortable retirement. The American dream. My job was to keep my eyes where my bosses and friends wanted me to focus, and pay no attention to what was going on to people who weren’t fortunate enough to be scumbags like me.

Must have been four election cycles back. I surveyed the dozen or so candidates vying for the nominations of their respective parties, and I suddenly realized I had no choice other than to vote for another scumbag just like myself. Rank and privilege and basic scumbaggedness was so entrenched in our society that hardly anyone in the upper echelons even realized they were scumbags anymore.

Only choice anyone had was to elect another scumbag. I was one, I knew exactly what being a scumbag meant. It meant being a morally empty, ethically compromised, upper middle class, and above piece of shit who was willing to sell most of society down the river in order to maintain their own piece of the pie and eat it too. When faced with seeing only scumbags like myself running the country, I knew it was time for me to change teams.

So I quit. I quit being a scumbag. I didn’t begrudge my friends and co-workers who remained scumbags. Most of them had families to support and those who didn’t were looking forward to starting scumbag families of their own. I kissed Scumbagville goodbye and never looked back.

It wasn’t easy going cold turkey. Those jobs where my scumbag skills would have stood me in good stead couldn’t accept someone who’d turned their back on the scumbag tribe. Those people who’d  never been scumbags couldn’t bring themselves to trust someone who they could only assume was still a scumbag.

It was a classic Catch-22 situation. Once a scumbag, always a scumbag. To most people it was beyond their imagination that such a thing as an ex-scumbag could possibly exist.

Over the years things got a little better. I learned to adapt. I accepted scumbags would probably be controlling things until the day I died. I accepted the inevitable. Scumbags ruled.

And then, along came Bernie.

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Tax Their Sinful Ways

We in the United States need a definition of greed. We need to settle on a figure. Just how much is too much? When does accumulating some become hoarding too much? When does a fat cat become an obese cat? 

Who doesn’t like taxing cigarettes and alcohol? They’re easy targets. Everybody knows too much of either is bad for you. Our government takes a serious piece of the action to discourage gluttonous consumption of both smokes and booze and to help defer the health costs their use incurs. It’s generally accepted governments should discourage destructive, sinful behavior either by taxes, fees, or the criminal justice system. We’ve been doing this for generations. But as of late we seem to have turned a blind eye to an ongoing evil. How did greed, one of the seven deadly sins, manage to avoid paying for the damage it has done to society?

Even an occasional smoker or the most moderate of drinkers is forced to pay sin taxes. Even if you limit yourself to a cigarette a month or a martini at Christmas, you pay the same rate as chain smokers and potential DUIs. But the greediest, most avaricious, “I’d rather spit in your face than give you a nickel” billionaire usually pays less proportional taxes than the most frugal citizen on the low end of the income spectrum. With the present tax rates in place, it appears this government actually encourages greed. 

Greed is not good. Greed will forever remain a deadly sin, one of the top seven. When a billionaire boasts about his accumulated wealth, it’s like a glutton rhapsodizing on how he’s eaten non-stop for the past forty years, while addressing an audience that hasn’t had a solid meal in weeks. Somehow the United States, this allegedly Christian nation, has forgotten that obscene accumulation of wealth is remains an abomination unto their Lord. Fortune and Barrons and The Wall Street Journal might as well be kiddie porn in the way they egg on their rapacious readers. The message of this culture promotes ripping off as much as you can from your fellow man. 

Greed needs to be defined. A dollar limit needs be set. If you earn more than this country’s President for an extended period of time, and you keep accumulating more and more, you might be a greedy redneck. If you never worked a day in your life, and you clip coupons purchased by your grandfather while sipping champagne in a Park Avenue penthouse, you probably are an avaricious prepster. If you work for a Fortune 500 company and earn more than 20 times the income of its lowest paid employee, you almost certainly are a greedy sinful scumbag.

Getting back to the sin tax part. How does a society discourage its citizens from engaging in avaricious behavior? When does reasonable accumulation become greed, a deadly sin? It was only a few decades ago that this country decided taxing greed wasn’t necessary. All that “trickle down Economics” rubbish gave rise to a tax rate which presently allows the obscenely rich among us to accumulate unbridled wealth. Following this trend, those citizens not in the top half of one percent of income will soon be left with next to nothing. 

Where do you draw the line? How’s this for a modest proposal, every dollar taken in over one million dollars a year (averaged) should be taxed at a 90% rate. Certainly the vast majority of citizens will agree that if a person believes they need more than a million a year to survive, they’re being a bit greedy. And as we all know, sin taxes are meant to discourage evil behavior.

Greed is hard to recognize at times. Like pornography it might forever remain a judgement call. Greed falls under the “I don’t know exactly but ‘I know it when I see it’ rule”. But pretty much everyone can see grasping for more than a million bucks a year is pretty damn greedy.

It’s long past time to seriously tax the greediest among us. It’s time to help curtail their evil habit. Greed will forever remain a sin. In so many ways. 

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Elect Maggie Thatcher President of the United States

Consider the under represented majorities in the United States, in the world for that matter, and pretty soon you’re going to come across the most ignored majority of them all. Sure, they’ve been getting a lot of broadcast media time these days, but that’s simply a way to placate their aspirations  with shiny objects while the real power remains where it always has been. Having television shows named after them and hiring many as roaming extras is one thing, but what’s been missing is real power. Political power. It’s time to rectify this egregious deliberate oversight. It’s time for a great representative for the unrepresented.

Former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Maggie Thatcher fits the bill. Even dead she remains one of the all time great Corporate Fascist leaders. Nobody ever had more friends in the financial communities. The Clintons don’t even come close. She won office on her own; not following in the footsteps of husband, father, or brother. She remains an icon for the dead, women, and Corporate Fascists all around the world. As the first dead, foreign, woman President of the United States, she will represent the three great under represented majorities, women, foreigners,  and the dead.  Corporate Fascists have occupied the Oval Office for a long time.
 
Let’s face it, everyone votes for their own kind. Men vote for men. Women vote for women. Whites for whites. Blacks for blacks. Latinos for Latinos. Like attracts like. Doesn’t matter how many people they’ve droned or how much Wall Street money was funneled into their charities, when people see a chance to vote for someone like themself, just about everyone takes it.

Obama is a classic example. He mouthed the proper words and looked right, so people voted for him. Nobody checked him out. He turns out to be the best thing the Corporate Fascists could have ever dreamed. Obama charmed and didn’t offend, bingo, he’s elected.

Now’s the chance to really dig up the vote. Listen, we’re all going to be dead one day, so why not elect someone who has our future interests as their own?

Maggie Thatcher as the first dead, woman, Corporate Fascist president covers all the essential bases. Thatcher’s a woman, a Corporate Fascist,  and she’s dead; so she peleases our future selves, international business, the feminists and the misogynists all at the same time. Hillary Clinton only pleases the feminists and the Corporate Fascists, and Jill Stein only the feminists. Who’s the obvious choice?

As far as Maggie not being a United States citizen, no worry there, after all, once we’re dead, everyone becomes a de facto citizen of the world. And that beats all the experience any Secretary of State ever had.

At the very least any dead candidate can be assured of winning the Chicago vote.

Vote for Maggie Thatcher! Who cares how she’s acted, as long as she’s one of us!

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Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been...

Can such a simple and small action as raising taxes on the extremely wealthy be revolutionary? It seems that these days it can be.

Before chucking it all and moving somewhere off the grid where the oligarchs will never find us, there is one question which should be asked of every American politician seeking office this election cycle.

“Are you in favor of increasing taxes on millionaires? Yes or no.”

For decades corporate shills have terrorized American politicians by, among other things, forcing them to sign pledges not to raise taxes.

Everyone hates paying taxes. What else is new? By framing their anti-tax position in such a way as to appear populist, “big government wants to take all the little guy’s money”,  the oligarchs have picked the country’s pockets and weakened all governmental structures. Say what you will about this representative system, it’s a hell of a lot better than rule by corporations abetted by those protecting inherited wealth.

During a period when extremism is rampant, it’s time for a little fine tuning.

“Are you in favor of increasing taxes on millionaires? Yes or No.”

A simple question. For those who reply in the affirmative, fine and dandy, (Yes, all politicians lie at times, but that’s not the point.) For those who say no, or who dance and dodge and trot out the usual bullshit, the line has been drawn. Even the most libertarian, brain dead ideologue knows by now that wealth disparity in this country has reached a critical stage. Not being in favor of taxing millionaires will put that politician on the wrong side of the argument when the votes are cast. Contrary to what corporate media wishes everyone to think, Americans truly do despise everyone who attempts to hog all the money.

Of equal, or possibly more value, this question will shift the topic of conversation from where to cut government, to how tax revenue will be raised to improve this country. Schools, roads, bridges, alternative energy, disaster relief, food; all these essentials cost money to build, maintain, and distribute. It is time for corporations and oligarchs to pay more than their fair share.

To paraphrase words attributed to Willie Sutton, “That’s where the money is.”

“Are you in favor of increasing taxes on millionaires? Yes or No.”

A simple question but it will smoke out those who are on the take in the shortest time possible. If anyone thinks this is playing on class divisions, you can tell them damn straight it is. Now is the time for Americans to take back their country and the money that goes along with it.


Remember: billionaires are millionaires a thousand times over.

Small things must be done in order to survive and fight another day.

When a room is in total darkness, it’s radical to turn on any light.

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The New Health Care Marketplace - "Nice Rash, Buddy"

Published by
Dissident Voice

“Nice rash, buddy.”

Saul believed Wednesday morning would be the best time for his visit to the New Health Care Market.

“Hey, $55 dollars and we’ll have that urticaria off your face in no time at all. Money back guarantee!”

They must think Saul is a real greenhorn. Everybody knows whoever has the first stall near the auditorium’s entrance was sure to be peddling overpriced, shoddy product.

“Don’t listen to him. $40 and we’ll have you all looking like new in half an hour.”

Another one. Saul understood they figured he wasn’t just browsing, but he was beginning to feel like chum surrounded by ravenous sharks.

“Johns Hopkins trained. Not like any of these state university assholes. Johns Hopkins. Where else you going to find a bargain like this? Number one medical establishment. No finer school represented in this entire bazaar.”

Saul kept walking as two belligerent doctors screamed and waved diplomas at one another. Fisticuffs looked likely to ensue, so Saul and his rash just kept on moving through this health care maze.

The New Medical Marketplace came into existence two years previous. The World Court ruled for-profit health care to be both a human rights violation and a possible war crime. The existing medical industry, pharmaceutical companies, medical insurers, as well as for-profit hospitals and doctors, all folded up like the cheap suits they were. Not a single bank was willing to front money to organizations subject to civil and criminal proceedings certain to bankrupt them. Without lines of credit, the for-profit health industry disappeared almost overnight.

Saul had enjoyed observing the ensuing medical/corporate shit storm. Hospitals and private practices which had utilized most of their manpower filling out insurance forms, soon brought their investors to their knees. Insurance companies, their corporate model based on percentages above cost, began focusing on real competitive business rather than seeing how high they could drive medical billing. Used Cadillac and Lexus SUVs soon flooded the market. Saul, since he drove so very little, and the price was even better than right, indulged himself a little and purchased the last ridiculously large gas guzzler he was sure he would ever buy. He only used it short trips around town. For serious driving, he now rented.

For the vast majority of citizens, the demise of the for-profit, insurance driven medical community was a great bonus. Eventually certain corrupt diehard congressman would lose their seats and Medicare for all would become the law of the land. For now, until public funds were available to hire all qualified medical professionals as public servants, these true free market medical farmers’ markets fulfilled a need.

Saul made his way through the crowd, eventually he spotted the booth where Dr. Bob, the Falafel King, peddled his wares. Saul had done his homework. He knew the Falafel King provided good service for an extremely reasonable price.

Dr. Bob remained one of the few medical professionals at the market still employing a nurse. “He does great work. There’s always enough money to share.” In and out of Dr. Bob’s establishment in under forty-five minutes, Saul agreed with the prescribed treatment and the fifty dollars out-of-pocket included a month’s worth of the prescribed drugs. On his way out, the satisfied patient purchased enough falafels for dinner that night. Dr. Bob certainly knew how to keep a business running.

Driving home in his gently used SUV, Saul did feel a moment of compassion for the doctors who these days had to scramble for every nickel. Eventually they would all come around and accept salaries topped off at what was paid to U.S. Senators. Until they learn the lesson of what a real marketplace is, rather than the rigged insurance racket they’d help perpetrate for so many years, these M.D. gurus would have to share mall space with the local farmers. Until they learned their real value to the community, they’d have to sell their services by the side of the road just like everybody else.

Saul pulled into his garage and returned to the warmth of his home, a satisfied medical consumer looking forward to a tasty dinner.

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A Rash of Terror

Reading further internet text, the terrorist becomes ever more convinced in the righteousness of her cause.

“God’s will be done.”

For months she stood firm. Agents of the oppressor surrounded her, wanting to subsume even her youngest child into their heathen world government. Only moments before she tucked blankets underneath his chin as he continued his fever sleep. It was not right only her child should have to live so.

“Even if my child is the last, he shall live free.”

By keeping her infant unregistered, she hopes to avoid the medical experimentation these occupying forces perform on innocent children, often with the compliance of ignorant parents. But this is merely a delaying tactic, the terrorist knew at some point her child would be discovered. They would demand he be delivered to one of their many “health” facilities. He would become another statistic, furthering their obscene medical procedures and research. 

She knew she must do her utmost to avoid this cruel fate from befalling her child. 

Eleven days before, she brought her child to the group.  All the mothers attending were also true believers, even if most were cowards. They would not subject their infants to the oppressor’s whim, but they hadn’t the nerve to strike out against their oppressor. One blessed child was introduced to them all, and the children spent an hour playing together.

It was not until yesterday that her child showed signs he too had been blessed. She immediately took him to his bed. This morning God’s mark, in all its glory, appeared on his skin. This will be the day. 

The terrorist wraps the child in its blanket. Donning a long, dark, hooded coat, she covers herself, hoping to make her appearance as unmemorable as possible. With a scarf she obscures her face. Cameras positioned by the oppressors will certainly be recording their actions when mother and son arrive at the final destination.

She knows her actions will appear cruel to some. But God has selected these children. Some will survive. Some not. God’s eternal and glorious will.

She cradles her son in her arms as they leave the house. She feels his fever heat as they get into the minivan. She buckles him into the car seat. 

Finding a place to sit near the center of the indoor shopping center, the terrorist slowly uncovers her child’s face, allowing the boy to more freely breathe in and out the recirculating air. Soon hundreds of children within the mall’s confines will also be blessed. 

The measles virus is truly God’s will. The Lord be praised.

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AUTHOR TAGS:

Guns, Police, and Gift Bags

At the Hill Street precinct house, another shift begins.

“Settle, people, settle.” Behind his podium, a balding sergeant conducting this morning’s roll call brings the twenty-five police officers to order. “Just a couple of things to run through before you get out into today’s bright sunshine and fresh air. First off: we’re all working this weekend. Demonstrations downtown are expected. Everybody works. No exceptions.”

The sergeant waits for the grumbling to subside before continuing. “Think of it this way, you may be on the street all weekend but it’s another couple of boat payments you won’t have to worry about. Second: Officer Buntz is recovering from a bowel resection so when the cap goes around, donate generously. We’re going to get the family something nice. They’ll be suffering enough with Buntz moping around the house all the time for the next couple of weeks.

“Finally, we have a visitor. A visitor bearing gifts no less. People, listen up, allow me to introduce Ms. Jane Parker, who is here representing this precinct’s corporate partners, the National Firearms League. Ms. Parker.”

“Thank you, Sergeant. Good morning, officers. My name is Julia Parker and I’m the National Firearms district liaison for your Hill Street precinct. It’s my pleasure to be here this morning. 

“As most of you are undoubtedly aware, today marks the third anniversary of the Affordable Cop Act and our employers at the NFL would like to mark this occasion with a special gift to all of you. On your way out, my assistant, Robert, will give you each a gift bag. It’s a small token of the NFL’s appreciation of all your hard work. Included in the bag, among other items, you will  find a brand new, never been fired, Glock 19.” 

Ms. Parker takes a moment’s pause as the ripple of surprise subsided.

“I’ve been tasked with reporting to you all that percentage sales for the Hill precinct this past year have more than doubled corporate projections. A bonus check for each one of you will be transferred to your individual accounts next pay period. Congratulations one and all!”

Ms. Parker begins the applause but soon all the officers join in.

“Yes, congratulations! But today we’re starting a new sales year and I just want to remind each of you that you are the face of the National Firearms League out there on the streets. You should all remember that each time you discharge one of your brand new Glocks. We at the NFL, based on historical data, anticipate a ten percent increase in local sales for the following week each time an officer discharges their weapon in the line of duty. So, remember, if given the slightest reason, protect, serve, and fire.

“One other thing before I let you get back onto the streets. You’ve all been doing a great job as NFL public relations reps, but I want to emphasize one point. Whenever any of you are dealing with the media; television, radio, blogs, whatever, always remind the media that police officers never feel safe on the street unless they are carrying a handgun. If you can’t display the weapon to the cameras, at least put your hand near the weapon so it’s included in the frame. We want every civilian in the Hill Street precinct to know that if the cops; well trained in martial arts, self-defense, and all that; can’t feel safe unless they carry a gun, what chance does a middle aged non-combatant have unless he or she is packing too? That’s the sales pitch and it’s a winner! Guns are fun! What protects the police can protect you too!

“Thank you all!”

To polite applause Ms. Parker leaves the room and the Sergeant once again addresses his troops. “You heard it all. Pick up your new pistols on the way out. And Pearson Avenue near 5th is closed until this afternoon. Plan your patrols around it. OK, that’s it. Hit the streets.”

The officers assemble their equipment, pick up their gift bags, but before anyone can leave the room, the Sergeant speaks once again.

“Hey, let's be careful out there.” 

The Donkey in Rehab

(TRANSCRIPT OF THERAPY SESSION NUMBER 3)

First one's always free. As universal a rule as you’re going to find.

That’s what they say.

When did you start? Was the first taste so attractive? So irresistible? 

You don’t get it. It was always this way. Somebody makes a donation. You do them a favor. And if somebody owned you, well, that’s the way it is.

So, you think being bought is a good thing?

Listen, it’s like anything else. It’s like drinking. A couple of cocktails now and then. Nobody cares. Some people can drink like fish and not stumble. Others, a few belts and they’re butt naked in the middle of the street trying to hail a cab.

So which one are you?

That’s why we’re here. We all thought we could take donations from corporations and not be overly beholden to them. Things got out of control.

What do you mean by that?

Money is the obvious problem. But it’s the operatives too. Eventually the money came with consultants who said they were for the people, but they were for the corporations. It’s the revolving door. Soon enough their culture permeated the party. And their ideas started to take over. Instead of talking about guaranteed minimum income, we were talking about minimum wage. Crap like that. Instead of Medicare for all, we’re selling more private insurance policies. Biggest money maker since the printing press. And all these Democrats who say they’re for the people are doing the donor’s bidding.

How’s that?

They sold the big lie. What with media advisors and all the other idiots who come with the big bucks, they sold us on the idea we needed to fight money with money. Had to keep the conglomerate donations coming in so we could buy the ads broadcast on outlets owned by the major corporations themselves. It was a daily fix. An hourly fix. We were like hamsters on the wheel. Shooting up the cash all the time. Thought we could buy a win over the Republicans.  Instead of beating them, we became them.

“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Exactly. What type of idiots were we? Thinking we could defeat big corporate money using their weapons? They tossed us scraps and idiots wearing two thousand dollar suits and suddenly, we’re all dressed up looking like children at take your kid to work day. Laughable. Supposedly a party of the people, but looking, sounding, and acting like an extremely pale reflection of corrupt Republicans. Such a shame.

What do you intend to do about it?

Coming here was the first step. We have to cut all ties with the corporations. Donations, consultants, private planes, everything. The way it is now, even if we win we lose. They have their hooks in us so deep. We say we represent the citizens but we take money and orders from corporations. Nobody in this party is supposed to think corporations are citizens.

Then what.

Then we take the Republicans’ biggest strength, their money, and use it against them. We say we’re the party of human beings and they’re the party of lethal conglomerates. We’re the party of American citizens and they’re the party of Swiss bankers and international cartels.

You think that will work?

What we’re doing now sure as hell isn’t. We’ll never has as much money as them. They want us to fight with them using their favorite weapon. Money. Screw that. Let all their cash burn a hole in their pockets. Set their whole house on fire. Make money an albatross we can hang around their neck. Give the people a choice for a change. Instead of liberal corporate party versus conservative corporate party, make it a choice of life over death. People versus killer corporate machines. It might work.

Good. You’re showing some progress. Tomorrow then?

Yeah, tomorrow. All these ideas sound good in rehab. It’s when we get out into the real world the fight begins.

 

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A Wonderful Christmas Gift 

WHEN MONSANTO OWNS YOUR SPERM

(Published by CounterPunch)

Should have learned by now but how were you supposed to know you should always read the fine print on your cereal box. 

You sit down at the kitchen table. Pour breakfast kibble into a bowl, add milk, and eat. That’s how it’s done. Maybe you take a glance at some cartoon character on the front of the box, but that’s about it. Nobody expected you’d need a law degree before a post-dawn get down with good ole Cap’n Crunch.

You don’t expect to hear someone knocking on your front door at six o’clock in the morning. At least you shouldn’t. Cops, bill collectors, and religious zealots sometimes pick that time in the morning since they know you’re probably home. They don’t particularly care if you think they’re entirely obnoxious for waking you up from a sound sleep. Oh, and process servers like early morning visits as well.

CEASE and DESIST

Well, that’s certainly plain enough. You open the front door and a funny looking little guy, resembling the Cap’n himself a bit, hands you official looking papers, smiles, and strolls back to his car. CEASE and DESIST. Well, you can’t please all the people all of the time.

You pour yourself a second cup of coffee and read the damn thing. Blah, blah, blah, your name, blah, blah, Monsanto, CEASE and DESIST, all activity involving, fluids, your body, blah, blah, implied consent, CAP’N CRUNCH, your supermarket reports. You live alone...read the cereal box. CEASE and DESIST.

You need more coffee and your reading glasses. On the back of the Cap’n Crunch box, in infinitely small letters, you read, “By consuming this Monsanto GMO product, you agree that Monsanto shall retain all rights to all material produced in conjunction with this Monsanto product.” You wonder if that isn’t just the slightest bit odd.

Back to the CEASE and DESIST order. “Blah, blah, blah, all products produced by ingesting this Monsanto product including, blood, muscle, flesh, bone, hair, nails, internal organs, ejaculate, sweat, tears, and manure. Use of any and all of these Monsanto products by you without suitable recompense....”

Reading further you are delighted to discover that you need not immediately stop using the Monsanto products which now constitute your body.  Upon monthly payment of one hundred dollars, for a single gentleman such as yourself, every 30 days Monsanto will allow you to maintain control of up to one inch of fingernail clippings (per digit), the equivalent amount of fluids and solids commensurate with up to four flushes a day, one inch of overall hair,  the product of 15 ejaculations, and the donation of a pint of blood to charitable organizations. Any use above these limits must be shipped immediately to the Monsanto processing facility nearest your home.

This seems relatively fair to you. After all, you did eat the cereal and failed to read the small print on the package. “Ignorance of the law is no excuse,” as they say. And since Sergeant Scalia maintains that corporations like Monsanto are human, and you’ve got the product of Monsanto seeds in you, in a way you’ve been royally screwed and Monsanto wants its child support, or something like that. Threats regarding dragging you through every court in the land and hounding you until the end of time are most definitely implied. 

On the final page of the CEASE and DESIST order are instructions for proper payment as well as an offer for additional use of your Monsanto body products. For an extra fifty dollars a month, you are allowed unlimited use of the Monsanto products which now constitute your body. You don’t think you’ll be donating more than a pint of blood, or growing more than an inch of hair, but you decide to kick in the extra fifty anyway.

Not the best way to start off the morning, but you feel better once you’ve authorized your bank to pay Monsanto on a monthly basis. You figure it’s cheaper than court costs. Being jerked off by a lawyer would probably cost at least twice as much.

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BLOOD MONEY

(Also published on Dissident Voice)




BLOOD MONEY means different things to different people. In some cultures it’s the price paid to the victim’s family by the perpetrator, after a family member is murdered. Elsewhere it can be a fine paid for committing libel, theft, physical harm, or rape. If you employ a contract killer, their payment is also BLOOD MONEY

In cultures influenced by Christian traditions, BLOOD MONEY refers to an historic market transaction. When you talk BLOOD MONEY there, you’re talking about those infamous thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot for squealing on his boss. After the fact, when Judas tried to return the money, even the bankers wouldn’t have anything to do with those particular shiny silvers. Business leaders back then thought those coins would pollute their existing supply. Money earned by a heinous criminal act. BLOOD MONEY. What a concept! 

Today people are divesting from those international criminal corporations whose business models depend upon the massive combustion of carbon based fuels. It’s been over forty years since everyone with a conscious mind realized the world was overdosing on oil and coal. For decades those involved in profiting from combustible carbon have worked their damndest to disguise the inevitable conclusion that their currency is BLOOD MONEY, and their industries, if not reigned in, might well destroy human life on Earth.

But these are not the only organizations where BLOOD MONEY flows. No pharisee would ever touch the BLOOD MONEY of a nuclear weapons manufacturers like General Electric. Insurance corporations, pharmaceutical companies, and like minded criminal operations who ration healthcare, with profits as their major consideration, should be committed to their own circle of hell as well. Cartels pushing oil, gas, and coal aren’t the only merchants of death.

As in the case of Conflict Diamonds, civilized society should turn their backs on the BLOOD MONEY generated by businesses that are acting against humanity’s best interest. When today’s investment bankers say the money is all green, and everything fungible is of equal worth, they are participating in a convenient lie. Just as trade in diamonds from countries involved in brutal wars has been outlawed; financial dealings with, or stock ownership in, corporations that engage in activities detrimental to the lives and human rights of all homo sapiens should immediately cease. If you do business with a criminal organization, knowing full well their crimes, you become as guilty as they.

Simply coming into contact with BLOOD MONEY corrupts us all. Like Ebola, letting BLOOD MONEY even touch you, can be fatal to all of humanity.

At the present time in the United States, there is little hope of a legal remedy to eliminate the activities of these corporate merchants of death, so a cultural solution must be found. Those dealing in BLOOD MONEY: oil company executives, and those trading in their stocks and bonds; nuclear weapon manufacturers, and for-profit healthcare rationers should be shunned as the criminals they are. If you know someone who owns shares in a petroleum company, turn your back on them, and tell them why. If your doctor is a part owner of a for-profit hospital, take your business elsewhere, and explain that healthcare is a human right, and a the person’s freedom, should not be traded in the marketplace. If a business is dripping with BLOOD MONEY, their employees shouldn’t be given awards by the PTA. 

Extremists will say that some corporations will always do some harm. On occasion some people will kill other human beings, but that doesn’t mean murderers should be accepted in a civilized society.

If you’re doing business with merchants of death and their BLOOD MONEY, there is really no way to wash the blood off your hands.

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Ahab Shorts the Market

(published at Dissident Voice)


Imagine owning warehouses full of second rate bootleg hooch at the very moment Prohibition is repealed.

Imagine still owning a buggy whip factory.

Imagine possessing  billions of gallons of oil, just as renewable energy sources begin chopping major chunks out of your market share. Watching as the worth of your reserves decreases day after day after day.

With every advance by alternative energy industries, the potential price of the world’s oil reserves decreases.

Today, 30% of Germany’s electric power is being produced by alternative sources. How do Germany’s new power producers effect the value of known oil reserves? Replacing oil based energy generators with renewables very simply reduces the value of the known oil reserves. The same supply with less demand equals lower value. It’s a rudimentary equation.

Will a tipping point soon arrive? In the near future, will there be a time when renewables control such a share of energy production that the demand for oil might be so low there is no financial incentive in opposing laws restricting carbon based fuels? Will there soon come a time when the wealth of some nations is not measured by the amount of oil beneath their sands?

Perhaps. It’s one possibility.

What would happen then? Many things. You might be witnessing some of the inevitable results right now.

For decades upon decades the Middle East has been the industrial world’s oil bank. Keeping that particular neighborhood in turmoil has been of extreme benefit to oil consumers. The Oil Crisis of 1973 was just one illustrating instance of how expensive it can get when oil producing nations agree on anything. Middle Eastern instability has been a key element in keeping energy prices low.

But what if the price of oil becomes so low that the instability of the Middle East is of little consequence to the industrial world? What if there is no financial benefit in keeping those nations in turmoil? What if alternative energy sources turn the current flow of oil into a glut on the market?

For many years Israel has been America’s forward base in the Middle East. What if, when oil becomes a too plentiful commodity, the United States no longer cares about events in that portion of the globe? Would Israel remain such a valued ally to its greatest benefactor? What would Israel do if it realized it would soon be of decreasing value to Imperial America? Would it seek to annex certain real estate immediately, instead of waiting until a time when its currency is of decreasing benefit to its benefactor?


Change of any kind involves cost. As renewable energy sources continue their march to eventually replace oil, markets will shift, the earth’s atmosphere may well change, and nations will reevaluate their geopolitical alliances. Some will see the future and act upon it sooner than others.

When employing disruptive technologies such as today’s renewable energy generators, there will always be consequences.


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Thank You, Justice Alito

Thank you, Justice Alito, that for once and for all you’ve produced irrefutable proof that five members of the current Supreme Court are entirely bat shit crazy.

Thank you for illustrating how extremists can carry any insane notion to a logical conclusion. The conclusion being, in this case, that you and those other four judges are indeed bat shit crazy.

But I really want to thank you for something else entirely.

Hey, Secretary Clinton, how would you like to make the Supreme Court decision mostly moot, help women receive affordable healthcare, while submarining a leading light of the Republican Party and playing havoc with the opposition as well?

Secretary Clinton should support Republican Governor Bobby Jindahl in his call for having the FDA classify oral contraceptives as being available for purchase over-the-counter.

Isn’t that pretty simple?

Now nothing other than a few retirements will undo the harm done by the Moron 5 currently holding sway on the Supreme Court, but making oral contraceptives available over-the-counter will certainly make Alito’s decision a little more meaningless. And at the same time we could all thank Hobby Lobby for assisting in making oral contraception more easily available. (Them old pesky unintended consequences.)

Secretary Clinton would remain a champion of human rights. In associating herself with Jindahl, she would compromise the governor forever in the eyes of most Republicans, eliminating one of that party’s brighter lights. And Secretary Clinton would make a life saving drug available to as many women as possible give present legal circumstances. This can be done right now.

Which begs the question: Why didn’t Democratic Presidents have the FDA classify oral contraceptives as over-the-counter in either the Clinton or Obama administrations?

It could have been easily accomplished by either Presidents Clinton or Obama. No need for legislation or anything complicated . All it would have taken was the stroke of a pen by a department entirely under the jurisdiction of the President of the United States.

It would take a fairly cynical person to come to the conclusion that Democrats refuse to classify oral contraceptives as over-the-counter drugs when they have the chance because they want to keep the argument with  Republicans over contraception raging as long as possible. If oral contraception being easily available ended a fierce debate that has brought more women to the Democratic side, perhaps the Dems really don’t give a damn about the health and well being of women, as long as they keep voting Democratic.

But that’s probably too cynical. A less cynical reason is Democratic Presidents are far too dependent on the cash criminal pharmaceutical corporations send their way.

Or perhaps both.

So here’s your chance, Secretary Clinton. You can immediately aid women all across America by insisting oral contraceptives be more easily accessible, while at the same time compromising the opposition party .

Or, you can do nothing and show that like most national Democratic leaders, you’re more interested in winning elections and accumulating money than in the lives and well being of American women.


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Are All Capitalists Scumbags?

We have become unstuck in time. The dj plays the same eight bars over and over and over again. There is no progression. Immature minds dominate the discussion and an entire nation has become fixated on problems which at one time would have been decided in moments and now explode upon the national consciousness in an eternal loop of noise and flashing lights. The accountants have taken over the asylum and all they know how to do is count pennies.

When Jesus Christ drove the money changers from the temple, how was he to know they would all end up on Wall Street and in the Oval Office?

For the record there are certain occupations which will exist for the foreseeable future. There will be firefighters. Probably police. Certainly garbage collectors. And sewer workers. And, one way or another, there will be money changers.

Money is simply a tool. Like interstate highways or contract law, money exists to facilitate social existence. Money is not an end to itself. It should never be a reason for either vetoing or promoting vital national interests. When was the last time someone immediately created a spreadsheet when a major hurricane hit? Were accountants the most necessary professionals following Pearl Harbor?

Jesus Christ has already put these bean counters in their proper place, and it’s not anywhere near where major decisions should be made.

The United States has become a nation which focuses on the sewer system at the expense of creativity and stability. When those in charge of designing Paris sought to put their vision into effect, of course they kept the sewers in mind, the sewers will always be a factor, but first came the vision. In today’s U.S., the sewers of money have taken over the conversation and the vision has been discarded by those who can only see as far as the pennies in their hands.

Are all Capitalists scumbags? Probably not. But anyone who describes themself as a Capitalist might very well be. Citizen. Parent. Republican Democrat. Conservative. Liberal. Progressive. Golfer. Humorist. These are some of the choices one might take to describe oneself. Why the hell would anyone describe themself as a Capitalist? “Hi! My name’s Fred and I’m a Capitalist. I believe we should pile together all the money we can, take as much as possible for ourselves, and fuck the rest of you. Hi! I’m Fred, and I’m a Capitalist.”

Never forget that Wall Street isn’t filled with the masters of the universe, it’s populated by immature egoists who think the money is all green, and as long as they can get theirs, who gives a fuck? That’s about as elegant a thought as you’ll ever get from those money changers.

Think about it this way. We all have to stop Global Warming. That’s the goal. If we don’t, there will be billions of dead grandchildren. How to do it is the problem. Shut down coal. Solar. Wind. Geothermal. All of the options have to be taken into consideration. These are critical times. Life and death.

And if some Capitalist says coal is cheaper and we should keep those smokestacks blowing cause there’s a market and all that, well, what can I say, that’s pretty much the definition of a scumbag.


Money is an important tool. But only scumbags put it before the air we breathe and the earth from which we derive our sustenance.

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The Affordable Care Act - The Human Rights Violation for Liberals

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

Unalienable Rights. Self-evident Rights. You might say the modern definition of Human Rights springs directly from that unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America. You probably wouldn’t be given much of an argument. 

President Obama on healthcare. “Well, I think it should be a right for every American.” Obviously healthcare as a right isn’t self-evident to President Obama. 

Let’s make this all very simple. Healthcare is a Human Right self-evident to most of the world. Healthcare is as much of a Human Right as Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This self-evident fact might not be evident to President Obama and his ilk, but that does not mitigate their Human Rights violation. 

What is Slavery, if not a Human Rights violation? A human being is commoditized and their right to Liberty is forcibly taken from them and sold in the marketplace. Slaves are perpetrators of no crime but, often legally within a state, their right to Liberty is bought and sold like so many shares of stock.

What is it called when a person’s self-evident Human Right to Healthcare is bought and sold? Certainly not slavery, since that’s when the Human Right of Liberty is bought and sold. Murder is when Life is taken for no justifiable reason. And the ability to deny a human being the right to dream has yet to become marketable.

We don’t know what crime to call the “for-profit” Healthcare system in the United States, where the ability to ease pain is withheld until a certain price is met. “Pay or die” comes very close to the situation at hand. Simple extortion. The protection racket. The most base terrorism. The AMA. The for-profit medical insurance business.

And that’s where the Human Rights violation for President Obama and the rest of the Affordable Care Act’s supporters comes in. The ACA, at its core, is a funding mechanism for the present corrupt for-profit Healthcare system. 

Imagine for a moment, a 55-year-old man in the center of an auction ring, the bidding is expensive and furious. Various hospitals vie for the right to slice him apart like a salami. They can run up the price of any operation as much as they wish since the sucker at the center of attention and his friends are the ones who are paying these cartels to cut him up. The 55-year-old paid good money so these doctors and businessmen could exorbitantly profit from withholding life-sustaining procedures until their price is met. 

What the Affordable Care Act does is pool all the extortion payments into one big pot where insurance providers (Human Rights violators) skim 30% off the top before making inflated payments to for-profit extortionist hospitals and doctors (more Human Rights violators) so that the next year they can up their premiums in order to continue making 30% off the top. Simple, isn’t it?

In other words, ACA simply tosses more fuel onto the fire which will eventually make wage slaves out of an entire nation. Obama and friends are abetting the anti-Human Rights for-profit Healthcare industry. If this were the old slave system, the ACA would be the Yankee clipper ships plying the Triangular Trade, keeping the slave markets profitable. 

So there you have it. The Affordable Care Act helps maintain the anti-Human Rights for-profit Healthcare system as it continues to plunder the American people, “your money or your health.” 

ACA supporters - the New Anti-Abolitionists.

Healthcare Slaughterhouse 5

The common cow. In the best of circumstances all of a cow’s needs are met from birth to the final reckoning by businesspeople who shell out real money to maintain its good health, and fatten it up before the final knife. There are many expenses involved before the big payoff, when the fully grown bovine amiably strolls into the slaughterhouse.

Now imagine, if you will, that same cow having to pay for its own feed and medical services out of its cowshit minimum wage while doing all the work. Basically, the industrial rancher would be paid for the cow to serve him its entire life. Wouldn’t even need to send the cow to the slaughterhouse. The cow just pays the last of its wages for a few shots of morphine at the end and is buried to fertilize where the next cow will grow its own feed.

It’s the perfect market, for the industrial rancher.

It’s the perfect market for the American Healthcare system.

Now, instead of the lowly cow, imagine that you are the profit center for the delightful American For-Profit Healthcare system.

From the moment you are born, from before you are born, the insurance companies, the for-profit hospitals, the pharmaceutical companies, take 20%, 30% off the top from every dime spent, on every transaction, for your medical care and well being. X-rays, vitamins, consultations, money goes through the insurance companies (who encourage price gouging in order to continue to raise their rates and skim their sometimes set percentage from a higher gross), to the hospital administrators (who enjoy all the benefits of interlocking boards of directors), to the pharmaceutical companies (get as much from the healthy, sick, and dying as a docile government will allow), eventually dropping a set fee on your friendly neighborhood MD.

Every day for the rest of your life you will pay a fee to the For-Profit Medical Establishment so they do not withhold life saving drugs and procedures. Don’t think for a second that you will ever work for yourself. You are working for them. They are literally holding a scalpel to your throat. Don’t assume for a second that the present horrific situation is as bad as it will get. There is a distinct possibility of things becoming much, much worse.

Imagine, for a moment, if all the members of the For-Profit Medical Establishment had their way and could charge as much as they wanted, as their brothers and sisters in the pharmaceutical companies already do. Hospitals would be able to demand as much as they wished, because the insurance companies profit each time the hospitals charges more since they get to charge higher premiums owing to increased expense. And the insurance companies are supposed to control costs! Whoopsy! It’s such a lovely racket. Whoopsy! It’s already happening. But now that everyone has to have insurance, where is next quarter’s profit increase coming from?


Right now hospitals all over the United States are performing useless, expensive procedures on the terminally ill in order to inflate their bottom line. This type of scam will continue and spread, given the for-profit nature of our Healtchcare establishment. There is a distinct disincentive to control costs. It’s only going to get worse. Much worse.

Similar to the way Capitalism doesn’t care one way or another whether a product is produced using slave labor or not, a For-Profit Healthcare system doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the health and well being of any individual. It’s For-Profit, you moron, it’s not For-Humanity. If a For-Profit hospital could get away with it, they’d hang the terminally ill up on a hook in cold storage, barely keeping them alive, and perform every outrageously expensive procedure they can imagine. The insurance companies encourage this. The pharmaceutical companies will always be in for a cut and, unfortunately, there are probably enough MDs around willing to line their own pockets at the expense of those about to die and the general public.

This is already happening. Rest assured these business procedures will only spread to every aspect of America’s Healthcare system. Shouldn’t be long before little Jane and Johnny are going in for an MRI every single time they stub their toe. Can’t be too careful these days! Suckers.

And then, surprise, surprise, everyone starts paying half their wages to the insurance companies. The structure is already set. Who do you think is going to stop it?

Just remember, to any For-Profit enterprise you are merely a cow.

And “To Serve Man” is a cookbook.


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