Archive for November, 2014

Police Police (November 24, 2014)

Posted in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Courts, Ferguson, Forfeiture, Freedom / Liberty, Judges, Judicial Arrogance, Judiciary, Perjury, Perjury/Dishonesty, Police, Race on November 24, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

D          “Do you trust the police?”

L          “No.  You?”

D          “No.  But you are White and in the ruling class?”

L          “The petit bourgeoisie perhaps, but hardly in the ruling class.  Look at you.  You are White and in the ruling class.”

D          “The medical guild?  At least you are a sustaining member of the rule class.  You make the rules, you break the rules.  Imagine what would happen if I were not in the White class.”

L          “No need to imagine.”

D          “I try not to interface with the police, because they just get in my face.  The last police officer who pulled me over when I was driving at precisely the speed limit said that if I moved in any way, he would shoot and then charge me with resisting arrest and attempting a battery on a police officer.  Then he laughed and said to produce a driver’s license and proof of insurance without taking my hands off the steering wheel.  When a White person who abides the law cannot even abide the law, the system is profoundly broken.”

L          “The first fifteen seconds are critical.  I got a trooper talking about his success on opening day and was let off with a warning.  Saved by gadwalls and pintails.  And I had been burning the carbon off the rings before he arrested my momentum and let me off with a warning.”

D          “So I need to shoot a gun not to get shot.”

L          “I have seen the police serve as a private army for private parties against those who are not connected.  And the judges who are petitioned to remedy the situation do not care at all as long as they get paid their regular pay check and handsome pension.  That’s the solution.  Before you get pulled over, you need to be a judge first.  The cops apologize and wish the judge a good day.  Drink with candid judges to get the full story.”

D          “I’ll pass.  Or stay in my lane and stay below the speed limit.  The last time a neighbor called the cops, the cops would not respond until halftime.  And the home team was not even in scoring position in the second quarter.”

L          “I had someone try to invade the house and the cops discounted it as petty vandalism without a second thought.  Petty vandalism is not investigated.  Judges have said privately that cops lie all the time under oath on the stand.  When I asked a judge why he always accepts their testimony, he stated without hesitation that he is paid to believe the cops.”

D          “A judge on the ethical take who takes the cop’s word.  At least they did not discount the possible home invasion as mere hooliganism.  You can understand those who observe:  ‘When seconds counts, the police are minutes away.’  The cops are a quarter or an inning or a period away.  We are on our own.”

. . .

L          “Congress should pass omnibus legislation that repudiates and repeals and pre-empts each and every forfeiture statute of any kind by any government at any time under any circumstances.  When police shake down a citizen today, they can later allege that they were engaged in a civil forfeiture in the field.”

D          “Get a car or a boat or a plane that the cops don’t want to steal from you.  They always want money.”

. . .

D          “I am not even a lawyer, but I could see that the prosecutor Bob McCulloch sent clear signals to the grand jury.  The grand jury had heard dozens of cases in previous weeks that included a suggestion by the prosecutor to return a bill.  Except in that one case.  The grand jury obeyed.  The process failed.  Now and forever, there is no way for the process to unfail.  Law is too important and complex to leave to the lawyers and judges.”

L          “Rest assured, prosecutors lie all the time.”

D          “Lawyers and judges rationalize their many mistakes by saying that time has passed and the matter is over.  My colleagues bury our mistakes when we bury the body.  Yet, your violations to the body politic live on forever.  One of the lingering problems is that there are many bad if not evil characters out there who are far more of a threat than the police, yet the police are the only ones who threaten me.”

L          “The country needs to debate a national truce or there will be continued strife.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

When seconds counts, the police are hours away harassing an innocent citizen or watching the next play.

“A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.”  Frank Lloyd Wright

De-militarize the police; police the military

Nobody Cares

Gas / Au / Ag / Cu: The Great Commodity / Currency Wars: What’s Up? What’s Down? What’s Really Up? What’s Going Down? (November 17, 2014)

Posted in "Fiat ______", Carbon Surcharge & Dividend, China, Debt/Deficits, Dollar - World's Reserve Currency, Football, Foreign Policy, Gold Standard, Middle East, Money, Peak Oil, Russia, Silver Standard on November 17, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

E1          “Today’s high-tech town criers, LED scoreboards broadcast the news from every street and street corner.  They proclaim that gas prices are down, gas prices are down, gas prices are down.  The most public and publicized scores in our economy are even more prominent than football scores.”

E2          “Is supply up because Saudi Arabia has strategically increased the supply?  Is demand down because the world is in recession?  What’s really up?  What’s really going down?”

E1          “What’s real?  The great trifecta is at play.  Saudi Arabia is advancing American political interests by undercutting Russian oil sales while also underpricing American fracking operators and undermining Iranian producers.  Prices now below about $80 a barrel undermine American competitors who are fracking the production of oil at a cost of typically $85 a barrel.  An American operator who cannot compete and goes down will not later reenter the market.  Saudi Arabia can effortlessly constrict supply and drive up the price.”

E2          “The Republicans will provide tax benefits and government subsidies for the frackers and increase the national debt.”

E1          “That’s for real.  If Russia and Russians can endure the very real impact of the sanctions and continue to circumvent the use of the dollar, they may end up prevailing in the ‘Cold Currency War.’  The public scoreboards provide daily clues to developments on the international battlefield.”

. . .

E2          “Now when the price of oil is down is the time to adopt a carbon premium and dividend program.”

E1          “Never happen.”

E2          “Nothing will happen until it is too late.”

E1          “Not when gas mongering SUVs are flying off the shelves.”

. . .

E2          “The PM markets for elements 79 and 47 are distorted.  Now that the physical quantities of Au and Ag are so tiny in comparison to the exploding paper market, the spot price is another illusion.  Sellers of physical quantities are setting prices that exceed the former ‘spot price plus markup’ formula to reflect the limited physical supply.  However, no generally accepted ‘physical spot price’ has emerged.  In a world of fraud, illusion and dishonesty, the ‘market price’ is not the ‘market price’ and another ‘market price’ must be concocted to provide realistic information.”

E1          “The market is unreal.  However, it is hard to fix the metals market when the metals market is fixed.  Information is sketchy, incomplete and possibly inaccurate.  China, Russia, India, Brazil and other governments and the Chinese, Russians, Indians, Brazilians and other citizens are amassing massive amounts of physical gold.  Manipulating the acquisition price of physical gold lower via machinations in the paper market facilitates the transfer of physical gold to folks who are not always happy with us.”

E2          “That may be the most counter-productive policy in recent memory.  Some countries are rallying around gold to provide a counterpoise to the dollar.”

E1          “That is surreal.”

. . .

E2          “Morgans were minted from 1878 to 1904.  Peace dollars from 1921 to 1935.  Even among those who are not interested in the numismatic value of a coin, the premium for George T. Morgan’s creation is more than the premium for Peace dollars.”

E1          “A hint of aesthetic sensibility among the junk metal set.  Morgans may have been minted again in 1921.”

E2          “One fellow said that he maintains 70 percent of his precious metals inventory in silver to serve as a medium of exchange and 30 percent in gold to serve as a store of value and secondary medium of exchange.  However, the dollar is still the unit of account.  Wonder what he knows.”

E1          “Metals perforce do not pay interest, yet when banks start charging interest to hold funds, metals become the non-interest burdened asset.  What percentage of his assets are in metals?  And why?”

. . .

E1          “The ISIS or ISIL or Islamic State or whatever is proposing to issue their own currency by minting real gold dinars and real silver dirhams.”

E2          “The IS is also in the business of selling oil on the black market at reduced prices which lowers the world price.  Another factor in the analysis.”

E1          “And the scoreboard up ahead proclaims: ‘Unleaded – 3 dinars and 99 dirhams per liter; Diesel – 4 dinars and 49 dirhams per liter.  Free oil check and window washing.’”

E2          “A mecca for the gold bugs.”

E1          “‘27 inch flat screens from China for 99 dinars.’”

E2          “If gold is denominated in dollars, the dollar is king.  If gold is denominated in gold, then gold is king.”

E1          “Aren’t they obligated to field a football team first?”

. . .

E1          “If I couldn’t make light of it, it would get too heavy.”

. . .

[See the related e-commentary earlier this year at “Texas Votes To Secede From U.S. And Join Mexico; Russia Blows Up World In Response (March 17, 2014)“, “NATO: Nations Aggressively Taking Over (March 31, 2014)“, “Distrust But Verify (July 21, 2014)” and “World’s Reserve Currency War I = Cold War 2.0 = WW III (?) (September 8, 2014).”  See also the background e-commentary at “The Silver Standard: The Value Of (Sort Of) Real Money (July 15, 2013)“, ““Fiat Gold” / Fool’s Gold (May 2, 2011)” and “Is The Gold Standard Really The Gold Standard? (January 18, 2010).”

Bumper stickers of the week:

He who has the dollars has made the rules; he who has the gold will make the rules.

Folks (and governments) will use Fe and Pb to acquire and protect Au and Ag.

We seek stasis, we get entropy.

Midterms 2014: A Verdict On Race (And Concerted Ineptitude) (November 10, 2014)

Posted in Blue States / Red States, Citizens United Decision, Civil War, Dollar - World's Reserve Currency, Elections, Marijuana, Minimum Wage, Race, South, Southern Strategy on November 10, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

M          “The election came down to the Republicans putting an elected official who was not even running for office on every ballot in America.”

L          “And putting him on trial.  This race was about race.  American politics is a perennial battle between fear and hope.  The midterm elections were a verdict on whether a Black man should be President of the United States.  And the verdict is in.  Those American people scared into voting are more than uncomfortable with a Black man and his very Black woman in the House for Whites.  And then toss in Ebola and ISIS or ISIL or whatever it is and fear cripples the citizenry.”

M          “In recent decades, every President who has won a second term and had a Senate majority to lose has lost the Senate majority.”

L          “The Republicans could not say that a candidate is in the same party as the ‘n-word’ guy.  ‘Reggin’ and ‘monday’ are too blatant.  They unleashed a cacophony of dog whistles. ‘Romney – Obama Care’ passed as the ‘Affordable Care Act’ and was excoriated as ‘Obamacare.’  Republicans accused all incumbent Democratic Senators over and over and over and over of casting the deciding vote for ‘Obamacare.’  ‘Obamacare’ is the socially acceptable substitute for the ‘n-word’ today.”

M          “Money carried the message and the day.  They say the sword is mightier than the pen, but the pen that writes the campaign checks is mightiest.  Justice Roberts’ plan in Citizens United is unfolding like a carefully choreographed chess game.”

L          “It is always about money.  Obama won in 2008 in substantial part because he rejected public financing and substantially outspent McCain.  Americans were fearful then, but in the perennial battle between fear and hope, hope triumphed over fear.  Bush had made such a mess of the economy and foreign affairs that a continuation of Bush was frightening.  The fear of another Bush combined with the hope espoused by Obama was right for the times.  In this race, spending by the mega PACs bought the elections for Republicans by appealing to race and avoiding any concrete policies.  Few of the Republicans were honest enough to concede that the Republicans have used all available resources to stymie legislation and then blamed Obama.  The public voted against what they were told is ineptitude in Washington.”

M          “In 2008, in their gut, many devout Republicans said they simply could not stomach ‘President Palin’ at the helm.”

L          “Many pundits proclaimed that America was ‘post-racial’ then, yet America was and is still very involved in the racial mix and maelström.”

M          “When the finals are held in 2016, virulent racism will not be on the national exam.  Gender is much less incendiary.  America is much closer to a ‘post-gender’ electorate.”

. . .

M          “Maryland and Massachusetts are lapis lazuli blue and yet both elected Republican governors.  At some point, citizens tire of taxes and regulations.”

L          “I was heartened to see that four red states – Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota -–adopted provisions to increase the minimum wage.  And the blue city of San Francisco joins the Emerald City in adopting a minimum wage.  You cannot spend money if you do not have money.”

M          “Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia adopted more rational and realistic marijuana policies.  Reduce civil rights violations, increase tax rolls and cut spending on prisons.  Regulate marijuana like alcohol and discourage and dissuade the use of both.”

. . . .

L          “Save your Confederate dollars.  The South is rising again.”

M          “Will they substitute as the world’s reserve currency?”

. . .

[Fall of the Berlin Wall:  Yesterday – 25 years]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Deal race, buy votes

Save your Confederate dollars.  The South is rising again.

Lee surrendered.  I didn’t.

The New Confederacy – Same Old Same New

The New Confederacy – Same as it ever was

“Peak Advertising” (November 3, 2014)

Posted in Consumerism, Economics, Elections, Facebook, Football, Google, Minimum Wage, Occupy Movement, Peak Advertising, Politics, Press/Media, Social Media, Sports, Television, Voting, Wages, Writing on November 3, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1          “‘Mt. / Everest / Sherpas / Prefer / Burma / Shave.’”

2          “Turns out that some of the first ‘six-word memoirs’ were crafted by English majors laboring for BBDO.”

. . .

1          “‘Peak Advertising’ occurs when all of a person’s senses are assaulted all of the time with non-stop commercial advertising.”

2          “That is the collective business plan of all the social media platforms.  They are premised on their presumed ability to bombard the right demographic with saturation advertising all the time.”

1          “At some time, the marginal utility of each additional fusillade will not provide any return because the consumer has nothing to spend and no source of additional debt.  What if they don’t have any more money?”

2          “They have huge advertising budgets.”

. . .

2          “Well, right, those people may be out of money.”

. . .

1          “If the television is viewed as a mirror rather than a monitor, what should one make of a string of ads for fortified barley soda interspersed with those huckstering elixirs for erectile dysfunction.”

2          “Potents for potency.  The medium is also a microscope into the ‘Land of Skinny People’ where the people have BMIs below 22 and definitely do not reflect their viewers.  They hawk products that make a person fat ninety percent of the time and concoctions that purport to make a person skinny ten percent of the time.”

1          “When others talk about ‘thinking inside the box’ are they referring to the big flashing box in the home and the little flashing box in hand?”

2          “A wide body watches a wide out on a wide screen doing battle for his team and town.  The viewer should go out and do.”

. . .

1          “Seventy percent of the economy is attributed to consumer spending.  The total amount and the percentage of consumer spending in the next few years will be revealing.”

2          “Hard to spend if you have no money and no one will provide any more credit.”

. . .

1          “One thought might be to have parents lease a newborn’s forehead to tattoo an advertisement.  You can’t let an unbleached beachhead canvas go untrammeled.”

2          “Start young.  The kid surely would develop an affinity for the product or service.”

. . .

1          “Anyone in a political battleground state has been subject to ceaseless fusillades of hate and fear from all quarters for months.  In interviews, voters criticize the negative campaigning and yet in the voting booth vote in favor of those behind the vicious attacks.  The candidates provide what the public really wants.  Each political battle is part of the ceaseless war in American politics to own the government with its ability to plunder from the populace.”

2          “I vote to be a non-combatant.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Mt. / Everest / Sherpas / Prefer / Living / Wage

Occupy Namche Bazaar

Namaste

Peak Oil, Peak Water, Peak Land, Peak Advertising, Peak Peaks

“Don’t mind your make-up, you’d better make your mind up.”  Frank Zappa

“If voting made any difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.”  Mark Twain

A ‘tax and spend’ Democrat versus a ‘no tax and spend’ Republican.

Vote