Archive for October, 2016

Blogging Bloggingly About Blogs:  A Thing In Search Of A Name (October 31, 2016)

Posted in Blog, Cyberactivities, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media, Writing on October 31, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

L          “Anything that flashes on the handy dandy device is assigned the moniker by default.”

M         “Some things called ‘blogs’ that inhabit the thing called the ‘blogosphere’ have become nuanced enough to require another name.”

. . .

L          “‘Blog’ like ‘smog’ is a portmanteau created from ‘web’ and ‘log’ and characterizes most personal doodlings presented on the w. w. web.  A log simply collects basic information such as the ‘miles per gallon’ of one’s De Soto or the ‘average temperatures in June’ for the last ten years in De Soto County.”

M         “The thing styled a ‘blog’ is also threatening for some in the traditional media.  ‘Things have expanded so much,’ Dennis Ryerson, the editor of ‘The Indianapolis Star’, said on June 17, 2010 or thereabouts, I believe.  ‘Forty years ago, newspapers ran opinion pieces by a lot of columnists, most of whom were in Washington.  They had a good following and were widely respected.  But now anyone with a cheap computer can become a columnist or a pundit.  The definition has changed.  More people are in the game right now.’  However, the universe of products on the screen is much more promising than he laments.”

L          “He is right that a person with a modicum of talent may attract a viewer who will click on the site for fifteen seconds, if the site continues to confirm the viewer’s worldview.  On the other hand, so many voices that are silenced by the overriding economic concerns of a newspaper or magazine are provided a venue.”

. . .

M         “The typical blog is raw information sans analysis.  What happens when there is the pretense of analysis?  And what if the pretense is realized?” 

L          “Calling it a ‘log’ or a ‘blog’ or ‘smog’ is no longer correct or helpful or insightful.  So what is it?”

M         “A contest.  On the world wide web.  For a new word or phrase.  That’s what we need.  There is enough talent to come up with a workable word or phrase.  The effort will also generate interest.”

. . .

L          “How about ‘blogotrapezoid’?”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The Great Google Wall (June 27, 2016)” and other e-commentary on the Internet, etc.] 

Bumper stickers of the week:

Have a contented Halloween

Today the lint was different than yesterday and at the same time it was the same.

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Clinton, Inc., Trump, Inc., Bush, Inc., Kennedy, Inc., O’Bama, Inc. (October 24, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Bush, Cameo In Courage Award, Citizens United Decision, Clinton, Collapse, Kleptocracy, O'Bama, Politics, Profile In Courage Award, Schooling, Supreme Court on October 24, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “The Kennedy Corporation is in remission.”

K          “Earnings are down, but the brand is still in play.  They are keeping a spot at the round table with their ‘Profile In Courage Award’ that is bestowed on other members of the Ruling Class.”

J          “That’s it.  I need to give an award to get a reward.”

. . .

J          “After the proclamation by the Republican wing of the Supreme Court in Corporations United that two step corruption is legal and encouraged, the ‘Clinton Global Initiative’ provided the template.  The rich and powerful now can formally invest in and own those in public office.” 

K          “The Owners now can formally own the owned.  ‘Bush, Inc.’ should get more credit because it was one of the first corporations to offer ‘preferred shares’ dubbed ‘Rangers’ and ‘Pioneers’ and the like.  The investment opportunity was first profiled in the e-commentary titled ‘The “Ownership State” and “Bush, Inc.” (April 11, 2005)’ years before Citizens United was foisted on us.”

J          “Trading interests in Senators is also discussed in the e-commentary titled ‘Commodities Futures / Future Commodities (March 8, 2010).’  Add a few shares of a United States Senator to your 401(k) portfolio.”

. . .

K          “Yet the ordinary citizen cannot be a large shareholder.”

J          “The ordinary citizen still can toil as a sharecropper for the shareholders.  The citizen cannot own anyone or anything of substance.  And only the Owners can own the apparatchiks.  It is very subtle.”

K          “There is no ‘Nader, Inc.’  I looked it up.”

. . .

K          “‘Kennedy, Inc.’ has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with ‘Harvard, Inc.’, ‘Bush, Inc.’ with ‘Yale, Inc.’, ‘Trump, Inc.’ with ‘Penn, Inc.’, ‘Clinton, Inc.’ with ‘Stanford, Inc.’ and now ‘O’Bama, Inc.’ with ‘Harvard, Inc.’ and ‘Chicago, Inc.’.”

J          “They sure have inked a lot of inside deals.  Yet ‘Clinton, Inc.’ plays the field and also owns and is owned by ‘Yale, Inc.’.”

K          “Clinton clearly plays the field, yet so do some of the others.  If there is a formal MoU, the kids just show up in the Fall; if there is not a formal MoU, the kids are encouraged to call ahead and let the administrators know they are matriculating.  Unless something more sexy comes up in the interim.”

J          “That’s what I heard.  Seems to work.  Well.”

. . .

K          “The kids who should not make it, do.  The kids who should make it, don’t.”

. . .

K          “There is so much inbreeding and cross breeding.”

J          “With predictable consequences.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The ‘Ownership State’ and ‘Bush, Inc.’ (April 11, 2005)”, “Corporations United (February 15, 2010)”, “Commodities Futures / Future Commodities (March 8, 2010)”, “Schooling The Apparatchiks For the Kleptocrats (December 7, 2015)” and “On Merit and the Meritocracy (January 11, 2010).”]

[See the incisive commentary of America’s greatest political, economic and social commentator of the last century, George Carlin.  Professor G. William Domhoff’s classic examination of power in America, Who Rules America?, could serve as the written text and footnotes to accompany Professor Carlin’s public presentations.  Both develop observations developed earlier by Professor C. Wright Mills in The Power Elite.]

Bumper stickers (or window stickers) of the week:

Harvard, Inc. College            Yale, Inc. Law School

The Elite ain’t.

If Hamilton returned today to survey the outcome of his financial innovations, he would be appalled, outraged and disgusted by the degeneration of the American economy into a Kleptocracy. 

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First Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 17, 2016)

Posted in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Courts, Credit Unions, Judges, Noble Prize in Jurisprudence on October 17, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “A prize dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the work of someone who really knows something about jurisprudence and the impact of courts, judges, lawyers and police on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens.  Someone who lives the conviction that men and women should establish and respect some norms and standards that are promulgated clearly to all and enforced equally in favor of and against all.”

J          “Novel.  Appropriate.  Necessary.  And unprecedented.”

K          “The recipient of the first annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence is . . . all of the unnamed and uncelebrated lawyers and support staff who protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties in a legal system that is usually indifferent if not hostile to such fundamental concerns.”

. . .

J          “Politics does come full circle.  Libertarian Republicans and Democratic civil libertarians can find some common ground.  The high ground.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary announcing the Noble Prize in Jurisprudence at “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)” and “Here Comes Da Judge; Dere Goes Da Justice (August 31, 2015)” and the earlier e-commentary cited in that e-commentary.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

You can’t have my rights; I’m still using them

October 20 – International Credit Union Day

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First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 10, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Banks and Banking System, Courage, Credit Unions, Crime/Punishment, Economics, Economics Nobel, FDIC, Journalism, Kleptocracy, Law, Newspapers, Nobel Prize, Noble Prize, Noble Prize in Eco-nomics, Press/Media, Rule of Law, Song Reference on October 10, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “An award dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the work of someone on the planet who really knows something about eco-nomics.”

J          “Novel.  Appropriate.  Necessary.  And unprecedented.”

K          “The recipient of the first annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics is . . . Professor William Kurt Black, Esq. professor of law and economics with the University of Missouri at Kansas City.  With decades of substantial and substantive real world experience, Professor Black examines and explicates the workings of banks and the banking system in the United States and the world with insight and conviction.  In his classic, timely and timeless magnum opus The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One, he advances the conservative notion that those in the banking industry who commit systematic and rampant fraud should be convicted.  In an inspiring TEDxUMKC presentation available at TED the national public forum, he notes that bankers deploy banks as weapons of mass destruction against the public.  Unlike so many other law professors and judges who explore the interface of law and economics, he contends that law and economics should serve more than the interests of the wealthy and the powerful.  A felicitous contributor to the public discourse and dialogue, Professor Black’s continuing academic and personal commitment to the common weal and greater good is a good thing.”

. . .

[“This is Walter Kingsbury Brinkley, XYZ News, New York.  Earlier today, the highly coveted Noble Prize In Eco-nomics was awarded to Professor William K. Black, Esq. of the University of Missouri at Kansas City.  In his most celebrated work, Professor Black contends among other observations that the adoption of the rule of law in America is a swell idea.  In a related development, the Swedish bankers convened and announced the 2016 Nobel Prize in E-con-omics given to the individual who has or individuals who have done the most during his, her or their career to advance the interests of the wealthy and powerful.  . . . “]

[See the e-commentary at “Announcing The First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (May 2, 2016)”, “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)”, “From e-con-omics to eco-nomics? (August 1, 2011)” and “Skip the Nobel in Economics (Oct. 6, 2009).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered I’ve seen lots of funny men; Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen.”  “The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd” by Woody Guthrie (c) 1958 (renewed) Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc.

Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank; give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

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Dividing The Divided Supreme Court In A Divided Country (October 3, 2016)

Posted in Constitution, Elections, First Monday In October, Immanentizing The Eschaton, Presidency, Supreme Court on October 3, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Divide the Court.  The Court is already quasi-formally divided, yet they meet in joint session.  The country is already divided.  Formally divide the Court in two.”

J          “So we simply acknowledge the divide in the country and divide the country and the Court in twain.  That is where we are heading.  That is our destiny.” 

K          “There is talk of dividing the Ninth Circuit which, if it is done, is always along geographic lines.  The Supreme Court is divided along easily demarcated ideological lines and adequately defined geographic lines.  The four Red Catholic Republican Institutionalist Boys should propound the law in the Red States.  The four Blue ‘Jewish’ Democratic Individualist ‘Girls’ should propound the law in the Blue States.”

J          “One Great Decision.  Two utopias.  I like it.”

K          “What is truly promising is that neither side would be forced to undertake and endure a great constitutional convention; that prospect is terrifying.  Each team could have a mimeographed copy of the same Constitution.  And then each team could continue to reach opposite results.”

. . .

J          “That would allow everyone in the two Americas to immanentize the Eschaton everywhere at the same time.”

K          “Not exactly.  One team would allow everyone in Blue America to immanentize the Eschaton and the other team would not allow anyone in Red America to immanentize the Eschaton.”

J          “Exactly.  Toward a more perfect division.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary for the last half dozen years in the Category “First Monday In October”, “Boycott Red America (January 3, 2005)”, “Immanentize The Eschaton: Move To Sunny Somalia (December 20, 2010)” and “Immanentize The Eschaton.  Say What? (August 22, 2016).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The Election is all about the Court

We are selecting one of the two Courts not one of the two court jesters

With liberty and justice for some

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