Archive for the Boycott Series Category

Occupy America (October 10, 2011)

Posted in Banks and Banking System, Boycott Series, Economics, First Amendment, Journalism, Kleptocracy, Newspapers, Occupy Movement, Politics, Society on October 10, 2011 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A         “Commentators are having a hard time because there isn’t one spokesperson to interview nor one manifesto to mine.”

a          “Most commentators don’t understand what has happened in America over the last decade, so I don’t expect them to understand what is going on today.  I am aware enough to know that something’s clearly wrong, yet it is hard to describe.  What I do know is that I don’t have a future.”

A         “It’s simple and obvious.  The ruling class is strip mining the middle class.  And then accusing those who dare to point out the obvious truth that the astute observer is instigating class warfare.”

a          “They are clearcutting the kids.  They are not allowing a college grad let alone the ordinary Joe to immanentize the eschaton, although they are immanentizing the eschaton in a big way at my expense.  I really don’t have much hope of improvement or advancement.”

A         “Listen carefully.  That may be the big difference this time – an underlying absence of hope and a more pronounced sense of desperation.” 

a          “Hope died a few years ago.  Hope is so 2008.  Yet what do you have if you don’t have hope.”

A         “When hope totally disappears, an individual who can’t take it often takes one of three paths.  At the extreme, he takes his life, takes someone else’s life, or takes someone else’s life and then takes his life.”

a          “Someone sure took the life of the American Dream.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” titled “Boycott Big Banks (February 1, 2010).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Occupy Wall Street; Occupy Our America

You don’t need a sportscaster to know which way the ball bounces.

Playa Plastica / Plastic Beach (September 13, 2010)

Posted in Boycott Series, Environment, Plastic, Water on September 13, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

H     “The plastic water bottles may circulate forever in gyres in the ocean, fall to the bottom of the sea or roll up on beaches.  I always thought that the sun caused the plastic to deteriorate and mitigated the problem.  But no.  The small pieces and particles of plastic remain on the beach and in the bayou.”

O     “Out of sight, but not out of mind.”

H     “And yet still in the sight of shore birds, although the birds do not realize they are scooping up plastic mixed in the sand and the mud.”

O     “The marketers are making money selling something that is free for a higher price than auto gas or filet mignon.  The next stage for the marketers is to bottle plastic air.”

H     “Every plastic water bottle is a plastic explosive.  You can’t repeat often enough how important it is to boycott bottled water.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated March 23, 2009 titled “Boycott Water” and tap the movie “Tapped the Movie” and imbibe Bottled & Sold  The Story Behind Our Obsession With Bottled Water by Peter H. Gleick.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Boycott bottled water

Boycott bottled water

Boycott bottled water

Boycott bottled water

Boycott bottled water

Boycott bottled water

Boycott bottled water

Boycott bottled water

And then do it again

“Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.”  Attributed to Mark Twain

Wars Over Water:  Coming To A Continent Near You

Boycott Facebook? (August 2, 2010)

Posted in Boycott Series, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Facebook, Google, Internet, Privacy, Society, Technology on August 2, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

X          “There is something troubling about all that information available to a small group without restraint or oversight.”

Y          “I want absolutely nothing to do with Facebook.  I concede that we really cannot elect not to use Google because it has a monopoly on a necessary and now fundamental service somewhat akin to a public utility.  However, Facebook is a luxury and participation should be voluntary.”

X          “Look at the growth.  Each year, Facebook captures another decade.  Three years ago, everyone under 30 was a Facebooker; two years ago, everyone under 40; a year ago, everyone under 50.  Now everyone under 60 is a Facebooker.”

Y          “I question whether some individuals participate voluntarily.  I received a request to be a friend on Facebook and, without opening it, was able to view it in a quarantined screen.  The e-mail from the Facebooker was able to access the names of individuals in my Contacts file that also are in the Facebooker’s Contacts file.  The offer to befriend him included a list of mutual e-mail contacts who are also on Facebook with an offer to befriend them.  Facebook is able to invade one’s computer without notice or permission or recourse.”

X          “A Republican Party official observed with an envious smirk that Facebook may have amassed more information on individuals than even the Republican Party.  He noted that the Republicans collect massive amounts of detailed information on individuals and households and target each person and household with a specific campaign message.  The Republicans may have more information than the NSA and the hundreds of public and private sector entities free to collect private information about us.”

Y          “A few days later, although I never activated a Facebook account, I received a message:  ‘You have deactivated your Facebook account.’  I did not activate an account and do not believe that it was ever deactivated.”

X          “Facebook is able to collect lots of partial information on many friends and then use the information to sketch a complete picture of a person.  Snippets provide a complete portrait.”

Y          “More and more organizations are using Facebook as the vehicle to connect with members.  That leaves me more disconnected from others.”

X          “And by next year, everyone under 70 will be a Facebooker.”

Y          “A class action lawsuit should only take a few weeks to resolve and could provide both injunctive relief and damages.  Developing the privacy protection implicit in the Third Amendment in the contemporary setting has potential, although the greatest threat to us may not be from agents of the state.  However, the legal game would permit the lawsuit to be delayed and drawn out for over a decade.”

X          “Face it, in the end, the lawyers would take everything.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Facebook: Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide

Driver doesn’t have a tattoo, an i-phone or a Facebook page

The Dow Is The Canary (April 26, 2010)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Banks and Banking System, Boycott Series, Economics, Uncategorized with tags on April 26, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

“You don’t buy it.”

“I concede the Beige Book presents a rosy picture of the economy.  Consumer spending is up.  But the rising Dow is not a sign of economic recovery.  The rising stock prices are not a function of sound economic fundamentals, they are a result of far too much free money in the hands of a small circle chasing comparatively few stocks backed by an implicit government guarantee in an economic universe without other viable investment options.  The stock market is the leading economic indicator of the coming inflation.”

“They call it productivity.  Companies/employers are reporting greater earnings resulting from firing more employees.  However, the current price/earnings ratios are somewhat more in line with historic averages.  Although there may be no one left to buy the products or use the services.”

“Inflated stock prices today, bread at a $100 a loaf in the next few years.”

“However, if there are fewer consumers with less disposable income, the economy should enter a deflationary period.”

“That seems plausible.  Consumers always consume even if they don’t have money.  The dislocations in the economy may not produce enough goods to meet growing demand from individuals, albeit individuals without the wherewithal in their pockets to fund their demands.”

“So there may be deflationary prices then inflationary prices?”

“Citizens will discover that the market will decline precipitously in due course leading to more now inevitable bribes/bailouts from the government for those at the top.  Some say that the American people simply will not tolerate another engineered decline.  What will they do if they don’t want to tolerate a decline?”

“Vote out the incumbents?”

“Or self-medicate?  The economic performance this summer will significantly impact the outcome of the elections this fall.  If the Wile E. Coyote Economy does not drop for the next six months and those who gave up searching for work also give up voting and drop out of the debate, the Democrats may not drop in the polls.  However, there may be a bad turn particularly if the financial virus made in the USA that spread to Europe infects Europe or if the Black Plague in the Gulf of Mexico engulfs the East Coast.  This could be a hot summer.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Trust me.  I’m a banker.

Trust me.  I’m an investment banker.

Trust me.  I’m an investment adviser.

Drill, baby, drill.

Boycott Arizona

Celebrate Virginia’s “Celebrate Slavery Month” (April 12, 2010)

Posted in Boycott Series, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Less Government Regulation Series, Race on April 12, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

“Virginia declared April to be ‘Celebrate Slavery Month.’  What a concept.  Thirty days dedicated to the celebration of the degradation and subjugation of one’s fellow human beings.  They plan to burn crosses, made in China, in all major cities.  They are sneaky because they manage to celebrate it without mentioning it.”

“Leave it to Virginia.  Aren’t they the ones with the official state motto:  ‘Virginia Is For Haters.’”

“Leave Virginia.  Boycott the place.  Boycott everything tied to Virginia in April.  Conventions should cancel any events currently scheduled in Virginia during April and not book any events in April in the future.”

“Why does the government get involved in this foolishness?  Tax money funded this folly.”

“Individual action in response to inane government action is the way to go.  That is the virtue of a boycott.  And yet, three years ago, they looked like they were on track with the dignified apology.”

“There is not much common sense in the Commonwealth.”

“Leaves you wondering whether it is in the water, in the air or in their genes?”

“Hey, . . . wait . . . did they announce it on April 1?”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated Feb. 26, 2007 titled “Looking Back.  With Regret.  With Respect,” the “e-ssay” dated Nov. 12, 2007 titled “Vet’s Day; Slavery And Due Process” and the “e-ssay” dated Mar. 14, 2005 titled “’Strict Construction’ Strictly Construed.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Virginia:  Celebrate Slavery Month

Virginia Is For Haters

Take A Slave To Work Day in Virginia

Boycott Virginia In April

Boycott Big Banks (February 1, 2010)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Banks and Banking System, Boycott Series on February 1, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

P          “That’s the answer.  Boycott Big Banks.  The government bribes and bails them out while the people boycott them.  Shift support, transfer dollars and take business to credit unions.”

Q          “Makes sense and may make dollars and cents.  Dollars are votes.  Vote your dollars.”

P          “There are times when you may want to retain shares if you can vote the shares and shape the institution.  However, the only way to vote your shares – your dollars – is to transfer them to another institution.  I have banked at credit unions for as long as I can remember.”

Q          “I transferred my bank account to a credit union last year.  At the time, I was driven away by the bank rather than being attracted to a credit union.  The third time that the Big Bank changed its name from Big Bank to Big Bank, I transferred my accounts.”

P          “You still need to compare services and costs.  The NCUA (National Credit Union Association) rarely has to cover credit union failures whereas the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Association) is regularly taking over failing banks and may be bankrupt itself.  When the stuff hits the fan, there may be a period of time when the FDIC may not be able to cover losses and claims despite claims about full faith and credit.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated November 2, 2009 titled “Sagacious Financial Advice From A Financial Sage” on banking and the financial world.]

Bumper stickers (and buttons) of the week:

Boycott Big Banks.

Boycott Big Banks.  Support credit unions.

I bank with a credit union.

Credit unions you can bank on.

I boycotted.  Have you?

I transferred (to a credit union).  Have you?

My money is in a credit union.

I [heart symbol] credit unions.

Europe: Boycott America (Sept. 28, 2009)

Posted in Boycott Series, Dollar - World's Reserve Currency, Economics, Europe, Kleptocracy on September 28, 2009 by e-commentary.org

How enlightened Europe could get suckered by and sucked into the Great American Meltdown is bewildering.  Those with some distance and perspective should have seen that the American economy was hollow and vacant as early as 2005 if not earlier.  Countries such as Iceland and Ireland – good people all – and cities, towns, and villages throughout Europe largely brought it on themselves because they bought the lies and the poison from America.  The financial products exported from America had to look suspicious at the time.

Europe should boycott America.  Really.  In a rational and purposeful way.  Purchasing and holding dollars may make economic sense in the future.  If so, buy bucks.  The decision may get more problematic when the dollar is no longer the world’s reserve currency.

Holding American bonds may make economic sense in the future.  If so, investigate them with care and acquire them.  Keep in mind that American municipalities and other political subdivisions can file bankruptcy.

However, the financial sector in America is corrupt to the core.  O’Bama is trying to clean up the mess, yet he cannot surmount the entrenched financial community.  Only powerful financial/economic/political market forces will compel change in the American financial markets.  The pressure may need to come from overseas.

Bumper sticker of the week (sported on a red Renault convertible sports car):

USA:  Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Boycott Water (March 23, 2009)

Posted in Boycott Series, Global Climate Change, Water on March 23, 2009 by e-commentary.org

Boycott bottled water.  Boycott plastic bottled water.  Water in a bottle is more expensive than oil in a barrel.  Worldwatch does the math and shows that bottled water costs as much as $336 per bottle.  The quality may be less than water available from the tap.  Some bottled water is little more than tap water in a plastic bottle.  Water in the Middle East is becoming as valuable as oil.  Encourage the economic production and distribution of safe drinking water.

Things like bisphenol A and phthalates don’t sound healthy.  The one word advice to young Benjamin Braddock–“plastics”–is an admonition to all, young and old, who risk being absolved more quickly and painfully of their mortality.

[See www.worldwatch.org article dated May 9, 2007.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Celebrate World Water Day – March 22.

Boycott bottled water

even if it is the only water on the dive boat

even if it is the only water after a race

even if it is the only water.


Boycott Red America (January 3, 2005)

Posted in Blue States / Red States, Boycott Series, Economics, Elections, Immigration, Law, Philosophy, Politics, Society, Spending, Taxation on January 3, 2005 by e-commentary.org

The U.S.A. is engaged in an uncivil civil war, a war between the states of mind. At core, the dispute is between urban and suburban/rural Americas, although the voting boundaries are crudely demarcated by state and region. America revealed its true colors once again in the tragic events surrounding 11/2. Cooperation and compromise, albeit usually virtues in these situations, are now futile, counterproductive and self-destructive. A condominium divided against itself can stand. Appomattox condemns unilateral secession but condones voluntary realignment. We as a nation must summon the honesty and courage to hoist a national white flag and agree to realign the red states and the blue states. The blue states should form three Azure Provinces known as the United Provinces of America (U.P.A.). The red states should form the United States of Aggression or perhaps the United States of Fear, Ignorance and Greed (U.S.G.). The red states will demure when they realize that the reds cannot subsist without the massive subsidies funneled to them via the tax dollars confiscated from the blue states. Without a worldwide boycott of red America and diplomatic recognition of blue America, realignment is not possible.

After the realignment, reds can continue to live, work, travel and own property in blue country, and vice versa. Anyone uncomfortable living and working in Paris (Illinois) can travel to Rome (Georgia) and buy property; vice versa for those forced to relocate from Paris (Kentucky) to Rome (New York). For those of us who are out of place, relocating will be wrenching and discomforting. Everyone will be afforded dual citizenship and provided two passports. A red flag with 31 white stars in the field; a score of white stars on a field of blue. “In God we trust” versus “In reason we trust.” Clergy versus clerisy.

Creative individuals can move to U.P.A. and design energy-efficient transportation modules. Pedestrian ones can move to U.S.G. and drive gas-guzzlers in circles. Reds can continue to sell bazookas and grenade launchers at their local pharmacies and hardware stores so that the terrorist at the end of their cul-de-sac can arm himself without delay or an inconvenient background check. Blues remain free to take granddad’s 30.06 from the safe each Fall and wander in the woods in pursuit of the elusive white tail. God knows gays have already suffered enough, but if they really want to get married, they can move to U.P.A. and spark the most massive urban renewal ever accomplished in the history of humankind without visiting the exchequer. U.S.G. can ban with abandon even secular civil unions because everyone knows that queers woke up one Tuesday morning and elected to be that way of their own volition and not because of God’s design.

The blues can reaffirm basic libertarian principles and allow each citizen to control the person’s person. The reds insist on more government dictating personal decisions for others. As soon as a baby crawls out of the hospital and makes a misstep, the reds dispatch the human being with extreme prejudice. Government in the bedroom is far more corrosive of individual rights than in the boardroom. The blues get the original Bill of Rights, because the reds would not even recycle the paper. Custody of the Constitution is joint, although in a few legislative sessions there will be scant resemblance between the two amended versions. Without realignment, the entire U.S.A. will continue to decay and fester to second world status within a generation. With realignment, the Michigan-Ohio State football game immediately becomes an international event of epic proportions. Go Blue.

On March 19, 2003, George Bush triggered World War III. Sans casus belli. America cannot win it, America alone cannot stop it. A group of radical Christian extremists declared war on a group of radical Islamic extremists who were eager to reciprocate. Those who would rather be red and dead should not be afforded the opportunity to absolve the rest of us of our mortality. Bush is skillfully recruiting terrorists for the cause, although he soon will not be able to recruit his own palace guard. U.S.G. will be free to impose a front door Draft on its populace allowing the reds to prosecute the doomed Second Crusades for the next one hundred years. Operation Iraqi Liberation alone will bestow thousands of American deaths, seven-fold that number of disfiguring and dismembering casualties, and a direct economic cost of half a trillion in two years. More than 150,000 innocent Iraqi civilians and brave red-blooded Iraqi freedom fighters will die doing what any red- or blue-blooded American would do if our country were invaded without provocation. Each Iraqi death produces a hydra effect because two more Iraqi patriots commit their lives to the cause.

The reds delude themselves into believing they hate us for who we are; they hate us for what we are doing. The current version of the Constitution does not say: “We must destroy the village to save it.” However, America is deploying tax dollars to destroy the villages and then committing tax dollars to rebuild them. The “Economics of Destruction and Reconstruction 101” is an emerging field. The cost of reconstruction will be twenty-fold the still escalating and untold cost of destruction that we are not being told. Both Fallujah and Flint (Michigan) are being destroyed for no purpose, although Fallujah is slated for urban renewal with a modern subway system and above ground swimming pools. The Secretary of Offense is not astute enough to take one of the few insightful pages from the Vietnam playbook by declaring victory and getting out. With the fires ignited by the U.S.A., the current Dien Bien Phu III will be a mere sideshow and a forgotten incident in a conflagration that the U.S.A. will not be able to lose gracefully.

Use by the U.S.A. of tactical nuclear weapons in the form of spent uranium threatens to beget more nuclear activity. Individuals in the physics departments and in the biology departments of this planet pose a far more devastating threat than kids throwing stones at invaders using nuclear weapons to destroy their homes. At home, the systematic and willful conspiracy to bankrupt the public fisc is a high crime and misdemeanor that does little “to promote the general welfare.” A ten trillion dollar debt should be unconstitutional and alone grounds for immediate impeachment. Taxing to match spending is at least balanced and responsible. Only the reds seem charmed by these prospects.

By contrast, U.P.A. can reaffirm international law and the Geneva Conventions, issue a statement of non-participation in the Second Crusades, and execute a formal memorandum of re-engagement with the world. U.P.A. can assume one of the permanent seats on the Security Council without objection because the reds want nothing to do with U.N. pantywaists. U.P.A. must be liberated and divested to participate with and compete against the two rising colossuses that will define and dominate this century China and the European Union. U.P.A. will “provide for the common defense” by undertaking actions that contribute to the security and well being of the Provinces and the stability of the world. The Blue Provinces could unite with the E.U. to create the Transatlantic Alliance. With a mix of carefully calculated battles cum exeunt and a few shrewd modus vivendi, U.P.A. and the other two political empires may be able to limit or eliminate the causes of dissatisfaction that lead a desperate and rational person to employ terrorist techniques.

The U.S.A. has rarely been more vulnerable or the world less secure. The ruling ayatollah and his cabal of radical religious fundamentalist fanatics in Washington will not tolerate free elections, peaceful regime change or geographic realignment in America. Their devoutly anti-intellectual and anti-intellectually devout fans are in lockstep. However, they say that freedom is on the march. Little Napoleon motivated his own [al] Queda, his base, to continue on the path to world domination or destruction, whichever comes first. The world can and must just say no to the war criminal and his clutch of chicken hawks. Uniting one’s foes and dividing one’s friends (and countrymen) is not sagacious. With a few exceptions, the McMedia of every hue in America are effete, craven, servile and unavailing, but they are pretty. The last hope is for private citizens to unite the world and enlist its assistance to conduct a world economic plebiscite.

The world must boycott red America for one year. No visits to red states or contributions directly or indirectly to their economies. No vacations or holidays or conferences or conventions. Cranberries from the Eastern Province (Massachusetts and New Jersey), the Central Province (Wisconsin) and the Western Province (Washington and Oregon) should be imported and served once a day to support the peace movement. Washington apples but not Virginia apples. California oranges but not Florida oranges. Don’t mix apples and oranges. Oregon pinot but not Tennessee mash. Minnesota corn but not Iowa corn. Wisconsin beer but not Colorado or Missouri beer. Skip Alaska and explore New England and then Hawaii next year. Tour Washington D.C. and find lodging in the city or in Maryland. Spend too much time and money in New York. Circumnavigate the Adirondacks and the Sierras and circumvent the lower Appalachians and the eastern Rockies.

Tender Euros, the peace chits, to blue businesses to symbolize Europe’s permission slips for peace. After some initial resistance, blue Americans may adopt the Euro as their currency. English is the emerging medium of communication for the E.U.; the Euro rightly should emerge as the medium of exchange for the U.P.A. By 2006, the Euro will be the new two dollar bill. Vote for peace in the three Azure Provinces. We can all use Euros to buy the “English/Mandarin” and the “English/Cantonese” dictionaries and launch them to the top of The Beijing Times Best Seller List. Demand that all imported produce and products from the U.S.A. include a state of origin stamp. Provide your kinder with outline maps of the U.S. and crayons of rojo y azul, rouge et bleu, rosso e azzurro, or rot und blau to teach them the boundaries of the two Americas. Send letters and e-mails to the respective secretaries of state and convention bureaus and inform them that you are boycotting the red states.

On a grander scale, if the central banks in Europe (ECB), Japan and China create a true Coalition of the Willing and demand that the U.S.A. withdraw from its international excursions or face complete withdrawal of all financial support for and funding of the U.S.A., there will be change. Those who carefully save in Frankfurt (Germany) can save those who spend wildly in Frankfurt (Kentucky). The Coalition must implement this new and improved version of the Marshall Plan and impose a revised Containment policy to restrain and quarantine the red menace in this rogue nation. International economic sanctions will succeed against the American war machine impatient to unleash more of its weapons of mass destruction against the world. A trillion dollar (Euro?) economic impact in one year likely will garner some attention.

During its glory days, America was a generous and magnanimous Republic that came to the world’s aid in times of need and trouble in so many ways. We sane Americans now must ask the rest of the world to come to our aid. Diplomatic recognition of blue American is critical. You can save blue America and the rest of the world, and red America. Boycott red America now. Billions of lives and livelihoods are at stake. In due course, the boycott can be finessed to focus on the specific enterprises that advance the apocalypse. Thank you kindly in advance for your assistance and sacrifice in saving the world.