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Archive for the Society Category

Don’t Fight The Fed; Fight The Fed (August 4, 2014)

Posted in Federal Reserve, Society, Stock Market on August 4, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “As an investor, ‘Don’t Fight the Fed.’ The Fed is creating and flooding the market with digital dollars and spawning an otherwise unfounded rise in the price of stocks. Surf the collective delusion, but gauge when the Fed has played its hand and then beat the flood of funds out of the market.”

J “Ya gotta know when to fold ‘em.”

. . .

K “As a citizen, ‘Fight the Fed.’ The Fed is the banker’s private club that profoundly and often negatively impacts the economy and lives of every ordinary American with desperately little public input.”

J “Ya gotta know when to hold ‘em. Accountable.”

. . .

J “So just when do I fold ‘em?”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Don’t End The Fed, Do Mend The Fed

The Fed: Lifting the yachts but not the tugboats and rowboats. Since 1913.

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Profile In Cowardice Award (May 12, 2014)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Cyberactivities, Judges, On [Traits/Characteristics], Press/Media, Privacy, Society on May 12, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “Brooksley Born and Sheila Bair courageously challenged the kleptocracy in America. The Committee did not delay too long waiting to gauge their hipness or political correctness. For good measure, they also awarded themselves the award in 2009. Yet the award for 2014 is devoid of . . . courage.”

J “And integrity and vision. The Committee went craven this year and should receive a special Profile in Cravenness Award. There is not a scintilla of doubt that Edward Snowden should have won hands down for standing up courageously this past year.”

K “The Profile in Courage Award suffers from the same myopia as the awards for most Rhodes, some Pulitzers and the Nobel in E-con-omics. The pool is constricted and confined at the outset to a small number recipients who can be counted on not to do or say anything really imaginative, creative or, with an award ostensibly celebrating courage, . . . courageous.”

J “Failing to acknowledge true talent is a tremendous lost opportunity and only heightens cynicism. Society is giving the wrong signals. Only those connected need apply.”

K “Those in power candidly admitted that Snowden did not go to the right schools or belong to the right clubs. Those who make the decisions did not aspire to play squash or go yachting with him.”

. . .

J “Those who criticize him for departing the United States fail to understand how much courage it took to take a stand in the face of the venal and vindictive federal criminal justice system in America.”

K “What if the United States gave him asylum from the United States in the United States? Strength in response to courage. That will never happen in a nation debilitated by fear and motivated by hatred.”

J “No matter how things stay the same, they stay the same.”

. . .

[See the article on the impact of political ideology on First Amendment decisions at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/us/politics/in-justices-votes-free-speech-often-means-speech-i-agree-with.html and the commentary at The Supreme Court On Drugs (June 25, 2007) (“The Court’s new First Amendment test is two-fold: 1) who is making the expression and 2) what is being expressed. That is not what the Founding Fathers intended.”)]

[See the commentary on courage and truth at On Courage and Truth (March 17, 2008).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Pardon Edward Snowden

Free James Risen

Award James Hansen

Pusillanimity is bad form

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‘Mericanize: Monetize, Mechanize And Militarize (December 30, 2013)

Posted in Economics, Energy, Kleptocracy, Markets, Military, Pogo Plight, Society on December 30, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C1 “America makes nothing but monetizes everything.”

C2 “And makes things up.”

C1 “We make up fake money, but we cannot make up fake energy. We need to energize not monetize. We need to measure the energy inputs and environmental outputs before we do or make or consume anything. Money is not the measure and sends the wrong signals.”

C2 “Even by their own terms, money and markets are far too broken to work either efficiently or equitably today.”

C1 “We aid and abet the rich players taking money electronically from the poor and middle class.”

C2 “Everything is an accounting hijink and a legal mirage concocted by the accountants and the lawyers.”

C1 “And the e-con-omists. Everything is virtual; nothing is real.”

. . .

C1 “Now they are proclaiming that the great American heartland will be saved by the construction of new factories and a renaissance in manufacturing. However, the typical factory does not actually employ more than two employees who turn on and monitor the machine.”

C2 “And billions are spent to keep those two employees from receiving a slightly higher minimum wage.”

C1 “Economic slaves make unprofitable consumers.”

. . .

C1 “The response in Boston is another display of the militarization of society. The town was invaded by American storm troopers who dressed and acted like they were invading Fallujah or Kandahar.”

C2 “We lost the race years ago. The camo armored personnel carrier replaced the black and white Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. The .308 replaced the .38. Kevlar® replaced khaki.”

C1 “The old saw says it all: ‘A YouTube video is worth ten thousand words.’ The vignettes told the most harrowing stories as the militarized police broke into houses and pulled citizens out of their homes. A few folks were shocked, a few were outraged, and a few were disgusted, yet there was an undertone of acceptance and obeisance.”

C2 “We are lost. We are neutered and anesthetized.”

. . .

C1 “We are the Etch-A-Sketch® society. Nothing is real or permanent.”

C2 “We are the Play-Doh® people. No spine and no substance. Malleable as clay. There is no there there.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssays” titled Minimum Wage and Maximum Earners (July 31, 2006), Racing Backwards; Moving Forward? (July 27, 2009), Occupy America: The “Bonus March/Chicago Police Riot/Kent State” Of 2011? (October 17, 2011) and Men In Pink: Today’s Sensitive New SWAT Togs (August 20, 2012).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Too much information, too little insight

Everything is virtual; nothing is real

Energize don’t marginalize

We need fewer folks chasing fewer flora and far fewer fauna

The cup is one sixteenth full

In the end, the physicists always triumph over the e-con-omists

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Foot Longs and Football (September 2, 2013)

Posted in Football, Fracking, Health Care, Perjury, Perjury/Dishonesty, Pogo Plight, Society, Sports on September 2, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

F1 “One is bad for us and the other is bad for them.”

F2 “How about hot dog buns and pig skin antics. Today’s version of bread and circuses.”

F1 “The fans poison themselves in the stands while the combatants bang their heads on the field.”

F2 “And on the heads of their opponents.”

F1 “Those who make it to the top have been pummeled for years if not decades and performed on Friday nights and then Saturday afternoons and then all day on Sunday.”

F2 “And on Monday and Thursday and Wednesday and Tuesday.”

. . .

F1 “America was about education, now it is about revenue sports. Two sports are the revenue sports in high school, in college and in the prose.”

F2 “College combatants do not even receive workmens’ compensation insurance coverage while on the job let alone a share of the profits. We celebrate Labor Day but do not reward them for their labor.”

. . .

F2 “The NFL executives testified before Congress in 2009, under oath as always, that repeated head contact by players has not been shown to lead to brain injury. One representative, Linda Sánchez, noted that their testimony is the same as the tobacco company executives denying the link between smoking and lung disease.”

F1 “Every generation can be defined by its Big Lie.”

F2 “The danger from fracking also may be our generations’ Big Lie.”

. . .

F1 “There are rumors of a legal settlement with a gang of retired gladiators who are suffering all manner of predictable maladies. Most settlements include a provision enjoining future violations, but the games go on.”

. . .

[See the article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/sports/football/29hearing.html.]

[See the “e-ssay” titled Gettin’ Health Risks Right (June 25, 2012) discussing the Big Lies of past generations.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Play ball

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Boycott The Olympic Boycott (August 12, 2013)

Posted in Boycott Series, Gay Politics, Government Regulation, Russia, Society, Sports on August 12, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A “Boycotts are often the most effective moral and economic means to vote against oppression and repression or in favor of truth and justice. Do not buy a product or do buy another product. However, boycotting an Olympics is more of an act to ‘cut off your nose to spite your face.’”

B “Spite and nose cutting are not pretty.”

A “Send the athletes to compete. The Olympics are often expressions of nationalism, jingoism and aggression with all manner of doping, deception and dishonesty. However, there is the possibility that a hard-working kid gets a chance at a bigger stage and a few minutes on the winner’s podium.”

B “Even if the Russian policy toward gays and gay marriage is reactionary, America should react by sending its athletes who have trained hard to perform.”

A “Prevailing at an away game on foreign soil and celebrating with restraint is always more sublime.”

. . .

B “Let the pitchers pitch.”

A “Pitch your pitch on the pitch.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Play ball!

Just win, baby, with dignity and without dope.

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The Endless War On Women . . . By American Warriors (July 22, 2013)

Posted in Congress, Crime/Punishment, Drones, Due Process, Equal Protection, Military, O'Bama, Society on July 22, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C1 “It could not be disregarded, so the predecessor to former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates issued a statement denunciating the rape. It could not be disregarded, so then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates issued a statement denunciating the rape. It could not be disregarded, so then Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued a statement denunciating the rape. It could not be disregarded, so Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel issues a statement denunciating the rape. It could not be disregarded, so the successor to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will issue a statement denunciating the rape. It could not be disregarded, so the successor to the successor to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will issue a statement denunciating the rape.”

C2 “Perhaps they could concoct a Department of Defense formal form denunciation and describe it as ‘Form DD 1.’”

C1 “The official DoD ‘Bedbug Letter.’ Explanations in the military are simple. What goes on goes on because the superiors want it to go on. What the superiors do not want to go on will not go on, with only a few rogue exceptions that can be punished swiftly and publicly.”

C2 “The Commander-In-Chief is at the top of the pile.”

C1 “So they want it to go on. In this man’s army, however, that war would not go on.”

. . .

[Is a “Drones Unlimited” organization akin to “Ducks Unlimited” or “Trout Unlimited” or “Cape Buffalos Unlimited” on the horizon? http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/07/17/us/17reuters-usa-colorado-drones.html?hp&_r=0.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Join the military; get raped

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On Community (June 3, 2013)

Posted in Community, Guns, Pogo Plight, Society on June 3, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A “Seems that you have the ‘guns and ammo’ crowd and the ‘beans and band aids’ folks.”

B “The ‘bullets and bandoliers’ boys and the ‘kumbaya and jambalaya’ community.”

A “The ‘whole wheat set’ espouses something called ‘community’ that sounds good but is far more elusive to achieve. My long-term study of the ‘community clan’ continues. ‘Develop community’ is a more mature and rational response to the challenges ahead, but most of the adherents would not respond that way in a pinch.”

. . .

A “I wonder if we are too late and too far gone.”

B “We may be too self-indulgent, self-absorbed and selfish to take care of anyone but ourselves.”

A “We have been acculturated to behave as a self-interested consumer consumed with our self and our interests and our own consumption. We collect stuff but are certain that our stuff is better stuff than the next guy’s stuff, so everything is righteous.”

B “When we are really challenged, we will need to fundamentally retool our soul and learn to use hand tools. The transition will be wrenching and will require us to use wrenches.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” titled “Beans and Bullets (April 6, 2009).”]

Bumper sticker of the week:

It’s all about me

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TEDx: THEODORAx or DOROTHEAx or . . . DOROTHyx? (April 8, 2013)

Posted in Economics, Energy, Environment, Society on April 8, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1 “TED is a clever acronym. Technology, Engineering and Design. Three universes and infinite possibilities. ‘Ideas worth spreading,’ they allege.”

2 “On first hearing, it sounds like a program named after your favorite smallmouth bass fishing buddy.”

1 “That is part of what reels them in. Our friend TED covers the usual 3E programs – energy, economics, and the environment – and everything in between and on all sides. Local programs are identified by the small letter ‘x’ and then the community such as ‘TEDx Gotham City’ or ‘TEDx Dodge.’”

2 “I thought the ‘x’ stands for the second ‘x’ chromosome. By design, the speakers are from diverse backgrounds, yet they still tend toward more males than females. However, the local organizers and more than 53 percent of the attendees are double ‘xx’ers. But that is not why the local programs are not called ‘TEDy Shangri-La.’”

1 “That was my first thought. Just because the ‘y’ chromosome so often correlates with goonery and buffoonery does not mean that all males are goons and buffoons. Really.”

2 “Not all of them. But the local programs may need to be called ‘THEODORAx’ or ‘DOROTHEAx.’”

1 “Or keep the males in the loop and call the local programs ‘DOROTHyx.’”

. . .

2 “Women undertake most of the jobs in non-profit entities.”

1 “Yet the White boys still hold most of the positions of power in for-profit entities.”

2 “But one can say with a high degree of confidence that it is not because of talent. The White boys are there because of market distortions.”

. . .

1 “With women surpassing males in high school and college, the emerging civil rights issue is whether a less talented cohort of males can be admitted in the interest of maintaining roughly equal numbers of males and females in a class.”

2 “Instead of a young woman going to college to get an MRS. degree, today’s young man goes to college to get an MR. degree.”

1 “If he gets in.”

. . .

[See the website http://www.ted.com/pages/about.]

Bumper stickers of the week

TED: Ideas worth spreading

Ideas: Good, especially good ones.

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All Gave Some ; Some Gave All (April 1, 2013)

Posted in Banks and Banking System, Bernanke, Gay Politics, Iraq, Society, Vietnam, Writing on April 1, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1 “It expresses a universal and timeless truth. It is a precisely balanced six-word memoir. It is a pleasant and pleasing palindrome. It is the perfect poem. It is It.”

. . .

1 “No joke.”

2 “No, joke.”

1 “No joke.”

. . .

[See the article at http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html dated today. No joke. See also http://ukiahcommunityblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/the-treason-of-the-intellectuals/.]

April – National Poetry Month

Bumper stickers of the week:

There are no unwounded soldiers.

Show or tell? Show, don’t tell.

Get it right, Write it right.

Cure writer’s block – Exercise, listen, think; Exercise, listen, think – Writer’s block cured.

Character is fate; Fates shape character.

Republicans like GLBA; Democrats like LGBT.

Addiction is too consuming; Destitution is too constricting; Dissolution is too confining; Might as well live. (With a nod to Dorothy Parker).

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The Sea Change Is Now A Tsunami (March 11, 2013)

Posted in Constitution, Courts, Equal Protection, Gay Politics, Law, Society, Supreme Court on March 11, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

LS1 “An amicus brief is a ‘friend of the court’ brief filed by someone who is not a party to a case that provides information and argument that may or may not have been advanced by a party to the case.”

N1 “Sounds like a legal way to lobby a court constituted of legal lobbyists for private interests.”

LS1 “In effect. Before the Supreme Court writes its opinion, it is interested in the opinions of the Owners and others.”

N1 “Who would have guessed. First the housebroken Republicans came out of the cloak room. Then the business community came out of the board room.”

LS1 “They realized that inequality is less economically efficient than equality. Surreal that one can drive from one state in a state of marital bliss to another state and enter into a state of marital banishment.”

N1 “That is bad for business.”

LS1 “No bandwagon has been boarded by as many people in as short a period of time. Everyone now wants to influence the bench to allow all adults to walk down the aisle. The train is leaving the station.”

N1 “They say the Supreme Court does not pay attention to the weather, but the Justices do pay attention to the climate.”

LS1 “You don’t need a climatologist to see which way the wind blows.”

N1 “But you do need courage.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” titled Fukushima Daiichied (March 12, 2012) on the anniversary.]

[See the “e-ssay” titled Less Government Regulation Series: Love and Marriage (May 19, 2008).]

[See the articles at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/business/businesses-refuse-to-arrive-late-on-same-sex-marriage.html?_r=0, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/business/companies-ask-justices-to-overturn-gay-marriage-ban.html?ref=business, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/us/politics/gay-marriage-brief-gets-more-republican-support.html?ref=business and http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/us/politics/administration-to-urge-justices-to-overturn-a-gay-marriage-ban.html?ref=business&_r=0.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Gay marriage? Here’s the way I see it. If I had to get married, then THOSE PEOPLE have to get married. Fair is fair.”

My wife keeps complaining that I never listen to her . . . or something like that.

Can someone file an “enemy of the court” brief?

Hate is overrated.

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Archive for the Society Category

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