Vice President Vance’s Valentine’s Day Greetings.  Oh, And Happy Valentine’s Day! (February 17, 2025)

Posted in Europe, Foreign Policy, Free Speech, Russia, Security State, Ukraine on February 17, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Vice President Vance’s Valentine’s day speech to the Munich Security Counsel is a much needed and sobering analysis . . . and thus a seismic shock.  The text will appear in future foreign policy texts and treatises.” 

J          “Another Trump blunder delivered by his bumbling sidekick.”

. . .

K          “The war is between the United States and Russia.  Zelenskyy is not even legitimately elected and with his band of banderites and brigands have exploited and abused their fellow Ukrainians.  Those who occupy the positions of power in Europe and the European Union have allowed themselves to be exploited and rendered themselves impotent and irrelevant.  Why should they be involved?”

J          “The Russians must be stopped.  The Ukrainians must be involved.  The Europeans must be engaged.  The U.S. must be leading.”

. . .

[See Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech to the Munich Security Conference on February 14, 2025 and “Munich Bloodbath Ruptures Western Order Wide Open” by Simplicius in “Simplicius76” dated February 14, 2025.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

J.D. Vance:  “Europe must respect and tolerate free speech.”

Europe:        “J.D. Vance is not free to speak freely in Europe.”

“The issue that has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.”  Lord Acton

USAID Exposed (February 10, 2025)

Posted in Corruption on February 10, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “I still have the pictures I took of the stacks of rice sacks that are stenciled “Not For Sale” in English with “For Sale” signs in both English and the local language posted atop them.  USAID distributes the rice as bribes and then allows the local functionaries to sell the loot in the local lucre.  The merchants were not concerned about the threat of prosecution or that there were evil spirits in the camera and instead smiled and waved for me.  No one even mentioned the irony or was surprised or outraged or disgusted or even the least bit concerned.  BAU.”

J          “They fulfilled their fundamental duty.  There are probably isolated incidents of loss.  There is always some surplusage in any operation.”

. . .

K          “Everyone says that sunshine is the great antiseptic.  The DOGE folks are unconventional, thinking and acting outside the box and performing an essential role.  The faux journalists who should be exposing the subterfuge are participating in and profiting from it.”

J          “There are established procedures and processes to challenge misinformation.  The agency did manage to get enough rice to kids.”

. . .  

Bumper stickers of the week:

Not For Sale

For Sale

Social Security . . . In (Out of) The Hands Of The Kleptocrats (February 3, 2024)

Posted in Social Security, Trump on February 3, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Here is the secret plan.  Trump will eliminate Social Security and then keep his campaign promise and not tax Social Security payments.”

K          “That may happen.  I still say the system will implode two weeks before I file to participate.” 

. . .

K          “We as a country must select either guns or butter.  Those in power will select guns.  We the powerless need to demand butter.  I have said before that the only way to save the American Experiment is to dispense with the American Empire.”

J          “How about a fifty percent reduction in defense spending?”

K          “I am in one hundred percent agreement.”

. . .

J          “There should be a federal law that no one with a net worth of over four million dollars is allowed to opine in any way or vote on Social Security.”

K          “But for the First Amendment concerns and a conviction that we have too many federal laws already, I am in agreement.”

. . .

K          “Someone noted that of the ten states where the citizens rely exclusively or primarily on Social Security for their retirement, eight or nine are Red States.”

J          “The MAGA army is now expendable.  They will be decommissioned and disbanded and discarded.”

. . .      

K          “Trump may be serious about the no tax thing.  If the promised payments continue, I could tolerate continued taxation even though it violates the original intent of the legislation.”

J          “Stay tuned.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Social (In)Security And The C.P.I. (May 29, 2017), Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 2 (April 28, 2008), Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 1 (April 14, 2008) and Social Insecurity? (April 7, 2008).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Social Security?

DeepSeek-R1!  Sputnik Moment?  Paradigm Shift?  Black Swan?  Genie / Bottle? (January 27, 2025)

Posted in China, Internet, Technology on January 27, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “A new, free, open-source, large language model?  Holy smokes!”

J          “Holy Toledo!  Seems from the early reports that the cost of training and developing DeepSeek’s model is only a small fraction of what is required for OpenAI or Meta Platform Inc.’s best products?  And available to everyone for free?  Say what?”

. . .

J          “The big American monopolists have invested massive amounts of money in hardware and energy centers that now may be less important if freely available software will do the trick.  They will lose huge monopolistic margins.  They will not be amused.”

K          “What appears to be a gift to the people of the world is also an existential threat to western financial interests.”

. . .

. . .

K          “Will the Deep State deep six DeepSeek?”

J          “The country that considers itself the greatest democracy is threatened by a program or protocol that democratizes artificial intelligence.”

. . .

J          “Stay tuned.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Will the Deep State deep six DeepSeek?

Stay tuned

Le Big Day.  Oh, And Happy MLK Day! (January 20, 2025)

Posted in Presidency, Trump on January 20, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “The use of Executive Orders seems akin to a dog marking its territory.  With great consequence.”

K          “Trump marked his territory and remarked what Biden had unmarked.  Biden had marked his territory and unmarked what Trump had marked.  You can mark their words.”

J         “It is a dog-mark-dog world.”

. . .

K          “We may each hear what we want to hear.  I did hear him celebrating freedom of speech and the rule of law and the possibility of peace sprinkled among some of the other dross and red meat he announced.”

J          “He has not left the campaign trail.  His screed was a full contact frontal ‘shock and awe’ assault on the status quo.”

. . .

J          “Not much about China.  China is the challenge.  China will define his administration.”

K          “You can say that again.”

J          “Not much about China.  China is the challenge.  China will define his administration.”

. . .

J          “The DEI movement was problematic and often unfairly discriminatory in practice.  However, the wholesale attack and dismantling of the programs is too wrenching.  Public and private programs must provide for everyone’s participation in society.”

K          “His broad attacks on LGBTQ+ concerns are too sweeping.  Someone needs to find the reasonable common ground.”

J          “Americans of all stripes believe they can repudiate both physics and biology when reality is inconvenient or intrusive.  Trump and I – imagine that – and you – imagine that – accept biology and recognize that biological men and women are different when they walk out on the playing field, the pitch and the court.  However, some courts demand to repudiate this reality.”     

. . .

K          “I am pleased he kept his word and commuted and pardoned the January 6 defendants.  I have trouble with the release of those who had committed violent acts and/or destroyed property.  However, with time it is clear that the entire undertaking was a grand cynical entrapment by the Democrats.  Convictions are tossed out when the prosecution is tainted.  The pardons are in effect a repudiation and an indictment of the entire Democratic political and legal machine.  Biden’s pardon of the J6 Committee is a clear acknowledgment that the members and its henchman were involved in a dishonest and fraudulent enterprise.”

J          “Trump’s pardons are disgusting.  There is no law.  Biden’s pardons were necessary and appropriate.”

K          “Is there even one person in America who has the knowledge and the wisdom and the perspective and the maturity and the independence to chronicle the events of J6 honestly and objectively?  Future historians will write whatever is necessary to obtain tenure.”

J          “If there is tenure.”

. . .

K          “What about Biden’s pardon of the other members of the Biden crime family?  If they accept the pardon, they are admitting culpability.  Back to the books for a read of Burdick v. United States, 235 U.S. 79 (1915).”

J          “Trump has made it clear that the Biden family would have been unfairly pursued and prosecuted.”

K          “On the basis of the available public information, there is no doubt that the government could have secured criminal indictments against each one of the Bidens.”

J          “Just a political vendetta.”

K          “Someone has argued for some time that the Lawfare would circle around.”

. . .

J          “It is and will always be Denali.”

K          “Yup.”

J          “Denali, Alaska has a nice ring and subtle cadence.  As I recall, ‘Denali’ is a Koyukon Athabascan word that means ‘big’ or ‘tall’ and ‘Alaska’ means ‘Mainland’ or ‘Greatland’ in some dialects.  Big, Great.  They pair well.”

K          “Denali, Alaska is also a pleasing six-word memoir.”

. . .

J          “Here be dragons.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Cheney/Bush v. Trumpi:  Crime Families Battling On The Big Stage (August 22, 2022) and Let Lawfare Continue!  And Let War With Russian Escalate! (June 3, 2024).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end and, perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.  That’s what I want to be, a peacemaker and a unifier.”  Donald Trump, Inaugural Address.

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast.”  Alexander Pope

Here be dragons

Trump:  Now What? (January 13, 2025)

Posted in Debt/Deficits, FISA, Inflation, Tariffs, Trump on January 13, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “I do not think that even Trump knows exactly what he thinks.  Is he a nationalist or a globalist?  He has slipped Panama, Canada and Greenland into the public discourse.  Yet the Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan quagmires are expanding and exploding and may consume him and his administration.”  

J          “Vegas, the French Quarter and the LA Fires raise issues that are hard to put in perspective.”

. . .

K          “I have been wrong about what is called the ‘economy’ year after year after year after year.  However, I maintain that the Debt Black Hole is now too far out of control and will haunt and hobble his administration.”

J          “Extending the tax cuts will cost the public fisc something like 500 million dollars in each of the next ten years.  That will add up.”

K          “Inflation will continue for the foreseeable future.”

J          “Enacting tariffs will turbo charge inflation without necessarily spurring American manufacturing and production.  Any new plants will be automated.  Stay tuned.  Inflation may be the major election issue in 2026.”

. . .

 J         “I keep reminding and reassuring myself and others that he will break every one of his major promises.  He will not even propose making Social Security payments non-taxable.  No way.  His billionaire boys may reduce the actual payments.  He will not make overtime payments and tips non-taxable.  No way.  He will abandon the voters who will be even angrier at and more frustrated with the system.”

K          “I don’t disagree.  I told someone that his election postpones the revolution.  From another perspective, we are better off if he does break some of his promises.  Judging by his Cabinet nominees, he is breaking his promise to end the many wars of choice.”

. . .

K          “During the election, I saw some hope and change in the Kennedy Gabbard wing of the Trump Machine.  However, Tulsi Gabbard’s recent volte-face is the clearest reveal that reform is impossible.  You surely saw that she changed her stance regarding the unconstitutional government program that she once sought to repeal as she now fights for survival and confirmation.  So much for ending the section 702 authority that allows the government to track conversations involving foreigners without a warrant.”

J          “You should have known.  The real Trump 2.0 is emerging.  Don’t forget that many of the foreigners are engaged in illegal and dangerous activity.”

. . .  

K          “Let’s circle back at Thanksgiving and see if three phenomenon emerge this year.  Expanding wars.  Galloping inflation.  Deepening recession.”

J          “And metastasizing restiveness.  Let’s revisit the topic on November 24 or so.”

K          “World War III is now accelerating and this week in Romania.”

J          “Stay tuned.”

. . . 

K          “Looking and listening to others, I sense that many are disquieted and enervated by the uncertainty.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Time To MAAA:  Make America America Again? (September 30, 2024).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Make America ??????? Again

Expanding wars?  Galloping inflation?  Deepening recession?

“We’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somali, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.”  Wesley Clark

Stay tuned.

Boycott Red / Blue America?  (January 6, 2025)

Posted in Blue States / Red States on January 6, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “What do you do when you are neither Purple nor Red nor Blue?  I am at a stage and a place where I do not have a party or a gang or a tribe or a club or a clan or a squad or a refuge.  The situation leaves me blue.”

J          “Blue will still do.”

. . .

K          “Decades ago, I noted that if you are not what was once called a ‘liberal’ at the age of twenty, you did not have a heart; if you were not what was once called a ‘conservative’ at the age of forty, you did not have a head.  The admixture of  heart and head does not always produce predictable results.”

J          “Mugged by reality.  And actually mugged.  I have moved rightward on a few issues primarily economic and financial as I have moved through life.  The Blue core endures.”

. . .

K          “For decades, I self-indoctrinated by waking to NPR in the morning, listening all day and evening, and then slipping off to sleep at night with the radio still broadcasting.  I even assisted the NPR folks with money and time.  Thousands of hours and dozens of fundraisers later, something emerged and escaped.  Things did not add up.  There was and is much more to the story.”

J          “They are still a font of insight.”

. . .

K          “I have studied and observed every major institution.  They have failed and are failing.  I find that credit unions may be one of the few institutions working in America.” 

. . .

K          “I look back and wonder if I did not unwittingly take a ‘Red Pill’ along with my multivitamin and zinc every morning.”

J          “I don’t touch the ‘Blue Pill’, yet I still vote Blue.  There is no alternative.”

. . .

K          “I deeply understand how the world operates and who is in control.  I could not be more cynical about its prospects than ever.”

J          “Now we agree.”

. . .

J          “But Blue will still do, I tell you.”

K          “Not the current hue.”

. . .

[After years of tinkering with first drafts and contemplating the journey, the original “e-ssay” that kicked things off a score years ago appeared at Boycott Red America (January 3, 2005).  Based on the statistics, it has never been read by anyone other than the author.  One anniversary piece at Post Number 1000!  And Still Having Fun!  Oh, And Happy Post Number 1000! (November 18, 2024) looks back at the trek.  Today is the four-year anniversary of the event addressed last year in January 6:  The Country Needs An Impartial And Objective Inquiry (January 8, 2024) that revisited the initial discussion four years ago at On Riots And Rampages (January 11, 2021)).]

[See the e-commentary at The War On Truthful Journalism Marches On;  U.S. Carpet Bombing Propaganda And Censorship Campaign Rages On (August 1, 2022), N. Propaganda R. Transcribed:  “Get Vaccinated.  Attack Russia.”  Oh, And Happy Presidents’ Day! (February 21, 2022), Red State Medicine v. Blue State Medicine; Red Continent Medicine v. Blue Continent Medicine; WCH v. WHO (October 25, 2021), [Don’t] Support Public Media? (June 10, 2019), National People’s Radio?; National Public Radio?; National Petroleum Radio?; National Propaganda Radio? (June 11, 2018), Dispatches From The War On Journalism: The New “Nixon’s Enemies List” (December 5, 2016).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

We have met the enemy, and boy oh boy is he and she ever you and me.  Mr. Pogo.

“Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.”  Bob Seger, “Against the Wind”  (Someone suggested that Bob Seger regretted the syntax.  He crafted a perfect poem.  Not a word too many; not a word too few.  The two contractions are critical.  Wish I’d written it; what I can do is quote it.) 

Boycott Red [_] Blue [_] Other [_]

Jimmy Carter

e-commentary:  A Score Years And Still Having Fun.  Oh, And Happy New Year! (December 30, 2024)

Posted in Year In Review on December 30, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

Peaking behind the curtain, lifting up the carpet, looking under the table.  Honing skills, helping folks, having fun.  Venturing answers to questions that have not yet been asked, seeking to elucidate as much Truth on as many issues in as few words as possible, striving to leave a “commentary of record” for Clio’s consideration.  Chronicling the American experiment and the American experience, the theory and the practice, the promise and the performance, and the aspirations and the aftermath.  Doing something was paramount.  

What is in a name?  “essay.org” and “e-essay.org” were taken.  “e-ssay.org” turned out to be the perfect portmanteau of “electronic essay” and provided the original title for this undertaking.  In the first few years, taut, short, cogent, succinct and focused “e-ssays” told people what to think rather than suggesting ideas to think about during the following week.  Reveal, don’t tell, they wisely decree.  Conversation provides a rapid ping-ponging of ideas.  After a few years, “e-commentary.org” emerged and provided “electronic commentary” using dialogue to allow the reader to listen in on the discussion rather than being told what to think.  The pieces are laced with many little lagniappes for the diligent reader to discover and deduce.  Stitching these weekly poems together may reveal a . . . novel? 

Over the past three years, most of the topical pieces focus on the wrenching, painful and uncertain transition from a uni-polar world to a multi-polar world evolving on an overpopulated planet undermined by debilitating debt – government, corporate and personal.  The economy seems to be in a checkmate that keeps moving to another square that is also in checkmate.  # to # yet the economy stumbles and bumbles along.  See the e-commentary in 2024 at The Command Economy Is Failing;  Cease Fiddling . . . With Interest Rates.  Oh, And Happy Constitution Day! (September 16, 2024), Not Derivatives Again: Japan? (August 5, 2024), Bankruptcies?  Layoffs?  Foreclosures?  Evictions?  Inflation? (July 29, 2024), Au And Ag.  To The Moon?  PetroDollar Pact Expires? (June 10, 2024), So It Was The Red Sea And Credit Suisse.  Who’s Counting?  (Strait of Hormuz or Deutsche Bank?  Deriving Derivatives (July 8, 2019)) (February 12, 2024) and China Invaded . . . And Won!  Oh Well. (January 29, 2024).  See Portentous Developments In 2022? (January 23, 2023), Counting Battered Bodies Badly.  Oh, And Happy Valentine’s Day! (February 13, 2023), World War E / World War III Is 1 [9?] Year[s] Old This Week.  Oh, And Happy Presidents’ Day! (February 20, 2023), The Two Great Geopolitical Elections:  China in 2014-15; Russia in 2022-23 (March 20, 2023), Russia Is PLANet B!  We Are Saved! (March 27, 2023) and World War I (18__ – 1918).  World War II (19__ – 1945).  Planetary Implosion l (Festering For Decades / 2022 – ____) Oh, And Happy Armistice Day! (November 6, 2023).  Some of the economic, financial, political and social consequences of the transition are discussed at Special Edition.  Deciphering Derivatives.  Oh, And Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! (March 17, 2023), CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies):  The End Of Freedom, Privacy, Dignity, Sovereignty And Humanity.  And What Happens When AI (Artificial Intelligence) Takes Over Control Of CBDCs?  (April 17, 2023), “De-Dollarization” Is The Word Of The Week.  And The Development Of the Year. (April 24, 2023) and The Economic Equinox:  Half Light; Half Dark? (September 25, 2023).  Few understand what is happening; fewer are prepared for what is happening.  Interesting times.  Some of the lighter pieces this year glance at our follies, foibles and failures and also our hopes, dreams and successes.  United States of America V. Thomas Jefferson: The Transcript (September 18, 2023), The Trenchant And Traumatic Hemingway (July 31, 2023) and others.

The “On [Traits / Characteristics]” Series acknowledges the father of the essay, Michel de Montaigne, who explored individual traits and personal characteristics.  He shared personal ruminations and anecdotes about society in his celebrated collection Essais (e-ssais?).  Earlier “e-ssays” on this site ruminate on respect, fear, admiration, irreverence, success, self-esteem, regret, standards/quality, loyalty, hypocrisy, honesty, empathy, joy, mudita, etc.  This last year the concern was On Friendship Today:  Flat, Fried, Frayed, Frazzled, Frozen, Fractured, Fissured, Fatigued, Finished?  Oh, And Happy Thanksgiving! (November 20, 2023) in the current post-Covid climate.

The “Less Government Regulation” Series posits examples where government regulation may suffocate and free markets may suffice.  An e-commentary in the series in 2009 advocates for regulation of Google/Alphabet in an economy that is now pockmarked by monopolization of every industry in America.  Subsequent e-commentary challenges the overweening role of the Frightful FiveFacebook, Amazon, Apple, Google/Alphabet and Microsoft.  A half dozen megabanks and six media conglomerates control and manage our money and our minds.  In an economy without any price discovery, the completion of the “General Theory of Economics” is forced into remission.  The need for free markets is discussed at We Need Free Markets.  Oh, And Happy Fourth! (July 3, 2023).

The “Boycott” Series suggests that readers treat dollars like votes in the marketplace and use them to support and reject policies and activities.  An e-commentary in the series in 2008 proposed a boycott of Facebook because it and the other tech beasts and behemoths are not friendly.  Boycotting the only supplier of an essential good or service is problematic and is addressed.  An e-commentary in 2011 proposed boycotting big banks and depositing funds in and supporting local credit unions.  An early e-commentary in 2006 implores the reader never to boycott and always to buy into the franchise, even if voting appears to and may be futile in a country with only one political party, the War and Wall Street Party.  The notion of purposeful boycotting undergirds the discussion in Read, But Don’t Read (June 26, 2023).

The “First Monday In October” Series debuted in 2010 with a discussion of “strict constructionism/originalism” in the context of gun control that should resolve the debate over the proper paradigm for all and once.  Subsequent e-commentary in the Fall series provides insight into the Supreme Court, courts and the state of the law, justice, crime and punishment in America.  The emerging irrelevance and illegitimacy of the current Supreme Court is discussed for the first times in 2011 and then in 2012 and developed in subsequent e-commentary.  Regular visits to the Court to observe the hired help further inform the analysis in the draft “Treatise on Law” now in nearly final form.  Last year a few issues are discussed at The Government Stumbles; The Judicial Legislature Rumbles (October 2, 2023).  This year some trends are noted in First Monday In October:  Dos-à-dos (October 7, 2024).

The “Graduation Advice” Series is inspired by the national treasure “Wear Sunscreen” crafted by Mary Schmich and proposes a pithy suggestion for graduates of school and participants in life.  Advice was dispensed in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Graduation Advice:  Transcend:  Maintain FL 44; Make A Few Discrete Dives And Diversions To TPA (Traffic Pattern Altitude) (May 16, 2022)), 2023 (Graduation Advice:  Find The First Amendment (May 15, 2023)) and 2024 Graduation Advice:  Plant A Garden (May 13, 2024)).

The greatest threat to the Planet may be the threat to the Planet.  However, the plausible challenges to the Anthropogenic Climate Change theory must be acknowledge and addressed.  Posed and poised and poisoned by Man.  [Wo]Man versus [Mother] Nature?  Plastics and plutonium versus People?  Is Man the mortal enemy who must be contained by whatever means?  Is a carbon fee and dividend program the long-shot market-based solution possibly capable of salvaging the vulnerable blue marble

Over the years other e-commentary reviews everything from the human causes to the economic consequences of actions and inaction.  e-commentary addresses everything from philosophy to foreign policy to domestic polity; from the intertwined 3Es (from energy to environment to economics); from war to war to war; from sports to technology to society; from race to class to gender; from guns to gold to the Great Wall of Canada; from war to war to a possible antidote to war; from newspapers to the press/media to journalism; from the First Amendment, to the Second Amendment, to the Third Amendment, to the Fourth Amendment, to the Eighth Amendment, to the Balanced Budget Amendment and to the Term Limits Amendment; and from A – (AIIB, CFETS, CIA, CIPS, FBI, FDIC, IMF, INE, LIBOR, MICAC, NATO, NPR, NSA, SDR, SWIFT, TARP, USA PATRIOT ACT, ZIRP) Z. 

After considerable thought and development, the “Awards and Incentives Project” rolled out and now includes four annual awards with others under construction.

The “Cameo In Courage Award” challenges the award given by the establishment to other members of the establishment.  Society needs an award that rewards those who are truly courageous.  Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Cameo In Courage Award Nominee: Julian Assange (January 31, 2022)), 2023 (Eighth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2023 (May 22, 2023)) and 2024 (Ninth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2024 (May 20, 2024)).

The “Noble Prize In Eco-nomics” identifies those who develop and advance eco-nomic ideas to promote the public weal and the common good.  The award serves as a challenge and counterpoise to the “Nobel Prize In E-con-omics” awarded by the Swedish Central Bank to those who advance ideas that promote the interests of the wealthy and well-connected.  Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Seventh Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 10, 2022)), 2023 (Eighth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 16, 2023)) and 2024 (Ninth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 14, 2024)).

The “Noble Prize In Jurisprudence” celebrates 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.  The award recognizes a person who or institution that 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.  Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Seventh Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 17, 2022)), 2023 (Eighth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 23, 2023)) and 2024 (Ninth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 21, 2024)).

The “Pushitzer Prize In Commentary” honors inspiring and inspirational writing that does not necessarily reflect the dominant viewpoints and worldviews.  Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Seventh Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2022 (May 9, 2022)), 2023 (Eighth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2023 (May 8, 2023)) and 2024 (Ninth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2024 (May 6, 2024)).

e-commentary provided first–hand on–the–ground dispatches from the March for Women, the March for Science, the March For Our Lives and the April 19 March. Lists of the clever and inspiring signs sported by participants are noted.  We march on.

The requisite moving and stirring memoir is now available.  The book tour is still not yet booked.  However, although “Analog Knowledge Devices (“AKD”)” will soon be worth their weight in gold, this production saves paper and is only available e-lectronically.     

 Over the years, a menagerie of speakers and characters such as “A” / “B” and “GO1 [Gun Owner1]” / “GO2 [Gun Owner2]” and “3” / “6” / “9” among others debuted and debated issues.  In recent years, “J” and “K” emerged as the primary characters in the ongoing dialogue and debate. The events of the last five years have bitterly divided the two of them, however the recent antics of the Supreme Court have “J” and “K” back on the same page on some issues.

The “Bumper sticker of the week” started out as a spoof on the shallow and callow “bumper sticker” nature of our public discourse and became the playful signature sign off concluding each piece every week.

Looking back, the undertaking is an extended serialized novel about the American experience presented in a series of weekly poems developed through dialogue that allows all of us in some small way possibly to . . . immanentize the eschaton

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not possibly succeed under any circumstances?

“Do.  Or do not do.  There is no try.”  Yoda

“Not being heard is no reason for silence.”  Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“It doesn’t require many words to speak the truth.”  Chief Joseph

Otter:  “I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.”     Bluto:  “We’re just the guys to do it.”  “Animal House” (1978)

“It is clear that thought is not free if the profession of certain opinions makes it impossible to earn a living. It is clear also that thought is not free if all the arguments on one side of a controversy are perpetually presented as attractively as possible, while the arguments on the other side can only be discovered by diligent search.”  Bertrand Russell, Skeptical Essays

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.”  Thomas Paine

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”  Marcus Aurelius

“You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best.  You want to be considered the only one who does what you do.”  Jerry Garcia

Think big, think long.

e-commentary:  A Score Years And Still Having Fun.  Oh, And Happy New Year! (December 30, 2024)

Posted in Year In Review on December 30, 2024 by e-commentary.org

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Peeking behind the curtain, lifting up the carpet, looking under the table.  Honing skills, helping folks, having fun.  Venturing answers to questions that have not yet been asked, seeking to elucidate as much Truth on as many issues in as few words as possible, striving to leave a “commentary of record” for Clio’s consideration.  Chronicling the American experiment and the American experience, the theory and the practice, the promise and the performance, the aspirations and the aftermath.  Doing something was paramount.  

What is in a name?  “essay.org” and “e-essay.org” were taken.  “e-ssay.org” turned out to be the perfect portmanteau of “electronic essay” and provided the original title for this undertaking.  In the first few years, taut, short, cogent, succinct and focused “e-ssays” told people what to think rather than suggesting ideas to think about during the following week.  Reveal, don’t tell, they wisely decree.  Conversation provides a rapid ping-ponging of ideas.  After a few years, “e-commentary.org” emerged and provided “electronic commentary” using dialogue to allow the reader to listen in on the discussion rather than being told what to think.  The pieces are laced with many little lagniappes for the diligent reader to discover and deduce.  Stitching these weekly poems together may reveal a . . . novel? 

Over the past three years, most of the topical pieces focus on the wrenching, painful and uncertain transition from a uni-polar world to a multi-polar world evolving on an overpopulated planet undermined by debilitating debt – government, corporate and personal.  The economy seems to be in a checkmate that keeps moving to another square that is also in checkmate.  # to # yet the economy stumbles and bumbles along.  See the e-commentary in 2024 at The Command Economy Is Failing;  Cease Fiddling . . . With Interest Rates.  Oh, And Happy Constitution Day! (September 16, 2024), Not Derivatives Again: Japan? (August 5, 2024), Bankruptcies?  Layoffs?  Foreclosures?  Evictions?  Inflation? (July 29, 2024), Au And Ag.  To The Moon?  PetroDollar Pact Expires? (June 10, 2024), So It Was The Red Sea And Credit Suisse.  Who’s Counting?  (Strait of Hormuz or Deutsche Bank?  Deriving Derivatives (July 8, 2019)) (February 12, 2024) and China Invaded . . . And Won!  Oh Well. (January 29, 2024).  See Portentous Developments In 2022? (January 23, 2023), Counting Battered Bodies Badly.  Oh, And Happy Valentine’s Day! (February 13, 2023), World War E / World War III Is 1 [9?] Year[s] Old This Week.  Oh, And Happy Presidents’ Day! (February 20, 2023), The Two Great Geopolitical Elections:  China in 2014-15; Russia in 2022-23 (March 20, 2023), Russia Is PLANet B!  We Are Saved! (March 27, 2023) and World War I (18__ – 1918).  World War II (19__ – 1945).  Planetary Implosion l (Festering For Decades / 2022 – ____) Oh, And Happy Armistice Day! (November 6, 2023).  Some of the economic, financial, political and social consequences of the transition are discussed at Special Edition.  Deciphering Derivatives.  Oh, And Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! (March 17, 2023), CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies):  The End Of Freedom, Privacy, Dignity, Sovereignty And Humanity.  And What Happens When AI (Artificial Intelligence) Takes Over Control Of CBDCs?  (April 17, 2023), “De-Dollarization” Is The Word Of The Week.  And The Development Of the Year. (April 24, 2023) and The Economic Equinox:  Half Light; Half Dark? (September 25, 2023).  Few understand what is happening; fewer are prepared for what is happening.  Interesting times.  Some of the lighter pieces this year glance at our follies, foibles and failures and also our hopes, dreams and successes.  United States of America V. Thomas Jefferson: The Transcript (September 18, 2023), The Trenchant And Traumatic Hemingway (July 31, 2023) and others.

The “On [Traits / Characteristics]” Series acknowledges the father of the essay, Michel de Montaigne, who explored individual traits and personal characteristics.  He shared personal ruminations and anecdotes about society in his celebrated collection Essais (e-ssais?).  Earlier “e-ssays” on this site ruminate on respect, fear, admiration, irreverence, success, self-esteem, regret, standards/quality, loyalty, hypocrisy, honesty, empathy, joy, mudita, etc.  This last year the concern was On Friendship Today:  Flat, Fried, Frayed, Frazzled, Frozen, Fractured, Fissured, Fatigued, Finished?  Oh, And Happy Thanksgiving! (November 20, 2023) in the current post-Covid climate.

The “Less Government Regulation” Series posits examples where government regulation may suffocate and free markets may suffice.  An e-commentary in the series in 2009 advocates for regulation of Google/Alphabet in an economy that is now pockmarked by monopolization of every industry in America.  Subsequent e-commentary challenges the overweening role of the Frightful FiveFacebook, Amazon, Apple, Google/Alphabet and Microsoft.  A half dozen megabanks and six media conglomerates control and manage our money and our minds.  In an economy without any price discovery, the completion of the “General Theory of Economics” is forced into remission.  The need for free markets is discussed at We Need Free Markets.  Oh, And Happy Fourth! (July 3, 2023).

The “Boycott” Series suggests that readers treat dollars like votes in the marketplace and use them to support and reject policies and activities.  An e-commentary in the series in 2008 proposed a boycott of Facebook because it and the other tech beasts and behemoths are not friendly.  Boycotting the only supplier of an essential good or service is problematic and is addressed.  An e-commentary in 2011 proposed boycotting big banks and depositing funds in and supporting local credit unions.  An early e-commentary in 2006 implores the reader never to boycott and always to buy into the franchise, even if voting appears to and may be futile in a country with only one political party, the War and Wall Street Party.  The notion of purposeful boycotting undergirds the discussion in Read, But Don’t Read (June 26, 2023).

The “First Monday In October” Series debuted in 2010 with a discussion of “strict constructionism/originalism” in the context of gun control that should resolve the debate over the proper paradigm for all and once.  Subsequent e-commentary in the Fall series provides insight into the Supreme Court, courts and the state of the law, justice, crime and punishment in America.  The emerging irrelevance and illegitimacy of the current Supreme Court is discussed for the first times in 2011 and then in 2012 and developed in subsequent e-commentary.  Regular visits to the Court to observe the hired help further inform the analysis in the draft “Treatise on Law” now in nearly final form.  Last year a few issues are discussed at The Government Stumbles; The Judicial Legislature Rumbles (October 2, 2023).  This year some trends are noted in First Monday In October:  Dos-à-dos (October 7, 2024).

The “Graduation Advice” Series is inspired by the national treasure “Wear Sunscreen” crafted by Mary Schmich and proposes a pithy suggestion for graduates of school and participants in life.  Advice was dispensed in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Graduation Advice:  Transcend:  Maintain FL 44; Make A Few Discrete Dives And Diversions To TPA (Traffic Pattern Altitude) (May 16, 2022)), 2023 (Graduation Advice:  Find The First Amendment (May 15, 2023)) and 2024 Graduation Advice:  Plant A Garden (May 13, 2024)).

The greatest threat to the Planet may be the threat to the Planet.  However, the plausible challenges to the Anthropogenic Climate Change theory must be acknowledge and addressed.  Posed and poised and poisoned by Man.  [Wo]Man versus [Mother] Nature?  Plastics and plutonium versus People?  Is Man the mortal enemy who must be contained by whatever means?  Is a carbon fee and dividend program the long-shot market-based solution possibly capable of salvaging the vulnerable blue marble

Over the years other e-commentary reviews everything from the human causes to the economic consequences of actions and inaction.  e-commentary addresses everything from philosophy to foreign policy to domestic polity; from the intertwined 3Es (from energy to environment to economics); from war to war to war; from sports to technology to society; from race to class to gender; from guns to gold to the Great Wall of Canada; from war to war to a possible antidote to war; from newspapers to the press/media to journalism; from the First Amendment, to the Second Amendment, to the Third Amendment, to the Fourth Amendment, to the Eighth Amendment, to the Balanced Budget Amendment and to the Term Limits Amendment; and from A – (AIIB, CFETS, CIA, CIPS, FBI, FDIC, IMF, INE, LIBOR, MICAC, NATO, NPR, NSA, SDR, SWIFT, TARP, USA PATRIOT ACT, ZIRP) Z. 

After considerable thought and development, the “Awards and Incentives Project” rolled out and now includes four annual awards with others under construction.

The “Cameo In Courage Award” challenges the award given by the establishment to other members of the establishment.  Society needs an award that rewards those who are truly courageous.  Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Cameo In Courage Award Nominee: Julian Assange (January 31, 2022)), 2023 (Eighth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2023 (May 22, 2023)) and 2024 (Ninth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2024 (May 20, 2024)).

The “Noble Prize In Eco-nomics” identifies those who develop and advance eco-nomic ideas to promote the public weal and the common good.  The award serves as a challenge and counterpoise to the “Nobel Prize In E-con-omics” awarded by the Swedish Central Bank to those who advance ideas that promote the interests of the wealthy and well-connected.  Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Seventh Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 10, 2022)), 2023 (Eighth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 16, 2023)) and 2024 (Ninth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 14, 2024)).

The “Noble Prize In Jurisprudence” celebrates 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.  The award recognizes a person who or institution that 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.  Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Seventh Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 17, 2022)), 2023 (Eighth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 23, 2023)) and 2024 (Ninth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 21, 2024)).

The “Pushitzer Prize In Commentary” honors inspiring and inspirational writing that does not necessarily reflect the dominant viewpoints and worldviews.  Awards were made in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 (Seventh Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2022 (May 9, 2022)), 2023 (Eighth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2023 (May 8, 2023)) and 2024 (Ninth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2024 (May 6, 2024)).

e-commentary provided first–hand on–the–ground dispatches from the March for Women, the March for Science, the March For Our Lives and the April 19 March. Lists of the clever and inspiring signs sported by participants are noted.  We march on.

The requisite moving and stirring memoir is now available.  The book tour is still not yet booked.  However, although “Analog Knowledge Devices (“AKD”)” will soon be worth their weight in gold, this production saves paper and is only available e-lectronically.     

 Over the years, a menagerie of speakers and characters such as “A” / “B” and “GO1 [Gun Owner1]” / “GO2 [Gun Owner2]” and “3” / “6” / “9” among others debuted and debated issues.  In recent years, “J” and “K” emerged as the primary characters in the ongoing dialogue and debate. The events of the last five years have bitterly divided the two of them, however the recent antics of the Supreme Court have “J” and “K” back on the same page on some issues.

The “Bumper sticker of the week” started out as a spoof on the shallow and callow “bumper sticker” nature of our public discourse and became the playful signature sign off concluding each piece every week.

Looking back, the undertaking is an extended serialized novel about the American experience presented in a series of weekly poems developed through dialogue that allows all of us in some small way possibly to . . . immanentize the eschaton

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not possibly succeed under any circumstances?

“Do.  Or do not do.  There is no try.”  Yoda

“Not being heard is no reason for silence.”  Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“It doesn’t require many words to speak the truth.”  Chief Joseph

Otter:  “I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.”     Bluto:  “We’re just the guys to do it.”  “Animal House” (1978)

“It is clear that thought is not free if the profession of certain opinions makes it impossible to earn a living. It is clear also that thought is not free if all the arguments on one side of a controversy are perpetually presented as attractively as possible, while the arguments on the other side can only be discovered by diligent search.”  Bertrand Russell, Skeptical Essays

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.”  Thomas Paine

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”  Marcus Aurelius

“You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best.  You want to be considered the only one who does what you do.”  Jerry Garcia

Think big, think long.

Oh, And Happy Holidays! (December 23, 2024)

Posted in Culture, Society on December 23, 2024 by e-commentary.org

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K          “The time to think good thoughts.”

J          “For old times’ sake.”

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