05 January 2021

Perspective and Priorities

A boat was docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.


Fisherman's beach in Mulege, BC del Sur, MX

A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and... asked how long it took to catch them.


"Not very long" they answered in unison.


"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"


The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.


"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"


"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.

We have a full life."


The tourist interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."


"And after that?"


"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. 

Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City!!! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."


"How long would that take?"


"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.


"And after that?"


"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"


"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.


"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."


"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the Mexicans.


And the moral of this story is:


Know where you're going in life, you may already be there! Many times in life, money is not everything.


“Live your life before life becomes lifeless”

11 December 2020

A LIfe During Wartime - TAXATION!

 Today we examine the realities of Taxation, Debt, and Deficit!


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30 November 2020

Down, Not Out

To whom it may concern, I spent nearly ten years and $250,000+ of my own hard-earned cash trying to get this off the ground.


In 2012, a charlatan chiropractor, Jamie Fettig, who is one of my minority shareholders and a serial patent violator, hijacked my greenwindmill web domain and with the help of Bob Greene, proceeded to violate my exclusive, lifetime license for patent 5823749A as granted by Greene for a payment of $10,000 in 2008. He never did a damned thing with the IP.

Fettig's errant assignation of patent expired in 2016. He no longer holds any rights to govern the intellectual property as you see in this Google patent listing:

In 2011, living and working in Brattleboro, VT, I suffered through the ravages of Superstorm Irene. The storm parked itself over the Connecticut River for about 36 hours, flooding the town and washing away the machine shop wherein rested my most complete prototype of the windmill power generator and rotor.

After another two years of trying and failing to recoup the loss, even with the help of such wonderful friends as Ms. Brigitte DeMouy of Couer d'Alene, Idaho, I found myself at a loss of motivation and suffering from deep depression.

It was in 2013, that I decided to cease seeking investors and instead to 'back-burner' the project until I could earn enough cash myself to pursue reconstitution of the venture.

In the years since, I find I've aged-out of the workforce and that apart from the heinous gig-economy, my only means of progress is to start some profitable and straightforward enterprise that might throw off enough profit to further pursue this potentially world-changing enterprise. In short, I have not given up, I'm just on a slower path.

I have begun a suitable venture, and the numbers indicate that I'll be able in 2021 or 2022 to pursue the completion of a manufacturing prototype of the Revolutions Wind device, much improved in design. In addition, I have designed a Micro-Thermal-Solar generator device that will rival the windmill in cost-effectiveness and utility.

When these devices come to market, I assure my shareholders, all 23 of them, that I shall make good on all commitments to profit-sharing through the fulfillment of dividend rights commitments and that the two corporate note-holders shall be made whole.

For the most part, though it is a lifelong battle, I have overcome my deepest depression. Meditation, pain remediation, and productive sleep are key in this.

If you suffer from depression, I highly advise you to bring it into the open and deal with it in whatever way you may! I hid my abiding physical pain and my depressive psyche from all the people in my life for decades. I know now that at best, this was a poor choice.

My former wife, Heather Lynn Philips of Prince Rupert, BC deserved to know my condition. Had she known of it, perhaps our marriage would have lasted beyond the five years we had together.

My partner of twenty years, Jaime Nicolaisen, knows my condition and though we are not a romantic pair, she is a reliable ally, and for this, I am eternally grateful.

For now, I must counsel further patience among my shareholders. I affirm that I will see this through to some sort of successful result.

05 May 2016

Is Bernie a Democrat or an Interloper?


I will support whomever the Democratic Party nominates. The process is the process. Reality dictates that until ALL private capital is forbidden in electioneering, democracy is compromised. For reference, Senator Sanders has outspent Secretary Clinton by nearly 2-1.


Just the same, Ms. Clinton has received 3M+ more votes than Senator Sanders thus far. It looks as though the popular vote will affirm the delegate count and that the good Secretary shall be the nominee. 


If one seeks the Democratic nomination, they join a union to steer the nation toward equality, dignity, health, kindness, productivity, labor rights, and genuine compliance with UDHR. If they are not genuinely committed to that union, they have no business seeking the nomination, having taken advantage of the party's name in poor faith.

If we don't get everything we want, right now, it's not time to throw a hissy fit, rather it's time to hunker down and work for a White House somewhere on the left with a downticket that populates Congress with those who'll work toward betterment of the people at large. 

On the day DOMA errantly passed and ENDA wrongly failed, I stopped Senator Kennedy in the Senate Cloakroom and complained to him about the result of the vote and the Democrats who voted the wrong damned way. 

Senator Kennedy admonished me saying; "When we worked on Civil Rights, everything failed repeatedly...until we succeeded in a battle that began long before I arrived."

He continued; "Every time we go through this process, it's three steps forward and two steps back. That means we are always moving forward. In the end, the people shall prevail."

If, as seems likely, Secretary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, Bernie and his Berners do well to eschew the roles of opportunist, interloper, and adolescence. They do well to push up their sleeves, and get to work electing the Democratic Nominee and a Democratic Majority in the Senate and the House, preferably with plenty of good women in the mix. 

If  Senator Sanders attains the nomination, the same applies to the majority who remain #Still4Hill.

If you're part of the nominating process, you're likely a registered Democrat, as Bernie has become for the first time in his life. So, get to work and be an active participant in the hard work of campaign and VOTING to make our country a place with actual liberty and justice for ALL.
#afterallthemotherfuckersitstime4amother

Peace.

13 February 2016

Adieu to the Showgirl Culture of Las Vegas


Thanks to my father's persuasive abilities, at age 12, I was privileged w/ my sister Heather to view #LesFoliesBergere at the #Tropicana from the lighting booth. The waiters brought our supper to the booth and we were transfixed by the show.
There was magic, comedy, and women who defied imagination in 40-pound headdresses and evening wear that had no covering for their perfect, natural breasts.
There were singers singing songs in French and animal acts that made us laugh. All in all it was a show such as I'd never seen and the likes of which I may never see again.
As a stockbroker in #LasVegas, one of my favourite clients was a gent who worked as a cocktail waiter at the Folies. He'd emigrated to the #USA from #Cuba in 1959, seeing the writing on the wall. He'd heard about the growing glitz of Vegas and it appealed to him.
Arriving in the desert town, he got job dropping drinks on tables at the new Bergere revue at the storied "first n the strip" hotel.
When I met José, it was 1986. We met at the "Las Vegas Sporting House" which was the best health spa I ever witnessed, but that's a different story. The gentleman dressed, acted, and invested as though he were a captain of industry. a cocktail waiter...a cocktail waiter who was putting three kids through Ivy League schools, paid in cash.
The union wage that José earned was generous, but paled in comparison to the gratuities he received. This guy was taking down mid-six-figures in tips. People would stop by just to shake his hand and leave a grand in it just t assure a lucky stay because for decades, this man had been a component of luck-filled trips to The Strip.
Some of my clients were showgirls, the improbably built dancers from shows like Folies, Jubilee at Bally's, and Splash! at the RIviera. They all had robust portfolios, though I'll grant you, many showgirls put most of it up their noses.
The Las Vegas 'Grand Variety Show' experience was a unique culture that provided thousands of jobs at pretty decent pay. It produced great entertainers and a lot of great characters.
Circ du Soleil's takeover of the Strip has lowered the wage profile of performers and homogenized the Vegas nightlife experience. Cheesy though such things may seem to a millennial audience, the showgirls of Las Vegas and the retinue before whom they strutted will be missed.

29 December 2015

A Bit of Why I Believe in the Truth of Hillary's Progressive Nature.

I listened today to a couple of NPR examinations (kind of fluffy) of Hillary's upbringing in Park Ridge, Illinois in the "innocence" of the suburban 1950s. "Retracing Where Hillary Clinton Grew Up, 1950's Park Ridge, Ill." and "Growing Up In Protected Americana, Hillary Clinton Looked Outside The Cocoon"

As others have said, there was naught innocent about the '50s. It was prosperous, for whites. It was safe, for whites. Yet even for white folk, it was the beginning of corporate war. It was also the burgeoning of the corporate welfare that spawned the car culture thus yoking us to the big oil teet, and let's not forget the national prominence of the Klan and the institutional nature of Jim Crow laws in the south, with segregation entrenched as far north as Missouri and Iowa.

That our next President, Hillary Clinton, managed to grow up from a suburban, high school, Goldwater Girl to be a progressive thinker, interested in the plight of the poor and minority populace, is a testament to liberal education in university and the value of education in creating a more reasonable and equitable society.
Wellesley and romance with a young, idealistic Bill Clinton turned the young Ms. Rodham's head and heart toward the  construct of betterment of life for all her fellow humans and away from the politics of fear.

I believe she remains this person today.  She's not perfect, then again who is? Yes, she can be a bit hawkish, yet in reading all she wrote in college and since, in parsing her speeches and her attempts at action as first lady in Arkansas and in The White House, I find a woman committed to education, housing, food security, healthcare, and opportunity for all people, regardless of colour, creed, class, or politic. These are the reasons I support Hillary as my candidate for President of the United States of America.

I love my former senator, Bernie Sanders and support his bid for a bully pulpit of greater consequence, yet I do not see enough difference in likely result of his potential Presidency over Ms. Clinton's. Thusly I remain fervent in my belief that after 220 years of motherfuckers, it is indeed time for a mother.
Hillary is that mother. Hillary is #45.

09 December 2015

Most Terrorists in USA are White, American & "Christian"

The vast majority of attacks on #USA soil are committed by White Christians, yet no Christians condemn the psychos as bad Christians. In fact, many on the right applaud those terrorists who attack abortion clinics with bombs and guns.
After every attack involving a Muslim perpetrator, the entire American Muslim community steps up and condemns the idiots and psychos for what they have done and brand them apostates.
When will Christians be made to hold their "faith" and culture to account under the glare of daylight when dicks like Richard Dear and Tim McVeigh commit their atrocities?
It's high time to own your shit, WASP-America!

06 December 2015

Reasonable Gun Control, for When the USA Chooses Reason Over Insanity

For the record, on reasonable #guncontrol,
  1. if you want to own a single shot non-concealable weapon, I've no objection., Hunters seek to kill w/ a single shot. No semiautomatics, no repeating guns.
  2. All weapons should be accounted. Annual registration and inspection at bureau offices,
  3. Annual psychological evaluation for all gun owners,
  4. Skills course required for all those who wish to keep guns,
  5. Annual continuing education required for all those who wish to keep guns,
  6. Annual live skills test at the local office of the new Department of Firearms Registration,
  7. No concealed carry permits for anyone, if you want to carry, it's in the open so we all know you have that threatening thing on your person,
  8. #Smartguns - #biometric locking mechanisms are already available - only the registered owner can unlock the trigger, the biometrics settable only at the new Department of Firearms Registration,
  9. Own a gun, carry insurance. Minimum liabilities coverage in line with automobile insurance, with no limits on liability in torts brought against a gun owner who shoots another person,
  10. All ammunition annually accounted, registered, and securely stored in a manner approved and certified by the new Department of Firearms Registration.
Basically, you're gonna have to be grownups and give up wanting to be prepared to shoot other people. Instead, guns will be for those who hunt, and we'll leave the weapons of war to the Armed Forces for use in defending us from EXTERNAL foes.
If we disarm the gun hoarding populace and the street patrolling police, the day will come when physical force won't be the primary means of governance. We who work for it are perseverant and patient.
And for those who believe cops need to be armed to the teeth, sorry, you're mistaken. Look to the UK where non-lethal force is the primary force applied. Special police units, like our FBI, check out specialized deadly weapons from a secured armory only when the situation merits and superiors authorise such actions. Consequently, murder by cop and police deaths in the line of duty are exceedingly low.
Ultimately, even if it takes a generation or longer, #Peace will prevail.

05 March 2013

Sofia Vergara Loves Playing Stereotypes


I respect your POV, Tanisha, yet one must take full responsibility. One is only defined by stereotype if one allows. That you choose to identify as Latina rather than Woman or better yet, HUMAN is the motor of your unfortunate experience. I am an earthling, my fellow traveler, and I defy anyone to categorise me as anything more compartmentalized until I choose that compartment for myself.



Oh, and my first wife was and is a crazed-sex-kitten who happens to be Latina. Go figure.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

12 November 2012

The true meaning of Leviticus 20:13


While this is a glib pun, the translations of this verse found in most English Bibles cannot be supported by the Hebrew text.

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. (KJV)

Correct translation:

And a man who will lie down with a male in a woman's bed, both of them have made an abomination. Dying they will be put to death; their blood is on them.

Below is a word by word translation of this verse:

ואיש אשר ישכב את זכר משכבי אשה תועבה עשו שניהם מות יומתו דמיהם בם

V’ish asher yishkav et-zachar mishk’vei ishah to’evah asu shneihem mot yumatu d’meihem bam.
(Transliterated using modern Israeli Sephardic pronunciation.)

V’ish - This is two words. First,  V’, which means and. This word cannot exist by itself, and therefore is attached to the word that comes after it, that is, ish. This word means man. Hebrew has no indefinite article (a, an), so when the definite article (the) is not used, as in this case, an indefinite article is understood. Therefore, this word translates as a man. So the first two words of this verse are And a man.

 asher - This word means who, which or that, depending on context. Since it is used with a man, it would mean who. And a man who.

 yishkav - This is a verb. Unlike English verbs, everything we need to know about tense and person is contained in this one word. No additional pronouns or tense markers are needed. The root of the verb is the last three letters: sh-k-v, and it means lie down. The first letter of the word, y, is not part of the root, but indicates person and tense and even gender. To translate yishkav into English will require four words. The word translates as he will lie down. If a subject is already present in the sentence, as in this case, then the pronoun of the verb (he) is omitted in translation. And a man who will lie down.

 et - This word means with. And a man who will lie down with.

 zachar - This word means male. The verse so far reads And a man who will lie down with a male.

 mishk’vei - This is a noun. The base form of the noun is mishkav, and it can be seen that the last three letters of the base, sh-k-v, are also the three letters of the verb root above, meaning lie down. This noun means bed. Hebrew nouns have more than one form. In addition to having singular and plural forms, many nouns also have absolute and construct forms. An absolute noun stands alone, with its own meaning. A construct noun is grammatically tied to the noun that follows it. In English it often translates by placing the English word ‘of’ between the two nouns. A good example is the Hebrew  Beit Lechem (Bethlehem), which in English translates as House of Bread. This is because the first word, Beit, is in the construct state. Mishk’vei is in the plural construct state, meaning beds of. It would be a good idea here to explain a bit about Hebrew prepositions: Hebrew has prepositions that correspond to ours, but doesn't always use them the same way. For example, when people leave us, in English we say that we miss them. But in Hebrew, the verb to miss is used with a preposition, and we say that we miss to them. The same works in reverse, that is, sometimes English requires a preposition when Hebrew doesn't. If a preposition can be derived from context, Hebrew will sometimes leave it out. In English, we need it. Therefore, we need to insert the English word in before the words beds of in order for the sentence to make sense in English. The verse so far reads And a man who will lie down with a male in beds of.

 ishah - This is the Hebrew word for woman. Since there is no definite article (the), it is understood to mean a woman. And a man who will lie down with a male in beds of a woman. Since this sounds awkard in English, we can rephrase it as “in a woman’s bed.” And a man who will lie down with a male in a woman’s bed.

 to’evah - This is a noun. It translates as abomination. Without a definite article, it translates as an abomination. Hebrew word order often varies from ours, and this is one case where this is true. In English, this word will come later in the sentence, so we will hold off on adding it to the translation until we have finished with the next two words.

 asu - This is a verb. It means make or do. This form is past tense, and translates as they have made or they have done. A subject for the verb is following in the sentence, so the word they can be left out of the translation. In English, word order is usually subject-verb-object, so in order for our translation to make sense, the next word, which is the subject, will need to come before this word and the previous word.

 shneihem - This  word is  made of two particles  combined.  First is shnei, which  is  the construct form of the number two. Because it is construct, we add the English word of to the translation: Two of. The second particle is hem, which is called a pronominal ending. Depending on context, it translates as they, them or their (all masculine). Put together, this word means two of them, or less awkwardly, both of them. And a man who will lie down with a male in a woman’s bed, both of them have made an abomination;

 mot - This is a gerund form of the verb to die. It corresponds to our word dying. And a man who will lie down with a male in a woman’s bed, both of them have made an abomination; dying.

 yumatu - This is a future form of the same verb. It translates as they will be put to death. The phrase dying they will be put to death expresses the certainty of the sentence, and is rendered in some English versions as they will surely die. And a man who will lie down with a male in a woman’s bed, both of them have made an abomination; dying they will be put to death,

 d’meihem - This word is made of two particles combined. The first is d’mei, a construct form of the word for blood. Because it is construct, we could insert of after it, but we will see further on that adding of in this case will make the translation awkward. The second particle is the pronominal ending hem, as seen above in shneihem. Put together, this word means blood of them. Since this is awkward, we would translate the word as their blood. And a man who will lie down with a male in a woman’s bed, both of them have made an abomination; dying they will be put to death, their blood.

Our next point of grammar involves the present tense forms of the verb to be. In English these forms are am, art, is and are. Hebrew has such forms, but almost never uses them, except in reference to God, or when absolutely necessary for context. The reason for this may be that the forms are too close to God's name in Hebrew. While this may seem awkward to us, there are many other languages that don't use the present tense of the verb to be. Russian, for example, has become so used to ignoring the forms, that some of them are completely obsolete. The Russian equivalent of am can't even be found in a dictionary or grammar book any more. They get along fine without it, and so does Hebrew. But English can't, so we have to insert the appropriate forms when translating. And a man who will lie down with a male in a woman’s bed, both of them have made an abomination; dying they will be put to death, their blood is.

 bam - This word is a contraction. Unlike English contractions, no apostrophe is needed. It is formed by taking the preposition b, which means in, and which cannot exist as a separate word, and attaching it to the final letter of the pronominal ending hem. The resulting word means in them. As mentioned earlier, Hebrew doesn’t always use prepositions the way we do, and this is one case where English would use a different preposition to express the same concept. We would use on, so we will translate the word as on them. And a man who will lie down with a male in a woman’s bed, both of them have made an abomination; dying they will be put to death, their blood is on them.

This is the correct translation of Leviticus 20:13. It can be seen that, rather than forbidding male homosexuality, it simply forbids two males to lie down in a woman’s bed, for whatever reason. Culturally, a woman's bed was her own. Other than the woman herself, only her husband was permitted in her bed, and there were even restrictions on when he was allowed in there. Any other use of her bed would have been considered defilement. Other verses in the Law will help clarify the acceptable use of the woman's bed. (Lev. 15.)

SO, the actual prohibition is for two men one woman in a three-way, but men with men, women with women, or a three-way with a guy and two girls is okay, see?

Glad we could clear that up.

08 November 2012

Bigotry In A "Post-Racial" USA

Let me make it entirely clear that no matter what result had come in on Tuesday, and make no mistake that I am extremely happy with the result we gleaned, I'd harbour no ill will for those I know who rooted for the Republican Empty Suit and his allies.

That said, the vile bile and resentment that some six 'friends' have lobbed my way prior to 'un-friending' me on the social networks is beyond my reckoning.

All I can imagine is that these folks, all lily-white, faux christian, and blindly partisan Republican, find my multi-ethnic, highly liberal and progressive personage to be a direct affront on their closeted, self-denied bigotry versus a relatively moderate mixed-race gentleman whom they believe has no place sitting freely in the "White" House.

I hold no enmity, resentment, or animosity toward these folks. I do feel sorry for them as the future holds tremendous disappointment and disillusionment for their un-evolving souls.

I wish all of them well and I hope they will find some peace, somehow, in their lives going on in world in which the white folk hold less and less hegemony over the brown, yellow, red, and black.

Personally, whether in my childhood in which I alternately suffered those who called me kike, hebe, camel jockey, elephant boy, or even nigger, or after September 11 2001 in Los Angeles wherein I was hassled or threatened while driving my 560SL with an American flag flapping on a mast mounted on my trunk lid because I was 'driving while sorta eastern-brown, I have never felt like anything other than an American.

I am a Boy Scout and an American entrepreneur. I am a serial 'Job Creator' and I have always been race agnostic in my mental and social calculus. I have worked as a Poll Inspector and Auditor in many places, helping to facilitate the ultimate expression of Americanism, the right to vote.

When I've been financially flush and folks I knew needed help, I never refused, even when I knew I was unlikely ever to see repayment. I was raised to believe there is no greater responsibility as a conscious being than the responsibility to help those who have fallen. I take that ethos to heart in all that I do.

So, to those who have left my social sphere because I supported our Mulatto President, I say a sad goodbye. To those who remain my friends and associates even as my support for our President continues, I say howdy and good morning.

Whichever group you fall into and to those who fall into neither, know that I have boundless love for all of you and for every living creature on this planet and throughout the quantum multiverse. I hope that at least a few of you will find it in your hearts to return the same to me.

xxxooo

18 July 2012

Fair, Progressive Taxation Can Save Our Nation

The solution to the debt and deficit of the United States is simple. We do not properly collect remittances in this nation.

A single, small Act of Congress or an Executive Order (during times of gridlock) can alter our fiscal reality overnight. By placing a levee of 0.5% on each of the $1,000,000,000,000 (that's one trillion dollars) of derivatives transactions that pass through the USA monetary markets every week, a smaller fee than most industrialised nations collect, we have the capability to erase the deficit in a couple of years AND the debt in less than a decade.

Reform of the tax system results in a budget surplus without cutting a single social service or safety net component and eliminates the wasteful expense known as the IRS.

My proposal is a flat tax of 10% across the board with the only exemption being the first $150,000 of income for any individual or corporate entity. The only progression of this rate occurs for those with income of any sort in excess of $1M/year. In that bracket, the income beyond the million dollar mark is taxed at 20%, once more with no deductions or additional exemptions allowed.

That's 0% on the first $150,000 as indexed to the cost of living. After that $150,000 threshold is reached, move the decimal point and pay it off the top.


Tax the churches, the charities, the corporations, dividend recipients, capital gains recipients, and average individuals in the same manner, without exception. No deductions whatsoever allowed.


In using this method, we actually end up with a fair and PROGRESSIVE system of taxation in which no company or person may game the system and pay ZERO while reaping BILLIONS in actual profits.

Our nation will finally have a system balanced other than on the backs of the working men, women, and small businesses that make the nation run and grow -- and those who have gained most in the rape and pillage days since Reagan took office will at last pay their fair share.

By collecting proper remittance we can easily guarantee every member of our society:

  • Worthwhile Education through University or Trade School at no cost
  • Universal Health-Care (including mental-health and complementary care) at no cost
  • Proper police and fire protection at no cost
  • Access to proper legal counsel
  • Access to food for the hungry
  • Access to clothing, heat, and housing for the cold and homeless
We can also repair every road, bridge, water system, and the rest of our crumbling infrastructure while employing every able bodied individual in the nation in service to our society in so doing.

It is time to find fairness and decency through proper collection of remittance rather than cutting spending on reasonable services and civilized governance while cutting taxes for the massively entitled rich, white men of this once great nation of endless opportunity.

16 March 2012

What the 1 percent and .1 percent made in 2010



This means that 15,000 Households in a nation of 320,000,000 souls benefited from over 37% of economic gain in 2010 and similar trends have been going on for the past 30+ years since the advent of Reagan/Thatcher deregulated, screw you, supply side economy.

Is it any wonder that the 99% are a bit ticked off?

Evolution or Revolutions, it's our choice. The Faux "Free-Market" has failed us. Government DOES have a purpose and it is to keep the money from enslaving the masses.

http://stevenrattner.com/

27 September 2011

Who Is The Ultimate Green Game Changer?




With the static, moribund nature of the private capital markets ($3.7T in static USA hoards) and no political will to get $$$$$$$ moving, it is very difficult for game-chage­rs such as me to get the game moving.

Where is the money our society is supposedly heaping on "Shovel Ready Green Projects" other than in the well lined pockets of GE and Siemens??

Oh, well. I WILL GET IT DONE ON MY OWN if that is how it must be.


Oh, and Bobby Kennedy Jr. is the king of kings among this bunch. If not for his unfortunat­e vocal difficulty­, he'd be a front runner for the presidency­....but our nation is far too shallow and lazy to put in the effort to listen carefully to what the man has to say.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

24 September 2011


"...The man who would increase his material wealth must be willing to part with (invest) what little capital he has, and then wait for the increase. So long as he retains his hold on his precious money, he will not only remain poor, but will be growing poorer everyday. He will, after all, lose the thing he loves, and will lose it without increase.

But if he wisely lets it go; if, like the farmer, he scatters his seeds of gold, then he can faithfully wait for, and reasonably expect, the increase."

~ James Allen 

22 September 2011

Tony Bennett On 9/11: 'They Flew The Plane In, But We Caused It'


1. We did not and do not belong in Iraq. approx. 3,000 pol prisoners suffered under Saddam w/ thousands of Kurds we had abandoned, now millions of women suffer under the current regime.



2. Bin Laden is a creation of the USA under Reagan as a foil against the USSR



3. Bush was warned of the likelihood of an impending attack by the Bin Laden led criminals and ignored it.



4. Occupying an Islamic nation is a fool's errand.



5. I have little doubt that ARAMCO and Halliburto­n (w/Cheney included) knew the WTC attack was coming, perhaps even with knowledge of the day and time.



6. Using armies to catch criminals is like hunting mosquitoes with a cruise missle, a very ineffectiv­e and expensive way to go.



7. I cannot fault Bennett one whit for his opinion.



8. Today's blind "patriotis­m" is a mask worn by bigots and cowards.



9. GW Bush was never a legitimate­ly elected president, rather an installed squatter.



10. Pttthpt!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

20 September 2011

Joe Walsh To Palestinians: Stop Statehood Bid Or Israel Will Annex West Bank


Unless and until the Palestinia­n leadership (including Hamas) publish an official writ acknowledg­ing the right of Israel to exist, they (the Palestinia­ns) have no righteous position from which to speak.



As to the stumbling blocks of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the only reasonable solution for these unholy cities of trans-mill­enial infighting and war is to make them by internatio­nal (read UN) fiat into Internatio­nal Heritage Cities under the control and svereign ownership of NO NATION and to deem them demilitari­zed with all weapons left at the city gates.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

19 September 2011

GOP-Led States Move To Change Voting Rules Ahead Of 2012


Any person or body seeking to limit voting rights and voting opportunit­ies is simply making a bald-faced attack on the rights of the poor, elderly, infirm, and less educated folks among us. Couching such actions in any other terms is disingenuo­us at best and flat-fraud at worst.



As to what "Dems" might do, history shows that Democrats consistent­ly expand voting opportunit­ies every chance they get.
About John Kasich
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

26 August 2011

Nuclear Safety and the East Coast Earthquake

Nukes are not Zero Carbon inasmuch as the mining, refining, and transport of dangerous fuel are Carbon Intensive. In addition, the waste is endlessly dangerous and operations are a hazard in and of themselves­.



I live in the "Sacrifice Zone" surroundin­g Vermont Yankee. There is no legitimate justificat­ion for any enterprise that requires designatio­n of a "Sacrifice Zone" AKA "The Kiss Your Ass Goodbye Zone" #NoNukes #revolutio­n
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

13 August 2011

An American Muslim Visits the World Trade Center Memorial


The only time I've agreed with the poseur Donald Trump was when he said to Larry King in late 2001 that the best use of the WTC site would be to immediatel­y rebuild the same exact towers save one story taller as a gigantic up-yours to the criminals who committed the crime. Our constant ten-years' hand-wring­ing is simpering foolishnes­s just as our surrender of liberty in the name of security is paramount craven cowardice. It is time for the nation to stand up and be free again.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

08 August 2011

"You Can" Live Performance at SVTRC Benefit BBQ



 ©2011 Cutie-Pie Publishing

Live performance at Benefit BBQ, Southern Vermont Therapeutic Riding Center, Winchester Stables, Newfane, VT.

Vocalist, Songwriter ~ Jaime T. Nicolaisen
Contact: jaime@jaimejams.com for information, booking, purchase of CD or mp3 download.

01 August 2011

Why President Obama, though better than the GOP alternatives, deserves no praise for his slight successes and no quarter for his failures.

Many say that President Obama has it tougher than any other. I beg to differ.

FDR had a tougher row to hoe versus Republican opposition and a split Democratic Party. FDR led us out of the Great Depression, reigned in the bankers, passed the New Deal and WPA, and rebuilt our crippled nation.

FDR - Leader
 FDR did all this while suffering from constant pain, in a wheelchair, through sheer force of will. He then inspired and led us toward Allied victory in WW2 over one of the greatest threats humanity ever foisted upon itself.

LBJ had his own party split down the middle and a staunch Republican Congressional opposition, yet as President, he managed to create and pass into law the Great Society programs which included aid to education (Pell Grants & Student Loans), Federal attacks on widespread disease (NIH and preventative care programs), Medicare, Medicaid, urban renewal, national beautification, government and citizen borne conservation, development of depressed regions, a wide-scale fight against poverty, control and prevention of crime, The Voting Rights Act, several environmental protection acts, and the creation of laws to help protect consumers.

With the help of the Supreme Court, LBJ's executive orders desegregated the nation's schools, private businesses, and public works against majority public opinion, all because HE KNEW IT WAS RIGHT!

LBJ - Flawed, yet a Leader
After the Great Society legislation of the 1960s, for the first time a person who was not elderly or disabled could receive a living from the American government rather than starving on the streets as so many do today. LBJ was flawed and over militaristic, but he led with power, conviction, and soul.


The most recent President to remain committed to his moral, ethical, and campaign promised ethos and plan was James Earl Carter. President Carter had the guts to come on television and speak the truth to a weary nation telling us that we were straying from the core principles of shared sacrifice and shared progress that had built our enduring society. That instead we were trading our national ethics and compassion for selfishness and crass consumerism.

JEC - Leader, Truthteller
President Carter in reelection was thwarted by the ego-driven run of Ted Kennedy. Though I loved him, Teddy was irresponsible in his hubris in '80 and Teddy was almost entirely responsible, in his vitriolic primary campaign, for weakening the Carter Presidency and giving us Reagan and the Reagan designed supply side depression in which we reside.

Here in Vermont we passed, and over the next four years are implementing 100% Universal Coverage with a state paid public option that includes mandated coverage for complimentary & alternative medicine. We are building upon the legacy of Dr. Governor Howard Dean, whose strategy put President Obama into office and who would have been President, if not for media stupidity.

Howard Dean - Leader
This President said what we are doing in Vermont could not be done. He was and is quite mistaken. The rest of the Industrialised world has single-payer-universal health-care, why can we not? It is nothing more than a function of political will or the lack thereof.

Dr. Dean should have been appointed by President Obama to lead the health-care team for President Obama if not for the egos of Plouffe, Axelrod, and Emmanuel and the well moneyed influence peddling of the Insurance Industry and Big-Pharma, whose lobbyists had a bigger seat at the negotiating table than did the citizens or the bulk of their representatives.

BHO - Legacy to be determined.
President Obama entered the Oval Office with both both houses of Congress overwhelmingly of his own party. Had he muscled Leader Reid into invoking simple majority cloture in the Senate in 2009, he could have passed every and any bill on his stated agenda without a single Republican vote. But this President did not have enough guts to face down his own Senatorial colleague and demand action.

Most of President Obama's "promises kept" are tiny in comparison to his failures on Iraq, Afghanistan, Tax Reform, and Health-Care. Thus far it is a failed presidency with a failed "stated" agenda.

Health-Care-Reform under Obama's watch is a failure because:
  1. it does not include the Patient's Bill Of Rights in toto.
  2. It does not cover ALL Americans.
  3. It does not offer an option apart from the for-profit insurance companies who remain almost completely outside regulatory regimen.
  4. It does nothing to alter the pricing structure for health-care, hospitals, labs, or drugs.
  5. It does nothing to eliminate the profit in keeping people sick, which is the basis of profit in US health-care.
  6. It has no enforcement agency written into the law.
  7. The only winners in it are the Insurance Companies who were given a mandated 30M new customers & Big-Pharma who have no fear of price controls in this law.
I read the entire law, all 1900+ pages, did you? Did your representative in Congress? I doubt it.

President Obama's difficulties are entirely of his own making. The buck stops at his desk and thus far he keeps on handing it to someone else, not bothering to note that it is a boomerang, destined to return, aimed directly at his neck.

Shame on this man for failing us so miserably at nearly every turn. Shame on the American public, on both sides, for having so shallow a grasp on recent and 20th Century civics and history. Shame on the US Congress for the most part, for having so craven a modality as to be set in near paralysis.

Passion must be paired with knowledge and wisdom. A President must be held to his word, with the people and the President's party holding the POTUS' feet to the fire.

Neither the President or his blind cheerleaders are showing much wisdom or memory at all. Such ignorance and laxity does no favour for any of us save the mega-industrialists who are raping our treasury with the President's and Congress' blessings and complicity.

Barring personal calamity, heavens forbid, Mr. Obama will receive a second term. Thus, President Obama still has time to redeem himself and he has the intellectual capability and the advice of a brilliant wife to help him in so doing.

Let us hope and pray that he does. Let us hope that he finds courage and genuine conviction in the coming five years.