VASTATION

GABRIELLE GIFFORDS ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION, JFK REDUX

2011-01-08T21:08:00.000-05:00

"In that third year of the Kennedy Presidency a kind of fever lay over Dallas County. Mad things happened. Huge billboards screamed “Impeach Earl Warren.” Jewish stores were smeared with crude swastikas. Fanatical young matrons swayed in public to the chant, “Stevenson’s going to die–his heart will stop, stop, stop and he will burn, burn burn!” Radical Right polemics were distributed in public schools; Kennedy’s name was booed in classrooms; junior executives were required to attend radical seminars. Dallas had become the mecca for medicine-show evangelists of the National Indignation Convention, the Christian Crusaders, the Minutemen, the John Birch and Patrick Henry societies . . .

In Dallas a retired major general flew the American flag upside down in front of his house, and when, on Labor Day of 1963, the Stars and Stripes were hoisted right side up outside his own home by County Treasurer Warren G. Harding–named by Democratic parents for a Republican President in an era when all Texas children were taught to respect the Presidency, regardless of party–Harding was accosted by a physician’s son, who remarked bitterly, “That’s the Democrat flag. Why not just run up the hammer and sickle while you’re at it?" - William Manchester, Death of a President.

THE RIGHT WING LUNATIC ASLYUM STRIKES AGAIN.

EXPELLED AND BEN STEIN SMASHED

2011-01-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

FROM STEIG LARSSON TO MK-ULTRA

2010-11-11T16:45:00.000-05:00

f you've seen any of the Stieg Larsson inspired movies
like "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" you'll see
something in common between his female character
Lisbeth Salander and the female giving testimony
in the following YT video.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
The CIA might have had her in mind when they destroyed
all records of MK-ULTRA. Steig Larsson books are
fictionalized renderings of a Swedish MK-ULTRA.
How else to tell the truth? Now Larsson is dead
and the creatures that are his family are
reaping the benefits.

Ted Kaczynski was 16 when he volunteered for CIA
experiments while at Harvard in the 1960's spending
3 years with CIA doctors and "living" to regret it.
Per Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

The following 23 illustrations are useful summaries.
http://www.targcomics.net/t...
http://www.targcomics.net/p...
(Targ as in target as in Russell Targ?)

The updated technology behind the present day
dystopia involves the remote delivery of sounds,
voices, heat, to the head and body accomplished
by old technology variously named, "V2K,
"Voice of God", Microwave Hearing, EM and Herf.
This tech is now so old some of it is even used
on billboards One such billboard for a TV show
was on Prince St. in NYC. People walking on a
certain spot on the sidewalk would hear a
voice INSIDE THEIR HEADS saying, "did you hear that?".
Anyone not in that spot heard nothing.
(The You Tube vid has been taken down)

The government has perfected these
technologies over a period of 50 years.
They are no longer experimental.
Targets of these remote EM attacks are
often sleep deprived. He or she is seen to look
confused & disoriented. This provides something
called "plausible deniability" as in, "this person
clearly looks and sounds delusional. Who can
believe them?" Any attempt at reporting
this to authorities is met with derision and
referrals to psychiatrists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

If that challenges credibility how about this:
at first victims are not made aware that these
attacks originate from an outside source.
Using sleep deprivation they are rendered
dysfunctional.The person is allowed to think
they are paranoid and hearing voices. Unneeded
therapists, medication, and the constant moving
from place to place cause eventual insolvency
and social isolation which acts as an invisible prison.

50 years of "refining" their methods have rendered
hospitals, Universities, prisons and active military
obsolete as sources of volunteers. The technology
comes under the name neuroweapons. No warrants,
no legalities, permissions are needed.
These mercenaries go where
they want and no one, not even clergy
or other police, will move against them.

This hidden nightmare is known to quite
a few respected members of society.
Clergy, certain police, hospital staff and
therapists come into contact with victims
by virtue of their jobs. They do nothing
b/c there is nothing they can do w/o
having the same thing done to them.
The usual statements, "Why would someone do that?"
or "who would have the time?", "that doesn't happen
in America" are completely reasonable but are also
now completely wrong

COPING WITH MISINFORMATION AGENTS ON THE INTERNET

2010-11-01T22:25:00.004-05:00

MY COMMENT from a site purportedly devoted to the stopping
of government sanctioned electronic harassment and
torture and directed at a commentor posing as a concerned
citizen but who is anything but.

These sites are filled with misinformation
provided by ppl whose job it is to trade misinformation
with themselves (sock identities)to give the impression
of real exchanges that happen on real sites. Every now
and then a dumb dumb we'll call "Targ", as in target,
stumbles in and exchanges info with ppl he thinks
are being electronically harassed and stalked by real
ppl using real technology simulating paranoia.
This has also been the delusion of paranoids
since the beginning of time.

The relevant part of thought broadcasting as it applies
loosely to Microwave Hearing, or V2K tech is that a
person experiencing extended sleep deprivation as a
result of electronic harassment starts to hear his
thoughts as if they are being spoken out loud.
They are not out loud but they are heard by as
if they were. This sleep disturbance can
be the result of insomnia, mental illness, drugs
or, as of the last 10 years, can be induced or
simulated by very real present day technology.

I think you know(fake poster), or should know
that the tech I'm talking about actually
involves the insertion of words into a
persons brain bypassing the ear or
the ability of anyone even within a inches of
hearing or detecting. The definition of
the tech I described involves thought insertion
by it's very nature and function.
Too bad this tech is not also a figment of
mass delusion. Things would be so much easier...or maybe not.

So um what are you going to do, give me a link as to
the "classical" definition of the above terms?
This site is loaded with them. I think you might like
to...just kidding.))
I know you never intended to confuse the issue.

The not so famous billboard in NYC that projected a voice
inside the heads of people passing underneath was a
classic example of old tech called V2K.
The voice could not be heard if you didn't
step in the right spot. It was getting kinda
famous which is why it was taken down from You Tube.

Now, as to why thought broadcasting or the equivalent
is never mentioned on sites devoted to government
approved torture is still something I would like to know?

I think I know the answer beyond my not so eloquent attempts
at describing a complicate process as it pertains to
filling up a persons head with verbiage 24/7.
Thought broadcasting probably happens with
everyone who experiences EXTENDED sleep deprivation.
This involves thoughts that are heard inside your head
as if they WERE SPOKEN and sometimes, believe it
or not, they are heard at a distance.

What happens when you COMBINE
V2K technology AND this amplified inner dialogue?
What happens when amplified thoughts sounds
exactly like what is heard from inputed V2K?
Perfect instrument of torture.

Sleep deprivation triggers the verbal centers of the
brain which means everything you think sounds like
it's being said out loud. (As in schizophrenia)
The two are combined into a very convenient torture
vehicle that mimics mental illness. This also
makes it impossible to describe to anyone in
a position of authority... which means you
are forced to keep your mouth shut.

Strangely enough, the above is made bearable
b/c the target is sleep deprived. Extended sleep
deprivation slows down the thinking process and
also prevents the object of torture from feeling very much.
This gives the perpetrators the freedom to inflict
suffering that would normally kill or send the
average person to a mental ward. The target can't
feel the effects emotionally but knows what is
happening to him or her. They become, in effect,
a zombie. They are alive, but not really.
They are not allowed to live or to die.

To say the least the above will diminish any
semblance of confidence or self image.
Boundaries and sense of self become, you might say,
become porous or non-existent. This seemingly out
loud thinking or thought broadcasting
also takes on the sound that is heard
24/7/365. The target cannot tell the
difference between me and not me.

What are the implications of that over a
period of months, years???
They become him and he becomes them from the
inside out. The boundary between torturers and
victims begin to merge. Victims can be
made to believe anything and do anything
if they are hit with the same message over
extended periods and sleep deprived.

Most of the drama described on You Tube blogs
is, most likely, false. They pile the
lies one on another until they take on
a life of their own. Then, as always,
they dissolve into seeming incoherence.
This is supposed to imitate the incoherence
of schizophrenia. This is the whole hidden message
of the blog. To give victims the sense
they are not alone and to send a normal person
running for the hills or to dismiss everything
he was coaxed so smoothly into reading.

Most of us know why cops and clergy are afraid to
take these guys on...

TRICK YOUR BRAIN

2010-10-27T15:32:00.002-05:00

http://www.sc-article.co.tv/2010/10/how-to-trick-your-brain.html

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

2010-10-26T02:53:00.000-05:00

http://www.alternet.org/story/148562/food_in_uncertain_times%3A_how_to_grow_and_store_the_5_crops_you_need_to_survive

DIGG: THINGS OBAMA HAS DONE

2010-10-18T18:26:00.001-05:00

Things obama has done

I'm sick and tired of people asking "What has Obama done?" So here's a list of things he's done since he's been in office. Remember: He was elected President. He wasn't elected Jesus!
The list is still growing. Let me know if I missed anything.

1. Saved the collapse of the American automotive industry by making GM restructure before bailing them out, and putting incentive money to help the industry

2. Shifted the focus of the war from Iraq to Afghanistan, and putting the emphasis on reducing terrorism where it should have been all along

3. Relaxed Anti-American tensions throughout the world

4. Signed order to close the prisoner “torture camp” at Guantanamo Bay

5. Has made the environment a national priority, and a primary source for job creation

6. Has made education a national priority by putting emphasis and money behind new ideas like charter schools, but speaking directly to school children in telling them they have to do their part.

7. Won the Nobel Peace Prize

8. $789 billion economic stimulus plan

9. Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court

10. Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles

11. Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans

12. Renewed dialogue with NATO and other allies and partners on strategic issues.

13. Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military 20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force… this includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new technology and cyber units and operations, etc.

14. Better body armor is now being provided to our troops

15. “Cash for clunkers” program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulates auto sales

16. Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan

17. Closed offshore tax safe havens

18. Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan

19. Ended media “blackout” on war casualties; reporting full information

20. Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts

21. . Ended media blackout on war casualties and the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB.

22. Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules

23. Ended previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings

GLENN BECK, THE MAN AND THE CON

2010-10-13T01:05:00.002-05:00

Does Glenn Beck know himself as the
NYTimes asked or stated? Does he know
what is going to come out of his mouth
next? Yes and No. Rachel Maddow stated
that Beck was the one who inspired her
as a radio personality as having the
most talent of anyone she'd ever
heard. After watching these 3 videos
I can easily see why. You have to
realize you're listening to the best
con-artist (Lonesome Rhodes) of his generation.

I heard him ask for his audience for prayer...
"not for healing, but for the desire"
to stay or stand..."and to want to".
He seems to be asking for ppl to provide
him with the desire to live.

Do the things that come out of his
mouth have any actual meaning?
He seems to be saying that he has no
desire to go on in the face of a health crisis.
He then immediately contradicts
himself, of course. What else does a pro
like him do but throw out contradictions
in the space of seconds so that no one
can pin him down unless he wants to be.
He talks about transcendence
& pulling himself up out of the muck...etc.

He is both sincere and a liar. He cannot possibly
know himself except in one regard. He is a
survivor in a tough field...and he wants to be loved.
It doesn't go any deeper. He will be back next
week with "there is no bad news here"...too bad.

THE BALLAD OF BYRON WILLIAMS, THE TEA BIRCHERS SONG

2010-10-11T23:10:00.004-05:00

First Beck blew my nose and then...
well, there was nothing else left to do
but cook up some crystal Tea Bircher brew.
Lock-n-load with ma 2nd Amendment "rights"
in ma hand and everything that Sharon Angle
& Beck said was right & grand & as a revolutionary
ah wanted to shed the blood of some of those
there tyrant fellas along with ma own patriots blood
which needs to be shed every now and then to add water
to the tea of liberty.

As a revolutionary,
ah done fired the 1st shot and ah made history...
and then the roof fell in along with that liberal thing called reality.
Seems like ah been avoiding that stuff for a long time.
And now it kinda spoils ma rhyme.

REPO MEN BANKS

2010-10-09T17:54:00.000-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Foreclosure Crisis

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Rally to Restore Sanity

SCARY IMMIGRANT STOCK PHOTOS

2010-10-09T16:34:00.000-05:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Indecision 2010 - Revenge of the Fallen - FearStock.com

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

2010 Election

March to Keep Fear Alive

Rachel Maddow, SwiftBoat Networks, Public Relations Campaigns and Republicans | Crooks and Liars

2010-10-04T22:53:00.000-05:00

Rachel Maddow, SwiftBoat Networks, Public Relations Campaigns and Republicans | Crooks and Liars

JUST APOLOGIZE RICK AND THE JEWS AND JON STEWART WILL HIRE YOU BACK

2010-10-03T20:01:00.004-05:00

There are two things to be said:
1. Sanchez had to know he'd be fired...
which means he said that stuff deliberately
which also means he was going to be fired
anyway and probably soon by his
bosses @CNN Jewish or otherwise.
2. Who knew that Sanchez was such a "complex"
kind of fella that he would make such a profundity.
3. I said there were only two things but there
is the fact that he wasn't really a news person
operating in a mental and physical vacuum.
The slick exterior hides a guy who was seething
inside. Plus there's the fact that CNN and most
news outlets are basically into entertainment not news.

If it's Monday it's, say, bash Obama day.
Tuesday, to compensate & provide "balance"
it's trash republican day. Wednesday, hump day,
the need is to relieve frustration and provide further
balance on balance so it's bash the Democrats and
Republicans. Of course, there is no such thing as
balance in this formula, it's all a manipulation for
viewers.

It's like a guy named Avlon selling a book called
"Wingnuts" who also, by coincidence, works
for CNN. To show how balanced he is he
has to compare Glenn Beck with Keith Olbermann,
Ann Coulter with Michael Moore
and call them all equally wingnuts,
or fringe ppl posing as serious ppl.
How about accuracy? Glenn Beck
doesn't compare to Olbermann when it comes
to something so simple as, IS IT TRUE?

TARP

2010-10-03T19:17:00.002-05:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/herbert-m-allison/the-untold-story-of-tarp_b_748465.html

Newsvine - Can A Satellite Read Your Thoughts? - Physics Revealed

2010-09-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

Newsvine - Can A Satellite Read Your Thoughts? - Physics Revealed

Quote For The Day - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

2010-09-27T23:35:00.000-05:00

Quote For The Day - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

TI, JOHN AARON AVALOS' 24/7 TORTURE

2010-09-26T23:56:00.000-05:00

Reagan's Tax Increases | Capital Gains and Games

2010-09-26T01:30:00.000-05:00

Reagan's Tax Increases | Capital Gains and Games

"TEA BIRCHERS" ALWAYS DO AS THEY ARE TOLD

2010-09-24T23:49:00.000-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Postcards From the Pledge

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

The Best 8 Beverages in the World (Plus: Maui Treehouse and Wild Dog Video)

2010-09-24T12:18:00.000-05:00

The Best 8 Beverages in the World (Plus: Maui Treehouse and Wild Dog Video)

2010-09-24T12:17:00.000-05:00

The Best 8 Beverages in the World (Plus: Maui Treehouse and Wild Dog Video)

Tim Ferriss: Smash fear, learn anything | Video on TED.com

2010-09-24T12:07:00.000-05:00

Tim Ferriss: Smash fear, learn anything | Video on TED.com

Remote Sensing Tutorial Table of Contents

2010-09-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

Remote Sensing Tutorial Table of Contents

Make or Break Time for Silver | zero hedge

2010-09-22T21:06:00.000-05:00

Make or Break Time for Silver | zero hedge

How to Keep Feces Out of Your Bloodstream (or Lose 10 Pounds in 14 Days)

2010-09-22T19:44:00.000-05:00

How to Keep Feces Out of Your Bloodstream (or Lose 10 Pounds in 14 Days)

Lkqpi.png (PNG Image, 400x494 pixels)

2010-09-22T12:27:00.000-05:00

Lkqpi.png (PNG Image, 400x494 pixels)

Russia: A New Way of Censoring Critics - Newsweek - Newsweek: International Editions - msnbc.com

2010-09-21T02:44:00.000-05:00

Russia: A New Way of Censoring Critics - Newsweek - Newsweek: International Editions - msnbc.com

MATTHIEU RICARD

2010-09-21T01:58:00.003-05:00

http://www.chinyere.com/MbMm/LINKS.html

2010-09-20T20:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.chinyere.com/MbMm/LINKS.html

http://chinyere.com/MbMm/HealthFactor/HealthHomePage.html

2010-09-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

http://chinyere.com/MbMm/HealthFactor/HealthHomePage.html

Project Blue Beam By Serge Monast (1994)

2010-09-20T20:38:00.001-05:00

Project Blue Beam By Serge Monast (1994)

This link, like a lot of things, is at the same time
way off the radar and under the radar in terms of rapidly
going from delusion to coherence. This is either a way
to make most ppl tell themselves "get me out of here"
or the expression of a brain that is fighting for
sanity. I go with the first choice. It's designed
to drive most ppl away.

http://www.chinyere.com/MbMm/HealthFactor/May11th2007EmergencyUpdate-Visual.html

2010-09-20T20:16:00.000-05:00

http://www.chinyere.com/MbMm/HealthFactor/May11th2007EmergencyUpdate-Visual.html

2010-09-20T20:15:00.000-05:00

Webvision: Ganglion cell Physiology

2010-09-20T20:02:00.000-05:00

Webvision: Ganglion cell Physiology

t r u t h o u t | Fox Calls for Repeal of the 20th Century

2010-09-18T12:34:00.000-05:00

t r u t h o u t | Fox Calls for Repeal of the 20th Century

A TREE BLOWS IN BROOKLYN

2010-09-17T09:55:00.000-05:00

It's Funneling Dude...

TORTURE, ASSAULTS AND CRIMES EFFECTED BY SECRET SATELLITE AND BRAIN WEAPONS « john finch TORTURECASES

2010-09-15T18:56:00.000-05:00

TORTURE, ASSAULTS AND CRIMES EFFECTED BY SECRET SATELLITE AND BRAIN WEAPONS « john finch TORTURECASES

tired 09122010 - Photos - View other's photo and leave a comment - Yahoo! Pulse

2010-09-15T18:17:00.000-05:00

tired 09122010 - Photos - View other's photo and leave a comment - Yahoo! Pulse

The war socialism of the American right - War Room - Salon.com

2010-09-14T18:52:00.000-05:00

The war socialism of the American right - War Room - Salon.com

COUNTDOWN TO CHAOS REDUX

2010-09-14T10:48:00.000-05:00

The Cheney Presidency:

Q. Who was 1 of three modern day politicians
whose knowledge of economics was equal
to that of Alan Greenspan's?
A. Dick Cheney.
(The others were Clinton and Nixon.)

2003, 50 Attorney's General petitioned the Cheney
White House to curtail predatory mortgage lending
by banks and independents.
2004, the FBI's depleted white collar crime unit
said that predatory mortgage lending threatened
the economy.
2004, 30-1 lending reserves enacted by Cheney's
SEC with Goldman CEO Paulson as lead lobbyist.
2005, One of the 50, Spitzer forces AIG CEO
Greenberg to resign for massive fraud.
2006, Paulson goes to Treasury.
1/2008, McCain practically gives a concession speech after
winning New Hampshire primary b/c he knows he was
nominated by the RNC along with Palin to lose big.
2/2008, Spitzer writes an op-ed in the WaPo calling
out Cheney for 30-1, deregulation & recession.
6/2008, Spitzer forced to resign, prostitutes etc.
9/2008, US & world economy explodes.
11/2008, Obama wins and steps into the trap.
3/2009, Obama goes on 60 Minutes "laughing inappropriately"
at the prospect of 3 wars & an economy near depression
saying he might be a one term president. He also knew
that all 3 off budget wars would be included in his budget
and that he would be 7 trillion in deficit before he took office.

Everybody blames Bush...but Cheney knew!

Executives with criminal records slip through FHA crackdown, documents show

2010-09-11T12:18:00.000-05:00

Executives with criminal records slip through FHA crackdown, documents show

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Accused of Tax Fraud - NYTimes.com

2010-09-11T11:35:00.000-05:00

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Accused of Tax Fraud - NYTimes.com

Freedom of Mind - 2b (follows 2a) -- Stop Non-Consensual Experiments on ...

2010-09-11T10:44:00.000-05:00

Freedom of Mind - 5a - The Importance of A Good Night's Sleep

2010-09-11T10:14:00.000-05:00

Angelina Jolie: Brad Pitt Is The Only Person I Talk To (VIDEO)

2010-09-10T12:30:00.000-05:00

Angelina Jolie: Brad Pitt Is The Only Person I Talk To (VIDEO)

RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES

2010-09-10T11:26:00.000-05:00

Master the Essentials: 29 Crucial PC Skills

2010-09-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Master the Essentials: 29 Crucial PC Skills

2010-09-09T22:58:00.000-05:00

Rachel Maddow: Political strategy for hard times: scapegoating

2010-09-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

Rachel Maddow: Political strategy for hard times: scapegoating

BYOB List

2010-09-09T12:59:00.000-05:00

BYOB List

Jesse Kornbluth: The Wisest, Most Relevant Novel About 9/11 Was Published in 1980

2010-09-08T14:35:00.000-05:00

Jesse Kornbluth: The Wisest, Most Relevant Novel About 9/11 Was Published in 1980

The Intellectual Amnesia Of The GOP - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

2010-09-07T22:44:00.000-05:00

The Intellectual Amnesia Of The GOP - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Whiskey from diabetics' urine - Boing Boing

2010-09-07T22:20:00.000-05:00

Whiskey from diabetics' urine - Boing Boing

A glut of acorns, or a bad case of The Plague? - Boing Boing

2010-09-07T22:02:00.000-05:00

A glut of acorns, or a bad case of The Plague? - Boing Boing

MOTORCYCLE CAM CRASH

2010-09-07T21:44:00.002-05:00

2010 AUSSIE HUGOS

2010-09-07T21:26:00.002-05:00

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/09/announcing-the-2010-hugo-award-winners

BLUE LASER BURNER

2010-09-07T13:10:00.000-05:00

10 Amazing Free Online Writing Courses | FreelanceFolder

2010-09-06T19:16:00.000-05:00

10 Amazing Free Online Writing Courses | FreelanceFolder

HOW MANY FINGERS WINSTON?

2010-09-05T23:47:00.000-05:00

Les Leopold: Why the Big Lie About the Job Crisis?

2010-09-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

Les Leopold: Why the Big Lie About the Job Crisis?

Mind Games - washingtonpost.com

2010-09-04T08:44:00.000-05:00

Mind Games - washingtonpost.com

ANDY SAMBERG GANGSTALKING

2010-09-04T00:11:00.000-05:00

Without a Trace: Turn Your Flash Drive into a Portable Privacy Toolkit

2010-09-03T21:29:00.000-05:00

Without a Trace: Turn Your Flash Drive into a Portable Privacy Toolkit

CHARLEY THE MEDIA STAR, 600,000 BITES LATER

2010-09-03T14:41:00.000-05:00

FuturePundit: P300 Brain Waves Detect Mock Terrorists

2010-09-03T14:22:00.000-05:00

FuturePundit: P300 Brain Waves Detect Mock Terrorists

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: New frontiers in social networking

2010-09-03T14:14:00.000-05:00

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: New frontiers in social networking

TEA BAGGERS $TILL CAN'T $PELL

2010-09-02T13:28:00.000-05:00

We is becoming a Beckian oligirly.

EVERYBODY KNOWS

2010-08-31T04:34:00.000-05:00

1920′s Redux

The parallels between the period leading up to the Great Depression and our current situation leading to a Greater Depression are revealing. When you examine the facts without looking through the prism of party politics it becomes clear that when the wealth and power of the country are overly concentrated in the clutches of the top 1% wealthiest Americans, financial collapse and depression follow. This concentration of income and wealth did not cause the Stock Market Crash of 1929 or the financial system implosion in 2008, but they were a symptom of a sick system of warped incentives. The top 1% of income earners were raking in 24% of all the income in America in 1928. After World War II until 1980, the top 1% of income earners consistently took home between 9% and 11% of all income in the country. During the 1950′s and 1960′s when Americans made tremendous strides in their standard of living, the top 1% were earning 10% of all income. A hard working high school graduate could rise into the middle class, owning a home and a car.

From 1980 onward, the top 1% wealthiest Americans have progressively taken home a greater and greater percentage of all income. It peaked at 22% in 1999 at the height of the internet scam. Wall Street peddled IPOs of worthless companies to delusional investors and siphoned off billions in fees and profits. The rich cut back on their embezzling of our national wealth for a year and then resumed despoiling our economic system by taking advantage of the Federal Reserve created housing boom. By 2007, the top 1% again was taking home 24% of the national income, just as they did in 1928. When the wealth of the country is captured by a small group of ruling elite through fraudulent means, collapse and crisis becomes imminent. We have experienced the collapse, while the crisis deepens.

It’s Good To Be the King

The Wall Street oligarchs were able to accumulate an ever increasing portion of corporate profits by inventing securitization, interest-rate swaps, and credit-default swaps which swelled the volume of transactions that bankers could make money on. These products were originally introduced as a means for corporations to hedge their risks. Wall Street shysters chose to use their “creative” financial products to build the biggest gambling casino in the history of the world. They functioned as the house, siphoning off billions in profits, but then got caught up in the hysteria and placed billions of bets themselves. This resulted in the financial industry generating 41% of all business profits in 2007. From World War II through 1980, financial industry profits ranged between 10% and 15%. Simon Johnson explains the despicable hijacking that has taken place since then.

From 1973 to 1985, the financial sector never earned more than 16 percent of domestic corporate profits. In 1986, that figure reached 19 percent. In the 1990s, it oscillated between 21 percent and 30 percent, higher than it had ever been in the postwar period. This decade, it reached 41 percent. Pay rose just as dramatically. From 1948 to 1982, average compensation in the financial sector ranged between 99 percent and 108 percent of the average for all domestic private industries. From 1983, it shot upward, reaching 181 percent in 2007.

The original robber barons amassed huge personal fortunes, typically through the use of anti-competitive business practices. These well known titans of industry included Henry Ford, Andrew Carnage, John D. Rockefeller, and JP Morgan. They may have practiced questionable business ethics, but they did create wealth while benefitting the country as a whole. They introduced the automobile, provided the nation with steel, produced the oil that powered our economy, and brought order to industrial chaos of the day. It seems their fortunes were built by creating rather than destroying.

The disgustingly rich Wall Street wheeler dealers who live in Greenwich CT and NYC and summer in the Hamptons have created nothing. Their immense wealth has been created through draining the economic system of its lifeblood. Their financial innovations have created no lasting benefit for our society. Wall Street knowingly created no documentation (liar loans) mortgage loans, Option ARM loans, and subprime loans. You do not create products that beg for fraud unless you want fraud. The packaging of these fraudulent mortgages into CDOs and CDSs by Wall Street’s crime machine benefitted Wall Street only. Those who got the loans defaulted, lost the homes, and had their credit ruined. Wall Street financiers have lured the American public into debt with easy credit and a marketing machine geared to convince the average Joe that he could live just like the rich. Simon Johnson explained the phenomena in a recent article.

“Excessive consumer debt is an outcome of prolonged inequality – in trying to remain middle class, too many people borrowed too much, while unscrupulous lenders were only too willing to take advantage of such people.”

You Call This Capitalism?

Capitalism is supposed to be an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated for profit; decisions regarding supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments are not made by the government; Profit is distributed to owners who invest in businesses, and wages are paid to workers employed by businesses. The American economy is in no way a free market capitalistic system. It has become a oligarchic consumer capitalist society that is manipulated, in a deliberate and coordinated way, on a very large scale, through mass-marketing techniques, to the advantage of Wall Street and mega-corporations.

When you hear the Wall Street class on CNBC argue against tax increases for the rich, they hark to the fact that small businesses would be hurt most by the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. There are 6 million small businesses in the US, with 90% of them employing less than 20 employees. These are not the rich. The vast majority of these businesses earn less than $1 million per year. There are only about 134,000 people in America who make on average $2.5 million per year. There are another 600,000 people who make on average $760,000 per year. Out of a workforce of 150 million, less than 1 million rake in over $750,000 per year. These are not small businesses. They are the Wall Street elite, corporate CEOs and the privileged classes that control the power in NYC and Washington DC.

The following charts clearly show that perverse incentives in the US financial system have allowed corporate executives to reap ungodly pay packages, while the middle class workers who do the day after day heavy lifting in corporations have been treated like dogs. Considering the S&P 500, which measures the stock returns of the 500 largest companies in the U.S., has returned 0% for the last 12 years, the CEOs of these companies would slightly embarrassed paying themselves 300 times as much as their average workers. Not in the age of mammon. Big time CEOs are rock stars. Outrageous pay packages are a medal of honor in a world where humility and honor don’t exist.

The Depression that currently is engulfing the nation was 30 years in the making. The criminal Wall Street financiers are the modern day John Dilingers. They have mastered the art of stealing from the masses while convincing these same people that they should admire them because they are rich. This is the oddity about Americans as pointed out by Bill Bonner and Lila Rajiva.

“The poor genuinely believe the rich are better than they are. They are smarter and better educated. The poor even support low tax rates for the rich, as long as they have a lurking chance of joining them.” - Mobs, Messiahs and Markets

The truth is that the poor have no chance of joining the the rich. The game is rigged. The poor have admired the rich for decades. But, hard times have arrived. And they are about to get harder. The rich have armed guards to keep the poor at bay. They will need an army of guards before this crisis subsides.

Leonard Cohen sums it up perfectly in his song Everybody Knows:

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

DOJ's elite Public Integrity unit gets new leader - Yahoo! News

2010-08-30T06:50:00.000-05:00

DOJ's elite Public Integrity unit gets new leader - Yahoo! News

MERCENARIES TORTURING MEN AND WOMEN

2010-08-30T00:34:00.003-05:00

How to Run Windows, Mac, and Linux Side by Side and Pain-Free with VirtualBox

2010-08-29T01:26:00.000-05:00

How to Run Windows, Mac, and Linux Side by Side and Pain-Free with VirtualBox

80 Of The Most Useful Mac Tools and Utilities | Mac.AppStorm

2010-08-29T00:59:00.000-05:00

80 Of The Most Useful Mac Tools and Utilities | Mac.AppStorm

Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything - Tony Schwartz - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review

2010-08-29T00:56:00.000-05:00

Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything - Tony Schwartz - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review

Victims Stories - peacepink

2010-08-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

Victims Stories - peacepink

OLBERMANN AND FREE CLINICS IN N.O.

2010-08-27T19:52:00.000-05:00

ACLU: Heat-Beam Device Use In Jail Is`Torture'

2010-08-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

ACLU: Heat-Beam Device Use In Jail Is`Torture'

The billionaire Koch brothers’ war against Obama: newyorker.com

2010-08-23T11:48:00.001-05:00

The billionaire Koch brothers’ war against Obama: newyorker.com

I had been following the Koch brothers & Koch Industries, Koch Foundation, pronounced coke, for a long time. I was glad to see even a puff piece about the family in NY Magazine. In this piece I learned that the father Fred Koch built 15 oil plants in Russia in the early 30's. I also knew he was one of the founders of the John Birch Society. It wasn't a stretch to say that the reason he formed the JBS in 1958 was to compensate for the fact that he supplied Russia with valuable oil infrastructure.
Before the articles came out I was sitting in a restaurant across from Lincoln Center and I noticed that
one of the main buildings at Lincoln Ctr was named after the guy who I'd been writing nasty things about, David Koch. I couldn't believe that this thug had actually weaseled his way into the NY arts... to compensate for any number of things just like dad only on a bigger scale. Depressing as hell.

OUR 1ST COMPUTER LITERATE PRESIDENT WHO ALSO READS

2010-08-20T19:44:00.000-05:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/20/obamas-in-marthas-vineyar_n_689155.html

The Truth About Online Degrees That You Must Be Aware Of

2010-08-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

The Truth About Online Degrees That You Must Be Aware Of

4 Tools for Teaching Kids to Code

2010-08-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

4 Tools for Teaching Kids to Code

DAVID A KOCH TAKING AFTER DADDY FRED KOCH, FOUNDER OF THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY

2010-08-20T11:04:00.003-05:00

I had been following the Koch brothers & Koch Industries, Koch Foundation, pronounced coke, for a long time. I was glad to see even a puff piece about the family in NY Magazine. In this piece I learned that the father Fred Koch built 15 oil plants in Russia in the early 30's. I also knew he was one of the founders of the John Birch Society. It wasn't a stretch to say that the reason he formed the JBS in 1958 was to compensate for the fact that he supplied Russia with valuable oil infrastructure.

Before the articles came out I was sitting in a restaurant across from Lincoln Center and I noticed that the opera house at Lincoln Ctr was named after the guy who I'd been writing nasty things about, David Koch. I couldn't believe that this thug had actually weaseled his way into the NY arts... to compensate for any number of things just like dad only on a bigger scale.
Depressing as hell.