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I don't initiate Hangouts, but will attend if invited.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Thank you, Project Gutenberg, for reminding us that today is Oscar Wilde's birthday, and providing a good read from this gentleman, and providing a quote most apt for this year on so many levels...
A
quotation (about quotations...): "Most people are other people. Their
thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their
passions a quotation." (De Profundis, 1905).
Absolutely...almost. Not me, though. I'm not other people--I AM a character. My opinions are strictly my own, based on no single piece of literature or even a handful of pieces of literature.
Oscar, Hippo birdies, two ewes.
Hippo, birdies, two ewes--
Hippo, birdie, deer ewe..............
Hippo, birdies, two ewes!
No, I'm not ignoring the clown circus in Washington DC this evening. It's just that it's not over yet. :D
I've heard Krauthammer say on more than one occasion that historians will never refer to this point in time as the Boehner Administration--it will always be the Obama Administration. Charles, when you have a Speaker that effs up this bad for this long, there's always a first time.
There's been a conservative circus of sorts in the most recent City Commission meeting, about a bird poop ordinance. Get this: a change to a nuisance ordinance was proposed to include wild bird droppings, and that was tabled, but not after considering the following points:
1. it was supposed to force both land owners and rental tenants to clean up volumes of grackle droppings which comes in buckets at certain seasonal times, hoping to keep the business area of downtown clean.
2. to address a downtown business problem, this ordinance affects all areas of the city, all renters, all land owners, therefore it imposes an added regulation on business and it's supposed to be a business-friendly city.
3. All those bird droppings are a health hazard, so the idea is to make the city do it. Bottom line--it was thought to be a good idea to expand government, not shrink it, so that businesses wouldn't be further regulated, which renders business dependent on growth of government. Kinda like the big cities with their pigeon poop?
Cute and a half, huh. lol
Now I hear that the House passed the CR, with Republicans basically 2 to 1 against, and the Speaker keeps his power. Ummmm....WHAT power? That was a big gavel that Pelosi handed over to Boehner on his first day, but Pelosi had more power in her little gavel than Boehner has in his big one. She should have given him a Paul Bunyan sized gavel.
Hey Ratchet-jaw Cruz, I got a little somethin' for ya, via Joe Dolce.
Various news orgs are reporting this Monday that China is calling for de-Americanization of global markets. I remember that, during the 1990s, Wall Street Journal reporting that this was the main reason that the Euro currency was launched, at least where the petroleum trade was concerned. The Eurozone sought to supplant the U.S. Dollar as the "petroleum benchmark" currency.
Tip of the hat to former Rukeyser Elf, Gail Dudack, who was the only economic wonk to see that the numbers didn't add up and eventually got fired in 2000 for persistently being bearish. Numbers that favored economic wonk, Mary Ferrell, should have been bright enough to see but instead went on the more destructive bull bandwagon.
I'm thinking, too, that perhaps I shouldn't have tacked on a previous commentary about the global economy at the bottom of a post about Halloween even though those two topics, at the time, arose on Sunday. The thing deserves its own undivided attention in a single post.
I divulged my political background in the interest of full disclosure regarding that other post, and to that I will add this: I've been a direct stockholder ever since I worked for Illinois Power Co. and do not deal with any brokerage of any sort, nor do I own any 401k accounts, since those were invented subsequent to my employment and direct investments in utilities. There was a day that a customer could buy stock in the utility he/she was a customer of via the company's bank, and that's what I did, in addition to having employee accounts. My portfolio was broadened by a broker who bought only one share on my behalf to open up a direct account for my other investments, but I'm the one doing all the buying, holding, and selling. These accounts are called Dividend Reinvestment Programs (DRPs) and not a whole lot of people these days are familiar with those, with their employers basically shoving their pet 401k programs down their throats.
As you can see, I'm no fan of the 401k. Never was. I will state again that the economic expert that best reflects my views is New York Times' Hedrick Smith.
As you can also see, I've seen China's song/dance before, only it wasn't China's performance. However, now that this is China's new song, it is my considered opinion that every House Republican that not only voted to shut down the government but also changed the House rules to ensure that it stay shut down--that Republican is a de-facto "Manchurian Candidate".
I'm still looking for a store that carries a Doris Kearnes Goodwin costume, actually, but she's clearly not as famous as this chap--you know, the one wearing the fez...
(Tongue is firmly planted in cheek)
There has never been a female timelord lead character and I'm just not built like Romana--and I'm certainly no shoo-in for River Song--so I guess I'll have to go as a zombie again, or the banshee I was last year. Considering the Celtic direction of the Mysterious Lab, I think I'll reprise the banshee. Now, why doesn't Hastings carry The Scarf?
UPDATE:
No Scare on the Square this year, so I think I'll just dress up to walk around to frighten wardsman Tammy Wilson, who claimed all the credit for a Lab creation and will certainly get the credit for killing it. Claims in the newspaper that it MAY be back next year, as it's being "reorganized". It'll have to, without the Lab. Let's see...what to wear...what to wear? Oh, I know. The thing that will scare the snit out of all the Baptists in power 'round here would be an Arab. But I'm a citizen of the planet, and know how a sari is folded, so how about this--sari skirt, pirate blouse, and hijab. For sure some idjit is gonna call me in for terrorism.
Aha--looks like the Lab is going to go through the Nightmare Warehouse again. Fun!
Speaking of which, the Mysterious Lab is running again that exquisite tribute to Trinka, and if you missed it the first time around, now is a good time to catch it again, and includes some appearances by the OKC legend Count Gregore. Trinka Dracul, the Vampire Maid, portrayed by the late Jaemi Young and still mourned. R.I.P.
And Happy Hmong New Year. Unless you're in Tulsa--you might have been one of the 5 that got shot.
On the talking head shows so far, all news around the globe comes to a screeching halt as Topic One, the government shutdown, overrides all else.
Once again I will state my own political stance, which is that of an independent who is liberal leaning and who worked for the Ralph Nader presidential campaign twice. As such, I also had a favorable view of Ron Paul until the rise of his son, with whom I find less that is agreeable, but because of Ron Paul I am registered as Republican and haven't changed that registration--and because only 3 parties are recognized in the State of Oklahoma (Democrat, Republican, Independent) I will not change my registration even though currently, I don't agree with much of what they stand for. Whereas in the State of Oklahoma, Democrats are conservatives too, I have no reason to switch, especially given that only Reps and Dems can vote in Oklahoma's closed primaries, not Independents.
Back when Ron Paul and Ralph Nader got together on the original version of the Tea Party, I was all for that; it has since been hijacked by the Koch brothers, and now I'm firmly against it, especially since Ron Paul has been backing his boy instead of standing on his original principles.
I also have a completely different take on economics than either party, although I'll take this time to point out that the Dow Industrials basically voted at the close of the last trading session by going bullish on news that there was a compromise in the works for opening government back up. It's my view that the Dow is being propped up and is still overvalued in terms of price-to-earnings ratio. after which you may conclude that the market thus announces that it's too government-dependent. Considering how privatized that the military has become, thanks to the same Republicans who want to make government smaller, it's also a conundrum even free-market people can't wriggle out of.
Think about it--when Clinton was president, the nation felt prosperous while the Dow Industrials celebrated breaking through the 8000 mark in trades. Today, we're over 15,000 and we're feeling fragile. I submit it's because, as the Pauls claim, that our currency is being devalued, but I also submit that it's not because of debt but because the rich have been exporting our currency AND taking it out of circulation by holding it in offshore tax shelters, and that's what's making the printing of more money necessary.
They need to start spending their piles and they need to start paying more taxes, at LEAST at the same rate as the rest of us have to. Face it--it's called "currency" because it has no value until it's used in trade, as in, "in circulation". A balance sheet is just a bunch of numbers on paper and just as worthless just sitting there.
A lot of rich folks, seeing the imminent devaluation of currency will buy gold with some of their stash, but guess what--not only is the demand pushing up the price of gold per ounce but so is the lower valuation of the currency. An ounce is still an ounce; currency is what's fluctuating and the good question to ask is, "is the price of gold skyrocketing because of intense demand or because of currency devaluation?" I submit that it's both, and that's a double-whammy. Gold has no value except in terms of currency. An English teacher would call that "recursive definition" or "circular definition". Were it a question, it would be a "begged question". But there's actually a triple-whammy afoot.
Supposing all rich people have an epiphany about the folly of hoarding all at once and start putting all those riches back into circulation? Well, we would have a collapse of currency valuation because of oversupply compared to demand of trade, now, wouldn't we.
And the rich will whine about how it's class war to blame them for the situation we're in both domestically and globally, but truth is that nobody living from paycheck to paycheck can hoard currency--only the rich have done that. Period.
As I've said, the Dow Industrials remain overvalued, but is this because our currency has lost value? One has to wonder. But I submit to you this: regardless of what the value of the currency is, the price-to-earnings ratio would remain the same regardless of currency valuation, and fact remains that it is too high, and pretty much across the Industrials board. Now here's a reminder that the Dow has two other indexes besides Industrials: Transportation and Utilities. Both of which have suffered similar perversions, though, so neither of those are quite the answer either.
Late night Sunday update, on the financial topic:
Watched the White House Chronicle interview of Hedrick Smith regarding his book, "Who Stole The American Dream" and heard him say a lot of stuff I already knew and had been saying (but who listens to me, eh?) like today's financial situation began with Ronald Reagan. I saw what Reagan was doing while he was doing it and thought back THEN that it was all bollocks. Anyway, if his book sounds as good as he did, I recommend that for reading whether you're main thing is finance, politics, or history. For me, it's all three and then some.
Although this blog is tied to Google Plus, a lot of the recent traffic here has been tied to my activities on Facebook, by the looks of it. I'll explain, of course. Blog statistics have a default setting of viewing traffic on a week-by-week basis. The following screenshot is after the Day's traffic was selected, so it's traffic in the past 24 hours.
Over the past few days, there has been an increased activity on Facebook by IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) which invited me to Like a number of its pages, and for the most part I obliged. In the past few days, hits on my blog posts about Iran and Persia went up quite a bit, while my hits from China, mostly directly via Google Plus, declined. I guess my minders consider me to be under control, ha. For now, anyway.
Prior to that, my association with Inca Trail on Facebook seems to have been driving all the traffic to my Peru posts, and when I posted about the Latin y Persia event in OKC, you guessed it--the hits basically doubled, but they also put me under the Chinese radar for the time being. Seeing Brazil lit up a bit is interesting; I've used Portuguese on only one spot on this blog, but in an update of considerable vintage. Interesting. UPDATE: I just reviewed all the new Adds on Google Plus and apparently an Add I overlooked is a Brazilian. Hey, that works. Hello, Brasil! :) Well, I Added back everybody who Added me tonight, so this should be good.
What this blog's statistics will not show: it doesn't identify individuals--the only traffic sources ever shown are hits relayed by stat-counting websites and search engines. It will identify operating systems and countries of origin, but not individuals. The best I can do is notice patterns like the ones described above. Due to the nature of countries that do not permit unscreened access by their citizens to the Internet, I fully understand the necessity of the use of proxy servers and IP masking. As a former admin of forum boards, and because of interaction with whom I refer to as "my pet Russian" (hi, gri! ^_^), I was usually laxer than other admins regarding the wanton banishment of IPs, specifically or in sets, and would not use Project Honeypot boardware.
Basically, even if I could see your IP, I wouldn't trust it as being the genuine article even if I did a lookup on it. But I can't see your IP, rest assured of that. The traffic to this blog does indeed go through SEO entities first, and they're not talking to me.
After I posted the above, I looked at the stats again, same setting, and it looks like this:
4 hits on this post already. That most likely would be Google Plus people online now, cuz that's how fast that worked. Oh--and I already selected the "do not track myself" option, so I know it's not me.
Also--I'm content to know that even with the number of my Islamic readers has increased, no further challenges to my posting about Islamic law have been proffered. It stands with presumed approval.
And speaking of other questionable people I Like on Facebook, there's the inimitable Arnie Coro of Radio Havana. He's a freakin' junkyard genius who IS Radio Havana. I don't care how your politics run regarding Cuba, or what you think of Cuban jamming ops, or the finger he usually pokes into the eye of the HFCC, but Arnie is a one-of-a-kind technological treasure. Luvz ya, Arnie! (noteworthy material 6 minutes in...)
I was going to post some stuff about the latest developments in Egypt, but now weird stuff is coming down the pike about U.S. aid to Egypt being suspended, which CNN first reported...then officialdom (in the form ofNSC spokesperson Caitlin Hayden) denied it...via Twitter, @robsatloff says an official said it's not true...and now CBS is reporting that it's suspended, followed closely by the Guardian.
Don't really know what to tell y'all at this time except that it's confusing, at best. People interested in Egypt, #arabspring, Libya et al, just watch this space for updates. It's bound to get sorted out eventually. I think. Maybe. Ummm...
Well, it's Wednesday now and not even NHK World wants to report on this aspect today. Still keeping my eyeballs and my earballs peeled for anything definite.
NHK World *did* mention the effect on ASEAN that the absence of Obama had, especially with regard to the disputes in the south China Sea--Congress, having crippled the power of the presidency to assure much of anything, has also crippled U.S. power in the Pacific region. As it is with the unreliability in economics, Congress has become unreliable in giving Pacific allies assurances of anything predictable and now U.S. currency as a global benchmark has come into question, not only for the ASEAN trade group but in the Eurozone and, quite frankly, everywhere else on this planet.
Here it is, late Wednesday, and not even the New York Times is clear on whether the yea or nay is definite. It refers only to PLANNED cuts. USA Today reports that the administration WILL cut but not eliminate aid to Egypt. WaPo says that the admin is expected to announce cuts. So...go figure. Senator Patrick Leahy had THIS to say about that. And the Beeb is more definite.
All I can do is reiterate what I've said before--in Egypt, there are no clean hands. None. But while the Egyptian military have been decried by the deposed party, it's the 3-ish million people who turned out in record-breaking number that gave the military its perceived mandate. Whereas the Muslim Brotherhood has turned brutal, so has the military, but it's noticeable that Egyptians still don't want military rule even as it looks to Turkey as a role model. The surgical approach that the administration is employing is actually a prudent one, under the circumstances. And regarding what I said before, and now, Ahram Online illustrates the point rather well, IMHO.
FINALLY! Reuters with some specifics! And how accurate should the scalpel be for the surgery? A Brookings Institute Fellow suggests this:
It's October, the month for ghosts and haunting pasts; the ghost of Bonnie Ronnie has now rendered, on Capitol Hill, a haunted House in the form of piecemeal government funding bills. Remember Reagan's call for a line-item veto power? Voila, but it originates in the House, in its avoidance of any sort of omnibus bill under threat of both the Senate and a presidential veto.
Interesting. But it's because Congress, not the President, is the appropriate body for engendering the equivalent of a line-item veto, the stalemate has resulted in one aspect of Congress that is functioning properly.
Ted Cruz on State of the Union was the most interesting--he's walked back a bit, but with regard to the question of how is it that this junior member has apparently taken leadership position, I proffer the observation that he's the House member that has the best grasp on the standoff position on his side and is thereby the most able to articulate its basis. But that also makes him the only person who most thinks it's a good idea.
There's that.
And there's the matter of Netanyahu getting overshadowed by congressional shenanigans while he still pleads for the routing of all nuclear activity in Iran, down to essentially saying "let them use their oil! No nuke power!"...which doesn't play well with the global warming crowd, I'm sure. A former Iranian minister appeared on a talking head show saying that Netanyahu was saying this sort of thing for decades, that Iran was a few months away from an actual atomic bomb, and this was 20 or so years ago.
Let me say this about that: look to see which side Iranian dissidents agree with. It's true that Netanyahu has been a Johnny One Note for too long to have any credibility, but the Iranians I'm familiar with don't trust the current Iranian government either.
There's that.
As you might have guessed, the above posting was written in the morning, pretty much right after the talking head shows had aired. Well, something significant transpired this afternoon worth mentioning, too, and that is a previously advertised appearance of Jesse Jackson at the University Place Christian Church, 2107 E. Broadway in Enid, an address I recognize as an election polling place. Been there twice covering 2 presidential elections for HuffPo via the Off The Bus project.
Topic: dialogues about race.
If you're a regular reader of this blog, you already know that's a topic I care about, so yeah--I went. Only Jackson didn't show. A pastor named George Young conducted the proceedings instead, making mention of rubbing elbows with Cornell West...I guess to make up for the fact that he wasn't Jesse Jackson.
What mattered most, though, were the things that were said in this discussion, and you betcha I got the pics and vids to share of the significant points. On the way home, it occurred to me that the people who showed up were the choir that George was preaching to, so to speak, although one doesn't preach in a dialogue...the people who really should be engaged in such a national dialogue as this one should be are the people who wouldn't go and/or won't talk about it when there's an opportunity to, either because they think they know it all already and God put them on this earth to dispense to elite audiences, or they don't think it's important enough to even discuss. Or both.
Anyway, when the media gets processed, I'll be posting it here later, and I'll post it because I think it's important to post it to anybody else willing to listen. We already know that part of bigotry is the inability to listen or talk about it.
Part of a handout package was the following booklet containing book recommendations, one of which carries the same title as the booklet...
Published by Pilgrim Press, OH.
The list of books it recommends:
All God's Children: A Biblical Critique of Racism by Steven L. McKenzie
Black Grief and Soul Therapy by Nicholas C. Cooper-Lewter, Ph.D
Breaking Barriers: An African American Family & the Methodist Story by Angella Current
Building Bridges: A Handbook for Cross-cultural Ministry by Kathryn Choy-Wong
Building King's Beloved Community: Foundations for Pastoral Care and Counseling with the Oppressed by Donald M. Chinula
The Color of Faith: Building Community in a Multiracial Society by Fumitaka Matsuoka
Coming Together: The Bible's Message in an Age of Diversity by Curtiss Paul DeYoung
Dismantling Privilege: An Ethics of Accountability by Mary Elizabeth Hobgood
Dismantling Racism: The Continuing Challenge to White America by Joseph Barndt
Ending Racism in the Church --Susan E. Davies and Sister Paul Teresa Hennessee, S. A., editors
Fulfilling the Dream: Confronting the Challenge of Racism by Ronice Branding
Inclusion: Making Room for Grace by Eric H. F. Law
Liberating Visions by Robert M. Franklin
King Among the Theologians by Noel Leo Erskine
Many Cultures, One in Christ from the Covenant Bible Studies series
The Measure of a Man by Martin Luther King Jr.
Moving Mountains: The Principles and Purposes of Leon Sullivan by Leon Sullivan
O Lord, Move This Mountain: Racism and Christian Ethics by E. Hammond Oglesby
One Aryan Nation Under God: Exposing the New Racial Extremists by Jerome Walters
Police/Community Dialogue: Study Guide by Una Ratmeyer
Preaching Justice: Ethnic and Cultural Perspectives --Christine Marie Smith, editor
Reconciliation: Our Greatest Challenge--Our Only Hope by Curtiss Paul DeYoung
Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu by Michael Battle
Relational Refugees: Alienation and Reincorporation in African American Churches and Communities by Edward P. Wimberly
Roots of Resistance: The Nonviolent Ethic of Martin Luther King Jr. by William D. Watley
Say It Loud: Middle-Class lacks Talk about Racism and What to Do about It by Annie S. Barnes
Search for the Beloved Community: The Thinking of Martin Luther King Jr. by Kenneth L. Smith and Ira G. Zepp Jr.
Shattering the Myth of Race: Genetic Realities and Biblical Truths by Dave Unander, Ph.D.
Show No Partiality from the Faith Crossings series
Soul among Lions: Musings of a Bootleg Preacher by Will D. Campbell
Strength to Love by Martin Luther King Jr.
There is a Balm in Gilead: The Cultural Roots of Martin Luther King Jr. by Lewis V. Baldwin
To Make the Wounded Whole: The Cultural Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by Lewis V. Baldwin
Uncovering Racism from the Covenant Bible Studies series
The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community by Eric H. F. Law
Two books for the kids:
Children Together: Teaching Girls and Boys to Value Themselves and Each Other by Kathryn Goering Reid and Ken Hawkley
Hand in Hand: Helping Children Celebrate Diversity by Ella Kikuno Campbell et al
Before beginning discussions, establishment of the meaning of terminology was done:
I know it's odd for an atheist to be posting stuff with such religious overtones, but this was all part of the program--can't separate that out. Now--whitefolk who are still scratching their heads over the Department of Justice's walking back of federal drug charges because of sentencing disparities, scratch your heads no more. Here's the explanation:
The next clip makes a point about prejudice with power, but not before a point was made about how careful blackfolk have to be about what they say. There is another clip that I will post later that addresses this, too, so before I present that, keep in mind this first bit and keep in mind how much harder it was for blacks to manage to say the right thing that wouldn't put them at risk for life/limb in the early 1900s.
I'll be bringing up (yet again) the bugbear regarding how Bert Williams' genius continually gets shoved under a rug while Mark Twain and Will Rogers get all the credit for wordsmithing in that era. Neither Twain nor Rogers had to deal with what Williams had to, on pain of possible death, and it's part of the reason why I think he's a genius for becoming the success that he was as he kept dancing on the edge of that particular cliff at the turn of the last century, nevermind a teen in a hoodie in TODAY's age, losing his life for just looking wrong with Skittles and tea...
....now, then--I'm typing in your name for your attention to the next clip, Ilene, because of the size and the scope of the mistake you made in passing off Bert Williams as nothing more than a mere minstrel. Listen to this man, and keep in mind he's talking about Memphis TN in the 1960s and not a nation that had just barely put Reconstruction in its rear view mirror when Williams was mouthing off in the Follies.
.
One form of prejudice is stereotyping, and when it comes to Bert Williams, certain "historians" (and I use that term loosely) are prejudiced in spades, so to speak. Such "experts"won't listen to facts at all. So listen to this man, not me, if that's how you are. Facts remain facts regardless of the source.
As for me, I know better when it comes to Bert Williams--as I've said before, he was a genius. And so is Roc even though he'll go down in the annals of history as a pugilist, not an outstanding TV dramatist. May he never suffer the same fate by a future scholar that Bert Williams has suffered by the hands of experts though they above all should know better.
It's the fact that black history isn't pretty that makes what Bert Williams did, even as a minstrel, even in the Follies, that shows his genius. And it's what makes any effort to pretty it up disingenuous. This is the kind of stuff that's too important to play that kind of game with. 12 Years a Slave (movie)
