7/27/11
Byung-Chul Han Reminds me A Bit of Charles Sanders Peirce
Byung-Chul Han, Ronald Düker: From pasta to pyrotechnics (25/07/2011) - signandsight: "'We should all,' he demands 'play more and work less. Then we would all produce more!'"
The Tea Party in Congress is a Subversive force and Dangerous to All Americans
Now it's the GOP that is causing the Wall Street jitters
First Read - First Thoughts: Boehner's boxed in: "First Thoughts: Boehner's boxed in"
And with a record of having created no job, the GOP's actions (or inactions) are causing more cash hoarding and suspension of hiring plans.
Which brings me back to my mantra - in the end a deal that is big enough to accommodate Republican cut craziness and Obama fairness is prefereable to a measly solution that is in itself an admission of failure.
Global Online Privacy
The Blissful Ignorance of DeMiint and Other GOP Leaders
Dana Radcliffe: Thoughtless Doubts in Debt Ceiling Debate Could Lead to Disaster: "The blithe confidence of Sen. DeMint and other Republicans who scoff at well-founded apprehensions about the government's looming inability to pay its bills is mystifying. It is astonishing that they seem not to have asked themselves a basic question any responsible leader asks when taking a stand on an urgent issue: 'What if I'm wrong?'"
Blissful for Jim. Not so much for the rest of us.
China looks elsewhere than the US
3quarksdaily: "If China were to buy only half of all outstanding Greek sovereign debt (a bargain at around $220 billion, a fraction of China's dollar assets), it would not only resolve the eurozone crisis and add to Chinese prestige but it would help give Beijing the sort of reserve asset that it needs to diversify its holdings out of dollars."
We have not heard much US China talk lately. I think it may be because the current flap has revealed the depth of our own crisis which is not merely fiscal but social and spiritual. We have a great deal to build on but an equal burden to relieve ourselves of. And that involves all Americans for real.
Global Online Privacy
On the subject of protection from fire there are two logical courses
Actually no one paid this much mind
And turn the parents into pariahs
But give the truth a moment's contemplation
We need more eyes more family selah
Weep. Then Think.
7 children die in Pennsylvania house fire - CNN.com (CNN) -- Seven children died in a fire at a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania while their parents were elsewhere, state police said Wednesday morning. The children -- ages 7 months to 11 years -- died Tuesday night when the fire fully engulfed the Mennonite family's two-story house in Loysville, about 25 miles northwest of Harrisburg, Tom Pinkerton of the state police said.
And we want to give the country over to Bush people?
U.S. likely to lose top rating: economists - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - The United States will lose its top-notch AAA credit rating from at least one major rating agency, according to a Reuters poll that also found wrangling over the debt ceiling has already damaged the economy."
You see George W. Bush lost our credit years ago by charging off everything to the future. And now his followers are wanting to rescue us from the depression Bush caused. This is beyond irony. It is either very funny or a prelude to a disaster we cannot even contemplate.
Global Online Privacy
Tiger Woods explicable fall
Tiger Woods falls out of world top 20 - Yahoo! News
If ever a moralist wanted a field day, the Tiger Woods story would seem an ideal place to play.
What is truly weird is the almost Shakespearean progression of ills that can be traced to temptation.
This is apposite because temptation is the most underrated cause of downfall, even though it was given prominence in Genesis. It is an index of our culture that revenge trumps temptation almost every time in the superficial binary creation of plots.
We will need to move beyond this to get a true grip on both what ails and what saves us.
Boehner is cooking his goose by not facing reality
Vote on Boehner Plan Delayed Amid Opposition - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders were forced on Tuesday night to delay a vote scheduled on their plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, as conservative lawmakers expressed skepticism and Congressional budget officials said the plan did not deliver the promised savings."
The reality seems to be he is not tough enough to face down the flawed Tea Party logic which draws an erroneous parallel between debt and insolvency. That means that ultimately harder heads will probably either prop him up to create a split GOP vote or that the flawed logic will prevail. The only answer to this might be the conviction of a vast majority within the GOP that the party must vote to raise the ceiling regardless. It is hard to see at this point beyond this.
Global Online Privacy
Is this a time when we can have some common sense about terror?
Al Qaeda’s Days Numbered - The Daily Beast: "U.S. counterterrorism officials said Tuesday that al Qaeda may not last much longer, pushed to the brink of collapse by seven years of CIA drone strikes and the death of Osama bin Laden. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared during a recent visit to Afghanistan that “we’re within reach of strategically defeating al Qaeda,” and other senior counterterrorism officials at the CIA have expressed similar views"
It would be exciting to have some common sense about terror. Sadly this is countered by the idea that it is mainly Islamic and that the only way to win is by throwing overwhelming military force against it. (The deaths we and others have suffered, the trillions spent).
Common sense would lead to a smarter, experimental approach which would show terrorists that we are not afraid, not letting them wag us and that they will be defeated over time.
Global Online Privacy
The democratic revolution is inexorable
Killers dictatorial will all be judged one day
Before the face of Abba and pray tell what will they say
"The people stood as one and cried out for their liberty
So all we did was call our goons and take their lives away"
But more and more will come still more till all the people rise
Abba chooses times and places people hear and see
When all is said and all is done
Dictators had best flee
You cannot kill democracy
You cannot kill a dream
That is our Abba's promise
And his most true decree
Protesters press for universal rights
When violence is done by dictators
It's dictators who ought to pay the price
Abba's way is tolerance helpfulness democracy and non-idolatryCould aging set a tone for social revolution?
Agnes the ageing suit - FT.com: "Instead, he argues that every social and economic institution – from transport and housing to education and commerce – must be reinvented, especially if many millions more are to avoid the indignity and expense of a final trip to a nursing home."
Exciting to think that the despised notion of growing old and dying could create a social revolution that would serve all ages. But think again. There are some exceedingly dysfunctional aspects to the society we presently live in, not least ts loss of community, its reification of persons and its massive social and economic polarization.
Global Online Privacy
Breivik and McVeigh White Peas in A Pod
Glenn Greenwald: Why Do We Harass Muslims But Not White, Nordic Males? | World | AlterNet: "The response to the Norway attacks shows that the world 'terrorism' has no meaning -- aside from when it's used to bash Muslims."
Obama does the Tom Petty thing
PETA under fire
Infographic: f**k you, PETA - Digg
When you train your sights on non-profits you find the same fallibility you discover when you examine corporations and government. In all three sectors it comes down to individuals and how power is allocated and used. The Internet enables a closer and more democratic look at all institutions and should result in a more balanced view of human nature and social fallibility.
Global Online Privacy
Duh journalism
Why A New Poll In Ohio Spells Trouble For Obama In 2012 | The New Republic: "That’s why the nascent Obama campaign should be paying careful attention to a Quinnipiac survey of the Buckeye state released this week, which shows the president with weak job approval numbers and an unimpressive lead over Mitt Romney."
I used to work for the NR when Mike Straight edited it and Helen Fuller was managing editor. This is a string of facts about Ohio that ultimately arrives at no conclusion other than that it is too early to tell much about the actual result in November 2012. The most salient fact is that John Kennedy defied the common wisdom in 1960 and Barack Obama has confounded common wisdom every step of the way. But liberals do not really support Obama anymore.
Global Online Privacy
Bi-coastal enlightenment
Brown signs California Dream Act - Topix: "Following through on a campaign promise, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law Monday easing access to privately funded financial aid for undocumented college students."
The pattern seems inexorable. The existence of enlightened governors in New York State and California. Which creates a giant problem if enlightenment manages to escape much of the rest of the country. The answer lies in working very hard to spread an enlightened perspective evenly through the country. This needs to be done in every area.
The Norway massacre has already happened in the US
Norway Massacre: Could It Happen in the U.S? - Topix: "While the United States has witnessed several tragic massacres in his relatively youthful history, it seems that these man-made catastrophes have not been politically-motivated at least in recent years."
Now that the Norway killer is understood to have been only a nominal Christian, he seems more comparable to Timothy McVeigh. This will bump up against a wall of "no comparison" objections. But if you take scope, banal reasoning, common attitude and above all, actual damage, into account, the comparison holds. So the could it happen becomes it already did.
Global Online Privacy
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