Well, I guess there isn’t much to tell. Now that I’ve gotten a good night’s sleep and am back from work this afternoon, my mind has settled down and the shock is wearing off. This is nothing new, even if it has been a long time since she last tried pulling a stunt like this. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for March, 2009
Brain-numb & Exhausted
What a crazy fucking weekend.
Documentary of the Night
My books accompany me while dining out, but when staying in, my routine has become to watch a documentary after fixing a home-cooked meal. Tonight’s film was “King: Man of Peace in a Time of War“, which included Martin Luther King Jr.’s exclusive television appearance and interviews on people’s reactions to the Civil Rights Movement, ending with thoughts on “progress.”
This isn’t my favorite documentary as it appears hastily put together and doesn’t delve deeply into these subjects, serving more as a teaser to pique the audience’s curiosity presumably in hopes that people will take the initiative to learn more for themselves. It would’ve been nice had further reading material been recommended or organizations mentioned (though I don’t suppose the filmmakers are obligated). Instead it offers a touch-and-go treatment of his life and teachings, plus commentary from Jesse Jackson ( 
) and Colin Powell.
But who cares? It was worthwhile viewing on this easy Monday night.
Last night’s movie over dinner with a friend was “Run Lola Run“, a 1998 German film directed by Tom Tykwer that’s been in my movie collection for a number of years.
Books on Order
Last night I ordered the following books from half.com:
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
All new to me, never before read. Once I finish up Jared Diamond’s “Collapse” I’d like to switch over to fiction for a spell.
“The Future of Food”
A friend stopped by this week to watch this amazing documentary. Highly recommended!
If you’re signed up with Netflix, you can watch it online there. For everyone else, you can watch it in its entirety free at SnagFilms.com. You’ll be glad you did so.
It tells of some of the evils of Monsanto relating to genetic modification of food crops and them patenting everything under the sun. It tells how this affects small farmers and the potential consequences of “suicide-gene” technology being introduced into natural botanical settings (as is, scarily enough, already being tested for). It’s not a hippie documentary; it’s commentary from people involved in and/or affected by what amounts to an emerging global food monopoly. It’s absolutely worth knowing about, folks.
I was pissed at Monsanto long before watching this documentary for various reasons (their products being used to spray Colombia in our U.S. “war on drugs” and in Vietnam as Agent Orange, their unfair patenting scheme, their corrupting financial imposition on universities to sway research in their favor, etc.), but this just set me sizzling. Fuck Monsanto! It takes a special kind of evil to provoke moral outrage from the religious and non-religious alike. If this agnostic has ever seen or heard of evil on this planet, Monsanto takes the fucking cake. It damn near renders me speechless.
So, here’s the film synopsis from The Future of Food website:
There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America — a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat.
THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.
From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed by the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply.
Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, THE FUTURE OF FOOD examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world’s food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today.
Natural News highly recommends this documentary as well, along with Cinema de Merde (click here to read their detailed review and synopsis, which is cool all unto itself).
Now, seriously, go watch this film.
Gourmet Cheese Sandwich
Good god a-mighty my cheese sandwich experiment turned out a success! 
Oh, this wasn’t just your typical grilled cheese sandwich but the creation of a new sandwich altogether, using ciabatta rolls and various cheeses and herbs. Read the rest of this entry »
Solow Growth Model
This is what I mean about economics being too damned confusing. And this and this. People shouldn’t have to be experts in finance, economics, and accounting in order to make sense of our economy. Ugh.
This typed lecture tries to simplify the introduction to the Solow-Swan Growth Model, but it’s still speaking Greek to me. I get the gist that it’s intended to predict and analyze economic growth but am not clear on what use it is to me. It appears to demonstrate that infinite economic and population growth aren’t realistic assumptions (agreed), though apparently this model serves as a convenient base from which to start the analysis (so says the author).
Relevant data produced by this model’s functions are welcome, but there’s no way I’ll get a firm grasp on its inner workings and intricate details anytime soon.
March’s Economic Considerations
Because I said I’d look into it, I’m about to start reading about the Solow-Swan Neoclassical Growth Model. Be warned of my ignorance on economic matters (there’s a reason I only lasted one semester as a Finance major 
). If people like me were intended to understand that stuff, it wouldn’t be so damned complicated (thus the root of my disgruntlement). But I do try to understand that stuff, reading up on it from time to time.
Having a dad and brother involved in those sorts of fields means it’s discussed in emails, and I actually received one earlier this week where he had written about Savings & Loans, the financial bailouts, and mark-to-market. Much of it went completely over my head. Matt Taibbi’s article in Rolling Stone helped break it down some, but the financial sector’s jargon and practices largely remain a mystery to me. Hell, I can’t even figure out how interest is compounded on my credit cards and am willing to bet plenty of others share this financial ignorance. It’s too damned difficult to be sensible, with veiled fictions and academic theories woven into our reality, distorting important truths (like the value of our money) while encouraging usury-gone-wild. It’s easy to see how corruption seeped in through the many loopholes shielded by the complexities of its systems and markets. It sure blows my mind.
This may make me sound very anti-global and unhip, but I believe that in order for a citizenry to control its government and economy, they must first be able to understand them. Where have our fundamental principles gone, and why aren’t they being applied to and within our government, businesses, and economic practices? Why are we trying to save a corrupted system? Why do these big businesses deserve our tax dollars when they already charge us for their services and products? We are still talking about resuscitating that which, on one hand, gave our nation prosperity and tremendous advancements, but on the other is now robbing us and siphoning money to foreign nations’ markets, shrugging it off as just business-as-usual in a global environment.
But I don’t think we get that these companies don’t belong to us. In fact, they don’t even belong to the U.S. They are global now. They simply belong to earth. That’s a huge advantage in that if we Americans don’t want to play ball their way, they can always threaten to leave (and have). That’s why we’re paying them, because we think we need their jobs and to accept their rules of engagement to play ball. Because they can move to China, India, Mexico, Great Britain, etc. But they barely contribute tax-wise to our economy, especially when there are tax incentives to moving their headquarters elsewhere in the world; yet they still impose their will on elected politicians to drain the public wealth. Do you see the power differential here? That’s what I mean when I say this system is unsustainable – because it will screw us in the end. It has no incentive not to, thinking only of profits for their executives and major shareholders, unencumbered by ethical considerations unless required by regulators. But how do we regulate multinational businesses?
I may not understand economics very well, but I do see that ethics seriously need to be factored in. And now it appears we’re running out of time. But what can one person do? What would it take?
Then my mind wanders over to China. Have you heard that China has surpassed Japan in holding the highest number of U.S. Treasury securities? Yeah, I only found out this week, though it doesn’t surprise me. The U.S. Treasury’s website on March 16th posted the January 2009 numbers on foreign-held bonds:
China – $739.6 BILLION
Japan – $634.8 billion
Oil Exporters (moved up from the 4 spot to 3rd since I last checked) – $186.3 billion
(Oil exporters, according to their site, include Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria.)
Okay, now notice the major jump in numbers. The United Kingdom, which used to be in the 3 spot last I knew, now 5th, holds $124.2 billion. That’s 16% of China’s holdings.
Some other notable nations:
Caribbean Banking Centers (include Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles and Panama; in 4th spot) – $176.6 billion
Brazil – $133.5 billion
Russia – $119.6 billion
Israel – (only) $16.9 billion
Of the grand total of over $3 Trillion, China and Japan comprise 45%, with China holding 24% alone. Shouldn’t this concern us Americans? Is this really just “business-as-usual”? What stops China or Japan or any other nation from dumping these securities, and what impact might this realistically have on our economic way of life? We tax payers don’t have the money to pony up thanks to freely handing over so much to major corporations, so what other collateral is used for this sort of collection? And if one of the “big dog” nations sells off a substantial chunk, won’t that likely trigger a cascade in dumping security holdings, with no country wishing to wind up holding worthless securities? At least this is what I assume since isn’t that how it works with our stock market? If Warren Buffet breathes in a stock’s direction, the numbers change because so many people put faith in his recommendations. Will China’s market wield that sort of power in this new global system?
And, I wonder, what is China’s relationship with Japan? Is it adversarial or cooperative?
With these sorts of things in mind, I’ll get on to looking up info on the Solow Growth Model now.
In honor of the minions…
Hehe. I dig this song by Daft Punk:
Work it, Make it, Do it, Makes us…
Asshole Economy
Just finished reading an article in the Rolling Stone magazine written by Matt Taibbi on March 19, 2009. Totally worth reading in its entirety. An introductory excerpt follows:
The Big Takeover
The global economic crisis isn’t about money – it’s about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution
It’s over — we’re officially, royally fucked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock, which is what happened as of a few weeks ago, when the buffoons who have been running things in this country finally went one step too far. It happened when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was forced to admit that he was once again going to have to stuff billions of taxpayer dollars into a dying insurance giant called AIG, itself a profound symbol of our national decline — a corporation that got rich insuring the concrete and steel of American industry in the country’s heyday, only to destroy itself chasing phantom fortunes at the Wall Street card tables, like a dissolute nobleman gambling away the family estate in the waning days of the British Empire.
The latest bailout came as AIG admitted to having just posted the largest quarterly loss in American corporate history — some $61.7 billion. In the final three months of last year, the company lost more than $27 million every hour. That’s $465,000 a minute, a yearly income for a median American household every six seconds, roughly $7,750 a second. And all this happened at the end of eight straight years that America devoted to frantically chasing the shadow of a terrorist threat to no avail, eight years spent stopping every citizen at every airport to search every purse, bag, crotch and briefcase for juice boxes and explosive tubes of toothpaste. Yet in the end, our government had no mechanism for searching the balance sheets of companies that held life-or-death power over our society and was unable to spot holes in the national economy the size of Libya (whose entire GDP last year was smaller than AIG’s 2008 losses). Read the rest of this entry »
Saturday Activism
This afternoon I went out to volunteer with the Quaker peace-building organization (one I’ve been affiliated with since August ‘08), walking inside of a shopping area holding banners protesting the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and handing out leaflets (only when requested) telling of the human costs involved for both Americans and Iraqis, as well as the economic costs. We made it an hour before the security guards asked us to leave, which I consider a relative success. The security officer was a gentleman who agreed with our mission, so he let us walk until the younger security officers decided to shut us down. Made a lot of eye contact, received a few smiles, lots more folks averted their eyes away, but either way we’re letting it be known that opposition does exist and will live on. Read the rest of this entry »
“Economy is killing people”
Russia Today / Feb. 2009
“The U.S. Democratic-controlled Senate has passed an economic recovery plan proposed by President Barack Obama. $US 838 billion have been earmarked to help America’s ailing economy. However, many Republicans remain opposed to the plan.”
Corrupt, yes.
Grandkids not even here will have to pay for this debt… hmm… probably. And what would that make them? Once upon a time not all that long ago, they would’ve been forced into indentured servitude by those they “owed.”
“Worst economic collapse ever”
Russia Today / Feb. 2009
“In 2009 we’re going to see the worst economic collapse ever, the Greatest Depression, says Gerald Celente, U.S. trend forecaster. He believes it’s going to be very violent in the U.S., including there being a tax revolt.”
Only time will tell how accurate his predictions are, though my guess is that 2010-2012 is when the bottom will slide out from under us. Things seem to move more slowly in real-time, though indeed plenty demonstrate how everything’s been speeding up, over the last 2 decades in particular.
“By their deeds ye shall know them…”
Newsvine
There’s always time for Pink Floyd
March 22, 2009 at 2:18 pm · Filed under On Music, Film and FolkArt, Poetry & Commentary ·Tagged music, Pink Floyd, videos
This video is likely posted elsewhere on the blog, but I love it so much that risking a repeat is worth it:
“Money”
“Welcome To The Machine”
My, how time is accelerating…so much has changed these last few decades, for better or worse.
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