Productivity Continues To Rise, Wages Continue To Fall

The New York Times reported that wages have fallen to their lowest point relative to productivity since they began taking data in 1947. But P.Bush, always the delusional optimist (which is nicer than calling him an outright liar) stated recently that "Things are good for the American Worker." A NYTimes Editorial said that comment was "preposterous".

My job review's coming up soon. Somehow I bet my boss will try to sell me on the idea that, for the fifth year in a row, I don't need a raise that keeps pace with inflation. Instead I get a 5yr pin, a company party, and the assurance that I should be so lucky to have a job in this economy.. Think of all those poor auto workers. Meanwhile, a large deposit is made somewhere in the Cayman Islands.....


Toil and Toil Til You Burst a Bubble
in your stress-addled brain, that's what you'll get for your trouble.

Random Revolutionary Thoughts

Business Entitlements Are Costing Michigan Too Much

My Republican-controlled state legislature (with the help of that old-school fat cat Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson) decided to do an end-run around our Democratic governor and repealed the state's Single Business Tax (SBT) last week. You see, the Governor vowed to veto the bill unless there was a viable plan to replace the $2,000,000,000 in state revenue it produced -especially at a time when our state's economy is suffering from corporate outsourcing and auto-related factory closures (there's no such thing as patriotism when it comes to your profit, eh boys?). It's common sense right? Just like a real person wouldn't quit their job unless they had another one lined up first, or at least was operating at a comfortable surplus. It's the RESPONSIBLE thing to do. But it's not the Repubican thing to do.

Our Fearless Leader (Blustering, Bumbling, Blundering Bush) has shown our state Republicans (by example) that just because you don't have a viable plan for the future doesn't mean you can't charge ahead and spend as much as you like - especially if YOU ALREADY GOT YOURS. It seems to be the Republicans job to dump as much of the tax burden on the working class as possible, then wait for a Democratic politician to come along and clean up the scattered debris of failed Republican economic policies - like the disaster left by another old-school fat cat, Governor John Engler. Businesses now feel ENTITLED to massive tax breaks to stay in or come to any particular state- regardless of how much or how many of that state's resources they use while pursuing a profit. They just pass the tax burden onto the little guy. Somehow, I doubt it will be any different this time.

Someday soon, without a living wage, without any health-care, without overtime, a pension, or a single pot to piss in - we'll be coming to your gated communities by the busload and knocking on your mahogany & leaded glass doors to collect our share of your tax-free windfalls. When we do, you'd better hope the local police department got their millage increase.

The Hunting Of The President

I just got done watching The Hunting of The President on DVD. It's a documentary that tells the story of the six-year, $70,000,000 debacle that started as a alleged real estate malfeasance (for which the Clintons were completely exonerated) and ended in several friends being abused and/or jailed by the special prosecutor for what would ultimately prove to be a failed attempt to impeach President Clinton for lying about a extramarital affair - a subject for his religious or marriage counselor perhaps, but hardly worth the time, money and resources of the U.S. taxpayers - however salacious their appetites.

My quick review is that the movie serves as an fairly thorough account of the dirty tricks and the dirty players involved in the "vast right-wing conspiracy" (which proves to be pretty much just as the First Lady alleged). It focuses mostly on whitewater, the Arkansas connections and Susan McDougal - who chose two years in jail over lying for the so-called independent council. The producers would have done well, however, to avoid the menacing soundtrack that served as a backdrop throughout most of the film because it only cheapens the seriousness of the subject matter - the abuse of power by, not The President, but the right-wing politicos who used every dirty trick they could purchase with your hard-earned tax dollars to defame him.

But the real cream of this DVD is not so much the film itself (though it serves the story well) but the comments of President Bill Clinton himself in the special features, shot on stage at the film's debut. It made me realize what a truly brilliant man and gifted speaker Bill Clinton is, and by contrast what an empty vessel and dim-witted tool we have in the White House now.

In his thought provoking and historically contextualized comments, Clinton transcended even my unabashed cynicism and gave me hope for our country when I thought there could be none. He reminded me that, however badly I might want revenge for the bullshit the neo-cons and Federalist Society demons have put us through, that we're not them and it does nothing to serve the greater good of our country. Eventually, and despite them, we'll forge ahead and make progress. History demands it.

Clinton is way smarter than I ever gave him credit for while he was president - and boy do I miss him now. We should all miss him now. Despite his very banal and human failings, he's truly a fair and decent man and history will undoubtedly vindicate him. This film is a good start.

Think I'm Nuts? I'm In Good Company...

Read The Constitution In Crisis; Final Investigative Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff. Introduction by one of my congressional homeboys, a proud member of former President Nixon's enemies list. He calls it the "Minority Report" - how appropriate, culturally speaking.

Neo-Con Fasci-Nation

I'm constantly amazed at how different our country is from the one I learned about in school. Everything I was raised to believe about the Good 'Ole USA has been turned on its head.

• I was raised to believe that if you worked hard and obeyed the rules, you would never be homeless or hungry in America.
  
• I was raised to believe that a "pension fund" was a binding contractual obligation created to help a dedicated and loyal employee retire after years of hard work.
  
• I was raised to believe in "overtime" and the 40-hour work week- and remember the courageous working-class Americans who fought and sacrificed to secure those rights for us.
  
• I was raised to believe that taxes were meant to "promote the general welfare" as well as provide for the uncommonly huge defense budget.
  
• I was raised to believe you should pay your bills on time and avoid burying yourself in mountains of debt.
  
• I was raised to believe that the U.S. was good and righteous and promoted equality and fair play both here and abroad.
  
• I was raised to believe that the tyranny of the majority couldn't happen in America because the built-in checks and balances in our constitutional democracy wouldn't allow it.
  
• I was raised to believe in the Bill Of Rights.
  
• I was raised to believe that science was apolitical.
  
• I was raised to believe there were good reasons our founders emphasized the seperation of church and state.
  
• I was raised to believe a "free and unfettered press" was an integral part of keeping a constitutional democracy healthy.
  
• I was raised to belive that our government was created "of the people, by the people and for the people".
  
• I was raised to believe no American was above or beyond the law, not even The President of The United States.
  
• I was raised to believe cheaters could never be winners.
  
  

Thanks to the shameless governance of extremist neo-cons who have been ruining the U.S. for the past six and a half years, I now realize my elementary and naive illusions about America were completely and utterly false.

I hold this truth to be self-evident: that it's every man, woman and child for himself in America - the rules be damned.

Riffing On The Times 7-21-06

As always, the heads are taken directly from NYTimes Online while the sub-heads are entirely made-up.


From Carnage in Lebanon, a Concession - Israel Agrees to Lie to Secretary Of State Condo-lease-a Rice if she agrees get on a plane headed back to the U.S.

A Night of Death and Terror for Lebanese Villagers - Courtesy of Secretary of State Condo-lease-a Rice's Imaginary 48 Hour Cease Fire

U.S. Puts Onus on Employers of Immigrants - Govt. To Business: If you want cheap labor you can abuse with impunity, you'll have to go to the trailer parks and inner cities just like everybody else.

Israel Suspending Lebanon Air Raids After Dozens Die - Just kidding, they're going to keep bombing the shit out of women, children, old folks and those meddlesome UN peacekeepers in hopes of hitting a "terrorist".

A Small Charity Takes the Reins in Fighting a Neglected Disease - Discarded, unprofitable "cure" saved from pharmaceutical trash bin by humans who are actually concerned with the well being of other humans without requiring an obscene profit. Though increasingly rare, they do still exist.

Leftist Plans Sit-Ins to Challenge Mexico Vote - Mexicans show Americans how to behave when your election has been stolen by
right wing extremists with the help of an American company (i.e. ChoicePoint).

**** Learn More About ChoicePoint****


Passing Down the Legacy of Conservatism - Though beer bongs, ass-paddling and hate crimes are favored among young Republicans, mysoginism, racism and jingoism are preferred by elders. All, however, belive in their divine right to loot the U.S. treasury to fund their own private interests.

Cute, Stinky and Beached, Seals Cause a Squabble - Navy elite force looking for Lebanese "beachfront" found sweaty and confused on California shoreline. Leader overheard cursing "that Goddamn Rumsfeld has done it to us again!"

Good Times In Bizzarro World

So let me get this straight: It's not okay to do research on discarded human embryos to find cures to diseases that afflict actual human beings the world over, but it's okay to let your good frat buddy (let's call him Lahaim) bomb the shit out of innocent men, woman and children in hopes that he might kill his sworn enemy in the process?

Hey, remember back in fascist school when Lahaim drove a bulldozer over that little white American girl who tried to show the Palestinians how to stage a peaceful protest in Gaza? Now what was her name? Rachel something, wasn't it? What a hoot. I bet she never expected that from a close ally of the United States! Didn't someone get pictures of the whole thing? Yeah, I think the Palestinians have pictures too. Boy, Lahaim showed her who's boss, eh?. We're going to put that one on the Republicans Party's Top Ten Ways To Dispose of A Liberal.

(excuse me while I vomit)

Learn More About Rachael Corrie's Murder by the IDF at www.rachelcorrie.org/news.htm

Living in early 21st Century America is like being trapped in Bizzarro World with your alcoholic father.

The Opressed Are Now The Opressors

I think the Jews might have caught some kind of evil virus in Germany back in the 40's. I don't know anytthing else that might explain their capacity for killing.

And the stong shall continue to subjugate the weak.

Princess Behemoth Gets Tipsy

Good GOD! I've never seen anything on the ocean as big as the Princess Cruise ship that tipped when its rudder malfunctioned. Are they sure it didn't tip because it's the size of an office building? Maybe it was due to all the fat-cats sitting pretty in the penthouse.

Sharpen Your Fork

I just got done watching Democrats on CSPAN show me how for the past six years I've been financing tax cuts for people who make ten times what I make, and I still only owe a measly $28,000 to pay my share of the runaway national debt. Oh, and my wife owes $28,000 as well. And my kid too. Boy the Republicans can really stick it to the working class when they control all three branches of government, eh? So much for fiscal conservatism.

So while I continue to whine from my computer, the'yre looting my social security, energy and healthcare costs are skyrocketiing and our folly in the Middle East continues to add exponentially to our debt. With all that going on, I wonder how I'm going to survive America in my golden years.

I guess I'll just have to sharpen my fork and EAT THE RICH.

With Overwhelming Force, Israel Bombs Lebanon Into the Stone Age

I'm having a bit of trouble believing that Israel's massive bombing of Lebanon has anything to do with two kidnapped soldiers. This seems very much like a pre-planned devastation of the entire country - as evidenced by Israel's bombing of a Lebanese army base and other actions taken far from Sothern Lebanon. It will take decades to re-build Lebanon. Maybe that's their plan - if the Lebanese are busy rebuilding, they'll be less likely to cause Israel trouble.

But Israel has gone much farther than anyone expected. Are they trying to elicit a response from Syria and Iran? Or are they just causing as much damage to their enemies as they can before the world speaks up.

What no one in the major media is asking is, how many times did the Israelis violate the so-called Blue Line in the past ten years? Why do the Israelis have so many Palestinians and Lebanese prisoners? And why was a prisoner swap ok in the recent past but now prompts the overwhelming devastation of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon?

I guess if I want to be a good American I'm not supposed to ask those questions, but there it is.

The "Shit" Heard 'Round The World

CNN is treating the president's "shit" like it was made of gold. The expletive was caught when the president was having what he thought was a relatively private conversation with the British Prime Minister at a G8 luncheon (or was it dinner - who gives a "shit").

Now, I'm no friend of the president, but the last time I checked it was just plain rude to eavesdrop on someone's conversation - and then to publicize said conversation around the world and treat it like an exclusive is just plain juvenile.

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT Syria needs to tell Hizbollah to knock that SHIT off!

Will that get me on CNN too? What if I said "fuck"?

Sometimes "the media" is just as stupid as "they" say it is.

CNN going to hell

Glenn Beck is the worst thing to happen to CNN since.....since........Ok, he's the worst thing to ever happen to CNN. It's such a shameless grab for the FOX news market it makes me sad for journalism.

Then you have a top-ten list given by some chick I've never see before (Melissa Long is her name, I've since learned), interrupting Paula Zahn's show with more Celebrity Non News (like the "Friend's Reunion Show").

Yeah, I know. I swore-off CNN months ago - but I want to watch the world unravel in real time so I'll have to settle for the best of the worst.

God I wish PBS had more resources.

Sunnis Now Want Americans To Stay... For Coming War?

The New York Times has reported that Iraqi Sunnis now want American troops to stay to protect them from militant Shiites who've been hunting them down in recent weeks. This is a major change in attitude by the Sunnis who up until recently called for the Americans to leave. Coupled with recent events in Lebanon and Gaza, and the intractable attitude of Iran and Syria when it comes to Israel and their unapologetic ally the U.S., we've got the beginnings of a regional war in the Middle East.

Nice going.

Americans Split on Graphic War Images

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released a study about how many Americans are seeking out graphic war images online and how some think it's wrong. Wha't surprising is that a majority of households earning over $50k approve of showing graphic images online while those with incomes less that $50K disapprove. It's probably because those earning less than $50k a year are probably twice as likely to have a child show up in one of those gruesome photographs.

Check out the Survey Here.

Personally, I think if you're not willing to show the results of your actions to the world, you probably shouldn't be engaged in that activity in the first place. Immorality is not limited to pornography and abortion. Don't agree? Check out these very graphic pictures from the war in Iraq (CAUTION: Not for the squeamish).

While you can choose to ignore the islamic propaganda on this website, the pictures don't lie. Let's not pretend we don't know what's really happening over there, ok? Yeah, I know, 9/11 - 3000 American lives destroyed by Islamic fundamentalists. Same, same, but where does it end? How many more people have to die violent deaths? How many more mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and children have to suffer unimaginable fates before we feel avenged? 100,000? 200,000? 1,000,000? Are you telling me there's no other way to win the hearts and minds of our enemies other than blasting those hearts and minds all over the walls of their cities? What a crude lack of imagination. It's cave-man consciousness.

As long as we keep thinking like we do, THIS SHIT WILL NEVER END. Let's put our best minds (not those in positions of power or prestige) toward changing this crude and stupid self-destructive behaviour.

Oh, The Yellow Times has been shut down over showing graphic war photos. I wonder if it violates my TOS. Showing the TRUTH OF WAR is worth the risk.

Humanity is Doomed

It occurs to me that war isn't about different cultures, different philosophies, different politics, claims to land, resources or religious convictions. It's really just about man's inability to share what he has with others who need it. It's about brats waving their missles around to show everybody who's boss, king of the hill. Humanity is doomed

Want to impress the planet? Love your enemies so much that they'll do anything to avoid you. Embarass them with lavish, selfless gifts they couldn't possibly return. Create entire Holidays to praise their virtues. Love them and their people in such conspicuous ways they'll give their weapons to you for safe-keeping. There's so much more interesting things you could do with the trillions of dollars spent on machines designed to shred people and property into a disgusting blood-soaked confetti (which, of course, you'll never see on your government-sanitized television screens).

Israel, Hizbollah, U.S., Iran, Hamas, Al Queda - you should all be ashamed of yourselves. Go to your rooms and think about what you've done and don't come out until you can treat your fellow humans with respect.

Ken Lay Down For Good

Though my condolences go out to Ken Lay's family and friends (with the exception of Emperor Bush) and those who actually found some goodness in this blood-thirsty vampire, it's too bad he died before he could be sentenced for his crimes at the helm of the pirate ship Enron. He should have had the time to recieve cards and letters from thousands of people whose lives he ruined. He should have had time to reflect on how he could go from fat cat corporate cheat to a low-life, rat-in-a-cage in such a short amount of time. But there's always Skilling, right? And Copper, and Fastow, and .....

I guess the only thing left to do with Ken Lay is let the prosecutor drive a stake through his heart and cut off his head - just to make sure this evil bastard doesn't haunt the living anymore.

Unfortunately, it seems his sudden death has complicated the process of making reparations to his victims. See the story in The New York Times.

Too Close To Call = Too Close For Comfort

Seems a pattern is emerging in this hemisphere. Conservatives (i.e. Mexican conservatives) have reportedly won the presidential election by the narrowest of margins, according to a Story in LA times. Once I heard the race was "too close to call" yesterday, a familiar shiver ran down up my spine.

I've grown so cynical.

Funny, those close political races seem to quash dissent by their very appearence of authenticity. Man, it was soooo close, but we won in the end. It's a mandate from the people!

Which political leaning, left or right, do you think is more likely to steal? I'd like to see the results of that experiment.

Riffing On The Times 7-3-06

As always, the headlines are taken directly from The New York Times, and the sub-heads are entirely made up.

Roberts Is at Court's Helm, but He Isn't Yet in Control - Chief Justice now wants to be referred to as "Chief Justice of The Supreme Executive" to more accurately reflect his position on the court.

Car Bomb Kills More Than 60 in Iraq Market : Tragedy clears way for new Baghdad Wal Mart which promises to supply U.S. soldiers and locals with much needed helmet-liners and body armor "at a globally competitive price".

Hiring Federal Lobbyists, Towns Learn Money Talks: Abramof scandal tips-off ambitious locals who lag behind Washington learning-curve.

Israeli Airstrike Over Gaza Hits Premier's Office: Jewish State denies Hamas' recent democratic victory has anything to do with "unfortunate accident that occurred in the course of Israeli soldier kidnapping investigation." Says missiles expedite the process of exposing potential hiding places.

Mexican Vote Hinges on Conflicted Middle Class: Class fears exporting of unskilled labor to United States will create dearth of underpaid servants in their own country.

Last Stop, Lhasa: Rail Link Ties Remote Tibet to China : Buddhist Monks respond "There goes the neighborhood."

French-Fried Fools

The other day, my illustrious representative, Thaddeus G. McCotter, was asked on the air his opinion on soccer's ultimate competition, The World Cup. His response? He didn't much care for soccer, other than rooting for the United States and against the French. This coming from a member of the House Committee on International Relations. Ugh. No wonder everybody hates us.

No doubt, he's one of the congressional retards who thought renaming french fries to Freedom Fries was a right and just response to a serious foreign relations problem.

His latest official duty was to submit remarks criticizing H.R. 861 - a useless political resolution desgined by by his own party to circle the wagon and pressure members into declaring their commitment to staying the course in Iraq, regardless of the thousands of American lives it destroys and the hundreds of billions of tax payer's dollars it wastes - and if it embarasses Democrats in the process, all the better.

Unfortunately, McCotter's criticisms about the resolution were that it didn't go far enough in its language. He said that it lacked moral clarity, because it used the word "adversary" instead of "enemy" and so he would be voting "present" instead of voting in the affirmative.

Please tell me we can do better in the 11th district come November.


Curious about McCotter's voting record? Visit the website of McCotter's "enemy" in the coming election: Go to Tony Tripiano's Website


Ola