financial crisis (part what? like, 38?!?)

you know, i have read countless news and opinion articles and blogposts over the last several months about the financial crisis, bailout and other related issues and yet, i still find it confusing. for that reason i have been making a conscious effort to grasp what i consider the most important and yet simple concepts and ideas about it all.

one opinion i have formed and am passionate about is that our current woes have been caused by credit default swaps at least as much and most likely more than by bad mortgages. in spite of my ideas, it seems obama's appointment for treasury, tim geithner, has an agenda which involves bailing out aig and bear stearns to the detriment of some smaller institutions, which were nearly solvent and based on behaviors, likely deserved to be protected more than these. if you want to get into the details, read this article. or, you might even read this blogpost, which actually pointed me to the other article in the first place.

reading the blogpost from oxdown it occurred to me that when numbers start being rattled off i get completely lost. these numbers are just too big for me. i guess it is because i cannot relate to them that once several of them appear in succession, i lose all context. so, here is the thing... (talk about burying the lead.) that main article is advocating the idea of declaring credit default swaps illegal and in that way, providing zero protection for them. this would certainly piss off a lot of influential people, (read: people with money, money invested in swaps either as protection buyers or protection sellers,) but it would be the best thing to do for the economy.

that said, obama's appointment of geithner, (along with the fact obama voted in favor of the initial bailout,) foreshadows the fact that what is best for the economy will not be forthcoming any time soon. it is disappointing obama, geithner and the american public at large do not have the will and fortitude to do the right thing in this case. that said, i believe it is true that politics is the art of the possible, hence why i voted for obama. it is likely this is not really within the realm of the possible (in much the same way ralph nader for president was never really in the realm of the possible.) still, we need to move in the right direction so that the political will to do the right thing exists in the (near) future.

addendum: processes and discussion abound for helping at risk homeowners but action is at a serious premium. read about it here.

kite

bono says this song is about letting go of someone. he said he wrote it when he was thinking about his dad nearing the end of his life but after it was made, he realized he really intended the message for his kids.

it is truly an amazing message for one's children, too. i just thought about it this morning as my kids were scampering around in my parent's house. i see terra getting older and at four, there are already behaviors she has left behind that i will never see or know again. and, that is okay.

the night before i was up late with my dad discussing everything from prop 8 to nietzche. i enjoyed the conversation immensely.

all of this simply underscores the fact that i do not own the people i love. it is not to me to keep them. they are not for my pleasure, enjoyment or security. my dad is for me to cherish for as long as i possibly can. my wife is for me to love and venture forth with. my children are for me to influence as positively as possible, to impart the very best of me and my values, and to encourage to follow their own dreams and visions for this life.

here are the lyrics for kite. i can imagine saying this to terra and mark. in essence the message is, i have given you all i can and i trust you to go out into the world and live your life.

Something is about to give, I can feel it coming, I think I know what it mean, I'm not afraid to die, I'm not afraid to live, And when I'm flat on my back, I hope to feel like I did, 'cause hardness, it sets in, You need some protection, The thinner the skin, I want you to know, That you don't need me anymore, I want you to know, You don't need anyone, or anything at all, Who's to say where the wind will take you? Who's to say what it is will break you? I don't know, which way the wind will blow, Who's to know when the time has come around? Don't want to see you cry, I know that this is not goodbye, In summer I can taste the salt in the sea, There's a kite blowing out of control on a breeze, I wonder what's gonna happen to you, You wonder what has happened to me, I'm a man, I'm not a child, A man who sees the shadow behind your eyes, Who's to say where the wind will take you, Who's to say what it is will break you, I don't know, where the wind will blow, Who's to know when the time has come around, I don't want to see you cry, I know that this is not goodbye. Did I waste it? Not so much I couldn't taste it, Life should be fragrant, Roof-top to the basement, The last of the rock stars, When hip-hop drove the big cars, In the time when new media, was the big idea, What was the big idea?

give thanks

something nice happened on the way to thanksgiving. last week as my family began shooting email replies to all on the subject of turkeys, stuffing, yams, muffins, cranberry sauce, yams, and all the rest, the real spirit of the holiday made an unexpected appearance.

our matriarch, (i call her carol but she responds to any of the following: grami, mom, ma, or honey,) mentioned in one of her replies that she had a thanksgiving wish which included peace in the hearts of everyone the world over. she went on to ask if anyone else had a wish.

my dad jumped right in with wishes for peace in the world, blessings for our political leaders and such. my sister, carole ann, followed with similar wishes for love and kindness to permeate the biosphere. eventually i jumped in and made a long list of things i am thankful for this year, most notably including my family and our continued good health. then my brother replied to all and said he was thankful for all of us. he humbly said he was happy we all put up with him despite all of his tattoos and his extended absence.

it was a super nice chain of emails. i think it prepped our family for a great holiday tomorrow. there was even some levity as we discussed the erection of a basketball hoop at my parents house that has apparently represented too large a project for some time. oh, and my brother in his inimitable style, said he was thankful that all of his sisters-in-law, (there are three,) are "hot."

that was funny, (and true.) i am surprised he did not spell 'hot,' with two t's, though. and now i have something extra to add to my list of things i am thankful for. i am thankful for levity. happy thanksgiving to you and yours!

milk

gus van sant's epic biopic about openly gay san francisco city supervisor harvey milk opens tomorrow amidst a backdrop of serious tensions between the lgbt, (lesbian, gay, bi, trans,) and family values communities. you say you are anachronistic for the '60s, that you missed out on the civil rights struggle, didn't get to march to selma? you are interested in social justice?

enter the fray if you will but know that there is a real and valid correlation between the civil rights movement of dr. martin luther king jr. and the civil rights movement of harvey bernard milk. the gay community has not suffered the indignity of slavery or jim crowe laws but they have suffered indignity, most notably a lack of civil rights.

back in 1978 harvey milk worked to oppose proposition 6, (the briggs initiative.) the prop called for any openly gay teachers or public school employees to be fired, based on the idea that the word gay was a synonym for pedophile. milk vigorously opposed this legislation even citing the overwhelming numbers which showed most pedophiles are heterosexual.

30 years ago suddenly seems like 30 days in the context of this conflict between those who who seek equal rights and protections under the law regardless of sexual preference and those who would limit the rights of a fraction of society based on just that; sexual preference.

in 1978 it was prop 6 that represented the battle ground and rallied the troops on both sides. in 2008, prop 8 passed eliminating the legal right to same sex marriage and sparking a fierce struggle between gay rights advocates and those who are sometimes referred to as the family values group but who are perhaps more accurately defined by their fervent religious affiliation, which crosses over between various sects and denominations.

since prop 8's passage three weeks ago, the two sides have been at each other's throats. protests have been widespread and will continue. this struggle both mirrors that struggle and is a continuation of it. one side seeks the liberty of equality. the other side seeks to keep a secular society from legitimizing a symbolic union between two people of the same sex because it is considered sinful and anti-christ.

perhaps you are not interested in participating in the civil rights struggle of your day; today. that is certainly your prerogative. still, i recommend you gain a solid education on what is at stake as well as some of the history of the movement and the struggle. furthermore, since gus van sant, a great director even if his work has shown a certain hit or miss quality, commanded a large budget and directed the film, thereby setting an expectation for a high quality film, (film being the art form of our age,) and sean penn, another great director/actor/artist, portrayed the fallen leader, this is an important film if ever there were one.

early reviews suggest you will be highly entertained even as you are educated.

epoch

what kind of person are you? as unemployment skyrockets, banks collapse, major industrial giants falter, credit tightens, bailouts are administered without oversight, and every manner of chicken little proclamation can be heard, are you the type of person who just keeps going about daily life as usual or are you the type of person who is seriously concerned and taking personal action you consider appropriate?

i ask because i want to know if you believe things are really all that bad, worse than anything you have seen in your lifetime if you are under say, 70-years-old, anyways.

on one hand we have seen banks collapse before. we have endured higher unemployment. we have bailed out major companies previously. when our economy goes into recession, the world has always followed suit.

on the other hand, our current circumstances look like the perfect storm. it seems as though there is much evidence to suggest things will get substantially worse:

• many businesses which expect to make their profits in the christmas season while only managing to sustain the business during the rest of the year are expected to fail in early 2009 because of the thrifty nature this christmas is expected to be.


• a european newsletter has predicted the collapse of the dollar in summer of '09, which would mean a re-valuing of the dollar or replacing it altogether.


• as businesses fail, employment will continue to rise.


• as our federal government issues bailout after bailout and extends unemployment benefits with those claims rising, all while trying to make payments to china and others on our record, bush-induced, deficit, there has been some speculation we could default on our loans.


• the stock market continues its decline which is severely affecting retirement savings.

driving around town today i thought everything looked normal. traffic seemed normal. the behaviors of the people i saw seemed typical. i could not help but wonder if many people yet to feel the realities of the financial crisis are just going on with life like ostriches. as much as some would suggest that people need to "shop," or spend, thereby showing some confidence in our economy, in order to help loosen credit, restore confidence and get money moving again, that idea is completely wrong-headed. rather, now is the time to save, reduce, re-use, minimize your consumer footprint, in order to be ready for whatever the future holds.

your perspective on all of this could be crucial to you and your family.

the return of axl rose

guns n roses is back, and that sentence would not be complete without the modifier, "finally," attached. much time has passed with band members changing as if they were stuck in a revolving door, news of chinese democracy's release arriving and disappearing as if the product of some ancient propaganda machine, and live dates being scheduled then cancelled like so many fig trees on a hillside near ninevah but at last, here it is.

sunday, november 23rd, at a best buy store near you.

i have listened to chinese democracy a couple of times now as it is streaming on the band's myspace page. it is what i expected, imperfect, ambitious, hard-rocking but oriented by pop hooks.

i have also read some bad reviews of chinese democracy, which i disagreed with. yes, it took 14 years, but who cares? it is 2008 now and here it is. on its own merits is it worth listening to or purchasing? it certainly is.

it probably took 14 years to arrive because rose craved perfection. that was always the sense i got of the situation. is he angry perhaps at his former bandmates and did revenge perhaps fuel his ambition on this project? probably. still, here it is-do you like it?

i did not love the original incarnation of guns n roses. i did like their hard-rocking style. i did like many of their songs, but ultimately i could never claim them as among my favorites because in certain ways axl resembled a caveman. i have to give him credit though for growing and evolving. i remember reading somewhere that he had said u2's 'one,' was the greatest rock ballad ever, (and that it helped him in some way get through his own depression.) this was one of those moments when it occurred to me the angry screamer from gnr was growing up.

as it relates to chinese democracy, i am willing to give rose a wide berth. even the name of the record is interesting, (and again, ambitious.) the title track is reminiscent of 'welcome to the jungle,' in how it builds to a rocking crescendo and if rose is lacking in throat compared to his former self, he makes up for it through innovation. there is a wide variety of songs therein including: 'better,' 'in this world,' and 'i.r.s.,' which are my early favorites. even madagascar with the voice of dr martin luther king dubbed in brings a certain thoughtfulness to a genre of music not exactly known for invoking the sages.

on chinese democracy ambition is king and certainly enough to make the record worth buying. it is bombastic, innovative, listenable and memorable. i expect it will be among the biggest selling records of the xmas season, (which may not be saying much,) but it seems to me axl rose delivered on his ambition to re-establish himself in the pantheon of today's top rock and roll stars, (a place seemingly occupied these days by lousy disney acts and worse; kid rock.) i don't know how long it is exclusively at best buy, (hopefully not long,) but i expect you will want to buy this record.

also, in an interesting marketing promotion, the dr pepper corporation is giving away free 20oz. dr pepper's. in march of this year they released a statement that they would give away a free dr pepper if the album dropped this year and so, they are making good on their promise with a one-day-only downloadable coupon on their website. free stuff is rare so go get it after midnight tonight.

michael hutchence - r.i.p.

i miss michael hutchence. there it is for the world to know. on november 22, 11 years ago, he passed away amid the clatter of a world spinning on its axis and seemingly paying zero attention to the partying and subsequent depression of one rock star occurring in a posh hotel room in sydney.

michael has often been compared to jim morrison and i think that is an apt comparison. both were probably more style than substance. for insight, i might look to bono, or vedder or yorke, which is not to suggest michael was a dumbass. he wasn't. but michael sweated cool and started trends by accident.

michael's charisma and style were nonchalant. he embodied rock star effortlessly.

i remember november of 1997 too. when hutchence died it seemed to barely make it into the news here in l.a. (page a-26 in the print edition of the la times.) a 26?! 'kick' sold nine million copies for crying out loud just 10 years earlier and in the one to two years following that release, hutchence was easily the biggest rock star in the world. from north korean treaty talks to jon-benet ramsey to the imf to winnie mandela to ted kaczynski to saddam hussein, plus the fact that hutchence's death was shrouded in mystery and the hotel he died in would not release any definitive information, amounted to michael's death being a mention at the end of the broadcast, or on a-26.

did you ever hear 'the one thing?' it is the first inxs song i ever heard and i remember thinking michael hutchence just oozed sex appeal. i thought whatever that singer had, i wanted it. i wanted to possess that quality he possessed.

[lyrics: 'the one thing' inxs) "well you know just what you do to me, the way you move soft and slippery, cut the night just like a razor, rarely talk and that's the danger..."

'the one thing,' was the first inxs song i ever heard as well as their first video whch i saw. if sexuality is a large part of our lives as human beings, inxs was the band that spoke to that part of me, more accurately, michael hutchence spoke to me as i came out of adolescence. if at times u2 spoke to my heart and radiohead spoke to my brain and pearl jam spoke to my gut, inxs always spoke to my groin.

[lyrics: 'burn for you" - inxs] "It's no use pretending, That I understand, The hide and seek we play with facts, It changes our demand, Tilt my hat at the sun, And the shadows they burn dark, Light me and I'll burn for you, And the love song never stops, I like the look in your eyes, When you talk that certain way, I love the day in the life, When you know that lover's way, Minding my own business, When you came along, Temperature's been running hot, The fever was so strong, It's always an adventure, The fantasies we make a fact, You're the secret I desire I can't keep that to myself ..."

have you ever heard 'the swing,' 'devil inside,' 'i need you tonight,' or 'don't change?' if you check out that video for 'devil inside,' you will see an '80s dated video wherein all the members of inxs look like silly b-boy wannabees and everyone else looks like a caricature prop but michael hutchence, with his white shirt sleeves hanging out, singing behind a microphone, is a buoy of cool amidst a sea of dorkiness.

years ago i read a biography of hutchence by his sister; tina. learning how michael grew up travelling between indonesia and australia much of the time to live intermittently with each of his divorced parents seemed to partially explain his huge reservoir of charm. i got the impression he was one who was compelled to win the love of his parents and eventually, virtually everyone else. i think i can relate to this behavior to some degree and perhaps this is why i am and was so fond of michael hutchence.

the variation of living environs also seemed to help hutchence to become the thoughtful artist he was. the exposure he experienced to differing cultures seemed to enlighten his art.

it is a funny thing about rock stars who die prematurely. their demise seems to increase their legend. jimi hendrix and janis joplin and kurt cobain became instant icons. i remember when jeff buckley died in the wolf creek of the mississippi river. suddenly in the pages of rolling stone and spin and people magazines, he was everybody's favorite musician, a guitar god and vocal master dead before his time.

none of that happened when michael hutchence died and i was always remiss about that. he trumped cobain and buckley on charisma any day of the week which is not to say i prefer hutchence to those guys but rather just to say he was in that league, deserved that kind of company.

anyway, i remember michael hutchence on this, (nov. 22nd,) the 11th anniversary of his death.

last year on the 10th anniversary of hutchence's death, it seems u2 remembered him with the song 'one,' played live in australia.

civic literacy

i came across a civic literacy test today online. it is here if you are interested in taking it.

i was slightly aghast to read that the average score on the test to date is 49%, and college professors only scored 55%. these results reinforce for me the idea that college graduates should have to pass some sort of an exit exam before having a degree conferred upon them.

furthermore, i would advocate for a national degree program for conferring degrees upon anyone who can pass a test in a given area or discipline. as the internet has democratized information, why shouldn't someone who avoids the high cost of universities but pursues the appropriate knowledge and learns a demonstrable amount of information have access to the same degree others receive after a traditional pursuit of the information?

i did not ace the test by any measure but i am happy to report that i outscored the average professor. when i received my results i was informed the november average on the test is substantially higher than the overall 49%. i am not sure but i guess some people may be returning to the test in order to get a higher score, probably for some sense of self-satisfaction.

if you have a chance to take the test, (it's 33 questions long, all multiple choice,) shoot me an email and let me know how you scored?

job hunt

well, it's been three-and-a-half months since i was laid-off. some good things have occurred. i have gotten better about managing my budget. i have even used coupons at the supermarket. on the other hand, i still have more money going out monthly than coming in from unemployment insurance and so, i have depleted my savings in large part. i also feel like i have gone from being a novice in the job market to something of an old pro.

when i was first unemployed i was especially aggressive about hunting for the right job for me. i used monster.com, careerbuilder.com, callcenterjobs.com, indeed.com, craigslist and a couple of other website job search engines. initially i was sending my resume everywhere and casting a wide net. as it turned out, i received very little positive feedback from my process. as time went on, however, i learned and improved my technique.

eventually i realized i was not hearing from any company whose posting was older than even a couple of days. so i was really wasting a lot of time addressing those postings. in time i came to realize that i needed to check in on these websites daily, which i had done anyway, but more importantly, i needed to narrow my search. for example, on monster, i refined my search so that i was choosing customer service jobs with the subsets of call center and customer care. I used two keywords for my search: manager and supervisor. i chose the city of los angeles and i asked the search to include a 75 mile radius. after clicking on search, i sorted by date. then, on a daily basis, i looked for what was new right at the top of my search and ignored everything else.

as i refined my search in this manner, i started getting contacted by employers interested in me. the same thing worked on craigslist. on that site, i could literally check back in every few hours if i had the time, and see postings as they arrived.

i have been interviewing with a couple of companies for call center positions similar to the one i had a couple of years ago with sparkletts. i am expecting a job offer in one case and a call from the other today to find out if i am one of two finalists. on monday i received a message about another position i applied for and i have not returned the call, which i am slightly nervous about. (it is a position with at&t.) i really do think these two companies i am in the latter stages with are good options though so i am focused on those.

two months ago i was a finalist for a position but did not get it. in that case, i received great feedback on my resume. on the other hand, one of the employers i am engaged with now asked me a couple of tough questions about the resume and so, i made adjustments based on that feedback. it is hard to know exactly what is right with a resume, with interviewing, with all aspects of this process that is searching for employment, but i am confident i am learning and getting better at most aspects.

i am on a website too, called linkedin.com. linkedin is a networking site where one can network with their friends, peers, coworkers and others for the purpose of advancing their career. i am linked to plenty of people from my last two positions with retention ed and with sparkletts. i have also made contact with many of my friends and acquaintances. i think linkedin is good for networking but in order for it to be a fruitful tool if you are in the job market, you still have to ask for the job. when i made contacts with others or sent invitations to link up with me there, i made a point of letting people know that i am currently unemployed. what i found though was that no one came out of the woodwork to try to help me find the right job or connect with the right people. this could be entirely my fault and i am sure linkedin could work for some job hunters.

i did make contact with a couple of former colleagues from sparkletts through linkedin both of whom had been unemployed for extended periods of time. it was ironic that both of these guys offered me advice on my job search and suggested they had become experts to some degree. i took their advice and found value in it.

speaking of networking, i read this article in the blogosphere and think anyone in the job market should read it. i never really understood how networking should work or how one goes about it until i read this piece. it bridged a longstanding gap for me.

at the same time, i am concerned about both of them. looking for employment is such strange terrain. i suppose some people are comfortable with it but i can hardly imagine feeling like that myself. every time i have gone out on an interview i have left it thinking of things i might have said differently, or of other things i might have omitted or included.

just yesterday i was asked by a group of would-be peers what i would hope for from a position with this particular company and i wanted to speak of career development and the opportunity i saw there to grow, develop and improve my own skills. instead, i actually mentioned the word ambition and said i hoped to develop my skills so that one day I might be a call center director. i left that interview second-guessing the wisdom, (or lack thereof,) of mentioning ambition to peers. the truth is, i will not be in any hurry to move up. i will be ecstatic to again be gainfully employed in a stable environment and to work with a group of customer service agents to improve and develop their skills and career path. but i may have come off in another way altogether.

such is job hunting. when i was not getting hired these past few months, i felt my self-esteem and confidence dwindling like a slow death. logically, i knew i had to persevere and things would work out in time. illogically, i felt rejected by both of my last employers. sometimes the words of my loved ones seemed insensitive or worse, hurtful.

in any case, i am so anxious to get back to work. this project that has been finding employment is is more difficult than work.

a crude awakening

if oil is indeed our god, this movie documents the apocalypse.

crude awakening is a fascinating look at the history and future history of oil. have you heard of baku, azerbaijan, or maracaibo, venezuela? these two cities were on the front end of oil production but have since seen their supplies depleted. as the oil dried up, the cities have dried up to varying degrees.

it is interesting to think about that black, tarry substance, so valuable, beneath the surface of the earth, and the fact that is not without limit.

the implications of a crude awakening are legion:

• i watched the doc and thought about global warming differently. i wondered if all, or which, replacement energies represent clean-burning fuels. i also thought of how quickly the earth will rebound from most man-made maladies.
• i thought about capitalism's penchant for squeezing every bit of profit out of a thing before letting it pass or advance, which is something i have noticed with various technologies over the years. obviously we could have moved beyond oil by now but of course those for whom oil is the cash cow, well, they promote hinderances for that which would end the reign of their cash flow.
• the movie speaks further to the reasons for the u.s. occupation of iraq.
• the sheer volume of petroleum products is reinforced.

we live in an age of suspect news sources. while documentaries can be skewed or full-blown examples of propaganda at times, they also represent the most informative form of news journalism. instead of piecing together so many news bits culled from newspapers or video pieces, documentaries allow for a thorough examination of a topic in one sitting.

socialism for the rich, indeed.

next time someone tries to sell you that crap about how the financial crisis was caused by fannie and freddie making loans to people who did not warrant those loans, explain that bad mortgages account for no more than 30% of the problem and that the rest was caused by derivative trading and credit default swaps.

the amount of money my ira lost in october of this year alone has me so angry...yet all i can do is blog about it. what else can i do? call the cops on aig? write a letter to lehman? find someone who has been involved in credit default swaps and derivatives and scold them or hold them responsible for my personal losses? engage in all manner of class warfare? (hmm, actually that last one makes some sense.)

in addition to linking to massacio's post at oxdown in the header, i also "borrowed," the picture used in that post. it is just so appropriate.

u.s. subject to imf?

the article linked in this header is by xiang songzuo, a professor at central china university of science and technology. songzuo is suggesting the u.s. should be subject to the same policies it imposes by the proxy that is the imf, (international monetary fund,) on many other nations around the world.

you've seen these policies in little glimpses of riots maybe when you were accidentally tuned into the bbc news on pbs for a few minutes. remember? they were reporting from some south american country? or maybe you somehow ended up on the british newspaper the guardian's website? or maybe you saw police beating a bunch of tree-hugging kids with billy clubs in the "battle of seattle" protest, on mainstream america's news, (but of course they avoided the issue and just focused on the "civil unrest.")

the u.s. has a 17% vote, (by far the largest,) on all imf decisions and our representative therein, (governor,) is henry paulson. (his alternate is bernanke and you don't have to be in denmark to smell how rotten this is.) if you scroll down the wikipedia page, you can see a list of all the dictators, (u.s. backed and otherwise,) the imf has supported with loans.

as americans we generally do not delve into or research things like the imf and the world bank for good reasons. it is hard to get the info, for one. you gotta go to the guardian or al jazeera in many cases to get the story. recently there has been a slight resurgence of real news media in the united states as evidenced by talkingpointsmemo.com, air america radio, msnbc's employment of keith olbermann and rachel maddow, and a few other events and entities. if and when you can get to the info, it is difficult to digest. you kind of have to develop an intellectual curiosity that does not come easy. i mean, it is easier to just go about one's life of making house and doing all the things we do.

so what songzuo suggests in his article is not going to happen but it is worth reading to get a sense of how one of the millions upon millions of people around the planet who would like to see us get a dose of our own medicine feel about americans.

and we are going to get a dose of that med. as it becomes increasingly evident that the bailout was a bad joke and paulson was lying to the american public about all of the important aspects of it, as it becomes ever more clear that the bailout and subsequent actions are meant to help american financial institutions with no regard whatsoever for the american people. paulson can ask banks to negotiate and be nice to americans suffering from the strain of impending foreclosures all he wants but no policies are being imposed on these banks and so, banks will act as banks do. (if you are in a situation with your mortgage, please visit this site.)

i am hopeful we, as americans, will not have to endure what songzuo is suggesting. at the same time, i know our economic crisis is going to get worse before it improves. in so many ways what we have sown is coming to harvest and this idea that we should follow the policies we disseminate through the imf to so many other countries should be eye opening for many of us.

spoon - the underdog

that is 'the underdog,' by a band from austin, texas, called spoon.

the singer, (on this song,) reminds me of a young billy joel or a young elton john. remember how those guys sounded when they were young? they sounded like youthful, male virility. they sounded like tight, low-rise jeans and greenwich village in the '70s. they were direct and fun, all hipster and cool, and they had chops.

spoon is not about the piano like john and joel but the sound is at once fresh and throwback. if you have time to watch the video, notice how it highlights the various sounds in the song: the maracas, the clapping, the mariachi horns... this is a nice track.

eliot spitzer

so it turns out eliot spitzer will not be prosecuted.

do you remember eliot spitzer? he is the former new york state attorney general who became governor only to resign in scandal after his solicitation of a prostitution ring became public. well, when spitzer went down there was plenty of speculation in the blogosphere about whether the case was as it appeared or if in fact, spitzer was being threatened with prosecution for political reasons. (here is a great timeline of the events.)

so why is he not being prosecuted? according to the us attorney in manhattan who had been pursuing the case, michael garcia, it is not federal prosecutor policy to prosecute clients in prostitution cases. still, spitzer was threatened with prosecution not just for solicitation but also for violation of the mann act, which was designed to address prostitution, immorality and human trafficking. it is unlikely spitzer would have been convicted under the mann act, but its use as a political tool has been the norm.

garcia originally suspected spitzer of using campaign funds or his governor's budget to pay for his sexual encounters and used that idea as his rationale for continued and further pursuit of spitzer. apparently, he has since discovered the absence of illegal activity.

it is interesting that this story broke on the day after the election. it is as if spitzer was on lockdown, perhaps informed by garcia, rove, the bush administration or whoever else was pissed off about his wapo article, (linked above in the header,) to stay out of the public sphere and to keep his mouth shut until after the election at which point charges against him would be dropped. this is pure speculation but the linked article above, written by spitzer for the washington post on february 14th, 2008, reveals spitzer as a lone voice spearheading the effort to stop predatory leanding practices, (and leading other state's attorneys general to push the bush administration to halt these practices.) in response, the administration used the office of the comptroller of currency, (occ,) to attack and ultimately stop spitzer.

the occ made new rules to prohibit states from enacting their own laws against predatory lending practices, then filed a federal lawsuit to stop spitzer from investigating the banks.

please read spitzer's article, (linked in the header.) in our day and age there are too few protectors of the people's interest and too many who cater to the interests of the few, the corporate and the wealthy. it is important to see this case in the correct light. it would be entirely reasonable to argue that what spitzer did, solicitation of a prostitute, is not immoral or should not be illegal.

what is more important, however, is the criminal behavior of thwarting a protector of the people. spitzer saw our current financial crisis back in february and tried to take action to help curb or limit its impact. not unlike joe wilson, he was stopped in his tracks. this is the kind of behavior we should be most hopeful will end when the obama administration takes power in january.

"did you see me?"

i saw this embedded last night at firedoglake by eureka springs and i was just so impressed with both the video and the song. ween is one of those ultimate art-house bands. their music is almost always in some way inaccessible, as evidenced here by the intro. (if you make it past the intro, you will find a song half resembling pop music and half pink floyd.) in this case, the video also strays from the norm for videos by being interesting and artistic as well. enjoy!

president obama

i am home with faith and mark quietly watching the events of this night unfold on tv. at 8pm the announcement snuck up on me as david gregory pronounced senator barack obama as the now president-elect. moments later i went to the fridge and popped open a cold, domestic beer. this is my little celebration and i am happy to report, it is an especially tasty beverage indeed.

what an historic night. obama has not been my perfect and preferred candidate by any stretch. he has been instead the most desireable of those i have considered electable. (i maintain hope the rest of the country will turn on to dennis kucinich in time for a future election.) but tonight is obama's night, and our night too, as americans.

we have much to be proud of. racism is not dead but it has been dealt a serious blow this night. the misdeeds of the bush administration are not suddenly gone but obama represents hope that our country will be put on the right path towards reconciling those things and restoring the meaning of america. the fact that this election was so energized, that record numbers turned out to vote, that record amounts of cash were spent in the primary right up through this night on the presidential race, congressional races and measures on state ballots all over the country, speaks volumes about the american people and their interest in getting informed and availing themselves of their role in a democratic society by voting.

i hoped for obama and i hope for obama. i hope he will live up to much of the trust and hope he represents. i hope he has the strength and courage to remain true to himself.

i prefer the picture of obama above. he appears quiet, humble and introspective: qualities i want to see in a president.

john mccain gave a classy speech of conciliation. barack obama just gave the best speech i have yet heard from him. ho told those who did not vote for him that he hears them and that he will be their president, too.

so this is among the tastiest of beers i have had, right up there with the one i drank alone the night terra was born when i came home around midnight after a long, full day at the hospital. it is satisfying to have hope restored.

to borrow from the president-elect, it seems the arc of history has been bent in the direction of hope. change has come to america.

the flimsy wall of separation

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, 16 January 1786, Thomas Jefferson

An Act for establishing religious Freedom.

Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being Lord, both of body and mind yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world and through all time; that to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor, whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness, and is withdrawing from the Ministry those temporary rewards, which, proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind; that our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions any more than our opinions in physics or geometry, that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence, by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages, to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right, that it tends only to corrupt the principles of that very Religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments those who will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed, these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a dangerous fallacy which at once destroys all religious liberty because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own; that it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government, for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order; and finally, that Truth is great, and will prevail if left to herself, that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons free argument and debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them: Be it enacted by General Assembly that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities. And though we well know that this Assembly elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of Legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assemblies constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare that the rights hereby asserted, are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right.

Exd: ARCHIBALD CARY S.S.
Exd. BENJ HARRISON Sp HD
Source: Record of the General Assembly, Enrolled Bills, Record Group 78, Library of Virginia.

a sign

i've been wanting to create art projects for terra for some time and so, with just over one day before californians go to the polls, and because i feel so strongly about prop 8, i decided to make a sign.

i honestly think prop 8 is a big deal. it is one in a series of test balloons in the never-ending struggle between conservatives and liberals. if prop 8 fails tomorrow in california, i think it will set this gay marriage issue back five to 10 years if not more. i have no doubt it will happen and marriage between same sex couples will be tolerated one day in the future but as for how long that may take, it is hard to predict.

but it will happen because it is evolution. i know those who oppose it will eventually come around because those who were in favor of slavery are hard to find anymore. those who thought some women were witches are negligible. as gavin newsome said, (and for those outside of california you may not get this reference but,) "it's gonna happen."

so last night we set ourselves up for an art project. terra did almost all of the pinkish color and she also did some of the green and a little bit of the yellow.

the idea behind "be nice," is this: as juvenile as that slogan may seem, i think it is appropriate. this issue kind of comes down to this idea. are you willing to be mean to gay people who would get married by legislatively discriminating against them or are you ready to allow them equal rights and protections under the law? furthermore, since terra worked on the sign with me, it seemed like a sentiment she might embrace.

where it looks like a good sign, that was terra's touch. she has artistic talent, i can tell. plus, she obviously has an interest in social issues. that's my girl...

mormon invasion

according to the diary post linked in this header, the above commercial was made in the last couple of days and was unfortunately too late to get used on television. for that reason, i thought it would be good to post it here in case one or two people would see it here who would otherwise not get to it.

tell the truth

this is art. this is immortal technique baiting you and shocking you. this is rap or hip-hop at its finest, bouncing and grooving and thumping a message of 'everything you know is wrong' right down into your soul and maybe your pelvis, too. this is mos def and eminem recognizing. check it out.



as always, set the conspiracy theory aside and ask yourself if you have been unnecessarily protected from certain information. is there too much secrecy in our government? (you know, secrecy; the cornerstone of all tyrrany.)