Power is CRACK? Money buys CRACK?

"Liberal friends think I'm a Fascist; Conservative friends think I'm a Communist." 
~ John Gorelski

We are the 99%?
Elizabeth Warren vs. Libertarianism

‎"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there—good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. … You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea—God bless, keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is [that] you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along." ~ Elizabeth Warren

...perspective...

Photo by Peter Rimar taken at Fenghuang, PRC (April 2009).
Click on image to open in a new window.

Economics 101?

How did Mitt Romney get Rich?


Is Romney the Wrong Kind of Rich?
Read More...

...something, something & something more...

30-plus years ago, when folks still lived in caves and hunted for squirrels with sticks and stones, this blogger's favorite high school teacher summarized the study of history with this one simple idea: IF it's important, people find the time, energy and money to do IT (whatever IT is).

It's an idea which helps to explain basic human nature and gives some context to the continued intercourse and discourse of humanity itself.

How can a person on Food Stamps open a Swiss Bank Account?

In the event someone stumbled upon this particular post after searching Google, here's a CNN Money report from 1997 which still applies in 2012. Read More...

It should be noted that after 9-11, the U.S. Government can now request and receive information about a specific individual's bank account under the U.S.-Swiss Income Tax Convention (January 2003).

Obama Campaign Attacks Romney Over Swiss Bank Account?
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etc. etc. etc.

Tax Breaks for Job Creators?

Can you say "Kool-Aid"? Really? Who came up with this talking point? Some K Street lobbyist?

According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, on July 2, 2008, Rush Limbaugh signed an eight-year contract with Clear Channel Communications for $400 million. The conservative talk show host "broadcasts his show from a $26 million ocean front home in West Palm Beach, which has 7 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and an elevator".

Between January and May 2009, Clear Channel Communications eliminated 2,440 positions (roughly a 12% drop from its December 2008 workforce).
Read More...

Still confused?
Here's what Seattle billionaire Nick Hanauer wrote in Bloomberg's op-eds section in November, "When businesspeople take credit for creating jobs, it is like squirrels taking credit for creating evolution. In fact, it’s the other way around." Read More...

At what point will the GOP wake up and finally retire its silly "job creator" talking point?

Every person who spends money is a job creator. Every person with money deposited in a savings account is an investor.

At the end of October 2011, one month after the start of #Occupy Wall Street Protests, the Congressional Budget Office published a detailed report on the distribution of household income between 1979 and 2007. The raw numbers are alarming. 

Can you name the first time in American history that the government cut revenue as it marched off to war? Once again, President Obama needs to stop calling his proposal to raise revenue to address the budget deficit the Buffet Rule. It needs to be called the After 9-11 Tax.

4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem

for the Office of War Information

Corpus Christi, Texas (August 1942)

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Tea Party, when will this country do its collective Patriotic Duty and pay for these ongoing wars? Speaking of which, how many millionaires and billionaires served in Iraq or Afghanistan? 1%?
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"I Pledge of Allegiance to Grover Norquist"?

In case you missed it, according to the latest Gallup, only 12% of Americans approve of the job U.S. Congress is doing. The 86% disapproval rating for the 112th Congress is the highest since Gallup started asking the question in 1974. Read More...

Public service is NOT about being a Republican or a Democrat. It's not about being a liberal or conservative. It's about doing the right things for the right reasons. It's about being a citizen. And believe it or not, the word Compromise is NOT one of George Carlin's original seven dirty words.

Understanding the latest political games being played out in Washington D.C. is not complicated. Power is crack. Money buys crack. Perhaps it's time for this country to take a serious look at enacting a 28th Amendment to the Constitution which overturns the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case (perhaps the worst decision in America's judicial history since Dred Scott).

"94% of elections in America are won by the candidate with the most money. Is this how we want to pick our leaders?" ~ Buddy Roemer

...contrasting imagery...

Dirty Blue Jeans in Broken Window, Changsha, PRC (December 2008)
Photo by Peter Rimar

Class Warfare in 2012?

New Studies Determine Which Social Class More Likely to Behave Unethically?
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"The increased unethical tendencies of upper-class individuals are driven, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed. These findings have very clear implications for how increased wealth and status in society shapes patterns of ethical behavior, and suggest that the different social values among the haves and the have-nots help drive these tendencies."
~ Paul Piff, a doctoral student in psychology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read More...

It's all about selling SOAP?

Last July, Sarah Palin's documentary The Undefeated opened to an empty theater in Orange County, California (Read More). While on the surface, the movie's box office failure was rather humorous, unfortunately, a majority of journalists missed the point on why the film was released in the first place. It's the same reason that Newt Gingrich, despite his low approval ratings in every national poll, is still campaigning for President.  
When this blogger lived and worked in the People's Republic of China, I discovered that cigarettes and alcohol were used to bribe local government officials. Indeed, the central government actually monitors the sell of expensive cigarettes to gauge the level of corruption in different cities. While the average price per pack was LESS than a dollar, several brands from Yunnan Province cost more than $110s a cartoon. 

Why? Well, cigarettes are a form of hard currency which cannot be individually traced by the government. Thus, local officials accept cartoons of cigarettes, as bribes, without drawing the attention of the central government. 

Economic crimes, such as tax fraud and corruption, routinely appear among the criminal dockets of those given the death penalty. Read More...

Intead of cigarettes, in the United States, special interest groups purchase books and DVDs (in bulk) to support candidates who support their specific agenda. Sarah Palin is a paid political commentator for Faux News. She earns more than six figures a year just giving speeches. As long as she remains a political celebrity, she'll continue selling SOAP. While I have the deepest respect for Senator John McCain, somebody spiked his Kool-Aid in 2008 when he picked Palin as his running mate.

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Says He Might Give $100M To Newt Gingrich Or Other Republican?
Read More...

Photo of CCP Building Art, Guangzhou, PRC (August 2008).
Going Rogue: An American Life (Hardcover)

Welcome to the Redundant Department of Redundancy?

Can you name the first time in American history that the government cut taxes as it went to war?

What was the original mission in Afghanistan? To find, capture and/or killed Elvis Bin Laden. What was the original mission in Iraq? WMD? Oil? Tourism? This blogger is NOT an isolationist.

After spending over $1,300,000,000,000s for two wars (with follow up military occupations of 7 & 10 years respectively), perhaps it's time to seriously reevaluate the economic, geopolitical & military wisdom of maintaining the rhetorical status quo. At least during World War II, the federal government sold WAR BONDS to build the factories required to support America's "arsenal of democracy". This time around, beyond those who serve in uniform (along with their families), what real sacrifices were the American people asked to make?

A New Perspective on Cost of War:
Have you seen the bumper sticker "Freedom is NOT Free"? It's true. Freedom has an actual price tag. Funding the Department of Defense requires real pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters.

The money for Iraq & Afghanistan has already been spent. So, how will this BILL get paid? Wishful thinking? Prayer? The Free Market? More Corporate Tax Breaks? The next generation? I guess asking folks to do the right thing for the right reasons is asking too much.


Photos of Afghan Soldiers & Burger King Sign by Peter Rimar
The Iraq War (History Channel DVD)

3.5% Unemployment in North Dakota?

Over the last year, one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy has been the ongoing Oil Rush in North Dakota. Before you load up the family van and head north, please be aware, the winters in this state are extremely ka-ka-ka-COLD. Also, there's a housing shortage in the western half of the state. It's a good idea to pack baby wipes, a sleeping bag and a tent for the trip:
Read More...
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Short video from the Aneta Turkey Barbeque Parade, North Dakota. 
Recorded by Peter Rimar (June 2010).
Silent Towns on the Prairie : 
North Dakota's Disappearing Towns and Farms (Paperback)

Speaking of new jobs in North Dakota...
Strippers earning up to $2,000 a night
in North Dakota town thriving amid 
oil boom
by Larry McShane (NY Daily News)

"A pair of strip clubs in Williston, N.D., are drawing exotic dancers who can earn up to $2,000 a night thanks to the influx of well-paid oil workers in the remote region, CNN Money reported."
Read More...

‎"It's my MONEY and I need it NOW"?

“Computers have enabled people to make more mistakes faster than almost any invention in history, with the possible exception of tequila & hand guns”
~ Mitch Ratcliffe

From Russia With Love?

This post is NOT about the 1963 James Bond film which starred a young Sean Connery. Indeed, while this blogger has previously babbled about the 2012 Presidential Election, #Occupy Wall Street, the People's Republic of China and Facebook Privacy, until today, I've refrained from writing anything about the former Soviet Union.

That's why it's a bit curious that this completely irrelevant corner of the blogosphere has an active Russian readership.

...speaking of Russia...
Why do Russians hang rugs on the walls?

In my quest to find the answer, I discovered two outstanding web-sources, which married together, provided this blogger with the best possible answer.

According to the website English Russia, Russians started the custom of hanging rugs on the wall in the 1950s. Why? Evidently, the walls of Soviet-era apartment buildings were extremely thin. Hanging rugs on the wall had a real world, practical application. The custom itself helped mask private conversations from noisy neighbors as well providing some added interior insulation against the COLD Russian winters.
Read More...

A first-person narrative written by an American living in Russia provided this blogger with another possible answer to the original question. Lindsay Kosarev's detailed observations about the country's society and culture are a must read for every American who plans on living and working in Russia:

"Russians love putting carpets on their walls. At first, I thought it was for extra insulation, but they put them on inside walls as well. No matter how stylish or traditional Russians believe this custom is, they always pick a rug that does not match the rest of the room. They either look like the furniture covers, which are brown and tan floral patterns or the rugs are red and black. There are other styles of rugs, but these are the most common and memorable."
Read More...

Thus, based on these specific web-sources, this blogger reached a simple conclusion. What started off as a practical solution to address real world concerns (noisy neighbors and cold apartments), over the course of fifty-plus years, the custom itself simply became a part of the cultural fabric of Russian society.

Hanging rugs on the wall is just one more thing
which helps define Russia as Russian.

Lonely Planet ~ Russia [Paperback]

Donald Trump? Kingmaker?

Hollywood insider rumors that CBS is negotiating with Mr. Karl "527" Rove to appear with the host of Celebrity Apprentice on an upcoming season of Survivor: #Occupy Wall Street are untrue?

Question of the Week:
When did the GOP become
the Grand Obstructionists Party?

...perspective...

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." ~ George Bernard Shaw

Stimulated Numbers?

Compare: This FY (fiscal year), DoD will receive approximately $126 billion for sustaining military operations in Iraq & Afghanistan. How does this dollar amount compare to added domestic spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009?

Contrast: It included $53.6 billion in direct financial aid for local school districts to prevent massive layoffs & cutbacks, with the flexibility to use Stimulus Funds for school modernization and repairs (State Fiscal Stabilization Fund). Basically, it was the Federal Government's 50 State BAIL OUT in order to keep PUBLIC SCHOOLS across this country OPEN for business.
READ MORE...

In 2009, while GOP candidates hammered the Obama administration on the auto industry bail out, ZIP was said regarding the school district BAIL OUT. IF you're a school teacher or auto worker, ask yourself, "does the GOP really care about protecting my job?"
READ MORE...

Economics 101
Until Americans start voting with their wallets, it'll be almost impossible to create new manufacturing jobs in a tight global marketplace.

Toyota BUILT a billion dollar Tundra assembly plant in San Antonio, Texas because market research shows a large segment of the American truck buying public actually values where a product is manufactured.

Corporations like IBM, Microsoft, GE, Apple, GM, BP & Exxon-Mobil ONLY salute one flag: PROFITS!

It's time for Americans to start making informed decisions about the products they buy. IF consumers value products "Made in the USA", corporations like Target & Wal-Mart will respond to the economic benefits of stocking more home grown products. Small changes in individual buying habits will eventually send a loud dollars & cents message to the world's multi-national corporations.

Once again, IF American consumers don't value the country of origin of a product or service, why should a corporation? Free Market? What Free Market? Read More...

Photo of Portable Toilet by Peter Rimar, Baghdad, Iraq (March 2004).
A Year Without "Made in China":
One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy (Paperback)

Maybe it's time for a digital UPGRADE?

Does anybody know how to load Windows 2.1x on a Commodore 64 w/ an 8-track tape external drive?

Wal-Mart goes GREEN?

In January 2003, for various political and economic reasons, this blogger decided to boycott shopping at Wal-Mart. Five years later, in February 2008, I walked back into a store in Beijing.

I believed corporations actually respond to the purchasing power of consumers. For example, if Americans demand more products "Made in the USA", eventually, retailers will respond by stocking more locally manufactured items. It's really not that complicated. It's simple give the people what they want economics.

CNN Money
Wal-Mart returns to 'Buy American' roots. Really?
May 12, 2011
Read More...

Another case in point is Wal-Mart's recent business decision to install solar panels on 130 of its California stores by 2013:

PC Magazine
Walmart Goes Solar In California
September 23, 2011
Read More...

Corporation Update: Shortly after this blogger posted the above comments, Wal-Mart announced it would cut health care benefits for some part-time workers.  Read More...

*Derivative photograph of marketing montage, Wal-Mart Visitor's Center, Bentonville, Arkansas (May 2010).
*Wal-Mart Store Entrance, Beijing, PRC (February 2008)

Weird Science?

Los Angeles Times
Climate skeptic admits he was wrong to doubt global-warming data
October 20, 2011
Read More...

The world is still FLAT? The sun revolves around the EARTH? Why discover a new truth when folks are comfortable wrapping themselves in a warm blanket of rhetorical denial?

Anyhow, what distinguishes a true scientist from a political hack, as in the case of UC Berkeley physicist Richard Muller (see story above), is a REAL scientist is open to changing his views if the hard evidence no longer supports his initial hypothesis. A hack merely appeals to preconceived biases and notions to support a specific, privately funded, political agenda.

Joke of the Week:
“Earlier today, Rick Perry unveiled his new tax plan. He says he wants a flat tax. He believes that the tax should be flat, just like the Earth.” ~ Jay Leno
Backstage at the Tonight Show: From Johnny Carson to Jay Leno (Paperback)

What it is, What it was and What it shall be...

Term limits? Good luck convincing politicians in a bad economy to quit their jobs and stand in an unemployment line with the rest of humanity.

I may very well be losing my mind but I have not lost my sense of humor!


O Brother, Where Art Thou? (DVD)

Should politicians wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers to identify their corporate sponsors?

The following is a man-on-the-street interview about the 
Occupy Wall Street Movement 
that DID NOT make it on Faux News:


Onion News: 
Rumors that Rick Perry invited Dick Cheney to go hunting are untrue.

Bachmann Update: 
Candidate runs out-of-gas in Iowa?
Read More...

Class Warfare Update: 
Buddy Roemer is the first & only GOP Presidential candidate to issue a statement offering his support for the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
Read More...

Happy World Teachers' Day!

Photo of Chinese Classroom in Changsha, PRC by Peter Rimar (July 2009).

When your house is on FIRE, it's absurd to argue with your wife about how to rearrange the furniture?

IF the American consumer doesn't value the country of origin of a product or service, why should international corporations?
Until Americans start voting with their wallets, it'll be almost impossible to create new jobs in a tight global marketplace.

"We need conservative ideas to modernize the U.S. economy and reform American government. But what we have instead are policies that don't reform but just cut and starve government — a strategy that pays little attention to history or best practices from around the world and is based instead on a theory. It turns out that conservatives are the woolly-headed professors after all." ~ Fareed Zakaria 
Read More...

Definition of Political Hypocrisy [hi-pok-ruh-see]?

Tea Party Bus

Fargo, North Dakota

(August 20th, 2010)

A "Made in Canada" bus rolling down the highway on "Spanish Tires" so American Voters could sign it with "Made In China" markers, then departing Fargo to drink even more IMPORTED OIL definitely sent a powerful political message. A Hollywood script writer couldn't even make this stuff up.

Zippo "Made In USA" Pocket Lighter

Dear Congressman Ron Paul (aka Dr. No)

While some of your Libertarian ideas sound great on paper, in practice, it's scares the hell out of this blogger. Every time you talk about your vision of the world, it describes a place I've actually visited. A once peaceful, clean & beautiful city (with modern infrastructure) completely destroyed by a limited government, free market economy.

Image a world with...

No public libraries or city parks, road repairs,
Interstate Highway System, State or National Parks, Federal Income Tax, Health Care for Veterans, functioning police force (except for private citizens with AK-47s), lawyers or judges (replaced with religious street justice), flush toilets or sewage plants, Social Security or Medicare, Fish & Wildlife Service, farm support or subsidies, government mandated auto insurance for drivers, building codes or zoning ordinances, government regulations, factories, collective bargaining, workplace safety, environmental standards, minimum wage, electricity (except for gas power generators), Hoover Dam or NASA, indoor running water (only shared community water pumps), home telephones or broadband internet, universities to train doctors or nurses, Pell Grants or Student Loans, a CDC or medical research facilities, Wal-Marts or K-Marts, food inspectors or FDA, McDonald's or Burger Kings, city streetlights or traffic signals, national bank or currency (Euros, dollars, gold, silver & goats).

A city with limited government in country where the free-market & money is KING. And the best part of this whole Libertarian brew, charity organizations provide the health care. 

The place? Well, it's in the news again.

Mogadishu, Somalia.

The sad truth is a lot of folks actually believe your dog-ma-nomics crap. Is there Fraud, Waste & Abuse in every agency of the Federal Government? Yes. Can the Federal Bureaucracy be streamlined and made more efficient? Yes. Does this country need to wrap up its military operations in Afghanistan & Iraq? Yes. With that said, this whole ideological brew which suggests that limited government is the only solution for every social and economic problem borders on the political absurd. Hell, let's just go ahead and repeal the whole 20th Century.

America is NOT bankrupt. You really could learn something from Medal of Honor Recipient Dakota Meyer (who risked his life to do the right thing for the rights reason). IMHO, you've spent too many years walking around the Washington Beltway and selling SOAP on the Presidential Campaign Trail. You've completely forgotten the things that made this country great.

Update (October 2, 2011): After spending more than an hour writing this POST, Bill Clinton comes along and capsulizes this blogger's original message in a single sentence:

"There's not a single example on our planet, not one, where an anti-government strategy has produced a vibrant economy with strong and broad-based growth and prosperity." ~ Bill Clinton 
Read More...



Photo taken at the Port of Mogadishu, Somalia by Peter Rimar (January 1994).
Pirate State: Inside Somalia's Terrorism at Sea