I Knew It

Yeah, but what did I really know? In an article I found at Counterpunch.org, Don Monkerud writes this quote:

"People say we have an uncontrolled free market but we have the opposite," says Barry C. Lynn, senior fellow at the New American Foundation. "What we have today is a laissez faire American version of feudalism; a private government in the form of private corporations run by private individuals who consolidated power to govern entire activities within our political economy."

I believe many people would have already agreed that the American way of life was not that much different from that during the Middle Ages when lords held vassals and serfs to supply labor which generally kept or increased the lords' power. We have made great strides in medicine, and we can watch all sorts of awesome things on the television. We can buy our own cars, houses, clothes, and toys. We have working toilets (well, most of us do), running water, and climate-controlled enclaves. Modern Americans have much more than European serfs ever did.

However, as Don says in the linked article, we cannot buy just any car, house, etc. Our choices are controlled and limited by large private corporations that work things so that they can increase their wealth and power. We provide the labor...well at least we used to do that. Now the labor is leased from other countries.

We are beholden to these corporations. How many people can actually walk away from their job and find something more meaningful or rewarding -- and expect to maintain their current lifestyle? I can't. My wife can't.

We're serfs, plain and simple.

What's So Great About a Nobel Peace Prize?

The Nobel Peace Prize apparently exists only as proof that our world is filled to the brim with bullshit.

Billionaires get taxpayer money when they're caught cheating, while Jane and Joe down the street lose their jobs and then their house. The CEO's that were "hurt" by the bad economy they've propagated for years really should thank Jane and Joe for their lifelong tax contributions, ensuring many more happy caviar parties aboard their yachts.

Opponents to health care reform scream "murder" and "socialist", but they're not the ones who need a reasonable health plan. Ask Jane why Joe can't get any coverage any more because he caught an infection that damaged his heart and nearly killed him, thereby stigmatizing him as a "risk" and thus uninsurable. His four monthly medications cost somewhere between $100 and $300 per bottle. What does he do after his company goes bankrupt, he loses his job, and he needs to pay for the $800 - $1200 monthly medications that keep him alive?

Somewhere in Afghanistan at this moment, a mother wails because her husband and son were rent into so much collateral damage when a Predator let loose one of its Hellfire missiles upon a party. Later, after she walks into a market and blows herself up, a soldier will perish and his family will suffer for years from the shock.

These things can be averted with the right policies and priorities, but I have yet to see the "yes we can" president follow through on his commitments. Health care is doomed, jobs are disappearing, the rich keep getting richer, and he will very likely capitulate to the generals that supposedly work for him and escalate an already-lost war.

So, where's the peace? Is it in death? It must be because the Nobel team picked the one person in this world who has made sure that peace in death will assuredly come to thousands more.

El Proyecto Magnífico de la Transformación de la Cocina

The Grand Kitchen Transformation Project. My wife and I are now deep in the throes of a very large renovation of our kitchen. Not to be bested, we've planned the purchase and replacement of all appliances, the cabinetry, most of the electrical wiring, one quarter of the drywall, and the entire floor.
Big Tip For Renovator Wannabes: Plan on spending a long, long time making the changes -- if you're doing it yourself. If you're planning on hiring, get ready to spend a lot of money.
My incredibly resourceful wife found super-ultra-mega deals by looking in places like overstock.com. We saved about 20% - 30% on all of our appliances, which aren't cheap ripoffs. The flooring is easy enough, if you can lay tile or hardwood. We can do both, so the cost for us is now just materials. Same with the wiring and drywall, with the one exception of an additional 220-volt circuit.
Tip #2: All it takes is Patience and Practice. If you're short on the practice, exercise an additional amount of patience. We were burdened with an unexpected inheritance -- an old house -- which needed a lot of work to get it livable. After spending about 12 months on it, we found that we could do just about anything. The unexpected gift was the chance to work on an empty house, replacing or fixing virtually everything except the frame.
Pictures to follow...

Obama Health Care Ripped

There is a very good post at Counterpunch.org that discusses the failures of the Obama health care plan. Not only does it cover several items point-by-point, but it also reads well. Call me crazy, but I like to read a well-written article, no matter what the subject.

The media in this country -- and this includes much of the alternative media -- appears to be engaged in a prolonged fear fest, shouting all sorts of soundbites that say nothing more than "you will lose". Conservatives say you will lose your current benefits under the plan. Liberals say you will lose everything if the plan fails to pass.

It's disheartening, and it is boring. At least the opinion piece by Vicente Navarro isn't dull.

Letter to Fellow Cubemates

I am in a company that is now reducing its workforce in a very steady manner down to a zero sum value. One could make the argument that the potential energy in this company (and especially the IT department in which I work) was often equal to 0, perhaps even something less. But, as modern IT offices go, this company most assuredly represents corporate America. Everything you saw in movies like Office Space is very true.

One very good friend of mine who I shall miss very much just spent his last day in the office. He, along with about 10 other employees, were given their walking papers on Monday. They were told that their last day was Friday. One week's notice from the company that demands two when the shoe is on the other foot.

Anyway, he sent a letter to his co-workers, including a fair number of managers, letting them all know exactly how he felt about working here, and why he was so happy to finally leave. We here have all been waiting for the axe to fall for nearly 12 months. There have already been two waves of job cuts. No one knows when they will be let go, but we all know that it will be "very soon now." My friend's farewell letter was written tongue-in-cheek, but, like all good satire, speaks truth to us all:

My Friends and Co-Workers,


As many of you probably know, today is my last day. But before I leave, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know what a great and distinct pleasure it has been to type “Today is my last day.”

For nearly as long as I’ve worked here, I’ve hoped that I might one day leave this company. And now that this dream has become a reality, please know that I could not have reached this goal without your unending lack of support. Words cannot express my gratitude for the words of gratitude you did not express.

I would especially like to thank all of my managers: in an age where miscommunication is all too common, you consistently impressed and inspired me with the sheer magnitude of your misinformation. It takes a strong man to admit his mistake – it takes a stronger man to attribute his mistake to me.

Over the past eight years, you have taught me more than I could ever ask for and, in most cases, ever did ask for. I have been fortunate enough to work with some absolutely interchangeable supervisors on a wide variety of seemingly identical projects – an invaluable lesson in overcoming daily tedium in overcoming daily tedium in overcoming daily tedium.

Your demands were high and your patience short, but I take great solace knowing that my work was, as stated on my annual review, “mostly satisfactory.” That is the type of praise that sends a man home happy after even a 10 hour day, smiling his way through half a bottle of mostly satisfactory scotch.

And to most of my peers: even though we barely acknowledged each other within these office walls, I hope that in the future, should we pass on the street, you will regard me the same way as I regard you: sans eye contact.

So, in parting, if I could pass on any word of advice to the individual who will soon be filling my position, it would be to cherish this experience like a sponge and soak it up like a good woman, because a job opportunity like this comes along only once in a lifetime.

Meaning: if I had to work here again in this lifetime, I would sooner kill myself.


This is all stated with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek.

It has been an interesting 8 years working for this company. I've made friends, shared times, and I will remember many people here with great fondness. I wish you all happy lives.

For those interested in staying in touch... I'm easy to find. Just type my name into google.

Very truly yours,
-x-x-x-x-

UPDATE: I found an earlier version of this letter online. Darn it all. I thought that my friend had created his letter from scratch. It still rings the truth, however. I applaud his bravura for sending the letter to various people in the company.

What's a Serf to Do?

Total serfdom is coming, and it won't look pretty. We Americans have been pampered for much too long. We cannot understand what it is like to live in the "real" world -- the one that covers the other 90% of the world. The crash will come and a lot of people will bitch about it. Blame will be thrown everywhere.

So, what is a serf like me to do? My wife and I have 401k retirement accounts. These are supposed to be our golden parachutes when we get to the point in our lives that we cannot work anymore. However, during last week's financial turmoil, we lost nearly $100k. Do you know how long it takes to save money like that? We spend 20 years working at decent jobs, trusting the wizards of Wall Street to handle our hard-earned cash. We hope and pray that we can make money by giving some up.

Now we have a $700 billion bailout, payable on demand by all hard-working American serfs. Senators voted for Wall Street. The serfs got screwed.

All the expert commentary on this points to one inevitable end: a horrid financial crash. This means that ALL of our 410k savings will blow away like dust in the wind. So, what the heck does the American serf do to retain some kind of cushion against the depression to come?

My wife and I talked about this. We make more money than most middle-class serfs, but we would lose everything we now have if we lost our jobs. Planning is essential.

Perhaps we could remove all of the money we have left in our 401k accounts, take the insane tax hit, and buy up gold. At the very least, we could use the gold for essentials. It's extreme, but it might be a very good move. After all, we lost more in one day than we would have if we dumped the accounts.

Another idea we tossed around was to move to another country. Just about any country would enable us to survive, but we aren't bilingual and it would be nice if we could communicate with the locals. That limits our choices. Great Britain was considered, then discarded. My wife really dislikes the cold.

Australia? There isn't much else. We know a couple of people who live there -- people we used to work with.

On the other hand, we could probably do well in France, Spain, Italy, or Malta, as long as there was an American or English-speaking community.

The one very bad thing about moving for a serf family is the effort and expense involved. Also, we would essentially give up personal visits to family. Once we become citizens of another country, we would be placed on all sorts of nefarious government lists.

I suppose we could weather the storm. We might lose the house and most of our belongings before the next depression ends, but at least we'll be in the good ol' U.S. of A. Safe from all sorts of mean terrorist thugs that hate is for our freedoms. Yeah, like the freedom to watch our elected representatives construct laws that will completely f**k us over.

Rabid Zealots

Peruse any newspaper these days and you'll find either articles filled with religious exclamations of thanks or whole sections devoted to faith. This by itself is most certainly not a bad thing.

However, all the good intentions and principled verbiage lose their gleam when faith is substituted for common sense. The refusal to open the mind just the tiniest bit and listen to things you haven't heard before is one of the strongest attributes of a zealot. The proverbial step taken over the cliff comes when the zealot begins using ad hominem attacks upon a person who merely states facts.

One finds this common behavior not only in religious discussions, but also in political, technical, and domestic conversations as well. The Rabid Zealot can be found just about anywhere two or more people hold a discourse.

With this in mind, I will now outline a few warning signs which can be used to identify the Rabid Zealot:

• Wide eyes: Zealots are very passionate about their beliefs, and their efforts to convince sensible people to similarly hold a likewise belief in an irrational postulation naturally causes their eyelids to part rather eerily.
• In Your Face: The Zealot often likes to make a point by making their arguments four or fewer inches from your face.
• Feigned Deafness: While expressing a rational argument, you may notice that the Zealot will either focus on something non sequitur or continue their side of the conversation long before you have completed a single sentence.
• Righteousness: The Rabid Zealot always feels more righteous than their neighbor, thus promulgating a sense of unwarranted superiority.
• Irrationality: The Zealot always reveals themselves as something more than just a good-natured debater when they hold to an irrational assumption.

So, the next time you see see someone arguing a point you think may not be correct, take note of their style. Someone who is merely passionate may show one or two of the above-listed attributes, but the Rabid Zealot will show them all.