Saturday, January 23, 2010

IT JUST GETS WORSE


We have all seen the glee with which law enforcement and those in authority crush citizen protest against their global corporate masters, but, now the US Supreme Court has turned democracy over to the complete control of obscene corporate wealth, the only free discourse may well be citizen protest, with citizens getting their heads broken for having an opinion at odds with the dictates of Monsanto. Our pal Aeswiren has sent this story by Greg Palast from Alternet that suggest things may be even worse that we suspected.

“In today's Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court ruled that corporations should be treated the same as "natural persons", i.e. humans. Well, in that case, expect the Supreme Court to next rule that Wal-Mart can run for President. The ruling, which junks federal laws that now bar corporations from stuffing campaign coffers, will not, as progressives fear, cause an avalanche of corporate cash into politics. Sadly, that's already happened: we have been snowed under by tens of millions of dollars given through corporate PACs and "bundling" of individual contributions from corporate pay-rollers. The Court's decision is far, far more dangerous to U.S. democracy. Think: Manchurian candidates. I'm losing sleep over the millions - or billions - of dollars that could flood into our elections from ARAMCO, the Saudi Oil corporation's U.S. unit; or from the maker of "New Order" fashions, the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Or from Bin Laden Construction corporation. Or Bin Laden Destruction Corporation. Right now, corporations can give loads of loot through PACs. While this money stinks (Barack Obama took none of it), anyone can go through a PAC's federal disclosure filing and see the name of every individual who put money into it. And every contributor must be a citizen of the USA. But under today's Supreme Court ruling that corporations can support candidates without limit, there is nothing that stops, say, a Delaware-incorporated handmaiden of the Burmese junta from picking a Congressman or two with a cache of loot masked by a corporate alias. Candidate Barack Obama was one sharp speaker, but he would not have been heard, and certainly would not have won, without the astonishing outpouring of donations from two million Americans. It was an unprecedented uprising-by-PayPal, overwhelming the old fat-cat sources of funding. Well, kiss that small-donor revolution goodbye. Under the Court's new rules, progressive list serves won't stand a chance against the resources of new "citizens" such as CNOOC, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Maybe UBS (United Bank of Switzerland), which faces U.S. criminal prosecution and a billion-dollar fine for fraud, might be tempted to invest in a few Senate seats. As would XYZ Corporation, whose owners remain hidden by "street names." George Bush's former Solicitor General Ted Olson argued the case to the court on behalf of Citizens United, a corporate front that funded an attack on Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primary. Olson's wife died on September 11, 2001 on the hijacked airliner that hit the Pentagon. Maybe it was a bit crude of me, but I contacted Olson's office to ask how much "Al Qaeda, Inc." should be allowed to donate to support the election of his local congressman. Olson has not responded. The danger of foreign loot loading into U.S. campaigns, not much noted in the media chat about the Citizens case, was the first concern raised by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who asked about opening the door to "mega-corporations" owned by foreign governments. Olson offered Ginsburg a fudge, that Congress might be able to prohibit foreign corporations from making donations, though Olson made clear he thought any such restriction a bad idea. Tara Malloy, attorney with the Campaign Legal Center of Washington D.C. says corporations will now have more rights than people. Only United States citizens may donate or influence campaigns, but a foreign government can, veiled behind a corporate treasury, dump money into ballot battles. Malloy also noted that under the law today, human-people, as opposed to corporate-people, may only give $2,300 to a presidential campaign. But hedge fund billionaires, for example, who typically operate through dozens of corporate vessels, may now give unlimited sums through each of these "unnatural" creatures. And once the Taliban incorporates in Delaware, they could ante up for the best democracy money can buy. In July, the Chinese government, in preparation for President Obama's visit, held diplomatic discussions in which they skirted issues of human rights and Tibet. Notably, the Chinese, who hold a $2 trillion mortgage on our Treasury, raised concerns about the cost of Obama's health care reform bill. Would our nervous Chinese landlords have an interest in buying the White House for an opponent of government spending such as Gov. Palin? Ya betcha! The potential for foreign infiltration of what remains of our democracy is an adjunct of the fact that the source and control money from corporate treasuries (unlike registered PACs), is necessarily hidden. Who the heck are the real stockholders? Or as Butch asked Sundance, "Who are these guys?" We'll never know. Hidden money funding, whether foreign or domestic, is the new venom that the Court has injected into the system by its expansive decision in Citizens United. We've been there. The 1994 election brought Newt Gingrich to power in a GOP takeover of the Congress funded by a very strange source. Congressional investigators found that in crucial swing races, Democrats had fallen victim to a flood of last-minute attack ads funded by a group called, "Coalition for Our Children's Future." The $25 million that paid for those ads came, not from concerned parents, but from a corporation called "Triad Inc." Evidence suggests Triad Inc. was the front for the ultra-right-wing billionaire Koch Brothers and their private petroleum company, Koch Industries. Had the corporate connection been proven, the Kochs and their corporation could have faced indictment under federal election law. As of today, such money-poisoned politicking has become legit. So it's not just un-Americans we need to fear but the Polluter-Americans, Pharma-mericans, Bank-Americans and Hedge-Americans that could manipulate campaigns while hidden behind corporate veils. And if so, our future elections, while nominally a contest between Republicans and Democrats, may in fact come down to a three-way battle between China, Saudi Arabia and Goldman Sachs.”

The secret word is No!

TETRIS?


THE FROZDICK FAMILY


Even among the Frozdicks, Ameleia’s wedding to a pair of anonymous men in gasmasks raised some eyebrows.

Friday, January 22, 2010

SEVEN DAYS IN 2016


As a lifelong connoisseur of worst-case paranoid agendas, I am especially fond of military coupe scenarios in which the Pentagon usurps the White House and the generals seize ultimate power in the USA. The classic fictional coupe-concept is, of course, Seven Days In May – John Frankenheimer's 1964 follow-up to The Manchurian Candidate, but the one laid out by William Astore on TomDispatch.com last week is one of the best I’ve seen in a while. I like it, but I can’t say I agree with it. After yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that corporations can spend all the money they like to corrupt the political system, no one is going to need the military to impose capitalist totalitarianism on this wholly obtuse nation. The fucking SCOTUS just sold the last shreds of democracy out from under us.

“Disillusioned veterans are unable to find decent jobs in a crumbling economy. Scarred by the physical and psychological violence of war, fed up with the happy talk of duplicitous politicians who only speak of shared sacrifices, they begin to organize. Their motto: take America back. Meanwhile, a lame duck presidency, choking on foreign policy failures, finds itself attacked even for its putative successes. Health-care reform is now seen to have combined the inefficiency and inconsistency of government with the naked greed and exploitative talents of corporations. Medical rationing is a fact of life confronting anyone on the high side of 50. Presidential rhetoric that offered hope and change has lost all resonance. Mainstream media outlets are discredited and disintegrating, resulting in new levels of information anarchy.
Protest, whether electronic or in the streets, has become more common -- and the protestors in those streets increasingly carry guns, though as yet armed violence is minimal. A panicked administration responds with overlapping executive orders and legislation that is widely perceived as an attack on basic freedoms.
Tapping the frustration of protesters -- including a renascent and mainstreamed "tea bag" movement -- the former captains and sergeants, the ex-CIA operatives and out-of-work private mercenaries of the War on Terror take action. Conflict and confrontation they seek; laws and orders they increasingly ignore. As riot police are deployed in the streets, they face a grim choice: where to point their guns? Not at veterans, they decide, not at America's erstwhile heroes. A dwindling middle-class, still waving the flag and determined to keep its sliver-sized portion of the American dream, throws its support to the agitators. Wages shrinking, savings exhausted, bills rising, the sober middle can no longer hold. It vents its fear and rage by calling for a decisive leader and the overthrow of a can't-do Congress.
Savvy members of traditional Washington elites are only too happy to oblige. They too crave order and can-do decisiveness -- on their terms. Where better to find that than in the ranks of America's most respected institution: the military? A retired senior officer who led America's heroes in central Asia is anointed. His creed: end public disorder, fight the War on Terror to a victorious finish, put America back on top. The United States, he says, is the land of winners, and winners accept no substitute for victory. Nominated on September 11, 2016, Patriot Day, he marches to an overwhelming victory that November, embraced in the streets by an American version of the post-World War 1 German Freikorps and the police who refuse to suppress them. A concerned minority is left to wonder (and tremble) at the de facto military coup that occurred so quickly, and yet so silently, in their midst.”
Click here for more.

The secret word is Stadium

SEVEN DAYS IN MAY


Click here to watch the trailer.

HELP FOR A FUG


Tuli Kupferberg, one of the founding Fugs, has had a couple of strokes in the last year and requires medical attention not covered by Medicare. (In the USA a respected artist needs charity to survive.) Fortunately a benefit will be held tonight at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY, produced by Hal Willner. Celebrating Tuli will be Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Peter Stampfel (of the Holy Modal Rounders and an original Fug), Philip Glass, Sonic Youth, Richard Belzer, and, of course, his brother Fugs. Click here for details.

A QUESTION I FREQUENTLY ASK MYSELF


Thursday, January 21, 2010

YOU’RE NOT SPARTACUS!


(The bright side of life?)

Starz are busily promoting their new cable series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. It seems heavy on sweaty Roman sex orgies and gladiator violence. Promo releases read as follows…

“Betrayed by the Romans. Forced into slavery. Reborn as a Gladiator. The classic tale of the Republic’s most infamous rebel comes alive in the graphic and visceral new series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Torn from his homeland and the woman he loves, Spartacus is condemned to the brutal world of the arena where blood and death are primetime entertainment. But not all battles are fought upon the sands. Treachery, corruption, and the allure of sensual pleasures will constantly test Spartacus. To survive, he must become more than a man. More than a gladiator. He must become a legend.”

Nowhere, however, in all of the fevered swashbuckling hype that’s posted on the net and pouring from my TV, is there any mention of the slave revolt that Spartacus supposedly inspired and no character that resembles the Spartacus described in this Wikipedia entry…

“Spartacus (c. 109–71 BCE) was the most notable leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable. Spartacus's struggle, often seen as the fight of an oppressed people fighting for their freedom against a slave-owning aristocracy, has found new meaning for modern writers since the 19th century. The rebellion of Spartacus has proven inspirational to many modern literary and political writers, making Spartacus a folk hero among cultures both ancient and modern.”

According to the Starz version, the uprising never happened, or the hideous retribution (above) and Spartacus just wanted to get home to his wife. If this is indeed the case, I suggest we boycott the shit out of this pernicious program, and demonstrate to corporate media that it can’t mess with the icons of the left and get away with it totally unscathed.

The secret word is Liberty

YES, NEIGHBOURS, THESE OLD BOYS ARE DOING IT AGAIN


I’ll be doing a reading and book signing this weekend for my book Zones of Chaos accompanied by master guitarist Andy Colquhoun. That’s on Saturday, January 23, 2009,6 pm – 9 pm, LA LUZ DE JESUS GALLERY (in the Whacko/Soap Plant Building), 4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027, 323-666-7667 Fax: 323-663-0243. All are welcome.

ONLY IN HOLLYWEIRD


The following appeared on our local Craig’s List. I can only hope these idiots get their blood drained. Victor Renquist would never do reality TV.

“Reality TV producers seek authentic vampire for new reality series. Must be a real sanguine vampire. Please send a picture and a brief history of when and how you realized you were a real vampire and details about how you live your life as a vampire.”

And in a not totally unrelated story, a friend of a friend called to say that coyotes had been spotted walking around large as life on Sunset Strip near the Roxy.

DOPPLEGANGER ETIQUETTE


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

THE YAHOOS ARE TAKING THIS LAND


Yes, my friends, despite all our efforts of a year ago, when we thought we might usher in a golden dawn and a second New Deal for America, the yahoos – if only in their fevered, tunnel-vision imaginations – are taking back the land. In their blind, baying ignorance, they suppose they’re making America safe for God and capitalism, but, in reality, they are securing it for Goldman Sachs, big oil, big pharm, big insurance, zombie banks, and all their psychotic Wall Street partners-in-larceny, so they can steal every last dollar in the national cash register even if it destroys the entire social structure and turns the environment into a wasteland in the process. Meanwhile all the limp-whimpering liberals and progressives with whom I once aligned myself continuously prove themselves lily-livered incapable of fighting back the irrational mob that has been whipped to a drooling frenzy my cheap media manipulation and corporate financing. When a racist, sexist, homophobic, nude-model ox can be elected to the Senate seat vacated by the passing of Ted Kennedy, a dour day dawns for democracy. Are our fellow citizens too fucking dumbed down to realize that this oaf – spouting meaningless drivel about how he is “against the machine” – is nothing more than a fully purchased shill for the gangrenous corporate status quo that will ultimately kill them? Is it too late to prevent the stupid from voting? Are Americans actually witless enough to hand power to a shame-devoid and calculating grifter like Palin? All I know is that the yahoos must be fought. Tooth and nail. No prisoners. No quarter. By any means necessary, and forget all the liberal niceties and cocktail party rules of engagement. They shall not pass. They show us their weapons and we must show them ours. I fear it is time to turn ugly.

The secret word is Foul

BUT YAHOOS ARE THE CONSULTANTS' CASH COW


And talking of grifters, Aeswiren sent us this story a few days ago...

“TPM Media's Zachary Roth reported earlier in the week that the political action committee that organized the Tea Party Express -- Our Country Deserves Better PAC -- funneled almost two-thirds of its spending from July to November back to the political consulting firm from which it was spawned, Russo, Marsh, and Associates. More than $850,000 of the money the supposedly grassroots PAC collected went to the firm of GOP political operatives who ran it. For those who may have forgotten, the Tea Party Express was the faux-grassroots operation that Fox News hopped aboard in late August, after the network's promotion of the health care town hall meeting disruptions but before they started flogging the 9-12 protest. (It's so hard to keep Fox's political activism straight!) It was a nationwide bus tour organized by a political action committee whose mission is to oppose President Obama and other Democrats; with a pedigree like that, how could Fox resist? Fox News heavily promoted the Tea Party Express; the Our Country Deserves Better PAC even used Fox's promotion in a fundraising email. Then Fox's Griff Jenkins hit the trail with the Express, following that bus around the country, throwing journalistic integrity aside as he declared its riders "the America that Washington forgot." But somehow, Jenkins missed out on the real story: how loyal tea-party-goers were separated from their hard-earned cash, which was funneled to fat cat Republican political consultants. Russo, Marsh, and Associates salutes you, Fox News. They could have scammed the tea partiers without you, but it probably wouldn't have been nearly as lucrative.”

ON THE OTHER HAND, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT LADIES PLAYING BANJOS?


SPACE OPERA


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

THE REACTOR IS BACK ON LINE


Over the last couple of weeks things have been a little chaotic in the Doc40 environment and a whole lot of repairing, reacting, revision, retrenching, regrouping, recouping, revisiting, rediscovery, realigning, recalculating, and recovery have been needed to keep things on an even keel, but the Tesla coils are back up and the electrons just keep on sparking, so here we are, back again, with this thermonuclear tale supplied by out pal Wendy.

“Based at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, it is used to research thermonuclear reactions - for example, what happens at the heart of a hydrogen bomb detonation. Now it has a more productive application: finding a way to fuse heavy water atoms to create fusion power. Fusion is the Holy Grail of the power industry: cheap, clean, safe and unlimited. The downside is, with current technology, the reaction is difficult to control. When the machine fires, 36 cables - each as thick as a horse's torso - spark simultaneously. The cables fire a pulse of 50 trillion watts into a target the size of a cotton reel. Inside the target is a can filled with wires finer than a human hair. The wires vaporise, creating temperatures as high as 3.5 billion degrees C, the highest ever created by man and an X-ray pulse in excess of 290 terawatts.” Click here for more.

The secret word is Fusion

PLAY A GUITAR JUST LIKE RINGING A BELL


Okay, so this clip – sent by the divine Valerie – isn’t exactly the divine Jimi, but, as the proverbial bird on a wire, worth a look anyway – so click here. (Image sent by the mighty Munz)

And – not to disappoint – click here for some rare Jimi.
Mick Green -- RIP

THE FROZDICK FAMILY


Alhambra Frozdick greatly enjoyed her new life in The Bunker.