A snip from Zerohedge. Apparently 50,000 people are protesting and asking why they have to take the haircut for the banking sectors' failure.
No shit. We march for every cause in the U.S. but apparently the one that enslaves all of us, is of no consequence.
"What hurts me the most is why is the taxpayer paying for the IMF. Why are we bailing out the banks. These are the people who took the risk, let them take the hurt, let them feel the hurt." That is the common refrain of the tens of thousands of people who took to the streets today in Dublin, protesting against the government's rescue of various European banks (and Goldman Sachs) investment losses. More from RTE: "Gardaí said that around 10,000 people started the march, however the crowd swelled to around 50,000 people as it moved down the quays. Speakers at the march had estimated that the crowd was between 100,000 and 150,000. A small group of around 400 protestors are currently at the front gates of Leinster House. Some 60 gardaí are lining the footpath in front of the building, with crash barriers erected in front of them."
You know come to think of it, the word "austerity" is just a smokescreen. I think the Irish are angry because in order to take the bailout, they have to actually make and enforce the cuts now. Feel the pain. In America, they'll just try to blow smoke up our asses until somebody finally admits we are broke. No pain for us. Yet.
A week or so ago delinated in open text here on ZH was my personal suggestion to Ireland's negotiating stance with the EU/IMF. It is based solely upon one singular, finite, inviolate principle which I do truly in my heart believe should apply, not just in this the Irish case, but all similar.
That principle is that there constitutes nothing within or by Nature or Nature's God that demands a people pay for the malfeasance of their elected government, its regulatory bodies, their public servants or criminal bankers chartered there by.
Thus, the singular and only negotiating position to be assumed is simply;
"Go fuck yourself."
The people shall not be raped for crimes they have not committed.
"Go fuck yourself."
To which the response already heard; "But but but, this may collapse the very EU and Euro, the Grand Experiment will fail!
"Go fuck yourself."
Dissolution shall be too costly!
"Why? Each entity therein already has a duplicated infrastructure, reconstituted and overlaid thereupon by the EU. Go fuck yourself."
Else so it shall go, night and day, into a seeming eternity. Layering upon an already insurmountable, devastating debt load, more of the same in order to reclaim a mere pity of a semblance, a falsely promised normalcy of life, liberty and happiness for the innocents which they themselves shall not approve.
Is corruption situational? In other words, if the environment is just right, can people be motivated to do the wrong thing?
The answer is a resounding yes. I have seen it and in fact most people reading this have seen it. I had an instructor once, a former Police Chief not unlike myself, that said that larceny exists in all men's hearts. Is that true? If so, what triggers that loss of morality? Could it be situational or environmental? Could otherwise good people, given the right set of circumstances-be corrupted?
Corruption as I use it here is not limited to bribes and tangible objects. Corruption starts as an unconscious act. A little belief that is locked in the back of our heads, that says, "if everyone else is doing it, why shouldn't I?" "Or I am the boss, I can do this if I want." That is the petri dish. To what degree that manifests itself is entirely dependent upon the environment and the circumstances. To the individual. I think we can all say we have been those people or we have seen those people. Or both.
Are we born evil or corrupt? No, we are taught this. If we know this, why then can't we risk manage it? Can we unlearn it?
As a small town Police Chief, I saw this first hand. Policing comes with a level of power and authority. Prosecutors have even greater authority and power. They can literally dismiss any charge, without appeal, when it suits them. Judges have that power. I also witnessed local politicians, motivated to stay employed and in power, willing to do whatever it took to maintain that status. Sometimes all they would do was lie when they needed to, sometimes I suspected far more egregious acts. Payoffs in the form of favors and personal gain. Not the stuffed enveloped kind, far more subtle and untraceable acts. Good deals that weren't available to anyone else or other favorable and future payoffs. In New Orleans when I landed there in 2007, corruption was completely out of control and in your face. The stuffed envelope kind. In fact, they actually celebrate and accept bribery and wrongdoing as though it is unavoidable and simply a way of life.
Having seen this, having lived this most of my life, I understand it. But what I never fully understood was what makes otherwise fairly well adjusted human beings, people from pretty solid lives, become morally, ethically, and criminally corrupt? How does that happen? It is situational. When U.S. Senator Larry Craig of Idaho was caught in that Minnesota bathroom engaged in anonymous footsie, one of the first things out of his mouth was that he was a U.S. Senator. That was the invocation of power. That was a message. I will make your life miserable, copper. People without power or influence don't have that tool available to them. I would be a liar were I to say that I haven't looked the other way on a few things in my life. And indifference is deliberate. It is cowardly and it is corrupt. But I have also addressed moral corruption. The rewards are few. The emotional toll is heavy and the targets don't come peacefully. Think about what President Obama did to Inspector General Walpin when he caught Mayor Johnson of Sacramento illegally using federal grant money. Forget that Johnson is black and an NBA player. Forget that Obama is black and a basketball player. Forget that these two are personal friends. Obama and a crooked Johnson survived. A federal prosecutor survived by joining that culture. A conspiracy of corruption and indifference meant Walpin would not survive. Obama canned him.
When you have a culture of corruption, such as the one that exists now in the U.S., what you have is deliberate indifference. It becomes perfectly understandable when properly framed. There isn't an educated soul in the U.S. that doesn't know our government and the banking industry have stolen our wealth- as homeowners and taxpayers. We get sidetracked with little arguments about people who bought houses they couldn't afford. Of course. They were needed as marks to sell home loans to. But they weren't the beneficiaries of a corrupt banking system. That they were co-opted with delusions of wealth accumulation based on their own greedy desires is part of that culture of corruption. We know the rating agencies lied. We all know all of that. What now?
I'm not sure this country can survive by ignoring this culture of corruption. It has to be addressed. Continuing to do business the same old way has no foundation or hope of a different future or a different outcome. In accepting that we all have a "little larceny in our hearts" and addressing how this happens seems like a great place to start. I snitched the vid from an article at Ace of Spades HQ. (larceny, see?) Twenty or so fascinating minutes follow.
I just wanted to say thanks for the overwhelming positive response and emails I received regarding "Bullshit and Brute Force."
A Montana native now living in Boise, I grew up hunting, trapping, and shooting nearly every day. I do manage to make it up to W. North Dakota once a year to shoot a few pheasants. Tonight, I am still in a state of shock over Boise State's loss to the Wolfpack. Ugh. Feel sorry for their placekicker. A long ride home.
It never ceases to amaze me why nothing ever gets done around here. With all of the speaking engagements, vacations, golf trips, and basketball...where does Barack find the time to actually run the country?
To be honest, I've gone soft on Obama. I'd just like to see him finish up his term with some dignity and grace without carving up the Constitution any more than he already has. If he's playing basketball- perhaps that means he's not screwing up anything. With the exception of an occasional lip.
Sheila Bair has officially joined up. Government types, even the heads of bankrupt government departments such as the FDIC, now catching on. That kind of fast acting savvy, designed to soften the blow for Dear Leader's admission that this might be something worth addressing, may usher in more patriotism in the form of American austerity.
Ten ways to slash the federal deficit by 131 billion or less than 1% of what we currently owe, like pissing on a forest fire, embedded within.
FDIC now officially the hardest working federal agency. The TSTS (too small to succeed banks) are the ones forced to realize losses. TBTF types get passes, Sheila told to stay away. http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html
Cost of unemployment mounts. The 99 ers say damn the federal deficit, we want our free money. Petition Congress. Wall Street says "we got ours, screw yours." Let them eat soup.
Maybe the government thinks it will just go away. The story, sans explanation, is two weeks old.
When I think of all the crazy shit I have heard in the last two weeks, the mystery missile is truly my favorite. Our government, which clearly acts as though it knows everything, suddenly has no explanation for the mystery missile. The experts postulated various themes. Some outlets are now claiming it was an optical illusion.
And the government asks, "Are you going to believe what I tell you, or are you going to believe your lying eyes?"
Eww...please don't be alarmed. This is not what you think it is. This is not a pile of dog shit. It is an optical illusion. I have talked to several government experts. They have reassured me that this is magma flowing out from a fissure in Manhattan.
Now I'd like to think that with all of those trillions we've spent on the military, satellite, radar, missile, and air defense systems that our money did not go to waste. Or perhaps all that hardware just went on the fritz in unison. It's odd that not one military base spotted the mystery missile and tracked it. Ya know, those crazy norks have been known to fire a missile now and then. I trust our government when it comes to deception and lying. They are professionals.
So maybe a few of you trusting souls truly believe government doesn't have a clue about the mystery missile. I don't number among you. However, if you insist on believing that- I got some magma I'd like to sell you. Cheap.
I find that each year, Thanksgiving gets a little more important to me. I like to think of it as "gratitude day."
I am grateful for a lot of things. My family and friends, good health, a nice roof over my head, a few bucks, and the luxury of being able to do what I want. I am thankful that I was born in the greatest country on earth. I hope you are too. We are blessed. Let's hope we can extend the same blessing and opportunities that we have received- to our children and the future generations that will follow us here.
Let's hope Jerry Jones shows gratitude even though his cowgirls will probably lose. Geaux Saints.
Just had to embed this. Irish cops. One of my favorite quickies.
on Sun, 11/28/2010 - 20:12
#759850
That principle is that there constitutes nothing within or by Nature or Nature's God that demands a people pay for the malfeasance of their elected government, its regulatory bodies, their public servants or criminal bankers chartered there by.
Thus, the singular and only negotiating position to be assumed is simply;
"Go fuck yourself."
The people shall not be raped for crimes they have not committed.
"Go fuck yourself."
To which the response already heard; "But but but, this may collapse the very EU and Euro, the Grand Experiment will fail!
"Go fuck yourself."
Dissolution shall be too costly!
"Why? Each entity therein already has a duplicated infrastructure, reconstituted and overlaid thereupon by the EU. Go fuck yourself."
Else so it shall go, night and day, into a seeming eternity. Layering upon an already insurmountable, devastating debt load, more of the same in order to reclaim a mere pity of a semblance, a falsely promised normalcy of life, liberty and happiness for the innocents which they themselves shall not approve.