Stories of war have swamped us for years. They come back with every new set of warriors ready to play their parts. The grip of war is rarely told from the vantage of the civilian. “Hotel Rwanda” is the movie that stands out recently for its attempt at showing us war from the civilian side. It fails to fully hit, since it cannot answer the two major questions posed by war. It is a good effort, but partial. There isn’t enough of shared language, form, prior examples to rely upon to make its points to the audience.
You can stay out of the fight. Stay clear of the blood. But you cannot stay out of the guilt.– webionaire
There aren’t levels of good in an evil situation, there are only quantities. Your guilt is based on the numbers you kill, not your reason. Israel should have learned this, but they have not. There is never a good time for war, never a good war. Oddly over the past 50 years we have demonstrated, but not learned, the central truth about modern warfare:
War Is Never Won, It just Takes A Break.
Israel is now playing out its part, thinking that they are the heros. They do this every few years. Perhaps the Israeli government, or maybe our own, should issue machetes to every man woman and child so they could march across the borders and take out God’s vengeance. Maybe with machete in hand, satsifaction in the crunch of bone, the smell of fresh hot blood, the screams of fear from civilians and hatred from soldiers. Perhaps this mix of Christmas Blood Pudding would fertilize the tree of peace. Perhaps this blood, bricks, bombs, and bile is just more feed for the God Of War.
You can never kill them all, but you can try.
And the world will let you.
slash and burn. back slash. backlash. the gop looks for a new tag.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
It strikes me as I make shepherd’s pie this day that over the past five generations I have achieved a status by which I’m not sure that I can afford this poor man’s meal. I look around the kitchen, scattered over every surface are pots, pans, specialty mashers, bowls. Metal and glass is everywhere. All this for a humble poor man’s meal, which someone could call “mashed potatoes on top of dry lamb stew” but instead is called shepherd’s pie. And I love it. Now back to the warmth of Sedona, wood, sun, food.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Listening to Nora. thinking about Lessing. remembering lessons. I arrive at the bank of this river, two sides unbounded. this is the generation that is all thumbs. quick on the Rimm without a hand on handles. able to text, unable to speak. able to cut and paste, unable to use scissors, saws, tape or glue. Nora can pick a song. Nora has a sound. Nora is unable to decide between her sounds. Sounds not hers, but those she hears. She is tethered to voices she does not own. Voices not her own. Voices from before her, but not her past.Nora is a great sound without a song of hers. Her generation, this generation has nothing of their own, only copies they cannot understand. They are buyers not builders. A nation of mall walkers. Teenaged mall walkers. We have made ourselves into shadows.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Where was the SEC in all this, I mean…. — On Air Free Marketress
Ask yourself, where was the “market” in this Madoff affair? Isn’t the market self correcting, able to police and monitor itself. Don’t millionaires have the skills and savvy to guard themselves, hire brains they don’t have. Isn’t that the goal of capitalism, everyone for them-self, for their own profits.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Tools of the tirade
The next episode in his ongoing scheme building a ponzi show in which he convinces you he is doing the work.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
tony blair, bush rewrite their failures, masking their error with fear. they were so afraid of being wrong that they were. they were wrong in the worst possible way, killing.
we want our leaders to lead not be lead. we credit them with full power. power to use their imagination, to use our power, even giving our lives. we expect that they will know more than we do, that they will admit error, their failure of judgement. otherwise, they have misused their position, our trust and worst for the world, they have abused us. they abuse civilization when they lie to us in this way, denying their error. history is populated by cowards, this just adds two more to that heap.
that no one knew, yet the very UN inspectors sent in knew and told. The inspection teams told the world in time to have stopped the dogs. Obviously not in time, not this time. I hope historians will not be kind to the idiot Bushovics. Cowards in times of war. Cowards still about their failure. Dishonest to us, to themselves, to the future. That is how I remember them, Bush and Blair. That’s what I hope the future pisses out on their snow covered graves. Drink a beer and piss on them for me future sons of war.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Let the market decide. The market guarantees failure. Markets shape profit. Markets form around needs.
When we say the market decides, do we also mean it is correct? Don’t we really just mean we don’t know, so let someone, something, some other process do the work, make the decisions? We are all rational, dumb as stumps, self interested economic agents that together form the genius of crowds. Sounds like the perfect oxymoron. Like a puzzle guaranteed to delude. These pieces don’t fit, because they come from different games. You will never put this together again.
Consider Detroit. The market for cars is a compound market. Cars require two things not supplied by the Car Companies, fuel and credit. Actually, several auto companies provide credit, but to do this they buy money from other commercial services. Those banker (aka Wall Street) guys. They have never managed the main cost, fuel. They never even consider it, nor do you. Typical costs to make a car are 10% labor, 75% materials, the rest goes to the sales, marketing and profit. But given the typical life span of a post 90’s automobile the cost of maintenance is twice the labor cost of building it.
Reconsider Detroit.
They failed to see the market changes.
Yep, they didn’t anticipate the pain of price that occurred this past year. They failed to anticipate the loss of credit that occurred this past quarter. How much money did you make by anticipating these same events? Millions, billions, anything? The genius of Toyota is that they followed their government’s requirements on fuel efficiency. The ignorance of Detroit is that they followed the American Consumer’s desire for big bold metal on wheels. Detroit gave us two couches and an entertainment center so we could feel impressive, affluent. Like a double dipped ice cream cone with four scoops, super-sized sodas and beer by the bucket. Follow the market means you crash in the fog.
It was only last year that business TV commentators were remarking that the market would never need hybrids. It was a government intervention that would have unexpected (meaning bad) consequences. That the market was the only means of discovering need. Too bad that markets work best by rear view mirror. Perhaps the vanity mirror for the little commentators needs better lighting options. Yah, that ought to do it.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
We have lost the war, but have won the argument. We control the debate as well as set out the definition of such terms as, economy, success, innovation, socialist, conservative. Even though we, by having entered and escaping the devastation of World War Two, have set the standard for economic success ever since 1942.
Unfortunately for the world at large, they can’t see their own advantage. At least not as clearly as they need in order to use, to achieve more, without us. in other words, since they continue to lag us, not in effort but in argument. They continue to play follow the leader instead of playing leap frog. So much for the advantage of nations.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Make a mark on the paper. Take up either a hard or soft lead pencil. You will be able to make a mark, but what is that mark? Consider this phrase:
Success Through Failure
Does this mean succeeding because you have failed, or, succeeding even though you have failed? Does failure precede, perhaps produce success, or, does success occur because you survive a time of failure. A time that others are failing, dying. If success depends upon surviving, what happens to the concept of the supposed advantage of risk? Is innovation a big new step, or a timid easy next step?
marksist manifestations
