But definitely not in the USA.

‘When our republic was created, the population ratio between the largest and smallest state was 13 to 1. Now, it’s 68 to 1. Because of the abuse of the filibuster, 41 senators representing less than 11 percent of the nation’s population can, in principle, block action supported by 59 senators representing more than 89 percent of our population. And you wonder why it’s so hard to get anything done in Washington?’ – E.J. Dionne

As Dionne says later in this piece, what an embarrassment.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_politics_of_stupidity_strikes_again_20100728/

‘..instead of paying workers well enough to allow them to buy things like cars, as Henry Ford proposed to do, companies like Wal-Mart and McDonald’s pay their workers so poorly that they can afford only the cheap, low-quality food these companies sell, creating a kind of nonvirtuous circle driving down both wages and the quality of food. The advent of fast food (and cheap food in general) has, in effect, subsidized the decline of family incomes in America.’ – Michael Pollan

Isn’t that great?  This is part of the beautiful picture that is the success of America. While she wallows in the spoils of war, her citizens are graced with the unique luxury of not only living in cars and on couches, but also eating manufactured chemical garbage that will make them sick and even kill them!

Oh, the glory of world domination.

http://www.alternet.org/food/147661/michael_pollan%3A_the_mighty_rise_of_the_food_revolution/?page=4

All ‘leaks’ have to come from somewhere. The problem isn’t where the leaks went to, it’s where they came from in the first place. U.S. ’security’ dipshits are so stupid, they would rather go after everyone who reads the leaks, than look inward at themselves – the actual source of the whole mess!

U.S. press relation security hacks claim leaks are a threat. OK, well, if so, why don’t they move to solve the leak problem which was created by themselves? Getting mad at whomever the leaks made it to is like getting mad at water that leaked in the boat. It’s actually the leak’s fault, not the water’s.

These distraction fabricators are so godamm stupid I can’t understand how any of this shit makes it into public discourse at all.  I mean, I know why Britney Spears made it – T&A and Hollywood connects. It’s not pretty but at least it’s fucking scientific.

But how in the hell does boring, idiotic,  bogus lack of intelligence make it into a press dick’s head and then manage to escape his mouth and enter the public discourse? “Wikileaks is a threat?!!” C’mon. For leaking your own shit?

This public simply refuses to discuss any issue of relevance to anything at all. I know where the money comes from and there’s plenty, but don’t they have some kind of chain of editors or quality control or something to keep this shit in check?

I mean, after all, it’s only the whole damn country we’re talking about here. At least, it used to be. Sad.

The only reason anyone has heard of Elizabeth Warren is because she is installed in the (barely) public eye as a counterbalance. If there were a total absence of sane political or financial discourse taking place publicly, well, then even the masses may eventually catch on to that. Doubtful, but the risk exists, however faint. And we know how Wall Street loves to assess risk.

But rest as ease, oh mighty insurance derivatives trader. Nobody who speaks or knows the real truth will ever be allowed to regulate Wall Street, last of all Warren. She may be allowed a podium now and again, and a fancy job description, but this kind of sanity can not penetrate politics today. It will be relegated to the lecture halls of academia.

Of course her ideas or those of Alan Grayson are used only to maintain some variety on the shelf, since actually employing them would expose the pyramid of transparency for what it really is – nothing. Nothing, that is, that could ever come close to being liquidated. And what would be the point of exposing  that, other than to uphold truth and honesty? I suppose we are still teaching our children that truth and honesty are values to uphold, but in reality these are precisely the values which, if upheld,  have the ability to dismantle the economy. Quite a conundrum indeed, but as real as the oil in the Gulf.

We know this, but isn’t it still fun to trade anyway? And who wants to trade stuff that they know has no real value? That’s no fun. It’s imperative we keep the fun in the game and pretend there is meaning to it. It’s no different than playing for toys at the carnival. We all want to win the biggest toy, no matter how many sets of balls it takes to get there. What matters is that you eventually win that huge stuffed animal.

If there weren’t any giant stuffed animals hanging behind the games, nobody would play. Whether or not the stuffed animal is worth a shit really is completely irrelevant to the activity, just like all the derivatives of derivatives of a stock which, in its purest undiluted form, may have a bloated and fictitious p/e ratio of 100 to 1, or much worse.

Stocks like these are still obviously super fun to trade. In fact, these are what comprise the entire financial sector.

Wealth on paper, wealth on Wall Street.

“As long as this country continues to succeed in killing and stealing from others, our citizens will not engage in any act of sharing,” said the president.

SOUNDS GOOD BOSS

“We didn’t kill a million Iraqis or currently invade 75 countries around the world, just to have our people  at home fighting over who gets the front seat in the SUV. Everybody should get their own SUV; we don’t need to share, that’s kind of the whole point of being an American.  So we’re banning sharing. This is a logical step that will lead to further improvements in our domestic economy.”

The move by the president was hailed as innovative, necessary, and inevitable by economists around the G-20.

“The costs imposed by a banking industry that makes its money tricking people go far beyond dollars.” – Elizabeth Warren

Nobody in Washington likes it when someone tells the truth. Here is some of that from D.C’s most unpopular figure.

You don’t have to work at the bank. You can sell insurance and build bombs too! This is Freedom Town!

http://www.alternet.org/economy/147561/elizabeth_warren%3A_big_banks_must_stop_trying_to_stall_reforms_to_the_financial_system/?page=1

Brand Obama has wilted and no longer has a spot on the end-cap. It can be found way down aisle 13 with the other failed presidents.

Unlike Toyota, which has weathered the constant onslaught of bogus PR attacking its brand, Brand Obama has no quality track record to fall back on.

For decades Toyota has provided a reliable and economic product that by performance rose to the top of the competition. Thus the brand and image is not so easily disassembled or disappeared from public scrutiny and opinion.

An overnight, bought and paid for one night stand like Brand Obama, on the other hand, has no record to speak of – just some Warhol-esque posters fluttering in the gutters of broken down cities.

Not much of a brand, is it?

But oh, will it be remembered.

While awaiting sentencing, Johannes Mehserle has admitted that in fact, instead of trying to pull his gun or his taser, what he really tried to pull out was his penis to rape Oscar Grant.

But Mehserle confesses that in all the confusion he didn’t know which way was up, and there were “so many people with cameras around.”

Michael Rains and the defense team had known for months about the so-called “third option,” but decided against presenting it to the court, considering it  in poor taste.

“We felt the third option was strong and viable, but decided to go with option number two, out of respect for our jurors and his honor,” explained Rains.

Mehserle will be sentenced for involuntary manslaughter on August 6th and we’ll see how the second-option bet plays out for the defense.

Numerous polls have shown for decades that about two-thirds of the public wants non-profit health care. The U.S. spends over double  any other industrialized nation and has way shittier care. At least 60% of U.S. doctors are for non-profit single – payer healthcare.

So who’s against this insane and antiquated idea?

Obama and insurance companies, etc.

It is rather obvious to note the discrepancy here, between what the majority wants and what actually exists. That discrepancy is what represents your freedom – in reality, not just on TV or mixed up in your stack of insurance bills.

Oakland burns after a jury consisting of zero peers finds racist killer innocent of murder.

RAINS RACIST

Johannes Mehserle continues the American tradition of white cops killing unarmed blacks and getting away with it.

The first cop ever tried in California for murder in the line of duty – if you can call spazzing out with weapons and killing unarmed black suspects while disobeying all protocol ‘duty’  (certainly the de facto definiton of police duty in the USA)- will now await sentencing and is counting the months before he walks free into a world where every single black man and many other colors will be hunting him for the rest of his life.

Burn, Oakland, burn.