eight-bit or the red-coats are coming

The military, especially the US army, has an expensive fashion-sense. I understand the role is of fatigues and battle-rattle to help keep soldiers safe and inconspicuous but a lot of changes seemed to be pushed through all at once, the repeal of DADT besides. The reviled standard issue black berets went away and combat boots changed, Velcro badges, and now the introduction of the latest camoufleur pattern to be field-tested downrange in Afghanistan. Surely, it is pricey for the government to award all these apparel contracts, and it’s at a cost to the individual solider too, who though issued uniforms end up paying for it on store credit (not to mention the dry-cleaning bills) like a carefree troop of novice flight-attendants. Here, a deploying unit is in formation with the rear-detachment, who will stay behind. The juxtaposition is interesting, and I do like the new retro-camouflage a lot better than the pixilated old one. One got used to it and I suppose the uniforms become invisible though no one really blends in. The new so-called multi-cam has a classic look, single and in the right sun, the colours almost look like a trained, super-imposition of an old Kodachrome photograph, instead of some cheap and over-done CGI special-effect.

national lampoon

A few weeks ago the Onion reported that a think tank in Washington concluded that all of America’s economic problems can be attributed to the fact it was built on top of an ancient Indian burial ground. A few weeks before that, some clever person through the looking-glass started collecting the musings and the outrage of people who do not realize that the Onion is a news parody, whose commentary probably is more telling that most journalism. That jokes and pranks can draw out the same sort of internet hissy-fits is pretty telling as well. What is truly funny does not go stale.

Vor wenigen Wochen gab die Onion ein Bericht, der kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die Depression der amerikanischen Wirtschaft erwächst vollständig aus der Tatsache, dass das Land liegt auf einem riesig, vorzeitlichem indischem Begräbnisfeld (wie im Film ,,Poltergeist’’ – hier findet man solche Kultkino Kreationen). Und aggregiert davor ein geschickt Gruppe den Empörung an Menschen ohne Kenntnisse dass die Onion haben die Nachrichten parodiert. Manchmal sagt Parodie mehr, als jede wahr Nachricht, genau wie Leichtgläubigkeit. Obwohl nichts Neues, versauern nicht was lustig ist.

good humor man or insular empire

The electronic edition of Der Spiegel (auf deutsch) picked up on a an overlooked interview on National Public Radio with a retired military commander about the grand reckoning of war costs. War is expensive all around and there are untold costs in human life and livelihood, but the economic price at least ought to be a knowable factor and bear semblance to reason and mission. It was established since years that the biggest single expense in waging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was fuel, transportation of huge amounts of it even to oil-rich lands and keeping the mammoth fleet and patrols in operation, but the NPR interview expounded on the profane detail that maintaining air-conditioning in the desert heat across America's hundreds of camps costs forty billion dollars annually.

This sort of budgeting represents more than the annual allotment for NASA, and certainly more monetary support Public Radio has seen in its life time. It is astounding what other programmes for health and well-being are being defunded in the face of a budget crisis and diverted to dubious battles. I wonder what company is realizing profits with some sham comforts-of-home argument rather than working to bring soldiers actually back to their homes. Moreover, I am sure that all the logistics are contracted out to agents that wouldn't relinquish the job without a fight and let the military do its own terraforming--or choose to forego some measure of luxury. It makes me wonder what the value of forty-billion dollars is in the end, when the Greek Tragedy and the Tea Party Budget Impasse have erupted over less and that much can just be blown out as exhaust. Dollars, given freely and without stint, are not automatically something ennobled.

artful dodger

There has been a rash of headlines from all over the United States, disturbing yet fascinating, about metal thieves poaching copper and other scrap from all sources, without discrimination or regard for safety or cost to the public. There have been multiple reports of gangs dismantling rail road tracks causing trains to derail, stripping utility poles, antique fittings and fixtures or unthreading the copper condensing tubing from air-conditioning units. To replace this old infrastructure will certainly be expensive, not even beginning to consider the hardships individuals and municipalities are facing to find support systems taken for granted have been pulled out from underneath them. These crimes are desperate, with gold and silver already priced out of the market for most--and melting pennies is not a productive activity since the copper content of cents has been replaced with zinc, and the US Secret Service, as part of its original task to prevent counterfeiting and protect the money supply's integrity, have made it illegal to deface bills and coins. I wonder what the composition of these gangs are: a pick-pocket band of Dickensian street urchins, a swarm of nano-sized robots picking things clean like termites or a plague of locusts, copper hungry Vogons, or a mad-scientist trying to build a Voltron. I wonder what this junkyard trend forebodes for the economy.

Amerikanischen Metalldiebe sind in jüngster Zeit in die Schlagzeilen geraten. Ohne Rücksicht auf die Gefahr oder öffentlichen Preis, abwerben die Bande aus allen Quellen: Bahngleise, Leitungsmasten, antik Einbau, oder Rohre vom Klimaanlagen. Das Ersetzen dieser Infrastruktur wird teuer sein, und Gemeinschaften leiden den Verlust des Unterstützungs-systemen. Diese Verbrechen sind verzweifelt versuchte. Gold und Silber halten für die meisten Leute zu kostspielig, und das Schmelzen von Pennies für Kupfer geht auch nicht--denn das Hauptmetall Zink ist. In der ursprünglichen Tagesordnung sollten die US Geheimdienst der Geldmenge wahrnehmen. Es ist strafbar, Geld zu ändern oder zerstören. Wer sind die Mitglieder dieser Rotten? Taschendiebe aus der Zeit von Charles Dickens, schwärmenden Nanotechnologie, Metall-hungrig außerirdischen Leben, oder ein verrückte Wissenschaftler mit einem grossen Projekt? Ich muss mich fragen, was genau diese Schrottplatz Entwicklung für die Wirtschaft bedeutet.

hate something, change something

The Huffington Post has put out a nice editorial piece that is a profile in account-ability and sobering recognition that it is us (all of us) that is plotting to murderlize the goose-that-laid-the-golden-egg. Desperate American and global economic reports are becoming undeniable and compel solutions--and perhaps inviting everyone to join the dialogue, instead of just those boxed into a corner already and the prophets of doom that will realize some revenue from the downfall itself. The article brings up the subject of sunk costs (spilt-milk) and the search for blame and cause in the housing crisis is a distraction. Joblessness is a much more immediate peril than diminishing resale value, projected and estimated worth--and more Americans are falling on tough times because of bleak employment opportunities. There is a lot of suffering and the government is not being a very good advocate by looking backwards. Ways to move forward would include regulatory reform, massive public-works projects, and equitable taxation. One other aspect, however, that is not being loudly discussed is amnesty and forgiveness. No business wants to sacrifice bad debt and defaults willing, but the drive to collect on everything owed, either predatorily or unwisely committed to, and lay claims to already saturated industries is putting too much pressure on the goose.

Das Huffington Post hat ein nettes Heraus-geberstück (auf englisch) ausgestellt, das ein Profil in der Verantwort-lichkeit und ernüchternder Anerkennung ist: uns selbst (wir alle) hatte, der die Huhn, die goldene Eier legt, geschlachtet. Verzweifelte amerikanische und globale Wirtschaftsberichte werden unleugbar und fordern Lösungen. Vielleicht lädt diese Aufmerksamkeit jeden ein sich anzuschließen. Vielleicht jetzt wird das Gespräch auf Profitmacher nicht eingeschränkt. Die Suche nach Schuld in der US-Immobilienkrise wird verlorene Aufwendungen. Wertvermehrung ist weniger wichtig als Erwerbsarbeit. Es gibt viel Leiden, und die Regierung ist unverantwortlich, indem sie immer nur zurückblicken. Reform-Dialog, öffentlichen Aufträgen, und Steuerreform kann wegweisend sein. Zusätzlich gibt es die Idee von der Amnestie und Schuldenerlasse. Keine Gesellschaft will einen Gewinn verpassen, aber Gier tötet das Huhn.

invisible hand

More and more people are beginning to realize that those bellows that fed the world economy have dwindling endurance when it comes to long-term forecasts. America is no different than nations labeled on the verge of insolvency that threaten to destabilize the European monetary union, except for the important fact that the US is rotting from the inside out. In municipalities across the US, local jobs and revenue have vanished, partially because of debt and default precipitated by the Housing and Mortgage Crisis that culls less in property taxes and restricts what services local governments are able to support. Without civil salaries to contribute to private economy and without the need for contractual services to supplement the public sector, America will never be able to not only inspire confidence but also have that faith backed by faith and not performance, since there is little opportunity for entrepreneurship either. Compared to the fundamental problems of the jobs market, the idea of the legal debt ceiling seems like an abstract codicil that makes things sound even worse. It is a little less embarrassing than a shut-down, but that the US government is running day-to-day operations, having surpassed its allowable borrowing limit, with accounting tricks, is also not very inspiring.
Faced with the same prospect of sovereign default as Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal, Europe's "local" crises and the US regional market health could seem very similar but that comparison is, I think, superficial. Stewardship of public monies may have been lax and greed turned each government on to the wrong kinds of schemes, and as a result, government services will suffer and are being curtailed. Failure of government to be able to look after the welfare of citizens to the point where taxation becomes oppressive, there is less and in return, and young people are forced to leave home for hope of better employment is tragic and never overstated, but Default and remediation are far less important than keeping peace and prosperity and are far less mortal when there is something behind that veil of national creditworthiness and balance of trade.

Jetzt beginnen Immer mehr Menschen, das die Wirtschaftsmotoren verlieren weiter an Schwungkraft, warzunehmen. Amerika ist nicht anders als jene nationalen Wirtschaften, die der Stabilität der Europäischen Union drohen, außer der Zusammenbruch von innen heraus. Stellen und Umsatzkomponente werden in den Gemeinden im ganzen Land abgebaut, auch weil das Immobilienblase droht. Kommunalverwaltungen verlassen sich auf Vermögenssteuern, und Häuser haben Wert verloren. Ein Dominoeffekt folgt, der die Wirtschaft nicht zu fördern. Ohne beide staatlich und privat Geld kann Vertrauen in American wiederherzustellen. Sicherheit im Arbeitsmarkt kann sich mit Erhöhung dem Neuverschuldung vergleichen, aber es ist für die Regierung peinlich wenn die Ablauf des Alltagsbetriebs halten mit Buchführungstricks am Laufen. Angesichts die selber Staatsschuldenkrise wie Europas ortsspezifischen Problems, an der oberflächlich ähnliche aber strukturell verschiedene Aufgaben nacheinander bearbeitet werden, könnten nun einer ehrlicheren Analyse bedürfen. Der Schutz von öffentlichen Geldern war sehr locker, und Habgier verursachte die falschen Arten von Investitionen. Somit öffentliche Dienste werden verkürz. Der Verlust der Chance für die einträgliche Beschäftigung und bedrückende Besteuerung ist Misserfolg der Regierung. Dieser tragische und wird nie übertrieben, aber Verzug und Wiedervermittlung spielen keine so große Rolle viel als das Halten des Friedens und Wohlstands. Solche Dinge sind viel weniger Sterblicher, wenn es etwas hinter diesem Schleier der nationalen Kreditwürdigheit und des Handelsbilanz gibt.

senatus

An interesting German jobs market report came out of Leipzig, which mirrors one aspect of the anemic employment recovery in the US.

The analysis of career prospects for younger people entering the workforce shows that wages and chances of meaningful advancement are relatively low compared to historical levels. Even though the fluctuating US unemployment numbers sometimes suggest improvement, deeper scrutiny, however, reveals that there is disproportionate joblessness for younger people and those jobs that are returning are not nearly of the caliber of those that were lost and are not coming back. Despite Germany's Wirtschaftswunder, poor prospects and disenfranchisement for the young led all countries towards gerontocracy, rule by the council of elders that can turn into feelings of oppression. Wise, experienced counsel ensures good governance and continuity but also tends to want to maintain its own standard of living, and there are simply not enough resources, conventionally, on the poor old planet to keep billions, young and old, professional engaged. Incumbents of course should not be edged out and I think that would be a nightmare form of labour revolt, persecuting the past generation for the sake of up-and-comers--and a strange reversal of the retirement-contribution paradox. People everywhere need to become innovative in creating markets sustainably, and not jobs tethered to old profligate ways. Business is about scarcity but need for service and fulfillment is virtually inexhaustible.

Ein Leipziger deutscher Job-Marktbericht ist interresant, und dieser Bericht ist einem Aspekt des schwachen amerikanischen Wirtschaftsaufschwungs ähnlich. Berufsaussichten für jüngere Leute, die in die Belegschaft eingehen, haben niedrigere Löhne und weniger Chancen der bedeutungsvollen Förderung. Gegen oberflächliche Indikatoren der Verbesserung gibt es noch hohe Arbeitslosigkeit für junge Leute, und die Qualität von Jobs sind nicht dasselbe wie zuvor. Trotz Deutschlands Wirtschaftswunder führten schlechte Aussichten und Entmündigung für den Jungen Leuten alle Länder zu Gerontokratie. Weisheit und Erfahrung machen gute Regierung und Kontinuität aber es bewahrt auch selbst. Es gibt nicht genug Mittel (im klassischen Sinn) auf diesem Planeten, um Jobs allen zu geben. Die ältere Generation sollte nicht entlassen werden, um der jüngeren Generation zu helfen. Das würde ein Albtraum sein, und es macht Finanzierungsruhestand paradox. Kreativität muss Jobs unabhängig von alten Denkarten, beschränkten Mitteln und Marktluftblasen. Geschäft ist Knappheit, aber das Bedürfnis nach dem Dienst und Erfüllung wird nie erschöpft. Geschäft ist Knappheit, aber das Bedürfnis nach dem Dienst und Erfüllung wird nie erschöpft.

the tender trap or american woman, stay away from me

Not to come across as an advocate for the sainthood of any of the financial overlords, nor to trivialize assault, violence or any one feeling violated, but this recent juxtaposition of possible smear and defamation with American puritanical sensibilities strikes me very much as a fabrication. Intimacy and affairs have always been weaponized into public scandal, and this is maybe an emerging trend for political ballast, smacking of the not so long ago treatment of the public face of the Wikileaks' release or even the sad and petty portrayal of bin Laden's home life. Human nature can be an awful thing and past deportment and hubris do not suggest otherwise, but the account equally folds with a few rationalizations, though this is the divisive country that squandered years on the indiscretions of a president, moralizing leadership away. Likewise, the US, as a dues-paying member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), could be poised to take advantage of this disgrace to argue that caretaker position ought to be returned to clean American hands. This would be especially opportune as the yet more abstract upper-limit to America's debt burden has been reached and breached and close-control has become necessary to guide resolution.

Nichts als Verfecter für des Heiligtums eines der Finanzoberherrn rüber zu kommen, noch Vergewaltigung mit keinem Wort schmälern, aber dieses letzten Nebeneinander vom Diffamierung und puritanischen Lebensstil kommt mir vor wie Lügenmärchen. Affäre sind immer als Waffe benutz, und dies ist wahrscheinlich eine künftig und politisch Trend, das dem des Wikileaks und die Darstellung der bin Laden recht ähnlich ist. Schrecklichkeit liegt in der menschlichen Natur, und ihre Vergangenheit deuten nicht anders, aber das richtige Story ist vergleichweise misstrauisch, so auch bei der Nation lange endeten unentschieden nur wegen Skandal. Gleichermaßen, der US als beitragszahlenden Mitglied der IWF (der internationale Währungsfonds), so könnte man argumentieren, dass die Leitung sollte zur americanische saubere Hände zurückgegeben warden. Es ist ein günstigen Zeitpunkt, an die Macht kommen, wegen hohes Defizit des Staatshaushalts und eine hohe Verschuldung.

suspension of disbelief or not the droids you're looking for

The White House press apparatchiks have collectively agreed to stop staging photographs, after a routine set-up to capture and archive the announcement of the operation to intercept bin Laden has apparently fueled doubt and rumours that that undertaking was itself faked. Everyone, I think, realizes that such images, intended to be iconic and for posterity, are posed and composed, and the media as well as officials participated in this harmless polishing. It is dangerous, however, should the press alters the substance of the news on behalf of the government, with smear campaigns and the usual bread and circuses. I think there is no mean intent behind this very clever Darth Vader parody, which makes the stakes and reaction skewed through inversion, but maybe co-opting that image in this way also encouraged the press corps to change their theatre.

who invited debbie downer or not merely dead but really, most sincerely dead

Though opinions usually only take a few seconds to cement, especially when already agreeable to one’s conscience, developments that 9-11 mastermind and reclusive Osama bin Laden has been assassinated by an American military team in a mansion in Pakistan take some time to digest. Though I would not want to veer toward the Teabag movement who’d surely not acknowledge that US president Obama could accomplish anything good until and unless a notarized copy of the death certificate is produced and I also wonder if these cryptic tracking devices uncovered embedded in some popular mobile device’s operating systems also mightn’t have hoisted bin Laden by his own petard (“This application would like to use your current location – Allow / Do not Allow”)—having moved on from dispatches via cassette tapes, timing and distraction are always factors that need to be considered.

Because the military-industrial complex and internal politics generally benefitted from having a boogey- man of semi-legendary stature who also conveniently made it acceptable to equate a religion with terrorism, I am disinclined to believe anything other than the opportunity presented itself and this ongoing hunt was concluded. There are many, however, who ascribe themselves to the opinion that the former president instigated the tragedies of nearly a decade past in order to boost his own flagging office and have a reasonable excuse to prosecute war. Given all the calamities that America faces, not least of which is its declining importance on the world stage, it does not seem outrageous that some side-show might be performed to boost the people’s spirits, especially with perpetual campaigning. In the heat of the moment, possibly the siege could not have had a different outcome, but I don’t understand all this blood-lust and surely in terms of obtaining useful insight and intelligence, it would have been better to have captured him alive. Although Saddam Hussein was taken prisoner, some claim that justice was carried out so swiftly precisely because he’d spill some awkward truths that his executioners rather not hear.

poll tax or right-of-return

Thanks to the vigilance of BoingBoing, since the machinery of bureaucracy usually does not garner much attention and was only noticed due to a mandated window for public commentary (on the particulars but not the process) that has since closed, maybe the US government, intoning another refrain of its swan song, will not be able to raise the stakes on what its people will tolerate not without some dissent. First of all, who knew there was this forum for soft-suffrage, being able to offer one's opinion, for what it's worth on American policy--for maybe gauging outrage and deciding how to bury reporting on the changes? I suppose public-opinion would be an excellent inverse-marketing tool. In essence, the passport application process will become an impossibly difficult task, with a revised questionnaire that mines deeply into the applicant's past and genealogy.

For now, the arduous task is supposedly reserved for those who cannot produce an official copy of their birth certificate (giving this new gradient of bureaucracy a strange twist with one faction calling the current presidency illegitimate and questioning his citizenship), but I am sure there will be some seepage of red ink and maybe all applicants will be expected to submit all these answers--which are more in depth than the battery of questions one must answer (if not correctly then at least consistently) for a security clearance. Moreover, delving that deeply into one's past and familial relations create assumptions and affinities before individuals have the chance to decide for themselves--not to mention. That sort of concentration of personal data--extended enough so as to form anyone's complete biography, connected to a machine-readable, RFID document also seems rather ill-advised.  I am not certain what ought to be read into breadth of questions and answers but controlling movement (as America has already pioneered in the name of air-security) has at least what the propaganda would have us believe about liberties of underclass in Soviet times and with Soviet objectives. Making it more difficult to obtain a passport leave more stranded on Exceptional Island, and discourage the cultural exchange, travel, commerce and exploration that all should have the opportunity to experience.

scylla & charybdis

 Negotiations of how US fiscal policy amid the drone of political dishonesty from both parties and amateur and professional analysis is coursing through some dire straits and neither route presents a very positive outlook: either the US risks its standing as a beacon of creditworthiness and cheap, liberal monetary charisma by restraining spending and letting darling-debt lapse temporarily or the US steers to rarify its currency even further by printing more, risking hyper-inflation that could take decades to recover from, if ever. Restraint--done honestly, does not mean dismantling of all social and civic programs that government provides but rather closing the disparity in taxation and enforcement of taxation, corporate welfare and exodus of labour.

Libraries, medical and scientific research, consumer protection, parks and recreation--as well as public assistance and protection--are all potential good things that should not be whittled to meaninglessness for the sake of the profits and portfolios of a few who apparently need not stoop to public amenities. Truthful sacrifices and compromise must be wielded by all sides, and there should be enough collective stamina to face the realities that could come with a temporary default, which is still preferable to financing an endless downward spiral.

bucket brigade and bail-in

Collusion, conspiracy seems to play a big part in commercial affairs, especially when deferment, demurring on the inevitable, is playing an event larger role. Adventures in the Middle East, under U.N. sponsorship, are proving costly but sorties were inspired by the misapplication, transference of one uprising to another.

The pressure to act or react, according to a naïve paradigm, has anchored military and statecraft to a civil war or a tribal war, an internal affair, that even the rebel forces are finding awkward and unwieldy. Meanwhile, the same precedence that's potentially prejudiced with misjudgment hangs over the Ivorians, Syrians and the Iranians. Procrastination and bickering over nuance and semantics has been another form of deferment for the US government, interested in defanging, surgically certain programs. Kettled though undeterred, there is another uprising being organized, different though inspired by protests in the UK and witnessing what can be accomplished elsewhere, that aims to garner maximum attention, and make the beneficiaries of all this strife and delay take notice. There is a huge disconnection between economic health and the health of a people, of a nation--no matter what's selling, which is only proportional to the disconnection between the classes.

Solidarity and education are certainly powerful, but when fundamental problems are not addressed and too much profit is skimmed off of that dawdling, conspiring forces are invited in: with sovereign default and shutdowns looming, the spectre of meddlesome quagmire and people financially alienated, these major banks and their familiars only need the bad press of sunshine.

a working-class hero is something to be

A Washington, D.C. journal featured an important and intensely personal account of the how being out of work changes a person and a family, affecting one's dignity, attitude and outlook. It is absolutely crushing, gathering small blessing nonetheless, how the writer realizes that America has become a plutocracy, a kleptocracy and the only relatively safe careers are those that appeal to the vanities of the wealthy.

For the writer's intended audience, such transformations should be obvious and prevented, dealt with sympathetically, but just as hard as her revelations are about the state of affairs, understanding the consequences of unemployment or underemployment can be very difficult, for those spared the brutality and the insult.

The struggle is different for any individual anywhere, but it is nearly impossible to fathom for many Europeans, where the chance to live the American dream is still possible for immigrants and natives alike, who are rarely confronted with threats of eviction or a constant plague of bounty-hunter debt collectors or shudder in the absence of any sort of meaningful social safety-net, recourse or cushion. Sincerely, I hope that no one ever need to go through this, especially with the lowered expectations that globalization brings, disgust and futility with the ability and impetus to organize and protest against injustice even taken away.  One hopes, as well, that the message of this story shared is received and that awareness and empathy increases.

in the meantime, in between time, ain't we got fun?

The newest, latent source of worry--though it is hard to tell from the volume of the shouting, is the threat of a US federal government budget impasse. Despite all the suspense dates, reporting requirements, fiat debt-ceilings and endless bureaucracies in place, this body of lawmakers has ignored its own rules, and failing to agree on a fiscal budget, has funded day-to-day operations through a series of so-called "continuing resolutions," an allowance every two or three weeks of a few billion dollars. If no compromise on funding is reached very soon, then the US government will be forced to suspend operations--selectively--or risk defaulting on its obligations--that is, paying dividends on bond-issues, their debt held by foreign governments, outstanding contracts to private business, and social services. I can remember the Government Shutdown of 1995-1996, as I was living near the Washington, DC area and I remember making the trek up there by public-transportation--which always seemed impossibly difficult, but on returning recently for my college reunion, I realized that those distances that seemed so insurmountable and bothersome were greatly diminished--to see a special exhibit at the National Gallery.

Of course, the museums were closed due to the budget crisis (precipitated by the current president's infidelity) and a massive snowball fight ensued on the Mall. This time, the perspective is a bit different: one side claims the other is too willing to pare down social programs too far, saying that they would force such a stand-off in order to eradicate the vestiges of health-care reform. Maybe one side is certain that recipients of US government welfare programs, patrons of federal institutions or services, is restricted to the other side and believe ending such programs would not adversely affect their base. Attempting reform through such jarring methods, however, is not so well thought out. Furloughing all the hundreds of thousands of citizen and soldier employees of the Ministry of Truth, over and above the loss of support services, will cause that economy to crumple at light-speed with loss of purchasing-power, missed payments, tight credit, and an already fragile economy whose jobless recovery was being sustained by government-staffers in the first place. A few days' worth of late installment-payments and deferred spending will be tormenting, however contained, and will quickly creep to the world's markets.

They won't smash up our Pierce Arrow,
We ain't got none
They've cut my wages
But my income tax will be so much smaller
When I'm paid off,
I'll be laid off
Ain't we got fun?

coal in your stocking

There seems to be quite a bit of trafficking in back-handed compliments lately. The US Federal Communications Commission is floating a bill ostensibly promoting net-neutrality but is really a wolf in sheep's clothing, since its language gives the bureaucracy a substantial foothold in pushing regulations and standards. Aside from making muffling dissenters and broadcasters less bothersome for government censors, facilitating internet taxation, and requiring a license to tweet mirroring the government's own information assurance and non-refutability model, setting policy, like the creeping scourge of US monetary policy, extra-territorially. The internet is borderless and lawless but leverage can still be exercised, and such indirect and diverted influence is the only really the only arsenal that the crippled dollar can afford. The untold billions that America has underwritten through the International Monetary Fund, despite the yielding value of the currency and threats of inflation, to bolster the European Union is more shaky scaffolding, increasing dependence on the continued shared economical delusion. If the IMF conducted itself more becomingly in First World nations, as opposed to opportunistic and predatory ventures, why should Ireland have put up so much resistance to easy credit? Maybe there are not nascent military dictatorships to prop-up in Dublin or desalinization plants to push, but there are certainly chances to pout over failures to act in alignment with free-market traders, cooperation over environmental protection, policy cheerleading and centralized blacklisting, or the world-internet police. Let us hope that some key players have a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Future this year.

who carried on his shoulder a siamese cat

Diplomacy is not duplicitous and is nothing if not transparent and truthful--thought not espousing or pretending that all the details are baldly set forth for debate. Personally, I am not sorry at all for America's spillage of information and opinions that was never meant to be cast out in the open, since America readily and gleefully reserves the right to monitor any and all habits, activities and communication of any one, and with no cause.

These revelations, however, will bring about no reform, an attitude adjustment or even more caution about what one commits to email. Although such empty concepts as information-security or private-email are oxymorons, and such a daisy-chain is amazingly tough and long-lived, I believe rather than giving government officials cause to question seepage, whether it is necessary to disseminate data scattershot and indiscriminately, reward staff with super-secret clearances, or horde and encourage all and sundry to contribute to the glut of data. Any piece of covert or private knowledge is only protected by a herd-mentality--the private doings of most are not the focus of a tenacious investigation and carry little to no public interest, and while the medical histories of anyone could be plucked out of the ætherher, usually the government, press and businesses are overwhelmed with too rich a selection of low-hanging fruit. Instead of taking this leak as a point of departure, to evaluate attitudes or disposition of digitizing communications--of which, emails are not final testimony and should be never taken as such, regardless of password integrity and security obstacles--cooperation and exchange will only wither away. Turf-battles have already resulted in a lot of damaging resistance to share valuable insights, ending in missed opportunities and catastrophe. Keeping tabs on every anonymous member of the horde across all disciplines created this mentality and this blossoming mess. Diplomacy serves to promote collaboration, and it is ironic that the revealed state of the US ambassadors will yield tighter controls and tightfistedness.

abwesenheit von lärm

“Meine Damen und Herren,” German Interior minister de Maizière began in a press-conference, “there is cause for concern but no cause hysteria,” citing foreign intelligence that gave more substantial leads on a possible terrorist plot to carry out attacks in Germany at the end of November. Such news could also transform into nebulous and scary, but necessarily de Maizière cautioned that response and vigilance should not negatively affect the hallmarks of a free society. Some critics claim the minister and whole security apparatschik for not sharing the urgency that the US unloaded a few weeks past about an even vaguer threat fear the blowback when something might materialize: at the time, it was offered that there was not need to change routine; now however, de Maizière excused this press conference precisely because people might see their daily routines disrupted—there might be a more noticeable police presence, and he just though “the public to know why.”

To call it a tempered and reasonable response sounds like the political talk that signifies nothing, but it is refreshing and affirming that not only are scare-tactics not unleashed wontingly, though the statement was brief, the news is also constantly repeated, including all the admonishments, with analysis and the public parsing every word. It is a lot different than in the US where measures, arguably morale crushing and furthering submissiveness, are only escalating. Statistics record that with the past decade tragically about three thousand people perished as a result of terrorist related air travel, albeit mostly on one day. When draconian response is not at all commiserate, then the boogeymen need do nothing else.

ornithopter or kid icarus

The aerodynamics of the American economy many individuals, and not just those solely concerned with the next boom and bust cycle or their own portfolios, have declared a dangerous drag on the world's financial health. American enterprise and innovation, somewhat shrouded in mystique and mythos like the notion of American exceptionalism, have been repackaged and resold over and over again, exhausted like a field over-farmed and never allowed to fallow--until only the service job-set, from brokers and financial advisors to hotels and restaurants to traders, are the only businesses going. Being ravenous from the easy, non-committal profits from trafficking and spell-binding in exotic financial instruments on speculation and forgiving credit, has successfully driven the US out of manufacturing and any meaningful industry. The stock market is not the same as the market place, and there is ample evidence that this too can thrive with a bit of diligence and discipline, because the gradient for honest commerce is still sustainable, but the Americans may end up excluding themselves, desiccating their wealth and not be the world's bursar any longer, with sufficient quantitative-easing and policies that undercut the natural equilibrium of others. Aside from losing the US consumer as a potential customer, the escalating panic of free-fall will snatch out for any support it can reach, beggar-thy-neighbour, and throw down possible cushions for the hard landing.

no theatre

Maybe enough has already been said about the impact of the re-dyeing of the US in redder tints, and what it means to liberals and the progressively-minded--without restoring to sour-grapes.  Maybe a lot of crypto-Republicans were replaced with representatives whose stance is clearer, and the issues that conservatives and opponents of the current regime hope to errode or otherwise gloss over do not simply sublimate, regardless of all the the in-fighting, busking, gerrymandering, filabustering or creation of pseudo-scandals that they can muster.  This vote, and unfortuneately not so different from many campaigns the world-around, was low content and low context, despite advancements that were jeopardized by a populace too weary to abide on patience and promise any longer, and should not be broadly interpreted as more than frustration and opportunism.  Blame excuses nor solves nothing and only serves to make hypocrisies all the more haunting.