http://screations.livejournal.com/

Elizabeth I became Queen of England and Ireland, marking the beginning of the Elizabethan era.

~I watched the network news tonight and heard not a single word on India landing a probe upon the moon. Didn't hear anything about the last Space Shuttle mission of 2008 either for that matter. Lots of Economic Panic of course, which is understandable.

But here's the thing. No matter what we do to pull ourselves out of this crisis, rebuilding our infrastructure, moving ahead with biotechnology, nanotechnology, alternative energy, and so on, none of that will offset the loss of our premier position in space.

The key to our species' future is in space and right now China and India are posed to become the leaders in that future. ( And we are dawdling... )

The American News Project traveled to Winchester, Virginia to get Joe Bageant on video, talking about his book Deer Hunting with Jesus, the upcoming election, corporate control of damn near everything, and why poor people without medical insurance are opposed to expanded access to health care. On its web site introduction, the American News Project described Joe's book as "one of the most prescient pieces of analysis about American politics and culture in this election year."

The seven-minute video closes with 20 seconds of Joe picking his mandolin and singing.

-- Ken Smith, October 29, 2008

[Source]

~Below is a the fourth article by Joe Bageant's pal [literary alter-ego?] An Anonymous Political Consultant. The things he says here have a bowel twisting accuracy that unnerves me. I shall post excepts from this over the next few days, ones that I believe need to be examined individually in order for them to truly sink in. This whole piece is nearly indigestible as a single meal.( Read more... )

~Some troll commented on The Day After a few hours ago. Half of what they said was the usual recycled and distorted dogshit pushed by Troll Cluster Two; personal attacks upon me and a dissing of The Temple etc. This person is on the Flist of a friend, but that they went back an entire week to make the comment indicates a trolling, not a random find.

I mention this only because of one thing they said, “The Republic doesn't need you...”

Right, The Republic only needs people like you, the ones who will reflexively and fanatically rubber stamp an Obama administration - exactly like the morons who reflexively and fanatically rubber stamped the Bush 43 administration – and have decided that those of us who reject that notion should all just STFU.

Well, sorry, assholes, I am precisely the kind of person The Republic needs, not you little Dem/Repug Hipster/Freeper mash-ups.

I remember these little fascists from various political threads last spring, preaching Hope and Change while vomiting all over anyone who had even the slightest doubts about their New Leader. The worst example I personally know is MzFlux, who got viciously hysterical at my decision and then allowed herself be recruited by some of the nastiest trolling low lifes I have encountered to date.

She and the rest who are like her richly deserve the political assfucking that is coming their way. After growing up in the Modern Corporate Marketing Culture, all this lot knows is Marketing, and all that has happened here is that they have been sold a New Product.

Now I have no problem whatsoever acknowledging that Obama is a Very High Quality Product, but that makes him no less of one. The Oligarchy scouted him, picked him, groomed him, and positioned him. We were allowed to say little more than Yay or Nay.

Yes, that is a very discomforting thought. It means that in order to truly create Change, one has to go far outside of one's comfort zone, maybe let go of many of the goodies that the Social Order supples, shit like iPods and the hottest new band and 'hanging out being cool'.

Whatever....

For those who are really interested contextualizing all this, I created a new category; Memorable Election 2008 Entries.

As for the rest of you, well, unlike Dubya, I suspect Obama will at least give y'all a 'reach around'. lol

~Below is the tenth and final episode of The First World War. I post it instead of any sentimentalist remembrance of that futile bloodbath.

Summer 1918. The last German offensive failed to break the Allies. Unrest bordering on revolution at home spread demoralization to the German army. The central Powers's alliance was crumbling with Turkey exhausted, Bulgaria beaten, and Austro-Hungary trying to work its own armistice with the Allies.

The situation was ripe for a decisive Allied victory if only they would have the will to launch a great offensive. But who would want to press on the fighting when the war is obviously nearing its end?

Failure to reach a decisive military victory, coupled with vindictive terms of armistice imposed upon the German would undo all the sacrifices paid on the battlefields, sowing the seeds for the next great war in Europe.

The First World War - War Without End 1/6

The First World War - War Without End 2/6

The First World War - War Without End 3/6

The First World War - War Without End 4/6

The First World War - War Without End 5/6

The First World War - War Without End 6/6

~I went to the local polling place first thing this morning, 7am. There were about 80 to 100 people in line and someone was 'speaking loudly and aggressively' inside. I left and went to Micky D's for some Sausage with Egg and Cheese McMuffins.

I felt utterly wrung out when I got back here. Truth is, I had literally fled the polling place. I thought, “I'll wait for a while and try later.” Then the exhaustion hit me and I lay down. That was a little before nine.

I slept until a quarter after one and awoke to an awful realization; I can't do it. I simply cannot bring myself to vote in this election. It's a physically palpable rejection of the event.

Part of me truly wants to. I mean, fuck me, that part, what I could call my Inner Citizen, demands that I do so. He's a right fucking Roman asshole about it, Civic Duty as Sacrament. Even as I type these words he screams at me in Frustration and Shame. “Lier! Coward! Hypocrite!”

But I cannot....

This is why I was so Jumpy and Twitchy this morning. This revelation has been forcing its way to the surface for days. I cannot bring myself to participate in this...charade? Con game? *shrug* Even now that Inner Citizen will not allow me to fully reject the process, though he cannot force me to fully participate.

But I cannot....

I do so deeply wish to Believe, believe in the Process, to vote for the first truly viable non-White Guy, to submit to his Charm and Charisma, to believe in his message of Hope and Change.

But I cannot....

I have voted in every single Presidential election since my first one, voting for Jimmy Carter back in 1976. Even when I lived at that shithole sober living house in '04, I made my way to the local polls and filed a provisional ballot. This time, it's just a quick trip out the block.

But I cannot....

If this was going to be a Close Run Thing, I could probably 'push through'. But I know he's got California in the bag.

Clearly, something has shifted in me, something that no longer allows me to actively choose 'the lesser of two evils'.

I am feeling a bit more relaxed as I type these words out. The Roman is chilling, as well. By sharing this I am fulfilling my Civic Duty by Speaking My Truth as a Citizen.

So then, this is my Vote. I vote NO! And feel the better for it...though only so much. The Roman is a stubborn bastard.

~The most important aspect of The American Oligarchy is that it operates, by and large, as a meritocracy. Most of its founding families all started off here with little more than 'seed money', grew along with the original colonies, and were then instrumental in the birth of The Republic.

Some of those founders, like the Calverts of Virginia, faded away and dropped from The Oligarchy's ranks, though I'm sure their blood lines carry on under other names. But that they could trace that line back to the Plantagenet kings did not help impede their decline.

Others entered its ranks as The Republic grew, families typified by the Vanderbilt's, who had solid, and suitable humble, roots here since the 17th Century. [Anderson Cooper of CNN fame is a Vanderbilt] And, of course, the Roosevelt's, whose ancestry is much the same.

The 'great money families' that we most readily identify as the principal members of The Oligarchy, the Carnegie's, the Rockefeller's, the Morgan's, the Mellon's, are really all 'late comers', making their money in the second half of the 19th Century. [An interesting note is that all those names are in Word File's spell check]

The Bush family entered into The Oligarchy during this period, though they were 'minor' members until the 1930's.

The meritocratic elements of The Oligarchy have certain bounds. They have been uniformly white and generally Protestant. Wealthy German and English Jews, what one could call 'Presbyterian Jews', were kept in the 'outer circles' of Power.

But The Oligarchy is, above all else, a pragmatic grouping. As I have said elsewhere, “Those who are at The Core of The Oligarchy have not cared about Wealth for at least a century. They have more than enough Wealth. What they truly care about is Power and the Stability of The Republic, which is the basis of that Power.”

As proof of that I point to a pair of fifth cousins from one of the oldest Oligarchic families who stepped forward as Reformers when The Republic was in great peril; Teddy Roosevelt and FDR. [The Delano family is also of that Core I mention above]

I relate all of this upon the eve of this election for a reason.

To quote myself again, “We...know full well that no one will ever make it into the Oval Office without The Oligarchy - at the very least - 'signing off' on their candidacy.

However, IMHO, Obama's coming victory signifies two things.

One: The utter rejection of the catastrophic policies of Bu$hCo, a regime I believe came to be at odds with a large portion of The Oligarchy.

Two: The recognition by The Oligarchy that profound change is now necessary if The Republic is to survive...

...Expect the ranks of The Oligarchy to get 'browner' over the next century.”

That I fully expect Barack Obama to be elected president tomorrow is important only in that I believe that will give those of us who seriously look to the future a bit more breathing room to keep doing our work. A McCain administration would lead to almost immediate disaster.

So, after the results are in and any Repug electoral derailing nonsense has been dealt with – and it will be as Barack's troops are thick on the ground – I shall take a week to recover from this hideous election season and then I shall proceed as I have been for the last several years.

As I said above, 'breathing room'. That's all we're really getting. The true fate of The Republic will determined by how we use it.

Hardcore Gamblers!

The bookies are calling Obama the seven-to-one favorite. And it appears both Karl Rove and FiveThirtyEight agree with them.

( We thought this election would be a serious fight over the future of this country, but only one candidate showed up. )

..a comment I made here

"Your observations and opinions are duly noted...and entirely academic.

We both know full well that no one will ever make it into the Oval Office without The Oligarchy - at the very least - 'signing off' on their candidacy.

However, IMHO, Obama's coming victory signifies two things.

One: The utter rejection of the catastrophic policies of Bu$hCo, a regime I believe came to be at odds with a large portion of The Oligarchy.

Two: The recognition by The Oligarchy that profound change is now necessary if The Republic is to survive.

Those who are at The Core of The Oligarchy have not cared about Wealth for at least a century. They have more than enough Wealth. What they truly care about is Power and the Stability of The Republic, which is the basis of that Power.

And Bu$hCo has done tremendous damage to both over the last eight years, by anybody's standards. 'Radical measures' are now required.

Expect the ranks of The Oligarchy to get 'browner' over the next century. In this regard, also note that the Bush clan are relative new comers to The Oligarchy, entering its ranks only in the last quarter of the 19th Century. We shall see if an 'Obama clan' will now be part of a similar process. His daughters promise to be quite beautiful."

~Personally, I thought it very well done. He hit all the right notes, the production values were excellent, and it went straight past the mind to the emotions. Impressive..and it pulled 33.6 million viewers.

For those who missed it, watch it here. Whatever your thoughts on the man, it is worth viewing as a historical document and a subtle piece of political theater.

BTW The Economist just endorsed him.

~Erratically!! The fucking word was Erratically. And now I know why I could not remember it...besides being fried. The spelling. I hear it as starting with an 'I', so therefore could not summon up a 'picture' of it in my head.

Of course it spoke itself to me almost the minute I woke up. I was sitting on the edge of the bed, putting my hair back in a ponytail, when POP!..there it was. *sigh* That I'm fairly well rested now certainly helps.

I'm going to let the typos of that previous 'Random' stand. As the lawyers like to say, 'it goes to my State of Mind'. lol

~I've been scattered and sleeping...shit, I had the word in my head for the last hour and now it dropped right out. *sigh* Intermittently? Interruptedly? Restlessly? ...fuck, I can't remember..something like that..too tired to think properly.

I'm 'okay' and 'not okay', if you know what I mean...

I have been massively creative, but each project has been screaming for attention, pulling me this way and that. And fucking waking me up to Face The Page before get enough sleep..in between sleeping increments right now...

The Major Elements in all this shit is both squeaking through to the end of the month [money is here early Friday in The AM] and this fucking Election, the horrors of which I expect y'all are already aware of...

Fuck me, I'm going back to bed...