Thinking Different about Mr. Jobs...

By now, we've seen all the tributes, epitaphs, and all the other what-not about Apple's resident visionary, Steve Jobs. We know about the products he spearheaded into production: the iPod, iPad, all of the MacIntosh permutations, and iTunes, among many others. His influence affected industries well beyond that of his native PC industry - (iTunes to the music industry, Pixar to the film industry, among others).

This post in Democratic Underground generated a bit of controversy in that community, because it dared to highlight the darker side of Mr. Jobs, especially so recently after his death while he is being so lionized. He was much more than a taskmaster - quite frankly, he could apparently be quite the a-hole around the Cupertino campus. Nobody ever said that to get to the top required being a nice person - on the contrary, his alleged "asshattedness" is more likely the rule than the exception in the upper escelons of Corporate America. Personal grace is often set aside in the interest of the corporate prime directive of maximizing shareholder value.

I don't think people realize what a disservice it is to put people on pedestals without recognizing their foibles and frailties, as well. Above all, rainmakers like Steve Jobs are human beings - first, and foremost. When we figuratively carve hall-of-fame statues in honor of these people without recognizing their humanity, we not only do them, their memories, and their families a disservice, we do ourselves a disservice. We lose sight of the fact that it was not a god that created the Apple II, or the Mac, or the iPad - it was a human being. A highly gifted, driven human being, for sure, but one with the same challenges and quandries as the rest of us.

The best way we can pay tribute to the memory of Steve Jobs is to use his creations for constructive purposes. Use them to create, to explore, to further yourself and your fellow members of humanity and life on this planet in general.

How The Eagle Flies...

One characteristic of American politics which has fascinated me for as long as I can remember, is how our political pendulum swings from left, to right, to left, then back, over the course of the years and generations, much like a greatly oversized grandfather clock. Considering this dynamic, I can't help but wonder how our country's true owners – the oligarchy who run Corporate America – could not have seen the demonstrations in New York (and planned for Washington, DC and Los Angeles, among other places) coming. The pendulum seems to have finally swung to it's rightward limit, and is now starting it's long swing in the other direction. Many of the nation's biggest unions have signed on in support of the demonstrations, leading pundits like Keith Olbermann to note that, after all these years, we may finally be witnessing the nascent development of a politically viable left wing. This is a badly-needed development – the middle-class and working-class have been taking it in various bodily areas long enough.

There's a lesson to be drawn from our national mascot, the bald eagle. For any bird, plane, or any other thing to fly through the air requires two strong wings – a right, and a left. They must be of equal strength and dimension in order to provide a stable flight. What happens when a wing is damaged or is otherwise compromised? The bird or plane becomes grounded, sometimes suddenly and violently.

Through a variety of factors – indifference/distraction of the populace combined with the corruption of our politicians by the “true owners” of the country – we have let our national eagle's left wing atrophy to the point of it's near destruction, barely moving while the right wing attempts to compensate. As a result, the nation's wealth gap is increasing, the number of our citizens in poverty is increasing, and we are losing our superpower status. We're plummeting to earth at a breakneck speed, and only time will tell if the October demonstrations truly represent the beginning of a healing of our national eagle's left wing, in time to prevent a crash landing.

Surprise, Surprise...

We knew this was coming.

Standard & Poor's has just downgraded their rating for our debt instruments from AAA to AA+.

Thirty years of Reaganbushclintonobamanomics.   Thirty years of Chicago School-type economics, and worship at the altar of Milton Friedman.   In all likelihood, the other rating agencies will likely follow suit.   

What does this mean for us?    Forget any kind of breaks on credit card or mortgage interest rates.   Everything is probably going to get a lot more expensive, and in this case, you can't point to taxes as the culprit.   From an economic standpoint, this snowball is starting to get a lot bigger.  

We're reaping what we've sowed.  

Truth be told...by Al Jazeera

It's sad that you will never see this kind of reporting on an American network.   

I'll leave my commentary to a minimum.  The video speaks for itself.   

Quibbles and Bits, Debts and Taxes Edition

Here's another heaping helping.    Consume if you so dare...

>>I'm watching Johnny Boner's reply to President Obama as I write this.   His finger pointing at Obama is both hilarious and sickening at the same time.    For those who think Obama caves too much, watch as Johnny Boner talks about his "experience running a small business", how this crisis was one of the President's making, etc., etc., etc.   This is what Obama has to negotiate with - someone not willing to negotiate at all, and a group of Tea-Party absolutists who are actually willing to let the government go into default, thinking that the people are so stupid that they will in turn blame Obama.    

This has become the immovable object meeting the irresistible force - something has to give, and the stakes are our futures.     For my money, I say that between the two participants in the virtual "debate",  the adult in the room was the President.   

>>Recommended Reading: The Plot To Seize The White House, by Jules Archer.   This tome details the plot that many of our industry captains of the day, like J.P. Morgan and the Du Pont scions,  planned to bankroll as an attempted fascist coup, using the unimpeachable character and standing of General Smedley D. Butler as their front.    The problem?  The fact that Butler's character was unimpeachable, to the point where he exposed this treasonous plot, and its sick use of American war veterans.   Butler paid for his honesty with his reputation and public image - sullied by the corporate press of the day.    I'm still delving into the pages of this tome, and will talk about it in future postings.   But I say - don't miss it.   

OK, so the heaping helpings weren't so heaping this time.   There's more to come later - stay tuned.

Smart ALECs

This link contains a veritable bumper crop of documents from the American Legislative Executive Council, a lovely group of righties bent on downsizing the government and corporatizing everything else.   The've apparently developed a nice, efficient "cookie cutter" approach to law, creating "sample bills" for use by their minions in the states where Republicans took control in the 2010 election wave. 

The latest edition of The Nation has a complete series on this band of minions.   Remember what our mamas taught us all those years ago, about being careful what you wish for because you might get it?   If you voted Republican, I hope you've now learned your lesson.    I say the same to those who voted for Corporate Dems like Blanche Lincoln.   That assumes, of course, that a conscience exists in those who support ALEC's garbage.  

Quibbles and Bits, Independence (?) Day Edition

Here's another helping of those morsels - lap 'em up if you dare!

>>Have you seen the recent Time Magazine cover featuring Mitt Romney?  I confess I didn't read the article, so my commentary doesn't reflect the article itself - only the picture.   Did you get the impression that the Mittster is getting the corporate "star treatment" as the Repub standard-bearer?   More specifically, that this is Corporate America's very loud "hint" that Mitt is their choice?  He's one of them, after all.   This may also be Time's way of getting the American people warmed up to the idea of a Mormon winning the White House.    Not that I have a problem with the LDS faith - I don't.   But taken as propaganda (which I believe it to be)...

>>From what I've been seeing lately from some of the Congressional Dems, it seems as if they are at least paying lip service to the concept that the Republicans are intentionally trying to crash the economy, blame Obama, then make sure that the Mittster gets his "rightful" place in the White House.   Thom Hartmann, among others, has been saying this for years - the Repubs will say and do anything to win, including sinking the economy.    They expect that the American People will not be sophisticated enough to figure out the ruse - in the past, they've been right.    The Repubs have not been overly secretive of their intentions - Senator Mitch McConnell has been quoted as saying that the intention of the Repubs was to ensure that Obama is a one-term President.   

>>Do you have your copy of The Shock Doctrine handy?  I, and others, have been saying for a long time that this book is basically the Republican playbook for the American economy - destroy government's ability to function beyond a militaristic purpose, privatize everything else, and let the leftover masses eat stale cake.    Read Paul Ryan's budget.   Look at what's happening in Wisconsin and other states with Koch Brothers-backed governors.     Remember Sharron Angle?  She once commented about the economic "miracles" in South America in such a positive light during her campaign - and famously addressed the press with a view of her rapidly disappearing backside.   

Much more later.  

Before I was so rudely interrupted...

Yes, yes, I know.   It's been almost two months since my last post.    Between job (and lifestyle) changes and personal issues, it's been a challenge to maintain this lovely spot on the inter-webs.  

But I haven't forgotten it.    I'll resume updates shortly, including a new edition of Quibbles and Bits.   

Breaking: Bin Laden's Death

I just heard about Osama Bin Laden's demise, at the hands of our Special Forces under the orders of President Obama.   

My feelings about this are mixed.   The most appropriate place for Mr. Bin Laden is six feet in the ground - had he been captured, the international custody battles and political gamesmanship would have dragged on for years, perhaps decades afterward.   And given his kidney condition, Osama would have probably died before it was all over.   So a political sideshow was avoided by his departure from this mortal coil.    This should also guarantee Mr. Obama's re-election in 2012.  

But now comes the interesting part.  Exactly how big of a martyr will Mr. Bin Laden be considered, especially that he was killed at the hands of the Evil Empire?  Will this lead to more terrorist attacks? What will be the reaction of the Islamic world in the Middle East and other Muslim-dominated countries, when they see the pictures of Americans celebrating his death?   Unknowns abound...

Speaking about the celebrations being televised as I write this, personally I'm keeping my Moet & Chandon chilled at this time, with no plans of breaking it out.    For one, throughout the decades, our foreign policy has contributed to the creation and propping up of monsters like Osama.    In fact, remember when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan - who was one of the leaders of the resistance, and who got a nice share of US money and support?   You guess it...Mr. Bin Laden.    And his death does not mean, by any means, that Al Qaida is dead - on the contrary, I would expect some pretty heavy terrorist-sounding noise coming through the radio and TV speakers within the coming days and weeks.  

So yeah, this was a victory of sorts.    Like Dr. Frankenstein's monster being sent back to death - by Dr. Frankenstein.

Quibbles and Bits, Hop Til I Drop Edition

These eggs are out in the open, ready and willing to be cracked open even if it‘s a little late:

>>Royal Wedding, Shmroyal Wedding. Big Freaking Whoop. Distraction create inaction, and that’s all the Royal Nuptials are, and ever really were.

>>It’s nice to see Paul “Hatchet Man” Ryan getting his ass handed to him by members of his own party at a recent town hall. When it’s the Republicans that are seeing just how far down the rabbit hole their corporate puppets are taking us, you know we’re starting to wake up as a nation. Let’s keep this up, and let’s see how long it is before Mr. Ryan takes his eventual job as a high-paid lobbyist on K Street. At least he won’t have his hands directly on the levers of power. 2012, Wisconsinites.

>>Donation are in order for the Red Cross and any of the other relief organizations assisting in the recovery efforts in the Deep South after the recent tornados.

>>Donations are also in order for the continuing cleanup and recovery from the multiple whammies Japan has sustained. First the massive earthquake, then the tsunami, then the nuclear disaster, then another earthquake. These people need our help.

>>By the way, Mr. President, on the very, very, very off chance you’re reading this: nuclear power is NOT clean power, and “clean coal” makes as much sense as “jumbo shrimp” or “fresh frozen”. Yeah, I get it that these lobbies are powerful and deep-pocketed. But Jeez, Leweeze.

More later.

Bye Bye Beckie

Ah, so the Glen Beckie, he of the aforementioned golden shit shovel, will no longer be a daily presence on Foxy Noise.    Not like he's going away any time soon - with his ego, are you kidding?   He'll still squalk through deteriorating speaker cones on AM stations throughout the country, and still host the occasional event, I'm sure.   And his face will be plastered on his ghost-written books.   But he seems destined for a long, slow fade into the twilight - even Corporate America has little use for him, as attested by the exodus of advertisers from his TV show.   

So I guess we can't really say good riddance.   But at least it's one less excuse to turn the dial to Rupert's Circus of Clowns.    They've just lost their P.T. Barnum.