Why Protecting Wikileaks is Important

The discussion centered around the Wikileaks revelations has raised many issues and gone in a lot of different directions but if you can connect the dots, you can see that they’re all inter-related. One discussion thread lead to local governments v.s big governments, schools, illegal immigrants, China and the implied superiority of the American Way Of Life.  The following is an excerpt of my contribution.
BTW – local governments, school boards, planning commissions, etc.; democratic in theory, highly susceptible to corruption in practice. Why don’t schools have money? tax cuts and a shrinking economy. Why has the economy shrunk? Hmm. Maybe it has something to do with the huge transfer of wealth from the middle class to the top 2%. And where’d most of the good paying jobs in manufacturing go anyway? Hey, look! I found them. They’re all in China. How’d that happen? Was it because those Chinese are so industrious and thrifty that they were able to build up their industrial capacity and beat us at our own game? No – it was because there was a huge transfer of technology and capital from the West to China. Those smart capitalists took all that money they stole-I mean earned, thanks to generous tax breaks and deregulation courtesy of their friends in very high places and invested in China. Why China, you ask? Why not say Russia? There are, no doubt, more natural resources there.  Well, Russia is just a crazy,  fractious, corrupt, incompetent country and – let’s face it – they’re lazy. Plus, there were too many different crime groups to pay off. China is the polar opposite: stable, orderly, rigid and they are hardworking. The capitalists knew exactly who they had to pay off (the Party) but the most important thing China has going for it is a virtually inexhaustible supply of cheap labor. We certainly don’t have that here in the USA. What we do have is a paradigm that values property rights over human rights and a way of life (if you can call it that) that is environmentally unsustainable. We also have a ruling class that will go to any lengths to maintain it’s power.
Case in point: The ruling elite frequently leaks information when it serves them. Karl Rove & Co. leaked sensitive information outing CIA covert operative Valerie Plame in retaliation for her husband, Joe Wilson, daring to tell the truth about the non-existence of WMD’s in Iraq thereby directly resulting in the deaths of innocent people. I know Libby took the fall for that but no one spent a day in prison for that crime.
REPLY:

December 14, 2010 at 7:24 am

Who ever leaked the information about Valarie Planme should be sitting in jail.

REPLY (me):Should be but they won’t and I don’t imagine that whoever it is is too worried about that possibility. That’s why it’s so important to expose not only the lies and deceptions but the mind-set behind these actions. They believe that they are above the law (the evidence thus far indicates this is so) and when they are cornered, they offer up some low-level loyal soldier like LIbby. I don’t care if the motives and ethics of Assange are suspect, this information needs to become public so citizens can be informed about what their gov’t is doing in their name even if it risks lives. That’s the price of freedom.

So they passed the tax cuts for everyone, including the richest 1% who really don't need any breaks like the rest of us do. They already enjoy a "break" few others enjoy - they're rich! They get lot's of breaks we can only dream about. They don't have to wait for a table or a doctor. They have their own planes; no humiliating airport pat downs for them. Oh sure, they still have problems and can be miserable like the rest of us but they can at least be miserable in the opulent setting of their choice. We can barely find a place to hide out when we're miserable. That's okay with me, though. If I were miserable and completely comfortable, I don't think I'd ever come out of it.

I imagine that rich people are feeling under attack and unfairly maligned these days.  I suppose I might feel similar if I was engaged in a business making millions of dollars a year. If I'd inherited, I probably wouldn't even notice because I'd have given away most of it to 501c3's whose mission I supported and lived in an ashram in Nepal or spent my time sailing all over the world. Bottom line is though: I didn't hear about many rich people wanting to do right by the rest of and pay their fair share of taxes. If they don't like the pr they're getting, let them do something to change it. 

Movie Review: "Love and Other Drugs" a chick flick for guys

Review of “Love and Other Drugs”, a chick flick for guys.

Yes, you heard right. A chick flick for guys. At least for guys that are capable of actually caring about something other than their own gratification. On the surface, this movie has all of the familiar love story elements: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy realizes what a smuck he is and how empty his life is without her but with a twist. The girl has stage one Parkinson's disease. Of course, the trailer and synopsis fail to mention this very relevant detail. Naturally, it's what makes the story worth knowing about but some marketing wiz must've said, “ How can we possibly sell this movie?” I don't know – try being authentic and genuine which is really what this movie is about. This isn't anything like Love Story or Terms of Endearment where the beautiful girl dies a tragic but eloquent death at the end. There goes that angle. So the marketing angle is charmy, smarmy, self absorbed young Viagra salesmen oozing self confidence and sex, clearly thinks he has women figured out, has no problem getting laid as most women simply cannot resist him. So yes, there are lot's of sex scenes. Are they gratuitous? It's right at the extreme edge perhaps but I did not personally think, “Gee, I just can't stand to see another sex scene”. There was one that might qualify involving his younger brother with a bimbo at the orgy masquerading as a big medical convention in Chicago but that might be because I just didn't really like his character. His role in the movie seemed to be that of comic foil and very few of the scenes with him worked for me. He was more of an annoying distraction than anything. There is still much to like about this movie. Early on there is a brief scene of Jamie having dinner with his family. It's very well done, telling you everything you need to know about Jamie and it's your first clue that this film might have some substance to it. What I like about this film is  the authenticity of the people portrayed; the dialogue, the interactions, the motives reflect the way humans really are: complicated and conflicted, the character of Maggie being the prime example here.

Though Jamie seems oblivious to anything other than getting ahead and getting laid, we see that he's really desperate to gain the approval of someone he cares about or is important to him whether it's his parents, boss or the receptionist he needs to bed or win over to make his quota. Then he meets Maggie and after a bad start discovers that they both want the same thing: NSA sex. Maggie is the one who sets the limits and keeps her distance so naturally, he's intrigued and stimulated by the challenge. Maggie doesn't let anyone too close because she assumes once they understand what they're in for they'll leave so she finds a way to get rid of them before any real feelings emerge. Jamie, however, is undeterred not out of a need to win but because he encounters a real human being who isn't playing the same game most people play, including himself. Yes, this movie evokes heartfelt emotions almost note perfect at times. When Maggie tells Jamie as she's leaving him, “You're a better person than you give yourself credit for” and he just looks at her with disbelieve, anguish and gratitude you have to be moved unless you're just totally jaded. Yes, I had tears in my eyes for many moments hereon but not due to shameless emotional manipulation and sentimentalizing love and loyalty. It was the honesty of it. Near the end, he watches a video he took of her lying in bed talking about how happy she is in this moment. She delivers a line to remember: “The way I feel right now - it doesn't matter if they'll be 10,000 more moments like this or just this one. They're all the same.” Wow.  He understands the mystical essence of life, that love is the only thing that's real, everything else is just what happens and you have to deal with one way or another or at least I did in that moment. They got lot right in this film so I give it 3 stars. I might've given it 4 if the director had cut some extraneous material with Jamie's younger brother.

a different direction; maybe

At the suggestion of fellow blogger buddy (and I hate the way that sounds though I'm going to leave it) I've decided that this blog will be a bit darker, snarkier, and yet still contain an element of hopefulness. How is that possible you say? 
Well, I'm glad you asked. I believe (without much evidence) that expressing even our darkest thoughts can contain the seeds of redemption and I'm not talking about anything religious here.  I think I mean restoring a sense of harmony, self acceptance and fulfillment of some as yet unknown destiny.  Maybe that's too dense, too much complication. Oh well. I'm frequently trying to express the inexpressible. Never stop trying. 

wow, my own blog.

Well, it had to happen. So, here goes. My carefully crafted thought constructs will now go out into the world. May they bring light, love and inspiration to all. More to follow. Below is a painting by George Frederick Watts titled "Hope".