When capitalism becomes cancerous

Peter Kraus works as a Merrill Lynch executive for three months, then resigns and starts spending his $25 million bonus -- despite the government bailout. Video

Big Mac attack

Further thoughts on the article below about the Russian scholar predicting the collapse of the United States by 2010. Collapse or no, I think the influence of the USA might last for a long time -- after all, no one was aware at the time that the Roman Empire had truly fallen. It just seemed that it had merely evolved into new forms -- but historical hindsight showed that it was indeed no more. The next world will not be about nations or national interests, it will be about super-commerce. Corporations will exceed all other interests. National laws and boundaries will be irrelevant, only so far as they serve the localized interests of the supercorporations. Some might argue we already live in that world. But increasingly, people -- human beings -- are irrelevant. All that matters is markets, and "people" are only "consumer units." No one, certainly not our leaders, cares if individual people live or die, starve or are fed, only so far as sufficient numbers affect market forces. All that counts is decreasing the cost of production to maximize profits for the pigs at the top of the trough. Being a human being in today's world is not a good idea. It's a bad move. Humanity is, by and large, a mistake nowadays. Perhaps it always was. Today, we are at the mercy of corporate business. Yesterday, we were at the mercy of national power and military might. And the day before that we were at the mercy of feudal lords, plague and weather. If there is a God, then surely the creation of humanity was a temper tantrum: we were created to give the deity something to perpetually punish and make miserable. In the meantime, I'm going to McDonald's for a Big Mac.

Virginity pledge FAIL

Virginity pledges don't work. Will the religious right acknowledge this, or ignore it?

Teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do, according to a study released today.

The new analysis of data from a large federal survey found that more than half of youths became sexually active before marriage regardless of whether they had taken a "virginity pledge," but that the percentage who took precautions against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases was 10 points lower for pledgers than for non-pledgers.

The collapse of the United States

The collapse and disintegration of the US into six areas, each under the sway of foreign powers? It's not as crazy as it sounds. A Russian scholar predicts that by 2010, the US will become involved in societal collapse or civil war, caused by economic collapse, that will lead to the splintering of the country into six independent regions.

He predicts that economic, financial and demographic trends will provoke a political and social crisis in the U.S. When the going gets tough, he says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow. The U.S. will then split along ethnic lines, and foreign powers will move in. California will form the nucleus of what he calls "The Californian Republic," and will be part of China or under Chinese influence. Texas will be the heart of "The Texas Republic," a cluster of states that will go to Mexico or fall under Mexican influence. Washington, D.C., and New York will be part of an "Atlantic America" that may join the European Union. Canada will grab a group of Northern states Prof. Panarin calls "The Central North American Republic." Hawaii, he suggests, will be a protectorate of Japan or China, and Alaska will be subsumed into Russia.

Still more reliable than FOX

The shoe thing

I got my jollies like most other people watching Bush duck the shoes. After all he's done to damage this country, both at home and our image abroad, does he deserve less? Perhaps he deserves more. But there are some things, after spending time thinking about it, that are bothering me. Prime of which is the Secret Service. Where the hell were they? That reporter had time to stand up in a threatening manner, hold up a shoe in his hand, wind up and launch it at the president. Then, he had time to DO IT AGAIN. The other reporters had him down on the ground before the Secret Service made it up on stage to protect Bush and down into the seats to apprehend the guy. Sorry, that bugs me. It doesn't matter who the president is. Next up is the act itself. Okay, yeah, I admit I laughed when I saw it. Bush ducking shoes. That jerk deserves it. Yeah. It was funny. Let me ask you this: Would it have been as funny if the shoes had hit Bush? If he had a bloody nose? If he had a broken nose? Let me ask it this way: Would it have been funny if the shoe thrower had broken the nose of -- not Bush -- but the President of the United States (insert name of any president here)? Would it have been funny if, say, Rush Limbaugh stood up at a press conference and threw his smelly shoes at President Obama? Should we open the floor to saying it's funny when someone attempts to physically assault the President of the United States -- no matter who the president may be? While Bush has done much to damage and bring disrepute to the Office, it's STILL the Office of the President of the United States. That means something, even though it's been tainted and sullied these last 8 years. Yeah, it's starting to bother me a bit. It bothers me because the Secret Service seemed unforgivably slow to respond to the threat. It bothers me because no matter who inhabits the Office, be they criminal or hero, it's still the Office of the President of the United States. It bothers me also because I dislike Bush intensely. He's been possibly the worst president in the history of our country. It bothers me that this bothers me.

If you open your mind too much...

How smart are our kids?

The educational state of high school kids in Mississippi. Sigh.

Say hello to my leetle friends!

What's important to the RNC

As we face the biggest economic catastrophe of our lifetimes, what's the RNC talking about? Make no mistake. If you were in a burning building, and anyone from the RNC was holding a fire hose, they'd ignore you so they could talk to a TV camera about how evil and sinister Obama is.

The GOP declares war on workers

The GOP declares open war on the working and middle class. Here's a memo circulated today among Republican Senators:

Subject: Action Alert -- Auto Bailout Today at noon, Senators Ensign, Shelby, Coburn and DeMint will hold a press conference in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery. They would appreciate our support through messaging and attending the press conference, if possible. The message they want us to deliver is: 1. This is the democrats first opportunity to payoff organized labor after the election. This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it. 2. This rush to judgment is the same thing that happened with the TARP. Members did not have an opportunity to read or digest the legislation and therefore could not understand the consequences of it. We should not rush to pass this because Detroit says the sky is falling. The sooner you can have press releases and documents like this in the hands of members and the press, the better. Please contact me if you need additional information. Again, the hardest thing for the democrats to do is get 60 votes. If we can hold the Republicans, we can beat this.

Protecting biblical marriage

Since right wing Christians are gung ho to protect "biblical marriage" in the US, here are some proposed laws they should be supporting (unless they're hypocrites):

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5) B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21) C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21) D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30) E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9) F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10) G. In lieu of marriage, if there are no acceptable men in your town, it is required that you get your dad drunk and have sex with him (even if he had previously offered you up as a sex toy to men young and old), tag-teaming with any sisters you may have. Of course, this rule applies only if you are female. (Gen 19:31-36)

Cool

Another abortion myth debunked

Abortion does not lead to long-term depression.

The researchers reviewed all English-language, peer-reviewed publications between 1989 and 2008 that studied relationships between abortion and long-term mental health. They analyzed those that included valid mental health measures and factored in pre-existing mental health status and potentially confusing factors. “The best quality studies indicate no significant differences in long-term mental health between women in the United States who choose to terminate a pregnancy and those who do not,” they wrote.

Prop 8: The Musical

God told me to crash into your car

God told me to crash into your car.

A man who rammed his truck into a woman's vehicle on a highway early Friday told authorities he crashed into her while going more than 100 mph because God told him "she needed to be taken off the road." The truck rear-ended the car on U.S. Highway 281, both vehicles spun across a median then came to a stop along a barrier in the opposite lanes. Both drivers suffered only minor injuries.

This God person is dangerous and needs to be locked up. There's no telling what other crazy things he'll tell someone to do. Kill their kids, maybe.