Happy New Year massachusetts Stoners

A new law comes into effect in Massachusetts tomorrow allowing citizens to possess marijuana amounts of under and ounce. There is still a 100 dollar fine given but it dose not go on the persons record and the fine is similar to or less than other fines like open container and public drunkenness.

The upside is the ability of the judicial system to be more free to pursue other more serious and violent crime, as well as increase tax revenue.
The downside is that many police officers feel that they are able to catch bigger criminals if pot is found giving them reason to do more searching.

Hooray for the underage stoner because a minor consumption ticket it much more expensive then that of the pot possession, unless you have a lot on you when your caught and you have to forfeit that pricey bud as well. Perhaps this is change we can believe in?

I am for this law, thinking too many people locked up are just drug offenders who go to jail and learn how to be bigger and better criminals rather then treated like someone who made a mistake and must now atone for it by serving others. Pot can trigger scizophrenia in predisposed people some studies show, but it's overall effect on society is probably less than that of alcohol.

Communally not stepping on glasses

This past friday I went to the Cabooze to see Trampled by Turtles a bluegrass sounding band from Duluth. Without knowing the music very well I was surprisingly engaged by the tempo and excitement of the music. After not too long into their set I myself joined the fray in front of the stage amongst the sweaty and slightly bearded crowd. During such excitement a man in front of me suddenly grabbed the friend next to him and yelled something, they threw up their hands and then bent down patting the ground in search of some indiscernible object. The common reaction I feel would typically be to ignore and go about ones business, yet those around the men formed a circle. At the outside of the circle I peered down at the floor thinking I might find that four leaf clover that the men may have misplaced. The crown still jubilant around us were noticeably less active then our small after the man emerged with an expensive looking pair of glasses in hand. Perhaps he should have chosen something more like this for the concert.

















We rejoiced in the mans pleasure and the energy of the music, it was that communal feeling that I hope to have more often. Even though I had no previous though or interest in this man's glasses I became involved.
I thought of this moment after watching Ram Dass: Fierce Grace its odd how moving old hippies can be.

Sinterklass, Sinister Clause

Turns out christmas ain't so bad after all, except for all those elves getting laid off because parents are so concerned about the economy and not about the welfare of the elves making the toys. Lets hope the long time elves will be able to get some social security.

Maybe if the taxpayers wanted to really bailout the auto industry, they would just buy more cars. I mean the best way to keep people employed is to buy the stuff they are producing.

That will happens when hell freezes over, which I found out last night is kind of like the Devil getting foreclosed on.

Santa Claus gained popularity with pictures from Thomas Nast, a famous cartoonist. The picture above is similar to many others Nast did. The pipe I'm sure is some sort of stimulant, perhaps santa did Khat as he drove around the world dropping consumerism down chimneys like bombs on japan.

So-duh like stop drinking it

I just finished watching King Corn, a documentary about the number one food source in America. The movie was slightly slanted as it started by pointed out the fact that life expectancy might fall in this coming generation because of our diet. But overall it was good and enjoyable while highlighting many important issues facing america. My favorite part was the history of the Agriculture Secretary changing things in the 70's, because it helps explain how we got here, how we are able to spend less then 20% of our income on food, something never before seen in history. It has led to over consumption of corn and corn sweeteners. The movie also showed how corn fed beef will eventually kill the animal, by making it overweight and creating ulcers in its stomach.

Grass fed beef like the kind served where I work is supposedly better, and definitely less fatty. Thousand Hills is a large local producer of grass fed beef in the area, but a 1/8 of a cow will cost you 380 dollars, or 16lbs of ground beef for 80 dollars. But people love meat in this country and I see it every time I go to work and people fill their faces with cow pig and chicken.

Well the demand for cheap beef is only one cause of the unhealthy cows and then unhealthy people, the glut of corn has produced High Fructose Corn Syrup sometimes abbreviated as HFCS. HFSC is used in almost all soft drinks, soft drinks that might now be taxed in New York State.
The movie Corn King has a scene where a man talks about the fatal effect diabetes has had on his family. If the tax lessens the intake of soda it may well decrease the healthcare costs of diabetes and save the country some money.

Tom Vilsack was just nominated by Obama for Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack is the former Governor of Iowa, the largest corn producer in the country, he supports Monsanto's use of GMO(genetically Modified Organisms) and probably has good knowledge of the corn growers lobby. Its difficult to peer between these cracks and not see how all the pieces fit together.
Our rising health care costs should undoubtedly be linked to the food we eat, it's not just the exercise which is a problem. You are what you eat has been told to children over and over, but as adults they might not stop and take heed of the advice.

Personally I want to connect the diabetes epidemic and the glut of obesity to Warren Buffett who was propelled to one of the riches men in the world in no small part because of his large ownership in Coke, one of the largest soft drink manufacturers in the country. In 1985 coke switched to New Coke, which had HFCS rather then sugar, people hated it and the recipe was switched back sans the sugar. HFCS was now a coke staple, and in 1988 Buffett bought up 7% or just over a billion dollars worth of Coke. His profit has been at the expense of americans health.

dun dun.... the conspiracy begins

Obesity just can't get a break

The governor of New York want to put a tax on non-diet beverages and fruit drinks that contain less then 70% fruit juice. Now the story I read in the NYTimes gave a good insight to how this will be debated, the people who drive the distribution trucks and work in the factories will be backed by those poor souls who cannot go without their carbonated sugar water. The quote that it will effect poorer neighborhood more it quite to the point. Poor people can't afford to be unhealthy, I think that is a fair assessment looking at the cost of health care. If only young black children realized they have been targeted by ads like the sprite cool afro action figure. Much the same way cigarette ads supposedly tried to be cool to kids.

If people looked at this as a fight against diabetes rather then a way to raise revenue it might pass. They benefits of healthier children plus the added revenue of soda sales. The one thing people will always need soda for is to not have to drink straight booze, coke makes and excellent mixer. But perhaps this will lead to more bloody marys and screwdrivers being consumed in New York.

I always wondered when food companies will be attacked the same way cigarette companies were, when the amount of people dying from obesity is up there with cancer maybe we will see people at Nabisco or Kraft on the hot seat in front of congress. Oddly enough Phillip Morris owns Kraft Foods under the Altira Group umbrella.

The 'Fat Tax' idea also cam up when airlines were dealing with high fuel costs, they chose to focus on carry on, knowing any sort of charge per personal weight would draw a lawsuit. In Australia the problem has gotten some attention as Australians are known for being the traveling sort, this BBC article highlight the situation. The fact that higher insurance premiums can be charged to obese people is a slippery slope. For those skinny people who feel slighted by the current airlines extra baggage fees
I have an idea to get around this...


Skinny people should just start wearing as many layers of their clothes on the airplane rather then checking it in a bag, perhaps stuff a collapsible bag into your luggage so when you arrive at your destination you can disrobe and pack the clothes accordingly

American Myth

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Minnescraper

I was at a gathering recently with techno savvy peeps and the TV was hooked up to the laptop for public usage. One on the guests brought up this website Minnescraper which is the bastion of internet news concerning urban Development. The guy told me it contains people who are on the inside and will sometimes post on forums saying 'I saw over my co-workers shoulder today something that looked like he was working on this ...'

There does seem to be a lot of interesting info on the page if you don't mind getting lost in it for a half hour or so. But if ones knows how to enjoy getting lost is is a very pleasurable experience.

Thats mostly how I have learned about the parts of the city that I would otherwise have no idea about. I remember the first week I lived in Minneapolis, I was visiting a friend and left his house late at night and went the wrong way on Hennepin ave from NE. I ended up near Snelling Ave before I realized how lost I was. It was strange to drift through old industrial areas on a late summer evening. Coming from St Cloud it seemed so foreign. Lurking buildings emptied of workers, most silent but a few still churning, steam rising off their pipes and I could see the skyline in the distance. Thank God for cell phones because it would have been a very tired and lonley night traversing my way blindly back to Powderhorn Park.

If your into skyscrapers, I kind of like this site skyscraperpage.com here is thier diagram of the worlds tallest

Gloria Gaynor Performs Hit single for Auto Companies and Congress

I was thinking about the Auto Companies, wondering if there is precedent for the lack of sales in another similar company. I'd like to think the lack of sales is less about credit availability, more about people realizing they don't need new cars, and people spending money on important stuff like a mortgage. I thought it would interesting to look at wagon and carriage makers, to see if any of them survived the switch to horse-less carriages we call automobiles. It turns out one of the only ones I could find was Studebaker, which could turn out a hundred carriages a day or one every six minutes. Many might realize that this company also made automobiles, they somehow were able to make the switch, and probably without the help of the government.

I know people would say that it took less capital to make a carriage then an automobile and that the tool usage has more crossover in the early days. But I think it is important to realize that the largest producer of Wagon/Carriage was able to survive the fact that people stopped wanting the product they produced. The automobile companies might need to take a look see. General Motors are not so general, they should be called Specific Motors, yuck yuck.

Just to realized how many companies started making cars when the business first started take a look at coachbuilt.com where many companies are displayed with their history. I doubt a lot of them whined to the govt. when they went under. Perhaps the company from my hometown Pan Motor Company would be a good comparison to the automakers of today, a swindler who lost money for his stockholders. Something similar to what Madoff did, the former Nasdaq Stock market chairman is crooked. Funny how you would think that people at that level would be rich enough not to feel the need to steal.

The most interesting thing I have found from that story is the history of "Ponzi" a man who will have his namesake live on forever because of his skill at duping others.

Black Market Depression rises again maybe

Perhaps Saudi Arabia should start courting rich businessmen who have been through Alcoholics Anonymous . Live here for it is alcohol free I imagine it would say. I just tried looking up the years of the great depression in regards to prohibitions which was somewhat the dynamite in helping explode the power of organized crime, which as it looks like now goes all the way up to governors of Illinois. Are they committing crimes because they are just criminals or is their job satisfaction just really low? Maybe they are unhappy, that should be looked into the happiness of world leaders, they way they rate occupation happiness. I think perhaps the governor was concered about the drop in his 401K and needed to pad his bank account a little. Thing like that just happen in a depression I guess.

The Happiness of Politicians scale. Looked at a countries specific happiness of government officials. I imagine they would find the country of Elbonia very high on the scale, I mean who doesn't love to work for a country where the Frisbee is the national bird.

A better question for CNN.com should be does it matter if a country has happy politicians, for look at FDR or Lincoln, were they at all happy people in those years? Was Nixon happy when he was knowingly lied to the people who voted him into office.

Anyways, the black market will perhaps rise again as I imagine that in suffering economies black markets do very well. The civil war I imagine had a large black market, some people say today that undocumented workers are the new black market instead of Cuban contraband.
My recent fascination with the Civil War area stumbled me onto civil war prisons which I found out were horrendous in their conditions. The picture above is of a man from Andersonville prison where many union troops were held. Goes to show no matter what nationality that when at war prisoners are treated bad.


This picture makes me think of several things, on a more light hearted note, I think about David Blaine and his starvation stunt, which was supposedly the first time where doctors could test the effects of starvation legally, without war. But I was scrounging around online a while back and found out that some concientuos objectors during WWII were stationed at the U of M in Minneapolis and put through a starvation diet while being tested in the name of science. The minnesota experiment it was called, there is an interview with one of the participants here. The most chilling tale he told is how they could smell the general mills flour factory up river, and that would make them even more hungry.
I suppose hunger is the surest way for humans to know what it means to be alive, to break us down to our essential life needs. I may have to try and read The Hunger Artist just to satiate this intrest.
I know in my life that hunger and the black market have crossed paths. The underground operation through food establishments across the country. The "Food Trade" as we called it, would arise when someone at the sub shopped I worked at downtown would get hungry and was tired of eating the same sandwiches we always had. We would then call nearby restaurants and proposition them for a "Food Trade" or sometimes they would call us. My roomate also had a similar experience in a Food Court job at the mall. This black market openness amoung underpaid food workers must be thriving during these tough times. If only the profits of such a food trade could be as altruistic as these Canadians who started selling junk food out of thier locker.

you put your sit it, put your sit out, thats what its all about

Workers in Chicago are 'sitting in' at the factory that just laid them off. I wonder if this trend will continue especially if factories close. The need for people to work is not only to help the income but people are lost without their job. Why people get up in the morning is to go to work, humans are creatures of habit. Now calling work a habit might not seem the most appropriate but it sits ok with me. Without this habit people are lost, their drive and mental health is effected.

Fear not for other countries have gone through the same thing on a bigger scale and much closer in history that our 'Great Depression'. I personally am inspired by Argentina, whose cartoneros have cut the waste of Buenos Aires by over a quarter in the past decade. Humans are inventive survivers. In Argentina there was a factory that opened up with the sole work of formers employees getting together to produce. This was documented in a movie called The Take this is what should inspire the workers of americ who get laid off. If there is demand for the product that they produce then they should keep producing it regardless if there is a CEO at the top who is able to manage and make money off of it.

This has happened throughout history and food has been one of the sources of desire for those living off the left overs. The picture at the top is called The Gleaners, it is also the title of a movie about people who still do that in europe. People who comb the fields and eat the products thought not fit for market. The movie should be inspiration, along with the story of The Take for those people who feel despair and fear in the oncoming economic doom.

Snow Emergency

emerge Look up emerge at Dictionary.com
1563, from M.Fr. emerger, from L. emergere "rise out or up," from ex- "out" + mergere "to dip, sink" (see merge). The notion is of rising from a liquid by virtue of buoyancy. Emergency "unforeseen occurrence" is c.1631. Emergent (adj.) was first recorded c.1450.

An unforeseen occurrence indeed. The sky turns pink when the snow covers the ground. The albedo of earth is shrinking because the snow is dirtier and reflects less sunlight. Damn you Global Warming you get us even in the cold of winter.

The largest chicken producer in the country declared chapter 11 this week. I wonder why the news channels didn't really cover that one very big, I mean are those chicken worker jobs less important then the car makers? Maybe it was their name that held back business, Pilgrims Pride seems more apt for turkey then chicken. Chicken is our most efficient grain to protein animal source according to a cornell paper. I'm sure that why the Pilgrims were so proud.

Twin Cities ranked Best for Business

Yeah it seems MarketWatch.com has named the Twin Cities as the best place for business. I couldn't agree more even though I have never lived elsewhere cept for a short stint in Salt Lake. Every morning I wake up I say to myself - "self lets get this business done" and it's like a bowl of Blackcats goes off in my head, and the business just goes.

But I do tend to enjoy the publication Twin Cities Business, it's site aptly named tcbmag.com there was recently an article on the man who started Buca De Beppo, the family Italian eatery where on a date with a old girlfriend I met my future ex-girlfriend. Also the place for my brothers bachelor party dinner. It holds many memories for me and I imagine a fair amount of other twin citizens.

Society replicates Art

Last night I went to see The Dark Knight in the second run theater. I like the movie for all the awesome actions and watching a sixteen wheeler flip over, but I also like ti's social commentary. The Joker has a kinship connection with Anton Chigurh, even though one can be written off as more imbalanced then the other because of his makeup and laughter. But the release of the rules, the desire for freedom, be it violent and destructive yet freedom is still there. The motivations are much different for Anton is mostly a hired psychopath, where as Joker burns a pile of money.

The Dark Knight is a hero that that the city needed but did not want. I tried to reflect the message of anarchy and keeping up appearances, with the current economic crisis, my recent favorite topic. Warren Buffett is the Harvey Dent of today, the man with the plan. He is the hero that is wanted as he is referred to as 'The oracle of Ohmaha' yet should we really listen to the advice of one of the richest man in the world? Did his wealth become acquired by looking our for others? I doubt it, while coke was spreading it's sugar and citric acid around the world Buffets wallet was getting fat. But I will admit it sure tastes good paired with a dark booze. Where is the voice that we need, where is there people from the top saying that growth isn't always good.
Capitalism assumes growth is good, grow the market, grow the profit and spread the peanut butter down the income pyramid. When will someone say that sustainable capitalism is the new source or wealth. Many would contradict that without growth and profit you won't get those entrepreneurs with inventive ideas to risk the fallout without the huge reward. That may be so, but maybe people should look at markets less like upward shooting numbers and more like a ECG printout, up and down rhythmically flowing, sometimes allegro sometimes adagio. The growth is good but so to is the burn of those left at the end of the season. Lets call it ecological capitalism, but growth and retraction may not help your 401K the way that you want.

Someone needs to step up and question the system, when it fails and when it succeeds. Ron Paul is one who is, as well as Ralph Nader, both of these men I feel will go down at martyrs in a all consuming system, Nader more so then Paul. But I'm taking bets now on how high the unemployment numbers get, to the tenth. I think when it hits double digits is when we see real chaos. Unlike the depression we won;t have a dust bowl to make people hungry. To stay hungry helps people interact with the world. Maybe Obama can use the oncoming depression to jump off a new national health plan. Stem the tide of diabetes, so no to cheetos, to be all you can be-eat fruits and veggies, calories not salaries to keep hope alive.

The compassionate conservative should be replaced by the compassionate consumer. Consume what you need, not what you want, that will weed out those businesses that produce the excess and unnecessary Found On Road Deceased- Giant Mortuary. Where are the punk bands and angry country singers ranting about the bailout. Don't worry AIG still get so keep the logo on front of the most popular sports team in the world.

Autism, here there everywhere

I friend of mine showed me an interesting statistic concerint the prevelance of autism in Somali children living in Minneapolis. This article by David Kirby of the Huffington post goes into greater details. Since the rate is higher here then in Somalia some people think there must be a reason. The search for the cause will probably look for genetic or chemical influences. I think maybe people should more on how we live how we bring and raise young lives in this world, if children who play more outside are less prone to Autism as one study suggested. Television the downfall of america will be the title of some book in the future perhaps. I know I am prone to trap myself on the couch watching countless shows of which I have no interest.

The television has become the biggest form of advertising in this country, the shows that are popular influence our culture by wht is worn and what is said. I wonder sometimes that if the television was turned off, what would the effects be. If president obama recomended substituting one hour of TV watching to one hour of voulenteering would our country be any better, would we miss and long for our shows if they no longer existed. Because we almost feel that they are 'OUR' shows, people say I was watching my show last night to those friends familiar enought to know what they are talking about. There is not the question 'what show?' for my show is, my show at least in my head.

This idea makes me think about one of my favorite Jim Carrey movies, 'The Cable Guy' a splendid black comedy where Elliot Gould yells out in one scene 'I would have said schlong'. Well it's all based on the fact that Jim Carrey was raised in a home where the TV was a surrogate baby sitter. This is probably not unlike many homes in america today. In SOuth Korea that have internet addiction camps for shildren, prehaps there needs to be a similar thing for children of today.

Blackened Friday

Many may have heard of the deaths on friday, two men at a ToysRus in arizona that was supposedly unrelated to shopping, and then the temp Wal-Mart worker in Long Island. Now people think a worse sign for the economy would be people not shopping and consuming. For sales to go down would be the death prattle of the american economy. Nobody at the top wants a change in the power structure that they control.
But I think maybe americans as consumers are to ingrained to buy buy buy, that the behavior of shoppers refusing to leave the Wal-Mart store after the death is a worse sign. People won't stop consuming until they are trained not to, and for now we are trained better then canines to consume for the holidays. Shrinking Pocketbooks expanding Waistlines will be the headline of history as to the decline of american power.
Our consumption will be steadfast, but the desperate behavior of people on friday wanting to get the 'deals' is scary. Like a trained doberman going rogue. We no longer follow the proper training, but fight like mad to keep our consumption up.

The products are thought to be necessary to fulfill someones Christmas wish, no child mails into Santa a list topped off by hapiness, family, and friends. No it is gifts and consumption, sad but true. Now if you are familiar with the Suze Orman show, a financial guru who has dvd about getting out of debt and proselytizing on the financial empowerment of women. Well one segment of her show is where people call in with details of their financial status such as savings checking mortgage or CC debt. On light of friday's debacle I present can I afford it Black Friday special

Suze: Hello Monica and Burt in Long Island
M & B: Hey Suze, great to be here.
Suze: Great to have you two, now it says here you looking to purchase a 799.00 big screen TV from Wal-Mart?
M & B: Yes we are actually calling you from the line outside the store.
Suze: Now you have ten thousand in savings, 3 in your checking, and one hundred and eighty on your mortgage, is that right?
M & B: Thats right and we want to make more room in our den by getting those super duper flat big screen T.V's so we can sit on our diabetic rumps and watch commercials telling us to buy things in between shows.
Suze: Now how many people are ahead of you in line?
M & B: about 80 or so
Suze: and have you thought about how many TV's they will have in stock?
M & B: no... I guess we hadn't thought of that.
Suze: and do you have medical insurance?
M & B: Well we don't cause we are switching plans
Suze: Uh, oh well Bert are you confidant about your wrestling skills, because chances are that TV won't come without a fight.
M & B: That wasn't really on our radar, we just thought we would go straight for the TV and...
Suze: Now let me stop you there, the medical bills from the possible fight you will have will not be cheap, black friday has become black eye friday, so maybe if you do get the TV stop and grab some meat (hopefully it's a super Wal-Mart) and slap it on your eye buster, cause your going to need it, but frankly with the way things go now YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT.

Peter Morici

Today there was a Senate hearing with the CEO's of Ford, GM, and Chrysler. Chris Dodd the chairman of the committee called this man Peter Morici "The mouse that roared" after his initial testimony. I have looked into Morici and he has written several articles about the economy and specifically the auto industry. One of the best point I think he made is that the car companies make very high quality products. They are such a high quality that they will last quite awhile, long enough so that the current level of consumption will drop off. With this drop off of consumption come a shrinking in the production. Morici then explained that because a shrinking industry requires layoff, these layoffs require severance pay as agreed upon by the United Auto Workers contract. This severance pay makes the companies less competitive, he emphatically said "even if everything else is equal" that this severance will make their vehicles on average a thousand dollars more then their counterparts, or Japan and Korea as they are known. Morici also touched upon an important thought not often discussed in news of the so called "economic crisis" the Chinese Yuan. The Chinese government has not let the Yuan be valued in a free market structure. This is faulty when realizing the trade deficit with china. When the Yuan is cheap, then Chinese products are cheap here and U.S. products are expensive in china.
Anyways Morici sort of shot holes in the shit spewing from the CEO's as they groveled their case that unless 25 billion is given, Armageddon will happen and unemployment will ruin the country.

Excuse me Obama could you spare a little social change?

Last night at a bar in uptown that sported dollar beers through some of the election coverage people were cheering harder then the vikings vs falcons circa 1999. The thing about politics, about systems in general that I despise, is the Us V. Them attitude that emerges. There is only us, there is no them. Presidents are heads of state, they influence policy, but what good is policy when the system that implements that policy is broken and bastardized.
When quotes from Thomas Jefferson are used by supposed 'fringe' candidates like Ron Paul, does that make the founders words irrelevant? Our country took it's initial steps against the power of companies and corporations when it dumped the tea of the British East India Co. (the largest most powerful company at that time)into the harbor of Boston. This was an act of rebellion against the British Government, but more importantly a statement by businessmen like Sam Adams that a monopolistic company would not disrupt the markets by dumping excess tea upon the colonies, after just passing the Tea Act.
Companies were thought to control the people almost as much as corrupt and abusive governments at the time. Business in the United States after independence was kept at a small level until the civil war. The civil war saw the railroads rise in prominence and importance, and once such company just happen to have it's high ranking member pose as Assistant Secretary of War during the national bloodshed. Thomas A. Scott was second in command at the Pennsylvania Railroad company, he was considered a hero as he tirelessly orchestrated troop movement over the rails to provide the front lines with a strategic advantage. He of course did a courageous thing, yet his company also grew it's profits during this time of crisis. Scott after the war began to expand his railroad ownership like any good industrialist would.
Now here is the catch, the charter. What is a charter ? Is used to be that business asked Govt for permission to conduct their enterprises. As railroad expanded they wanted to grow and have ownership all across the country.
Today this seems like a legitimate and reasonable idea, but within the 19th century corporations were looked at as possible brokers of power, limiting the people and their representative government. But Pensylvania in 1870 allowed for the establishment of a holding company.
Berkshire Hathaway, one of the largest companies on the fortune 500 list that dosen't acctually produce any goods or service and merely owns things is run by the richest man in the world Warren Buffett. Well the Pensylvannia railroad with it's political connections of Thomas A Scott was able to won a whole lot more then would have normally been legal. These loopholes in business were then exploited by Standard Oil (What is now Exxon) and mass profits were reaped.

An interesting tid bit about the power of the Railroads back then, they created what is known now at the countries 4 time zones. The lines were drawn not by our government by by the railroad companies so that they could organize their routes/departures/arrivals in a better fashion.

The point is that the US and Them lies more in us the people and them the companies and corporations that exert their control on the world. Take a gander at the fortune 500 and you might notice that Oil Companies as well as vehicle manufacturers tend to be listed. It's probably just coincidence, nobody should look back to great american streetcar decline and wonder if it was any companies fault. Companies are made up of people, so where is the Us Them line blurred. Is it blurred when Coca-Cola bottling companies in third world companies murder union organizers. Does it Matter if Warren Buffett is the largest single shareholder in Coca-Cola?

Obama counts Warren Buffett as one of his economic advisers. The money raised by Obama almost touches 700 million, is that money from the people or corporations. Will the new president take notice of how the world is run, how military activity by our country tends to injure and kill more civilians then opposing soldiers. Will he recognize the US in the poor of other countries workers who don't have the chance to vote, who work for pennies to create goods cheaply for american consumption. There is no them, but this election will not change the perception of those hooting and hollering at the bar last night. The hope for change will die when companies profits shrink, when jobs are scarce. Will Obama hope to change this http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2007/02/fed_chief_issue.html

Could you spare some Social Change?
Saw this video recently, besides making a good point it just looks cool
I met the Walrus

Freetime fighters

There is something about the way we think of progress, how humans have advanced, that is problematic with future generations. The past has wars fought for freedom, freedom to live the life you want to farm for yourself, to stop the feudal system, to stop the slavery, end serfdom. Today there is plenty of freedom, people talk about the wage labor, but to me the thing people should fight for is.... freetime. Now that we are fed and entertained, that the idea of bread and circuses of the romans has continued till today, fast food and professional sports. What people really need is free-time to continue their hobbies the desires. Less working for food means more living for family for kite flying for skipping stones for playing sports. The people in the world most, don't have fast food, they aren't worried about freedom. Give them food so they don't have to toil too long in the fields, then they can gaze at the stars, find a hobby, or whatever they want to do in their freetime. Freetime is something worth fighting for.

pff-cha

It's hard to know where the world goes, when your young like they tell you you are. A gray haired man today talked on TV about how the world is over populated, that any chance at reducing less waste will come from there being less people. He's a bit of a wacko it seemed but in the parlance of our times he may speak an inconvenient truth. In a hundred years will this financial crisis matter, will human dominance still continue? If another species had attained evolutionary advantage the way we had would they have invented the same animal prison shows that we did called zoo's.

I am full of too many questions and wanting of too many answers, I guess part of the wisdom you get with age is the comfort of the unknown. With age perhaps you learn to let the unknown be just that. Not for lack of understanding or searching, but willingness to just let things be as they are. Apathy wouldn't be the right word while they may resemble each other, but this feeling would be the caution and reluctance when asked to push a boulder up a hill. With age perhaps you perceive the chance that a heavy boulder could roll back and squash those who tire of pushing, who won't see the cause through to the end. It's not reluctance to join in, but the pain that might happen if it weren't to be seen till the end.

This old man on the TV was probably full of contradictions, I know most of those who espouse upon lofty ideals commonly are contradictory in some way. I see it in myself, in many around me. I question if it would be better to try and avoid these contradictions by not holding so tightly to ideals, or to hold tighter to them to avoid the contradictions. It is all around in the stories of humans, contradiction, which helps produce irony and satire. Perhaps it is even in our voice fluctuation from passive to active. I'll leave this be as the paycheck and responsibility of work calls.

Lehman for the lay-man, thats totally lame man

If the news has yet to be reached about the impending bankruptcy of Lehman brothers. Here it is someone has joking place Lehman brothers for sale on Ebay. This is a company effected by the notorious credit crunch, which I imagine to be like a certain captain cereal but with a more agonizing echo. This is also news on the heels of Merrill Lynch being sold to Bank of America, many link a lot of these actions to the failures within the housing market. Since the Government before decided to give money to Bear Stearns, it's about time they let the rich suffer a little as well, it's not like the government is handing out money to keep people from losing their homes, no no that is only for banks. The problem the government is facing is that economically comfortable people may become not so comfortable, and then that can be a game changer. When the middle classes revolt rather then just the poor people who are assuredly always a tinderbox of unrest, the stink may hit the fan. The market opens soon, as will the 35W bridge. The opening of the bridge will come as sweet relief to all those suffering in downtown traffic, but I imagine that the high gas prices would have been suffered much more willingly had it been explained as a reason to afford a new bridge. It's one thing to be loose in the wallet, it's another to be stuck in traffic.

A true sign that times are getting desperate- Rich giving away money kills people

Energy Companies and Electric Cars

I was reading the new issue of Wired magazine and thought it was quite interesting about the approach taken when thinking about the electric car. The car is the end component in the equation, it is the consumer, but the infrastructure also has to be taken into account. All those gas stations with large tanks laying underneath the ground are basically waiting to die, hooked up to the oil companies like an I.V.
The first utilities company to colloborate with an electric car company here in the U.S. will make millions of dollars. The Utility companies are the ones capable or updating their current infrastructure to fuel these new vehicles. They could then potentially charge less or equal to what gas costs but do it all just by increasing output of their power plants. No more Exxon dependancey, instead Xcel or my personal favorite FPL could take a little slice of the oil pie. Cushman motors here in Minneapolis sells the Zenn electric car, maybe they could hook up like a couple real world members and get this ball rolling eh?
A nation powered by power plants from our lights to our cars , all it takes it an update to "NEW AGE" infrastructure. It will happen some day just you watch Mr Heinlein. I mean just look at how fast they can build a interstate bridge these day, jeez louise.

EMBED>

Obama: from hope to hype

I watched the Obama acceptance speech last night, the whole time I felt like those guys from mystery science theater 3000 as I made jokes about his lofty goals he was trying to outline. The thing with politicians I think it interesting is they jump steps. They speak about the dream of what they want to happen, but the forget the say how they will accomplish that. The budget of the Government is in debt, which in turn makes it hard for any sort of action to take place. When children grow up and want to do things as adults then they usually have to budget those things they want into their income. Obama said we would lower taxes on some and raise it on others. That might change the amount of the budget, but will he do anything about where a lot of the budget goes now? See where your tax money goes. Not only do we spend most of our money on defense, we spend much more then any other country in the world. So since we spend so much on defense does that make us safer? Is a country that is financially unsafe with their spending still safe? Obama takes about hope and giving america back, and the dignity of work, but he won't say, I am going to cut the defense budget, that all the money we put into making millitary equipment, I will instead put into building hospitals and schools. He does talk about schools and hospitals, "protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology."
Lofty goals, i'll believe it when I see it

P.S. there is some interesting stories about the large homeless shelter near the Xcel during the RNC, controversy that just hits home the real problems with america. Here is the story

I went and saw the Dark Knight last night. The movie was quite enjoyable and many social issues were present in the themes of the story. The villain in the movie is a character called the Joker, who prides himself on having no rules and presents himself as a animal motivated by instinct, he just does what he does, supposedly with no plan. There is a scene where he is slightly apologetic to Harvey Dent, sayin ghe had no plans for things to end up the way they did. That the police, and bruce wayne, they all have plans even the mobsters have plans. He on the other had subscribes to chaos and in turn anarchy, because as he says at least in chaos everyone has an equal chance. This is an interesting theory, and the control of our lives that is shown in the movie is ripped apart by the joker as he starts threatening death at random. Random death is scary enough to people to make them think about chaos in substitute for the controlled paced life we tend to live here in the U.S.
The quest for anarchy is one quite interesting and common in human history. William McKinley the 25th president of the United States was shot and killed by a man who claimed a speech by the anarchist Emma Goldman motivated him. The problem with the assassinations by anarchists was that they weren't progressive enough. They were still preoccupied by the idea that hierarchy and government are the methods of control, little did they realize that companies that produce the goods and services we depend upon are the true controllers of society. True chaos and anarchy would come from people having to subsist upon their own talents and ingenuity, rather then being the dependent consumers of today. If Leon Czolgosz had any foresight he would have shot Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie or Vanderbilt. Nope instead he shot a fat president who now has schools across the country named for him. Rockefeller is the catalyst of the oil explosion in this country, he helped push the need for fuel by supplying it like opium to our ever consuming lives. Standard Oil was his company, they were forced to break up under the Sherman Antitrust act, but eventually morphed into the company known today as Exxon. Strange that Exxon is one of the most profitable companies in the world. I wonder if an anarchist could have changed that, or if companies are similar to military regimes in that if you cut off the head there is always some other head ready to take the place of the fallen leader.
Good job at inspiring thinking Dark Night, you entertain and inspire.

new news, news day, noose day

I am turning twenty four this day. I have almost reached a quarter century, I mourn for the death of the pay phone and the InBev purchase of anhiZer bush. In the past few month I have been holding at bay my need to sunscreen the top of my head with rogaine, it has been slightly successful. balding feels like an adult version of standing against the wall and with a pencil marking the growth. Here it is growth of my forehead, I wonder what sort of increments it slowly develops at and if possibly I could measure each monthly increment and create an abstract electronic song based upon algorithms of numbers connected to the loss of hair. Rogaine is much cheaper then I would have imagine at 38 dollars for a 3 month supply that I bought in march and am only 2/3 done with.
I have started a second serving job during the daytime, it fills up my weekend hours nicely but hampers my connection to those people who live on a weekday schedule. One night I couldn't fall asleep and discussed internally what it is about this new establishment that I feel is lacking. This is my manifesto of restaurants as I have experienced it. The kitchen is the brain of the restaurant, it's layout is extremely important it needs flow and pathways and stations set up to complement and encourage each other. My new job has a kitchen that feel clustered and tumor ridden, no flow and cramped like an atomic wedgie. This brain is in need of a little reconstruction, but I dare not say anything, it is new and will possibly seizure itself into normality. The money is nice, but has a strange effect. I have started thinking past my parental debt of college tuition into hobbies and travel. Or on the more long term side of stocks as I am secretly fascinated by the sotck market and it's gimmicky flash bang graphics. I have followed FPL since I took my first environmental science class at SCSU an became hooked on the promise of wind energy, if I had invested then I could have just slightly more then I do now, if I worried about having more though I might end up giving a mouse a cookie. But I push on... funny how seizure of the brain is spelled the same as seizure of property. I would like to hear at a eulogy that God foreclosed on his soul, a hostile takeover with a lowballing bid.
bikes and travel, I have been dreaming as of late of argentina and a disc break commuter with panniers, I salivate at the thought of both.

Ode to Passenger Pigeons

This is a rap song I wrote about the passenger pigeons

This is not a joke (quick break into next verse almost starting immediately after joke)
Standard 4/4 rythem intro
Suckers we murdered all of them they
thought they could live in our world but we took it away

lyrics will come later, this is the hook just for show.


chorus
cincinati ohio this is how the story goes
overheard by the earth shot a bird
for the meat it's worth then was served
to the slaves and the protien it gave
probably saved keep out of graves
up to five billion gone
and this is whyyy
I sing this song

Driving to the poor house

Driving isn't cheap anymore, but something might make it cheaper. Most notably your driving habits, including but not limited to your millage, acceleration and deceleration habits, time of day that you drive your car, and other scary information that can be taken by the magical black box stored in your vehicle. Big Brother is probably hoping you buy it.

Personally I'm in, I think people who drive with a lead foot accelerating and breaking need a swift kick in the butt, not only because they decrease the MPG but also cause it is dangerous for those on the street no driving I.E biking. Well here in the state of Minnesota, Progressive Insurance is offering a trial Pay as you drive system. Now the comments on the blog I hyper linked show the paranoia that many have with these new technologies. I on the other hand think it is great.

Having recently chatted about the plausibility of living car free for the duration of my stay here on earth. For long distances, for people transporting children, it isn't a fun life to live car free. But if you can pay very little for gas with high efficiency cars, or very little for insurance because of the extremely low distance you drive or how little you speed when driving. The rest of the time you can bike and still not get charged the same price as your regular drivers for insurance, then heck I'm all for it. I will give up the freedom of where and when I travel in the insured car to the insurance company. It's npt suprizing that abroad is getting the jump on this, as the U.S. is fairly car centric and highly resistant to changes like this. But hear my cry now, those who fail to the the benefit will rue the day.

City Mouse, Dead Mouse

How dangerous is your neighborhood, a shoe stoer near my place now reads Rob Shoes, yes much more subtle then steal shoes but you get the picture. I live near a shining tower of white people called the Midtown exchange, yet Central is one of the most crime ridden neighborhoods. See what yours is like
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/about/maps/neighborhoods.pdf
to see the neighborhoods

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/crime-statistics/codefor/
to see crime reports, funny how police lay out thier ranks the same way crime bosses would, have the chief served by his captains,
strange.

How Free Thinking is Steve Jobs

I watched the Keynote speech by Steve Jobs at mac-world this spring. I wonder if he comes up with a lot of the apple ideas, and I wonder if he takes suggestions, becuase I have one for him.
I-Pod I-Slam edition,
I already have the advertismentNow doesn't the woman on the left just look a little bit happier? I little less oppressed? Freedom isn't free, This time it won't be a buck o'five instead it will be $39.00 . I know Jobs will be on this pronto, he loves to help out others by letting them buy his stuff. Besides what person sits around filled with hate and anger with two beautiful white buds in your ears. I mean who hasn't seen the women around Minneapolis wearing a head scarf but at the same time have a cell phone tucked snugly against this ear, thats right hands free. Take that Bluetooth, Islam women don't need your stupid device. Now with the Mcgyver like savvy these Islamic women have, whats stopping Jobs from taking this bandwagon to the white house, everyone remembers the Candy Bar drop in Berlin, now lets step it up a notch, and drop a million I-pods into I-Raq.

Jobs I'm looking at you.

Errol Morris, shows film at the Walker

Director Errol Morris director of the academy award winning Fog of War, New York Times blogger, and inventor of the infamous Interrotron has had a rather excentric career. A strange variety of topic covered, from a Orange County Pet cemetery to a expert on Naked Mole Rats. His pervious film garnered the academy award for documentary featuring an interview with Robert McNamara. His latest work titled "Standard Operating Procedure" has won the "silver bear" gand jury prize at the Berlin Film Festival. It was shown lat night at the Walker Arts Center, and will open up in Landmark theaters on May 23rd. The viewing wasn't sold out due to some special request by sony limiting the number of viewers for the film.

The movies focus is on the controversy of torture at Abu Ghraib, and specifically the pictures taken there. The movie is filled with the stylish Morris re-enactment of a black background heavy direct overhead lighting and constanst slow motion visuals. The story is touching and fairly disturbing, making you feel angry at the war and slightly sypathetic for those soldiers who were thrown into such a horrible situation. There is constant voice over of private letters sent by one of the women, who seems the most conscious of the atrocities going on around her.

The after show Q&A was fairly unexceptional, except fot the last 30 minutes when after someone asked if any of the people interviewed "showed any contrition?" Mr Morris exploded in a tirade about President Bush becoming red in the face, he later said that impeachment should be done. He ended by saying asking the audience what they were doing to stop a war he guessed most people in the room disagreed with.

This is the second movie along with Stop-Loss to be openly critical of the Iraq war. The movie also is joined by the recent cover article in the City Pages concerning the rise of suicide rate for returned veterans, the media attention will I am guessing turn to the Iraq war with an ever closer microscope as the election heats up.

The Merchant of Menace

Some people might recall the announcement by the British band Radiohead that they were giving their new album away, a quick download for the price of your choosing. What is this saying about our culture?
Wired magazine wrote a cover article about giving things away, but what is this movement? I tend to believe this is the death of the merchant, the one who asks for one pound of flesh, just kidding. There is definitely a focus on cutting out the middle man, after your a famous band do you really need a label taking a piece of your sales. Not if your fans buy your music regardless of who distributes it. Many fans of the music business may know that a majority of income for large musicians comes from live shows, where even there too the middleman known as ticketmaster takes a cut.
Within the local food scene across the nation there is a cutting out of the middle man, the booming of popular Farmer's Markets brings consumer in direct contact with consumer. The Wedge Co-op even bought it's own land to start a farm. Along with this is the Community Supported Agriculture movement is growing across the country.
There are other middle men within media culture who have been shoved to the side besides music labels. The Directors guild was given the heave ho by director Robert Rodriguez when making Sin City after they denied him the right to label Frank Miller as co-director in the credits. Rodriguez is now unable to work for any studio bound to this middle man, this new age merchant. Will we see Cub foods ever go away or music Labels shrink to smaller sizes? Probably not, but for every public success outside of their system these middle men will adapt, hopefully in a beneficial way for both consumer and producer.

Granted many of our products will always require many levels of production, but things that are made by artists or artisans who create a product from a raw state, may gradually disappear as the Internet allows more direct one on one access. Apple may be wary of such a success by Radiohead as it allows musicians to circumnavigate lock down Apple has created with Itunes. The trend is noticeable to the keen observer, keep your eyes open for tombstones of merchants.

Ponderings

Ambassador to Netherlands

Roland Arnall in the US ambassador to the Netherlands, and once former owner of Ameriquest mortgage (He relinquished his position after it was bought by Citigroup). Mr. Arnall was also a large contributor to the 2004 Bush Campaign. The world is strange and corrupt I feel, Ameriquest was hit with a 3 million dollar settlement with the Justice Department in 1996. The company formerly owned by Mr. Arnall was a source of sub prime lending now effecting the stock market. According to the OC-register
"Allegations of misdeeds are a blow for a company whose executives have been prominent donors to campaigns for state and national political posts.

Ameriquest's co-chairpersons, Dawn and Roland Arnall, each raised at least $200,000 for President George W. Bush's re-election campaign. Arnall family members and 155 Ameriquest employees together contributed $242,500.

Ameriquest and three of its subsidiaries contributed $1 million to Bush's inaugural last month.

The company also contributed $100,000 to oppose the 2003 recall of California Gov. Gray Davis before giving $157,400 to the campaign of the man who replaced him, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Feel free to have a look at his profile on the Forbes 400 list here

To say the crisis comes without profit would be very misleading. By the way former owner of the Texas Rangers George W. Bush, built a stadium named after Ameriquest just after purchase of the team. Odd?

Check out the ambassadorships given out to Spain, another former Baseball team owner George Argyros, who also happens to be on the Forbes 400

Oh by the way look like the LA Times has a whole list of them here

Ultimate Fighting

It feels like everything people fight for is to win. To overcome, there is no split decision that people like to honor. Even in matters of life and death you frequently hear "Mother beats Cancer" there is no Middle age woman reaches compromise with cancer by relinquishing one of her breasts and in return decides to live a more organic lifestyle and stay away from any and all chemicals. There is no heroism is the world of even keel. It's up or down and chastise those in the middle for they are apathetic the hangers on. In the world sports there are few sports where a tie is a good thing, the worlds biggest sport of soccer hold a tie as less then a victory but still worthy of points. There are not many American sports where ties are accepted, Hockey used to be this way but due to consumer demand they have tried to add more excitement by creating a sudden death shootout into the regular season games which end into a tie.
Even Religion feels like a up or down sort of mentality, even the acceptance of Buddhist ideals is geared toward accomplishing Nirvana, there is no glory in endlessly cycling through the spiritual realms if you never reach the apex. I wonder where the glory is for the flat line, the mediocre, the steady silent majority of middle men who strive for nothing.
It is not here in the U.S. nor on the TV which dominates the living rooms like a fire used to before Edison. The TV which promotes the products we buy and informs us of the world events. It has shown me the rise of the U.F.C. and the Fall of boxing. For these are sports which show the quick interaction of rise and fall. They are the archetype of winning and losing, two enter to compete and each will leave up or down. But the past couple years have seen the torch move from Pugilist to Martial Artist. The Ultimate fighter tends to consider themselves skilled in MMA the short hand for mixed martial art. Really they are fighters, ranging from Mui Tai boxing to judo to wrestling. One of the most surprising forms of effective fighting is known as Jiu Jitsu, a martial art form that specializes in submission by manipulation of joints or choking out their opponent. Joe Rogan the former face of Fear Factor and well known actor in the show Newsradio has become the color commentator for the U.F.C. in an interview for the show Beyond The Glory he states that "In a boxing match you don't have any options to defend yourself, in the U.F.C. if you get hit by a punch you can control that guy with grappeling... you have options, you can move around, your not restricted in the techniques you can use, and that's whats dangerous to fighting... what's dangerous to fighting is the LACK of options, your forced to stand there and bang with each other you can't even hold on and protect yourself. Boxing is a far more dangerous sport."
I tend to agree with this assessment, boxing reportedly has more deaths per year then MMA has in it's history. Te reason being that a boxer cannot tap-out, cannot give up, and the fights tend to have less blows to the head (a major cause of death in regulated fights). Thats the draw of it as a sport I feel is that it combines defensive tactics. In basketball if you make a steal or block you can turn it into offense, or football with a interception. The transition game of moving from offense to defense is easily seen during many MMA matches. Thus the transition game is important SOmeone getting slammed in thier neck can quickly recover and win
This is not why ultimate fighting is a more complex sport then boxing and part of the reason why it has gained porminance, it is as they shamelessly promote the ULTIMATE fighting championships. No where else is the winning and losing between two entities so on display.

centripetal home

gliding back, over city streets
humming over the white dusting
that beats the tar into sleep
feeling home between silent monoliths
a place that inevitably feels foreign
but has become familiar, broken in
that it and I from this point on
will be able to sit down and gaze
while we shoot the shit together
a twelve gauge through the bowel
messy brown streak up Hennepin
and imaging later on a visit
I could explain all my feelings
by pointing out a car window
a laugh about some story
squinting through the past
sunlight glaring off a sky scraper
but maybe it's futile,
too easy to imagine
better to ponder and enjoy the rest
take a picture write a caption
play it safe keep risk locked down
lets just let hope
throttle on endlessly
find something besides a city
to break in,
while sleeping away a dream
centripetal