I was twelve when the Berlin Wall fell.
Memory is at best emboldening, at worst paralyzing, lost to the looking glass at the end. Some things are held on to more firmly than others. At twelve I had an inkling of the importance of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It became a fixed point.
Listening to the Soviet National Anthem performed well I'm struck by something I don't even have a word for - "nostalgia for an opponent I respected even though I wasn't alive to ever meet him". Perhaps the Germans can help.
Listen to the recording by finding the link on the bottom of the top right box labeled "Music Sample". Reflect on the difference between the Soviets and the hairy bastards we're set against presently.
Friday, September 11, 2009
What Is Brown & Round & Turning Red All Over?
An acorn roasting, of course! It is a terrible thing to see your own tactics used against you with undercover videotaping, so much the worse that the net allows anyone to see it, and quite miserable that the mind-slaying FOX News picks up the story and runs with it.
Baltimore Office Part I
Baltimore Office Part II
DC Office Part I
DC Office Part II
In these video clips ACORN employees at two separate offices provide assistance to an individual who wishes to set up brothels staffed by a mix of American nationals and imported underage Salvadoran females and to then use the proceeds from these operations to fund a run for political office.
Of course one could attempt to pick out all that is wrong with this scenario; at a certain point however, reached rather quickly in this case, one reaches an impasse. To work out in detail all that is wrong with the ACORN employees, their organization, and those who support them would require at some point the assumption that this work, this detailed listing, has value indefinitely.
The abyss separating civilized culture from ACORN and their kind is so great that the proper use of time is the identification of their structure so that it may be destroyed by all legal means. There can be no more understanding with these folks than there can be with the most sun baked Taliban member.
"Rahm, how's it it hangin', my man?"
"Goddamn second tape from a motherf*cking second office, Barry, that's how!"
"Well. Uh."
(reaches into pocket for pack of Marlboro Reds, pulls out a Virginia Slim, delicately lights up)
"Uh. Shit. Whadda we do now?"
"I'll fix this. I fix it all. I'll tell a lie, a big one, and keep telling it. But damn it..."
(puffs on his Slim. tries to sit down but can't seem to get comfortable)
"Yeah, go ahead, damn what, man, damn what?"
"Well, Sir, it's getting hard to hide the truth. The net, the goddamn net! It is the greatest enemy to the State, Sir. We must have control!"
"Do whaddever ya got to, uh, do."
(starts to sit down again, remembers last night's activities in less fuzzy detail, thinks better of sitting)
"Hey dancer boy! Send in Rashid and Pablocito on your way out. Yeah, yeah, plenty of time. Get on it man!"
Baltimore Office Part I
Baltimore Office Part II
DC Office Part I
DC Office Part II
In these video clips ACORN employees at two separate offices provide assistance to an individual who wishes to set up brothels staffed by a mix of American nationals and imported underage Salvadoran females and to then use the proceeds from these operations to fund a run for political office.
Of course one could attempt to pick out all that is wrong with this scenario; at a certain point however, reached rather quickly in this case, one reaches an impasse. To work out in detail all that is wrong with the ACORN employees, their organization, and those who support them would require at some point the assumption that this work, this detailed listing, has value indefinitely.
The abyss separating civilized culture from ACORN and their kind is so great that the proper use of time is the identification of their structure so that it may be destroyed by all legal means. There can be no more understanding with these folks than there can be with the most sun baked Taliban member.
"Rahm, how's it it hangin', my man?"
"Goddamn second tape from a motherf*cking second office, Barry, that's how!"
"Well. Uh."
(reaches into pocket for pack of Marlboro Reds, pulls out a Virginia Slim, delicately lights up)
"Uh. Shit. Whadda we do now?"
"I'll fix this. I fix it all. I'll tell a lie, a big one, and keep telling it. But damn it..."
(puffs on his Slim. tries to sit down but can't seem to get comfortable)
"Yeah, go ahead, damn what, man, damn what?"
"Well, Sir, it's getting hard to hide the truth. The net, the goddamn net! It is the greatest enemy to the State, Sir. We must have control!"
"Do whaddever ya got to, uh, do."
(starts to sit down again, remembers last night's activities in less fuzzy detail, thinks better of sitting)
"Hey dancer boy! Send in Rashid and Pablocito on your way out. Yeah, yeah, plenty of time. Get on it man!"
Monday, September 7, 2009
Hu wants to lose money?
Derivatives contracts not working out for you? Hedges going the wrong way? Not feeling so smart now that those gorgeous Gaussian PDF's are showing you just how badly a low probability event can hurt? What does one do about it all?
Cancun gambling houses running your risk models? Check.
Hanging judges running what passes for your judiciary? Check.
Irritable old bastards running your country? Check.
Nascent "social tensions" worrying the elite? Check.
Annoying overseas partners reducing their debt obligation to you by screaming money off the presses? Check.
Why pay at all? Hell, they're only contracts. It isn't as if they mean anything in the originating country, so let's make them mean nothing here in the Central Kingdom! Onwards!
Sort of raises the cost of doing business with them. Makes contractual obligations there seem about as attractive as in, say, Venezuela. Good luck with that, folks!
Boom Times!
The recession is over, care of the Seattle Times:
http://tinyurl.com/mqpoy5
"Well, looks like the consumer didn't run with it..."
"Suppose not, Mr. Reporter."
(coughing, hacking, wheezing rales)
"Say, can I have your Under-The-Bridge spot when you expire?"
"Sure, sure, do me no good then, eh? Ha!"
"Good while it lasted...."
"Too bad about Barry, hmm?"
"Grim, yeah."
"Yup"
http://tinyurl.com/mqpoy5
"Well, looks like the consumer didn't run with it..."
"Suppose not, Mr. Reporter."
(coughing, hacking, wheezing rales)
"Say, can I have your Under-The-Bridge spot when you expire?"
"Sure, sure, do me no good then, eh? Ha!"
"Good while it lasted...."
"Too bad about Barry, hmm?"
"Grim, yeah."
"Yup"
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