Utility Fog

"...the only relevant question: how much longer will Americans sit by passively...as a tiny elite become more bloated"

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:53:00 +0000

"...the only relevant question: how much longer will Americans sit by passively...as a tiny elite become more bloated" - The Real U.S. Government -

Twitter Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:46:40
Tweet 19399976150

RT @ricksaunders “It got darker. I thought; and thought in my mind moved... /cc @feedly

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:52:00 +0000

RT @ricksaunders “It got darker. I thought; and thought in my mind moved... - Farewell My Lovely - /cc @feedly

Twitter Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:15:25
Tweet 19400258450

Oligarchies are Kleptocracies with Better P.R.

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:29:00 +0000

"Political elites don't even feel compelled to pretend to be able or willing to do anything about this. Just think about this:  on Monday, the Post documents a vast Secret Government bequeathed with unimaginable secrecy and unaccountability, and the rest of the week is filled with stories of the administration's blocking greater oversight and plans to escalate the privitization of our National Security and Surveillance State. That's why there was so little government angst over the Post's "revelations": aside from the fact that it revealed little that wasn't already known (Priest and Arkin withheld substantial amounts of information at the Government's request), even the impact of having the Post trumpet these facts was not a threat to much of anything, since there's nobody in a position to do much about this even if they wanted to.  And few people seem to want to.

It's not hard to understand why. Why would the political class possibly want to subvert or weaken their ability to exercise vast spying, detention, and military powers in the dark?  They don't. Beyond that, as the Post series highlights, Top Secret America provides not only the ability to exercise vast power with no accountability, but also enables the transfer of massive amounts of public wealth to the private national security and surveillance corporations which own the Government. Very few people with political power have the incentive to do anything about that. It's probably best not to hold your breath waiting for Dianne Feinstein -- the Democratic Chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee who lives in lavish wealth as a result of her husband's investments in the National Security State (and whose Senate career has a way of oh-so-coincidentally bolstering their wealth) -- to meaningfully address any of the issues raised by the Post series. Despite Feinstein's rhetoric to the contrary, doing so is decidedly not in her interests for multiple reasons.

What ties together virtually every political issue is the one highlighted in this new article in The Nation by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.  Entitled "No to Oligarchy," it documents with an array of facts how America's wealth is rapidly becoming more concentrated in a tiny number of families while the middle class essentially disappears. As Sanders emphasizes, the outcome is not only the destruction of the "American dream," but serious threats to the very concept of a republican form of government:

Today, because of stagnating wages and higher costs for basic necessities, the average two-wage-earner family has less disposable income than a one-wage-earner family did a generation ago. The average American today is underpaid, overworked and stressed out as to what the future will bring for his or her children. For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.

But, not everybody is hurting. While the middle class disappears and poverty increases the wealthiest people in our country are not only doing extremely well, they are using their wealth and political power to protect and expand their very privileged status at the expense of everyone else. This upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the United States the envy of the world. In its place they are determined to create an oligarchy in which a small number of families control the economic and political life of our country.

The 400 richest families in America, who saw their wealth increase by some $400 billion during the Bush years, have now accumulated $1.27 trillion in wealth. Four hundred families! During the last fifteen years, while these enormously rich people became much richer their effective tax rates were slashed almost in half. While the highest-paid 400 Americans had an average income of $345 million in 2007, as a result of Bush tax policy they now pay an effective tax rate of 16.6 percent, the lowest on record.

Last year, the top twenty-five hedge fund managers made a combined $25 billion but because of tax policy their lobbyists helped write, they pay a lower effective tax rate than many teachers, nurses and police officers. As a result of tax havens in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and elsewhere, the wealthy and large corporations are evading some $100 billion a year in U.S. taxes. . . .

But it's not just wealthy individuals who grotesquely manipulate the system for their benefit. It's the multinational corporations they own and control. In 2009, Exxon Mobil, the most profitable corporation in history made $19 billion in profits and not only paid no federal income tax—they actually received a $156 million refund from the government. In 2005, one out of every four large corporations in the United States paid no federal income taxes while earning $1.1 trillion in revenue.

[Quick:  look over there at Pakistan, exclaims The New York Times:  "Pakistan's Elite Pay Few Taxes, Widening Gap"]. Sanders quotes Teddy Roosevelt in 1910 explaining why a graduated estate tax was not only economically just but -- more important -- crucial to maintaining basic democratic values:

The absence of effective state, and, especially, national restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power. The prime need is to change the conditions which enable these men to accumulate power which is not for the general welfare that they should hold or exercise.

What was once a word that only the most UnSerious of people would utter as applied to the U.S. -- "oligarchy" -- is today one that can't be avoided if one wants accurately to describe our political culture.  Sanders warns of an "oligarchy in which a handful of wealthy and powerful families control the destiny of our nation."  The second-ranking Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin, extraordinarily confessed last year that it is Wall Street banks which "frankly own" the Congress. In virtually every area, the subservience of Government to large business interests is so complete that it's impossible to find the line where government ends and corporate power begins. It's a full-scale merger. That's the central fact of our political life.  Most everything else is a distraction."

Why has the Post series created so little reaction?

Successfully reinstalled drawstring in favorite shorts - bailing wire fixes what duct tape can't.

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:49:00 +0000

Successfully reinstalled drawstring in favorite shorts - bailing wire fixes what duct tape can't.

Twitter Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:49:17
Tweet 19349270533

2 hours online and Flash hasn't broken on Firefox - I think one of the recent Ubuntu updates might actually have fixed it - weee

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:17:00 +0000

2 hours online and Flash hasn't broken on Firefox - I think one of the recent Ubuntu updates might actually have fixed it - weee

Twitter Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:16:42
Tweet 19346908554

RT @justinvincent Growing Number of Prosecutions for Videotaping the Police

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:51:00 +0000

RT @justinvincent Growing Number of Prosecutions for Videotaping the Police - Growing Number of Prosecutions for Videotaping the Police -

Twitter Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:49:32
Tweet 19077656730

RT @ggreenwald Mukasey: non-uniformed combatants w/o chain of command=war criminals -what about our private contractors?

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:22:00 +0000

RT @ggreenwald Mukasey: non-uniformed combatants w/o chain of command=war criminals -what about our private contractors? - The secret private-sector government -

Twitter Tue, 20 Jul 2010 02:02:21
Tweet 19049684777

In a perfect world I could give Terry Gilliam a bazillion dollars to make an "Invader Zim" movie. That's right-"bazillion" with a "B".

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:33:00 +0000

In a perfect world I could give Terry Gilliam a bazillion dollars to make an "Invader Zim" movie. That's right-"bazillion" with a "B".

Twitter Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:33:13
Tweet 19042492947

Hate Hate Hate Network Storage Boxen - When they lose network access they turn into data-trapping cinder blocks.

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Hate Hate Hate Network Storage Boxen - When they lose network access they turn into data-trapping cinder blocks.

Twitter Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:30:36
Tweet 18738121818

Wow. 300 channels and "Turner and Hooch" was the most appealing.

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:59:00 +0000

Wow. 300 channels and "Turner and Hooch" was the most appealing.

Twitter Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:35:16
Tweet 18965014855

Dick Cheney doesn't have a pulse

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:59:00 +0000

Dick Cheney doesn't have a pulse - It's ALIVE! -

Twitter Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:58:55
Tweet 18966377015

RT @badbanana: I've discovered the ultimate pizza topping. Footlong meatball subs.

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:03:00 +0000

RT @badbanana I've discovered the ultimate pizza topping. Footlong meatball subs.

Twitter Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:03:41
Tweet 18736422583

Painter's Tape Art

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 02:57:00 +0000

harry's at the door

RT @GreatDismal "Enough fat to fill nine double-decker buses" via BoingBoing (Good Morning!)

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:06:00 +0000

RT @GreatDismal "Enough fat to fill nine double-decker buses" - 'Wall of fat' removed from London's sewers - via BoingBoing (Good Morning!)

Twitter Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:05:16
Tweet 18687997206

RT @badbananna: In my brain's deep fear closet, the phrase "Global Thermonuclear War" has been replaced by "From the Makers of Marmaduke."

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:45:00 +0000

RT @badbananna In my brain's deep fear closet, the phrase "Global Thermonuclear War" has been replaced by "From the Makers of Marmaduke."

Twitter Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:44:47
Tweet 18686533533

RT @ggreenwald: America in a nutshell (h/t @SteveHynd)

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:10:00 +0000

RT @ggreenwald America in a nutshell - Featured McClatchy cartoon - (h/t @SteveHynd)

Twitter Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:09:33
Tweet 18604684443

RT @Richard_Kadrey sequel/prequel theory: American Psycho is the spiritual sequel to Ferris Bueller. Ferris was a sociopathic monster.

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:01:00 +0000

RT @Richard_Kadrey sequel/prequel theory: American Psycho is the spiritual sequel to Ferris Bueller. Ferris was a sociopathic monster.

Twitter Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:01:17
Tweet 18604095849

Artisanal Pencil Sharpening:

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:39:00 +0000

Artisanal Pencil Sharpening: - Let's Get Sharp! -

Twitter Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:38:36
Tweet 18602579516

RT @Richard_Kadrey: Sometimes I love the world. Behold the Hello Kitty bondage sofa. RT @hellokittyhell: (nsfw) -

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:56:00 +0000

RT @Richard_Kadrey Sometimes I love the world. Behold the Hello Kitty bondage sofa. RT @hellokittyhell (nsfw) - - Hello Kitty bondage sofa -

Twitter Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:56:49
Tweet 18525213165

Cthulhu and Hobbes

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:33:00 +0000

Cthulhu and Hobbes - actually Mutant Calvin and Cthulhu -

Twitter Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:33:08
Tweet 18436881030

RT @UnlikelyWorlds: "our own Universe may be the interior of a black hole existing in another universe."

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:22:00 +0000

RT @UnlikelyWorlds "our own Universe may be the interior of a black hole existing in another universe." - Why Our Universe Must Have Been Born Inside a Black Hole -

Twitter Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:21:20
Tweet 18436237774

Conway's Game of Life in HTML 5

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:10:00 +0000

Conway's Game of Life in HTML 5 Conway's Game of Life in HTML 5

Twitter Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:37:23
Tweet 18362798102

"27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells" - just waiting to fail

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:11:00 +0000

"27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells" - just waiting to fail - - 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in Gulf of Mexico ignored by government, industry -

Twitter Sun, 11 Jul 2010 10:09:39
Tweet 18288611553

RT @fireland: Quick! Hide the cocaine in the baby!

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:36:00 +0000

RT @fireland Quick! Hide the cocaine in the baby!

Twitter Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:36:46
Tweet 18181870169

RT @daviddlevine: Top 10 Reasons the New Google News Sucks:

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:28:00 +0000

RT @daviddlevine Top 10 Reasons the New Google News Sucks: Top 10 Reason the New Google News Sucks

Twitter Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:07:53
Tweet 18180638125

Terrorist Sorcerers Are Coming To Rape Our Cars, warns Florida senate candidate

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:27:00 +0000

Terrorist Sorcerers Are Coming To Rape Our Cars, warns Florida senate candidate ^^ Terrorist Sorcerers Are Coming To Rape Our Cars, warns Florida senate candidate ^^

Twitter Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:27:19
Tweet 18181473249

RT @Richard_Kadrey: "God damn these electric sex pants."

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:28:00 +0000

RT @Richard_Kadrey "God damn these electric sex pants."

Twitter Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:28:09
Tweet 18122082914

Protons too small: "It's a very serious discrepancy. There is really something seriously wrong someplace."

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:12:00 +0000

Protons too small: "It's a very serious discrepancy. There is really something seriously wrong someplace." ** Protons are smaller than we thought...could the entire universe be wrong? **

Twitter Fri, 09 Jul 2010 06:11:11
Tweet 18120783314

RT @daviddlevine This stupid little video gave me chills RT @io9: FIREFLY The [80s-style] Credits Sequence It Deserved

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:09:00 +0000

RT @daviddlevine This stupid little video gave me chills RT @io9 FIREFLY The [80s-style] Credits Sequence It Deserved - FIREFLY: The Credits Sequence It Deserved! -

Twitter Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:09:37
Tweet 18120617076

Added a Mail Client and a Transport Rule to the Exchange Server, now my phone will get a message if the Novell Server crashes #geek

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:59:00 +0000

Added a Mail Client and a Transport Rule to the Exchange Server, now my phone will get a message if the Novell Server crashes #geek

Twitter Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:59:17
Tweet 18119903691