Stephen Bové - Art, Technology, Right Action

OPERATION EMPIRE STATE

2011-03-17T13:18:00.001-07:00

OPERATION EMPIRE STATE a photo by Colonel Flick on Flickr.

TEARS 3 11 11

2011-03-17T13:17:00.001-07:00

TEARS 3 11 11 a photo by Colonel Flick on Flickr.

Disorder Rebel Store 2011

2011-03-15T08:49:00.001-07:00

Disorder Rebel Store 2011 a photo by seven_resist on Flickr.

we re not a party - we are having one...hehheh.

Sweet Image: Vintage Poster: 15 Jaar AFA

2011-03-15T08:40:00.001-07:00

15 Jaar AFA a photo by seven_resist on Flickr.

15 years Antifascist Action in Netherlands - Amsterdam

World's Largest Museum Now in Beijing, China

2011-03-06T08:59:00.003-08:00

World's Largest Museum Now in Beijing, China a photo by asia blues on Flickr.

After 2.5 billion RMB and nearly four years of renovations and expansions, the National Museum of China finally eopened on Tuesday, Mar. 1 to select visitors.

It tripled its previous size to over two million square feet and is now reportedly the largest museum in the world. It has more than one million cultural relics. Xinhua says it's open to the general public on March 17, 2011.

Photos from China News via Shanghaiist.com

Uploaded by asia blues on 6 Mar 11, 4.07AM PST.

How to freak out your dog

2011-03-06T08:59:00.001-08:00

Chinese New Year at Taipei, Taiwan a photo by asia blues on Flickr.

Invisible Riders of Bokehistan

2011-02-23T10:27:00.001-08:00

Invisible Riders of Bokehistan
Originally uploaded by rogvon

Sweet Bokeh!

Hubble reveals heart of Lagoon Nebula

2010-09-25T09:50:00.001-07:00

Hubble reveals heart of Lagoon Nebula
Originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

A spectacular new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the heart of the Lagoon Nebula. Seen as a massive cloud of glowing dust and gas, bombarded by the energetic radiation of new stars, this placid name hides a dramatic reality.

The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a dramatic view of gas and dust sculpted by intense radiation from hot young stars deep in the heart of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8). This spectacular object is named after the wide, lagoon-shaped dust lane that crosses the glowing gas of the nebula.

This structure is prominent in wide-field images, but cannot be seen in this close-up. However the strange billowing shapes and sandy texture visible in this image make the Lagoon Nebula’s watery name eerily appropriate from this viewpoint too.

Located four to five thousand light-years away, in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer), Messier 8 is a huge region of star birth that stretches across one hundred light-years. Clouds of hydrogen gas are slowly collapsing to form new stars, whose bright ultraviolet rays then light up the surrounding gas in a distinctive shade of red.

The wispy tendrils and beach-like features of the nebula are not caused by the ebb and flow of tides, but rather by ultraviolet radiation’s ability to erode and disperse the gas and dust into the distinctive shapes that we see.

In recent years astronomers probing the secrets of the Lagoon Nebula have found the first unambiguous proof that star formation by accretion of matter from the gas cloud is ongoing in this region.

Young stars that are still surrounded by an accretion disc occasionally shoot out long tendrils of matter from their poles. Several examples of these jets, known as Herbig-Haro objects, have been found in this nebula in the last five years, providing strong support for astronomers’ theories about star formation in such hydrogen-rich regions.

The Lagoon Nebula is faintly visible to the naked eye on dark nights as a small patch of grey in the heart of the Milky Way. Without a telescope, the nebula looks underwhelming because human eyes are unable to distinguish clearly between colours at low light levels.
Charles Messier, the 18th century French astronomer, observed the nebula and included it in his famous astronomical catalogue, from which the nebula’s alternative name comes. But his relatively small refracting telescope would only have hinted at the dramatic structures and colours now visible thanks to Hubble.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

Burn 2010 - Black Rock Princess

2010-09-08T18:43:00.001-07:00

Burn 2010 - Black Rock Princess
Originally uploaded by sbove

Fire Miles

2010-09-07T13:09:00.003-07:00

Fire Miles
Originally uploaded by DLevin

False Dawn

2010-09-07T13:09:00.001-07:00

False Dawn
Originally uploaded by DLevin

daybreak at the riverside

2010-09-01T19:49:00.001-07:00

daybreak at the riverside
Originally uploaded by hkvam

At the river Laxá by Rauðhólar/Red hills in Laxárdalur valley, N-Iceland.

I chatter, chatter as I flow to join the brimming river, for men may come and men may go, but I go on forever.
Lord Tennyson

Uploaded by hkvam on 13 Aug 10, 2.11PM PDT.

2010-08-20T17:20:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by rosemary*

Solar Storm on August 1, 2010 as seen by STEREO [HD Video]

2010-08-08T23:42:00.001-07:00

Solar Storm on August 1, 2010 as seen by STEREO [HD Video]
Originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Solar mega flare and Tsunami...

2010-08-08T23:40:00.001-07:00

Great Ball of Fire - Activity from August 1 CME Subsides
Originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

A Galactic Spectacle

2010-08-05T09:19:00.001-07:00

A Galactic Spectacle
Originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

A beautiful new image of two colliding galaxies has been released by NASA's Great Observatories. The Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light-years from Earth, are shown in this composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), the Hubble Space Telescope (gold and brown), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (red). The Antennae galaxies take their name from the long antenna-like "arms," seen in wide-angle views of the system. These features were produced by tidal forces generated in the collision.

The collision, which began more than 100 million years ago and is still occurring, has triggered the formation of millions of stars in clouds of dusts and gas in the galaxies. The most massive of these young stars have already sped through their evolution in a few million years and exploded as supernovas.

chime mechanism for 10,000 year old clock

2010-08-03T13:36:00.001-07:00

chime mechanism for 10,000 year old clock
Originally uploaded by lorelei

Bokehistan

2010-08-03T13:31:00.001-07:00

"This is London calling Bokehistan. Will you accept the charges?"
Originally uploaded by rogvon

Today's NASA GOES-13 Full Disk view of Earth August 3, 2010

2010-08-03T13:24:00.001-07:00

NASA GOES-13 Full Disk view of Earth August 3, 2010
Originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

tahoe sunset

2010-07-27T10:20:00.001-07:00

tahoe sunset
Originally uploaded by sbove

Tahoe Sunset 2

2010-07-27T10:19:00.001-07:00

Tahoe Sunset 2
Originally uploaded by sbove

Fascinating Report from Iraq: What work's, what hurts.

2010-07-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

From here:

http://www.philadelphiaspeaks.com/forum/lounge/13161-m4-vs-ak-47-u-s-army-outgunned-afghanistan.html

Post date: 05-26-2010, 07:03 AM Date of writing ~ 3.26.10

*Subject: Marine's Opinions on Iraq*

This email from a Marine who was in Iraq. I got this over two months ago.

From: Frank Pickton RRT Erbil/ DynCorp HHB 2/3 FA 1-1 AD FOB Warrior, Iraq APO AE 09338

No politics here.....just a Marine with a bird's eye view opinion!!

US Weapons:

1) The M-16 rifle: Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They lack the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picatinny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits can't be reliably counted on to put the enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents show a high level of opiate use.

2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of ****. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly (that's fun in the middle of a firefight).

3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the

9mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight..

4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for clearing houses to good effect.

5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 NATO (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun, developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!) Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts 'em down. Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the structure over there.

6) The M2 50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma Deuce" is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight stopper - puts their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater.

7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol around out there. Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on one. With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a torso hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol work) use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45's are being re-issued en masse.

8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round.

9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out vehicle suicide bombers (we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded enemy. It is definitely here to stay.

10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 win mag. Heavily modified Remington 700's. Great performance. Snipers have been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it a marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded (name removed) record for confirmed kills with OVER 100.

11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx.. 6 lbs.and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will stop an AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as **** to wear, almost unbearable in the summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, the enemy now goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bull**** about the "old" body armor making our guys vulnerable to the IED's was a non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in most cases.

12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more enemy being whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen the videos.

13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights are Surefire's, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban operations. Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it. I can't help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50 or more years old!! With all our technology, it's the WWII and Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!! The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.

Bad guy weapons:

1) Mostly AK47's. The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like ****. Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire. However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles.

(Iran, again)

2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple, reliable and as common as dog****. The enemy responded to our up-armored Humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.

3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in Jordan's area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3

155 mm artillery shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell phone and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there.. Lately, they are much more sophisticated "shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the readymade IED's are supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges, in Styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.

4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets

(with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Jordan's NCO's lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the wire". Jordan's base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (It did). More of a psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then haul ass in a matter of seconds.

Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be easily beaten in close better now.

Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones and also by email on laptops. They use handheld GPS units for navigation and "Google Earth" for overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured.

Who are the bad guys? Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are mostly "foreigners" , non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the Muslim world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria (with, of course, the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian govt.), and then travel down the "rat line" which is the trail of towns along the Euphrates River that we've been hitting hard for the last few months.

Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists that often end up as suicide bombers or in various "sacrifice squads". Most, however, are hard core terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.). These are the guys running around murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off.

The Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian) are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters. They have been fighting the Russians for years. In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are Iranian inspired

(and led) Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local govt's, the police forces and the Army. They have had a massive spy and agitator network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early

80's. Most of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured, or gave up long ago.

Bad Guy Tactics: When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked every time! Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing AK's and RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time (see the M2 and M240 above). Jordan's base was hit like this often.

When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeo's (Allah's Waiting Room). We have the laser guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast mover's, mostly Marine F-18's, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre Gunships cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all.

Fun facts: The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why we're seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber ****. The new strategy is just simple: attrition.

The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and especially Mosques are locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons, and ammo and flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for inflicting civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi govt. Kidnapping of family members, especially children, is common to influence people they are trying to influence but can't reach, such as local govt. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.

The first things our guys are told is "don't get captured". They know that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the internet. Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live American serviceman. This motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't give a **** about the war. A lot of the beheading victims were actually kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi.

As such, for our guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option. The Iraqi's are a mixed bag. Some fight well; others aren't worth a damn. Most do okay with American support.. Finding leaders is hard, but they are getting better.

It is widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was a serious tactical mistake. Many Iraqi's were galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and the police forces went right up, along with their motivation. It also led to an exponential increase in good intel because the Iraqi's are sick of the insurgent attacks against civilians. The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters..

Morale: According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not only believe that they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see **** like "Are we losing in Iraq" on TV and the print media.

For the most part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food, and leadership. Bottom line though, and they all say this, is that there are not enough guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just can't stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases there).

Anyway, that's it, hope you found it interesting.

Frank Pickton RRT Erbil/ DynCorp HHB 2/3 FA 1-1 AD FOB Warrior, Iraq APO AE 09338

2010-07-12T16:05:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by rosemary*

NASA Captures Hurricane Celia off Mexico

2010-06-26T08:50:00.001-07:00

NASA Captures Hurricane Celia off Mexico
Originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Zooming in on N11 in the Large Magellanic Cloud [HD Video]

2010-06-24T08:09:00.001-07:00

Zooming in on N11 in the Large Magellanic Cloud [HD Video]
Originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Summer Rain in Bern, Switzerland

2010-06-24T07:33:00.001-07:00

Summer Rain in Bern, Switzerland
Originally uploaded by sbove

so high

2010-06-23T08:02:00.001-07:00

so high
Originally uploaded by lorelei

2010-06-22T07:02:00.003-07:00

Originally uploaded by rosemary*

Tropical Storms Blas and Celia

2010-06-22T07:02:00.001-07:00

Tropical Storms Blas and Celia
Originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico June 19, 2010 [Detail]

2010-06-21T15:09:00.001-07:00

Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico June 19, 2010 [Detail]
Originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Cent-Suisses

2010-06-21T07:27:00.001-07:00

Cent-Suisses
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

fil de soie - silk thread

2010-06-21T07:26:00.001-07:00

fil de soie - silk thread
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

2010-06-06T09:34:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by rosemary*

flower cakes

2010-06-04T11:13:00.001-07:00

flower cakes
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

2010-05-21T06:54:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by rosemary*

Socialist Democratic Republic of Berkeley

2010-05-11T09:46:00.001-07:00

berkeley is for the birds?
Originally uploaded by lorelei

A pickup truck mounted birdhouse neighborhood....

clouds and ocean

2010-05-08T20:14:00.003-07:00

clouds and ocean
Originally uploaded by The Plastiki

clouds and ocean 2

2010-05-08T20:14:00.001-07:00

clouds and ocean 2
Originally uploaded by The Plastiki

PLastiki journey photos!!

D70_5143

2010-05-01T09:00:00.001-07:00

D70_5143
Originally uploaded by waynel

#21 - twintowers

2010-04-22T11:22:00.003-07:00

#21 - twintowers
Originally uploaded by benowhere 2.0

#20 - take the long way home

2010-04-22T11:22:00.001-07:00

#20 - take the long way home
Originally uploaded by benowhere 2.0

Playing with the Devil

2010-04-15T10:36:00.001-07:00

Playing with the Devil
Originally uploaded by skarpi

A shot taken few days ago on a truck trip with Jói and Gunnar Gestur "over" Mýrdalsjökull glacier to the erupting volcano in Fimmvörðuháls. Jói was really doing me a huge favor picking his place, on the edge in front of the volcano to make his shots. While observing this photo I was amazed how relaxed he ectually is standing there wile the erupting volcano spreads the melting lava around the area. I guess the lava is about 1000-1200°C at this point.

At last all went well and nobody got "toasted" on this great phototrip.

Contact me at: skarphedinn.thrainsson@gmail.com
for any requests regarding publishing of my copyrighted images.

Best regards, Skarpi

Uploaded by skarpi on 9 Apr 10, 6.09AM PDT.

2010-04-13T09:14:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by rosemary*

kathmandu night 1

2010-04-08T08:27:00.001-07:00

kathmandu night 1
Originally uploaded by benowhere 2.0

ridges and peaks

2010-04-08T08:25:00.003-07:00

ridges and peaks
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

2010-04-08T08:25:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by rosemary*

Holy Trinity Blackburn

2010-04-08T08:24:00.001-07:00

Holy Trinity Blackburn
Originally uploaded by fotofacade

New York, New York!

2010-04-06T08:32:00.001-07:00

New York, New York!
Originally uploaded by Tous les noms sont déjà pris... pfff...

Count your blessings, me droogies.

Iris Japonica：鸢尾花

2010-04-06T08:29:00.001-07:00

Iris Japonica：鸢尾花
Originally uploaded by love_child_kyoto

moody blues, with a hint of pink

2010-04-06T08:12:00.001-07:00

moody blues, with a hint of pink
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

Lights, lights

2010-04-02T13:01:00.001-07:00

Lights, lights
Originally uploaded by Andrea Kirkby

the sad story of the stowaway snail

2010-04-02T12:59:00.001-07:00

the sad story of the stowaway snail
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

a glass of summer

2010-04-02T12:40:00.001-07:00

a glass of summer
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

imagination

2010-04-02T12:39:00.001-07:00

imagination
Originally uploaded by hollowglow

lotus seeds

2010-03-05T10:31:00.001-08:00

lotus seeds
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

a glass of summer

2010-03-05T10:30:00.001-08:00

a glass of summer
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

opening up

2010-03-04T19:47:00.001-08:00

opening up
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

silver fern pendant

Uploaded by overthemoon on 20 Jan 08, 1.49AM PST.

the sad story of the stowaway snail

2010-03-04T19:45:00.001-08:00

the sad story of the stowaway snail
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

"When we left Lausanne I noticed this snail at the bottom of the windscreen. During our ride home it managed to creep to the top then disappeared from view onto the roof. When we got out of the car at home it was slowly making its way up the aerial.
I'm cross with myself because I should have taken it off and put it safely into the bushes, but no, I left it to climb up and perhaps down again, lost, lonely and far away from home.
The next day, all we found was an empty shell; he must have made a blackbird's breakfast ;-( "

Uploaded by overthemoon on 1 May 09, 12.17PM PST.

café-crème

2010-03-04T19:44:00.001-08:00

café-crème
Originally uploaded by overthemoon

Everything's on Twitter now...

2009-10-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

Since about a year ago, nearly all of my blogging activity has moved to twitter...

http://twitter.com/stephenbove

MORON Clause

2009-04-07T11:47:00.001-07:00

F-ING MORON Clause
Originally uploaded by the_real_cjs

Stop the Graft!

2008-09-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

The current distressed asset repurchase being proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson is an outrageous affront to all hard working fiscally conservative Americans -- a massive redistribution of value from the American people that benefits only a minority professional banker/financier class.

Any legislation empowering a "bailout" of distressed financial institutions at this time must prevent the following misuse of taxpayer dollars:

1) Banks, especially newly created bank-holding companies like Goldman Sachs & JP Morgan must be barred from borrowing funds at the Fed Discount Window and investing those funds in "distressed-assets" being sold by the Treasury after being purchased from failing institutions with taxpayer bailout funds. This kind of egregious round-tripping from Fed to Bank to Treasury must be prohibited.

2) Bail out funds paid to a bank or financial institution (such as Goldman, JPMorgan, etc.) for distressed assets must NEVER be used to subsequently buy similar (and especially not higher quality) distressed assets being sold by Treasury after purchase during a bailout. This sort of covert balance sheet swapping at taxpayer expense cannot be tolerated.

Call, email and write your Senators, Representatives and influential friends. Let them know that you are intolerant of the carefully veiled graft that has been proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson.

San Francisco says NO to China Olympics Torch Run

2008-04-10T09:54:00.001-07:00

IMG_0741
Originally uploaded by sbove

Yesterday, I was particularly proud to be a San Franciscan. My city-mates (and apparently thousands of people from all over California and even the US at large) converged on the embarcadero with great enthusiasm and compassion, and sent a powerful message to the Chinese government: "We are not trying to penalize the Olympics or the Athletes who will participate in them, but we will NOT stand by idly while a country of China's international stature advocates policies of genocide, criminal brutality, and political/religious oppression. We will not stand for it from China and we won't stand for it as our own Federal government does EXACTLY THE SAME THINGS to Iraq and Afghanistan. Troglodytic, reptilian, fear based foreign policy is a dangerous and obsolete mode. China, step it up! Tolerance and individual freedom are plenty compatible with economic prosperity.

More photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenbove/sets/72157604467857786/

Iraq Conquest - A Clear Victory for American Control Interests

2008-03-20T09:33:00.001-07:00

Iraq Conquest Stats - A Clear Victory for American Control Interests
Originally uploaded by sbove

American control interests have achieved a stunning victory in Iraq: Complete devastation of the infrastructure; subjugation of the people to martial law; theft of access to all valuable assets (oil); installation of a control structure for further conquest and dominion in the middle east. This operation which killed by many estimates over 1 Million Iraqis, expended a MERE 4,000 US troops (with somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 non-death casualties) - a .004 death-to-enemy-death casualty ratio (amazingly efficient compared to WWII). And, the cost of the operation, both past, present and future (which currently totals more than $1 Trillion USD and may, on a Net Present Value basis, run to over $10 Trillion during the coming years) has been billed to the GENERAL American public (99% of which derive net-negative benefit from it) via Federal Debt. The troops and mercenaries who fought and continue fighting this war believe all sorts of utter myths about their objectives including but not limited to (hilariously) that they are helping the Iraqis attain "freedom and democracy" (enslavement), and that they are defending their homeland against extremist Muslim terrorists (multiplying the number and resolve of existing and future terrorists exponentially).

All in all, a near TOTAL VICTORY that each and every member of the American control-class should be celebrating.

Neutron-loans - the delayed fuse component of the sub prime crisis

2008-02-07T11:10:00.001-08:00

_394930_blast300
Originally uploaded by sbove

Exploding ARMs Roil Bernanke's Drive to Calm Markets

"We call them neutron loans because they're like a
neutron bomb,'' said Brock Davis, a broker with U.S.
Express Mortgage Corp. in Las Vegas. ``Three years
later the house is still there and the people are
gone.''

Once option ARM borrowers' loan balances reach a
predetermined limit, called a negative amortization
cap, usually 110 percent to 120 percent of the
mortgage amount, their payment rates immediately
increase. They also automatically shoot up after five
years. Otherwise, increases typically are capped at
7.5 percent of a borrower's initial payment per year.

One in Five

``These could be called long-fuse, exploding ARMs,''
said Kathleen Keest, former assistant Iowa attorney
general and now senior policy counsel at the Center
for Responsible Lending in Durham, North Carolina.
``I've heard people say they are the most complicated
product ever offered to consumers. They are the real
liar loans.''

The loans accounted for 8.9 percent of the almost $3
trillion in U.S. home loans made in 2006, up from 8.3
percent in 2005, according to an estimate by industry
newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance.

Bush Squeals Like a Colicky Baby

2008-02-07T10:36:00.001-08:00

Bush Baby
Originally uploaded by sbove

Bush squeals to Senate like a colicky baby over his 200 unconfirmed appointments.

"Stop treating them like ``political pawns.'' he cries...

The vacancies to be filled also include two on the White House Council of Economic Advisers and 28 judgeships.

The three-member Council of Economic ("world domination") Advisers is down to one person.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday that senators are reluctant to vote on many nominees because approval would put them in office well past Bush's presidency.

To confirm them ``would greatly limit the ability of a new president to change the direction of those boards through new appointments,'' he said.

``Democrats, and I think the majority of Americans, think that the nation desperately needs a new direction on the economy,'' he said. ``I don't think they want to ensure that the legacy of the president's bad economic policies live on for 14 years through his Fed nominees.''

The Senate Banking Committee has delayed voting on Bush's Fed nominees, with lawmakers expressing concerns about their ability to protect consumers from the abusive lending practices that contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis."

Write your Senators and encourage them to continue stonewalling these confirmations!

Bush Legacy - Screw Your Air, Kids, Military, Bank Accounts!

2008-02-05T22:17:00.001-08:00

BushLegacy
Originally uploaded by sbove

Reed and weep me droogies!

Is anything this administration touched not FUBAR? Oh, yes, the bank accounts of the top .01 %...they're doing very nicely.

We need a new verb: "to bush" = "reduce to radioactive cinder for benefit of the already ultra-privileged"

Reserves in US Banks are Negative for 1st time EVER!

2008-02-05T13:05:00.001-08:00

Reserves in US Banks are Negative for 1st time EVER!
Originally uploaded by sbove

From Economist John Williams at his very informative service Shadowstats .

"Fed Emergency Actions Are Keeping Banking System
Afloat.

Nonborrowed reserves of U.S. depository institutions
have turned negative (greater than 100%) for the first
time since before the Great Depression

In December 2007, total borrowings from the Fed topped
36% of total reserves, then the highest proportion
seen since 46% in March 1933, when President Franklin
Roosevelt declared a "bank holiday" and closed the
banks.

In January 2008, the U.S. banking system met its
reserves only by borrowing an amount in excess of 100%
of total reserves from the U.S. central bank."

And also from http://rubenfield.com/?p=25

"Currently there are 52 banks borrowing 40 billion dollars to keep afloat. Nobody knows which banks, whichI assume is deliberate.

The big questions for the following few days are -

Will MBIA and AMBAC (Bond insurers) get downgraded? They’re largely fucked, but if they’re downgraded, everyone who uses them is fucked. Like 140+ billion fucked. Like Municipal bonds, banks, and more, all get downgraded as well.

I don’t believe they’ll do the right thing and downgrade them. It”ll cause too much damage, and the plate spinning must go on.

In a similar vein, Do we get more rate cuts? They’ve been betting on it all week but today people don’t seem as positive. Once again, not a good thing but more of an expected outcome. Can’t have any reality in our financial markets."

And more great analysis here:

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/01/bank-reserves-go-negative.html

Now, I'm not an alarmist, but I observe soberly that we are in all actuality, one "black-swan" moment from a world-wide financial disaster of unprecedented proportions...

I recommend to all my friends moving a "survival" portion of your holdings out of the dollar and/or out of potentially non-liquid/valueless financial instruments.

George Soros: The US Dollar is History

2008-02-05T13:03:00.001-08:00

George Soros
Originally uploaded by sbove

Who do you believe more about what's happening in the world financial markets?

A. Henry "How long did I sign up for this Treasury post?" Paulsen
B. Ben "GreenSpin Jr." Bernanke
C. George W. "Bring 'em on while I run and hide" Shrub
D. Darth "I''m so evil, sometimes I just have to pinch myself" Cheney
D. Billionaire investor and humanist George Soros

``The current crisis is not only the bust that follows
the housing boom, it's basically the end of a 60-year
period of continuing credit expansion based on the
dollar as the reserve currency,'' billionaire investor
George Soros said yesterday at the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland. ``Now the rest of the
world is increasingly unwilling to accumulate
dollars.''

To the Thugs go the Spoils. $7 Trillion of your money.

2008-02-05T13:02:00.001-08:00

Dick and Dolt
Originally uploaded by sbove

It took all of $100 billion of VC to fund the entire

information economy (1994 through 2001) - massive
capital allocation efficiency, massively positive
impact. "The largest (and I might add, most positive)
legal creation of new wealth in History." (J. Doerr)

For the price of the Iraq war alone, we could have
bought 4.5 Million Priuses, that's 15,000 miles of
45 MPG Priuses bumper to bumper. $7 trillion in
Priuses = 318 Million...one for every US citizen...a
row of green cars stretching around the equator 40
times!!!

For the 7 trillion in new National debt, we could have
financed every start-up and every artist in the entire
country more-or-less indefinitely, or put every kid in
America in private school (K-12 + college) for FREE
for 70 years.

We could have installed an equatorial solar array
(using productized & readily available technology) in
swaths throughout the tropics that would power all
the electricity for the entire planet (Global
Electricity consumption: 16.33 trillion kWh (2007
est.) x "cost at massive scale" of installed solar
panels and related transmission infrastructure @
.45/KW of output.

The whole raging success of the Internet economy, its
entire positive impact on the world was a flea on the
back of this gigantic FRAUD. It is the single most
astounding waste in the history of the world.

The attached sheet is a small accounting of the vast
and horrific devastation these people have brought to
our nation.

UBS Wipe Out, More Sub-Prime mess, More Inflation on the Way

2007-12-10T08:11:00.001-08:00

UBS Thrifty Scotts Not so Thrifty in Subprime Portfolios
Originally uploaded by sbove

From the BBC

UBS posts fresh $10bn write-down

"The sub-prime write-down represents more than a monetary loss for UBS - it's a serious blow to a valuable brand...It's further evidence of the transfer of financial power from the western economies to the great cash generating economies of Asia, Russia and the Middle East - which are able to dictate the terms on which they prop up our important institutions" - Robert Peston - BBC business editor

Announcing the fresh write-down - equivalent to its entire net profit for 2006 - UBS said that it had "revised the assumptions and inputs used to value US sub-prime mortgage related positions".

A Middle East investor - reported to be the Oman government - has put a further $1.7bn into the bank.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has predicted that losses will reach $300bn.

More Headlines from today's BBC
- Global debt hit by credit crunch
- Top bankers deny credit failure
- Record defaults hit Freddie Mac
- Credit losses 'may reach $400bn'
- HSBC $3.4bn sub-prime hit
- Stemming panics What lessons we can learn from financial crises in the past
- Bush details housing rescue plan
- Political deadlock on aid
- Carnage on Wall Street
- Foreclosure wave sweeps US
- US housing market crash
- Credit woes 'need private action'

Table of Overseas Sub-Prime Losses so Far:
UBS: $13.5bn
Citigroup: $11bn
Merrill Lynch: $8bn
Morgan Stanley $3.7bn
HSBC: $3.4bn
Bear Stearns: $3.2bn
Deutsche Bank: $3.2bn
Bank of America: $3bn
Barclays: $2.6bn
Royal Bank of Scotland: $2.6bn
Freddie Mac: $2bn
Credit Suisse: $1bn
Wachovia: $1.1bn
IKB: $1bn

Thanks President Cheney.

Now get back to work bailing out the banks and idiot consumer hyper-borrowers with more freshly printed dollars -- so our currency continues to slide into oblivion...

1st Bona-fide US Bank-Run since 1929

2007-11-30T11:07:00.001-08:00

War of wealth bank run poster
Originally uploaded by sbove

From Bloomberg News:

If you define a "bank" as an institution that holds money for other people and allows them access to it on some pre-determined contractual basis (demand deposits etc.), then...this ought to be front page news everywhere...but of course, its buried in the depths of a high-brow financial news site...

``The unthinkable and the unimaginable have just happened here in Florida,'' said Hal Wilson, chief financial officer of the Jefferson County school district, which kept its entire $2.7 million of cash in the fund. ``What we just experienced here is a classic run-on-the bank meltdown.''

" Florida's State Board of Administration, manager of the Local Government Investment Pool, halted withdrawals yesterday at an emergency meeting after $12 billion was pulled out this month from participants. Governments from Orange County, home of Disney World, to Pompano Beach asked for their money back following disclosures that the fund held $1.5 billion of downgraded and defaulted debt.

Thousands of school districts, towns and fire departments across the U.S. keep their cash in state- and county-run pools. These public accounts, modeled after private money-market funds, are supposed to invest in safe, liquid, short-term debt such as Treasuries and certificates of deposit from highly rated banks.

By freezing the Florida fund, officials left governments without ready access to cash they are accustomed to drawing upon for routine expenditures. The pool was the largest of its kind in the U.S. at $27 billion before the unprecedented withdrawals.

...in Tallahassee, there was no money to pay the 220 teachers and other employees in Wilson's Jefferson County school district today.

...the board is considering ways to shore up the fund, including obtaining credit protection for $1.5 billion of downgraded and defaulted holdings hurt by the subprime market collapse.

The Collapse of the American Empire Part N

2007-11-21T14:23:00.001-08:00

The Collapse of the American Empire Part N
Originally uploaded by sbove

Just in case you care about your net worth or the stature of your country's morals, credit or currency (and those things are strongly correlated):

11/21/07
Bush ‘approved lies’ in CIA leak case that exposed spy whose husband opposed Iraq war, says former aide...A former White House press secretary has accused US president George Bush of approving “lies” after the media was told that top-ranking aides were not involved in a leak which exposed an American CIA agent.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

11/21/07

U.S. Stocks Tumble, Wiping Out S&P 500's Gain for Year; Exxon Mobil Falls U.S. stocks fell, wiping out this year's gain for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, after concern that losses from mortgage defaults will spread through the economy pushed down shares of banks and commodities producers.

U.S. 10-Year Bond Yield Below 4% for First Time Since 2005 as Stocks Drop Treasuries rallied, sending 10-year note yields below 4 percent for the first time since 2005, as a decline in global stocks spurred demand for the safety of government debt.

11/06/07 and 11/15/07
Ex Soros/Quantum hedge fund guru and global investing expert Jim Rogers calls Fed Chairman Bernanke "a nut" AND "a fool" all in two weeks:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is ``a nut'' and interest-rate cuts by the central bank are harming the U.S. economy by fueling inflation, investor Jim Rogers said.

``Bernanke loves printing money,'' Rogers said in an interview in New York. ``This man is a nut. The dollar is collapsing, commodities are going through the roof, which means inflation's going through the roof. These people are leading us to terrible problems down the line.''

``He is a total fool,'' Rogers said. ``He said Americans who buy only American goods are not affected if the value of the U.S. dollar goes down. I was terrified.''...``If you only buy American products and the dollar goes down, the price of oil goes up, copper goes up,
wheat goes up,'' he said. ``That affects you. He doesn't understand the economy as far as I can see.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aa_.L7rMJx5w

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aXH9wCx1oydw

11/15/07
Jim Rogers (see above) "urged people to get out of the dollar and says he expects to be rid of all his U.S. currency assets by summer next year.

``If you have dollars, I urge you to get out,'' Rogers said in an interview from Singapore. He is chairman of New York-based Rogers Holdings, formerly known as Beeland Interests Inc. ``That's not a currency to own.''

11/21/07
An alarming spike in the 'Ted spread' between commercial Libor and US Treasury bills, now near 150 basis points. "Libor is at a premium to T-bills not matched the great crash in 1987...- Charles Dumas, chief strategist for Lombard Street Research

11/21/07
The flight from risk has led to a sudden unwinding of the $1,200bn yen "carry trade" as hedge funds and Japanese investors close risky positions. The yen has snapped back violently from yen118 to yen108 against the dollar since early October, with similar moves against other Anglo-Saxon currencies. "We're seeing a liquidation of the carry trade. For years it created liquidity for global equities in an upward spiral, but this has now turned into a downward spiral. Base metal prices are falling, which that tells us that Asia may not be as strong as we thought," - Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas

11/17/07
Saudi minister warns of dollar collapse: The dollar could collapse if Opec officially admits considering changing the pricing of oil into alternative currencies such as the euro, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister has warned. In an embarrassing blunder at the meeting in Riyadh, ministers' microphones were not cut off during a key closed meeting, and Prince Al-Faisal was heard saying: "My feeling is that the mere mention that the Opec countries are studying the issue of the dollar is itself going to have an impact that endangers the interests of the countries. "There will be journalists who will seize on this point and we don't want the dollar to collapse instead of doing something good for Opec." http://www.thebusiness.co.uk/

11/13/07
The Iraq War has cost Americans well over $1 trillion. According to a study by the Democratic Staff of Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, entitled “The Hidden Costs of the Iraq War,” “The economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion… That amount is nearly double the $804 billion the White House has spent or requested to wage these wars through 2008.” The report also calculates that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have already cost the typical family of four more than $20,000. As the report notes, “The full economic costs of the war to the American taxpayers and the overall U.S. economy go well beyond even the immense federal budget costs already reported.” Unlike previous assessments, these estimates look at the conflicts; “‘hidden costs’– including higher oil prices, the expense of treating wounded veterans and interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars.” [Washington Post, 11/13/07]

11/07
Staying the course in Iraq could cost an additional $2 trillion. While the war in Iraq has already incurred a tremendous cost on American taxpayers and the American economy, staying the course in Iraq is a choice that would have huge additional costs. It is estimated that staying the course in Iraq could cost an additional $2 trillion in total economic costs, including interest payments for war-related debt payments. [Joint Economic Committee, Majority Staff, 11/07]

Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything

2007-11-15T05:13:00.001-08:00

Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything
Originally uploaded by sbove

A physics phd-surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which has received rave reviews from scientists.

Lee Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, describes Lisi's work as "fabulous". "It is one of the most compelling unification models I've seen in many, many years," he says.

"Although he cultivates a bit of a surfer-guy image its clear he has put enormous effort and time into working the complexities of this structure out over several years," Prof Smolin tells The Telegraph.

"Some incredibly beautiful stuff falls out of Lisi's theory," adds David Ritz Finkelstein at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. "This must be more than coincidence and he really is touching on something profound."

Lisi's inspiration lies in the most elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 - a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan.

E8 encapsulates the symmetries of a geometric object that is 57-dimensional and is itself is 248-dimensional. Lisi says "I think our universe is this beautiful shape."

What makes E8 so exciting is that Nature also seems to have embedded it at the heart of many bits of physics. One interpretation of why we have such a quirky list of fundamental particles is because they all result from different facets of the strange symmetries of E8.

Lisi's breakthrough came when he noticed that some of the equations describing E8's structure matched his own.

What Lisi had realised was that he could find a way to place the various elementary particles and forces on E8's 248 points. What remained was 20 gaps which he filled with notional particles, for example those that some physicists predict to be associated with gravity.

Physicists have long puzzled over why elementary particles appear to belong to families, but this arises naturally from the geometry of E8, he says. So far, all the interactions predicted by the complex geometrical relationships inside E8 match with observations in the real world. "How cool is that?" he says.

The crucial test of Lisi's work will come only when he has made testable predictions. Lisi is now calculating the masses that the 20 new particles should have, in the hope that they may be spotted when the Large Hadron Collider starts up.

"The theory is very young, and still in development," he told the Telegraph. "Right now, I'd assign a low (but not tiny) likelyhood to this prediction.

Full paper here.

News here.

$1.6 Trillion - Another Cost of War Estimate

2007-11-14T17:01:00.001-08:00

$1.6 Trillion - Another Cost of War Estimate
Originally uploaded by sbove

Let's see. If I were in charge of something, say the Department of Defense, and I stated in public, backed up by someone else, say the VP and President of the United States, that the so called "war on terror" in Afganistan and Iraq was going to cost $50B to $75B. And it turned out, 6 years later to have cost between $1.6 Trillion and $2.4 Trillion, which is at least 21 X (twenty one times, thats 2,100%) my original estimate, I have to tell you that I would expect 1) to be dismissed from office and taken to court, 2) to be convicted of various felony offenses and put in jail or worse, and 3) that the American people would want and deserve to do those things to me for gross negligence if not outright fraud, treason, and conspiracy. I would expect these things and maybe even being dragged from my car and ripped limb from limb by an angry mob. But I guess that's because I'm honest and responsible, and the unchallenged, unlawful behavior of the President, the Vice President, and many of their advisers is simply unfathomable to me - unfathomable that they would do these things, and unfathomable that our Senators and Reps. and Supreme Court Justices, and journalists and pundits, and power-elite-citizen lawyers would let them get away with it. IMHO, Americans need to start pointing the finger, blaming, and demanding justice for what these incompetent and unlawful people did to our country. About 120 Million American tax payers should want to see some high government officials in Washington (and where-ever else they slithered and roved off to) doing the perp-walk. The orange monkey-suited perp walk, right into a maximum security federal penitentiary.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/13/hidden.war.costs/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Mission Accomplished - $2.4 Trillion Squandered

2007-11-09T11:25:00.001-08:00

Paul wacks Tool Bernake (did I remember to point out he's a TOOL?)
Originally uploaded by sbove

$2.4 Trillion in war costs. Real inflation at 10%+/yr since 2002, Dollar at historical Lows, Oil at $100/bbl, $3Trillion in new federal debt, Cost of Living skyrocketing, Incomes declining. My fellow Americans (I mean the majority of you...the ones who have no real net worth), a group of Plutocrats financially raped you.

Political theater: In the months before the March 2003 Iraq invasion, the Bush administration estimated the Iraq war would cost

"no more than $50 billion."

Reality: The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could total $2.4 trillion through the next decade, or nearly $8,000 per man, woman and child in the country, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate scheduled for release today.

As of Sept. 30, the two wars have cost $604 billion, the CBO says.

Adjusted for inflation, that is higher than the costs of the Korea and Vietnam conflicts, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

From USA Today:
www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20071024/1a_lede24_dom...

Meanwhile, the Plutocracy replaces GreenSpin with his clone Bernake...more Fed-driven inflation, more plummeting dollar, more progress toward $100/bbl oil.

PS: did you know the average American's share of federal debt and future off-balance sheet "obligations" is over $175,000. Read the previous post.

The Real Federal Debt Burden: $175,000 per citizen

2007-10-30T12:53:00.001-07:00

Dr. & Representative Ronald Paul (R-Texas)
Originally uploaded by sbove

The federal deficit per US citizen (303 million of 'em) is now ~$30,000, which of course means that per taxpayer, its 2x or 3x that, which means that we, as a nation, are in debt well beyond 2X annual average pre-tax income...

But that's only the $9trillion "debt"...

Here's the rest of the story from Congressman and MD
Ron Paul:

"The official national debt figure, now over $9
trillion (up from 5.7 trillion in 2000 and increasing
at over $1B per day), reflects only what the federal
government owes in current debts (money already
borrowed). It does not reflect what the federal
government has promised to pay millions of Americans
in entitlement benefits down the road.

Those future obligations put our real debt figure at
roughly fifty trillion dollars- a staggering sum that
is about as large as the total household net worth of
the entire United States. Each individual citizen's share of this fifty
trillion amounts to about $175,000. (that's around $500,000 per tax payer - ED).

Don't believe for a second that we can grow our way out of the problem through a prosperous economy that yields higher future tax revenues.

If present trends continue, by 2040 the entire federal budget will be consumed by Social Security and Medicare alone.

The only options for balancing the budget would be cutting total federal spending by about 60%, or doubling federal taxes. To close the long-term entitlement gap, the U.S. economy would have
to grow by double digits every year for the next 75 years."

Lewis Lapham on the election of GWB

2007-10-27T11:40:00.001-07:00

Lewis Lapham
Originally uploaded by sbove

He called it perfectly on November 8, 2002:

Lewis Lapham, student of history at Yale and Cambridge, grandson of a controversial pro-business San Francisco Mayor Roger Lapham (1944-1948), prolific book author, Hall of Fame journalist, Editor of Harpers, now founder of the Lapham Quarterly and Creator of the new documentary film "The American Ruling Class," in a PBS interview with Bill Moyers:

"Well, I think the Republicans won and I think the oligarchy won.

MOYERS: Oligarchy.

LAPHAM: Yes. I think that the Congress represents what I would call the frightened rich, the people who think that the democratic experiment has served its purpose, run its course, gone far enough.

And here we are, we will now protect ourselves with...behind gated communities or with such steep differences between incomes that we will be forever safe. And or with an invincible army that will...or an invincible homeland security department that will protect us against death and time.

And so I think that the election that Bush appealed to the country's weakness and fear, not to its courage and strength, and for the moment, I think that the message of weakness and fear found a sympathetic hearing."

PBS transcript of whole interview here.
(http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_lapham.html)

Condoleezza, I pity thee, I scorn thee...

2007-10-25T16:51:00.001-07:00

condoleeza_rice demonstrates the measure of her honor.
Originally uploaded by sbove

When Condolezza Rice was appointed National Security adviser, she became a pitiable character. A nonthreatening, unconnected placement by powerful, evil men into a position with power she would never be allowed to exercise. She was, from day one in the Bush administration, a tool. Her record as National Security Advisor is proof that she let herself be used, day in and day out, as a mouthpiece for Dick Cheney's defense policy. Her actions in this regard were abominable.

When Rice was appointed Secretary of State, she became more reprehensible. Kicked upstairs into a position of unprecedented prominence for an Afro-American woman, she was once more queued by Bush and Cheney to be used for whatever means they saw fit. She had been tested in her previous position and proved "trustable"...one who would toe-the-line, never break ranks...the perfect foil for the white oil-man's international petro-price & power game.

Today, Condoleezza hit new lows. Acting against her better judgment, toeing the line without courage and without creativity, she fell in and played her role, unconvincingly, as the mouthpiece for Cheney foreign policy driven economic sanctions against Iran. These sanctions and *all or any* actions taken by the US government that controvert patient, polite diplomatic dialog with Iran are extremely dangerous and not in the best interest of world peace or US foreign relations at large. Condoleeza ought to have resigned before letting herself be used this way. Pitiable, but now, more than ever, culpable for the crimes against humanity committed by this government while she watched.

California Fires Vs Iraq War

2007-10-24T14:05:00.001-07:00

tree on fire Irvine
Originally uploaded by ejkim06

This is one of those "perspective" moments...

Hurricane force Santa Anna winds drive fires over hundreds of square miles of California causing over $1B in damage.

Cost of 1 day of the Iraq war: same price...about $1B a day*

Imprison George Bush and Dick Cheney (after due process, of course) - they are the great destroyer, squanderer, murderers of our time. Right up there with Hitler, Stalin, Mao.

* American operations in Iraq now cost $12 billion a month, and the total cost of the war could reach $1.4 trillion, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. From Danger Room:

Additional war costs for the next 10 years could total about $472 billion if troop levels fall to 30,000 by 2010, or $919 billion if troop levels fall to 70,000 by about 2013. If these estimates are added to already appropriated amounts, total funding could be $980 billion to $1.4 trillion by 2017. [Italics mine]

Meanwhile, Inside Defense also reports that "top Pentagon budget and program officials have directed the military services to prepare spending proposals to finance Iraq and Afghanistan operations... through fiscal year 2009, which will span the last days of the Bush administration and the early months of the next administration."

http://www.democrats.org/a/2007/07/cost_of_iraq_wa.php

James Lovelock: Human Population will Crash

2007-10-22T14:27:00.001-07:00

James Lovelock
Originally uploaded by sbove

The 88 year old British scientist who discovered the ozone problem related to CFCs has come forth saying Global Warming is irreversible.

He thinks that by the end of the century global famine and catastrophe brought on by the Gaia organism (Earth) will slam humanity back into line...6 billion deaths and untold suffering later...

2100; welcome to planet earth, human population 500,000.

"the human race has gone through many bottlenecks before --and perhaps we're the better for it. Then he tells me the story of an airplane crash years ago at Manchester Airport. "A fuel tank caught fire during takeoff," Lovelock says. "There was plenty of time for everybody to get out, but many of the passengers wouldn't move. They just stayed there in their seats as they were told to, and the people who escaped had to climb over them to get out. It was perfectly obvious how to get out, but they wouldn't move. They died from the smoke or burned to death. And an awful lot of people, I'm sad to say, are like that. And that's what will happen this time, except on a much vaster scale."

Lovelock looks at me with unflinching blue eyes. "Some people will sit in their seats and do nothing, frozen in panic. Others will move. They'll see what's about to happen, and they'll take action, and they'll survive. They're the carriers of the civilization ahead.""

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16956300/the_prophet_of_climate_change_james_lovelock

Guillermo Habacuc Vargas Starves Dog as Art

2007-10-20T17:06:00.001-07:00

Guillermo Habacuc Vargas Kills Dog as Art
Originally uploaded by sbove

This poor homeless dog (more photos here) was captured on a street in Costa Rica, tied to a wall in an art gallery as an exhibit and starved/dehydrated to death over a day as people walked around the gallery...I shit you not.

This completely ruined my week.

Read the articles and blog coverage here:

www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=...

Sign the petition to have this person sanctioned here:

petloverstips.com/ForTheLoveoftheDog/news-updates/a-dead-...

Read a post here that sums up my feelings perfectly:

"this jerk is no artist he's a disturbed sadist who enjoys inflicting prolonged suffering upon innocent animal victims and those who bore witness to the suffering and did nothing are equally as guilty."

www.envirolink.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5391&amp...

Ronald Lauder and his $135M Klimt

2007-10-19T15:45:00.001-07:00

Ronald Lauder and his $135M Klimt
Originally uploaded by sbove

People who pay exorbitant sums for art by dead artists are not patrons, nor collectors, nor appreciators of what art is about.

They are at best merely shrewd investors, and mostly egoists, taste-fascists, and living-dead-examples of what it means to be an anti-patron.

They buy art that should already be in museums for the benefit of all humanity and use it for their own aggrandizement, cloistering it away in private halls or displaying it in self-important mini-museums bearing their own names (The Lauder Collection).

And their insane bidding runs up the prices legitimate Art Institutions must pay for these works to the point where they become completely impossible to justify.

A great patron finds living artists and nurtures their careers through purchase or commission (see the amazing work done by San Francisco's Fisher or Anderson families). A great patron takes risks at the front end of the appreciation curve, not the tail end, where Christies or Sotheby's intermediate the sale and where quality and importance is self evident.

For $135M, Mr. Lauder, you could have patronized essentially *all* the significant living artists in America and Europe for several years. Who knows what magic would have come of it.

Instead, you pay 12 full-time people to research and catalog your enormous program of acquisition/hording of dead-artist-art, and you dump $135,000,000 on a single canvas.

Compare your actions to the healthy collecting and true patronage of the early Medici (Giovanni di Bicci, Cosimo & Lorenzo di Giovanni), or Francis I (Renaissance King of France). These patrons knew the artists, nurtured the artists, commissioned the artists. They did not spend wildly and disproportionately on art created in the past. The bought the present and reveled in the rich HUMAN relationships they enjoyed with the creators.

Pharoah Sanders - Bliss

2007-10-18T18:33:00.001-07:00

Pharoah_Sanders
Originally uploaded by sbove

Saw Pharoah last night playing with a piano accompanist to a sold out Grace Cathedral audience up on Nob Hill here in San Francisco...Incense smoke cut by shafts of light coming down from the Gothic vaults and 2 hours of perfect music from the soul of a man of peace, deep spirituality, and humor. Thanks Pharoah!

Commando Salary Arbitrage

2007-10-14T14:31:00.001-07:00

Pentagon Commando Costs
Originally uploaded by sbove

Our government is now bidding against itself for the services of talented commandos. Not that I think a whoop-ass commando shouldn't get paid well for putting life-on-line...It's just aggravating to see all the House and Senate members let Bush and Cheney get away with privatizing over half the total US-force deployed in Iraq, result: a top Navy Seal or Army Ranger threatens to punt career in US armed services for higher paying job with Commandos-R-us (Blackwater, Haliburton, etc.), and the govt. has to pay up to keep these guys...each of which, the American tax payer has trained at a cost of over $1M. Our loss, Blackwater's gain. Just one more reason Bush and Cheney (and all the members of Congress who didn't stand up and fight them) should be dragged through the mud and run out of Washington before their terms are up.

"The Pentagon has paid more than $100 million in bonuses to veteran Green Berets and Navy SEALs in an effort to keep top commandos from heading to the corporate world where security companies such as Blackwater USA are offering attractive salaries. The figures gathered by The Associated Press and other research done by the Defense Department indicate there has not been an extended exodus of commandos to private security companies and other businesses that value their talents. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, File)"

Doris Lessing Wins Nobel

2007-10-11T15:03:00.001-07:00

Doris Lessing Toasted at Frankfurt Book Fair
Originally uploaded by sbove

Refreshingly candid.

Refreshingly NOT self-absorbed...or self-conscious....or self-important.

This lady dignifies the Nobel.

"I'm sure you'd like some uplifting remarks," she added with a smile.

Lessing, who turns 88 this month, is the oldest winner of the literature prize. Although she is widely celebrated for "The Golden Notebook" and other works, she has received little attention in recent years and has been criticized as strident and eccentric.

Asked repeatedly if she was excited about the award, she held court from her doorstep and noted she had been in the running for the Nobel for decades.

"I can't say I'm overwhelmed with surprise," Lessing said. "I'm 88 years old and they can't give the Nobel to someone who's dead, so I think they were probably thinking they'd probably better give it to me now before I've popped off."

Surrounded by members of the international media in her flower-packed garden, Lessing was dismissive of the Nobel — calling the award process graceless and saying the prize "doesn't mean anything artistically."

She acknowledged the $1.5 million cash award was a lot of money, but still seemed less than thrilled.

"I'm already thinking about all the people who are going to send me begging letters — I can see them lining up now," she said. The phone in her house, audible from the street, rang continuously.

Lessing brightened when a reporter asked whether the Nobel would generate interest in her work.

"I'm very pleased if I get some new readers," she said. "Yes, that's very nice, I hadn't thought of that."

She said she hoped the Nobel would draw readers to her latest writing project, "Alfred and Emily," which imagines her parents — whose lives were shattered by World War I — as they might have lived had the war never intervened."

From Yahoo news.

$200 Billion more for "War or Terror"

2007-09-27T09:26:00.001-07:00

Gates Begs for nearly $200 Billion more to fund "War or Terror"
Originally uploaded by sbove

It's time the American people wake-the-f-up and start sending the bills for this "war on terror" fiasco to the people who are benefiting from it: Exxon, Philips, BP, Haliburton, BlackWater, etc. etc.

As the dollar hits new lows against every foreign currency that matters, and gold rises into the mid $700 range, and oil tracks nicely to over $70bbl, and Idiot Americans remain generally oblivious to the evaporation of their net worths via hidden inflation (which at this point borders on an official debasing of the currency)...The Hawks are back at the trough begging for another $200B just for next year's portion of the phony war on terror (read: war for control of oil prices).

Remember, this war was only supposed to cost $75B (thanks Rummy, you elitist tool twid) and the real cost now approaches $2 Trillion.

The stupidity of the vast majority of middle class or poor Americans who are putting up with this amazes me beyond my wildest imagination (but then again, why should it, half of the population is below average IQ, no?).

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5750513

"WASHINGTON September 27, 2007, 1:47 a.m. ET · President Bush and Congress are headed toward another showdown on war spending, this time sparring over nearly $190 billion the Pentagon says is needed to keep combat in Iraq afloat for another year.

If approved, Congress would have appropriated more than $760 billion for the two wars, having already approved of $450 billion for Iraq and $127 billion for Afghanistan.

The Pentagon had already requested $147 billion for the wars; Gates went to Capitol Hill to ask for an additional $42 billion. The money would pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2008 budget year, which begins Monday.

Gates said the extra $42 billion was necessary to buy vehicles that can protect troops against roadside bombs, refurbish equipment worn down by combat and consolidate U.S. bases in Iraq.

More specifically, the request includes some $11 billion for 7,000 mine-resistant vehicles. This is in addition to the 8,000 vehicles already planned for fielding.

Congress has not yet approved any of the money but was on track this week to pass a stopgap spending bill that would keep the war afloat for several more weeks. This gives Democrats, divided on whether to cut off money for the war, time to figure out their next step."

Rove "Resigns"

2007-08-15T22:58:00.001-07:00

Bush Rove Resignation
Originally uploaded by sbove

If you're a Dumocrat running for *anything* important over the next two years, and you see Carl Rove bowing out of the White House to go home to Texas and hang out with his family, you ought to be very aware that what he's really doing is getting ready to help slay you. Carl is leaving because he's needed (and will be more effective for the GOP) elsewhere. Heads up Hillary, he's had a hand-picked federal prosecutor digging for months in your old home town (Little Rock). Your "fatal flaw" may be something he's already got a bead on. And the rest of you Dums. better start running a tight show, or old Karl's gonna get'cha!

HBO - Documentary: White Light Black Rain

2007-08-15T16:32:00.001-07:00

506x316_whitelight01
Originally uploaded by sbove

Watch this movie:

"Oscar® award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki revisits the [atomic] bombings of [Hiroshima and Nagasaki] and shares the stories of the only people who survived a nuclear attack."

One of the best and most intimate portraits of this absolutely amoral war-crime instigated in cold-blood by the US government in the final days of WW II.

How our governing elite ever decided that dropping a-bombs on innocent civilians (instead of carefully selected military targets) was the best course of action is sad, tragic, unforgivable. In those moments, THEY BECAME EVIL INCARNATE..and as Oppenheimer quoted in the moments after he witnessed the Trinity test, "THE DESTROYERS OF WORLDS."

War may be part of life on earth, but it is possible to wage it with honor. This use of weaponry was cowardly, dishonorable, and will live in infamy for all time.

See the mothers and babies melt. Rent it from Netflix.

Antonioni & Bergman - Fini

2007-07-31T17:06:00.001-07:00

One day apart. But what long and wonderful lives! Reminds me of how Jefferson and Adams both passed-on within a day of each other. Quantum-karmic-creative-entanglement.

Antonioni1960
Originally uploaded by sbove

"Official" Terror War Costs Escalate to $1Trillion

2007-07-31T15:15:00.001-07:00

Navy Admiral Michael Mullen
Originally uploaded by sbove

This just in, although those of us with half a brain have been reiterating it for years:

Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, President George W. Bush's nominee to be top military adviser said on Tuesday the United States will be in Iraq for "years not months" and a Pentagon official said the war was costing even more than expected.

"I do think we will be there for years, not months," Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing. "But I don't see it (Iraq) as a permanent -- you know, on a permanent base at this point."

In testimony to the House Budget Committee, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said next year's war tab will exceed the administration's existing request for $141.7 billion. That's on top of over $600 billion in war checks already written for Iraq and Afghanistan, with 70 percent for Iraq. Bush's request did not include next year's costs for the extra 30,000 U.S. troops sent into combat this year.

House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt:, " We're actually spending more and more each year" on the war"...an "ominous indication the costs are continuing to increase."

House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha said "I think they (the administration) will need $30 billion to $40 billion more" than the $141.7 billion request, he told reporters outside the House chamber.

So that's $180B + $600B = $780B

But there's more:

"Ultimately "no amount of troops" could solve Iraqi political problems, Mullen acknowledged" and he "expressed concern about the "increasingly hostile" role played by Iran." The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office provided an analysis for long-term war costs. It estimated that if troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were reduced to 75,000 over the next five years and stayed at that level through 2017, it would cost the U.S. Treasury $845 billion over the 10-year period.

So that's $780B + $845B = $1.625 Trillion being tossed around as the total cost of the war.

But we know that's LOW. It leaves out all the costs of supporting the significantly disabled troops who have returned home as well as a long list of very significant line items for "non-defense" spending that has occured to fund this war.

The true cost of just the Iraq and Afganistan portions of the War on Terror is going to be north of the $2 Trillion estimated by many not-half-brained pundits PRIOR to going into IRAQ.

Americans, I hate to say it again here, but you have been fed a load of lies and unless you are already a very wealthy person, you and your children will be paying for this madness for decades to come.

More here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070731/pl_nm/usa_iraq1_dc

Refinery Troubles Lead to Record High Prices

2007-07-22T10:57:00.001-07:00

Oil Refinery Burns
Originally uploaded by sbove

Just in time for summer...imagine that...

Oil-mega-company profits are at record highs (one oil executive made $300 million last year in compensation).

But according to the NYT, our oil refineries are disintegrating and can't keep up with demand. Ahoy fellow summer travelers...short supply is being engineered with every trick in the play book. Read more here.

See This Movie

2007-07-16T21:11:00.001-07:00

300x250
Originally uploaded by sbove

And then tell your doctors to TAKE BACK THEIR BUSINESS.

They are the only one's who can solve the problem. Doctors! Unite! Stand up and say, "We won't take this anymore! We are in charge of our business and will not surrender it to hospital, drug and insurance corporations."

I say this from a simple honest perspective: I am the son of a Doctor who was also the son of a Doctor. I see what has become of their profession. And I blame *THEM*. They let the business guys take control.

But they (the Doctors) are the experts. Together, they can simply turn the whole situation around overnight.

Specialty by specialty, grass-roots, bottom up, the Doctors can take back health care. It is their right. It is their duty. It is their oath!!!

"I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous."

The whole Oath of Hippocrates is below:

I SWEAR by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this Oath and this stipulation to reckon him who taught me this Art equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance with him, and relieve his necessities if required; to look upon his offspring in the same footing as my own brothers, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or stipulation; and that by precept, lecture, and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the Art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to disciples bound by a stipulation and oath according to the law of medicine, but to none others.

I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and in like manner I will not give to a woman a pessary to produce abortion. With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my Art. I will not cut persons laboring under the stone, but will leave this to be done by men who are practitioners of this work. Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick, and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption; and, further from the seduction of females or males, of freemen and slaves. Whatever, in connection with my professional practice or not, in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret. While I continue to keep this Oath unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art, respected by all men, in all times! But should I trespass and violate this Oath, may the reverse be my lot!

No Child Left Behind by US Military

2007-07-14T12:49:00.001-07:00

Uncle Sam
Originally uploaded by sbove

Did you know that the federal No Child Left Behind law passed in 2001 by the Bush-league requires school districts to hand over personal contact information for all juniors and seniors to military recruiters!??

This is a great example of the kind of slick-trick Rove and his cohorts have been pulling on the unsuspecting American population since they stole the ring of power in 2000.

This is OUTRAGEOUS.

Good that Berkeley, the "most-left-city" in the nation, has been fighting this down to the wire, while the rest of America went about their ignorant Fox-news informed lives.

Read SF Chronicle coverage of this drag out fight involving even Defense Secy. Gates here:

"Maj. Stewart Upton, Department of Defense spokesman, said that recruiters have a tough time finding students because of "reduced interest" among young people and the strict eligibility requirements. "Today's military recruiters must find and recruit from among the best and brightest of America's youth in a very challenging market," Upton wrote in an e-mail. "One vital tool that our recruiters rely on to help them succeed is access to high schools, in order to provide students with the opportunity to learn about the option of military service."

BRASH AND UNREPENTENT DECEPTION!

The fascist Bush-league wants the names and scores to find the BOTTOM OF THE CLASS...THE UNDERACHIEVERS WHO ARE DESPERATE FOR A JOB AND IGNORANT ENOUGH TO SIGN UP FOR GETTING SHOT INTO THE MEAT GRINDER IN IRAQ.

In Berkeley, thus far, 90 percent of the students at Berkeley High have refused to have their names released to miliary recruiters.

"Berkeley High risked losing $10 million in federal funding (YES, THIS EXTORTION TACTIC WAS USED), and possibly faced legal action, if it did not change its policy regarding military recruitment."

Instead, the Berkeley High administrators and parents have banded together. They started an "opt out" campaign and have to date informed the students and enabled over 90% of them (1350 of 1,500 juniors and seniors) to sign a legal "Opt Out" form. The 150 hold-outs are being contacted in person by concerned parents. "We will not be used as tools for an unjust and imperialist war." said Krystal Elebiary, a junior who joined with student Daniel Sandoval to write a letter and collect about 250 student [opt out] signatures.

Hip hip hooorah for Berkeley High!

Booo and Hisss to all the other high schools in the nation (YES BERKELEY HIGH WAS THE SOLE HOLD-OUT) who complied like good little mindless sheep.

Double boo and hiss to the scumbags who cloaked this insidious clause in the NCLB legislation! You should be ashamed of yourselves and apologize to the nation.

Tripple boo and hiss to defense Secy. Robert Gates who "wrote Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asking for something to be done." You should have abstained from touching this one and further sullying your record as an upstanding leader.

And a big Thank You to KPFA Pacifica Radio in Berkeley, one of the last bastions of free-speech and clear thinking in the country, for airing coverage of this issue last week.

John Edwards Pay-Ola Fer Nuthin?

2007-07-08T22:37:00.001-07:00

John_Edwards,_official_Senate_photo
Originally uploaded by sbove

Political advice department:

Mr. Edwards, you are already a multi-millionaire. Your campaign theme is "Two Americas", yet you take a $479,512 consulting fee in 2006 from a hedge fund (Fortress Investment Fund III that invests in businesses in the United States and Western Europe) where you have over $1M invested and say that your work for the fund was "designed to educate [you] about the way financial markets operate"?

How can your advice to a hedge fund be worth $479,000 if you don't know how the financial markets operate? Shouldn't you be paying them? And how can a super-smart 50+ year-old guy who is worth >$30M not know how the financial markets work? How many hours did you work for that hedge fund while you were ALSO being a US Senator and running a Presidential Campaign? How can whatever advice you gave that hedge fund be worth more that 2x your annual salary as a Senator?

Well, there really are two Americas...the one you live in and the one where a $479K consulting fee looks like PAY-OLA. In any case, this kind of "advisory fee" for what probably amounted to a few hours of work, is an unwarranted political risk for you -- you don't need the money.

Wise up and stop acting like a Texas Republican.

Libby Prison Term Commuted

2007-07-02T16:19:00.001-07:00

r3620813723
Originally uploaded by sbove

The worst president in history gets worse. At least this went to trial and a conviction was handed down. Now lets see if the bumbling Dems can get Cheney in the ring for a few rounds. He'll whip their ass too, but it will make good political theater and might give him a heart attack...

Russian Intelligence: Americans may attack Iran as early as April 6, 2007

2007-04-03T10:53:00.001-07:00

Iranians test Missiles
Originally uploaded by sbove.

T-minus 3 days and counting...

Will the Bush league be Hitler-like-enough to actually commence military operations in Iran?

Well, considering Pelosi & Co's lame efforts to:

1) cut off war spending (a $100 B I L L I O N war funding bill was just passed)

2) stop the "SURGE" (30,00 troops new troops are already deployed or on their way)

3) quell tensions over the British Prisoner Problem (Blair and Bush playing brinkmanship as expected over this obvious western-oil-alliance provocation)

4) order the western-oil-state's major Naval presence in the Gulf of Oman to back off (two carrier battle groups in place and ready for action)

It sure looks like the war-crazy people who took over the US Government 6 years ago are going to incite more violence...

A few days ago, the grim faced Russian foreign minister warned Washington not to use force against Iran and criticized what he described as the United States' unilateral approach to other global crises in an interview published Wednesday. Russia was worried about Vice President Dick Cheney's recent comment that "all options are on the table" to stop Tehran from becoming a nuclear power, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. "We are concerned about the possibility of a military scenario," Lavrov was quoted as saying, in the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta. "We are observing a U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf. Such a buildup of forces always threatens to trigger a military conflict, even by accident."

Very scary behavior...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1792976/posts

Lennon Vs. USA

2007-02-25T12:04:00.001-08:00

IMG_4683
Originally uploaded by sbove.

I was born in 'early 64. Jerry Rubin (and, strangely enough, the guy who produced the Partridge Family) went to my high school in Cincinnati (Walnut Hills).

But the Beatles, Lennon, Vietnam, Watergate, Tricky Dick, "Impeachment", "four dead in O HI O", hippies & flower girls (who I thought were cool, even though I could sense my parents didn't quite know what to make of them)...All that energy and subsequent anger was a mystery to me.

I remember Nixon being the first "politician" I was scared of...My parents radiated palpable revulsion for him and held lasting grudges against neighbors who put up Nixon campaign signs. To them, he was the enemy -- a slithering Golum-like puppet of a mysterious evil force that insinuated itself into the government of their great society. Truly, what was Nixon but a cancer compared to pillars like FDR, Ike, Kennedy?

Liddy and the rest of Nixon's creepy thugs were brought down during Watergate, but that wasn't close to their biggest crime. They got smacked for proverbial tax evasion after murdering millions.

I've voraciously studied the period from WW I to the present and understand much of what happened now. But movies like this add vibrant context...even for people who were adults through it all...

My favorite photo in the film: A priceless shot of Rubin, Yoko, Lennon and Hoffman. Artist revolutionaries arm-in-arm.

My favorite quote from Gore Vidal's touchingly emotional interview in the film: "Lennon was a threat because he represented Life. Nixon, and the current Bush regime represent death."

It's that simple.

Three cheers to filmmaker David Leaf for a commendable piece of work.

Given the resurgence of Nixonesque leadership in Washington, it could'nt be more timely.

See it, buy it, learn about it.

At IMDB:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0478049/

On Amazon:
www.amazon.com/U-S-vs-John-Lennon/dp/B00005JP9L

On Netflix:
www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=70051664&trkid=9...

Deskus Archeaologicus c.Jan.2007

2007-02-25T10:12:00.001-08:00

Deskus Archeaologicus c.Jan.2007
Originally uploaded by sbove.

Still using same architects drafting table from 1995. Twin 23" cinema displays, two logitech 518 laser mice (the mouse is really hard to evolve around), blackberry (killer product, extortionate phone company rates and shitty service), 8GB Red iPod (this docks to car, kitchen Tivoli, and Roland digital drum kit), same Sharp solar powered calculator from 1989 (yes...it's still the best, best ROI of any purchase ever), ari hart fly fishing reel (traingle model, reminder of elegant, simple, just slightly innovative design), Panasonic phone and answering machine out of frame to left from 1995 (both suck, but after 3 tries including a multi-hundred dollar Meridian set up, can't find better). Underneath desk: Mac G5 (1st model, sucky firewire, sucky core-midi bugs, cool iChat AV, cool iTunes, cool video editing, although FinalCut was UI was created by morons), Dell Precision 330 (the EverReady bunny of computers, although Win2000 is having compatibility problems with everything lately). Brother MFC 8840-D printer, fax, scanner, xerox (very satisfying $300 product, mainly b/c it prints 2 pages on both sides of a single sheet which means compression of 4:1 when printing drafts of long docs.), Toshiba Satellite Laptop M350s320 (stable, portable, does everything). Note: I own no computing device that runs north of 2GHz. That will be changing soon as I upgrade both Mac and PC. >1TB of external disc storage in various Lacie drives (this will be going up to 5TB in near future). Sony Powershot s110 camera (will soon be upgrading this trusty workhorse to the new 7 series for movie-shots, IS, bigger viewing screen), Zoom H-4 handy recorder (amazing product! - a hand held $300 24bit/96Khz recording studio with built in stereo mics that records on SD cards - "you are there" recordings anytime u want 'em...a high res audio "camera"), variousnetworking gizmos.

Global Workforce, Global Wages

2007-02-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

Great stats and commentary from Gabor Steingart in Speigel

"In 1980, the sum of all countries' direct investments, that is, the funds a given nation invests outside its own borders, amounted to only $500 billion. Total worldwide direct investment has now jumped to $10 trillion, an increase of almost 2,000 percent in only 25 years."

"The West's workers have become a minority. The Chinese joined the club a short time later, followed, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, by Eastern Europeans and Indians. Within what amounts to little more than a blink of the historical eye, some 1.2 billion additional workers entered the labor market. This massive influx has led to a sharp shift in the balance of power: The West's 350 million well-trained, but expensive workers, who until recently were responsible for a large share of global production, became a minority virtually overnight."

"The addition of billions of willing workers has set off a process that will soon change the fundamental structure of Western societies."

"Of the roughly 3 billion people currently active on the global labor market, about half earn less than $3 a day, which means two things: First, these people are dirt-poor and, second, their poverty wages are forcing down the wages of other, better paid workers."

"No one should expect a rapid rise in incomes in the Far East or Eastern Europe, where the fact that millions of farmers and slum dwellers are still waiting for industrial employment creates an additional downward pressure on wages."

"Even though the labor market has lost its borders, Western workers have no choice but to remain where they are."

What this means for the totality of western economies is a question of historically unprecedented proportions.