Wag the Venezuelan Dog

Staging wars to distract people from the foibles of a president can be funny (as the 1998 movie showed) but they did it on a movie set, not in an actual country.

Collapsing empires are often presided over by emperors who are both evil and insane. We don’t know why this is so, it just is. But on the other hand, as the psychiatrist M. Scott Peck (The Road Less Travelled, People of the Lie) observed, “It is well that evil is so stupid.” And we can be thankful that the entire Trump administration is so epically dumb that it cannot do all the damage to the world that it wants to do. Case in point: their Keystone Kops maneuvers to impose their imperial will on Venezuela.

Why Venezuela? Simple. The country sits astride the largest reserves of undeveloped crude oil in the world — an estimated 300 billion barrels. Yes, that’s more than Saudi Arabia claims, and almost 10 times estimated US reserves. So once again, God has played a cruel joke by putting our oil under someone else’s country, but there’s more about Venezuela that irritates the hell out of American imperialists.

For one thing, Venezuela is persistently, maddeningly socialist. Hugo Chavez, good friend to Fidel Castro, served as president for 14 years, during which time he won eight elections and referenda, won approval of a new constitution that guaranteed unprecedented rights and freedoms to the people (71% of the voters approved it) and became the most popular head of state in the Western Hemisphere if not the world. Continue reading

The Sound of a Techno-Crash: Boeing, Boeing

The Boeing 737 Max, the most technologically advanced airliner there is, a.k.a. a thoroughly crapified and deadly airplane, currently grounded.

The Boeing 737 Max is an almost perfect embodiment of all the trends driving the industrial age to destruction: the worship of money to the exclusion of all other values; government of the people, for the industrialists; and a pathetic faith in ever more complex technological solutions for simple problems.

When brand-new 737 Maxes began to fall out of the sky — an Indonesian airliner crashed in October, an Ethiopian ship in April, with a total death toll of 346 souls — the entire fleet of 393 aircraft, each worth over $100 million, was and remains grounded. The search for a cause of the crashes immediately focussed on a software upgrade. You know, like the Windows 10 updates that come unbidden in the middle of the night and obliterate all your computer files, or the sudden improvements that turn your useful cell phone into a maddening, contrary, spastic piece of junk (or is that just my experience?).   Continue reading

Anti-Predictions You Can Rely On

As long as there have been Popular Mechanics Magazines there have been predictions of personal carplanes. Ain’t gonna happen.

Forests have been sacrificed for their paper and Arabian kingdoms deflated for their oil to provide scribes and pundits with the materials and energy necessary to propagate predictions. This is wrong on many levels, but to name two: news was better when it consisted of reporting what happened, rather than spinning predictions of what might happen; and secondly, nobody ever predicts what’s not going to happen. Fake news not only fails to tell us what is happening, it never tells us what is not going to happen. Let us begin to correct that situation here and now.

 

Five Things That Ain’t Never Gonna Happen:
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Mea Culpa

Mark me down for yet another unannounced, unauthorized vacation (in an undisclosed, secure location) from the rigors of chronicling the crash of the industrial age. In the past these respites have been enforced by mental roadblocks — depression, writer’s block, whatever you want to call it — but this one is different.

I’ve always had an unspoken deal with you, Dear Reader (if you’re still there, and if you are not I certainly understand), that I will write here only when I believe I have something valid to say, not to fill a hole or meet a contrived schedule. But with each passing year it has become less possible to know, with any reasonable degree of confidence, what is going on anywhere. The people and publications doing honest reporting are declining rapidly in both number and quality, leaving us observers adrift in a toxic sea of misinformation, propaganda and drivel. Our collapsing empire is increasingly insane, from the emperor on down, and there is no alchemy by which lunacy can be turned into anything useful.

Nothing the president says about anything can be believed. No utterance of any politician or bureaucrat or industrialist can be taken at face value (don’t trust, and verify). The bimbos and bimbettes of the mainstream media are happily gamboling through the woods chasing the pretty little squirrels who are running for president, ignoring the fact that the woods are on fire, a hurricane approaches and a tsunami looms offshore. How can one pretend to think, much less write, sanely in an insane world?

Well, if you’re a member of the orchestra on the Titanic, and your world is going down, you keep playing. Not because you think it will save the ship, or even be of much comfort to the panicked passengers, but because it’s what you do. If you don’t play your instrument, then you just die in silence.

So I shall try to write on, as and when I can do it with some confidence of validity, because writing is what I do, and if I don’t write I’m just sitting here listening to the ship fill with water. As Hamlet asked of Horatio, I shall absent me from my vacation yet a while, and in this harsh world draw breath in pain, to tell its story. Or at least, the next chapter.   

Need Home Repair?

Our homes are more than just places of shelter; they’re our sanctuaries. But, as time passes, wear and tear inevitably take their toll. This is where the significance of home repairs comes into play, addressing various aspects like plumbing, electrical work, roofing, and more. In this blog post, we’ll explore the essential role of home repairs in maintaining the integrity and comfort of our cherished spaces.

1. Plumbing Repairs:

Plumbing issues can range from minor inconveniences like leaky faucets to major problems like burst pipes. Swift and effective plumbing repairs are essential for preventing water damage and maintaining the functionality of your home. Neglected leaks can lead to structural issues and mold growth. Timely plumbing repairs not only save you money in the long run but also ensure the safety and hygiene of your living space.

2. Electrical Work:

Electrical systems are the lifeblood of modern homes, but they require proper maintenance and repairs. Faulty wiring or outdated electrical components can pose fire hazards. Regular inspections and prompt electrical repairs are crucial for ensuring the safety of your home and its occupants. From flickering lights to tripped circuits, addressing electrical issues promptly is essential. You can learn more about electrical repairs here.

3. Roofing Maintenance:

Your roof is your home’s first line of defense against the elements. Roofing repairs and maintenance are critical for protecting your investment. Leaky or damaged roofs can lead to costly water damage, compromised insulation, and even structural issues. By addressing roofing problems via quality roofing services as they arise and performing regular maintenance, you safeguard your home from the harsh forces of nature. Visit sites like https://americanaroofing.net/ for additional guidance on roofing repairs.

4. Garage Repairs:

More than curb appeal, you garage also serves as an entry point. Therefore, it’s advised to keep it in top shape as to avoid burglars or thieves getting into your home. This may include repairing dependable garage door windows or garage door replacement.

In conclusion, home repairs are the foundation of a safe, comfortable, and functional living space. Whether it’s plumbing, electrical work, roofing, or any other aspect of your home, addressing issues promptly and investing in regular maintenance is a proactive approach to preserving your haven. It’s not just about fixing what’s broken; it’s about safeguarding the place where cherished memories are made and ensuring it remains a source of security and joy for years to come.

Democracy: Paralyzed, Lost

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Mark it down in your diary that in the first month of 2019 we all saw with our own eyes that the two leading democratic governments in the world — the United States and the United Kingdom — were in the thrall of an unprecedented seizure, unable to act, sliding toward irrevocable division, chaos and ruin. A third democracy — France — was spiraling through the smoke of widespread violence and nascent rebellion toward a very hard landing indeed. And there were many others, such as Venezuela, disintegrating before our eyes.

The government of the United States has been hamstrung by a partial shutdown that has lasted longer than any other such political gambit in history. (The Donald is fond of saying he is doing something “for the first time in history,” but for him all history begins with him — for him, this is the year 72 A.D., or “after Donald.”) But really, never in the history of our republic has the government been crippled for so long, never so many people deprived of their livelihood, over a policy dispute that is supposed to be settled by voting. Continue reading

Unearned Money is Destroying the World

Piles of unused cash are toxic to their owners and to the world. We know how to fix that. (Photo by Andrew Magill)

What an investment deal I got for you. Get your checkbook ready, you’re gonna love this. We buy a bunch of bicycles, see, and we put them out all over the place for people to rent, really cheap. They just grab a bike, go wherever, and leave it. To get them used to the deal, we gotta buy a ton of bikes, really saturate the city. And we give them a few months free, then we charge them a little bit a month. Small fees, big numbers, we’ll make 20, 30 per cent on the money for sure. Why did you put your checkbook away? What could possibly go wrong?

You say it reminds you of the oldest joke in retail, about the guy who found a wholesale source of shoes for ten dollars a pair and planned to sell them for nine dollars a pair? Asked how he expected to make any money, he replied, “Volume!”

Yes, the bicycle scheme sounds just that dumb. Yet in a frenzy that came out of nowhere just two years ago, 40 — count them, 40 — companies in China raised over $2 billion in venture capital to execute the bicycles-for-hire business plan in cities around the world. In a few crazed months, in addition to the venture capital, one startup — Mobike — was acquired for $2 billion. Another — Meituan — did an initial public offering of stock that raised $4.2 billion. Continue reading

The Vanishing American Worker: Nothing We Can Do

Have you seen this man? If so, please call your local employment agency at once.

Bloomberg News has its collective hair on fire over a crisis in American enterprise, and it’s not the staggering stock market or the idiotic trade war or the shuttered government. It’s a persistent and growing lack of labor for those American businesses that are still able to actually make and/or sell products. “The shortfall is being driven,” says Bloomberg, “by a shrinking supply of manual and low-pay service workers  as the labor force becomes more educated and less able to take on such jobs.” You see what education does for you.

What kind of jobs are we talking about? Construction, manufacturing, truck driving, food services, nursing and anything else that is “physically demanding.” One staffing executive — obviously an oligarch who knows how to address the lower classes with delicacy — calls it “an acute shortage of talent in the blue collar space.” Continue reading

The Russian Evasion

The Clintonistas, the Putinites and others would like to think this is how the 2016 election played out. But no.

Fresh waves of hysteria have arisen about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as a result of new reports on its dimensions prepared for the US Senate and released this week. “Reports show Russia mounted sweeping effort to sow divisions,” fulminated Politico. [Emphasis added.] Other headlines — too many to read, let alone link to — screamed about “millions” of posts on “every major social network,” an effort that “shows the sophistication of the disinformation campaign.” The cunning devils “focused intensely on African Americans as they sought to deliver a victory for Trump.”

The mainstream media should have used, and provided its readers with, brown paper bags for fighting off hyperventilation.

But here’s an interesting thing about all those news stories, and indeed about the reports they are discussing. The weasel words used to characterize the Russian efforts are all about intentions: it was a “sweeping” effort, it was intense, it “sought” victory for Trump. You may read all these stories, and both these reports, from stem to stern and you will not find any evidence presented that the Russians succeeded. Because there isn’t any. Continue reading

To the Last Reporter: Please Turn Out the Lights

Reporticus Americanus: endangered species, seldom seen in the wild

It has become increasingly difficult –in fact, is now almost impossible — to think constructively about events that happen at a distance. It’s bad enough that almost every event has associated with it at least two competing sets of “alternate facts,” we’ve become used to that and can with patience and research sort through it all and triangulate the location of probable truth. But research requires the existence of at least some honest brokers of fact, reporters who will record that was raining that day without calculating whether the fact that it was raining benefits one tribe or the other tribe. Continue reading