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Happy New Year 2012

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Above: The 2012 Mayan Apocalypse A-Go-Go Calender

I hope everyone made it safely out of 2011.

That was one heck of a year; Tsunami in Japan, a Rapture that wasn’t, bad government corrupted by 1% Banks too big to fail, Asteroid near misses and an apocalyptic comet that disintegrated into nothing but dust, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Oakland, Occupy Davis, Tear Gas, Police Brutality, and to complete the dystopian slide – Obama signs the NDAA on Dec 31, 2011…

I started reading a few “conspiracy theory” kinda websites this last year. Just the thing to do when you’re in a blistering depression – read about a world as fuzzy, strange, disoriented, and bleak as the depression. I don’t know if this is really a good reading plan, but that’s how I spent some of my evenings during the late summer and the fall.

Seemed like a new “end of the world” was just around the corner, sometime in the middle of next week… and it never came. The end never came.

But this is the year for the big one, right? The 2012 Mayan Apocalypse A-Go-Go or something like that.

You might have noticed that my calender graphic at the top of this page only goes through December 21st – aren’t we going to have fun with that one this year?!?

Goodby 2011, Hello 1984

To remember this day in which President Obama signed into the NDAA into law I want to use the following quotes from my friend Sé Reed from Facebook today (used with permission) about the NDAA  signing:

“Moreover, I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation.”

- Obama’s ndaa 2011 signing statement

oh yay! but now I’D like to clarify that he specifically said HIS administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. i mean, the law says he can authorize that very thing, of course, but he will refrain from doing so. ISN’T THAT JUST PRECIOUS??

  • Dana: So looking forward to November
  • Julie: what is NDAA?
  • Apryl: ?:(
  • Sé Reed: ?Dana why? what good will november do??
  • Sé Reed: ?Julie DEFINITELY READ THIS.
    http://www.businessinsider.com/ndaa-set-to-become-law-the-terror-is-nearer-than-ever-2011-12
    NDAA Set To Become Law: The Terror Is Nearer Than Ever
    www.businessinsider.com
    It’s all over. NDAA is here.
  • Owen:And here comes war with Iran.
  • Sé Reed: ?Owen yeah that’s so happening. :( it’s so beyond horrible. this one’s not gonna leave us unscathed. Iran is not a third world country, despite our best efforts to make it so.
  • Sé Reed: and not that signing it on new year’s eve was sneaky or anything. everyone’s totally paying attention to politics today, right? no one has anything else going on.
  • Owen: But my comment wasn’t about this strait of Hormuz bullshit, it was a reference to the provision in this same act to crash Iran’s central bank. Imagine if China’s plan was to crash the federal reserve. How would we react?
  • Sé Reed: Oh. Right. That. i can only get worked up about one issue per civil-liberty-dissolving, world-war-invoking, totalitarian-military-police-state-starting bill at a time.
  • Sé Reed: but yeah. the part about us destroying Iran is pretty fucking shitty. suddenly i feel like swearing a lot. happy fucking new year.
  • Jon Christopher: rant on!
  • Dana: ?Sé, good point…wonder how poetry slams will go over in FEMA camps?
  • Sé Reed: that’s an awesome thing to wonder, even though it’s awful it would need to be wondered.
  • Jon Christopher: Sé – I’m feeling the need to put a post together marking this disastrous occasion – can I quote you in my post?
  • Sé Reed: please do, by name and welcome.

What does this new law mean? I’m not sure, but we’ll be looking at it closer in the days ahead… We do know it’s a landmark moment in our nations history.

Welcome to 2012 – we have quite a journey ahead…

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The Bankers and the Homeowners – A Story

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It’s Friday, and I thought it would be a nice day for a little story…

The Bankers and The Homeowners

A new administration and a new Congress had come to Washington DC, along with a massive financial disaster brought about by a number of things, but one major factor was the greedy and shortsighted bankers collapsed plan built on inflated home values and reckless loans. And because of their bad decisions, economies around the world were devastated.

But the new administration came in and started to clean house, and they called these bankers before them to explain themselves. Even though they were guilty of massive frauds and mismanagement, the new administration and Congress forgave them, and in order to keep what was left of the economy afloat, they loaned them more money and told them to get their houses in order.

Very quickly the bankers had money flowing back to their banks, and their jobs were saved and bonuses were awarded… and then a letter came from a homeowner who was three months behind on his house payment, and was not asking for money, but just a little more time so he could save his families home.

The bankers were outraged. “You should be more responsible… no more time – foreclose on that house today…”

Well, word got around the Internet pretty quickly, and soon the outcry was so great that the new administration and Congress heard about it and called the bankers back in to question them about this situation.

“We forgave you and helped you to keep going, but your fellow citizen just asked for a crumb by comparison and you’re ready to throw him out on the street with his wife and children… Now, not only are we going to take your companies, but also your homes, cars, airplanes and bonuses, and you are all going to be put into prison for a very long time…”

Credit Where Credits Due

This would have worked just as well as The Bankers And The Credit Card Holders, but I went with the homeowners…

I hope you enjoyed my story, but I must admit that I borrowed heavily from the greatest story-teller of all time, Jesus of Nazareth.

Lots of people do comeback tours, I’d sure like to see Jesus do a return engagement. He’d be great on Letterman or with Jon Stewart, Live with Larry King…

The original version of my story can be found in any Bible – Matthew 18:21-35 (that’s the first book in the New Testament) – and really, Jesus tells it better… and the question he’s answering is about forgiveness, and how often should we forgive someone… a good thing to think about in the days ahead.

Have a great Friday and a blessed weekend,
Jon, onehumanbeing

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Playlist | Music Response To Politics and Bail Outs

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Wow, what a week we’ve been through. I’ve been listening to a lot of Gang of Four this last month, and have been endlessly playing Animals by Pink Floyd. Why? Because the lyrics of the songs like Capital and Poverty by Gang of Four give me a sense of response to what’s going on, listening to Animals makes me remember that there is intelligence in the world, and people who see bigger then the emotional con game being played by the McCain campaign.

I’ve also been spending the week battling the depression monster lurking around my brain cells. A steady diet of political news stories and watching news clips online hasn’t help either. To quote Gang of Four – “Only yesterday I said to myself, the things I’m doing are not good for my health” – from Anthrax by Gang of Four.

Playlist:

1. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye | I bookended this playlist with songs by Marvin Gaye from his outstanding album/social critique called What’s Going On. I try to soften the anger in the middle of the set with Marvin’s graceful voice.

2. Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who | dedicated to John McCain and the Republican party.

3. Capital (It Fails Us Now) – Gang of Four | music to watch Wall Street collapse by…

4. To Hell With Poverty – Gang of Four | “In this land, right now, some are insane, and they’re in charge”

5. Inner City Blue – Marvin Gaye | Makes me wanna holler…

Enjoy…

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

and if you want to buy any of this music, here’s the handy links…

Gang of Four: 2 crucial albums from the early years

Entertainment

Solid Gold

and for extra credit… Return The Gift

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