False promises, phony science, religious dogma, racial prejudice, and anything else we are taught from birth?
Society has survived this far because we have learned to challenge what we were taught to believe from birth. If Galileo had not challenged the church position on what was, at the time, considered to be the center of the universe, we might still believe the universe revolves around Earth.
Lord knows the church doesn't change its position until told to do so. Lately, or for at least the last 2000 years anyway, communication between the church and God seems to be experiencing technical difficulties, especially where canon law is concerned. What priests do is frequently ungodly.
The old saw blade doesn't fit the new kerf profile carved in our new wave of future generations. Slices of society become thinner and thinner and overlapped and overlaid until the vectors which point to society's future direction now point in all directions.
We have lost our compass.
Where religious dogma once filled the herd instinct of humanity (come all yea sheep to my flock), the Internet now is, and has replaced and obliterated the blinders and constraints religious leaders once placed on society. Frankly, people are smarter, better educated, and less easily lured down the garden path than at any other time in the history of humanity. They are moving to a different drummer than a 250th generation, frequently morphed BAAL.
Putting laptops in the hands of every remote segment of humanity will have consequences far beyond commerce. This will spawn a new world morality eventually.
Hopefully, it will be a more humane one. Hopefully, we will grow to appreciate each other for our differences, not just our similarities. And, hopefully, we will not try to imprint a herd mentality on a sentient society based on a Neanderthal
heritage.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Root of All Evil II -- The US Tax Code
Fellow Americans,
According to Paul O'Neill, former Secretary of the Treasury and CEO of Alcoa, our tax code is an "insult to intelligence", and a fundamental disaster for the country going forward.
Mr. O'Neill opines that a group of intelligent people would "design something that is sensible, that encourages savings and investment, and that fairly distributes the burden of public goods and services we need". In his opinion our current tax system accomplishes none of these.
The reason his suggestion for a fairer tax code is doomed to fail is because, well, it is fairer. At the core of power in this country lies a special-interest lobby which basically directs Congress to do its bidding. The last thing that cabal wants is a fair tax system. Those with the most have the most to lose under a fairer system.
Money talks, fairness walks.
According to Paul O'Neill, former Secretary of the Treasury and CEO of Alcoa, our tax code is an "insult to intelligence", and a fundamental disaster for the country going forward.
Mr. O'Neill opines that a group of intelligent people would "design something that is sensible, that encourages savings and investment, and that fairly distributes the burden of public goods and services we need". In his opinion our current tax system accomplishes none of these.
The reason his suggestion for a fairer tax code is doomed to fail is because, well, it is fairer. At the core of power in this country lies a special-interest lobby which basically directs Congress to do its bidding. The last thing that cabal wants is a fair tax system. Those with the most have the most to lose under a fairer system.
Money talks, fairness walks.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The only way to get attention is to step on toes.
Folks, the country is broke. We see millions of unemployed people losing their support lifeline over the past and continuing weeks because our government can't seem to find $34 billion. This small amount of congressional spending indigestion comes at a time when Congress is poised to approve another $60 billion, $33 billion of which is earmarked to expand the war in Afghanistan; a war which accomplishes absolutely nothing as far as the taxpayers in this country are concerned.
Congress deliberates on whether to extend the tax cuts for the rich. Fathom this:
Forbes list of 400 of America's wealthiest people pay a smaller percentage on their taxable income than our firefighters and policemen do. Make sense? Our national budget is 3.4 trillion and a huge percentage of that goes to pay interest on our skyrocketing budget deficits. Another huge portion of our budget goes to wage unpopular wars. Are these wise and necessary expenses?
We are being looted by our legislature easily because of our perpetual state of confusion, the public's ignorance of the truth thanks a biased media, and our own apathy. As our society becomes more polarized our ability to function as a society in any meaningful way continues to be diluted. Meanwhile, the pigs continue to gorge at the public trough while attempted reforms are gutted and proposed new laws are filibustered into the trash bin.
If the tea party accomplishes nothing other than getting incumbents thrown out of Washington it will have accomplished a great deal. It's time we the people get the representation we are paying for.
But nothing will happen if toes aren't stepped on.
Congress deliberates on whether to extend the tax cuts for the rich. Fathom this:
Forbes list of 400 of America's wealthiest people pay a smaller percentage on their taxable income than our firefighters and policemen do. Make sense? Our national budget is 3.4 trillion and a huge percentage of that goes to pay interest on our skyrocketing budget deficits. Another huge portion of our budget goes to wage unpopular wars. Are these wise and necessary expenses?
We are being looted by our legislature easily because of our perpetual state of confusion, the public's ignorance of the truth thanks a biased media, and our own apathy. As our society becomes more polarized our ability to function as a society in any meaningful way continues to be diluted. Meanwhile, the pigs continue to gorge at the public trough while attempted reforms are gutted and proposed new laws are filibustered into the trash bin.
If the tea party accomplishes nothing other than getting incumbents thrown out of Washington it will have accomplished a great deal. It's time we the people get the representation we are paying for.
But nothing will happen if toes aren't stepped on.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Capitalism, or the lack of it, is the reason the US is a failing enterprise.
Capitalism, by definition, is an economic system characterized by freedom of the marketplace. Private and corporate entities own the means of production and distribution and making a profit is the goal for every business.
With that freedom of choice, capitalists have chosen to relocate their means of production around the globe to achieve the lowest labor costs. Because of the disparity in wages between the East and the West the rate of migration of labor-intensive manufacturing to the East will continue and increase in the future.
Because people value their lives more than anything, duh, they are subject to extortion in the most perverse fashion by the healthcare industry. By artificially restricting the number of healthcare professionals and resources available (a subject for future discussions, I hope) healthcare costs have gone beyond ridiculous. This is causing the migration of millions of patients to institutions out of this country.
For example, the fact that our hospitals need $100,000 to perform an operation a hospital in India can do for $10,000 will simply increase the rate of exportation of our professional jobs to emerging nations.
Business cannot remain competitive when government expects an ever larger slice of gross revenues, which is another problem that capitalism is struggling with in this country.
Capitalism and greed are not the same, but greedy capitalists are destroying the distinction. Business has been able to replace capitalism (remember, freedom is the key word in capitalism) with rule by a financial elite. It is the members of this elite who determine market movements. By manipulating and bending our Congress and executive branches to the will of special interests they have effectively circumvented the markets from operating freely. Since nothing is really “free” about our economy in a capitalist sense, we can’t really consider ourselves living in a capitalist nation any longer.
It has been really amazing to have witnessed, over the past 30 years, the shift of capitalism from the US and Europe to, of all places, Communist China.
Capitalism, as a business model in this country, is in the wind.
With that freedom of choice, capitalists have chosen to relocate their means of production around the globe to achieve the lowest labor costs. Because of the disparity in wages between the East and the West the rate of migration of labor-intensive manufacturing to the East will continue and increase in the future.
Because people value their lives more than anything, duh, they are subject to extortion in the most perverse fashion by the healthcare industry. By artificially restricting the number of healthcare professionals and resources available (a subject for future discussions, I hope) healthcare costs have gone beyond ridiculous. This is causing the migration of millions of patients to institutions out of this country.
For example, the fact that our hospitals need $100,000 to perform an operation a hospital in India can do for $10,000 will simply increase the rate of exportation of our professional jobs to emerging nations.
Business cannot remain competitive when government expects an ever larger slice of gross revenues, which is another problem that capitalism is struggling with in this country.
Capitalism and greed are not the same, but greedy capitalists are destroying the distinction. Business has been able to replace capitalism (remember, freedom is the key word in capitalism) with rule by a financial elite. It is the members of this elite who determine market movements. By manipulating and bending our Congress and executive branches to the will of special interests they have effectively circumvented the markets from operating freely. Since nothing is really “free” about our economy in a capitalist sense, we can’t really consider ourselves living in a capitalist nation any longer.
It has been really amazing to have witnessed, over the past 30 years, the shift of capitalism from the US and Europe to, of all places, Communist China.
Capitalism, as a business model in this country, is in the wind.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
They're never going to kill it!
July 13, 2010 -- progress halted.
The fountain of black crude oil is pure gold to BP
and will be harvested because otherwise... if they
quit now everyone will have lost huge and benefited
nothing.
Regardless of who is at fault we all share an
obligation to salvage the best of a bad situation.
The damage is done, triage is in place, so let
the spilling continue.
Here is the rest of the story.
The unheralded pencil pushers will prevail and defer
containment until contractual obligations and BP
indemnities are secured. Meantime, the disaster will
not be salvaged; not until the last t to protect BP is
crossed and the last i is dotted and shifted down the
line.
BP stock is on the rise at the news. Potential
partners abound. The tax consequences will shift
any real penalty to you, the taxpayers, and will offset
obscene profits for years to come. The government
will get fat from huge fines levied against BP,
lawyers will generate billions of dollars in fees and the
burden on the taxpayer will continue to increase.
And that's the way it is.
The fountain of black crude oil is pure gold to BP
and will be harvested because otherwise... if they
quit now everyone will have lost huge and benefited
nothing.
Regardless of who is at fault we all share an
obligation to salvage the best of a bad situation.
The damage is done, triage is in place, so let
the spilling continue.
Here is the rest of the story.
The unheralded pencil pushers will prevail and defer
containment until contractual obligations and BP
indemnities are secured. Meantime, the disaster will
not be salvaged; not until the last t to protect BP is
crossed and the last i is dotted and shifted down the
line.
BP stock is on the rise at the news. Potential
partners abound. The tax consequences will shift
any real penalty to you, the taxpayers, and will offset
obscene profits for years to come. The government
will get fat from huge fines levied against BP,
lawyers will generate billions of dollars in fees and the
burden on the taxpayer will continue to increase.
And that's the way it is.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Defense budget, my butt!
Who are we kidding? No country on earth is stupid enough to attempt an
attack on the United States. The idea is as ludicrous as a flea climbing up
an elephant’s leg with rape on his mind. So why do we call it a defense budget?
Let's call a spade a spade and an offensive budget, well, offensive. The idea we need to spend a half $1 trillion annually to protect this nation by fighting on the other side of the globe is preposterous. Why are we taking the fight to countries when it is actually individuals we are after?
The answer is as obvious as it is immoral. We are in Afghanistan, for example, to secure an administration favorable to US business interests. It's the same as our reason for being in Iran or Iraq. We now have one soldier for every businessman in Iran. We’re not protecting America from threats over there; we’re protecting American businessmen over there. At a cost of up to a $1/2 million per year per mercenary somebody needs to be making a whole lot of money to justify the expense.
I guarantee you that that somebody is not the American taxpayer. We are in the grip of such monumental stupidity that it doesn't faze us that our military budget is at least twice what it ought to be. What we are doing is at least as dumb as what we attempted to do in Vietnam; colonize a country to steal their raw materials.
Once again, we don't stand a chance.
We are bankrupting our country, while disgracing our legacy. We used to stand for something besides stealing from the natives. Er, that was after we were done stealing from our own natives. Now that we have no opposition from Russia, our only military opposition to speak of is in the Middle East and Pakistan. These are poor countries rich in mineral wealth, and we will have those riches for ourselves! (Geeze we are disgusting)
The final result of our wars over in the Middle East will be the warmongers will be up a trillion dollars, US taxpayers will be out two trillion or more and the Afghans will be getting their country rebuilt on our dime, as we are now doing everywhere else we have been busy terror-forming the natives… just so we can plant a McDonald's in the middle of their society.
Oh, and let's not forget the lives lost or dislocated or disfigured on two continents which get left in the ruins resulting from our imperial policies.
They number in the millions.
Trying to steal from the Afghans is the stupidest thing imaginable. WHY? Trying to put the most fiercely independent people on earth under our thumb is why. Trying to organize a bunch of warring tribes into a single government is why. Trying to wage modern warfare against a nation whose primary mode of transportation is the camel is why. And because Afghanistan’s treasure belongs to the Afghans. Our military offensive is just plain wrong. These are just a few of the reasons why.
Bob Parmelee blogging at ILGP.com AKA parmsplace
attack on the United States. The idea is as ludicrous as a flea climbing up
an elephant’s leg with rape on his mind. So why do we call it a defense budget?
Let's call a spade a spade and an offensive budget, well, offensive. The idea we need to spend a half $1 trillion annually to protect this nation by fighting on the other side of the globe is preposterous. Why are we taking the fight to countries when it is actually individuals we are after?
The answer is as obvious as it is immoral. We are in Afghanistan, for example, to secure an administration favorable to US business interests. It's the same as our reason for being in Iran or Iraq. We now have one soldier for every businessman in Iran. We’re not protecting America from threats over there; we’re protecting American businessmen over there. At a cost of up to a $1/2 million per year per mercenary somebody needs to be making a whole lot of money to justify the expense.
I guarantee you that that somebody is not the American taxpayer. We are in the grip of such monumental stupidity that it doesn't faze us that our military budget is at least twice what it ought to be. What we are doing is at least as dumb as what we attempted to do in Vietnam; colonize a country to steal their raw materials.
Once again, we don't stand a chance.
We are bankrupting our country, while disgracing our legacy. We used to stand for something besides stealing from the natives. Er, that was after we were done stealing from our own natives. Now that we have no opposition from Russia, our only military opposition to speak of is in the Middle East and Pakistan. These are poor countries rich in mineral wealth, and we will have those riches for ourselves! (Geeze we are disgusting)
The final result of our wars over in the Middle East will be the warmongers will be up a trillion dollars, US taxpayers will be out two trillion or more and the Afghans will be getting their country rebuilt on our dime, as we are now doing everywhere else we have been busy terror-forming the natives… just so we can plant a McDonald's in the middle of their society.
Oh, and let's not forget the lives lost or dislocated or disfigured on two continents which get left in the ruins resulting from our imperial policies.
They number in the millions.
Trying to steal from the Afghans is the stupidest thing imaginable. WHY? Trying to put the most fiercely independent people on earth under our thumb is why. Trying to organize a bunch of warring tribes into a single government is why. Trying to wage modern warfare against a nation whose primary mode of transportation is the camel is why. And because Afghanistan’s treasure belongs to the Afghans. Our military offensive is just plain wrong. These are just a few of the reasons why.
Bob Parmelee blogging at ILGP.com AKA parmsplace
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Beware of ransomware
I spent an entire day grappling with the most perninious virus todate. It piggybacks into your computer on the back of legimate, trusted sites we probable all use at one time or another. If you find yourself affected, after my experience yesterday, I can help.
Here is the story about this new virus called ransomware or scareware disguised as a security suite. Diabolically brilliant!
AV Security Suite is a scareware and ransomware program from the same family as Antivirus Soft and AntiSpyware Soft. The developers of this program are distributing AV Security Suite through the use of hacked sites, spam, and Trojans that install it onto your computer without your permission. Once installed AV Security Suite will be configured to start automatically when your computer starts. Once started it will scan your computer and state that there are numerous infections, but will not let you remove any of them until you purchase the program. All of these scan results are fake and are only being shown to trick you into purchasing the program, which you should obviously not do.
If you are running older software, and not updating Windows, you may find that you will be able to remove this program, but then become infected again within a short period of time. This is because the malware developers are hacking legitimate sites or inserting malware ads that use vulnerabilities in common programs such as Adobe Reader, Flash, and Windows to install the malware onto your computer. If you do not update your programs to remove these security holes then the next time you visit a hacked site distributing this rogue, AV Security Suite will be installed on to your computer. A great tool that can be used to scan your computer for outdated and vulnerable programs is the free Secunia Online Software Inspector program. When you scan your computer with this program it will display a report showing all programs and Windows updates that should be installed in order to fix security holes and vulnerabilities. It is advised that all users scan their computer with this program in order to prevent your computer from being infected again after you clean it.
When AV Security Suite is running it will also block you from running normal tasks in order to make it harder to remove the program from your computer. First, it configures Windows to use a proxy server that points back 127.0.0.1:1041. A proxy server is a program that listens to requests from your web browser and then handles the request itself rather than your browser talking directly to a site. As AV Security Suite is set to be your proxy server, any time you browse the web using Internet Explorer it will intercept the request and display a fake security warning that states that the site you are visiting is infected. The message it will display is:
This website has been reported as unsafe
We recommend that you do not continue to this website. This website has been reported to Microsoft for containing threats to your computer that might reveal personal or financial information.
Once you disable the proxy server all web requests will go directly to the site you wish to go to and you will see the legitimate content. Please note, though, that the next time AV Security Suite is started it will configure your computer to use the proxy server again.
The second method that AV Security Suite protects itself is to block applications from running while stating that they are infected. It does this to stop you from running anti-virus programs that can be used to remove this malware. When you attempt to run a program you will instead see the following message:
Windows Security alert
Application cannot be executed. The file mbam.exe is infected.
Do you want to active your antivirus software now?
Spyware Alert
Application infected! The file rundll32.exe is infected. Do you want to ALLOW this application now?
When you see these infection alerts do not be concerned as your programs are not infected. It is only showing this to further scare you into thinking you have a computer security problem.
While started, AV Security Suite will also display fake security alerts that contain warnings that malware has been detected or that malware is attacking your computer. These messages are all fake as well and only being shown to further convince you that your computer is infected. The text of these messages are:
Windows Security alert
Windows reports that computer is infected. Antivirus software helps to protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. Click here for the scan your computer. Your system might be at risk now.
Antivirus software alert
Infiltration Alert
Your computer is being attacked by an internet virus. It could be a password-stealing attack, a trojan-dropper or similar.
Last, but not least the rogue will also display a fake Windows Security Center. This fake Security Center will look exactly like the original one except that it states that you should purchase AV Security Suite to protect yourself.
As you can see, AV Security Suite was created for one reason only; to scare you into thinking your computer has numerous infections so that you will then purchase the program. It goes without saying that you should definitely not purchase this program, and if you already have, please contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating the program is a scam. Finally, to remove this infection please use the removal guide below to remove it for free.
The program actually hijacks your browser, resides in your registry so you can't find it to remove it, and prevents you from running your security program to remove it.
Here is the story about this new virus called ransomware or scareware disguised as a security suite. Diabolically brilliant!
AV Security Suite is a scareware and ransomware program from the same family as Antivirus Soft and AntiSpyware Soft. The developers of this program are distributing AV Security Suite through the use of hacked sites, spam, and Trojans that install it onto your computer without your permission. Once installed AV Security Suite will be configured to start automatically when your computer starts. Once started it will scan your computer and state that there are numerous infections, but will not let you remove any of them until you purchase the program. All of these scan results are fake and are only being shown to trick you into purchasing the program, which you should obviously not do.
If you are running older software, and not updating Windows, you may find that you will be able to remove this program, but then become infected again within a short period of time. This is because the malware developers are hacking legitimate sites or inserting malware ads that use vulnerabilities in common programs such as Adobe Reader, Flash, and Windows to install the malware onto your computer. If you do not update your programs to remove these security holes then the next time you visit a hacked site distributing this rogue, AV Security Suite will be installed on to your computer. A great tool that can be used to scan your computer for outdated and vulnerable programs is the free Secunia Online Software Inspector program. When you scan your computer with this program it will display a report showing all programs and Windows updates that should be installed in order to fix security holes and vulnerabilities. It is advised that all users scan their computer with this program in order to prevent your computer from being infected again after you clean it.
When AV Security Suite is running it will also block you from running normal tasks in order to make it harder to remove the program from your computer. First, it configures Windows to use a proxy server that points back 127.0.0.1:1041. A proxy server is a program that listens to requests from your web browser and then handles the request itself rather than your browser talking directly to a site. As AV Security Suite is set to be your proxy server, any time you browse the web using Internet Explorer it will intercept the request and display a fake security warning that states that the site you are visiting is infected. The message it will display is:
This website has been reported as unsafe
We recommend that you do not continue to this website. This website has been reported to Microsoft for containing threats to your computer that might reveal personal or financial information.
Once you disable the proxy server all web requests will go directly to the site you wish to go to and you will see the legitimate content. Please note, though, that the next time AV Security Suite is started it will configure your computer to use the proxy server again.
The second method that AV Security Suite protects itself is to block applications from running while stating that they are infected. It does this to stop you from running anti-virus programs that can be used to remove this malware. When you attempt to run a program you will instead see the following message:
Windows Security alert
Application cannot be executed. The file mbam.exe is infected.
Do you want to active your antivirus software now?
Spyware Alert
Application infected! The file rundll32.exe is infected. Do you want to ALLOW this application now?
When you see these infection alerts do not be concerned as your programs are not infected. It is only showing this to further scare you into thinking you have a computer security problem.
While started, AV Security Suite will also display fake security alerts that contain warnings that malware has been detected or that malware is attacking your computer. These messages are all fake as well and only being shown to further convince you that your computer is infected. The text of these messages are:
Windows Security alert
Windows reports that computer is infected. Antivirus software helps to protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. Click here for the scan your computer. Your system might be at risk now.
Antivirus software alert
Infiltration Alert
Your computer is being attacked by an internet virus. It could be a password-stealing attack, a trojan-dropper or similar.
Last, but not least the rogue will also display a fake Windows Security Center. This fake Security Center will look exactly like the original one except that it states that you should purchase AV Security Suite to protect yourself.
As you can see, AV Security Suite was created for one reason only; to scare you into thinking your computer has numerous infections so that you will then purchase the program. It goes without saying that you should definitely not purchase this program, and if you already have, please contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating the program is a scam. Finally, to remove this infection please use the removal guide below to remove it for free.
The program actually hijacks your browser, resides in your registry so you can't find it to remove it, and prevents you from running your security program to remove it.
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