Month: January 2016

The Authoritarians

~ Tom

obey

After (proudly) watching (left-wing biased) highlights on the youtubes from the latest freak-show aka the republican party debate, a new thought popped into my head this morn. Well, actually, two thoughts popped in. The first: Winners. Not winners in the sense of winning but winners in the sense of everyone wants to be winners when there is no winning anymore. To be really, really honest, I don’t know if there ever was winning in the system that political populists have curated over the past thirty (or so) years, but certainly a few people have profited from the freak-show. What does it mean these days to be a WINNER? It almost reminds me of Charlie Sheen’s WINNING period (see vid link below). The whole country is running around hiding its AIDS (of the mind) but proselytising that it can’t lose. It’s so obvious listening to republican candidates blab on and on and on that the thing they are selling, while embodying the complete opposite, is the fact that everybody is and still can be a winner in this system if yet another republican is elected. The candidates and the voters are so clueless to the level of failure that they espouse it’s as though they were on top of a crowd of people stuck in a well in the middle of a barren desert and no one below them can give it a second thought whether or not they’ll get out. §The second thing that crossed my mind: Authoritarians. I know. I know. It’s an adjective so it doesn’t need to be capitalised. But go with me for a sec here. Among other (political) things, America is an authoritarian system. The authority in that system is not specifically a person, though. I mean, America doesn’t have a Putin or a Franco or a Mugabe (see link below). No. America has something better. In fact, America’s something-better is so powerful, omnipotent, that people give in to it as though they need it to breath. Now don’t get me wrong. I can’t emphasise this enough. Americans and the American way of life, say what you will about their/its destructive nature, probably has the best thing out there–compared to other countries. Yet the people of America bow so deeply to this authority that one need not even ask the question regarding who it is they bow to. It’s obvious the people of North Korea bow to a supreme leader. Even Russians love the mystique of Vladimir Putin. But do Americans love these republican candidates? Did they love Dubya? Do they really hold Ronald Reagan on such a high perch? Americans might feel some passion for The Donald but do they really want to be below him as he tries to get them out of the well and onto the barren desert? Oh wait. The Donald wasn’t even in the debate last night. Or was he? Listening to the top polling candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio is a mind boggling thing. These bed-wetter men represent better than anyone before them, even dipshit Dubya, the potential to bow before authority as if there is no tomorrow. Yet, it’s still not a person that Americans submit themselves to. Indeed. Ideas are powerful things. And so. I’ve concluded in my morning thoughts–perhaps a form of therapy after listening to republicans–that Americans are ALL Authoritarians. But. Again. I’m not using the word as adjective. No. Americans are nouns. And that’s not all. What I got out of watching the debate–together with what I’ve seen from the other republican debates and listening for years at how liberals are demonised–is that Americans want few things above and beyond money, money, money. In order to get any of that money, Americans want to be subservient to (an) authority. They want an authority to rule over them–because there’s some money it. It is the only way for (republican) Americans–especially those whose brains are so tainted from right-wing-talk and conservative ideology–to be able to grasp the world that they have subjected themselves to that is solely defined by money–and that they clearly cannot understand. And. Again. It is not a person that Americans want to worship as an Authority. It is something much simpler than a living, breathing, corruptible sinner that they lust for. Indeed. Americans are Authoritarians because they want to be ruled, controlled, guided by the almighty greed-dollar. What is clear after all these years of conservative rule (considering that conservative rule has dominated government for more than thirty years irrespective of who is president), it must be extremely difficult for people to accept so much failure. Following conservative ideology, whether given by talk radio on things like taxes, small government or abortion, etc., or facilitating the election of people who are just like the ones on last night’s debate stage, it must be noted that it takes much longer to burn this house down. In that vein, I guess it’s good thing there are so many ditch-diggers who still vote after listening to Limbaugh and faux news twenty-four-seven. The people who will continue steering America on its steadfast path will go down with the ship, they will burn down the house, they will destroy the school yards sandbox before they give up what they’ve done. Yes. They will burn the fucking house down. And with that in mind, I should take better care about thoughts popping into my head in the morning. Now it’s time to say something about democrats. Or? Rant on. -Tommi

Links that helped with this post:

The Event Horizon Of Stupid

~ Tom

Scream no fear all worst

Event Horizon – noun, Astronomy, a theoretical boundary around a black hole beyond which no light or other radiation can escape; a point of no return: we’re nearing the event horizon of the presidential election.

Hat totting rural-ites taking over useless government buildings claiming the land which that building sits on is unlawfully owned by government. These same people also maintain that the government (for and by the people) is in (their) reality actually occupying territory and so that territory needs to be taken back because it belongs to all of us–but they got there first. Hey! What about this? Privately owned cattle should have the right to graze on government land without the privateer compensating the government for what his/her cattle does to that land–for twenty frickin’ years. That pretty much sums up the recent activities of a family somewhere in the western portion of the US where stupid grows as much as grass. This level of cultural and social ignorance doesn’t seem to have an end, though. I don’t know about you but to me it seems like the chaos and mayhem going on the US right now is beyond shocking. I mean, the country has always been plagued by stupid people doing stupid things. I mean, you can only have so many smart people. Right? Yet, just when you think the bottom has been reached, something utterly stupefying takes place that proves there is no bottom (or end) to how low things can go. For example. A family owns a gun store that also repairs guns. A customer disputes a $25 charge for a gun repair and a gun fight breaks out. Four out of five people in the store are shot. The store owner and his (17 year old) son are dead. The other two are in critical condition. Over twenty-five dollars! You know, in all that is happening in the US right now, shooting people over twenty-five dollars sounds like an underachievement that is worth, at best, a footnote. But get this. The other day #americant wannabe bobbleheads got together in yet another showing of mental prowess in the race for the land’s highest office. Which makes worst-writer ask this question: How does the current presidential race mix with all the stupidity going on in the country? Well, I guess it’s all part of the race to the bottom. Or, as I like to worst-say: a race for failing upwards. And so. Misguided (mostly) white men defending the ideas they get from TV and poor people owning guns that can’t afford twenty-five dollar repair fees and, and, and… A former governor of Alaska, who is obviously stupider than the bed of rocks her salmon swim above, endorses a TV show character who is running for president. And why shouldn’t a TV guy run for prez? America already picked and still worships an actor that became president–and look what he did to the country. I don’t know about you, dear worst-reader, but boy do I love #americant. Rant on. -Tommi

Links that motivated this post: 

Review Refurbished MBA New Toy

~ Tom

MBA on sideNot For Sale

Although it may sound like it, I’m not selling anything. It’s just another boring morning of rain and grey weather and contemplation about tech. Also. The only form of sunshine this time of year (in Germania) is when a new toy arrives. And. What for a toy! With that in mind, this is more than just a toy. It it is, in fact, a tool-toy. Yes. It’s my worst-writing tool-toy. Or is it more than a tool? And you know the worst part about buying a new tool-toy? Between placing the online-order and finally receiving it, six days passed. Talk about consumer anxiety. I was going nuts. What was I to do with all the lonely empty space… without a tool-toy. Since I had to sell my old tool-toy before I could buy a new tool-toy, I was tool-toy-less for those waiting days. But that’s neither here nor there. Or? You know what else sucks in these days of happy technology consumption via the Interwebnets? UPS tracking numbers. Talk about useless technology. The only info UPS gave me was that my tool-toy arrived in Köln last Friday (ordered it on Wed). And since it didn’t make it to me on Friday, that meant, because UPS doesn’t deliver on Saturday, I had to wait till Monday without knowing if/when my toy was on… final approach. “All of this,” I thought, “just to save €300. Is it worth it?” (Short answer: f’n yes!)

UPS out kitchen window
Had to wait extra day simply because we were out of milk for cafe latte. Here’s delivery truck next day.

My new toy was supposed to arrive on Monday. I had spent the entire morning waiting, watching and counting all the delivery trucks that passed by my kitchen window. After lunch with no delivery, I took a chance and stepped out to the store around the corner to get some milk. My better-half has to have milk for her cafe latte every morning and we were clean out. I wasn’t gone but twenty-minutes. Have you already guessed what happened? When I got home there was that dumb-ass note on my door that I had just missed the UPS man. The note was time-stamped 13:05. I looked at my iPhone and it read 13:23. I had to wait a whole ‘nother night to get my new toy. Yeah, is it worth it?

The Trusty Old MBP

I’ve spent a good few months trying to figure what new portable computer to consume. Obviously it was going to be another Macbook. But which one. My trusty 2010 13″ MacBook Pro had done its job. I got five (six?) solid years out of it. Since last year, though, it was showing signs of a lifespan stretched. Although it worked OK with Apple’s latest MacOS, it had obviously reached its limit. The only thing that kept it going was upgraded RAM and an SSD. Still, there is no beating the reality of Apple and an industry’s lust for making hardware prematurely obsolete. A five year old computer just can’t handle all the new software. That said, I consider Apple’s Snow Leopard (10.6.8) operating system one of the best I’ve ever used and the fact that I could stretch this thing so long says a lot. A little side note. For the fun of it I installed Apple’s El Capitan on my old device last summer. Surprisingly, it worked. It certainly worked better than any of the other OS’s between Lion and Yosemite. Keep in mind, the most important thing for a laptop is battery life. In the end, after replacing the battery last year, I was still getting more than four solid hours of battery using El Capitan. But the speed, the speed, the lack of speed…

New or refurbished?

Not sure how you see it, dear worst-reader, but Apple hardware is stupid expensive. I mean, seriously. It’s really, really stupid expensive. Maybe I shouldn’t worst-write that based on the fact that my old MBP worked so well for so long. But then again, why not say it. If any industry proves that a free market doesn’t exist, it’s the personal computer industry. There’s only one chip (CPU) maker out there which means that Apple, Lenovo, Dell, etc. can charge stupid prices for things that should cost half of what they ask for them. In order to convince us that their stupid-priced stuff is worth it, they fill stores with all their junk PCs. And here I am buying yet another over-priced device. But I digress.

A few years back I discovered Apple’s refurbished program. Have to say, it’s pretty compelling. I’ve since bought an iPad4 (which is now obsolete because I followed Apple’s OS updates), an AppleTV3 and an Airport Express–all using the refurbished section of Apple’s online store. Oh, almost forgot. My sister-in-law moved from Windows to Mac last year and I convinced her to save about €400 on a refurbished previous-year 21″ iMac. She loves the thing. And get this. I set up the iMac for her and couldn’t believe that even though she paid for only 8GB of RAM, the device Apple sent her had 16GB in it. So I guess, in the end, she got a lot more than she paid for. (So much for overpriced krapp, eh.)

The Competition

After giving Dell and Lenovo a quick look–yes, there are times I miss Windows–I came to the following conclusion: I’m too deeply invested in the Apple eco-system. With that in mind, my budget dictated that I could get any of the entry level 13″ laptops Apple made. If I watched and waited for what Apple was offering refurbished, I might be able to get more. So which one? Here’s some thoughts against the MacBook Pro.

  1. Apple’s 13″ “pro” series isn’t really pro. The device doesn’t even have discrete graphics? Heck, even my old MBP had discrete graphics. After weeks of reading and watching various reviews, I was convinced that Apple, to protect its precious margins–and just like it’s done in the past–sacrificed too much for the new MBP hoping that the (smoke) screen will be enough to protect its margins. All in all, the only “pro” laptop Apple offers is the 15″ MBP–with discrete graphics. But that thing is priced way out of my league.
  2. The retina screen. Spent lots of time fiddling with it at various stores. Obviously it’s crisp, bright and full of colours. But is it worth it–especially in the basic configuration? The only time I can see pixels on a computer screen is when I get up close to it. To me, the reason to have a high-density pixel screen is for professional graphic work or on a device you hold close to your face. In fact, when fiddling around with the MBP retina display, I found myself squinting to be able to read any text on it. My eye doctor always told me that squinting is the worst. Even though I like the retina screen on my iPad4, the same thing on a laptop feels like overkill. Apple is good at overkill.
  3. Thunderbolt sucks. No, seriously. Thunderbolt sucks balls. But I’ve been there. Apple does this krapp all the time. They put all these ports and whatnot on their “pro” machines in the name of ingenuity and progress but most of it is just BS. Can you say Firewire? Look at the fiasco of USB vs any other connectors on computers. With the advent of USB-C it’s obvious that Apple’s Thunderbolt has failed. The only good thing about thunderbolt is that its compatible with mini-display port, which my old MBP had so I already have that cable.

The last MBA

Ok. I’m obviously leaning toward the MBA, the MacBook Air. The main reason: battery life. Can’t get enough battery in these things. Another reason for the MBA is the comfort. The MBP is difficult to type on for hours and hours. The edges cut into my wrists and hands. The MBA is perfect for typing. And let’s not forget the weight. This thing is so light I forget it’s on my lap. In fact, I have to put more effort into keeping my knees together so it doesn’t fall between my legs while I’m typing. It’s also cooler–as in temperature. My old MBP would heat up quite a bit and my lap would heat up with it. As far as the screen goes. I’m good with it. I can see the letters and the words and the buttons and fields and whatever it puts up. All in all, this is the most ergonomic machine I’ve ever put on my lap.

But here’s the biggest reason of all as to why I decided for a 2015 13″ MBA. I’m betting it’s the last one. The MBA series of ultrabooks hasn’t really changed since they arrived in 2010. Although a lot of people have criticised that, I’m not one of them. For one thing, I never buy first iteration Apple products. Those who do are willing and able beta testers and to them all I can say is: keep up the good consuming. You pave the way for those of us who can’t afford as much fun or who don’t live for the newest specs alone. Besides, I love the MBA design, even the silver bezel around the screen. All in all, with what I paid for the higher specs, a worthy choice of tool for the next few years.

toy arrived
Box in a box. The refurbished MBA packaging has no pic of the MBA on the box cover, there is only the words “MacBook Air” and  “Refurbished”. Apple could just as well write second-class on it, too. I guess. But none of that matters. It finally arrived. Rant on, baby.

 

Tommi’s 2015 13 MBA Specs

  • 8GB RAM,
  • 250GB über-fast SSD
  • i7 CPU.

After getting over the slowness of setting it up (software downloads, software updates, registrations, etc.) this thing is f’n blazing fast. For a writer that fiddles with a blog and types a lot, this is more than enough computer.

Rant on.

-Tommi

Time To Make A Documentary About What's Outside The Mirror Not About What's In It

~ Tom

capitalism love store moore

The best part of this documentary is at the end when Michael Moore says that he can’t keep doing this. Of course, he then appeals to his audience directly making a request to those in the theatre to help him out–because he can’t keep doing this. I assume he’s referring to help with democracy and not help with buying something. But that’s neither here nor there for an Oscar totting filmmaker. Or? As usual with Moor documentaries, I had a short self-consoling ten minutes after it ended. During those ten minutes I also gave the film a thought or three. If I were to generalise and summarise those thoughts it would be this: Now I know why I skipped watching this movie when it first came out. At the time I just didn’t feel the need to watch another Moore documentary–or I didn’t want that ten minute consoling moment. It’s not that I don’t like Moore movies–I like them very much. It’s just that I always get this lingering lump in my throat after watching a Moore documentary and I hate that. Why should I put myself through it again (and again and again)? And here I am. Here we are.

It’s now the next morning and the lump is pretty much gone. A few beers that I started drinking halfway through the film helped, I guess. Of course, thinking about the movie brings back a bit of what I felt last night. But wait. There! The lump is gone (again). Nomatter. Here are the things that stick out from this film–but in the end mean nothing:

  • During the various evictions and foreclosures portrayed in the movie, Moore fails miserably to connect both sides of the transaction. I’m not wanting to be cruel here. It’s sad when a person or family is thrown out of a home. (I’ve actually seen it first hand when I worked for a property management company in the US so many years ago.) It’s just that Moore doesn’t mention the fact that the people agreed to refinance or take an equity loan on their house. Which brings me to the following question: why do so many people refinance and/or take equity loans on a house? Where is the documentary about what people did with all that refinancing and equity loan money? If, on the other hand, the farmer (in Moore’s movie) took an equity loan in order to farm, then that’s a different story. But Moore doesn’t mention why the farmer took the refinancing. He only shows the family being evicted. There is something else to be told–and Moore doesn’t tell it.
  • One of the reasons I shook-off the film when it came out was because of the trailer showing Moore wrapping “crime tape” around a NY bank. Moore gets an ‘A’ for cinema-effort here but a ‘D+’ for truth-execution. Reason? As angry as I am about banking and bankers, I do not blame them for everything. Today, through years and years of conservative politics, bankers rely solely on debt in order to exist. How that debt is structured is the reason Lehman failed and Goldman didn’t. Obviously there is a connection that Goldman has with the US government that Lehman didn’t have, but that, in the end, is only part of the game. The debt these banks are fiddling with (yes fiddling) is part of everyday life in a country that can’t manage millions upon millions of consumer transactions which are based on debt. I’m sure the guy running Lehman has learned his lesson and won’t make the same mistake twice. With that in mind, the superficiality of trying to make a “citizen arrest” of NY bankers is ludicrous compared to all of the holders of debt in the US that provide bankers their fodder.
  • The saddest part of this film isn’t foreclosures or the families living in vans or the sick dying because they can’t get healthcare. The saddest part is how the obvious cannot be shown–even by Moore. The way people live, the way they behave, the way they walk and talk to the gold mountains of bullshit is an awesome spectacle to see. And I see it. From my perch at thirty-thousand expat feet above gold mountains of bullshit I look down and I see. From Miami to NYC to San Fran to LA. I see Americans lingering about like zombies with smiles, clueless to anything. I mean, if Americans were less than clueless then perhaps the country wouldn’t have EARNED Donald Trump as its newest and best presidential candidate. But not only is Trump up there as a candidate but look at the people supporting him. They are the people that did and do everything that Moore features in this film and they are the (political) deciders who frequent Walmart, listen to faux newz, drink the zombie-smile kool-aid.
  • There is a moment in the movie where Moore interviews Wallace Shawn (the actor) and Shawn provides a frivolous definition of “free enterprise” and Capitalism. While explaining himself, Shawn uses the word “vote” in the context of how capitalism works, as though “voting” is synonymous with consuming. He then talks about how one guy, once he starts to accumulate more things and/or wealth, is predestined to continue accumulating–at the cost of those who don’t accumulate. This is all fine & dandy when one tries to define or explain a system run-amok. But what about those who are actually doing the “voting”? In my less-than-fulfilled reading of Marx and “socialism” there is one thing that I consider always missed: choice. Not unlike free-will, choice is the thing that we all make–especially in western democracies and/or so-called free societies. Say what you will about the systems we worship and about how they influence our lives. But dangle a consumer carrot in front of the face of your donkey and off course the ass will follow. With that in mind, actor, oscar winning documentary director, say what you will about the system, present it as a mirror in front of your audience, but never never never actually show what goes in that mirror.

But I digress.

Rant on. -Tommi

 

Green Magic Markers, Paying, The Donald In London 

~ Tom

Some dialogue while paying for breakfast this morn.

Waiter: Sign here please.

(Tommi takes the pen the waiter gives him but notices it’s defect.)

Tommi: Sorry mate, you got another pen?

(Waiter grunts with a cockney accent and goes to get another pen; he returns with 2nd pen.)

Waiter: Here.

Tommi: Thank you.

(Tommi takes the 2nd pen but it is also defect.)

Tommi: Say there, mate, gotta pen that writes?

Waiter: What? Are you pulling some magic on me?

(Waiter takes 2nd pen and fiddles with it.)

Tommi: One more chance. And remember: Three strikes and you’re out, mate.

(Waiter grunts again and rushes off. A few seconds later he returns and places a green magic marker in front of Tommi.)

Tommi: I’m not signing that with a magic marker.

Waiter: Sure.

Tommi: No.

Waiter: Oh yes you are!

Tommi: No. I’m not. My third grade teacher made me do weird shit with a green magic marker.

Waiter: I don’t care. Sign it!

Tommi: Oh come on, mate. Don’t remind me of those days. It was horrible going to public school in America. Magic markers were everywhere.

Waiter: Did they make Donald Trump use a magic marker, too?

(Touché.)

-End-

Rant on.

Article About The Big Short Is Short

~ Tom

credit cards

The good thing is, I read the book. The bad thing is, I’m still waiting for someone to address the unspoken reality of where the world is today regarding banking and finance and, of course, the (unending) great recession. The thing that gets me is that every time I read something about The Big Short (movie) or the problems of the banking industry I have to smirk and giggle. I cannot believe that no one has written about what’s really going on. Ok. Ok. I’m sure the book as been written. Hopefully someday I’ll find it. Until then I can only go with what I’ve got–as pretentious as that may be. With that in mind, I’ll assume the movie version of The Big Short is at least as accurate as the book. Based on that, here’s a summary of the ship we’re all aboard.

  • Banking is in full collusion with government.
  • Compensation of bankers is no different than hush-money.
  • What’s behind the revolving door between the SEC and bank board rooms should be as scary as the threat of nuclear war or terrorism.

The lack of action on the part of politicians should be an indication of how deeply embedded the problem really is. But, I suppose, in the end it doesn’t matter if someone writes the right book which then can be made into a movie by bored, rich actors so as to give them (and their lives) a feeling of worth and value. (Just have a look at who produced The Big Short.) The simple fact remains: the ship has sailed and the only destination available for it is tragedy. Some might even say that we’ve long since landed on tragedy. But I don’t think that’s the case. Tragedy is out there but it’s still far off as the world enjoys its love-boat. Indeed. The world and the crisis we are in is simply not bad enough to make anything happen that could force a correction. The idear of a forced correction alone is worth writing a book about. Seriously. A phoenix can’t rise if the whole shebang hasn’t burnt to ash. Or? Oh well. As usual, I’m off subject.

The article below is a winded one. I mean, it’s really, really long. And you know what it says? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But it also says a lot of nothing. And as I read through it I couldn’t help–between all the snickers and giggles–to keep whispering out loud: boy am I happy that I don’t have a thing vested in this system. I also would whisper: man, all those people vested in this system are fucked. Because of the carnal aspect of what’s going on these days, it’s not possible for something to come about that could/would correct the dead ship to tragedy we’re riding. The reality is this: everything being done by government and banks is for the sole purpose of keeping the ship afloat–not changing its direction. And get this: a change in direction would mean a change in those aboard. And so. When ever I come across an article like the one below I hope to come across at least a minor mention of where change could begin. But, as usual, I’m always disappointed.

Rant on. -Tommi

Link that motivated this post:

Intercourse Anew Or How I See Mechanics Old

~ Tom

intercourse anew

A pic I took recently. Notice how the machine is perfectly aligned. (Short pause. Blink.) Except for the camera that reflects my mind. (No pause.) There are gears that intertwine. Perfectly they glide, common yet far and wide. If I had to I’d say, admit, where this pic comes from… This is the image that a white haired German gave me once. It is the image of his “tool”. Or maybe not. It could also be the image of his dinner table when extended before the middle plates are inserted. But I digress. I met that old f’n German just after the Berlin wall fell. And do you know what he told me? He told me tails of spending luxury nights in an Oklahoma prison camp in 1946 just after losing (the war) because Rommel gave up. And just before Rommel gave up he gave his troops some advice. Rommel said that the problem the western world is going to have is that it totally misunderstands intercourse. “Fucking!” he yelled with his twisted German accent to a bunch of German soldiers about to answer their fate to British troops. (So I guess he was giving them English lessons.) And then he continued: Everybody in the west these days thinks that the origin of it all comes out of what penetrates, what interjects, what collides and goes boom–disenfranchising that which is not wanted, that which is not profitable. But big bangs are nothing more than jokes that fail. And I tell these jokes that fail even before they are brought to paper or the microphone or the one attempting to rule the world. But. At least. None of that matters. Or. Nomatter. The image above, brought to you by a dead desert fox represents more than gears and tears. It represent the image of what should/could be: LOVE. Yes. What should/could be. And for those who wish to counter/dispute this claim (of mine and the old desert fox that taunted/taught it to me), all I can say is this: NO; I don’t publish pornography on this site so I can’t post a pic of what intercourse is to the many. Rant on. -tommi

Biggest Tell From #SOTU: #TPP

~ Tom

TPP SOTU 2016 chalkboard

Holy krapp, dear worst-reader. I just listened to Barry-O’s last #SOTU address. As usual, I cringed and wiggled while listening to it. Why is it that these speeches give me the creeps? Is it the fact that I know people like Barry-O either know what they are saying and so they say it anyway or is it that they don’t know what they are saying because, well, this is what is said when you’re inside a bubble and that bubble is a pretty nice place and no one should know what is really going on inside it? Don’t get me wrong. I like the way Barry-O speaks. He is a fantastic orator–especially when he makes fun like he does at the beginning of this speech. On the other hand, a State of the Union address is pretty important. Doesn’t it address the state of the union? In other words, doesn’t this speech talk about what’s going on with #Americant? But I digress. Say, here’s a fact I heard through the Interwebnet grapevine: George Washington mailed in his #SOTU. Nomatter. The thing that caught my eye (ear) during this speech was the president’s reference to #TPP. And by doing so he revealed something very significant. I mean, he said something about the #TPP that I haven’t heard said by someone so high up in the echelons of Neverland. For those of us who’ve actually taken the time to look at the #TPP, this is/was a no-brainer. But what about the rest of the morons who prefer to procreate and eat chips on the couch that is their brain? Nomatter. As I’ve suspected all along, the #TPP is a deal America is trying to broker with Asian countries so that those countries can form a bulwark against Chinese interests. In other words, #TPP is about making sure that China in no way can influence what has already been done by exploiting cheap labour and thereby selling-out American domestic interests. Wait. Or does it mean something else? Blah. Blah. Blah. This is worst-writing at its best, dear wort-reader. Indeed. Again. #TPP is worst-writing at its best. And with that in mind. All one has to do is watch Barry-O’s last #SOTU and look at who applauds what. The stuff about #TPP was a big hit–for which side? Yeah, baby. And with that in mind. Good luck suckers. You’ve elected these idiots and now you don’t know what to do with yourselves. So just pull your f’n zipper down and keep playing with it. Yeah. Keep playing with it while krapp like the #TPP go by your tickled mindlessness. Swim by. Fly by. Oh. Ah. Oh. Ah. Again. Again. Here it comes. Here it cums. Spurt. Spurt. Spurt. Yeah. Zip it up. Go about your uselessness. Don’t forget to buy something. Rant on. -Tommi

Links that motivated this post:

Hammer Sickle Podcast

~ Tom

fourth international.png

Listening to comrade Wolff again. Luv this nutty professor. And that says a lot. Of all the teachers I’ve had in this (my) useless-eater life, few (if any) teachers have left an impression on me. And that’s an odd thing to admit if you consider the fact that by the time I was finished with college I had finally figured out what I wanted to do. Yeah. I wanted actually be one of them–one of the ones who fails to leave an impression on someone. Yeah, I thought, be a teacher and you can have three months out of the year off to smoke weed and maybe learn how to sail (a dinghy). Of course. Having been reared in #americant, in suburban hell, it didn’t matter that I knew what the future held. I knew it held what we have now. Boy do I feel sorry for teachers. What a bunch of shmucks. Talk about getting duped. Now they all have to work those off months in order to pay their (land)lords all those serfdom-fees. But I digress.

Today’s podcast, dear worst-reader, covers four things.

  1. Health Care, aka Obamacare
  2. Banking and Finance
  3. Pension looting
  4. Subsidizing Religion

Of the four issue covered by comrade/professor Wolff, the fourth is the funniest. That fact that #americants tolerate the free-ride given to “churches” (they don’t pay any tax) and yet can’t find ways to finance education says a lot. Obviously the other issues covered are funny, as well. But then again: the podcast featured has nothing to do with comedy. Or does it?

Listening to a winded professor try to explain to #americants what capitalism is–and more importantly how it’s failed everyone–just seems like such a mute issue that one can’t help but laugh/giggle. Or? Still. With that in mind, it’s fascinating how the professor does such a great job explaining it all. I suppose that’s due to his ability to be so obviously partisan. I don’t mean partisan in a Dem vs Repub way. He’s partisan in a truth vs lie way. And that should be a good thing. Well, I suppose it would be good if the professor didn’t come across as a comrade. But, again, I digress.

Hail the fourth international. Or maybe not.

At this point, I should probably provide a warning. Be careful if you listen to what the professor/comrade has to say. Or should I say: Danger Something Might Be Learned.

Rant on. -Tommi

Links that motivated this post which includes a podcast:

May Um Save The Planet Um

~ Tom

 

tim christopher on bundy takeover.png

Seriously. I just dented my refrigerator. I hit it. Right out of the blue I hit my fridge as though it were taunting me, as though it were asking for it. Yes. That’s exactly what happened. It (my fridge) was taunting me like a sheep-lamb in hell that recites Milton’s Paradise lost and Redd Foxx‘s last stage show. And. Luckily. I’m almost sure. Hitting my fridge will not be part of tomorrow’s therapy session on anger management. Reason? If it wasn’t for the amount of times this guy (see link below, pic above) uses the filler-word “um” as he talks I wouldn’t have picked a fight with my refrigerator. He uses the filler-word “um” so much that I almost hit my wife’s new sewing machine. Why? Oh why? Oh well. What can I say? It’s not all as bad as it sounds. Or is it? No. It all justifies anger and the fact that I had to bleed-off that anger.

Um. Um. Um. Sentence. Um. Sentence. Um. Um. Sentence. Um. Etc.

And so. I thought. A simple frustrated swing will help me get over how (obviously) educated people use filler words. And this guy used um so many times that my head almost exploded. So I swung my left fist in the air. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time because um was everywhere. Swing here, swing there, swing lower, swing higher, swing chariot. And with a sudden jolt I felt my fist land. It landed right on the front aluminum door of my fridge. Now my fridge has what I like to call a dent. But at least my fridge doesn’t have the word um on it or in it anymore.

dented fridge.png

And by-the-bye, what this um-guy talks about is really, really cool. Save the planet um guy.

Rant on. -Tommi

Source: Tim DeChristopher on Bundy Takeover: Gov’t is More Afraid of Civil Disobedience Than Armed Militias | Democracy Now!

Maine Subtext Drugs Promiscuity And Nice Shirts

~ Tom

el chapo.png

The traffickers—these aren’t people who take drugs. These are guys by the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty. These type of guys that come from Connecticut and New York. They come up here, they sell their heroin, then they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave. Which is the real sad thing, because then we have another issue that we have to deal with down the road. –Paul LePage, Governor of Maine, USA

Where does it go from here, dear worst-reader? Obviously Trumpism is having an effect on my beloved United Mistakes of #Americant. Trumpism and the tea party combined will have an even bigger effect. Look at the state of Maine. Or has it already happened to every US state? Nomatter.

If anyone is wondering what will come of all the batsh*t–we only need to begin the study of subtext and have a look at what Maine’s governor recently said. I, for one, love subtext. Without it I could have never written all those awful (stuck in amateurism) plays of mine. Of course, at the time, I had no idear what subtext is/was. So let’s define it now, shall we.

subtext |ˈsəbˌtekst|, noun, an underlying and often distinct theme in a piece of writing or conversation that is not explicit.

Which brings me ’round to the subtext I’ve been reading in the newz lately. Would you believe that a sitting US governor spilled the beans of what’s on/in his mind? (See quote above–which, btw, is missing the name El Chapo as one of the dealers that enter the state.) Paul LePage, Governor of Maine, said, in front of small crowd, that citizens of Maine are all heroine addicts and that the state’s women are overly promiscuous with all the drug suppliers that regularly visit from Connecticut and New York. Or did I miss something in the (sub)text?

Obviously there is a drug problem in the US. Nothing new there. But what kind of drug problem? Has the war on drugs had an effect on #americants lust for narcotics? You bet it has. For the most part the war on drugs has legalised what was once illegal. Which brings me to the following question: has the war on drugs been a good thing or a bad thing? Wait. It’s #americant. There is no good or bad. Just money. Money. Money. And lots of profit for a select few. Indeed.  The long-lasting war on drugs has had an effect on something. Yeah.

I, for one, will never forget sitting in PHL Airport bar waiting for a flight and watching two complete strangers exchange pharmaceutical drugs as I gulped at my glass of Yuengling. To say the least, I was shocked at both their wit and knowledge of the pills they were exchanging and also the expertise one expressed to the other about how to take the pills during the flight. And. Of course. I couldn’t help but think about what those drugs are made of. Yes. Like the subtext of words spoken, dear worst-reader, there is the unspoken, the unspeakable of the legal drug trade in the US.

Ultimately, all the pharma drugs that #americant is addicted to are derivatives of illicit drugs that we hear about every day. The only difference being the pharma drugs generate huge profits for corporations and the illicit drugs simply provide Sean Pean an interesting interviewee partner. Ironically (or not) drugs, e.g. cocaine and heroin (opiate) are the basis for most of the pharmaceutical drugs #americants ingest daily. Which brings me full-circle to the governor of Maine and the subtext of what he said the other day.

Btw, the great thing about subtext is that you can come up with your own.

Good luck suckers. Rant on. -Tommi

Links that motivated this post:

Boardroom Gender Quotas vs Cologne On New Year's Eve vs The Meaning Of Freiwild

~ Tom
what is freiwild.png
Left: a band. Right: police making sure no one enters the church.

What a grand opportunity Germania has right now. Will it act on this opportunity? Of course not. And why not? Well, the answer is simple. There’s no money or taxes to be had in acting on a human failing that, up to now, cannot be made financially exploitable for the centralised state. Misogyny and (mafia) patriarchy are fundamental to the Germania lie–the lie of a social-market-economy. I suppose one can give Germania credit for at least trying. The land of wurst, kraut, autobahns that require drivers of awesome cars to drive all the time with their brakes and cleavage did pass a law last year that requires the centralised corpo-state to add females to its roster of corpo-managers. The idear of actually having some female corpo-leadership is, indeed, a fine one. The problem, though, is that requiring females to be corpo-state-managers means that you first have to have conditioned females that can actually do it. I mean, “conditioned” is the only way to get ahead in a corpo-state, in a centralised economy, among automaton comrades that all must share elbows and cubicles–aka the western (white) world. That would also mean, since most Germania females aren’t all that interested in engineering or banking, the corpo-state would have to do more than just provide tampons in advisory board bathrooms to get Germania females to actually do it. Germania simply doesn’t have enough females that think like the males that have made the country what it is today. And so. As the saying goes: Germans aren’t funny… but some of the laws they make are. Which brings me to the article below. Germany enacted a law last year that is supposed to help change the German mindset–that got the country to where it is today. Ist das dein ernst (are you serious), asked the one-eyed, red-haired pirate born and reared in Saxony. Du spinnst (you’re an idiot) responds his Westphalia rival. Both men tap the bottom of their Kölsch glasses, kiss with their eyes, and sing Kölle Alaaf in front of an audience that doesn’t know which way to sway or get out of the arm-lock they are in. Indeed. §I couldn’t help but snicker as I read the article below. Nomatter what the subject, nomatter what the issue in Germania today, it all boils down to one thing and one thing only: Money. And so. There are two mindsets in the western world battling over (Kölle Alaaf and) money.  On the Anglo side that fight evolves around this: it’s all mine and you can’t have any, i.e. the haves and the have-mores. On the Germania side of doing things the fight evolves around this: it’s all mine and you’ll get what I feel like giving you when I’m ready and my tax revenue allows it. Yeah, baby. Long live centralised, pseudo-communist states faking it (the economy and capitalism) like a drag queen selling out for a drinki-poo. And since I’m on the subject of drag queens. What about Freiwild. It’s all over the place right now. I suppose a naked supermodel with a protest poster in front of the Cologne Cathedral helps spread the word. But to be honest, I had to do a double-take on the word because I hadn’t used it in such a long time. It means something like “fair game”. But I suppose in the context of what’s currently going on in Germania, especially old Colonia, it means something much more specific. And to be honest, one of the reasons you have words like Freiwild means that you also have words like Karnevalsflüchtlinge. Karnevalsflüchtlinge is a word that describes all the people that leave Germania because they fear all the touchy-feely that comes with a corpo-centralised, mafia-patriarchy state that MUST party when the bell rings–which is all that Karneval is these days. Well, it’s that and lots of drinking. But I digress. As I worst-wrote at the beginning of this post: Germania faces a grand opportunity right now. I wonder what it will do with it. Prosit! Alaaf! Maach et joot! Rant on. -Tommi

Source: Boardroom Quotas: The Slow Pace of Gender Equality in Corporate Germany – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Pale Shades Of Gemütlichkeit, Gleichgültigkeit And Happy Kites

~ Tom

Beer Belly Horst

Had a brief call with an old girlfriend the other day. Before I could even get around to the “how’s the weather” or “how’s your love-life” (up there in Berlin) there was something boiling in her voice about who/where/what she is. While she spewed out all her frustrations from being fired from her job because she complained about workplace sexual harassment, I couldn’t help but think of how I too was once harassed. Obviously when a man is harassed it’s never the same as with a woman. I suppose, in a way, most (real) men want to be harassed like most women ARE harassed. But, again, it is not my intention to belittle the reality of females being harassed–especially in light of what recently happened in Cologne. Yet there is IMHO something that connects what my former girlfriend is dealing with and what all those nice young girls had to deal with on New Years Eve 2015 in front of one of the Catholic church’s most iconic cathedrals. Which brings me to the question: what does sexual harassment have to do with patriarchy? Or maybe that’s not the question. Wait. Let me try to explain how I was harassed first–by patriarchy. It started in hallways. German corporate hallways, to be exact. Hallways that were/are built by men. I was working in this German company or that German company–with a bunch of German men. I had been doing that for the better part of the last decade of the twentieth century. Yet nomatter what German company I worked at, the walls of that company always spoke to me and they always said the same thing–in a tainted male voice. So I guess, in a way, I was harassed by German walls. (How ironic, eh, as it was the east/west wall of the Germans that turned me into an expat to begin with.) And do you know what those walls said to me, dear worst-reader? They said (shit like): why are you taking our jobs; ami go home; Ich war hier zuerst; Deutschland!; etc. §Of the few places on this planet that I’ve lived–and perhaps of the few places I’ve visited–Germany is… Wait for it. Wait for it. Ok. Here it is. Germany has got to be the (pronounce thee) most patriarchal place in all of the western, industrialised world. Which also means Germany is intolerant, amoral, misguided and she pees standing up with the toilet seat down. And when one uses the word patriarchy in the context of anything European (#eurowasteland) it is almost always synonymous with mafia (which is the only thing Europe has given the world in the last fifty or so years), macho and chivalry-is-dead. Mafia is, of course, synonymous with the Catholic church. But I guess I should stop with the whole synonym thing. Yeah. There is something else that connects with patriarchy (but isn’t synonymous with it) and what’s really going on in Germany (and most of the western world). And it’s a little bit more than just harassment. Germany’s problem, even though it is trying to avoid that problem by blaming refugees and harassment, is that it is stuck in a world of old, archaic, greedy patriarchy. It’s the same damn thing in Italy and that country’s love/lust of the Mafia that entertains the world through film, Guido-characters and noodles. The thing about Italy’s patriarchy, though, i.e. Italy’s mafia-society, that makes it different than Germany’s is this: Italy is an underachiever. But let’s not get too far off subject. My guess is, as long as women are willing and able to marry men and provide those men with the ideal of a “family”–especially in a world that has sold-out to Globalisation–there isn’t much chance of changing how men think, hence there is no chance of changing patriarchy. Does that mean that in order for the world and patriarchy to change that change will have to come through women? I don’t know. What I do know, though, is that the current discussion regarding how women are treated is a mute issue–as long as the patriarchy rules and rules and rules. And so. In the mean time. Keep talking about refugees. Keep talking about how women are treated here or there. Keep talking about what’s wrong with everything. And through it all (the talk) the truth and reality slip by like a cool breeze of forevermore. Stay asleep. Good luck suckers. Rant on. -Tommi

PS In the context of (mafia) patriarchy it doesn’t matter that Germany has a “matriarch” as its chancellor. The only thing Merkel is–is entertaining. Neverforget. There are no women doing anything substantial in Germany. They are all sitting at home either content or discontent with their husbands and a bit frustrated that they don’t understand why a woman will NEVER run Deutsche Bank, VW or Mercedes, etc. Or something like that. Good luck, babes! ;-)

Links that motivated this post:

Find The Question In The Answer Of The Message

~ Tom

AlphaHouse

The task of American TV binge-watching is not a small one, especially when competing with one’s better-half who is usually at least two shows ahead of me. The reality is, I’m losing the challenge of who can get through the shows the quickest. Lost big-time, in fact, with recent binge-watching of The King of Queens. It took my better-half less than a month to get through all nine seasons of that show. Lots of free time during Eurowasteland’s xmas vacation helped a bit, too. I know, I know. I know what you’re saying dear worst-reader. “Don’t you guys have anything better to do than watch mindless American TV?” Well, to be honest, as the minions and automatons of Germania and the western-world remain preoccupied with consuming-to-survive and/or procreating and/or subjecting themselves to hapless subjugation, my better-half and I live a life of semi forced and unforced early retirement. Put another way: once we’ve gotten through most of the daylight hours, completed most of our chores, popped open a bottle Tuscany joy after tee-time–where we plan our next vacation–there really isn’t much left to do. Ok. We could sex things up a bit more but to be honest, at my age, it’s a good thing that the storm & drang of gettin’ my nuts off is waning. But I’m off subject again. §I was trying to explain the pseudo-detriment of binge-watching American TV. Which brings me to the show Alpha House. I finished the second season last night–again losing to my better half who finished watching three nights before. And it is a pretty good show. I guess. But one thing stuck out after only watching the first few episodes. Are you ready for this? Alpha House is the best show yet where #americant conservatives and republicans might finally get the last laugh. Wait. What? Ok. Get this. Ever noticed how on #americant TV, of all the shows that make you laugh about politics and society, almost all the jokes are made at the cost of conservatives. Conservatives themselves, of course, are not funny. But making fun of them is hi-larry-us! Hence, #americant has shows like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, etc. Pretty funny shows–if you like that sort of thing. My problem with those shows is that once you’ve seen one of them you’ve seen them all. That’s the price of comedy that ONLY makes fun of someone. Since Jon Stewart and Colbert have quit–because I’m sure they were madly bored of making fun of stupid people–it’s time to rethink political comedy. But what’s still funny? What is there left to make fun of? Liberals have been laughing there asses off because conservatives make the better joke. Yet isn’t it time for conservatives to start making fun of liberals? Enter Alpha House. This has got to be the funniest conservative take on liberals–ever! Seriously. As I watched the show I couldn’t help but feel that conservatives wrote it, produced it, and even starred in it. The fact that Bezos owns it, and he also owns the Washington Post, well, I guess that can’t have anything to do with anything. Or? Then again, Alpha House might just be the first TV series with a particular political party being a native ad. But I digress. §Another subject itching me since I’m dealing with “streaming”. Would you believe that I’ve been an Amazon prime user for years but only recently started using it for movies and TV streaming? And now that I’ve (finally) discovered it, I’m kicking myself in the ass having used iTunes for all our digital media all this time? I can’t tell you how much iTunes sucks. In fact, the whole Apple echo system is starting to suck. And to think I wasted all those hours curating my iTunes library only to realise that it sucks! Ripping CDs or DVDs here and there, then buying superfluous software to expedite getting it all into iTunes… And for what? I bought a Raspberry Pi last fall in order to finally rip and watch Blurays. Plex media server along with Rasplex on the Raspberry Pi opened my eyes to a whole new world. No more meta-data-BS or mp4 codec krapp so that something would play in iTunes or on my friggin’ iPad. Heck, even my limited bandwidth at home works great with Prime. But get this. I gave up on German streaming years ago. Germans (distributors) are assholes about dubbing all their movies–unlike the Dutch or Scandinavians who all offer movies in OV (original version). But when you dub a film and then use that as a profit centre when selling movies on DVD or Bluray… that’s when you can kiss my ass. For you see, dear worst-reader, I have learned that not every DVD or Bluray is worth the money you pay for it. Indeed. And so. Before purchasing a disc that I will rip for my home media library, I always check the back of it for specs. Does the disc contain all applicable audio tracks? Does it have the worthwhile audio encoding, aka DTS, HD Audio, etc.? Some do, some don’t. This is where German distributors get in the way of progress. They will actually remove language and audio tracks from DVDs in order to save costs on dubbing and audio codec rights. A good source of DVD movies for the past year as been the German mega retailer Aldi. They sell DVDs of varying movies for around 8€–which is usally always a few buck cheaper than an iTunes download. But you have to look on the back of the DVD covers to make sure the OV is available. Can you believe that these jerk-offs will sell a US movie without the English version included. They’ll also sell one with the English version but they will not include high-end audio with it. Of course, Blurays are even worse because they are capable of having even more audio capability. I don’t know about you, but audio is really the only turn-on for me when it comes to home movies–as I have the audio equipment to play it. Aldi just started selling Bluray discs for about 10€. And, true to movie distributor greed-form, if you read the back of the disc covers, you’ll notice that only the German track includes the best audio codec. Which means, I won’t be buying Blurays from Aldi unless the proper codec is offered. Oh well. No fear. Back to buying my digital media from used sources or trading with friends. Because digital distributors are assholes. And they wonder why file sharing is so popular! §Btw, for those interested in whether or not I infringe on copyrights, I have a documented list of where all my digital media comes from. I also have the original physical discs stored away that I have ripped. §Ok. Wait. What was I worst-writing about? Oh yeah. Alpha House. Alpha House is an Amazon exclusive comedy but it is also much more. It is a propaganda show about #americant conservatism. Yeah, right. Rant on. -Tommi

Who Eats Who And What Is On Third

~ Tom

the devils chessboard cover.png

“We Kennedys eat Rockefellers for breakfast.”

Imagine Robert Kennedy saying that. Imagine the vehemence that could fill the air once those words were published. Imagine the Kennedy and Rockefeller families with a slight twist: they are the Hatfields and the McCoys. Or just just forget all that and go back to third grade (or maybe fifth or sixth or seventh–or, at the least, never graduate above the sophomoric). In a system that has thrived on greed and allure–both being the catalyst for the economics of trickle down–it’s a wonder that more #americants haven’t slaughtered themselves as trickle down withers to zero. But then again, with what’s going on in Oregon these days, maybe there is something out there that might cause a mass wake up. Most certainly the death (slaughter) of the Kennedy family woke no one up. Yet, worst-writer can’t help but question where all this nonsense comes from. Nonsense being best defined through the behaviour of people, the behaviour of a nation. It is said that a persons true character comes through in a time of crisis. Does the same apply to a nation? But I digress. §I came across the book The Devil’s Chessboard through an interview I watched with the author here back in October. Recent travel meant I had to fill my Kindle and this book made the list. Of course, I was skeptical about buying it but something did stand out based on the above referenced interview. The interview did give off a hint of conspiracy-theory but David Talbot was able to convince me that this piece of work had something more to it. In my quest to maintain as rational a mind as possible, it’s hard at times to sift through the nonsense that is #americant without falling prey to conspiracy theory. The advent of faux newz on the one hand and the long standing mindlessness of conspiracy-theory on the other, it’s a wonder that the country hasn’t fallen prey to some blonde blue-eyed dictator. Or has it? I, for one, never thought much about the conspiracy to kill JFK but the Warren Report didn’t make much of an impression either. Yet the movie by Oliver Stone changed all that. Now don’t get me wrong. The JFK assassination isn’t the same conspiracy-theory as the moon landing. The Zapruder film saw to that. But there is something about all the unanswered questions regarding JFK that the government covered up. I mean, “cover-up” is really the only thing we know that happened. Or? Nomatter. §David Talbot does something different. He’s actually explaining a mindset in this book. He takes a new angle on trying to explain a mindset, a rationale, of how certain people within the upper echelons of government and (big) business actually think. That such a way of thinking could lead to the assassination of Kennedy is a bit far-fetched–and Talbot doesn’t make that direct link. But what he does make clear is that JFK did represent a new way of thinking in America. And that way of thinking was counter to how a few other people thought. Is that then the reason he was killed? What exactly was JFK’s way of thinking? §Enter Allen Dulles, the CIA and a bunch of old, conniving white men who are stuck in the mind of a ten year old that has Howitzers sticking out of every orifice. What to do with those Howitzers, eh? I guess–so goes their rationale–one has to put them to some kind of use otherwise they’d just be a waste. And so. The mindset of adult-children with cannons sticking out of their arses has taken over a once great nation-state. Which means all we can say now is: it was fun while it lasted. Or? Indeed. The Devil’s Chessboard is a bit of a bore to read–if you know anything about American history and American foreign policy. Yet I stayed in the book because of how the author was able to weave a single thread through it from beginning to end. That thread is the idea that a certain way of thinking is what rules the show. It’s not so much about politics, parties or individuals running things. America is run by a way of thinking. And not only is there one way of thinking but a different way of thinking will not be tolerated. This is how the system conspires, how it perpetuates. And since most Americans have fallen for the lie of trickle-down no other way of thinking can prevail. Which brings me to #americant. If anything is true/real about David Talbot’s book, it’s the fact that America still has a chance. It has a chance to break free from the singularity that rules it today. And even though Talbot doesn’t go anywhere near trying to explain that, he does masterfully explain the mindset of one of the rulers, one of the powers-that-be, a man who’s way of thinking is the reason there is so much demagoguery, right-wing batshit, faux newz, and/or militiamen fighting for “rights” they never had in the first place. Or maybe not. Rant on. -Tommi

How To Print Your Own Money

~ Tom
Adieu iPhone 4s
Can you find the odd man in this pic?

When I was a kid I remember being confused about light bulbs. Beyond the fact that few of them would go off in my head, I couldn’t wrap that same head around issues of wires, connectors and periphery that made lightbulbs an essential part of every night life. Plus. Why is it that there are so many kinds of lightbulbs? And I don’t mean just shapes and sizes. There’s different wattage, different glows, different screw-threads, incandescent, florescent, LED, etc. And that’s all fine and good. But then one day I was reading something–you know, in order to help train my brain to start making lightbulbs go off–that opened up the world around me beyond being able (and thankful) that I could read in the dark. It was a story about how the powers-that-be of the lightbulb industry were able to start printing money at will. Long story short, the lightbulb industry is/was the first industry to purposefully make products that would, after a certain amount of time, stop working so that you, the sucker consumer, without question, would have to go out and buy more lightbulbs. It’s called obsoletism. Oddly, I just put “obsoletism” in Wiki and it redirects to “archaism”. Conspiracy? Nomatter. The cabal that is the lightbulb industry which I read about so many years ago stuck with me. I knew as a good and subservient consume-to-survivor in this world that the powers-that-be had me by the balls. Not only was/am I forced to buy krapp that is eventually obsolete which means I have to buy it again and again and again, but most people are oblivious to their position in this free-for-all of greed. Reason? It’s not just lightbulbs that got us by the balls, aka wallets. The tech industry is probably the best equipped industry to fully implement obsoletism as a corporate strategy. I have a drawer full of old cellphones. I have to have a completely different drawer to house all the cable and wires that made those cellphones work. Why so many wires and cables? Gee, should the cellphone industry be asked that question? I mean, come on. Why isn’t there a standard regarding cellphone connecting cables? Is it measurable/understandable how much copper is wasted in making all those cables–that end up in the same trash as the phones? How many resources could be saved if people had the option of buying just the phone and thereby use their old cable to power/connect them? What a bag of worst-worms, eh dear worst-reader? And I digress. §The problem is, turning the lightbulb industry into a print-money free-for-all is like offering a baby honey when its teething. Babies learn quickly to want and want and want more. And so. Obsoletism is the norm. It is the engine of this consume-to-survive world we are forced to live in. Without it most corporations today would go out of business tomorrow because, as is obvious, they cannot innovate, create or begin anew. Hence we have a world full of monopolies, eco-systems, Geschlossene Gesellschaft. §Note. Geschlossene Gesellschaft, aka Huis Clos or No Exit is a fav play of mine from Sartre. This play contains nuggets of knowledge and wisdom that helped me understand the world around me–especially the greed-world that I’m forced to cope with. With that in mind, “Hell is other people.” §And so. Enter Apple computer. The love-child of famed and thoroughly dead Steve Jobs. What a freak show this company has become, eh. I mean, come on, just have a look at those yearly product introductions. The assholes that get up on a stage and present to us krapp that no one should need is an astonishing thing to witness. Tim Cook, probably the luckiest guy in the world–as he better than anyone embodies the automaton corporate stooge–is mindless, devoid of creativity, subservient, question-less–oh, the perfect combo for corporatists everywhere–yet he “manages” one of history’s most profitable corporations. Which brings me to the following joke-question: who is the Ringo Starr of the corporate world? Ok. Ok. Tim Cook worked his way up the #americant corporate ladder. I guess he deserves some credit for that. Or maybe not. Fuck him. §Here’s the thing. Steve Jobs found a way to print money at will–not unlike the greed-mongers that gave us lightbulbs. Indeed. As grand as Jobs was with his marketing savvy and product-wit, it is true that he could probably sell me a bag of salt when I need water. And not only can he sell it to me. Steve Jobs created more than a tech company making great products. He found a way to sell obsoletism better than anyone else. Hence, I will miss my iPhone 4s. A perfectly good phone that I am now forced to put aside for a new iPhone 6s–because Apple flat out lied to me that my 4s was compatible with OS updates. And to be real honest with you, dear worst-reader, after a few weeks of use, I’m not impressed with the differences between the 4s and the 6s. Would I be impressed with the 4s and an Android device? Who cares. My point is this. I tried and I tried to make my 4s work for as long as possible–as that is my contribution to mindless consumerism. But I have obviously lost the battle and, as usual, Apple (corporatism) has won. But then again, have a look at the articles below. There are some people out there with as much wit as Steve Jobs and more creativity than Tim Cook can ever muster. Yeah. Sue all corporations when they act like assholes. Sue the krapp out of them. Yeah, baby. Rant on. -Tommi

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