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
The inevitable is at your front door. Perhaps not unlike the grim reaper. Remember the reaper? He came along just after you had the canned salmon. Nomatter. As I’ve stated here & there, TTP and TTIP are inevitable. Obviously protests like the one in Berlin will have some sort of effect on it but I don’t think it’s possible to stop globalisation. Ultimately that’s what we’re dealing with here, dear worst-reader. Acronym or no acronym, TTP is globalisation. And so. Protesting it would be like protesting your ability to buy stuff. You know what I mean? You walk into a store and tell the store manager that your protesting that toaster or pair of pants or a packet of shoe laces. The managers says, “Ok, fine, what are you demands?” That’s when you turn and look at him and think, “How did I get here?” Indeed. How did we get here? Globalisation. Rant on. -tommi
TPP is on its way to becoming law–and no one knows exactly what it’s about. VW admitted to lying about exhaust emissions of its wildly popular TDI cars. Air France execs get their shirts ripped off because, well, they are in the process of ripping off their workers. Yeah, baby. Another day, another small fry put in his place. And so. With that in mind. Let’s have a worst-writer look at what’y really going on here.
VW
The whole thing is mega bullshit. The fact that people are just now waking up to the realities of diesel motors is proof enough that we all live in a melting pot of stupidity. There is a whole story as to why Europe (yes, Europe!) even has diesel in the first place. In short, my worst-guess is that Europeans had to make a choice (insert # years) ago. As usual, moronic politicians and greedy aristocratic business leaders chose diesel because the motors are cheaper to make and maintain and diesel fuel is cheaper than gasoline. But this scandal is double sided. Of course there’s the emissions issue. But. Again. What fool ever believed that diesel is clean? The more important issue is that Euro car makers lead by VW have simply over extended themselves. No manager at VW was EVER prepared for the consequences of where the world economy is today. Seriously. Not one German manager ever saw the reality of the US being a gasoline car-nation either. Not one German manager ever saw the devastating effect of misappropriation in the world’s largest growth-economy: China. And so. The Americas are forcing Germany’s hand because, well, the lie of the TDI is just too good to pass up–and America will have none of that. Also. China can no longer afford to buy German cars. So what’s left for “brilliant” German (European) managers? Once again the easy way out. Fire your workers–because you can’t manage a company.
TPP
It’s kinda ironic that VW might be facing huge lawsuits and legal fees regarding it’s #dieselgate scandal right at the moment that a trade agreement, once ratified, might actually prevent one nation from suing a multinational corporation. But so rolls the dice, eh, Germany. Ever since I first heard of TPP I knew that it would go through. I’ve seen multiple protests in Europe about it (where it’s called TTiP) but whenever I confronted those protestors with reality, they just shrugged me off. The fact is, TPP has to go through in order to save us from ourselves. You must keep in mind, dear worst-reader, that multinational corporations are run by the very same “educated” people that have put the world in the place it is in now. You can’t stop these people from trying to save their own asses. Well, I guess you can. But the consequences will be worse if you do.
Air France
I love this. Ripping off the shirts of corporate execs. What a great idear! In fact, I love the way the French protest. Will never forget that time I was in Paris and suddenly the world stopped as a huge umpteen mile long convoy of tractors made its way through the city. The tractors were hauling apples. They eventually dumped a few thousand tons of apples all over the place. And that’s not all the French dump. I remember reading a few years later, although I wasn’t here, that pig farmers dumped a bunch of pigs in front of the parliament building. Now that’s what I call protest. But before I get all icky emotional regarding my love for French people, let me just say this about the fucking airline industry. Hey! Airline industry. Go fuck yourselves. I have been flying across the atlantic at least a few times a year, every year, for twenty-five years. And you know what I have from all this “travel”? A fucking headache. And you know what else I have? Nothing. That is, in twenty-five years not one thing has changed in flying. Sure. There are newer planes and some even have a few more screens to look at. But the seats are the same–if not smaller and tighter. The flight attendants are the same–if not uglier and older (especially on US carriers). And to top it off. I would like to get a flight to the US this xmas. But the problem is, there are only flights available for prices that are ridiculous. So put this together, dear worst-reader. Air France is going to cut its work force because it can’t sell me a decent priced ticket to the US for xmas? Yeah. Go fuck yourself airlines!
Source: various screenshots spliced together to help worst-readers everywhere with a very complicated issue. Or maybe not. Contact me for TPP… I mean copyright infringement.
This post is NSFW due to some language issues I’m having.
The art of the deal. Rule #1. Lie. Rule #2. Lie. Rule #3. You guessed it, dear worst-reader: make it so that the truth is what you say it is. Rule #4. Let there only be one side that sets the rules and that one side can change those rules at will. Or the like. With that in mind, never thought the day would come when my beloved #americant would stand at world’s end–you know, the edge of a flat world where everything falls off if one isn’t careful–with it’s disguise wide open, displaying the man underneath. And do you know what the man underneath is wearing? That’s right. He’s wearing another disguise. Go figure, eh.
What is the difference between a treaty and a trade agreement?
Treaty: an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an (international) agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, pact, or exchange of letters, among other terms.
Trade Agreement: (also known as trade pact) is a wide ranging tax, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. -Source: interwebnet search
You know, I often think about the opposing voices regarding America’s entry into WW2. Some of those voices were against the US entering the war because (and I paraphrase) America is a business and war is bad for business. Other’s who opposed said that America is a place of playboys and ditch-diggers. That was then, this is now. Seems to still hold.
We are not only in a state of perpetual war but also in a state of perpetual business. Both have never been so good. Profits at most major corporations are through the roof. Shareholders in-the-know have never been more secure. Financial institutions have only once before been as free as they are today. Can you say: hey we’re in pre 1929 America? Indeed. The war machine, in its fight to control the world’s oil is in one hand. In the other hand, big corporations are trying to own everything in order to protect their interests. Enter TPP. When TPP is put into force–and mind you, it will eventually pass–an economic block will be established that has never been seen before. The participants of TPP will represent 40% of the world’s economy, if not more. I don’t know about you but that blows this worst-writer’s mind. All of the countries involved in this, of course, will be lead by the US. Or?
Ok. The ingredients of TPP is a secret. But some stuff is trickling out. Wikileaks supposedly has actual TPP docs, which I’m struggling to read through. A prominent US politician has even spoke out against TPP. And that’s all fine and good. But what is the true reason for TPP? I can’t help but scratch my head over this. One thing that comes to mind is the last time there was a two term Democratic president. Clinton pushed through a similar but smaller scale trade agreement: NAFTA. Now, there’s another two term democratic president and he’s pushing something similar but on a grander scale. When one considers the results of NAFTA, it’s not hard–secrecy here or there–to figure out what’s gonna happen after TPP.
As stated, the actual ingredients of TPP is a secret. It’s as much a secret as the ingredients of TiSA and TTIP. Confused yet? Ok. TTIP is TPP between the US and Europe. TiSA is a kind of tweak or cousin of TPP and includes a few more countries. If one looks at a map of who is involved in all this, one thing–at least in my worst-mind–stands out. Get ready for this one, baby.
None of these trade agreements–even though I think they are treaties (see definitions above)–include any of the big, cheap labor manufacturing countries. India is not in it. Brazil is not in it. And here’s the big one. China is not in it either. Wow! What can that say about these trade agreements? But let’s not stop there. There is one other significant country, albeit not a cheap labor manufacturing giant, that is also not included: Russia. I know that there is some kind of backdoor to let China and India in but why does it have to be a backdoor? And why is China holding out? And what about Russia? Seriously. What’s up with that?
Man, this is so crazy that I don’t know which way to turn. And that’s probably a good thing. Yet I can’t help but worst-conspire to think that these agreements are about something that is much less complicated than a bunch of confusing acronyms or difference between a treaty and a trade agreement. So how ’bout this? I think this is about the US saving face. America has to prepare for the not-so-distant future where empire either solidifies or dies. American corporations, in their obsession to go global and thereby maximise profits at the cost of American manufacturing and labor, have realised that they have to do something to protect themselves. I mean, come on. TPP proposers aren’t stupid enough to forget that other people on this planet can actually think–unlike most voters in the US. The game they’ve played so far was enabled and facilitated by US law and, more importantly, US political ideology. That “political” game has not been played in other countries.
Enter: Neoliberalism. There are a few things neo-liberals didn’t plan for:
they didn’t think they’d be so successful so fast,
they didn’t think it would be this easy to inject political ideology into the #american mindset that would pave the way for so much corporate success
and they didn’t expect the rest of the world to catch on so fast to the lie of the #americant dream.
Neoliberals have kicked some serious ass in the past thirty or so years. Give them and yourselves a hand, suckers!
But what about this TPP stuff? Well, how ’bout this. TPP is really about America posing an ultimatum to the world it has molded. Are you with us or are you against us? (Sound familiar?) You decide peoples and countries of this earth. Whose side are you on? But before you make your decision, heed this: Don’t think you can fuck with us. We gave this planet, this earth-place, business, commerce and the lust of consumption. If you want part of that, pick your friends carefully. Once you do that, all that is left is to keep your people, your new & improved proletariate, from getting in the way. National laws, rules, regulations–they don’t interest us. We took care of laws, rules and regs back home, so don’t think you can pull that krapp on us. If you don’t like the pollution that comes from the manufacturing facilities that make stuff, fuck you! If your cheap labor dies while sewing sneakers for those who can buy them, fuck you! If you can’t stop your people from stealing movies over the interwebnets, Mickey Mouse will come and… fuck you! Etc., etc. Try getting out of the middle ages in the next millennia because like the last millennia this one is ours. You’re welcome people of earth. Until then watch us light you on fire with stuff.
Now! Go dream about buying an iPhone and shut the fuck up.
When asked if I like Barry Obama I rudely respond with a question. “Are you republican?” If they say, “No, I’m a Democrat,” then I respond thus: He’s ok, but I’m very disappointed. If they respond, “Yes, I’m a Republican,” I respond thus: I love him. With that in mind, dear worst-reader, I’m disappointed in Barry-O because:
He’s from Chicago
He’s (obviously) naive
I wanted Hillary but took him when #americant females showed how much they hate their own kind
Which brings me to TPP and the ridiculous stance he’s taking on it. Btw, the difference between Democrat and Republican is quite simple. It is a question of fun-ideology that dates back to the founding of what could have been a great nation. But since #americant decided to go the way of the neanderthal-reactionary über-conservative mind-set post Reagonomics, its current iteration of radical politics, which should be of no surprise to anyone, is really nothing more than a big, super, über-mess that will require the same amount of time to get out of that it took to get in to. Barry-O is literally stuck between a rock and, well, being from (schooled neo-liberal) Chicago. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not generalising here. Of course I don’t mean all Chicagoens. Actually I mean just one: Milton Friedman. Friedman is the father of the economic ideology that has perverted politics for the better part of the last thirty years. And nomatter how bad Friedman’s economics are, no one seems to get it. And since no one seems to get it–or has never gotten it–it’s payback time. All of the “business” that has sold-out the country has to be paid for–eventually. Eventually is now. Hence, Barry-O can’t rationalise the true meaning of the TPP–nor could his predecessor Bill-O with NAFTA. The TPP (and NAFTA), btw, is not a trade agreement but is instead a treaty among a few powerful economies and a few fledgling, wannabe, weak economies. Good luck suckers. Rant on. -Tommi
No. Seriously. If you thought you were screwed before, you know, screwed by the lie of the open market, theeconomy or corporations wait till the near future lays its greedy paws in your starving lap. Anyone remember NAFTA? Well, if you feel as though you never could get that job or career that you were hoping for (yours truly) or if you know for a fact that you won’t have the comforts you parents have (yours truly again) or if you’re kinda angry that #americant can’t produce anything anymore because it can only assemble stuff (Ha, Ha, Ha), you can thank NAFTA for it. But I’m off subject. ¶Just the other day while walking around some Eurowasteland city with my seventeen year old son, I stopped in the market square to gaze at the TTIP protests. For you see, dear worst-reader, TTIP is the Euro version of TPP. Both are extended and steroid laden versions of NAFTA. The truly astonishing thing about these trade agreements is 1) they are not trade agreements they are instead treaties and 2) there is no better example today of how government and corporations collude in order to undermine the common good (if there even is such a thing). BTW, what’s the difference between a treaty and a trade agreement? That this stuff is being sold to you/us as trade agreements is astonishing enough. These are treaties and treaties are much more serious. Aren’t they? But, again, I’m off subject. ¶That the US President is currently shuffling his jubblies in order to get fast track authority to push through TPP should be the alarm bell heard around the world. But corporations–who own everything–especially the media–have kept the whole shebang under most radars. So when I stood there watching and listening to old Eurowastelanders trying to convince people, i.e. society, of the fate that beholds them/us I thought about my son and whether he too will grow old in an age where disappointment and bitterness are the only trades learned. But then again, after a double-take of all those old people wasting their time protesting something that should have been protested years ago but wasn’t because they/we were all convinced that consuming krapp had no ramifications, I looked again at my beautiful boy and the glow of hope and innocence that surrounds him like a mystical cocoon. I’ve tried to prepare him for the krappy future that my generation and my parent’s generation have left him. I’ve told him about the frivolity of higher education and how it doesn’t serve higher learning. I’ve told him that what he needs for the future is the will to survive thereby not getting caught up in the transaction-lie that is love and simply finding something he likes doing and keep doing it till the cows come runnin‘. Or something like that. Nomatter. If you’re born of the age of the millennials you might have a chance for a future as the ruining boomer generation comes to an end. Good luck suckers. Rant on. -Tommi
So. Like. I’m sitting on a bus last summer. I’m traveling from Salisbury, MD, to Wilmington, DE. In Wilmington a train takes me to NYC where I enjoy an afternoon and an overnight in one of my favourite places on the planet. To worst-writer there is nothing more tranquil than walking around NYC until I feel like my legs are gonna fall off. That’s pretty much all I do when I go on these trips. (Ok, sometimes I see a play or three.) What a way to get away, eh! And during this trip I make special effort to get as inebriated as possible on account I need to get family issues off my mind. The thing is to get drunk without becoming a public nuisance. That goes without saying. So. With full flask in my jacket pocket the travel can begin. Usually the flask gets me to NYC where I then proceed to refill it via hotel mini bars. I also stop in various places for other forms of sustenance–you know, food and sometimes brief but intense conversation. Cause when I’m alone all I do is think about the world, my meaningless worst-writing career and sometimes the asses of wannabe beauties that seem to line the streets of mid-town Manhattan. Getting drunk in NYC, to me, is like traveling the world just like how I wish I could do it all the time. Get on a plane and go to Madrid, Egypt, India, Mauritius, Bangkok, Manilla, San Fran, etc. Yeah. Whatever. But since I have to settle for the multi-culti of NYC, I’m good. ¶There is one thing lingering with me from last summer’s trip, though. On the bus to Wilmington I got in a conversation with a young man from South Carolina. He was bussing it to Boston and also planning an overnight in NYC. Of course, after hearing his plans I didn’t tell him my plans on account I knew that if I did he would push the poor student bullshit my way and next thing I know I’d be putting him up for a night. Instead, I got him to talk to me about his politics. That always a great way to get rid of people when you’d rather be alone. He was, of course, a right-winger and I got him to monologue about what he thinks of Barry Obama, money and the woman he someday wants to own as his wife. The problem was his monologue was emptying fast and I started to get worried. There simply isn’t much substance in what this young #americant college frat republican boy had to say which means that one can’t kill a lot of time avoiding whatever it is he has to say. When he rant out, we were still an hour from Wilmington. Before I could get another question in–I wanted to try and see if he could talk about Saint Ronal Reagan–he asked me about my politics. Which brings me to this post, dear worst-reader. When ever a stranger asks me about my politics I usually try and figure out how right-wing they are first. Once I know that then I know how to go about talking about my (political) leanings. With left-wing folk I usually get provocative and say that I don’t like Barry. With right wingers, though, who usually have the intellect of lunkheads (hence such a once great nation can come up politicians like S. Palin), I usually say I love Barry. From there it’s all about… Let the confrontation begin. ¶I won’t go into detail about arguing with right wingers why I like Barry. What’s more interesting than conversations with lunkheads, is how one converses with those who think they are on the same plain. And so. As a liberal. When ever I talk to progressives or Dems, I usually just come out with it and say it loud: I do not like Barry Obama. Once the shock & awe passes, I then start talking about how I wanted Hillary in 2008. I wanted her to get the Whitehouse so that, simply by her presence, she could make all those really, really stupid white men, especially idiots like Newt Gingrich, squeal like the pigs they are for impeaching Bill Clinton. That impeachment to me was one of the worst things that #americant has ever done. I mean, it was worse than the trial-that-never-was of Richard Nixon. And then I add that Barry is too naive a man to be president. He’s naive because, even though he’s been abroad in his life, he is clueless to what’s really going on in this world. And that’s not even the important part of why I don’t like him. I don’t like him because he’s from Chicago–and I don’t mean the city. Obama is obviously a believer in neoliberalism, i.e. Milton Friedman. That was one of my arguments back in 2007 when it looked like Barry was gonna clean (the Dem) house. I know. Bill and Hillary aren’t much better–since the predecessor to things like the TPP (see links below), NAFTA, were put through on their watch, which are also, probably, part of the Chicago school. It’s obvious that the Democratic party is suffering under an identity crisis that could be called republican-lite. Yet I still have hope that someone soon might come along and shine the light. Obviously Barry ain’t the one to do that. Hence, he’s for TPP and that scares me more than him being from Chicago. Oh well. I still voted for him twice and would do it again if the party so wishes. With that in mind. I really love the US political system. No where else in the world is there as much clarity about how Das Volk thinks. Anywho. Be afraid of TPP because Barry is gonna do his damnedest to make it happen. May your god save us all. Rant on. -Tommi
Seriously. Don’t know what everyone is so giddy about. But then again I reckon waking up is hard to do when you live both in the intoxication and the hangover. Indeed. Such is life. And so. Whether one is facing the demise of her/his dreams or the reality of seeds (obviously everyone has) sown, what is left to be done? Well, nothing is left to be done. Because. The enablers of these dire straits must first die out. That is, the baby boomers, the progeny of the so-called greatest generation, must first pass on. And that will take some time. I suppose, if one would consider the cognitive capabilities of humanity, that something political could take place to at least alleviate some of the suffering, then maybe something could be done. Enter the TPP. Enter… and that damn ship of hope has sailed. Nomatter. Enter the TPP. You really got to hand to those Boomers. They came up with a few great idears to continue on with what their parents passed on to them in the form of politically changing the goal post/rules in the middle of the game. As the few & far between contemplate their impending demise in the form of consume to survive, politics like the TPP will thrive. And so. The sowers of the seeds remain clueless. Go buy something with your credit card. You’ll feel better. Yeah, baby. Rant on. -Tommi
Interesting debate between/among workers-for-the-man. But what is such a trade agreement really? On the one hand, this particular trade agreement has to do w/copyrights and all that that old chestnut entails. On the other hand, the environment is mentioned in it as well. All worstWriter can say about that is, why now?, why in secret?, and what’s the rush? Oh, and is there more to this report? 95 pages doesn’t seem like much (especially if you’re worstWriter that wrote a few or three of these reports in his/her day.) Also. Can’t help but wonder if, especially when copyright and environment is in the same context, whether thisis really about empire and nothing more or less. But I wouldn’t want to confuse things more… I mean blur them more.
Great how Cato guy seems to be overwhelmed by the depth of the lefty. You go gurl!
