Oh Harrisburg!

Poor Harrisburg, can't catch a break! Not only is there no money (the city is broke -in more ways then one!-, and trying to go into chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy protection). Our Mayor Linda Thompson is increasingly the laughingstock not only of Pennsylvania but now the whole country... Current TV commentator Keith Olbermann (who I think very highly of!) featured Thompson in his 'Worst Persons' during the Oct 20th broadcast of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" (Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a video up for this episode). For the record the prayer-vigil to "heal" the cities fiscal woes has not met with favor from-on-high. Maybe the mayor just isn't righteous enough to attract the attention of him on high? Who can say... 

The Denial of Death By Ernest Becker

I very recently saw (thank you so very much  Netflix adviser!) a powerful documentary
Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality (the trailer can be watched here http://wp.flightfromdeath.com/ ), one of those that really haunt you, and make you see everything in a very different light. But also admittedly, paradoxically, a dark light. Fairly recently had the revelation that everything in the (human) world can ultimately be reduced to human psychology. All the "great and weighty issues" of the day, are actually about the workings of human psyches. Is the Israeli/Palestinian conflict about land?, politics?, religion?, resources? Or..? about the ego's and identities of these peoples in conflict? Sure there are these other issues, but behind them, and the reason they fail to come to some kind of resolution is the very things that they are talking about in the video. Their beliefs about themselves and a very destructive inability to get beyond them. (without seeing the video the above probably really won't make any sense, sorry!) 

"Following the work of the late cultural anthropologist, Ernest Becker, and his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Denial of Death, this documentary explores the ongoing research of a group of social psychologists that may forever change the way we look at ourselves and the world."

Again need to say, the documentary is a definite eye-opener! Worth watching. I'm in the middle of reading the Ernest Becker book (available through Amazon in paperback. Not easy reading, and Becker is just too much the apologist for Freud's personal hangups, but still, excellent! I find myself wondering if Becker knew (or could acknowledge) Freud's major cocaine addiction!?).

3rd world America

Here in east coast Pennsylvania we've had a time of it recently! Last week power outages form Irene now today they're turning off the water (in Harrisburg) so I heard though I've seen no official post online. I do see where gas is being turned off, and there are "Mandatory water conservation notices". Wow! Even the brain-dead wrong-wingers ought to be able to tell that climate change is REAL! Regardless of their mad-ideology. We had the massive heat wave earlier in the summer, now massive storms and all the damage and tragedy they've created. Put those together with the 3rd world state of our crumbling away infrastructure and things are getting really bad. Starting to think the lunatic-fringe survivalists are onto something. At least as far as the necessity of being self-sufficient. If I had the money I'd definitely be looking at getting a small house in the country (enough land to grow a few vegetables maybe) with some passive and active solar, it's own well, wood-stove, etc. Something that isn't going to get flooded. Something with it's own heat/water/electricity! In today's increasingly 3rd world america you can't count on even the basic utilities to be reliable. It's an open, well known fact that Harrisburg's water delivery system is -very- old, and in extremely bad condition. Of course there's no money to do anything about it, and there doesn't seem to be any will to do anything about it. The power grid in general across the country is well known to be a chaotically pieced together mess that's also very old, and extremely out of date. Don't even want to talk about the condition of the roads and bridges! Sub-standard cell phone and internet service in comparison to REAL first world nations. It's all pretty bleak and very few people are really seriously talking about it. Only hope I've seen at all as far as serious interest/discussion recently was a interesting interview on Charlie Rose last night. Tom Friedman of The New York Times & Johns Hopkins Professor Michael Mandelbaum on their book 'That Used To Be Us: How America Fell Behind In The World It Invented And How We Can Come Back'

Capitalism, a love story

Just finally got around to watching "the right's" (who should be known as "The Wrong") Great-Satan the one-and-only Michael Moore's Capitalism, a Love Story.  A very important movie that should be viewed by anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together. Oh it's definitely -not- a joy to watch, very much the opposite. Very sad to see the things that have been done to so many decent people (by no fault of theirs) by a small number of the absolute scum-of-the-earth. And of course "the wrong" continue preaching their mad-evil laissez-faire style capitalism that destroys the country they claim so fervently to love and worship (though it's clear their true worship is none other then old Mammon himself). After their precious trickle-down has proven itself over the decades as false (gotta love that, "trickle down", so very true to "the wrong", image of the rich pissing on... well everyone else... you know, the masses, the american people, and the people of the world as a whole). Well as long as the 1% gets it's money!, and remains safely enthroned in power for eternity-amen! That's all that really matters.

If this, what we have today in america, is the beauty and wonder of capitalism, then bring on the Socialism! Or at least some decent Social-Democracy like they have in those sane European countries (the ones that terrify "the wrong" so desperately)! Places where the real citizens have actual health care for instance, not just the few. Where there's a real safety net for the people.