daveclay

The Economic Faith of Risk

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:44:17 GMT

The economic crisis is now an ongoing example of the outcome of miscalculations by investors and bankers of how the market functions without regulation. As a whole, the country voted for this deregulation and any warnings were ignored and discounted. The housing market still boomed. Those subprime mortgages were bundled into securities. Those securities got triple-A ratings from credit agencies. At that point, we made the decision that the inherent and obvious risk in subprime market was ignored. Now we can all see the effects of this miscalculation, and we pay the price for our mistake in foreclosures, unemployment, executive suicide...

Now apply this dismissal of risk and its mistake to something like EPA, FDA, and Monsanto. We ignore and discount warnings, vote deregulation into office and justify corporate control into conflict of interest positions as free market sainthood. What if that mistake comes around? What will that look like? Instead of foreclosures and unemployment, maybe we can watch people die off in droves.

Quayle removed regulation from FDA control and brought in Monsanto to run policy, a policy that continues today. GMOs in corn syrup.

There's a religious faith towards deregulation, that the corporate will is unquestionably just. This is the religious argument against science: that faith trumps knowledge, that science can be disregarded if there's a dissenting opinion; "the jury is still out." The fundamental problem with this argument is that it destroys science: if you can pick and choose your scientist to suite your desired outcome, you can no longer follow the scientific process for gaining knowledge. You are left as a consumer of hand-picked knowledge, limiting the complex diversity of the world around us to a narrow scope that fits nicely and securely into your own worldview.

And you can hide that inherent risk.

Global warming, peak oil, geneticly modified food... the jury is still out. The problem is that when the outcome finally arrives, it may not be the one you expect. It might start looking more like your apocolypse rather than the safe conservative utopia that must be the outcome of human endeavor. If there was a scientist that said doing some action will kill your children, and another says that it won't, and the cost of believing either is free, how is it rational to ignore the risk?

The risk is still there, whether you believe the outcome or not. To ignore it is to accept its consequences.

Remember deregulation? Even hippies have guns now.

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:12:35 GMT

There's too much corruption, hypocrisy and bigotry in America. The demands of the few continually outweight the needs of the masses. Our democracy for the past 12 years has severed family bonds down the middle and embedded loving factions against each other. The trenches have been dug deep. Which all seems pretty standard for American rhetoric these days. Except that I'm talking about the citizens, not the politicians. Every opponent now must pass some threshold of idiocy before legitimacy is achieved. Yes, its fun and shocking to use words like "Fascism" and "Oppression", invoking important historical causes in hopes to stir the emotion of like-minded fools and shut out the opposition. It is far out of fashion these days to do something so dull and ineffectual as read a book about these subjects. And notice how often this country falls into the generational cycles of big government, deregulation, social upheaval, and protest...

First off, what does Burnanke expect to hear after wasting an hour spewing meaningless, obvious phrases like "The fundamentals of our economy our strong?" You have to take a brief moment from coughing up the coffee you were trying to choke down while listening to this to seriously ask what that meant. Seriously, one moment. Take a good cross-section of America and ask them how they feel about the "fundamentals of the economy" and even a gardening aging hippy losing his home and 401k will pull out that dusty shotgun to shove in your face and ask you in the nicest way possible to get the fuck off his property. The CEO who just gave up his bonus certainly isn't prancing around his unsellable $2,000,000 home watching his options plummet. Only the fake public face of appeasement that is Our Government has the sickening audacity to say something so meaningless and stupid.

Of course they're doing it for you. If they told you the reality of it, you'd just go shit yourself and run around like idiots, blowing each other's heads off and hording giant cans of cheese-flavored high fructose corn syrup from the local grocer for the upcoming self-induced apocalypse. Because you're sheeple.

A few people noticed when Obama signed off on the executive right to warrentless wiretaps and complete government immunity, making Bush Doctrine look weak and spineless. I quote from the Department of Justice brief: "[We] acknowledge the need to defer to the Executive Branch on matters of foreign policy and national security and surely cannot legitimately find ourselves second guessing the Executive in this arena." I was taught somewhere in grade school that the fundamentals of our government were based on the concept of Checks and Balances, that the Three Branches of Government, no matter who in this country can remember them, provide a mechanism to prevent systematic oppression and corruption from those in power. Never mind what the fathers of the constitution thought, we seem to have lost the most basic principles of political science, sold them off and grew up into a much colder, more difficult world where it was easier to latch on to big, dumb and simple things and vote for them. Vote for Christ. Vote for War. Vote for Equality.

This, of course, is lost on these new Teabaggers who declare independence from Obama and Big Government citing that distant false light of Republicanism under Bush. No, this is Fascism. Socialism. Because we spent like there was no tomorrow, pretended that we were small government pro-business, declared ourselves good patriots and fought blindly against evil. Now its tomorrow and the check is due and we're all staring around with stupid looks on our faces wondering why we have to pay.

This is deregulation, OK? Can we remember this from now on? When the good times return and the hawks come in slick suits and whet our whistle with the promise of Bigger, Better, Faster: The Supreme Efficiency of Business!!! The Slow Contempt and Waste of Government!!! can we look back on the days when those who knew of Great Things in investment vehicles like credit default swaps!!! triple-A rating scores!! securitized mortgage pools!!! Make your dick bigger!!! and remember how it all turned out in the end? Remember the fraudulent criminals that went free with a big check from the taxpayers who believed them? Those that believed Government was slow, but Business was next to Godliness. You wrote that check in the 80's, 90's, and under Clinton and Bush. Now it doesn't really matter who's in office - you owe, buddy America.

We could have let the market tank. Left GM to fail, let AIG collapse, turned the other cheek to Wamu and take everything down with them. Its such a monumental failure across the entire financial industry that the consequences are too daunting to comprehend. Its fairly certain that with that much capital simply gone from the entire system that there'd be runs on banks in every small town and major city as people fled with what's left of their cash and measly retirement funds tied up in fraudulent securities. Naturally, there'd be those who could survive such a tragedy. They're called The Rich. You and I, however, would not have that cushion of cash to fall into a smaller house. And that's our investments. Now consider manufacturing industry and exports. The dollar drops and America can't keep up. China buys out more cheap American companies. Think of all the things that you do every day that tie into the greater economy via imports, exports, investments, short-term loans for business, oil and transportation. These aren't easy things to analyze in the face of large-scale banking collapse. Which is why Burnanke dribbles out his meaningless speech and everyone else clings to ignorance, assuming the alternative - whatever it is - is therefore better. The more meaningless it is, the more it ignores those troubling consequences, the better. And fuck the weak.

There is room now in American politics for some piece of these moronic, disorganized teabaggers. The indepedent voice of America is growing from a negligable voting percentage to a low-noise roar of disconent, no matter how incoherent. I think both parties see opportunities in this underground movement, though I'm not sure they see the better part of it. One approach is to herd the angry mob with whatever slick political appeasment they can light on fire and carry as a torch out in front. The other is to seriously consider the independent movement as legitimate and stop the intrusion of legislation into the personal lives and choices of its citizens.

It starts with removing religion from legislation. Ohh, hard first pill to swallow, eh? Without the protection of Goverment invading into Their lives, how can you be sure that you'll be free to live yours? Said the one pig to the other. Can't do it? That's too bad. You should probably put that box of fake tea down, get back into your SUV with the Bush 04 sticker on it and go back to being a True Believer Bush-Era Republican, and stop using the independent movement as a costume for a better anti-Obama message. That sticker came with a thing called irresponsible spending that you simply neglected because we were doing the right thing! and you believed in it! Now a Democrat is in office doing what a Democrat must do after War and Deregulation have come home again. Its probably wasteful and pricey, but he's following a plan that worked before - invest in everything you can and something will scores big.

Ah well. Get government and legislation out of social and moral policy. Implement fair market principles, not free market that manipulates government and benefits the biggest at the expense of not only the people, but small business. And for God's sake, keep teabagging where it belongs: in the sleazy motel with that awful hooker you keep buying.

Is this hypocricy or shit rising?

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:18:48 GMT

One dissenting voice in the Senate is Republican Sen. John McCain, Obama's opponent in the presidential race. The Arizona senator called the bill "generational theft." "We're laying multitrillion dollars of debt on future generations of Americans," McCain said on CBS. "I can't support such a thing."

John McCain. FUCK YOU asshole. Maybe we could just GO TO WAR AGAIN. We'll just kill off the next generation rather than owe them anything. Perhaps making new American flags to drape over caskets that you don't show on TV was a booming business in AZ, you ass-stain.

We'll just throw this shit on top:

Bush Faithful Rewarded With Jobs

Bush made more than 100 such end-of-term appointments to a constellation of presidential boards and panels, such as the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Commission. Half of Bush's appointments after Election Day were filled by donors who gave a total of nearly $1.9 million to Republicans since 2003

Fuck this place.

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:42:03 GMT

Fuck this place. They arrested hope. The savages took over in 2000 and never let go, clinging to their wicked investment in lawyers and villians, and letting the ignorant American machine fuck us all.

Obama hope artist arrested for copyright infringement

This is why I own a guitar and a gun.

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:58:36 GMT

http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/divorce

Tyler, if you see Ken Starr out there in CA, give him a good ol Lambs of Abortion hello.

Aphotic Drift, Lambs, Droids at Mad Planet this Saturday

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:18:09 GMT

Aphotic Drift tears holes out of audio lunchboxes and plugs them with fearful square wave pressure, and joins us, the Lambs, and fearless rebels from the State Capital Droids Attack in a desperate move at Mad Planet this Saturday. Best weep now, get it out of the way. The heart won't take another blow like this one, and you'll want to be there when it explodes. Medics will be on-hand. Whiskey will be served. Laced with the New American, hiding his fears away in the nice new closet. Patting himself on the back. For a Job Well Done... invest wisely in this, suckers. Offensive is my middle name.

Call me Han Solo.

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:15:07 GMT

In a last-minute decision while killing time in the duty-free shop in the international wing of the Sao Paulo airport, I bought a box of Fine Cuban Cigars. I was thinking to myself that I'd probably avoid getting randomly searched by customs in Mexico City or back in the good ol' Communist-hating US of A - Chicago. Why not?

I was wrong, of course. I successfully avoided dealing with the Mexican Federales, whom probably didn't care about a box of Fine Cuban Cigars anyhow. But, thanks to our dedicated force of airport border Homeland Security officers, I was randomly selected to be searched by hand.

"Where are you coming from?"
"Brazil."
"Why Brazil?"
"Well, I certainly don't have a sister living there illegally."
"Do you have any alcohol, tobacco, or food with you?"
"No. Of course not, sir. I'm a good American citizen just like yourself, proud of the work you are doing." And salute.

I wasn't taken completely by surprise. I had taken precautions. The box of Fine Cuban Cigars were stashed at the bottom of my carry-on backpack along with my laptop and the book I was reading - Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs. But I had brought several books; I put them all in the backpack on top of the box of Fine Cuban Cigars, which was still wrapped in the duty-free package. There was also the ripped-up torn copy of The Economist magazine: several pages had been torn off, which I used to wrap up the package in a very hap-hazard and messy method. Then the package of complimentary sleep-junk AeroMexico gave out on the plane. Then some packaging from a box of cookies that Jen was going to throw out. My studio headphones. Another pair of headphones. The ipod cable. The laptop power supply, carefully tangling the cable around the growing mass. Ah, an uneaten biscuit wrapped in a package. A couple of pens, some paper, a notepad, receipts, lint...

The officer opened my backpack first. Which was good - there were two large suitcases with me that he had yet to search. He found the manual for the Nikon D70 SLR camera I had with me, and we started talking about cameras. He's an amateur photographer - just purchased the D90, he said. Talked about speed of the camera, other models, pictures of Brazil, etc etc.

He was still grilling me: see if I'd slip and say I hadn't been to Rio when I previously said I was. But I was doing mine: keep him distracted from the back just long enough for him to give up on the giant mass of crap inside...

Success!

He had made it down to the wrapped Box of Fine Cuban Cigars, but threw it back in and zipped up the backpack, moving on to my two suitcases. One of which was about to provide him with the wonderful scent of pure mildew from the wet swimming clothes. The exit's through there - welcome back to America, you communist-loving terrorist-supporting bastard. Not that it makes a whole lot of sense: Cuba's already got my money, whether I smoke the damn things or not.

My dad said it well: "One man's terrorism is another man's fine smoke."

Mexico.

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:19:40 GMT

Ahora puedes utilizar Facebook en español
Cambia la configuración de idioma seleccionando español aquí:

Usa el buscador de amigos para ver si mas de tus amigos se han unido e invita a todos tus amigos hispanohablantes a que se registren.

Ah, I18N. Thanks, Mexico City airport.

Strangest Places tonight at the Social

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:45:38 GMT

Come out and celebrate some local live music and Erika's birthday. Or stay home and purchase your goods at Walmart and put Atomic Records out of business.

YEAH.

Open Letter to Sun pertaining to the Java programming language

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:34:36 GMT

EAT MY FUCKING ASSHOLE YOU FUCKSHITS, GENERICS DO NOT FUCKING WORK AND I WILL FUCKING RAPE YOU ALL WITH SPIKED BATS DIPPED IN TABASCO FOR INTRODUCING THEM. FUCK YOU.

Location:

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:40:57 GMT

When I put "National Affairs Desk Studio and Armory" into the location, livejournal links to some ads that it correlates to me:

Vicodin EVs Current Music Abortions Democratic Party

Huh.

Strangest Places Rides Again!

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:12:13 GMT

Strangest Places lives! It met a girl, and its her birthday, so we're throwing a little party with some friends. We bring three new songs (and a personal request). So, if you're tired of having sex, drugs, and politics rammed down your throat at Lambs shows, why not try some heartbreak, love, and politics at a Strangest Places show? Hey, its Erika, too. And The Fucking Wizard. And probably a lot of booze. If you can imagine. Some things never change. Friday - The Social.

Lambs and The Barrettes tomorrow at Monkey Bar

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:06:01 GMT

Come out to Monkey Bar tomorrow! The last show for the Lambs during this fucking Presidency! Come celebrate this End of an Era!

From now on, nothing but love songs. Wait, all of our songs are love songs.

The Barrettes are playing too!

Its also only $5. Cheap show, cheap booze, cheap shots, cheap rock, chapped asses. Right on.

Us. And Them.

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:38:54 GMT

For those who witnessed the inspiring tragedy of our last show, we present The Last Word of 2008 for The Lambs: The end of the Bush years, broken bass necks and hatchet guitars, bad feelings of remorse and perhaps we went over the line this time, and destruction of personal property and severe liver damage.

Come celebrate with our esteemed colleagues and good friends The Barrettes who plan to counter our bellicose rants with their own firebrand punk heart. When they rip it out of your chest still beating to the jaunty rhythm, we'll shove the new tar-filled Rock and Roll one back in. You will learn to enjoy this.

After this, I'm going to hide out in a South American country until I'm sure its safe to return. Make sure I'm not in the line of fire when Bush locks himself in the oval office, barricades doors and curls up underneath the bulletproof windows weeping softly, hiding from History that has put a hit out on him.

Till then, Selah. Shalom. Good-Bye. See you on the Other Side.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:12:18 GMT

The ballots, though, leave us to debate on any victory long and hard. We're a long long way from equality.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:55:13 GMT

I would not doubt that this will go down in history not just as the first African American but as the best political campaign period.

More Headlines from RCP in the late hour:
Athletes of Color Paved Way for Obama - Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel
And if you root wildly for a man of color to win a major doesn't it make it much easier to vote for a man of color to become the president?A
He's here because he got game.

Is this a reeling country? Has our conservativism breached the mouth? erupted into the open? Split open the neck-pipe?

The real loss of the night are the ballot measures, like those on prop. 8 in CA. While taking part in the victory celebration, our grasp on the Bill of Rights has slipped through unnoticed. So much rephrasing of the MLK speech on TVs while we ignore any coverage of state constitutional amendments. The new civil rights movement falls deaf on these crowds. Them, they're different. Not like us, whomever we are. The winners. The reconciled.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:36:56 GMT

An easy way out for some:

More Headlines:
Athletes of Color Paved Way for Obama - Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel
And if you root wildly for a man of color to win a major doesn't it make it much easier to vote for a man of color to become the president?
He's here because he got game.
<a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-bianchi0508nov05,0,1102590.column">1</a>

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:14:27 GMT

I need Franken's numbers in MN. Before its too late.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:28:01 GMT

Now, Obama's speech. Hello, Chicago.

There's so much connection to the struggling times of America. This is such a direct line to the fear of 9/11 and depression of religious protectionism in the following 7 years. Since our ancestors have left us, our connection remains thin and tied to our own beliefs of modernism. A the wounds we suffer recently. Obama's made the best campaign speech. Perhaps we're all paying undevided attention now. Now he's not afraid of the racial connectoin and historic properties, which now can be said ot mean something significant without the bias of an ongoing election. Now he speaks about grand themes and ideals so great on our nation's historical scale. Only a true cynic meets this speech with hatred and bitterness of loss. Believers of a dark faith of God, that nothing will save our historical prejiduce.

Now the crowd fades quickly into hubris. Facing the bleak economic conditions now with the drag of McCain's last-minute attacks as the witness of socialism in America and a great Doom. But it falls on a lot of dear ears tonight. They'll pull the attacks from our bliss, make us recant, call us out on some fake depravity of our War or the Economy. But that's the war; that's the battle we've won.

We celebrate a victory.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:58:25 GMT

Finally something right has come to pass on the Long American Road. Smiles, happiness, a great relief in the face of a nation . maybe that's a bit harsh. And we feel that we're only on the tip of the tide.

There is fewer good feelings that a hard-won victory against your enemy. And our enemy was never the GOP golem McCain, but the spector of Bush remained strong in every suffring neighborhood. This was the enemy that was defeated swiftly.

Since McCain has been talking, he's dropped to a suffering 333 Ev's as CO and NM go down blue and the expected CA, OR, and WA are called blue. And since there was no real lead to this whole we can imagine pretty much any meaning or philosophy. An event that seemed meaningless and apathetic and naive when I was a war or two younger now has turned to a focal point of our existence. A seminal moment of cultural significance since the 60's.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:02:09 GMT

Not anymore. The loss is real and the McCain camp is drinking the long drink goodnight.

Now we turn to the consequences of this election. 538's called it; no major media outlets will give up their advertising dollars for the quick win. Without a dramatic lead, I'm left out to dry with the rest of the teleprompters. A terrified desert of stepping back from the edge now, looking over our shoulder at the long dark road that drove us to inspeakable asks. Karl Rove. Wiretapping is in some sort of a right country full of fear accepting these feindish acts against Pink Floyd mixed in on channel 4. This speaks of War and its seldom-loved brother Consequence, and held the second place position in the exit polls.

Now, once again, we all know the score.

CNN has called The Presidency

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:12:18 GMT

They recalled the OH call - someone at Fox punched the OH Wins button instead of the cue Bill O'Reilly Saying 'Nigger' Live button.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:02:11 GMT

Next up: The Libertarians in Montana. The North Dakota special. Virginia now comes to a knife-point. In 2004 everyone was glued to the single TV playing out the Shakesperian tradgedy of Kerry's campaign, late that night, eyes blurry and fatigued from our long endeavor to keep hope. It did not go well. Now, though, the path has become clear to McCain and to me. There's no room for movement, and if the McCain campaign room isn't doubled-over in fear and anxiety they've already jumped into their Hummers with torches and headed to Crawford, Texas to burn his house to the Bush estate down to the ground.

Wisconsin, now, has gone to Obama.

And now, Fox News calls Ohio.

This has been the presidential election, 2008. Veni Vidi Vici.

Goodnight.

PA.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:48:21 GMT

Nothing seems real now - PA being called with 0% reporting on MSNBC backed by CNN.com's giant fucking headline bar - this is the LEAD, they say, yet little is backed up by any sort of Serious Data. CBS comes in now as well, and 538 releases an update against the grain, declining to call PA until something realistic comes in. Steve Schmidt asked if Palin was the Right Choice. But not Fox News.... now admiting the neglect. And 3 commercials have hit synchronously, allowing the musc to take the lead.

There are more bets on Obama's Electoral Victory - high hopes and good vibes dominate the 2 minute lull. And more good news follows: anyone who foolishly considered NH a battleground state or "in play" has finally failed on a professional level. No more free rides for them; America will demand better from now on. Then again... Perhaps these bastards in the American Polling Union Workers, Inc have made a pact to kill the predictive business and make a killing on intrade, flee the country for Dubai and live like Kings or Presidents.

I am apparently not the only major news media outlet to find myself in the company of holograms as Reuters now calls PA with zero precincts reporting. Now CNN finally jumps on the PA call. The idea that exit polls is coming into question along with the idea that somehow those polls can't be used to predict election results. More of the bittersweet failure of professionals. Won't taste nearly as sweet as Palin's tears... wondering now whether to believe that God made the wrong decision or she's been wrong all her life. I'm feeling vindictive.

McCain's win no longer lies through PA: leaving a single path left through OH, VA, NC, FL, IN, MO, ND, MT, CO, and NV. Any of those go blue, we start celebrating.

What is this?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:13:39 GMT

OK.

Things are getting louder at the National Affairs Desk Studio and Armory - Extended Mobile Unit. Talk of the welfare nation and funding and breeding... Excitement and Fear, still, going on into the night probably late as we wait for the Big States to close. When we bite our nails down to the bone through the tremblind muscle. 10 minutes: PA, OH, NJ... 6 minutes now.

Obama is outperforming Kerry across the board, but that's because he's a better candidate than Kerry. But now many of the expected states are being called by CNN, few people are surprised... And the media, if there's any conspiracy to belive, holds the polls for the battleground states in check until people take in enough ads to pay for holograms. The noise is still increasing in pitch, and finding a headline or lead amidst this chaos; this is what we knew and expected, but it is impossible to be prepared for the shear onslaught of this magnitude. CNN being extra conservative with PA polls, ignoring the results as they come in behind scenes, with movement that will make people go crazy with rage and take to the streets with fire and assuault on their minds.

Hold on: MSNBC calls Pennsylvania for Obama. Is this true? False? Lies? Doom? Halleluja?