WURSTWRITER

Tom's blog of whatnots and other stuff

Category: News

Wurst-opinions, I guess.

  • Your New Best Comrade Friend

    There really is something to being worst-writer, the grand expatriate, viewing home (that I miss so much) from these thirty-thousand feet(s). Or as others may put it: I view my home from outside its bubble. Yet. It always pains me, even after all these years, to watch–from this view–my favourite place in the world go down the shit-tubes because so many #americants are, obviously, incapable of grasping … the obvious. With that in mind, let me toot my own horn. I knew by the end of the 80s that Reaganomics was going to be an unmitigated disaster. I mean, I didn’t know it intellectually–I wasn’t that smart then–but I knew it in my heart. How did I know it? Reaganomics unleashed something. It unleashed something that was lapped up without question, without consideration, without contemplation. I entered the pseudo-realm of adulthood at that time. Never in my wildest youthful dreams could I have imagined the true face of greed, selfishness and ugly that by nineteen eighty-five had overcome a nation of wannabees–all of whom were actually poor but believed, because of THE DREAM they were sold, that they too could be (something akin to) millionaires SOMEDAY. By nineteen eighty-nine I jumped that fucking batshit ship. Europe was such a relief to me. There was no more everyday bullshit-talk about how much money do you make, what kind of car do you drive or someday I’m gonna make it big. There was just living and letting live. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not tootin’ Europe’s horn here. Indeed. Worst-writer has coined it’s true name/designation: #eurowasteland. (All one needs is to look at what’s going on with Greece right now.) But that’s neither here nor there. And so. Worst-writer has been in #eurowasteland for a quarter century. The whole time I’ve also been watching, reading, doing my best to maintain some kind of connection to … my home. With everything I see, though, there is more often than not a tear or a scream. For example: Faux Newz. Seriously. Say what you will about the GOP and its ability to propagandise at a level that makes Goebbels laugh in his grave–and that has obviously helped in making the GOP such a powerful force in maintaining Reaganomics. And keep in mind, I completely missed the Faux Newz phenomenon since I expatriated a few years before it went on the air. Yet when I hear what comes out of this “network” I cringe more than ever. It amazes me that this network can even exist along side the batshit of Rush Limbaugh. Or maybe it shouldn’t amaze me. Nomatter. And what about the cult of debt that #americants gave in to as Reaganomics kicked in? Every time I went home to visit friends or family, I was shocked to learn how much people have in credit card debt. When I left #americant you could still finance a car for four years and pay it off. Wow! And speaking of debt, dear worst-reader. Get this. Other than a three year loan that I paid off in two years and the waste-of-time college loans that I paid off in five years, I have been debt free my entire adult life. Let me rephrase that. Even though I have several credit cards, I pay them off every thirty days. I only use them as a convenient form of payment–not as a means to consume. But I digress. I could go on and on about the dysfunction of #americant that so many Americans are obviously incapable of understanding–that I witness from these thirty-thousand feet(s). Which brings me to the vid above and whether or not Reaganomics and its cult of credit/greed/death might actually, finally, be confronted as it should have been thirty-plus years ago. Indeed. Bernie Sanders seems to be nailing it. Yet I can’t help but wonder if he can actually pull this off in a country that, after all these years, has failed to see through Faux Newz–that shouldn’t even be on the air–and still consumes as though credit cards are earned money. Oh well. Go COMRADE Bernie. Rant on. -Tommi

  • The Great Smoke Screen Of June

    20140630-135414-50054110.jpg

    As the great conspiracy theorist worst-writer-ghandi said, and I’m pseudo-paraphrasing, “first they snark at you, then they flip you the bird, then they make lots of bad bathroom stall jokes about you and then… you lose”. Or something like that. What a month June 2015 has been, eh worst-reader! I mean, what a month it’s been for the judicial branch of government. Or. There’s marriage equality, health care, fair housing and free jujubes. Then, a former vice presidential candidate’s daughter announces that she’s out-of-wedlock pregnant for the second time after she’s been telling young girls to avoid penises and getting paid to do so in various national abstinence campaigns. Oh. And let’s not forget that some Confederate flags are being lowered and hidden in plain sight in museums. And then there was that odd but delightful interview in a garage of Barry O where he said some interesting things, especially the n-word. Indeed. A lots been going on this summer. Ok. But. For. As good as all this sounds–and if you’re a liberal skeptic like me–I’m not falling for it one bit. Something is going on here. As usual, the political situation in #americant is one-sided. That is, one side controls everything. Everything is money. As we all know the republicans and their gatekeepers, conservatives, have ruled #americant for the past (insert #) years. Why then in June 2015 is there suddenly all this “liberal” stuff being shoved down the throats of political ideologues manifested in the GOP? (Un)Fortunately I don’t know the answer to that question. And that’s a good thing. But I will worst-say this (again): something is up. The corporate run state, the corporate owned supremes, the corporate fascist society that everyone seems to love-hate is either at a cross-roads or the jujubes are spiked. I mean. Come on. People are talking about a flag–yes, the disgusting Confederate flag–when they should be talking about guns. People are talking health care when they should be talking about the insurance industry. People are talking marriage equality when they should be talking about the broken contractual failed state sanctioned institution known as “marriage”. And while all this talking is taking place–and a few people feel victorious–something is going on. But I digress. Or maybe I don’t digress. At least not yet. Let me go out on a limb here. Why all this showboating and/or smoke-screening? What purpose does it all serve? Well, here’s my worst-theory. The most important political happening–and by “important” I mean heavy, weighted, significant, really, really important–was the passing of TPP and the subsequent Fast Track Authority that accompanied it. If you thought you were screwed by the corporate state up to this point, wait till TPP starts to kick in. And now I digress. And I think it’s time for me to get a bit distracted for a while, too. Rant on. -Tommi

    Links that motivated this post:

  • Channeling Their Sex: Bernie Sanders and Eurowasteland's Greece

    Can I join these two, dear worst-reader? Varoufakis and Bernie Sanders? One minute I’m watching the Greek finance minister (vid) slime up his (and his country’s) parts, prepping it for penetration, and the next minute I’m reading about a “socialist” politician running for POTUS that might actually get a few votes if it weren’t for what he wrote about sex back in 1972. Or maybe not. (Short pause.)

    First. Bernie Sanders. I read the MotherJones article (link below) and the sixties influenced, nineteen-seventy-two sex article they found. Not once while reading both did I feel what obviously right-wingers feel when/if they (ever) read about sex. I mean, come on. I grew up with sexually repressed right-wingers. Combine that with a perverted sense of right and wrong and it’s no wonder that #americant conservatives are jumping through their hola-hoops regarding Bernie Sanders as though he were having sex with their/his second cousin. All for naught, of course.

    Second. Yanis Varoufakis, Greece Finance Minister. The recent speech he gave in Germany regarding the forever soap-opera that is the Euro’s financial demise baffled me to no end. More on that here. I couldn’t believe what I was watching/hearing–even though I’ve been living in #eurowasteland for most of my adult life—and I have seen pornography and had bad sex. Indeed. I’ll never be able to shed my #americant upbringing—especially when I watch pornography (for empirical, scientific study, of course). In fact, I have learned to hang on to my upbringing as best I can. In this place, #eurowasteland, where it’s all about two things and two things only—pornography and taxes—holding on to my upbringing is the only thing that allows me to see through all the slime-ball #eurowastelanders like Varoufakis and his German counterparts.

    Sexed 1. There are other ways to put it. But I’ll keep it at this for right now. Who is being sexed, dear worst-reader? The 4th Estate recently dug up Bernie Sanders 1972 article where he attempts to write—for lack of having something better to write in the wake of feminism, I guess—about sex. It’s quite a slimy article, if you ask me. But after reading it, I’m glad comrade Sanders wrote it. It was/is quite good and I think I get what he was trying to get at. Chalk one up for Bernie!

    Sexed 2. There is only one way to put it. Varoufakis, on the other hand, is doing his best car-salesman impression—a car salesman that probably has three or four stolen teenage girls in his Belgium basement—in order to beg his owners (the banks not the Germans) from making him do what no other politician has been able to do so far: either allow yourself to be sexed or pay-up you fucking scumbag! Chalk one up for slime balls the world over!

    Quote 1:

    “There are no ‘human’ oppressors. Oppressors have lost their humanity.” -Bernie Sanders

    Quote 2:

    “History does seem to have a flare for farce judging by the way it sometimes repeats itself. The cold war did not begin here in Berlin. It began in the streets of Athens in the summer of 1944. The Euro-crisis also started life in Athens in 2010 triggered off by Greece’s debt problems. Greece was by a twist of fate the birth place of the cold war and the Euro-crisis. But the causes for both ran much wider than the streets of Athens.” -Yanis Varoufakis

    The two quotes above exemplify the reality and/or seriousness of what is ultimately an attempt at saying something that is… I don’t know what it is. Yet I can’t help but feel that that something (that is trying to be said) is seriously awry in both. Sanders is trying to convey a message regarding the fight the human female must constantly face because she is the child bearer and can’t lift a car and it’s still being said long after nineteen-seventy-two. And Varoufakis conveys the reality that #eurowasteland has nothing left to give humanity because it gave all it can give in the form of slime balls who would sell their mothers for a basement vacation in Mallorca.

    Or something like that.

    Rant on. -Tommi

    Links:

    A Young Bernie Sanders Trying To Sex Up A Nation In 1972 | Mother Jones

  • Enough For Every American: A Bottle Of Pills

    259m opioid prescriptions

    Guess what I heard this morn on the Noagendashow (#730) while walking The Pug? That’s right. I heard more than an hour among three hours of two men, one being the gurlfriend, rant, rave and gesticulate about something akin to not having an “agenda”. Which is what these guys do two days a week. Whatever that’s supposed to mean. But all kidding by-side. I should probably worst-write about walking in the wee hours around the rural fields as the Colonia mist rises and a night of too much Kölsch subsides. Or would that be too boring? Nomatter. §Between the regular krapps of my dog and a few casual Guten Morgens, Guten Tags, Moin-Moin and Maat et Joot, all of which interrupt the podcast–which I don’t mind as long the apolitical gurly-men are begging for money and not deconstructing the news during the interruptions–every once-a-once these guys nail it with a bit of info that I can actually relate to. The problem is–and I don’t really care to solve this problem–is there’s rarely a match between what the Godfather of podcasting deconstructs and the sources he promotes in the show’s notes. Although Adam Curry’s technical prowess in running the Noagenda Network is something I’ve admired for quite a while, he could spend a bit more time codifying his sources. But I guess, on the other hand, I don’t listen to the show enough–because if I did maybe then I would understand his code. Or maybe not. §What I’m trying to worst-say is, every once-a-once I come across something that Curry and his west coast gurlfriend say that interests me but I rarely can match it to his sources, i.e. his show notes. Which is kind of a bummer. But I’m not complaining. I mean, I’m still a boner in their eyes–that is, I don’t donate to the show. (Not yet.) §Oh. Before I forget or get taken off somewhere by another tangent. The reason for this post? After a bit of research I found what Curry was alluding to during one of his rants about #americant. Like I said. Sometimes this boy-gurl team nails it. I mean, I always knew that the US (and most of the western world) was addicted to pharmaceuticals. Between all the junk food, the liquor and bad sex, where else should #americant turn for its kicks? Also. What the hell has all these years of “war on drugs” been about? Does anyone actually believe that it’s been about reigning in on illegal drugs and/or drug cartels in Mexico? The war on drugs, just like the war on terror, is about something completely different. The war on terror is so that #americant and the suckers that put politicians in office can terrorise those who don’t believe in The Dream. The war on drugs has been about giving the pharmaceutical companies enough leeway and time so that it could bring all those illicit drugs from the counter-culture era online and sell them through a few corporations legally. That’s why drugs like oxycontin and heroin are the same thing. That’s why we are fighting perpetual war where there’s lots of oil. Etc. With that in mind, I had no idear that the US was this bad when it comes to pharmaceuticals. Just one number, dear worst-reader. Two-hundred and fifty-nine million prescriptions were written in 2012 in the US. That’s a figure higher than there are adults. Holly molly, golly gee. Good luck suckers. Rant on. -Tommi

    Link:

    Opioid Painkiller Prescribing In The US | CDC

     

  • The Language of Everything

    worst news commentary

    Let’s go there, shall we, worst-reader. There is a language that is spoken. There are gestures that are made. There are actions that are taken. And there are ways to wipe the ass so that it feels like it’s being kissed. But all kidding aside. Knowing what’s wrong with EVERYTHING isn’t as hard as some would have us/you believe. Well, at least it’s easy if you put the effort into getting informed. And it’s also easy if you’re willing to understand the information. What’s difficult is if someone tries to explain EVERYTHING to someone who obviously doesn’t get it. Hence, within the news, within the vastness of information that surrounds, simple answers can be found. Beyond that, the effort of explanation is so cumbersome that one of the two parties will die-out while the other goes about his/her consume-to-survive business oblivious as the world turns. That said, allow me to provide a small hint as to why/how EVERYTHING is so screwed up and thereby avoid dying-out. Are you ready? Here it goes: They speak the same language. Their actions are the same. They have perfected the kiss-ass-wipe. So remember that next time you blame a politician or a political party or you suck-up to a political ideology that you ultimately know nothing about. Or, maybe, you sit around with a beer and think everything is A-OK. But let’s not stop there. If you need an example how EVERYTHING functions, here it is. A rich guy gives more money than God to a university that does not need it. If one takes an informed look at how the world turns based on an old, outdated paradigm, where this level of resources is exchanged within a closed loop, well, it’s no wonder that EVERYTHING is so screwed up. This kind of money and how it’s handled really does show one how things work, how they work among themselves, EVERYTHING. Or maybe not. Good luck suckers. Rant on. -Tommi

    Source: Hedge fund boss John Paulson gives a record $400m donation to Harvard | Business | The Guardian

  • Contradiction In Bigness And Failure

    There is a theory floating in the ether, dear worst-reader. Yes, it is a worst-writer theory and it’s about how/why the DotCom boom was systematically undermined in order to save the new world order. Actually, “new world order” is a misnomer. It should be called old world order. And from here on out that’s what we’ll call it. But that’s neither here nor there. §As I’ve stated elsewhere in this worst-blog, I believe that the DotCom boom was undermined by the powers that be, which culminated in a pseudo coup d’etat that secured a place for extreme political conservatism, aka Fascism, in united mistakes politics. Argue as you will, dear worst-reader, that Fascism existed before the DotCom boom and you may be correct. Yet. For the sake of this one-sided discourse, I will stand my ground. Fascism most certainly took over after it was proven in the 90s that even a short-sighted, superficial form of free-market economics, driven by stock-price manipulation and investor creativity, could lead to renewal, if not a regurgitation, of an inherently broken system. And. The powers-that-be didn’t want anything to do with such a thing. §Up until the tech-boom of the 90s, aka the DotCom boom, the united mistakes economy didn’t know where to go. So some parts of that economy found a way to be set free. Hence DotCom madness, chaos, invention. Boom! Indeed. It was a glorious time. I for one profited greatly from it. Unfortunately I still don’t know the difference between a put and call, but, again, that’s neither here nor there–as I do know what a compiler is and I can boot a Raspberry Pie with almost any Linux distro. §What’s important to understand is how/why such an undermining can 1) give a once great nation a president that raised the bar when it comes to stupidity (Dubya) and 2) make sure that creativity, chaos and invention are controlled so that the old world order is not disturbed. Indeed. §There is confusion in the world today. It is a confusion not unlike that which lead to the DotCom boom. Unfortunately the old world order did to the DotCom boom what crazed religious nuts did to knowledge through the ages: it burned the abbey to ash. Part of that ash is where the likes of Aaron Schwartz rests. In other parts of that ash you can find drug ridden remnants of Steve Jobs. What you can’t find in that ash, though, is an answer to how we deal with, perhaps comparable to the big bang, what was left behind from the single largest bump in economic prosperity since The New Deal saved capitalism from itself. Technology is obviously overwhelming us. It’s actually more than everywhere in our lives. And now that the old world order has assumed the role of earthly policeman, in part due to its control of technology, it can’t handle the beast. Hence the NSA and CIA bitch-slapping each other while a stupefied Congress moves its thumb between anus and mouth. But I digress. §Below, dear worst-reader, a few articles that caught my attention this morn. One article is about how our thumb-sucking Congress actually made a pretty decent decision recently by nay-saying a law that would allow government to control encryption. But then that goodness is contradicted by examples of how the great machine of the old world order is truly clueless to how technology really works. Yeah, baby. Rant on. -Tommi

    Links:

    House Overwehelmingly Passes Amendments Blocking Funding For Undermining Encryption | Techdirt

    Fed Government Suffers Massive Hack Attack | HuffPost

    OPM Didn’t Encrypt Data Hacked By Chinese | Politico

  • TPP Stands For: It's Payback Time (Or Something Like That)

    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:

    1. He’s from Chicago
    2. He’s (obviously) naive
    3. I wanted Hillary but took him when #americant females showed how much they hate their own kind
    4. Neo-Liberalism

    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

    Source: Backlash Against TPP Grows as Leaked Text Reveals Increased Corporate Control of Public Health | Democracy Now!

  • The Willing

    As an Aussteiger and high-flyer I have the privilege of being both a witness and a passenger. Don’t blame me, dear worst-reader, for having found the formula for comfort and pseudo-luxury–which, btw, I found before I turned fifty. Also, don’t ask me how it’s done. Just keep this in mind, the luxury of being worst-writer found me more than I found it–which may mean that it’s out there for all to have if only ALL would allow it. But then again, finding your Karma isn’t finding my Karma, is it? Nomatter. §It really gets to me when I read articles like the one below. The article is such a downer, man. I mean, that type of writing is a real thorn in my world POV. But then again, it’s rare that I read the WSJ to begin with. The WSJ is most certainly one of those forms of mass propaganda that many more should avoid–if they/you can. Since we live in a world that is obviously dependent on propaganda (because so few humans can actually think for themselves) I suppose making such a claim from a single, void-based voice as mine doesn’t mean much. Which may also mean that I’ll wait for posterity to thank me for what I’m about to worst-say. But. Again. Nomatter. §The article below was referenced the other day in a podcast I was listening to from an American Marxist professor of economics who I think should start calling his listeners/students comrades. Comrade Professor Wolff commented on what Warren Buffett says in this op-ed and as soon as I got back from my pug-walk I pulled the earbuds from my ears, gently placed my ageing iPhone 4S on the counter and grabbed a Bier and then looked up the article. Oh my! §In the article below Warren Buffett, a man with a whole bunch of money–all, btw, earned by speculation–claims to know everything there is to know about why the rich are rich and the poor are poor. The article, of course, is propaganda regarding his view of economic policy that he thinks should be implemented by law, i.e. the Congress, i.e. the US Government. IMHO, there should be a law requiring a warning label on such articles. Perhaps a warning label in the form of a watermark. Yeah. You know. PROPAGANDA should be behind the dismal black letters but in front of the optimistic and blinding white background. But I’m drifting. §Warren Buffet, for his believers, claims to know the reason as to why there are rich people and why there are poor people. And since he is a self proclaimed leader of the compulsive behaviourists of the world (i.e. careerists, corporatists, automatons, bureaucrats, etc.) there are few out there that will counter his propaganda. And so. Without further ado. Like the people that want to be preached to by Warren Buffett, I stake the claim that this article is so full of shit that it’s no wonder #americant can’t get out of the rut it’s been in for the past <fill in # years here>. Or let me try to say that differently. Warren Buffett seems to think that there is a comparison between the rich of Henry Ford (robber baron) and that of Steve Jobs (robber barron). But does it really matter that there is a comparison–a comparison of dollar value? He also believes the adage that “hard work” and people who are “willing” (i.e. The Willing) can somehow get great lives if only there is a law made that manipulates taxes. Seriously Warren Buffett? §And there you have it, dear worst-reader. All the answers as to why things are so truly fucked up. There are rich people, there are poor people, there are those that work hard and there are The Willing. Oh yeah. And don’t forget taxes. Having the right tax policy will fix everything. Wallah! But I digress.  Indeed. Rant on. -Tommi

    Better Than Raising The Minimum Wage | WSJ – Warren Buffett

  • Fail Upwards Galore

    Why does it feel like telecom carriers are consolidating out of fear? What are they afraid of? Why can’t T-Mobile or Verizon make a logical consolidation? Don’t get me wrong. I think consolidation at this level should be prohibited. Let’s not get into that, though. I actually like T-Mobile. When I travel home I always use its pre-paid service, even in areas where it doesn’t have good coverage. Call me a loyal customer–or maybe not. Who gives a krapp about companies that, ultimately, have proven that the only thing they know is how to abuse customers? Yet. Why can’t a fairly creative company like T-Mobile–that I admire for how it has stood up to the industry monopolies it competes with–merge with a company that is actually relevant to its business? The one good thing about the silliness of shareholder driven corporate entities is that their actions speak more than their knowledge or vision of business. But I guess it takes a trained eye to actually see that. (You’re welcome, dear worst-reader!) Which brings me to the following worst-writer pseudo conclusion. I can’t help but wonder if a company like Apple is a major reason for this level of mindless (illogical) corporate consolidation. Full disclosure: I’m almost a total Apple fanboy. As far as tech goes, all I use is Apple. Do I use Apple because I love the company? Not quite. ;-) But the reality is, my better half and I made a household decision a few years back to do our own version of consolidation, which we consider to be very logical. We decided, due to our increasing use of technology, that we were tired of hardware incompatibility, we wanted continuity with our digital content and we wanted cool shit. Apple is truly a creative business that knows how to profit from meeting—at whatever minimal level—the needs of its customers. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Apple has mastered the fact, counter to the #americant ideal, that it doesn’t matter what customers want or need. Instead just make great products–that friggin’ work. (Just don’t tell anybody that if my better-half wouldn’t notice the difference, I’d consider switching our tech world to Google someday.) But, as usual, I’m off subject again. §No other company in my lifetime has done so much with its business than Apple. Compared to other tech companies, i.e. telecoms, Microsoft, etc., who have comparatively failed in their business models, current mindless telecom consolidation wave is just another example of the doom and gloom of how US business, all of which is run by the same college grads who speak the same language and nuances, is a perfect example of corporate fail-upwards most of which is driven by locomotion and not creativity. But I digress. Rant on. -Tommi

    US Media,  Telcos Hooking Up | Financial Review

    Dish In Talks To Merge With T-Mobile | Reuters

    Verizon Bets On Video Ads | NYT

     

  • Iron Irony


    They are finally removing those locks from that Paris bridge. You know, the locks that are supposed to represent girls being princesses swept off their feet by dunce princes with the square chins and riding white horses. Yes. So much is the mindset of a (western) world raised on the whims of money makers and jesters. And speaking of jesters. What a gesture for humanity Parisians are giving us–again. I wonder if most people get it, though. I mean the irony of removing those silly locks and the past we live in. Even though I travel to Paris quite a bit, and I love the bridge with the silly locks–on account I’m entertained by all the goo-goo-eyed girlies that swarm around and over it–am I the only one to see the irony here? I mean, come on. With their history in mind, it makes sense for the French to make this first gesture in the quest for rational thought and rational living. And I love the French for it. But do the French go far enough? You know, I love the French for giving us the French Revolution. Even though, ultimately, in the end, they really kinda screwed it up. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, how come someone else can’t behead some worthless, slime ball royals and rid us of the burden of monarchy outright–or at least get rid of outdated, patriarchial institutions that literally serve no purpose other than to make half the species live in misery? That’s right, I’m worst-looking at you less than great Britain–on account you guys have never been able to follow French wisdom. I mean seriously. Talk about living in the past. Brits still worship a monarch. Can you believe that! Anywho. I wanted to talk about the French. Oh yeah. If it wasn’t for the French, Etats Unis would never have won that silly war of independence. But I’m off subject again, eh. Anywho. §What is it they say about love? Love is like floating around the ocean while attached to a block of iron and the only reason it hasn’t sunk you is because it hasn’t fallen off the deep end–yet. No? Or did I mix that one up with the ball & chain thing? Ok. How ’bout this one: Love is the difference between done and finished (see quote from silly pop-stars below that are getting hitched). Or wait. Maybe it goes like this: Love is not a two way street–its the 405 in LA during rush hour. Ok. Enough. And. Nomatter. §What I am worst-writing about, motivated by the links below, is that I think there need be NOT a fight for equal rights on the legal and moral issue of marriage. But instead there need be a paradigm shift that in essence will, at best, free half the human species. Indeed. One good thing has come from the mass coming-out in my lifetime of LGBT people around the world. I am thankful to these people for exposing better than anyone in human history the cesspool that is life ruled by authority, subjegation and ignorance all somehow pre-established by mostly white males who hang on to patriarchy like they hang on to their #*?+s. §With that in mind, allow me to offer up some worst-wisdom regarding love and other transactions for those, IMHO, that are seeking equal rights where there are none and have never been. Instead of fighting for equal rights in order to access something that is obviously a failed human precedence, i.e. the institution of marriage, why not fight for something that changes the paradigm? The only legal issue that need be considered in the transaction of love–and yes, in its modern iteration, love, romantic-love and its legal culmination known as marriage, is a transaction–is when it’s about children! That goes for both hetero and homo off-spring. Anything other than children in a discussion about equality is just jibberish, arrogance and hanging on to the past that we need to put behind us. But I digress. Rant on. -Tommi

    Paris Love Locks Removed In Order To Save Humanity | The Guardian

    Divorced? You May Be Able To Rip Spouse Off Still | HuffPost

    Don’t Worry I Didn’t Even Read This Article It’s So Stupid | HuffPost

    Vatican Proves Once Again It’s A Bastion Of Hypocrisy And Bigotry | BuzzFeed

  • How To Believe

    Answering the question of faith, I usually answer thus: I have not been blessed with a gift of it. Sometimes I also say it thus: I have not been blessed with the gift of faith. With that in mind, let’s move beyond the spinning that takes place in my head while its trying to figure out the magic between definate and indefinate articles. Have I mentioned how much I love the Interwebnets? I love the Interwebnets so much that I would kill for it… (more…)

  • Consequences

    chalkboard 3 DsReading transcripts this morning, dear worst-reader. About what, you ask. Well. About infrastructure investments of a once great structure. At first I didn’t give much of a hoot about recent train derailment. Planes fall out of skies. Rockets can’t reach their instellar destinations and plummet back to earth, burning up in the atmosphere. Buildings in major cities blow up because gas lines are rotting. A train derailment is just another added note on the chalk board where I list examples of the 3Ds. Yes, we’re blogging about #americant this morning. And all because a magazine recently published a figure about how much #americant spends on its infrastructure and that spending figure coincides perfectly with a train derailment in Philadelphia. The figure? 2.5%. That’s how much a once great structure spends on its infrastructure, according to a British magazine. Now. Do we need to worst-write about how much is spent on other things? Probably not. And you know, that’s not even the bestest thing in this post. Indeed. The bestest thing is this:

    The problem is that, you know, elections have consequences. So when you continue to elect people that don’t understand the importance of these kinds of issues, you get the results that you get. -Edward Wytkind, president of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department

    Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not quoting a union rep because I like unions. It’s just that I never thought I’d reach the point where a union rep would be the one promoting rational, functional idears regarding what’s wrong with #americant. I’m just not sure there is a precedence where unions–especially the union mind-set–have provided the leadership required to maintain infrastructure of any kind. But I digress.

    The quote from the union rep above says almost everything that need be said about what’s wrong with #americant. May I be so bold as to accentuate it? I mean. Who is responsible for electing political representatives? Who the people involved in this chicanery? Where do these people come from? Indeed. A few hardest questions to ask. And since I can’t answer them (nor do I want to on account it would cause me to not laugh as hard each day) here’s something else one can worst-ponder. Just take a look at that recall election attempt in Wisconsin. Who elected recent governor of Florida? What mentality puts current Texass governor on national stage? And what about all those silly, bed wetting newbies in the US Congress spouting religious fanaticism, greater-than-thee morality and misconstrued economic policies, etc., etc. Add to that the conservative talking heads that obviously tell Americans how to vote/think… Again, I digress.

    After reading through the transcript (link below) and seeing how easy it is to compare a failing infrastructure with those that aren’t necessarily failing, well, I guess that’s significant, too. But what really throws worst-writer for a loop is that this is all so obvious and yet there is nothing to be done about it. I mean, seriously, how does one fix something that transcends being broken only to find new ways to break everything?

    Rant on. -Tommi

    Source: As Train Crash Death Toll Reaches 7, GOP Votes to Cut Amtrak Budget by $250M & Delay Safety Upgrades | Democracy Now!

  • What's The Motivation?

    Maybe I’m just too exposed to this stuff? Maybe there’s been too much of it? Maybe the lies of the mind that make up #americant are so endless that it really doesn’t matter if you can figure this stuff out or not. Or. Maybe someone should ask this: why this now? A simple question, really. But there is a motivation for everything. I’m only worst-wondering if the motivation for this Sy Hersh article is about something other than the truth. I mean. Seriously. Did you actually believe that they “buried” his body in the ocean? Did you actually believe they raided that compound, which was, btw, right next to a Pakistani military institution, without anyone knowing about it? Ok. Full stop. One can go on with all the questions about this. But there is one thing that holds true thru it all. And it too is a question. Why couldn’t Duby get this guy after all those years? But I digress. I guess. Rant on. -t

    Source: Seymour Hersh Details Explosive Story on Bin Laden Killing & Responds to White House, Media Backlash | Democracy Now!

  • Purchase Your Repurchase Purchase

    Boy do I feel bad for all those wannabee corporate suckers who believed what was said after HuffPost was purchased by AOL and the Greek-Mother cashed out. Any idear what they said, dear worst-reader? Let me give you a hint. They said: “you’re jobs are gonna be fine.” And now? (Short pause; breath.) Even though I’m avid reader of this news aggregation service, I won’t miss it when Verizon breaks it up. Or am I busting anyone’s bubble out there? Good luck suckers. Rant on. -t

    Source: What Will Verizon’s $4.4 Billion Cash Purchase of AOL Mean for The Huffington Post? – Truthdig

  • Millennial Masses & Wannabees

    It can’t be said enough–if at all. FB is everything that AOL (and Steve Case) couldn’t be. That is, FB, disguised as a “social” network, really is nothing more than an old school web portal. And we know what happens to web portals. Don’t we, dear worst-reader? But. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to belittle The Zucks achievement here. If anything I’m only complaining about the unoriginality of the upcoming tech nerds all of whom are seeking their place in (y)our future. Having experienced “You Have Mail” from the get-go, I’m wondering if the millennial masses even care about how all these wannabees (even if they do get rich doing it) are really offering the best of nothing and whatnot. Oh well. Good luck zuckers. Rant on. -t

    Source: Facebook, 9 Media Outlets Launch ‘Instant Articles’ Platform To Directly Publish News On Mobile Feeds

  • The Despair

    At about 6:20 in the vid #BernieSanders starts talking about #despair. Not sure what it’s supposed to mean, though. This connection I have to #despair. Could it have something to do with (being) worstwriter? Nomatter. After honourable Mr. Sanders said that… I really started to tune-in (to the vid). Reason? That’s exactly what I felt by the mid-1980s where I was supposed to have had an opportunity to have a future. Obviously, by the end of the 80s, I had learned otherwise. The corporatist state that had stuck it’s deep, poisonous tentacle-fangs into #americant was perfectly positioned to give us the 90s and, subsequently, the now. There are times I feel bad about giving up. And that’s what Bernie Sanders misses when he asks his audience to NOT GIVE UP. Or not to give-in to… despair. For me it was absolutely right to give up. Despair was my own. And by the looks of the audience in the video, my guess is it’s full of those who gave up, as well. (Except they still probably don’t even know it yet.) And just so that things are all cleared up. So that, dear worst-reader, there is no misunderstanding between us. Allow me to worst-write this: if I had to do it again, fuckin’ay Bubba I would! And so. Mr. Bernie Sanders. What are you offering to those of us and to those unborn giver-uppers who are forever? The thing is, in asking, as you do, your #americant constituents to not give up, do you actually have any idear who you are talking to? You are talking to the giver-uppers of the new world. You are talking to those who know nothing better except the opposite of not giving up. Do you know, Mr. Sanders, what the opposite of not giving up looks like? Well, I’ll tell you what it looks like. It looks like George Dubya (dipshit) Bush. It looks like Mitt (I never had an original thought in my life) Romney. It looks like an Orwellian state. There is in America nothing between men like Romney/Bush and the people you are addressing in your speech. Except money. Or a confused politic. AND YOU’RE GONNA FIX THAT?But I digress. §America used to be a land of doers. But now it’s not. Everybody–and I mean everybody–has given up. It’s what greed is all about. That’s the only way you can have a 1% and a fascist society (as opposed to a fascist state). It’s what living off of laurels is all about. It’s what (political) apathy is all about. It’s what the freedom to be stupid is all about. It’s what fighting wars-of-choice for oil is all about. Etc. Even though I respect what Bernie Sanders has to say, I would give-up again and again–if I had to face what I faced by the end of the 1980s in #americant. How is he going to help these people avoid it all over again? I mean, seriously. Is there a way to rid humanity of greed? Oh well. Maybe there is no avoiding it. Maybe there will always be the great American experiment in the form of: The greed culture (neo-liberalism), the death-cult (religious fanaticism), and the ramifications of conservative politics (which has turned America into a fascist society). It has all culminated to what is today, IMHO, the manifestation of (cultural, societal) despair. America was once humanity’s greatest experiment. Now it’s just a place of rich and poor cry babies. It was the united states of america. But now it’s a somber party of mediocrity, banality and Kim Kardashian. Indeed. §Bernie Sanders, a real outcast politician, catches my attention because he knows that there are many like me. Does that mean I should vote for him? Not sure. For. Mr. Bernie Sanders, we are… the give-uppers. We… the ones who said: fuck this bullshit are all alive and well (somehow; and what a price we have paid). How are you gonna fix that? And so. I’m not sure any of us should really care at this point. Or. Should we vote for a man who appears out of the blue. Vote for a man who appears to speak a language (the language of despair)? I suppose some of Bernie Sanders’ rhetoric makes sense to millennials. But millennials are far away from holding power in America. Their election of Barry Obama should prove that! Bernie Sanders makes sense. But what good is that when you can’t buy anything with cents. Or something like that. Good luck suckers. Rant on. -Tommi

  • The TPP Miracle

    No. Seriously. If you thought you were screwed before,  you know, screwed by the lie of the open market, the economy 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

    San Francisco Opposes TPP Fast Track in New Resolution | Electronic Frontier Foundation.

    Since When Does El Presidenté Need Fast Track Authority For US Corpos? | NYT

    TPP Gutting Laws | Politico

    NAFTA | Wiki

    Fast Track Authority | Wiki

    The Eurowasteland Version Is TTIP | Stop TTIP

  • How Did They Know

    The Germans lost the war but the fascists won. -George Carlin

    The book IBM and the Holocaust is probably the first book I haven’t read–but have read the most about. And luckily this worst-post ain’t about it. What it is about though is the feeling I got when I read the other day Apple is teaming up with its one-time nemesis IBM. It is doing so with IBM’s “Watson” program together with Apple’s HealthKit. HealthKit is Apple’s Application Programming Interface that enables computers to interact with iOS devices. If that doesn’t make any sense then give this a go. In the near future, when you go to the doctor for a sore throat, instead of showing proof of insurance, i.e. payment capability, you flash your iPhone across a scanner and your entire health history is (can be) transferred to the doctor’s (or hospital’s) computers. The information that is acquired, accumulated, transferred, etc. about you is the real gem of this alliance. We’re not talking about body temperature, heart-rate, blood pressure, although that is important enough information and worth computerising. No. What we’re dealing with here is something above and beyond medical record keeping or statistics. Which is what reminded me of the above mentioned book when I heard about this alliance. The author of the book is Edwin Black who wrote some unsavoury truths regarding one of America’s legendary corporations. ¶A little side note. Even though this is quite beside the point. When I was very young, around nineteen, I had my first real job interview with IBM. For whatever disturbed reason I thought IBM and the people I saw that worked for that company embodied what I wanted in life. But it turns out all I really wanted was to wear a suit. And even that was quickly nipped in the bud once I started to realise what these corpo-automatons are really all about. Nomatter. ¶The truth about IBM is that the company worked hand-in-hand with Adolf Hitler providing all the computing power necessary to collect enough information about its citizenry that would then further the Nazi cause. IBM partook in information gathering disguised as a census whereby allowing Nazis to identify Jews. Let me put that another way. One of the questions many Jews asked as they were being rounded-up in order to be sent to concentration camps was how the authorities knew who they were. Get it? IBM helped the Nazis sort the German population. (Short pause. Breath.) I mean, that sounds really hardcore, doesn’t it? So let me repeat it again: A US company, International Business Machines, partook in data gathering disguised as a census in order to identify who is and who is not Jewish. Wow. (Let’s pause again. Play elevator music.) Of course today IBM denies this accusation and seems to have proven that it doesn’t have any records of what its German division did during the war. And since the fascists have long since won that war and companies like IBM came out of it with flying colours, it probably doesn’t matter anymore anyway. But then again it did make me do a double take when I read that Thomas Watson’s name–the mould for future American CEO’s, the man who helped the Nazis–is now part of a new information gathering system that does more than gather heart-rate information or how much time a person spends sitting on their ass. You know, dear worst-reader, the more and more I read about the crimes of the second world war the more astonished I am about the truths that have never been told. Wow. Good luck suckers. Rant on. -Tommi

    IBM Launches Watson Health Cloud, Partners With Apple to Support HealthKit and ResearchKit Apps | Mac Rumors.

    Thomas J. Watson | Wiki

    Book To Read, Maybe: IBM and the Holocaust | Wiki

  • Uber Mittelstand

    german mittelstand in the way.png

    Two things today. One. I hate taxis. Two. As I said here and much worst here, the Germanian concept of Mittelstand is a misnomer. That is, it doesn’t mean what you think it means. The Germanians and those that preach it think the word Mittelstand refers to the small and medium enterprises that supply big industry with both parts and labor. This is inherently untrue. What Mittelstand really means is that there is something that blocks the way. Seriously. It means something like a wall or an impassable object or a guard-rail, a fence, a fat man stuffing his face with sauerkraut standing in the middle of an open Autobahn all because he feels ripped-off that his nation-state doesn’t give him more welfare or government subsidy, etc. In other words, Mittelstand is a barrier. It is a barrier that protects one side of the (life) equation from the other side. It protects the future form the present. It protects the past from the future. It stands in the middle and stops everything that it can’t or doesn’t want to understand. In fact, Mittelstand can be a person or a group of people. It can even be a part of a society. Hence, in Germania, probably the world’s best producer of mass high-end products and technical services, there is no innovation there is only a capitalist version of a Big Brother-like being–standing in the middle making sure that… You shall not pass! Indeed. Mittelstand… middle-man (or the like). Good thing it doesn’t really matter what it’s called. ¶Which brings me to taxis. Did I mention I hate them? In fact, whenever I travel, like most recently to Paris, I will avoid as though they carry the plague, taxis. But sometimes, to my regret–and this I blame on the convenience factor of life that one expects in middle-age because of monetary liquidity–I have no choice but to take a taxi. Or. Let me put that another way. My better half didn’t want to take my preferred form of transport upon arrival at Gare Du Nord, public transport. Seriously. I love public transportation, especially in cities like Paris, London, Berlin, NYC. If I could, if the circumstances warranted it, I would give up not only owning a car but I’d give up my friggin’ automobile driver’s licenses–which I have for two countries. The mess that is modern day traffic astonishes me because it represents the best of inhumanity and the behaviour that will be all we leave history. ¶Enter Uber and my worst-thought of the day, dear worst-reader. When I first heard of Uber I thought: Ok, why didn’t I think of that. Then I got the app, started fiddling around with it and, well, as of most recent travel, I still haven’t used it. All I’ve done is heard/read about it. And I’ve concluded: I still hate taxis and Uber is a taxis service. Of course, I don’t hate Uber in the way I hate Parisian taxis. Just recently, when we were in hurry because of some last minute shopping or something, we spontaneously grabbed a taxi to take us to the train station. The typical taxi bullshit ensued. “Oh that’s too short a trip.” “Let me call you another taxi.” “Sir (taxi driver), you’re going the wrong way and I’m not paying you for this detour.” “Sir (taxi driver), would you please take the fastest route to our destination.” Etc., etc. ¶So here’s what Uber does that potentially could make me not hate taxis anymore. It literally gets rid of the Mittelstand bullshit that is a/the sickness of (a) society. And that’s ok. But here’s what makes me angry at worst, skeptical at best about Uber. The taxi industry is probably one of the best examples out there of how government regulation could actually be a positive part of capitalism. Simply put, the taxi industry is heavily regulated in most western countries. It is not heavily regulated because capitalist-pigs got their hoofs in it and want to turn it into a yacht financing arm of whatever else said pigs do. No. It is regulated because (1) it has long since been proven to be a legitimate form of public transportation. (2) Prior to being recognised as a public utility people were being randomly killed by shear negligence. Hence, the day is coming when Uber is going to be called out for its negligence. But with that last statement I make no predictions. ¶Which brings me to the following question: Obviously Uber is something that people want but what is it that they are getting? To worst-moi, Uber is for the first time the best example out there of how technology can also be part of regress and not progress. Uber is employing wild-west tactics disguised as a modern technology service. And people are falling for it. And don’t get me wrong here. That doesn’t mean, I’m against Uber and I’m most certainly not against technology. I’m sure, eventually, I’ll try Uber but I won’t try it because I’m against old school taxis services. I just hate old school drivers and the bullshit they bring to their jobs. But I digress. Rant on. -Tommi

    Germany bans Uber once again over permit issues | Engadget

    A Historical Argument Against Uber | Time

    Mittelstand | Wiki

  • Revealing The Revealed

    Still waiting, dear worst-reader. Waiting for that moment when it’s revealed that the Snowden leaks have revealed something. Wait–wait. I know–I know. You/Most think the leaks were worth it–even though those leaks are under lock & key by a few money grubbing opportunists. And the reason most people think the leaks were worth it is simple. Everyone needs a boogyman where it can lay blame. And the perfect boogyman is the behemoth, bloated US government. Eh? And that’s ok. If that’s what you want to do–it’s not as though I would defend the behemoth, bloated US government. But this is the (insert # here) time I’ve seen an interview with Edward Snowden and it still hasn’t been revealed (to me) if what he’s revealed contains any significant revealings regarding what exactly the evil behemoth, bloated US government does with its vast spying apparatus. I suppose in the vid above, at about 6:20, something is revealed by the Snowden leaks but that was more like a redacting error and ultimately just embarrassing for the newspaper that printed it. So I ask again, almost like I do here and here, other than us now knowing how the US government spies on countries, national leaders and–thanks to the ingenuity of satirical television–Americans and their #dicpics, what has come from the rigamarole-circus of Edward Snowden? I mean. Seriously! The US spies. Other countries spy. Wives spy on husbands. Neighbours spy. School kids spy. Ok. And now what? Oh. Yeah. There’s television. ¶So I guess John Oliver’s little skit was worth it. For a few moments in the vid I felt pretty uncomfortable watching Snowden’s reactions–which seemed pretty normal for any prude, young, sexually repressed American. But Oliver didn’t take the interview far enough, he didn’t grill this young opportunist enough–because Oliver knows what sells in America ain’t truth and reality. No. What sells in America are penis jokes. And so. The questions that I need answered in order to make the Snowden leaks worthwhile are simple: Who are the people responsible for any illegal, unconstitutional spying? Where is all the illegally acquired data and who controls it? Where is the proof that Google & Co. have cooperated with or were coerced into illegal information gathering of US citizens and who exactly made them do it? Is there any substantial evidence–I mean other than poorly written powerpoint presentations that summarise spying techniques–that shows the US government has broken any laws? ¶Again. I’m not defending the behemoth, bloated US government here. I’m also avidly against the passing of the Patriot Act and think it was even worse than the illegal invasion of Iraq. In fact, repealing the Patriot Act is one thing that would partly restore my faith in the US government. Yet I can’t help but feel that the Snowden leaks will go down in history as the leaks that told us nothing–because I already knew that the US government spies. Didn’t you? But I digress. Rant on. -Tommi

    Links:

    Dicpics | Huffpost

  • The Soap Opera

    Crying Girl
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crying_Girl

    Maybe it’s getting to be too much, dear worst-reader. I really thought I could breeze through this little (personal) experiment without any damage. If so many others can do it, I thought, so can I. Or? Binge-viewing TV though isn’t turning out to be what I thought (it would be). But it is better than that binge-drinking experiment I tried so many years ago. Perhaps the reason for that is the TV day-time soap opera repackaged as a night-time pop TV series Mad Men. Is it starting to clog my mind? Or is it mixing well with what I find? Or is it the other way-round-round? Although I’m trying to keep it to no more than two shows a day, I’ve been at this experiment for about six weeks now and I just finished the fourth season. I know. Don’t bother with the math. Even when there are days I don’t watch it, it seems as though I did watch it. Wait. Am I preoccupied? Is my binge where I am? Or maybe it’s not that it’s there but instead it’s everywhere–the mentality that is the Soap Opera. Oh my. For worst-moi this is indeed binge-viewing–and I think I might be drunk on it. Or lost. Nomatter. The damage has been done. I mean, you know that things aren’t going well when you start associating other things like articles read on the Interwebnets that are supposed to be about real-life politics with what you saw an hour ago on a TV show. Which brings me to the article linked below. It seems that The Intercept/Greenwald has decided to merge with the centre of my binge-viewing confusion. And something tells me this (mis)merging isn’t my fault. That is. While reading the below linked article I couldn’t help but think about the re-invention (for millennial viewers) of the television soap opera. Seriously. The new & improved soap opera. For a whole culture of new viewers. And this is all that The Intercept/Greenwald has to offer? Oh wait. It has all the stolen documents by Edward Snowden–and I’m still waiting for something significant to come out of what the dream team of Snowden/Greenwald has sold the world. Until then–AS THE WORLD TURNS–I guess we wait and languish in our/the (soap opera) confusion. That said, this recent article by Greenwald is a real hum-dinger. And it’s no wonder that one (who is bingeing on Mad Men) could compare it to a TV soap. And so. Did you know, dear worst-reader, according to Greenwald/The Intercept that #americant is now angry with #germania because the one (or the other) is gawking at another’s wife? Wait. There’s more. Angela Merkel is having the illegitimate baby of a Venezuelan oil oligarch named Montoya de Schluckmann who was born in Illinois but migrated to Köln-Deutz via a love affair with a US Diplomat after a Bayer-Leverkusen executive, who was a spy for the NSA, died from an overdose of Tylenol given to him by Putin. And get this. President Obama has finally come out of the closet and declared a national day of mourning over the death of John Kerry’s love child that could have been the hope-chest of political relations between Berlin and Washington and a small island that was the inspiration for its name: Diego Garcia. Oh. And let’s not forget the new fangled conspiracy that was hatched recently between the UK and a bunch of drag queens in Brazil that would enable the mass media to ride with a scandalous news story where it would be revealed that the US government is in the business of spying on the (whole) world because a simpleton, misguided by his fail-upward parents, thought it cute to reveal all those silly power-points whereby telling us, again!, that the US government spies. Full stop (of the silliness). I guess. I can’t wait for the day when Greenwald/The Intercept does something more than just hosting a two-hundred-fifty million dollar wordpress website. Come on Greenwald. Give us something to run with. Finally. Please. Or maybe not. Rant on. -Tommi

    When Dan Draper Meets His Girlfriend’s Boyfriend’s Husband After Giving Birth To Another Bastard Child He Loves Dearly* | The Intercept

    *The real title of the article is: “US THREATENED GERMANY OVER SNOWDEN, VICE CHANCELLOR SAYS”, and maybe that’s even better than my above re-interpretation. Yeah, baby.

  • The Perpetual Childhood

    Maher nails it again. And boy do I remember frat-houses. In fact, I lived in one for a whole freakin’ semester once. It was one of the worst decisions I ever made–other than deciding to try college at all. But there was one thing I learned about #americant after that experience. It’s not so much that these organisations serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever besides teaching young adults how to never really grow up. No. What frats (and sororities) do is simply prolong the inevitable. In fact, frats are the tip of the iceberg in this arena. The whole college industry is part of it, too. You can simply go from the room your parents provided you to another room they provide you and yet you stay in the mentality of being that same child–forever!–and all thanks to the profit centres of Americant (mis)education institutions. Hence, the college grads running the the show today know this all too well. I’m worst-writing, of course, about the Obamas and all of his staff, the Dubyas and all of his staff (and they were all older), probably all congressman and most certainly anyone that has a half-decently paid living standard working for a corporation. In fact, I’m not saying that people don’t learn anything in college. Obviously they do. And now most of the world can see clearly exactly what it is they’ve learned. I mean. What it is all these grads have done. Or? Nomatter. The cogs of the machine will continue on with: Greed. Empire. Terrorism. Belonging. Sentiment. Etc. And. Just look at the US government, American industry and corporations, banks, local communities, etc. Everybody is a child with a gun or too much money or too many houses or or or. Where do people learn this behaviour? Yeah. Infantilism is still far off in the future to being recognised as a disease. But that day will come eventually. And frat-boys will be the first to be treated. Or maybe not. Rant on. -t

  • Democracy Abortion

    It never ceases to amaze (worst-moi), dear worst-reader. Examples abound in my grand and well-missed united mistakes. Sometimes finding them, though, can be difficult. That is, finding the mistakes that really stand out. Well–today we have a doozy. But is it a mistake? Here’s how it goes: in the great state of NH someone had the idear to allow fourth graders to see first hand how the legislative process works. This entailed drafting a bill that would be put up in the legislation for a vote. What the bill was about doesn’t matter–since it was put up by fourth graders. But here’s the thing. One of the many nutbag, batshit politicians that make up most state legislatures got up to say something about the bill. And what did he say? Of course this is what he said–because he is a nutbag, batshit politician. He said… Abortion. He said it in the face of fourth graders trying to learn a little civics. Indeed. The bill put forth by fourth graders was about making a bird a state emblem. But the nutbag, batshit politician saw it as an opportunity to turn it into a platform whereby he can promote his anti-abortion agenda. He even took the time to compare the bird that was being considered, which happens to be a raptor (a hunter), to being the same thing as an abortion. You know, a bird with claws and a sharp beak tears and rips its prey to pieces in order to eat it. And that’s the same as ripping a zygote, embryo or foetus from a womb. Right? Yeah. And. As usual. Only in #americant, baby. Good luck suckers. -t

    New Hampshire Fourth-Graders Learn Vital Lesson In Cynicism From State Legislature.

  • Kings or Churches

    Ever wonder how a king is made? I mean, how does a monarchy come to be? How does it get its power? Who makes those gold calf crowns? I know. I know. History tells us that monarchs usually are rich, have even more rich friends, including lots of wannabe rich people–and then there are the rest who simply can’t get enough of the lure of The Kennedys, Diana, royal weddings. Hence monarchies exist. Poof! Seriously, dear worst-reader. I’ve been living in #eurowasteland for too long. You wanna know the thing that really gets under my skin after living in this place so long? The answer, btw, is the one thing that makes Europeans so relatable to Americans, hence Americans inventing monarchies in the form of deformed families aka The Kennedys. The thing that gets under my skin are Euro monarchies–even though I live in a Euro-Borough that supposedly doesn’t have a monarchy. Accentuate the supposedly. I’m almost sure, if given the chance/opportunity, the Huns would find themselves a monarch toot-suite. That said. Come on. It’s twenty-fucking-fifteen. Monarchies still strap Europe to the waste-heap of history like nothing else. If you look long and hard at these jovial houses of inbreeding, it’s a wonder that Europe has lasted this long while trying to assume its new role as alternative #1 consume-heaven (to #americant). And do you know why these monarchies have lasted this long? The answer lies somewhere between the Jungian monarchial archetype and the yellow press with page three big tits. That’s basically it. The plebes need something above and beyond their measly lives that give them at least some form of meaning. And now that the Euro is practically a failure, at least a failure in the Burroughs with monarchies (gee, where’s that irony come from) what’s left for Europe–and its plebes? The people in Europe and America are nothing more than working stiffs day-in and day-out. Other than the work done, the money earned, people today are nothing more than Automatons–they are the blue-dressed Winston Smiths. What is there for these people to do above and beyond breathing, peeing, procreating? Indeed, dear worst-reader. The females justifies their existence by perfectly surfing a juxtaposition between lust object and breeder. The male justifies his existence by keeping his mouth shut and doing what his job tells him what to do so that he can maintain a license for putting that damn penis somewhere every once-a-once. And so. What does all this have to do with the article linked below–which motivated this post? Everything and nothing, dear worst-reader. For you were warned on my About page. This site is maintained by compulsion. And not just the compulsion to write as though I hate every teacher that tried to teach me (to write). No. Indeed. The compulsion is something very different. It is, perhaps, something Jungian. But not as Jungian as Eurowasteland monarchies. That said, it’s always been a question lingering in the back of my head regarding the conflict in Northern Ireland. How is it that this conflict can go on for hundreds of years and yet so few people must face it? We all face the conflicts in the middle-east. Heck, we all face the conflicts of the cold-war. We’re even facing the conflicts in Ukraine. And we do all this more than we face Northern Ireland. Why is that? Could it be because all the conflicts mentioned here ultimately have nothing to do with monarchies–but Northern Ireland does? Down with all monarchies. Humanity, please, get over yourself. Move on. Get rid of these inbreds and freaks. Find your own meaning. Or maybe not. But I digress. Rant on.

    Where the Bodies Are Buried – The New Yorker.

  • Über Reaction Sloth

    The new Clinton scandal is winding down, dear worst-reader. (Sarcasm on.) Are you as disappointed as I how this has turned out? I mean, if you’re a republican and/or US government hater, then this has to be a disappointment on a grand scale. Or? (Sarcasm almost off.) Nomatter. I’m sure the ideological nut-bags that have turned #americant politics into the freak show it has become by seeking scandal for political gain will find something new soon enough. Until then, of course, let’s continue to worst-write about this scandal because it’s about Hillary just like we did here and here and thereby hope that the end is neigh or not. First. Below are the articles that in part motivated this post. Second. The other part that motivated this post is/was trying to find a comparison between what supposedly Hillary Clinton had done and how others might have done something similar. I mean, come on, this scandal does smell familiar, doesn’t it? Highly classified government information, although not leaked, might be leaked–(sarcasm still on)–in an alternate universe and someone needs to pay for their heresy… I mean disloyalty… I mean treason. Full stop. Breath. ¶There isn’t all that much originality in scandal hunting these days, dear worst-reader. But if you look you will find. For example. While considering the idear that Hillary Clinton was running her own email server while Secretary of State, which isn’t necessarily and insecure thing to do, has there been any other example of government insecurity run amok? Gee. I don’t know. How ’bout Edward Snowden? No? I guess the US has dealt with him by forcing him into exile–in Russia. (Stop me from laughing, please.) Wait. No. Snowden ain’t good enough. Thank goodness there’s something much better than Edward Snowden when it comes to comparing Hillary’s evil deed to other perpetrators. Yeah. ¶The real comparison is with former Army commander turned head of the CIA David Petraeus. Smell the hypocrisy yet? For all practical purpose, Petraeus was literally caught with his pants down. The man handed over passwords to his CIA email account to his hot-body biographer with whom he also had an affair. And for doing that, what will happen to him? Will he be persecuted in the media? No. Will he be sent hate email and hate tweets? No. Will there be a huge hoopla over his congressional subpoenas? No. Will he be called a bitch? Of course not. Just regular media coverage about how the man is actually a hero and how he served his country well but has fallen from grace. Well. I worst-guess that’s what life is all about when you’re part of an alternate universe. Either that or you get a slap on the hand and go ’bout your bidness. ¶But. Yet. What if you’re Hillary Rodham Clinton? What happens then (other than evil tweets and being called a bitch)? I mean. Seriously. Consider it. David Petraeus has been found guilty of a federal crime because he made highly classified information available while his zipper was down. The man’s not even going to jail. And what will happen to Hillary Clinton–who hasn’t actually broken any laws or given out any highly classified material? Yeah, baby. American hypocrisy at his best. But I digress. Rant on. -Tommi

    Links of potential interest:

    Why Clinton’s Private Email Server Was Such a Security Fail | WIRED.

    House Committee Subpoenas Clinton Emails In Benghazi Probe | AP

    Double Standard On Government Secrets | LA Times

    America’s Injustice Nightmare Between Petraeus And Ferguson | Salon

    Petraeus Reaches Plea Deal Over Giving Classified Data To His Lover | NYT