Elder Goths - Living in the Future

Here's that Tweet

Saturday Morning Cartoons

A look into the future, by Tex Avery.

I have a feeling Tex hated his mother in law.

The Gathering Storm

The Tipping Point In The Indo-Pacific

Twenty years from now, we'll look back to see how we got here.... an interesting article, and fun read about China's continued growth and influence in Asia and what it would mean to U.S. influence.

"Sino-American relations have been spiraling down into a hostile dialectic for more than­ a decade. The two sides have grown increasingly uncomfortable with their complex, ever-evolving but seemingly inescapable economic interdependence. China will not relent in its aggressive, mercantilist currency policies, but the Fed and the Treasury, ever in need of Chinese capital to finance America’s debt, have never pushed the issue to the wall. The two sides have displayed their ideological differences as Chinese restrictions on civil rights continue. They have sparred, too, over points of honor and prestige in international forums and, episodically, over the future of Taiwan.

But the underlying source of the current deterioration in the bilateral relationship is the competition for influence in the Indo-Pacific commons, that broad swath reaching from the western Pacific Ocean to the eastern coast of Africa, which both sides consider central to their standing in the region and to global perceptions of their power. After nearly a decade’s worth of threat-making, strained diplomatic ties and below-the-radar games of chicken, U.S. and Chinese naval ships now stand prow-to-prow in the East China Sea, minutes from battle over a seemingly meaningless incident."

Read more

Egypt Fears

What, no 'Idi'? And why are all these guys white?

On a serious note - here's the REAL STORY of what's going on, on the ground. Minus the spin.
The tl;dr is this:

• Saturday was indescribable. Nothing that I write can describe the utter state of lawlessness that prevailed.

• Today the Egyptians are scared. They have been given a glimpse of hell and they don't like what they see. Contrary to Al Jazeera's propaganda, the Egyptian masses are not demonstrating anymore. They are protecting their homes and families. The demonstration last night had 5,000 political activists participating and not 150,000 as Al Jazeera insists. At this moment, no one outside of those political activists cares less now if the President will resign or not. They have more important concerns now; security and food.

• So where are we today? Well the answer is still not clear, yet a couple of conclusions are evident.

  1. The Gamal inheritance scenario is finished.

  2. Mubarak will not run for another Presidential term. His term ends in October and either he will serve the rest of his term or will resign once things cool down for health reasons, which are real. He is dying.

  3. The army is in control now. We are heading back to the "golden age" of army rule. The "kids" are no longer in charge. The "men' are.

  4. Until the economy fails again, the neo-liberal economic policies are over. Forget about an open economy for some time.

• Immediately the task of the army is to stabilize the situation and enforce order.

• Security wise the situation is a disaster. It might take months to arrest all those criminals again.

• Outside of Western media hype, El Baradei is nothing. A man that has spent less than 30 days in the past year in Egypt and hardly any time in the past 20 years is a nobody. It is entirely insulting to Egyptians to suggest otherwise.

• On the long run the Egyptian question remains the same. Nothing has changed in that regard.

The Next Economy and America's Future

"The perfect storm: An unprecedented concentration of income and wealth at the top; a record amount of secret money flooding our democracy; and a public becoming increasingly angry and cynical about a gov't that's raising its taxes, reducing its services, and unable to get it back to work. We're losing our democracy to a different system. It's called plutocracy." ~ Robert Reich

Everybody knows the dice are loaded.

Lowered Expectations

Walmart has been widely condemned for offering its employees only low-paying, dead end jobs. Remember when candidate Obama criticized Hillary Clinton during the 2008 presidential campaign for having served on Walmart's board and stated that the firm ought to pay "a living wage?" I do.

Well, in good-old inner-city Detroit, where the unemployment rate is estimated at 50%, the prospect of a Walmart isn't taboo.

So, of course, four inner-city Detroit high schools have teamed up with the giant merchandiser to offer a for-credit class in job-readiness training that also includes entry-level after-school jobs

According to the Detroit Free Press, the principal at one of the schools optimistically suggested that "the program will allow students an opportunity to earn money and to be exposed to people from different cultures -- since all of the stores are in the suburbs."

The announcement of the program outraged Donna Stern, the Midwest coordinator for the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights And Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN). "They’re going to train students to be subservient workers" she told the Free Press. "This is not why parents send them to school." Oh, REALLY? I guess why bother sending your youngsters to school at all?

While Detroit area schools have cooperated on projects with Walmart in the past, such as a letter-writing contest in which students could win classroom supplies, and at Christmas Walmart donated presents to needy students in a Detroit suburb, this new team-up isn't floating as high.

Apparently it's the preceived racial overtones as training inner-city students for a career as suburban Walmart store clerks that's not flying. No one's saying that Detroit's schools are now desperate enough to accept help wherever they can find it... reminds me of a movie where a corporation took over Detroit to run it... RoboCop!

Meanwhile, to paint the picture a little more for those of you not in the Detroit system, the school district has been running a 'tad' red, and though emergency financial manager Robert Bobb has already closed 29 schools as a cost-cutting measure, it was reported this week that "the 84,000-student Detroit Public Schools could face additional layoffs and about 40 more school closings."

Detroit's teachers have also been chafing at a contract accepted by their union that forces them to make involuntary long-term loans to the school district out of their paychecks. A Detroit Federation of Teachers union meeting on Thursday broke down in chaos after members tried to put the question of recalling the union president on the agenda.

Yeah, so, maybe the teachers are complaining because they'd have better job security as a greeter than trying to elevate their students out of complete and utter urban hell? Are they afraid of a little competition?

Black Friday 2059

Another day after Thanksgiving - or in every retailer, Black Friday.

Folks went shopping yesterday, and at again at 3:00 AM to get... well, I don't know what they were getting, but it couldn't have been worth it.

Typically, a store offering a shinny trinket for $1.99 off retail will only have two of that particular item, and one of them is almost always broken.

It's not like they're giving it away? Are they? And their strategy is to get you into the store so that you only have time to shop at the one store.

And they still call it "door buster" even after those people died in a Wal Mart store last year.

By shopping on black Friday you are basically valuing money over your time.

If you value your time more than money it is a waste.

If you have more time than money it might make sense to shop then.

If you have more money than time it is a waste. - bg2500

Got me thinking... what will this be like in 50 years?

By November 27, 2059, Black Friday camping out had accidentally morphed into a type of adult Easter egg hunt - which had eventually been renamed 'The Turkey Hunt.' It became the last vestige or remnant of American capitalism. It was an easy transition, since African Americans were suing every retailer because of the offensive moniker given to the day. It did not matter that the original name meant that it was the first day a retailer made money that fiscal year... because logic was never the problem - since a persons feelings were hurt, and not hurting someone's feelings was infinitely more important than logic.

The holiday started on the 31st of October, with costumes and candy - and pumpkin decorations to prepare for the Day of the Turkey Hunt. The day before the hunt, a large meal was served, lots of carbs, to get ready for battle. It was the sport of the strong, the tough - the females. They were known as the Lions... since the Lions always played on Turkey Day. Rarely did a male participate. He would sit nervously watching the live feeds from the local stores to see how his wife or daughters fared.

On Turkey Hunt Day, customers would compete by having to scour the stores for the hidden trinket that was featured Pre-Turkey Hunt day announcement. Except that the advertisement was referred to as 'the map.' The CEO of every store dutifully announced the sale items and cryptic clues to the location of each of their store's Golden Pickle. Days, maybe weeks before, retailers would leak clues on their Facebook* and Twitter* (*or their 2059 equivalent) sites dropping hints on where the prized idols might be located. There will be social circles comparing and sharing, and even giving false information as to where the prizes are located. Think Beanie Babies, but in one-on-one, store-to-store basis.

It was a Golden Pickle - because, thirty years ago, and quite accidentally - The Home OfficeDepot offered a pickle to represent the last decoration placed on the old Christmas tree as their Turkey Hunt item. The Home OfficeDepot explained to their customer base that in old World Germany, it was carefully hidden deep into the tree. And adding to the lore, legend had it that the observant child who found it on the 25th was blessed an entire year of good fortune and a special gift. Because of the significance - and due to the war between Asia and Africa that created an extreme shortage of goods and wears - the HomeOffice Depot staff hid the few pickles it had in stock. They hid them in bags of concrete. It was the hardest Turkey Hunt item to find in the history of the 'sport.' The next year, every single store only offered a single Golden Pickle. No one questioned it after that. The Hunt was on.

When the prize of the box store was found, the bidding wars assembled around Mrs. Indiana Jones as she stood in line. This also became an intricate part of the game. Some of the folks even admitted that they never even looked for the prize; they only lie in wait for the winner to get in line to pay. The bidders offered outlandish compensation for the finder's wares. The second phase sometimes got out of hand, resulting in multiple stabbings until the stores finally had to offer private security for the 'winners.' Some times, the prize changed hands up to twenty times before the winner walked out the door - escorted by her security detail.

The prize, once purchased, elevated in value. It was considered the 'best present' ever, and children or loved ones who received that one gift were guaranteed happiness throughout the year - that is until next year's Winter Solstice Day Celebration...

Behind the curtain, the $1.99 golden pickle had no actual value or fuctionality, and since every store has one - slightly different, with their store logo prominently displayed - eventually only purchasing or achieving an entire collection of ALL the golden pickles from ALL the box stores could an individual achieve total happiness. Subsequently, the idea of giving these items away at the end of the solar cycle became Blasphemous. Which in 2059 meant a bad or poorly executed joke.

Entire industries were created to collect all the previous year's pickles, and from multiple stores. The Christmas trees and bowling trophies of a century ago will be set aside to prominently display the family's pickle collection. Great Grandma's Super Wal-Mart pickle of 2048 became the prize of the last will and testament and was expected to be handed down for generations.

There was also a vast black market for counterfeit pickles. In fact, it was the counterfeits that caused it all to end. When the CVSWalgreen's Pickle Scandal was the top blog story of 2063, it was revealed that there seemed to be more CVSWalgreen's Pickles registered than actual CVSWalgreen's stores... which will be an amazing claim since every other store will be CVSWalgreen's by then. There was an amazing crash that took down the entire financial system, because the entire economy revolved around Turkey Hunt Day and the three month period surrounding it. At once, consumers who flocked to the stores to compete and participate considered staying home... which was devastating! The house of cards were falling. As more people questioned the actual value of their Pickles, eBayWall St. suffered its greatest one-day loss, and with it, the bubble burst.

The three month Pumpkin Turkey Hunt Day for the Solstice Celebration finally hit its peak in America. It was all downhill from there.

Futureman visits the Past

Where are we headed?

We voted and got 'Change.'

How much change are we going to get?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. It seems some other people have been getting upset about it too. I'm not talking about the typical pundit on talk-news channels (this blog) bitching about Sarah Palin or what Obama is -or isn't- doing.

I'm thinking bigger right now.

I'm wondering are we at the tipping point - the point where some fundamental changes in the way we conduct our little lives is about to take place? Something radical?

Or not? I've come across about three schools of thought on the issue.

The first is the Apocalyptic - Road Warrior - Hurricane Katrina on a national scale - no gas, roving gangs, total breakdown of society. The scenario that says "you had better learn to grow your own food and defend it with guns." I call this one 'the collapse.'
Let's pretend that the economy doesn't rebound. Those comfy corporate jobs in air conditioned towers all go away. The only one hiring is the government, and they're paying in IOU's. The power is on - but no one can afford it. And there's gas - but no one has it. Worse, food becomes harder and harder to afford and come by. Food riots. Dogs and Cats living together, all that.

The collapse is also propagated by the folks who can't wait for the Swine flu to become an airborne killer and wipe out their competition two cubes over. Collapse is becoming so popular in the zeitgeist of "The Road" and "Children of Men" that the Discovery Channel is cashing in with a show called, "the Colony." I look forward to watching that show... not living it.

Milk & Honey, We're Back!

The more optimistic future takes us right back to the days of Milk and Honey. We go right back to pointless consumerism with personal and governmental debt way out of control after this quick 'correctional' pause. Everyone gets two Hummers in their remortgaged McMansion, buying big screens on CircutCity.com. Money flows based on bad credit and worse mortgages, again. It's all based on a new bubble created by Goldman Saks and the Fed manipulating the markets, again.

Never mind all those wars to keep the oil flowing. As long as the gas stays cheap, food is cheap and Americans are fat and happy once more. American Idol pays Simon 140 million to come on the show next year - and Americans are placated back into the fatass fog once more.

Until the bail out bubble bursts. But we'll try to ignore that until it happens.

Green Wet-Dream-World

We're all forced into the life of green, lean, paired down, and a tiny machines. Your new car is a Vespa with two doors on it, in your garage charging off the windmill in your lawn. You compost... all your waste. Frugality is the norm. Costco and Target become punchlines in the new paired down world of no excess. The Joneses are competing with their neighbors to see how small their carbon foot print is. Smoking, drinking, fast food and gasoline have been taxed out of existence - in America anyway. The Chinese Century begins.

I suspect that the green scenario would be more akin to the frontier days, but with warrantless wire taps and pay-per-view Internet. The corporations still own everything, but no one works for them anymore.

To the Rush Limbaugh/Sarah Palin crowd, the 'green' scenario is 100 x worse than a nuclear Apocalypse scenario... why? What is frightening to those folks is the Government. It would be assumed that if the government controls what you can buy, puts controls on prices and the market is forced to put all those taxes and pollution control measures into the price of their products. But who cares, no one can afford to buy anything anyway because over 60% of their income is going straight to the government to pay for all these services that no one can figure out how to access anyway.

I can see why they are concerned... Congress has verbiage in the Cap and Trade bill that explains that you can't even sell your house without an environmental inspection... the bill doesn't even address carbon emissions! It only opens a new source of revenue for the Chicago Board of Trade. The government is dictating what types of cars will be built by the remaining elements of Detroit... and if you want a gas guzzler, I guess you'll still be 'allowed' to buy it, but I would expect that you'll have to buy carbon offsets everytime you go to the gas pump just to fill it up?

The best part about the green world is that no one will know how un-fun it is because the stigma of 'excess' will be so appalling. High salaries and aspiring to do better will be shunned. The last thirty years (1980-2008) will be shunned as the Terrible Time of Overabundance.

Those are the three I keep coming across. Please, feel free to discuss and share your vision of the future.