The Nigger Problem (Making Our Way To The Numbers)

"The United States stole an estimated $100 trillion dollars for 222,505,049 hours of forced labor between 1619 and 1865,…"

And one more time:

  "No Capitalism? No Slavery - No Slavery? No Capitalism"

40 Acres And A Mule Could've Solved Everything Cheap

Gearing up for it:

"Of course we’re doing better than chattel slavery. Of course we’re doing better than legal segregation. But what material benefit do we get from the comparison?"

150 years after Frederick Douglas' mane, black people are still getting in trouble with whites over our hair. That's the limits of our  freedom. The wealth created by the labor of millions for centuries, under torture, has been declared,...disappeared, putting America on pretty shaky psychological footing - not to mention, grinding it's dishonesty into the soil. A dishonesty the exploited already knew quite well and, so, expected.

"The help would often have a private chuckle about what we had heard, and how obvious it was that those speaking must have thought what they were saying went over our heads. We had schoolteachers working as maids,..."

Ahem. "We had"? Who was "had"? We're trending!

"Wisconsin Followed Trend As U.S. Sent Higher Rate of Black Men to Prison"

Go on, Y'all, do your thing - it's cool. I've already been made aware of how this works:

It's their word over centuries of evidence.

My life Vs. their beliefs.

Whatever they may be.

It's simply never been different, and a safe bet it would always be so,...

 

Very Nicely Done

Well, what is a Christian, after all? Can we say that most of us are defined by the belief that Jesus Christ made the most gracious gift of his life and death for our redemption? Then what does he deserve from us? He said we are to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek. Granted, these are difficult teachings. But does our most gracious Lord deserve to have his name associated with concealed weapons and stand-your-ground laws, things that fly in the face of his teaching and example? Does he say anywhere that we exist primarily to drive an economy and flourish in it? He says precisely the opposite. Surely we all know this. I suspect that the association of Christianity with positions that would not survive a glance at the Gospels or the Epistles is opportunistic, and that if the actual Christians raised these questions those whose real commitments are to money and hostility and potential violence would drop the pretense and walk away.

H/T - Ann Althouse

Sounds About Right

• 74 percent of Americans believe Congress is contributing to problems in Washington rather than solving them.

• Only 22 percent think the nation is headed in the right direction. Two-thirds believe that the nation is in a "state of decline."

• Just two of every 10 Americans think the economy will get better in the next year.

• Only three of 10 Americans are optimistic about the future of the U.S. political system.

• A majority of Americans don't identify with either party.

Strange: Strange People, Strange Lands, Strange World

Work Songs. 

A German (German!) "breakthrough" in science!

“They hurt the conservative movement, they hurt people’s health care, they hurt the country’s economic situation and they hurt the Republican party. And a lot of congressmen and senators are not going to win because we spent three months chasing our own tail — or at least, parts of the conservative movement spent three months chasing their own tail.”

[Actor Peter] Lorre was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee and asked to name anyone suspicious he had met since coming to the United States. He gave the committee a list of everyone he knew.

Hot Air Destroy Glenn Reynolds' Lawyering Skills Again

This is the second hit - Hey, guys, yell "Allahu Akbar!" when you do this kind of thing, will you?

"Glenn Reynolds argues that there won’t be a shutdown unless Barack Obama vetoes the budget, but that’s not really the case."

My, my. Instapundit's political observations are looking kind of sketchy all of a sudden. How long can he stand? 
How many hits can he take?

I don't know - he looks pretty strong - but, before the smoke clears, I might start a "running" tally,...

If You Got A Measure, You Got A Ruler, And If You,...

According to The Atlantic magazine, "Walter Johnson takes the measure" of slavery:

As those people passed through the trade, representing something close to half a billion dollars in property, they spread wealth wherever they went. Much of the capital that funded the traders' speculations had been borrowed from banks and had to be repaid with interest, and all of it had to be moved through commission-taking factorage houses and bills of exchange back and forth between the eastern seaboard and the emerging Southwest.

And the slaves in whose bodies that money congealed as it moved south had to be transported, housed, clothed, fed, and cared for during the one to three months it took to sell them. Some of them were insured in transit, some few others covered by life insurance. Their sales had to be notarized and their sellers taxed. Those hundreds of thousands of people were revenue to the cities and states where they were sold, and profits in the pockets of landlords, provisioners, physicians, and insurance agents long before they were sold. The most recent estimate of the size of this ancillary economy is 13.5 percent of the price per person-tens of millions of dollars over the course of the antebellum period.

There's a point in there, though I can't imagine what.

Not "whether you're red, green, blue, or purple, we're all the same."

But the opposite of that.

Something about economics making us different.

Taboo topic - no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Some say to take it up with the people who freed the slaves.

They'll understand.

Word is they've been wondering what's going on lately.

We're like "You tell me."

Still no answer back yet,...

Prepare Yourselves: You're Gonna See Something New

Once I'd read this for the third time, and still found it funny, I figured I ought to post it:

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Sunday that there has been "no change" in the country's 2013 growth forecast, after it appeared the figure had been revised downward. 

"There was no change in the growth forecast as I have read it," the minister told journalists in Paris. 

"I have not made any revision on the forecast of growth in France," he said.

Atta boy. I'm never sure which is more delusional: 

The way French socialists keep hoping it'll work, or the way we're sold it is, despite all evidence. 

I found some old photos I'd taken in France, so you'll be able to compare for yourselves,...

 

How American Life Most Resembles A Country Song,...

Watch Two American Families on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

I'm laying here, it's been almost a month now, wondering what the next move is. I'm off the drugs, so I'm clear-eyed, but in pain. Can't work. Can't afford physical therapy. Haven't paid the rent. Medical bills up the ying-yang. Truck broke down. And now I'm moving into using what little credit I have. 

It all happened in a month. 

 Incredible,...

 

Bawney Fwank Vs. Jay-Z Abowt What The Pwobwem Is

The Black Republican said "oppression" when he probably meant (and I would've said) "desperation" - and I don't even agree with his analysis of the problem - but it's still good to see Hova stepping down from the throne to talk about the projects. 

 Now, if only we had someone who could articulate conservatism,...

 

Sound And Fury Signifying Nothing (We've Seen Before)

 

Yes, Obama came off like an idiot talking about Detroit, but while Motor City's politics and infrastructure suck, I want to remind you that it was also the home of Motown, and it's birthed cultural bright spots ever since. Detroit's decay inspired it's artist's to respond and they did, with dreams of themselves as George Jetson, and that holographic flower has been rising secretly from the broken concrete ever since.

 

Recreating, refining (and eventually replacing) the now-silenced jack hammer sounds of those good paying industrial auto factory jobs their parents had, but with a very early ear past old folks' Rock 'N" Roll to the real soundtrack Steve Jobs should've been influenced by, recording artists like Juan Atkins and Derrick May imagined how modems would "sing" long before they (or we) knew what a modem was. Both instantly took their rightful places alongside electronic musical visionaries like Warner Bros.' legendary cartoon composer, electronics innovator, and Motown's actual head of electronic music, Raymond Scott, German pioneers, Kraftwerk, Japanese giants, Yello Magic Orchestra, and the father of merging electro with Hip-Hop culture and Rap, Afrika Bambaataa.

I'm saying Detroit changed the world and, sonically, we'll never go back.

   

Detroit Techno is our past, present, and, now, our future. It's proven itself to be The Borg that will never stop. And if you ask me, as a statement about the people of America's most maligned city - one that's been effectively on it's back for the last 60 years - that accomplishment's nothing to sneeze at.

But for the president to also see what is essentially a mirage - however real it sounds - is nuts,...

Decoding NewAge: So Simple Even A Socialist Can Do It

Ehrenreich: Did Positive Thinking Crash US Economy? from Commonwealth Club on FORA.tv

This: How The Rich Get Richer And The Poor Get Poorer

 

Whew! Look at all those people - who, each and every one of them, would swear they hate war - go! We never should've gone into Iraq? Hell, we never should've opened a Walmart! 

Happy Thanksgiving, you fucking buffoons! 

I just worked 36 hours in two days - and have another double shift coming this evening - so I'm now a slow-moving wreck (after "just resting my head" in my own bed, I eventually fell asleep in my dirty work clothes, and - after 8 hours of sleep - never once spilled the beer in my hand. Yes, even comatose - I'm that good!) but, man, it was worth it: 

I've earned enough money to viciously fight with my neighbors over whatever absolutely worthless lit-up trinkets are now "on sale." 

I've been scanning the "Black Friday" ads, and it's amazing how much junk is out there. Even more amazing is how little of it consists of anything that can lead to, or is intended for, a productive life. Is buying a flat-screen LCD television, or a Nintendo Wii, going to put money in your pocket - or take it out, by further inducing you to waste your time? Camping gear? Jewelry? How important is a Kindle, or a Nook, when most people have a library of unread books on their shelves? 

It's astounding, the mental slight-of-hand people can play on themselves, over nothing. 

And, meanwhile, we're worried about the economy. Worried sick. Sure we are. 

Yesterday, a co-worker asked me what I was going to buy for myself this holiday season and, when I said "nothing," he replied, "Me either - Hey, I like you!" So I punched him in the face. 

It was my idea of "fun." 

I've got a copy of James Brown LIVE at the Apollo in 1968 to screen before I head back in. 

I'ma pray to that: 

In the name of Jesus or something - which'll make it O.K. See you guys in a couple of days,...

Discombobulated (A Great Big Word For Coming Apart)

A much-needed message, for Romney supporters, who - based on their view of the economy - thought doing and saying anything to win was the way to go:

“Corruption is not about money at all.”

-- David Durk, the late, great NYPD Detective, who - with the help of Frank Serpico - 

exposed a severe lack of ethics in the force.

How "severe"? Let's just say it was considerably more than how conservative Romney is,...

Mitt's Big Booty Bump: The "White Horse" Just Got Phat

Now THIS is the funniest shit I've heard in years: 

Nicki Minaj is throwing her well-rounded but talentless ass behind Mormonism's "White Horse":

"I'm a Republican/voting for Mitt Romney/You lazy bitches is/fucking up the econmy."

Niiiice. Since ol' eagle-eyed Annie called Clint Eastwood's declaration not to trust politicians "unique," I can't wait to hear HER thoughts. Listen to Nicki for yourselves on this Lil Wayne mix tape:

Oh - and for those that don't know - Lil Wayne has consistently been voted the dumbest Rapper working today. I think it's been proven, somewhere, that even listening to Lil Wayne's music makes you dumb (you've been warned) so consider this particular pairing and endorsement - plus the rhyming of "Romney" with "econmy" - as just par for the course,...

Wine About It All You Want: I'm On Facebook

Critical thinking isn't usually hard. One of the good/bad things it shows you is how much time, money, and mental space we waste on nothing - absolutely nothing. For instance, take this headline making the rounds:

All those tweets, apps, updates may drain brain

May I make a suggestion? They also may NOT. And if that's as much of a likelihood (and it is) then why is anyone wasting our time with it? Why is the reporter, James Temple, being paid - in this economy - to waste our time with it? And why should I even bother to think about what James Temple shouldn't be paid to waste my time with?

See, that "may" tells me the entire premise of James Temple's article is a scam, a fraud, a deception, a waste - his entire article means nothing. "All those tweets, apps, updates may drain brain" or "All those tweets, apps, updates may NOT drain brain" but, because nobody knows, there's no point in James Temple telling me because guess what? I read the news to "know" something, not to be introduced to James Temple's guessing games.

Now here's a headline I like:

Blind Tasters Can't Tell Cheap Wines From Expensive

Why do I like it? Because it's actually telling us something we can use. What's it saying? It's saying wine is a scam, a fraud, a deception, a waste - the entire business is based on nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's saying, if you want to drink wine, a cheap bottle is good enough. There's no "may" in there. It's not saying "Blind Tasters May Not Be Able To Tell Cheap Wines From Expensive" - it says they "Can't Tell Cheap Wines From Expensive" - that's definitive. There's no wiggle room. All you have to do is understand that and - viola! - you're free of participating in a con.

But most wine drinkers won't stop participating in the con. Like cultists, after the guru's been busted or exposed, they'll keep on insisting there's something to wine because their identities are wrapped up in not admitting they've spent most of their lives living a lie.

And that - being surrounded by cultish thinking - is what makes critical thinking hard.

(Click the "wine" tag, below, for more on this BS industry.)

Iowahawk: 16 Tons

I'm posting this, partially, because it's such a classic song. Enjoy. If you can,...

Say Something, Anything: "I Will Gladly Pay You On Tuesday For A Hamburger Today" - WTF?!?

Has anyone else noticed the CraigsList trend of employers posting job offers - without posting how much they pay? They all fall back on vague weasel words like "competitive" and "negotiable". What are these, government secrets?

I'm thinking about changing what I've been doing since the murders (since I don't have the financial backing to re-enter music yet) and I went to three different places for applications and to see if the position was still open (none of them posted a phone number) but, once I arrived, not one of them would tell me what the salary was! The last one even got snippy with me because, exasperated, I asked her if she could give me a ballpark figure. Don't these people realize gas (or, for the even more less fortunate bus fare) costs money? There's also the time wasted:

Why would anyone continue to pursue a position if they have no idea if it'll even be worth their time and effort?

Or if the employer starts out the relationship by hiding something? It just makes no sense, or am I missing something?

There's a lot of things that appear wrong in this country but - especially during a recession with high fuel prices - this is a particularly idiotic one, if you ask me.