Unbridled Greed is a mental illness

Unbridled greed is a mental illness.  Healthy human brings don't "need" everything.

The illness with most of the world's wealthy is that if anyone else has anything at all, then it means there is something the rich person does not have.

You're thinking "That's silly! There's lots to go around!"

Which is true, but you've missed the point of the mental illness. It is impossible to "have everything," but by denying others of anything, the illusion becomes "They have nothing, therefore I must already have everything!"

Except it doesn't work like that, and even if the rich person had all the material goods, there are things left over - water, air, animals, people.

Look at Trump and his cronies - look at the GOP leadership - they want to take things away from people and give them to the rich (especially the ultra-mentally-ill-ultra-rich).

Unbridled greed cannot be sated. It is impossible. But, those with the disease of greed will not let things like hurting people stop them from trying to possess everything.

It's Class Warfare - but they overplayed their hand

You don't have to agree with anything I believe.  I will still fight for your right to disagree with me.

I don't have to agree with anything you believe.  I may even disagree with you very aggressively, although I usually wait until you start the insults first. I prefer to argue about the points and the thoughts, and leave the mind-reading to the mystics and mutants.

But you do need to understand that our mutual right to disagree with each other is under assault.  Yes, both of us are under attack.  My rights and your rights. And you and I are being attacked by the same people.

They have lots of names: Oligarchs, Billionaires, Neo-Cons, Fascists, Assholes.

They want you and me to blame each other. They want you and me to fight with each other.

If you and me are fighting with each other, then we're not paying attention to what the Assholes are doing.

They'll try to convince you that taking away your rights is a good thing. Oh, they'll say it's "law and order," and that they are "protecting you."  Funny thing, when you stop listening to the bullshit and think about what they're really selling, and realize how much they're stealing from you.

Stay focused people. We're on the same side - fighting to protect our fundamental rights from those who want to take them away.

It's Class Warfare, Bitches, only this time the villains don't realIze they have over-played their hand, and that we're going to fuck them up.

Each day is a choice

I wake up each morning and have a choice: 

today I will let the annoying people get under my skin, 

or I will laugh at them. 

Some days I laugh so much, my stomach aches.

Try to think before you repost

Thats nice. And the only reason to shout "March organizer!" is in an attempts to discredit 3 million Americans who marched in opposition to President Trump's Sharia-law like policies.

Yes, yes. Let's not forget the real purpose of the meme, even as we all congratulate ourselves for routing out this terrible woman.

Ain't Got Time To Bleed - Class Warfare Doesn't Sleep

I think he covered just about everything and wrapped it up with that evocative tagline. Nice.

Oh, we mock celebrities, but we also worship them (cough Trump cough).  And let's face it, sometimes it takes the eye-grabbing mechanism of a celebrity to get people to stand still for 30 seconds and pay attention. Once attention is grabbed, then maybe the message can be delivered. Gov Ventura is actually quite articulate and had some decent policies during his tenure.

He has a good message here. The big thing he does is appeal to everyone. His message isn't "conservative" nor "liberal" - his message is "We The People Are Fed Up!"

It's a good message. Slap people who split hairs about it, instead of paying attention to the substance (e.g. food genomes are patented, not copyrighted [yet, anyway]).

Boycott Trump business - make them come unglued

We need a massive boycott of every business venture Trump or his people touch in any way. Starve them into panicking, and crank their batshit crazy up a few notches. Make them come really unglued.

And I don't just mean Trump properties - I mean find his suppliers and boycott them. Find out who made the hats and tell them you are boycotting them to protest them helping Trump. Find out who else they make hats for, and tell those companies, they buy from a company supplying Trump, therefore you don't want their goods either.

If no one wants to buy from Trump's suppliers, no one will sell to Trump. If no one will sell to Trump, even his bobble head worshipers cannot buy from him.

And not just Trump, but the Cabinet - Tillerson or De Vos and all those swampland alligator billionaire cronies installed specifically to hurt America.

Starve their business partners and they panic. They think money is important. They worship money. They suffer an insanity of greed and the ego that comes from syncophants fawning over them.

Cut off their connections, and they panic. Make them panic - make them feel Trump is toxic - and they pull the plug on him.

Starve the greedy by cutting off their egos, and change the world.

Modern "conservatives" kind of suck

Perhaps I'm naive, but I tend to think of real conservatives as people who care about family, children, personal and financial responsibility, taking care of the less fortunate, being nice to strangers and thinking everyone deserves a chance to life a rich and fulfilling life, and sometimes that means lending a hand to create secure footing to help people grow and be whom they can be. You know, shit Jesus mumbled about, like taking care of each other, feeding the poor, helping the foreigner, and all that hippie shit he's famous for.

The modern GOP hold none of the values I just mentioned. Nada. Zip. Zilch. The modern GOP are all greedy elitist opportunists. The vast majority have college degrees and many of them have graduate or doctoral degrees. The vast majority of them were born into wealth and privilege and sought the feed trough of public office to force others to their whims, or even to openly exploit the perks and graft available.

"Don't screw it up," indeed. The modern GOP are about to fuck everyone - starting with anyone NOT heterosexual and white, and moving on to religion, and finally - but not least - stripping women's rights like the Taliban. The modern GOP is going to use every excuse to crush the poor, create a new two-tiered society of the privileged and the trampled, and only fools don't see that.

The GOP go scorched fucking earth

I knew the GOP were fucking insane, but never in my worst cynical nightmares did I ever imagine they would go scorched earth on everything, including starting fights with the entire fucking planet, IN THE FIRST FOUR DAYS.

Recall the GOP - drag them out of office NOW

We don't have time to fuck about.  The GOP control has hit a critical mass, especially at the state level.  Just a few more GOP Governors and they can force a Constitutional Congress and re-write the goddamn Constitution against the will of the people.

"Recall is a procedure that allows citizens to remove and replace a public official before the end of a term of office. Historically, recall has been used most frequently at the local level. By some estimates, three-fourths of recall elections are at the city council or school board level. This brief, however, focuses on the recall only as it applies to state officials."

Source

Nineteen (19) states, plus the District of Columbia allow recall of state officials.  This happened in Wisconsin in 2011, when voters replaced two (2) of Scott Walkers state Senate cronies with more reasonable people.  The GOP likes to say "Haha, you failed, because you only displaced two of the six you tried to displace!"  Yeah, well, the key element there:  the GOP lost two seats, because the voters said "Fuck this shit! We're recalling your fucking asses!"

We - the sane voting public - may be not be able to recall the President directly, but if we get grassroots recalls all over the damn country, and the GOP start losing seats at state and local levels - even just a few seats - then the rest of the GOP - for example, in the US Congress and US Senate - will start to take notice that the sane voters are fed up with this shit and want their country back from the "alt-right" fascist #NuclearCheeto fringe who have taken over the government.

Musical Monday - Roundtable Rival - Lindsey Stirling

I like Steampunk.
I like Lindsey Stirling.
I like classical music.
I like the blending of classical instruments with rock and roll.
I like cheesy "show down stories."
What's not to love about this video?

Women's March 2017

Just to repeat for the slow learners in the room (who, sadly, also like to congratulate themselves for their dull-witted ideas), the Women's March 2017 was never, ever, about trying to change the election results. That ship sailed people, you're the only ones still stuck in the past.

The Women's March 2017 has always been about making sure Trump knows his bullshit stinks and we're not going to sit by while he smears his shit all over the country.

It was one thing when he was bullshitting you slow thinkers - it was kind of funny watching you cheer how good you smelled after wallowing in his bullshit.

But, the game changed, didn't it? Yeah, and you slow-thinkers still haven't caught on to how it changed. Trump isn't going to stop shitting on you. He's going to do it more and harder and to all the rest of us, too

Come on, slow-learners. Catch up - we've moved on to making sure Trump and his billinaire swamp monkey cronies know we recognize tolitarian bullshit and we didn't tolerate it in 1945 and we're not putting up with it today.

Any questions? Class dismissed.

Trump is separating from reality and we're all in danger

Watching Trump post-signing it's clear he's losing his grip on reality , or perhaps that reality is losing its grip on him. You can see it in his body language "You mean by signing here, I can undo everything that black guy worked so hard for, and I can make millions of people cry? Wonderful! I'm God!"

He knows he is invincible. He knows he creates his own reality. He knows people will do whatever the fuck he wants done. That isn't actual reality, but it is his reality, just as Medieval Kings used to torment and humiliate people around them for jaded amusement, so does Trump, and he is only going to get worse.

Impeachment Now - Tyrant Trump - this ain't funny

Dear Paul Ryan,

Donald Trump openly declared his insane intention to throw Congress to the mob, shred the Constitution and install himself as dictator-for-life.  You just have to pull your head from your ass and know how to listen.

It is in your enlightened self-interest, and the interest of  all Americans, to quit pretending you can dance with the tiger, and impeach his ass as fast as possible.

He promised to burn the GOP to the ground. He owns your voting base. He is not sane. He will eat you alive. You will lose.

Impeach him now.

Sincerely,
Nostradamus (aka Icarus Anne Riley)

I wish it was the flu (Trump Flu)

Doctor: "Well, it's not the flu. The test came back negative."

Me: "It has to be the flu. I've been throwing up for a week."

Doctor: "I'm going to run one more test. PRESIDENT TRUMP!"

Me: "..."

Doctor: "Definitely not the flu. I'll get someone to clean that up."

January 20, 2017 - a day of mourning for human decency

The brilliant Jonah Perkins wordsmithed so eloquently, I stare doe-eyed at his awesomeness, and had to capture it here, to make sure the words could be referenced time again and again and fucking time again(!)

The inauguration of a US president is normally a moment of great hope. It is a celebration of representative democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. It is an affirmation that the ideals and laws set out in the 1789 US constitution, still a global paradigm for modern-day governance, continue to be honoured and observed. Inauguration confers legitimacy on a head of state in the name of “we, the people”. The incumbent has a duty to respect and uphold the constitution’s central aims, namely “to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty”.

The inauguration this Friday of Donald Trump as 45th US president is not a normal moment. Nor for the majority of Americans who did not vote for him, and countless onlookers around the globe, is it a moment of hope. Rather, Trump’s ascent to what is commonly termed the world’s most powerful job is a moment of dread, anxiety and great foreboding. We said, after he won the Republican nomination last summer, that Trump has shown himself unfit to be president. His often-demonstrated ignorance, racial bigotry, misogyny, untruthfulness, hostility to free speech, crude bullying and dangerous, rabble-rousing nationalism utterly disqualify him.

Nothing has occurred since Trump narrowly won last November’s election, despite polling nearly three million fewer votes than the Democrats’ Hillary Clinton, to alter this unhappy conclusion. The president-elect’s press conference last week failed to justify hopes that the imminent, awesome responsibilities of office would moderate his reckless behaviour. In a matter of minutes, he slandered America’s intelligence agencies, threatened Mexico, vowed again to build a border wall, pistol-whipped US businesses that invest abroad, took a wrecking ball to Obamacare, pilloried unfavoured news organisations, and boasted about a shady $2bn business deal. This is not the behaviour of a president.

Although only days away from the Oval Office, Trump continues to blurt out half-baked opinions on sensitive issues, like a bar-room boor. He appears not to think before he opens his mouth or his Twitter account. And what pops out is usually offensive, inflammatory or inaccurate, exemplified by last week’s insulting of Meryl Streep. Hopefully, speechwriters more sensible than he will craft his inaugural address. Friday’s ceremony is a momentous occasion. It will be watched around the world. It is a showcase for America. Yet Trump is an embarrassment. His elevation is a national humiliation.

Few will enjoy this gross spectacle more than Vladimir Putin, Russia’s messianic president, and his plausibly deniable teams of cyberhackers, conspirators, fake newsmen and skilled muddiers of pools. Russia’s election interference on Trump’s behalf, publicly certified by the Obama administration and all the US intelligence agencies, has cast a dark shadow. The release last week of an unverified dossier alleging Russian contacts with Trump’s campaign staff and the gathering of blackmail material against him has intensified fears that Moscow is still trying, directly or indirectly, to manipulate the president-elect, by exploiting his inexperience, vanity and naive view of Putin.

(And to any and all - please drop reference links in the Comments below - I want the reality of this monster  - this "President Trump" - to be remembered forever, and to be a big hammer hitting the heads of his worshipers every damn day.)

Inauguration Day - God Save Us All

January 20, 2017. Inauguration Day. President Trump is already the least popular President in history, and that was before he was even sworn in.

There is no way to say this isn't a cluster fuck. Well, no reasonable human being can say that anyway.

Trump stormed into the shadows years ago as a publicity stunt. He's a conman. A circus ringleader. He is a bad one, too. He has bankrupted numerous businesses - including his own - and including a casino. A casino! That's a field so stacked in favor of the house that no one loses money in it. Except Trump.

Trump played the suckers of the nation like a fiddle. And they bought the fantasy he was selling.  But the fantasy was just that - a lie to trick fools into making stupid decisions. Now he is poised to steal everything you have.

Not today, Mister President. You occupy the White House, but you will never be worthy of it.

Model Nadya Sonika

Trump Card: It's the end of the world

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
And I need wine.....

Bite my ass, Trumpette

Dear Trump Special Snowflakes. Bite my tight ass, you selfish, whiny, flip-flopping, self-congratulatory celebrity worshippers.

Because it was never about Obama's birth certificate, And it was never about Trump's tax evasion (or what a lousy businessman he is) - it was always about Trump being a celebrity and how special he makes his clowns feel.

Yeah, funny thing that. Trump spent the last five years winding up white people, and openly used racism in his campaign, and the KKK and Nazi groups endorsed him, but gee, he ain't racist.

Been there, ranted about it.

Self-absorbed little tits can't ever grasp the concept of their own behavior setting the bar so low that they've successfully dragged everyone down.

Don't whine to me about losing your health insurance, your job, your social security or your food stamps. I voted for a candidate who was actually qualified for the job.

All labor requires skill

There is no such thing as "unskilled" labor. Every task requires some measure of training to perform. We can say "low skill" labor, but that doesn't eliminate the problem of cost of training. Many studies have shown that it is more cost effective in the long haul to train and maintain experienced and skilled labor than to have massive churn and waste resources constantly starting over. But, try explaining that to a billionaire who doesn't give a fuck, or to an angry paycheck-survivor who can't find work, because the billionaire thinks peasants are never worth anything.

See also

Important details about concrete stairs

Remember to never replace your interior house stairs with second-hand concrete ones from eBay, no matter house cheap they are. The wall wasn't built for them, so they'll pull out the moorings. And when the toddler tries to climb the sagging edge, the decorative palm tree wil knock the head off the ceiling sprinkler. Thus, your house flood, ruining plans to go to the movie.

I am never taking a nap again. My dreams are too exhausting.

(source)

(Yes, that was tongue-in-cheek. Can't be serious all the time.)

If Clinton was President - the GOP would have rioted

Of course they would. The GOP about power, fuck pansy concepts like fairness, ethics or morality.

(Source)

If you look across the inconsistent mess of GOP behaviors and choices, they look like complete and inconsistent flip-floppers. They appears to be all over the place.

Until you step back and realize every action by the GOP promotes GOP by - either direct power brand like gerrymandering and North Carolina, or "fuck you" damaging policies like Ted Cruz shutting down the government or repealing the ACA/ObamaCare without any plan for replacement.

Then you realize the GOP have been consistent all along. It's always about power, and it's always about hurting people.

It's Class Warfare, Bitches.

Musing

Human Stupidity is my [unwelcome] Muse. There is no sleep when the Muse howls off-key.

Clinton is irrelevant

Clinton is irrelevant, because she ain't about to be sworn in as President. Clinton doesn't matter anymore. It's time for people to stop congratulating themselves for not voting for Clinton. It doesn't matter. Move on.

In contrast, Trump is already fucking up every part of Government of The People, By The People, For The People, and turning YOUR GOVERNMENT into yet another cash cow privilege machine FOR DONALD fuck everyone else hahaha TRUMP.

Icarus for POTUS?

Well, I am better qualified than President Trump in every conceivable way.

Princess Leia - RIP

Princess Leia. The first Disney Princess who could fire a blaster, bring down an Empire, and build a new one in the aftermath. Suck it, Cinderella.

Carrie Fisher had a long and distinguished career as a writer, actor, etc., and she was very open about her struggles with drug addiction, and thru that openness helped many people. Her most famous role was Princess Leia in Star Wars.

I'm fucking crying, Stupid 2016.

7 things you probably didn't know about Carrie Fisher




And if you're looking for my usual trademark satire.

Batting 50 000!

You guys love me sooooo much!  

(Thank you for the love!)

This is a tongue-in-cheek series I've been doing for the slightly-more-than two years I've been running this blog.  I'm constantly blown away by the continued popularity of my blog.  That means a lot to me, since I've got a secret agenda to make the people of the world use their damn brains.

view count	days (delta)	days (total)	views per day during the period	posts (delta)	posts (total)	views per post (total average)
1000	94	94	10.6	85	85	11.8
2000	72	166	13.9	52	137	14.6
3000	34	200	29.4	28	165	18.2
4000	21	221	47.6	16	181	22.1
5000	15	236	66.6	12	193	25.9
6000*	30	266	33.3	17	210	28.6
7000	17	283	58.8	18	228	30.7
8000	34	317	29.4	18	246	32.5
9000	14	331	71.4	10	256	35.2
10 000	18	349	55.5	10	266	37.6
15 000	58	407	86.2	31	297	50.4
20 000	76	483	65.7	32	329	60.8
25 000	82	565	61.0	28	357	70.0
30 000	58	623	86.6	27	384	78.2
40 000	145	768	68.8	62	446	89.7
50 000	86	854	116.3	72	518	96.5

Here is the graph I always include, showing the "inexorable" rise of my "views per post," because it amuses me to act like I'm going to conquer the world some day, like maybe around the time the Starship Enterprise makes her maiden voyage and all that.

And in the same category of "I'm cool, because I say so," here is a graph of the number of people who want G+ to tell them about my latest antics.
(You guys are cool! I've got an awesome G+ community! Thank you!)

(Okay, not such an amazing graph, but it is pretty to look at how it climbs like that.)

Glittery pink banner courtesy of CoolText.com

I feel like I'm losing my marbles

Which sucks, because I was always fond of the big one with the rainbow ribbon inside, and tiny little chip from the time I threw it at my best friend, because she stepped on my favorite doll. Ah, marbles.

I guess at least it's not anthrax (or Anthrax).

Chase the root cause, dumbass

The other thing to remember is that the "war on drugs" failed. It was an absolute disaster, because money was funneled to the rich wasted by chasing the drugs themselves and never addressing the reasons such people wanted drugs in the first place.

Why do people want drugs? Because it makes them feel better - same reason they want alcohol and porn and gambling and all those other things that are generally fine in small amounts, and destroy lives in large amounts.

"Feel better" is a deliberately  fuzzy term - "stop feeling pain by becoming numb" is a valid definition of "feel better."

Also "enhance performance" is a valid definition - this is why rich people (like Trump) do cocaine - it "energizes" them and helps them "do more faster."

People want things - people gonna get things. History proves this over and over and over (Prohibition anyone?).

Wake up, people, and realize making drugs illegal is a waste of resources.  Make them all legal and then funnel all that money into drug rehab programs, into job training programs, into stress management programs.

But, now you can begin to realize that the point isn't to help people - it's deliberate to keep people down - to control the masses thru moralizism.

It's Class Warfare, Bitches.

Doublethink - memes piss me off

Memes that piss me off -

Those aren't scientists who do that. Those are paid hacks. Real scientists have trouble finding jobs at Big Pharma, for the very reason this meme says.

So, this meme has a valid point in the attack on big pharma, but the subversion is also an attack on science - the secondary message is "scientists lie, so don't believe scientists." An iconic case of using a kind of "doublethink," (though, I admit, not strictly doublethink) to undermine everyone.

(original rant)