Old Skool Skateboard Trivia

The new Bennett Vector Re-Issue trucks are not as good as the old Bennett Pro's or Bennett Hijackers. The "pivot ball" that is part of the hanger has been engineered "too big." It does not pivot as freely in the "pivot cup." Therefore the "truk" does not turn nearly as easily as the old ones did in the late l970's. If you take a grinder and grind down the "knob" that goes in the pivot cup, you can get closer to the original engineering of the Bennett truck.

The new Re-Issue Tunnel Rocks wheels are too soft. Compared to a vintage OJ wheel or a Roadrider they are too soft, even for a 78a durometer. This makes them slow and they seem to slip on tight turns.

Abec ll is the best company to chose for old school skateboard wheels. They have their concept together, and their wheels reflect solid thought, concept, and engineering.

Redistributing Old Money

Who would know that the real face of the Republican party was that of a redneck from Texas? There once was a time that a Republican was represented by a businessman in a freshly pressed gray suit smoking a cigar in a posh men’s social club in Manhattan. Listening to Tom Delay speak on Hardball this evening shored up this image of the Republican party. Everything that came out of his mouth was a lie. Calling Barack Obama a Socialist for wanting to redistribute the wealth in America was enough. Could we just paraphrase Delay’s statement to say, “We’re the Old Money. We have always had the money, and we should keep the money. Screw everyone else.” It is this redneck, Texas, renegade attitude that has plagued this government and this nation for the last eight years. Bully the Supreme Court? Excuse me Mr. Delay, but you are mistaken. George Bush and his failed cabinet were responsible for bullying the Supreme Court. I am all but certain Barack Obama has had nary a thought about such. To utter dishonest and ignorant words on national television albeit at 3:00 a.m. on MSNBC is a desperate plea for the failing John McCain campaign. When we as Americans are left to lying as a last hope…. Well I think the fat lady truly has sung in this case. When a former House Majority Leader gets it this wrong, you can understand why he was not the Speaker. Indictments and convictions today are commonplace in American politics and finally it seems, “What goes around is coming around” for the first time in eight long years of political disaster. The recent bail out of Wall Street assures that all ready we are a Socialist nation. The severe penalties of greed in the public marketplace have been masked by a doting mother’s hand. This nation always has been Socialist, because when private business fails they look to our federal government to bail them out. If we truly were Capitalist then no such bailout should have occurred, whether the American home owner needed it or not. We have always been a Socialist nation disguised as a Capitalist one, because losing money is not in the real spirit of the “American Way.” With the good comes the bad and responsibility for one’s mistakes. If we were a Capitalist nation, Wall Street’s hands still would be empty, and we would be using George Bush's and Dick Cheney's money to finance the War in Iraq.

The New Messiah

It is refreshing for what seems like the first time in years to see Americans proudly doing their jobs without fear of political reciprocation. For the first time in eight years the FBI seems to be doing what they should have been doing all along. They are not concerned with the hypothetical “War on Terror.” They have been steered back on course by the recent financial down turn. Domestic issues are what have been lacking from the Bush regime. While a few busloads of Extreme Muslims turned his presidency on its ear, the problems facing every day Americans has not changed. Diverting Americans’ interests to the president’s interests has failed on a massive scale, and let’s hope media remembers it. Reading daily headlines about the War in Iraq cleverly skated over the issues crucial to the survival of this country. How are we going to drive our cars around with no homes, no energy, and no money? The landscape that scenario paints is almost epic in proportion. Long desert roads littered with junkers. Hasn’t this all ready been depicted in a film? Mad Max? The premonition we would be running our vehicles on pig shit was not that far reached, but we have to get through biodiesel first. Should corn farmers be lining up their howitzers for the incoming blitz of the Commerce Department? With all this in mind it seems clean energy is a wise choice as a philosophical base of America. Many ask the question why this decision was not made years ago. Al Gore was vocal in his opposition of the internal combustion engine, and that view labeled him as an extremist. It is not dissimilar to the predicament of building an interstate highway all along the Pacific coast. Like the citizens of Vancouver, they opposed such a plan in favor of maintaining a warm, clean, humanistic coastline. Who was such a plan to serve? The auto industry. Americans have been forced to worship the graven image of the automobile since its inception. We did it with glee, because anything can be spun to resemble our fondest friends, including evil. The automobile was not inherently evil, but the industries that support it must be kept to moderation. Anything to excess in life soon becomes a liability. Oil has become such a thing in the last eight years. England recently erected a field of wind turbines in the North Atlantic ocean. China has financed its own space program. Many other countries are excelling in ways America once did. Why is this, because the minds and hearts of the American people have been diverted to believe what our president believes. In doing so our interests have been shifted to his interests. Most Americans are not interested in a War on Terror. We have enough troubles in our own backyard. Those have not gone away. Youth violence, poverty, and homelessness have not waned in the Bush years. Instead media made a conscious decision to report predominantly on the War on Terror. As media shifted to this political agenda the mainstream of America quietly died. Our America, what has always been America, waned to be replaced by crystal-meth induced video games and horror flicks. This transformation was so quick and so stark, it continues to keep America on its heels. Only with a resurgence of patriotism founded in the recent presidential campaign has our soul been resurrected. The FBI is breaking up child prostitution rings, investigating corrupt politicians, and aiding in the prosecution of South American drug cartels. These things are beneficial to the American people domestically. The War on Terror is of no consequence to Americans in their daily lives. Why have we been living in this epic realm for eight long years? Is it because George W. Bush is the anti-Christ, and Barack Obama is the Messiah? Some think so. It will be nice when things can just get back to normal.

Oil Barons

When faced with the daunting prospect of creating new jobs, why is it every one in the nation is dumbfounded? Being “green” seems to be the logical answer, but it is difficult to buy into a “green” campaign when it has been launched by the same companies that created the problem. Likewise it has been difficult to buy into the current political campaign, because the majority of America’s problems in the last eight years have been created by the President. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” That has been the popular adage. Hypocrisy is a strong emotion, and as our emotions should do, it jolts us into a sense of reality. Without these jolts it could be human beings would just wander the earth like lost sheep. Animals have emotions too, and they can be extrapolated as their instincts. While their brains may be small, their hearts are big and this has allowed them to flourish for thousands of years. Somehow in the last decade the reason of emotion and instinct has been put asunder. Traditional emotions that have been unwavering for centuries suddenly changed rendering America a new frontier for the bleak of heart. The emotions that defined humanity, mainly love, were poisoned by a myriad of resources. How can it be that the very foundation of our artistic system was rendered impotent in such a short time frame? Everything the human being has thought about, felt, and stood for throughout history has changed, or has it? Maybe Americans really are not the fish out of water at all. Maybe the principles America has lived by since her birth still stand, and someone or some thing has attempted to change the rules. Maybe globalization diluted the American landscape so drastically we lost our roots. You would hope Americans would be bellyaching. You would hope good Americans full of Americanism would have been pacing their hallways, bursting at their seems, and yearning for a familiar playing field. Weren’t all the things we used to do as Americans substantial? Were we destined to talk on miniature microwave ovens? Were we destined to have three remote controls for the TV? Were our vehicles destined to have PC’s that communicate with the Department of Motor Vehicles. They are just cars, and they were built to serve us. How is it most products being sold today are the opposite? They seem to be being built to serve the manufacturer, the merchant, or the red tape. OBDll test? Thankfully with the recent downturn in availability of credit, the fundamentals of American life are resurfacing. Americans once again are standing face to face with survival, and we as a country are up for the task of succeeding. It is what we have done for over 200 years. It is not fair a passé of elite, wealthy, oil barons came in and changed the game.

American Totalitarianism

Life in the United States has not changed that drastically in the last decade, or has it? I don’t think the habits of the human race ever will be that different than what they were in the year 20 A.D. We are human, we eat, poop, drink, and have sex. Above all of these needs though is the need to think. Life without thinking is unpleasant no matter how pleasant the “vibe.” Vibe can get you through hard times, but it can’t get you out of the long run. Drugs, alcohol, sex, and food can be anodynes, but as any recovering addict knows they quickly wear off. “Hitting the bottom” isn’t pleasant. Thinking is what allows us to stay off the bottom. Being a bottom feeder for a time in one’s life makes us stronger. It let’s us know with fury we cannot live on vibe, because vibe is intangible. It was said on public radio a few days ago emotional responses are triggered by the body. The body as a living feeling being receives sensory information that triggers responses. There, I’ve said it. We are not androids. We are not Conservative Right-Wingers. We are not the Christian Coalition. We are human beings whether we like it or not. Whether we like it or not our minds are subject to alteration by a set of senses which in turn cause emotions. How we train our minds to deal with this information is how we create security in our own lives. Unfortunately we no longer live in the Garden of Eden. Original sin is all around us, and Eve constantly is offering us that apple. What are we to trust? If we trust our bodily senses it then would be easy to be manipulated by say… media, big business, or our federal government. If we cease to use our minds and don’t learn to be “Doubting Thomas’s,” we are fodder for the wolves. That is exactly what America has become over the last eight years with a little help from our friends. Not only have our only venues for enlightenment been weakened, we have been subjected to “A Campaign of Fear and Intimidation” by our own society. Media, business, and our government have inadvertently collaborated to dupe the unsuspecting American people. We have fewer and fewer places from which to learn wise behavior, and consequently we become at the mercy of our merchants, our employers, and our leaders. When faced with this threat we have become so dependent upon a mother’s tit, we no longer can stand up and exercise the very actions that have defined America from her inception. Rebellion? Revolution? Maverick? How can it be the entire philosophical foundations of being a prudent American have been replaced with irresponsible behavior on all fronts? When anyone raised an eyebrow and questioned immoral or unethical behavior the powers at be played the “Atheist” card. Time magazine did a cover story doubting the existence of God. How can this not be evil in its purest form planting the seeds of doubt in the furrows of our souls? There is a time in human life where man no longer should have to doubt himself. Religions provides this option, and it provides a finger in the dike that allows us not to have to worry about our existence on an epic level. Certainly any wise human being takes for fuel the negative experiences of their and history’s messages, but there reaches a time when as human beings we are afforded the “Right to the Pursuit of Happiness.” Once it was guaranteed in the United States Constitution. In eight years of the Bush Administration we have become “Doubting Thomas’s” but doubting the wrong things. Instead of questioning why our traditional infrastructure and way-of-life immediately were challenged by the new Conservative Right political regime, we were coerced to doubt our own lifestyles. Two centuries of planning, execution, and harvesting of the “American Way” were brushed under the carpet for an elite, selfish, rich few. These “Supremacists” put the Stalinists, Nazis, and Fascists on a whole to shame. While there actions were covert they almost were the undoing of the world’s greatest superpower, the United States of America. Hasn’t a lesson been learned? Solitary confinement in life is hell, but maybe that is where they belong anyway.

9/11, the American Holocaust

It is difficult while in the midst of adversity always clearly to see the truth. Evil, after all, manifests itself as good. This is the true test of exposing evil, separating it from the good like which it has modeled itself. The last eight years of the Bush Administration more clearly are becoming a testament to this fight against evil. While more astute American’s have been cognizant of an on going presence of evil, the Bush Administration has done an admirable job of disguising itself. Only in a very small pig’s eye could Americans realize the superficiality of Bush’s plan. Only a mind of such small proportions could step in such a huge pile of shit. Recently it was said in media coverage of the presidential campaign it mattered NOT how much of an intellect the president was. “If they can make sound, just, decisions in the face of growing threat then they are justified to be president.” This only is applicable in adolescence, a social growing period where teenagers not yet have been equipped with the tools to think through a social problem with their brains. The cultural history of America is streaked with such decisions based upon instinctual and emotional reaction rather then lucid reasonable thought. This process is the very definition of our educational system, an invaluable system which in essence should enlighten our youth to the virtues of NOT using their bodies to make decisions. Our current media network has done nothing but support this drastic loss of emphasis on this schooling process. Remarkably both systems, media and education, like almost every other program necessary to the well being of our nation, have been dismantled or obscured under the Bush Administration. Only in the recent days of the presidential campaign has this become so clear. We as American’s suspected the Bush Administration was this evil, but is has not been until now with a slight emergence of our former existence, that we see clearly the severity of the problem. The hypothesis that George Orwell’s “Newspeak” has become a reality is true. Media has been taken over by moguls, and their best interest is certainly not that of the America people. Like the Bush Administration their best interests are their own monetary ones. It is difficult to fathom a more ignorant cause. “We don’t care about the issues or what the people think. We only want to take and maintain power even at the expense of the entire country.” George Bush’s Holocaust was 9/11, and although on a smaller scale this genocide was equally as potent. It will go down in history as the earmark of his evil dictatorship as will the media conspiracy. Together the Bush Regime has wreaked American havoc not unlike other more tumultuous social travesties in other countries, it is just that it has been obscured.

The Scourge of Media in the United States

If I hear one more “Screaming Mimi” yell at me from that box how grateful I should be to be an American I am likely to commit a terrorist act. Otherwise I am a law-abiding Christian citizen. It is funny how such a box can provoke such a violent reaction. Isn’t this what Extreme Muslims have been yelling about the last 8 years, hypocrisy and provocation? When exactly did television journalism become immune from the Checks and Balances that once governed their profession? I guess these guidelines like all the others have been whisked by the wayside. Especially now with the “changing of the guard” coming and the eminent “lame duck” period of the United States Presidency, they think no one is paying attention. Who could not realize that media coverage of the presidential campaign has become nothing more than a juvenile, “He said, she said” yelling match with no apparent accountability. Under a moment of reflection that is understandable. The governmental regulations that once prevented these occurrences: lack of credibility in the media, responsibility on Wall Street, honesty in defense contracting, and the list goes on…. these Checks and Balances systematically have been dismantled like the Federal Office of Noise Abatement under the Environmental Protection agency. The can of worms has been opened for the noise, and it is coming from the television. Can we easily forget for the first time in United States history the Supreme Court Justices have been threatened with violence for not voting the way of the Bush Administration? Attorney General’s were fired from their jobs for attempting to expose and prosecute governmental scandal. The example has been set, and although we would like to believe with the hope of a new figure in the White House these policies have eased, they continue with fervor. It is schizophrenic. Americans would like to believe in the presidential campaign with our anachronistic sentimentality of patriotism, but we can’t. The rotten egg is and has been in the hen house, and the stink will not go away until inauguration day. Victims of the Bush White House are continuing to reap these diseased crops every time we turn on the television. It will take a long time to turn the country around, but let’s hope Barack Obama can do it. It should begin with mass firings. Choosing of a cabinet is something for which to look forward, but how will the “trickle down” fraud and deception be eliminated? This is in our private sector, and with media tycoons at the helm it may prove difficult. The test will be, “Who really is in charge of this country.” I hope Barak Obama can change that.

Puddles of Piss....

The current presidential campaign is nothing but a parody. When I turn on the television set, inappropriately our most convenient avenue of media awareness, I see a caricature of a presidential campaign. I see a soulless face with shark-dead eyes and horse teeth, and I see a Disney character that should be in the Jungle Book. That is just what I see. My mind, like is necessary on a daily basis in America, is responsible for filling in the gaps. The reality with which we are faced daily is too severe to fathom with our senses and our emotions. With the ruining of our environment the quality of life humans once were guaranteed upon waking has been replaced with neurosis. We no longer are afforded the pleasure of indulging our senses to live. The once important sensory sensations that defined the decade of the l980’s have been robbed in lieu of product. The entire country of America has become Columbus, Ohio and we like lab rats have become nothing but pawns of a corrupt government and a greedy private sector. The epic romance that defined the decade of the l980’s defies any intelligible interpretation from the youth of this generation, because they have not experienced that extreme pleasure. Define our culture with fashion? With music? With love? Jihad has taken this picture perfect depiction away with the planning of one major event, 9/11. Maybe it was time America grew up. Grunge musicians began screaming about the loss of our quality of life in the early l990’s. Did anyone of power really listen to Kurt Cobain before he killed himself with a shotgun? Has anyone taken the time to understand what the Grunge or Indie Rock movement stood for and about what they were concerned? Like the current media conspiracy that with stealth has bought our traditional media outlets and replaced them with a campaign of fear and intimidation, the message of these tormented youth was brushed under the rug by the groundwork laid by Tipper Gore. Ronald Reagan was responsible for eliminating anti-mainstream protest in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. AIDS did the rest by stymieing a brief period of homosexual revolution. Now “Pop Up Video,” once a television device that used to amuse us with the overindulgent antics of Rock ‘n’ Rollers from the l980's attempts to frighten us with its right wing, Christian Coalition-type, conservative morality. Almost every traditional avenue of our American entertainment has become a camp ground for fear-invoking indoctrination. Are the American people buying it? Are people watching this low brow filth on television? It is hard not to watch what has been such a standing tradition in Americana, yet we can’t. If we do and systematically do not disengage our instincts, our senses, and our emotions, we will self destruct. The images are so stark, so bleak, and so barren there is nothing left in America to fill the cavernous void of life. If you are not in love then good luck, because the playground with which we are left is nothing but a toxic waste dump. It seems appropriate in the last years of earthy existence we are reduced to dodging puddles of piss.

Under the Ruse of “Americanism”

What have we seen in the last 8 years to reinforce our perception of “Americanism?” Have we seen corner drugstores flourish? Have we seen any small businesses flourish? We saw the dot.com bust. We saw what was and should have remained a “small business” become fodder for Wall Street and investment capital. It popped. Have we seen our constitutional rights be upheld in defense of the common man? Have we seen the economy flourish? Contrarily we have seen our hard-earned American tax dollar be squandered by the Bush administration on an overseas war against an enemy that probably would not have surfaced had it not been for George W. Bush himself. It seems Osama Bin Ladin still harbors some of those childhood memories. Some think the apocalypse will happen in our lifetimes. I believe it is happening now, and the demonic elements that are prophesized in the Book of Revelations actually are what are occurring now. What else could define the lunacy and evil of today’s events? Maybe if you have a big bottle of whiskey, a fat joint, or a hit of crystal meth you can overlook the world’s reality. Is that they way we were intended to handle our lives? George Bush has continued to feed the American people drugs in lieu of solutions to problems, and like cheap mortgages and over-valued homes they have been but a false remedy to life’s ills. God is screaming. We are accused of being Anti-American if we to not ascribe to media’s shallow and immediate definitions of “Americanism.” Let the canker be lanced! Let the wound be penetrated and let the puss easily and readily flow cleansing the world from this propagandized assault on our reason. Human life is not the television. Human life is not “Reality TV,” Rupert Murdoch’s Australianized version of America, or a “Campaign of Fear and Intimidation.” Life should be able to unfold on a clean, neutral, and arbitary earth with no electro-magnetic infiltration, media propaganda, or eco-pollution. We should have clean air, clean water, and a quiet environment. We are afforded by the United States Constitution a right to the pursuit of happiness, but our federal government all but has vanquished this opportunity for the common man. We are losing our homes, our habitat, and our humanity. Has this price been worth whatever evil has been seeking?

Media Scams

1984 has long since passed, but as history has shown the immediacy of the internet cannot change the apocalypse. While George Orwell’s prophecy for a totalitarian New World Order may have passed in dog years, the ramifications of his idea and many other writers of science fiction are coming to fruition at an alarming rate. It is difficult for America to “get with the program” because a corrupt media is the liaison between Pro-America and Anti-America. How could it be any American would wish the ways of Extreme Muslim on our native soil? That idea is the antithesis of the “American Way,” yet unprovoked violence still continues in America. Is it that most Americans use a “gut instinct” to determine their political views? This was reiterated in the media concerning presidential candidates. “Is it important how much intellectual knowledge the President or Vice-President has if they are able to make lucid, heart-felt decisions under pressure and stand by them?” It is a reasonable point, but in light of America’s deepening economic burden it would seem the American people deserve more. Our crisis has moved past the Bay of Pigs. We are not worrying about the threat of the invasion of Communism by Russians. We are worried about financial corruption in our own backyards. The Capitalist system most Americans depend upon on a daily basis is in jeopardy. It seems this is what it takes to bring an ongoing problem in the federal government to light. Until economic issues effect Americans directly, they will not respond. The decade of “feeding candy to the baby is over.” No longer can the Bush regime administer insulin shots to pacify the “snake.” America no longer can continue issuing temporary anodynes to the public in place of sound economic solutions. What is interesting is the vehicle upon which these false prophecies have ridden. Propaganda. George Orwell’s prophecy of Newspeak has come true, and as Rupert Murdoch continues to buy American media pathways of honesty in reporting the news will continue to become obscured. Has it finally occurred that this evil practice will effect everyone, the rich and the poor? Is this what it takes, or will the “powers at be,” the ones with the money will continue to let America spiral into a black hole to be judged by Jesus in God’s second appearance on earth? All eyes seem to look toward that day of judgment. Is there any way to change the immediate path of destiny and circumnavigate biblical prophecy? If we in this lifetime want to continue on a path of human proportions, we will have to come to grips with our own shortcomings and find a solution soon, lest God come and strike us down. Can we not prove prophecy anachronistic, at least for the moment?

Clouding the Issue of Socialism

If Americans were to judge the validity of the federal government’s recent bailout of Wall Street by the media, they would think it was a good thing. Certainly there was no news coverage that favored a negative view of the bailout. Does that not suggest that media in America today only is propaganda for the federal government, or is it propaganda for something else? Wall Street perhaps? That is a fitting example seeing as after decades of independent operation the Wall Street Journal flinched and was bought by Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp. Has anyone stopped to think the Wall Street bailout by Americans’ tax dollars was not a good idea? That is because it was spun. The Wall Street credit bailout was instigated by the loss of homes via high risk mortgages designed by Wall Street minds. There was no accountability for the loss, only faint echoes of more strenuous federal regulation in the future. There was no Grand Jury hearing. There were no public trials for corruption. There were no media exposes of deviant financial doings. That hopefully all is to come. Hopefully the scourge of Wall Street, the greedy tendencies, and the irresponsible mortgages will be exposed so America can continue buying homes. Was the Wall Street bailout a good thing, or are we continuing to do the same thing Bush economics have done for the last eight years. Did the federal government bailout Enron? What did the federal government do in the Savings and Loan Scandal? How was it the House of Representatives fervently rejected the bailout one day, and a day later the legislation “passed Congress.” There was not apparent media coverage of what words were changed, who in the House changed their vote, or how the bailout specifically would help America. It only was a bailout, a re-filling of the credit coffers to get money moving again, money that Americans do not own. Credit. Liquidity. Our country has been operating under the guise of “credit” for over a decade now, and the jig is up. The Wall Street bust was a necessary Check and Balance for an economy gone awry, and it should not have been stymied by a simplistic token bandaid.

The Berlin Wall Has Fallen and the Cold War is Over

Trying to shed the dead skin of a bygone era is difficult. With what are we left to try to distinguish our existence? When traditional boundaries are broken, although new realms may appear, we are faced with the daunting task of continuing to define ourselves in anachronistic views. With the Cold War over, how is America to define herself? The metaphor of the coyboy and the Indian, while ironically appropriate, is not substantial enough to define America in modern times. Extreme Islam has clouded our fish water, and America is left squirming beached on the shore. Shouts of “Socialist” at Barack Obama’s recent campaign rally’s raise a necessary point in understanding the infrastructure of a Capitalist society. It would seem America is a childish naïve country a percentage of the age of the rest of the world’s nations. Although founded upon idealistic political principals the real history of the United States is dotted with controversial socio-political policies. That aside Americans should try to understand the sub-structure of Capitalism needs to be shored up, because the founding forces of big business are failing. The once stable free market system is teetering on its very brink of existence. American can not and should not be defined as a free range where people can get rich, although this is a common misperception. Without a business infrastructure that is honest it would be difficult for anyone to make money. The federal government, Wall Street pundits, and political candidates are shouting about “liquidity” never taking the time to explain that if Americans don’t have money they can’t spend it. This simple fact has been clouded in the recent decade just like the defining principals of America. If we can’t understand and redefine who we are as a country in the eyes of the world, can we attempt to understand the Capitalist system? It seems it should be the other way around. Capitalism once used to be the guiding light of personal prosperity. It was a system that allowed the oppressed to rise up, work hard, and prosper. Over time and under the Bush administration that has changed. The Cold War ended and a new generation began, and we have yet to come to terms with it. It could be defined Generation Jihad. It could be the metaphor of the cowboy and the Indian is still applicable, but it is more difficult to understand when “evil” is disguised. America is guilty of murdering her native people, and that alone gives us a clouded history. Slowly over time we are developing a newfound respect for Native American’s erasing a once popular depiction of the foundation of simplistic America. George Bush, with his simplistic views, still is trapped in this anachronistic definition. Any “superpower” must attempt to understand with globalization America has become multi-cultural, and proceeding stereotypes of “good guys” and “bad guys” have become obscured. The mainstream has disappeared or at least become disguised because America has not been successful redefining herself. The federal government has not engaged the American people to do so, because they do not care about the American people. Capitalism in the last decade has only exploited the American people leaving a vast chasm between Washington and Americans. The foundations of our country have been subverted by Wall Street. Why is this? The answer is multifold. Salaries have not keep up with inflation. Manufacturing jobs have been outsourced to India and China. Moving money around Wall Street has taken over as the major determinate of Gross National Product. Somewhere in the last decade making money America’s traditional way with factories has been replaced with “moving money around Wall Street.” Prudent companies kept their stock private immunizing them from the negative consequences of Wall Street hawking. Wasn’t this a more favorable example for Capitalism? It has been repeated in the recent presidential campaign the GNP has become determined by consumer spending, not the value of what we export and sell. If this is the case and consumer’s no longer have “liquidity” or “credit,” the GNP will plummet rendering what appears to be a recession. Although the last decade has defied the concept, Americans cannot and should not be able to spend money they do not have. It also has been repeated on talk shows that small businesses without access to credit cannot function. “It takes money to make money.” Does this not go against the grain of the concept of Capitalism and mean underneath the disguise of Capitalism we always have been a socialist nation? If you ask any employee of the Post Office, the military, or town hall what they believe, they could say we are a Socialist nation. Recent survey’s have shown the federal government does employee a great majority of Americans, but the Capitalist market remains free to those with entrepreneurial tendencies. Most Americans do not learn business practices in school. Not every American wants to wake up everyday and be forced to “sell soap” as Chevy Chase would say. Some of us are not Capitalist’s at heart and want to enrich our lives with art and the finer things in nature. We don’t think about money everyday. Why do such extreme stereotypes such as drug addicted hippies in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco have to represent this view? Americans have been spoiled by the laying of groundwork by honest Capitalistic Americans, and that systematically has been dismantled during the Bush Administration. 9/11 has attempted to redefine America, and it has succeeded. It is only that both governmental leadership and the American people have not succeeded in arriving at a new definition. It is difficult. What we should understand is that the traditional values of America should and still stand. Education for our youth, health care and social policies, good jobs, quality of life, low inflation, national security. All of these things should usurp the negative issues that are dominating media. Racism was a social ill confronted decades ago, and America is grown up enough to have settled that issue. With globalization such a highly-prized commodity in government and big business, the necessity of social programs to deal with the consequences should become paramount. The federal government is spoiled with no real understanding of their role in leading America. The cloudiness will only begin to clear when such issues are discussed in an open forum.

Pro-America or Anti-America, a Simplification?

Listening to Keith Olbermann blast from his soapbox about Sarah Palin tonight struck a nerve. Nothing in his tone gave me the idea that America could unify. In fact he seemed like an evil, greedy, peddler hawking his tonic on a dusty road in the 1800’s. “My tonic is best for all your ills,” and it turns out only to be liquor. I don’t know much about Sarah Palin, but I can understand Keith’s viewpoint. Maybe she is a soccer mom, and that is meant to be her addition to the tired and geriatric McCain campain. Certainly no one thinks the two of them would work together in any capacity after the election. That is not the way the American political system works. Al Gore said the veep job was the loneliest time of his life, and I believe it. When both candidates were soliciting Vice Presidential running mates, the majority of senior politicians irrevocably said, “No.” She was a token choice for a token job, disregarding the small point that if the president gets shot, she would become the President of the United States. It has happened, and some people believe Barack Obama is setting himself up for the same fate. Is bigoted America soaked in the blood of the Klu Klux Klan ready for a half-black president? I would have thought a woman would have achieved it first. Joe Biden and the secret service have to be cognizant of the possibility. Assassination is always a possibility, and as the first African-American president, he should be prepared. His image on the screen in front of all those needy Americans eerily is reminiscent of a Martin Luther King rally. With the recent loss of the American mainstream, who can say who is Pro-America and who is Anti-America? After sitting in the living room listening to Keith and watching new coverage of the election, I can only feel that I am Anti-American. I have watched the “ConditionofAmerica” drastically wane in the last 8 years to what seems like a point of no return. The electing of Barack Obama does not instill faith in me that things will change. Whatever these powers are that have led America down the path of unrighteousness are not going away. I assume they are the ones that still have the money, the “Old Money.” With the credit gone and lack of mobility of a younger generation of entrepreneurs, who else is standing there waiting to take the purse strings of America? “Old Money.” I am surrounded by it everyday, and it makes me sick. It is not based on intellect. It is not based on entrepreneurial concepts. It is not based on Christian faith. It is based upon blood money, the mob, violence, intimidation, terrorism, and oppression. Why do I feel Anti-American? I feel Anti-American because I feel oppressed by our socio-economic system. Does that mean I am a Socialist? The answer is yes, because although this system can become distorted and corrupt like any system that is abused, it is all ready the case in America. Who does not know this? The government employs over 50% of the people in America. Technically the definition of Socialism is governmental ownership of the means of production. It seems in these unstable times “regulation” or the overseeing of private industry and business will return. Once in this country this was common and necessary. Our recent political regime reversed that process, and look what happened. Without going into the myriad of unconstitutional legislation that has been enacted in the Bush administration, America has been steered down a dark and menacing alley dotted with evil. There is not one federal policy that seems it is looking out for mainstream America. They conversely have been implemented to serve the rich. How, looking at a man that raises 180 million dollars in one month, can Americans believe Barack Obama has the common man in mind? I have no health care. I have no retirement. I have what America is offering the majority of Americans. Is this going to change? Am I suddenly going to be offered affordable health insurance after Barak Obama becomes president? Is that massive private system based upon raising money for the wealthy suddenly just going to turn over and, “Fess up the drugs?” I think not. I have not heard one concrete idea in this campaign that suggests how millions of uninsured Americans will find proper health insurance and therefore care. Hillary didn’t know either, but at least she was passionate about the cause. I am Anti-America, because I no longer can remember what America was like when it cared about her people. I can’t remember when there was quality programming on television. I can’t remember when there used to be a corner drugstore. I can’t remember when it was not a crime to ride a skateboard on a public sidewalk or on government property. I can’t remember when teachers were well-paid and respected members of society. Now they are afraid for their lives when they enter the classroom. I can’t remember when there were no AC Traction diesel locomotives causing hum and vibration in the air. Pro-America? I am a musician and a composer, and I see nothing on a daily basis that motivates me to do anything other than sit on my ass and hate America. Should I feel differently?

Can You Smell the B.O.?

The recent presidential political campaign is an eyesore. It seems as it is unfolding in cyberspace like a big horrible video game. Characters move, strategies are formed, and conclusions are reached, but there is no soul. How is it a black man could seem soul-less? The black man through the slavery experience is the soul of America. Although the British invasion of Rock ‘n’ Roll brought a different kind of retrospective Tory and Wig soul to America, the black man through jazz music gave America her soul. The disappearance of New Orleans from the map of cultural America along with the soiling of American pop music through mind-numbing propaganda has left America soul-less. There is no way possible Japanese video games, trash television, and a blatant disregard for the infrastructure of this county by presidential politicians can instill a sense of security in in these insecure times. All that can be hoped for is a shallow denial and blind allegiance to a man that seems to in epic terms define what America is looking for in a leader. It is true no matter what pundits say, we do not know Barack Obama. It is true he has not had the experience in office in the public eye to prove the American people can trust his judgment. He is such a schizophrenic image, how is anyone to know what he will do? Typically mainstream America considers his education “Ivy League,” and it is. Are we expected to, for this presidential campaign only, to suspend our stereotype of Ivy League business tycoons? We can’t fault a black man for doing well for himself in a mostly white America, but where do his interests lie? Taking off the jacket and tie and rolling up the sleeves is a common campaign device meant to appeal to the “down home folk.” Jimmy Carter did it. Barack Obama has in his favor the black vote, because everyone knows there will be nary a black man who will vote for a white candidate given the choice of a black man first. It is a stereotype, but some stereotype are true. North Carolina will prove the point. Hillary lost, because there are a lot of blacks in North Carolina. I can’t get past the idea that this man did remarkably appear from seeming nowhere and was propelled into the campaign from some unknown source in California. Barack who? He is like Beck, who won a Grammy award for “Two turntables and a microphone” with no prior exposure in mainstream music America. Can America trust such an entity with their sole fate? It is difficult to get past this. I was a Hillary supporter, and I was comfortable with that because we knew who she was. We don’t know Barack Obama. We know John McCain a little better, but what they are saying in continued sound bytes isn’t telling anyone how they are going to help the state of America. Only Bill Clinton was intelligent enough and cared enough about the job to be able to express concrete concepts concerning the inner workings of our social, political, and economic systems. I am still waiting to hear a remote hint of a substantial idea. Is this the way all presidential campaigns have been in the past, or has the sheer ignorance of television programming just severely lowered the bar? I think the latter is true, because I can’t watch television anymore. Not only can I not look at the made up faces with their hair and make up, but I can’t listen to the annoying whine of Katie Couric’s voice. Is this who we chose to which to listen on the evening news? Does anyone even watch the news anymore? It is the theatre of the absurd, where life relishes the weak and misguided. We as overweight uneducated Americans revel in our mediocrity, and take what is dished out on national television. It is an abomination and the presidential candidates should aspire to give us more.

SIDS and the Second Great Depression

Recently a Kaiser Permanente study confirmed running a fan in a room where a baby sleeps reduces the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It is alarming that such a simple safeguard, putting a fan in a baby’s room, can increase their chances of living by 75%. Additionally pediatricians concluded other simple safeguards can help. Putting a baby on its back, opening a window, and buying a firm mattress for the crib also decrease the risk of SIDS. Drugs are not needed. There are no cumbersome prescriptions. In fact the pharmaceutical industry need not be involved. Is this the current state of the medical profession in America today? It took almost a decade for them to figure out home grown country doctor cures can save a baby’s life? It almost parallels the discrepancy in the American economy. All the Wall Street hype cannot save a country. What can? Only honesty. Thank God with the changing of the guard in the White House right around the corner, the smoke is beginning to clear. Almost two decades of smoke and mirrors have crippled the world’s superpower, and for what? Personal monetary gain. The world would be a lonely place with no people. People come from babies. Maybe if we have begun to care about babies again, we will begin to care about American adults. Simple solutions have been available the entire time George Bush has been in office, yet systematically they have been circumnavigated. Some believe there are simple holistic cures for cancer, including Dr. Lorraine Day. Others feel if cancer is cured, like a simple budget in a business, money allotted for its study will be lost. What is more important, saving the lives of the American people or empowering the wealthy through deceptive paper trails? It seems as the “Second Great Depression” might just be the Fight Club America has needed. Finally the bullshit has reached such mass proportions it can no longer sustain itself, and ironically enough there is nothing left to sustain it. The "credit" has been squandered irresponsibly. American salaries have not kept up with the cost of living, and the jobs that once produced those salaries have been outsourced. We have no economic infrastructure. It long has been known America's ports are full of incoming goods, but there is a stark lack of any product going out. NAFTA was the precursor of this tragedy, and it was one of Bill Clinton’s worse failures. As a result the peso collapsed under the stress of Wall Street's predictions of grand profits based upon cheap labor. Unfortunately South American society was not ready for assembly line work. Similarly India and China have shown signs of a similar phenomenon. While China’s socio-political system did decide to invest in its own middle class, America pedaling American goods out of factories in Asia is not that easy. Wouldn’t it have been better to keep America’s jobs in America for Americans? It seems corporate executives decided the salaries and benefits Americans deserved and demanded through labor unions were too high a price to pay. Instead they abandoned their own work force that once bought their products in favor of a newer potential superpower. Globalization emerged. Fuck America. Now it has backfired in grandiose fashion and Tyler Durden is laughing his ass off. Because there is no credit left America magically will be transformed into a "who can make it in a free market and who can’t" socio-economic system. Long live the Republic! Nuts and bolts now are the issue of America, and it is refreshing. No more cattle futures, stock portfolios, and mutual funds. It will be Glenn Miller, “Po Boy Sandwiches,” and Hoover Boxes. We can dispense with the financial dribble and get back to life. Isn’t it grand?

Conditions of the U.S. Economy

If I read one more news story about the worsening United States economy I think I will explode. For eight long years we have listened to the hyperbole of President George Bush. It has taken eight long years for the populace finally to, with the force of reality, see his hypocritical agenda. With a smooth Texas drawl, a naive "Good Old Boy" demeanor, and sheer will single-handedly he brought this nation to its knees. Not only were we in our modern era privy to belligerent terrorist attacks on our native soul, our capitalistic economic system was forced to fail. The quintessential foundations of our country were skewed, misrepresented, and purposely disguised for personal monetary gain. The democracy and republic now truly will be tested. Will America stand up for their rights, or will we continue to sit complacent on the sidelines devouring fast food, fast television, fast internet, and immediate gratification? Our educational system tragically has failed at its core level leaving America's younger generation flailing in debauchery. The words on CNN ring true, finally. "Are we asking our young people to die for our country with no understanding or responsibility for what our country is?" Yes. Unless the elderly concede to "pass the spoils" of responsibility to our youth, then the country will continue to fail. As the humorous adage insinuates, "You cannot drag a trailer behind a hearse." Even consent to pass wealth to the younger generation is not enough to save education. Our economy isn't understood. How can any politician fix the economy if they do not posses the intellectual skills to understand it at an aesthetic level? Simply put PRODUCTS MUST BE PRODUCED AND SOLD FOR A PROFIT FOR CAPITALISM TO SUSTAIN. The United States must begin producing goods and services for export. No longer can Republican corporate mongers speculate about the rewards of the "Asian Market." China and India themselves are not politically strong enough to support an independent Free Market system. The East is littered with clan-like religious, social, political behaviors that fail to transcend simple human weakness. Without a higher vision of quality of life based upon a Christian work ethic, Capitalism will fail. Greed, lust, and hatred seem to be too strong among the populaces of the world.