Feltham Rambles

Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science. - Henri Poincare

During my time in the US, I always wondered what people could possibly be doing for a living to afford the massive homes and McMansions sprawled across the nation, apparently the answer is simple, THEY CAN’T AFFORD THEM!

I'm assuming that she was well aware of the dress code before accepting the job, and, if you didn't agree with the dress code than why take the job. There are plenty of other places of employment out there without dress codes. I‘m all for freedom of expression, but, too many people are pushing the boundaries of what they will and will not adhere to in society under the guise of religion. Speaking of which, if your god exists and if he is so concerned with woman wearing pants, than that god has too much time on his hands…

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iPrQLioOKReFvAa0C6mTMCQ_uJkw

It’s Friday and time is winding down before the start of another wonderful weekend. Tonight is going to be awesome, Hey Rosetta! is playing downtown at the old Majestic Theatre and we are having a handful of people over for drinks before we stumble down over the hill to the club. Mudder was here over the past week, but, left early this morning to return to the end of the earth a.k.a. Fort McMurray, as always it was a great time, although they are too far and between. It was a locally star studded week for sure, it started off with Dani and I seeing Alan Doyle walking his baby across a cross walk in front of us, a few days later, Mom and I are eating lunch at the Rooms, and Sean McCann and some lady were eating at the table next to us, and then later that night, we had the unexpected pleasure to watch Ron Hynes play at a tiny bar in downtown. Ron is an incredible song writer and I was in awe of his presence and ability to captivate the small crowd. Speaking of music, I walked around downtown today during my lunch with some demos and spoke with a couple bar owners, and managed to secure at least one gig at Turners Tavern (110 Water Street) for Saturday December 1st. I have been continuing to write a lot and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can find some suitable musicians to back me up in the near future.

by Paul Craig Roberts
November 8, 2007

The US dollar is still officially the world's reserve currency, but it cannot purchase the services of Brazilian super model Gisele Bundchen. Gisele required the $30 million she earned during the first half of this year to be paid in euros.

Gisele is not alone in her forecast of the dollar's fate. The First Post (UK) reports that Jim Rogers, a former partner of billionaire George Soros, is selling his home and all possessions in order to convert all his wealth into Chinese yuan.

Meanwhile, American economists continue to preach that offshoring is good for the US economy and that Bush's war spending is keeping the economy going. The practitioners of supply and demand have yet to figure out that the dollar's supply is sinking the dollar's price and along with it American power.

The macho super patriots who support the Bush regime still haven't caught on that US superpower status rests on the dollar being the reserve currency, not on a military unable to occupy Baghdad. If the dollar were not the world currency, the US would have to earn enough foreign currencies to pay for its 737 oversees bases, an impossibility considering America's $800 billion trade deficit.

When the dollar ceases to be the reserve currency, foreigners will cease to finance the US trade and budget deficits, and the American Empire along with its wars will disappear overnight. Perhaps Bush will be able to get a World Bank loan, or maybe one from the "Chavez bank," to bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Foreign leaders, observing that offshoring and war are accelerating America's relative economic decline, no longer treat the US with the deference to which Washington is accustomed. Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, recently refused Washington's demand to renew the lease on the Manta air base in Ecuador. He told Washington that the US could have a base in Ecuador if Ecuador could have a military base in the US.

When Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez addressed the UN, he crossed himself as he stood at the podium. Referring to President Bush, Chavez said, "Yesterday the devil came here, and it smells of sulfur still today." Bush, said Chavez, was standing "right here, talking as if he owned the world."

In his state of the nation message last year, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Bush's blathering about democracy was nothing but a cloak for the pursuit of American self-interests at the expense of other peoples. "We are aware what is going on in the world. Comrade wolf knows whom to eat, and he eats without listening, and he's clearly not going to listen to anyone." In May 2007, Putin criticized the neocon regime in Washington for "disrespect for human life" and "claims to global exclusiveness, just as it was in the time of the Third Reich."

Even America's British allies regard President Bush as a threat to world peace and the second most dangerous man alive. Bush is edged out in polls by Osama bin Laden, but is regarded as more dangerous than Iran's demonized president and North Korea's Kim Jong-il.

President Bush has achieved his dismal world standing despite spending $1.6 billion of hard-pressed Americans' tax money on public relations between 2003 and 2006.

Clearly, America's leader and America's currency are poorly regarded. Is there a solution?

Perhaps the answer lies in those 737 overseas bases. If those bases were brought home and shared among the 50 states, each state would gain 15 new military bases.

Imagine what this would mean: The end of the housing slump. A reduction in the trade deficit. And the end of the war on terror.

Who would dare attack a country with 15 new military bases in every state in addition to the existing ones? Wherever a terrorist turned, he would find himself surrounded by soldiers.

All of the dollars currently spent abroad to support 737 overseas bases would be spent at home. Income for foreigners would become income for Americans, and the trade deficit would shrink.

The impact of the 737 military base payrolls on the US economy would end the housing crisis and bring back the 140,000 highly paid financial services jobs, the loss of which this year has cost the US $42 billion in consumer income. Foreclosures and bankruptcies would plummet.

If this isn't enough to turn the dollar around, President Bush's pledge not to appoint an attorney general if Michael Mukasey is not confirmed offers more promise. If the Democrats will defeat Mukasey's nomination, there are other superfluous cabinet departments that can be closed down in addition to the US Department of Torture and Indefinite Detention.

The American empire is being unwound on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. The year is two months from being over, but already in 2007, despite the touted "surge," deaths of US soldiers are the highest of any year of the war.

The Taliban are the ones who are surging. They have taken control of a third district in Western Afghanistan. Turkey and the Kurds are on the verge of turning northern Iraq into a new war zone, another demonstration of American impotence.

Bush's wars have endangered America's puppet regimes. Bush's Pakistani puppet, Musharraf, is fighting for his life. By resorting to "emergency rule" and oppressive measures, Musharraf has intensified his opposition. When Musharraf falls, thanks to Bush, the Islamists will have nukes.

American generals used to say that the wars Bush started in the Middle East would take 10 years to win. On Oct. 31, General John Abizaid, former commander of US forces in the Middle East, put paid to that optimistic forecast. Speaking at Carnegie Mellon University, Gen. Abizaid said it would be 50 years before US troops can leave the Middle East.

There is no possibility of the US remaining in the Middle East for a half century. The dollar and US power are already on their last legs, unbeknownst to Democratic leaders Pelosi and Reid who are preparing yet another blank check for Bush's latest request for $200 billion in supplementary war funding.

There isn't any money with which to fund Bush's lost war. It will have to be borrowed from China.

The Romans brought on their own demise, but it took them centuries. Bush has finished America in a mere seven years.

Even as Gisele throws off the dollar's hegemony, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Columbia are declaring independence from the IMF and World Bank, instruments of US financial hegemony, by creating their own development bank, thus bringing to an end US suzerainty over South America.

An empire that has lost its backyard is finished.

I’ve neglected the personal writing aspect of this blog for sometime now; however, to my defense, I have managed to keep it current with random links and other various bullshit… Even now, with some free time on my hands, I can’t seem to place anything of value together. Life must be going good I guess, I have nothing to complain about and at the same time, where would I even start? Let’s just say it’s been a rollercoaster this past couple of months… Anyway, here’s a random brain dump…

I am the proud new owner of my first home and it is a sexy place, although all the hidden costs (and my new found taste of consumerism) might kill me and my poor defenseless bank account.

I don’t miss my former home(s) of Indiana, Michigan, and Ontario one iota. Speaking of these places, looking back on my six year stint, I defiantly met more people that left a negative impact on me than a positive. We truly live in an ignorant society and for whatever reason; in North America they seem more concentrated throughout central Canada and the heartland of the USA. At the same time, there were a lot of people that left a lasting impact on me and I will never forget them (you know who you are, and I thank you, for being you… Sniffle, sniffle).

The drive here was long… 4460Km long, although it was fucking awesome. There is so much to see in this world, which frustrates me, as I will only get to see and experience a fraction of it. Speaking of the negative impact people in the previous point, perhaps this problem wouldn’t exist if more of these people actually traveled outside their comfort zone and found out that the world does turn outside their respective Zip or Area codes…

Walking to work. This is something that I’ve dreamed of forever, and it has finally become a reality. And, this morning as I walked the delightful 2km into the office (over the oldest streets in North America) passing historical building, smelling the ocean breeze and smiling, I shuddered at the thought of my former commute. The drive from Windsor to Farmington would have eventually been the death of me. It’s funny how we as humans slip into a routine and even though it could be doing mental, physical or emotional damage to ourselves, we find it hard to change what’s normal.

The US dollar vs. the Canadian dollar. This has been an interesting news item to say the least. For anyone that knows me well, I couldn’t give two shits about Canada. I am (and always will be) a Newfoundlander, technically I am a Canadian, but, not by choice. I think of it as more of an arranged marriage, and I am actively looking for any loop hole to get out of it… But, it is my country and I will have to deal with it (for now). Anyway… being a Canadian who lived and/or worked in the USA for six years, I can’t recall how many pot shots I took because of the Canuck currency. Hey, look at the funny monopoly money, blah, blah, blah, its worth nothing, blah, blah, blah… News flash Yankees! The majority of the world uses coloured currency, heaven forbid you adopt a currency that assists the seeing impaired and deters counterfeiting. But, I won’t get lost in the details, the greater story being the freefall of the US currency of course. When I moved to the US six years ago, $1 US gave me $1.67 CAN, today a $1 US would give me $0.92 CAN. And, from what I can see, that variance is not going to slow down anytime soon. Funny how Clinton was impeached for getting some random head while in office (and lets face it, who wouldn’t get getting head 24/7 if they were the President), but, when the next guy Bush ruins the economy, falsely leads the country into a failed war, steals freedoms on a daily basis, he just sits there pretty, with next to no organized opposition… Why are you not doing anything America? My greatest admiration of the American people is their historical ability to overcome the hardest of adversity and to come through on top even in the grimmest of times. But, lately, I feel like the fight has been lost, and, I can only hope that the country will turn around eventually, as it is defiantly not the same place today as it was when I first moved there, or visited for years as a child. Changing gears here… I read somewhere today that the Iraqi/Afghan war has already cost taxpayers nearly 2 trillion dollars… Imagine if even 10% of that was spent on urban renewal, education, health or mass public transit… Scary.

Hmmm… Well… That turned out to be more than I thought… But, it’s time for supper… Mmmm… Fish and Chips… Yummy!

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Feltham