Goodbye from World's Biggest Polluter via the World's Biggest Asshole AND Big Air vs. Big Oil AND "Let Them Eat Cake" for a New Generation

There was so much in the news today that warranted comment, I just had to break from my roughly (VERY roughly!) bi-weekly blog entry schedule to share some thoughts.


Goodbye from World's Biggest Polluter via the World's Biggest Asshole
Have the Repugnant-Cons decided that their way to cling to power is to make the most inappropriate and lame ass jokes possible, thereby removing any doubt that they are lunatics who don't care who lives or dies as a result of their thoughtless actions?

I think they have! Observe Bush, saying "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter" as he leaves the G8 summit. It's pure tragicomedy. The tragedy comes from this powerful man who considers that polluting the entire planet, destroying the only thing ALL of us (including him) have is some kind of light-hearted laughing matter. The comedy is that the USA is no longer the biggest polluter. According to the article, China is. Even in arrogance, he can't get the facts straight. What an asshole.


Big Air vs. Big Oil
I once read a theory on why animal attacked by a predator screams. I can't remember the source or I would quote it, but the question posed was, what basis is there for expending energy to scream when all your strength should be concentrated on struggling to get away? The answer speculated upon was that the screaming could be a way of attracting other predators. This will cause the two predators to fight over the potential food, giving the screaming animal time to escape.

In short, there's no way a prey animal can win in a one on one fight versus a predator. The prey has to get the predators to fight each other in order to survive. Stretching that analogy further explains in my mind why the Enron scandal blew up into such a big deal.

Rich corporations (predators) have been attacking their workers (prey) for years and it's never been worth commenting on to the wealthy media and political species. However, the criminals at Enron were so greedy, they didn't just steal from the workers, they even ended up stealing from the rich people who invested in them. That's what led to the outrage from the media, the government, etc. Poor people can be (and are) trampled in bulk every day in human history and it doesn't merit a news story, but when the rich get screwed by one of their own, now that's an injustice.

So I was very excited when I opened my email this morning and found a letter from twelve Airline CEOs demanding more regulation of oil speculation. Summarized: oil speculation is the trading that occurs prior to the oil being sold to someone who is actually going to use it. Each time the oil is traded, it becomes more expensive. Without much regulation, that trading prior to someone using the oil can occur enough to drive the oil prices sky high, before anyone who is actually going to use the oil buys it. Imagine that! One industry calling for regulation of another! Awesome.

So years and years of the average consumer screaming about petrol prices has resulted in... nothing. But now that a fellow predator (Big Air is slimy) is attacking another predator (Big Oil is the slimiest) we can expect to see some change. So it is in the USA, where corporations rule too much.

Visit the site and stick it to Big Oil. Big Air is a bunch of jerks, too, but NO ONE is worse than Big Oil. Go to http://www.stopoilspeculationnow.com/.


"Let Them Eat Cake" for a New Generation
I know, I know. There's all kinds of debate as to whether Marie Antoinette said her famous line. The story may be false, but it has its uses (like religion.)

Regardless of if she actually said "Let them in cake," in response to being told the peasants were revolting because they had no bread, it clearly fits the mind-set of out-of-touch fortunates like her. In short, it doesn't matter if she said it or not, because Phil Gramm just did.

Who's Phil Gramm? Presidential McCandidate John McCain's top economic adviser. Gramm claims the U.S. economy is doing great, that the recession we're in exists only in the imaginations of the depressed and the U.S. is a bunch of whiners.

Hey Phil! First, shut up. Second, you're probably worth a few million or you wouldn't have been selected to be an insane presidential candidate's top economic adviser, so what do you know about what is and isn't in recession? Third, who cares if we're in recession or not? What's important is the lack of a social safety net. I've got a great job, but one downsize, one favoritism that saves someone else's job and gets met laid off, I'm on hard times without much help.

"Let them eat cake," Phil says, to which I say, hey Phil, eat THIS.

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Larry Nocella is the award-winning author of the novel Where Did This Come From? available at Amazon and Xlibris and other fine online book stores. Where Did This Come From? is also available as an eBook. For more info, visit Larry Nocella's website at http://www.larrynocella.com/.