The Canadian social critic Andrew Potter takes aim at Oprah with his bookThe Authenticity Hoax "How we get lost finding ourselves."

He points to the word being used in advertisement when it is obviously false...

for example the jeans advertised as "authentic" and shown in scenes of the old west were not worn by railway workers in the 18th century,

they were made in china

and he says the authenticity of art has been questioned

he shows how authenticity has been turned into a status symbol with the hyper rich living on mud floors or at least in mud houses...

he uses northern Ontario and the gulf island as examples

As Thomas De Zengotita says in the liner Potter takes a wide range of high brow ideas-

and he makes them accessible with out reducing them to cartoons

A SNL skit

a self help book is sent to a country in the middle of a famine...
via video the white female author tells the black hungry dude positive thoughts will solve his hunger problem,

he eats the book.

The Hungry

have yet to be included in the food supply line...
the needy by definition do not have money...

Food Business Poem

we have the technology
not the will
to end the hunger problem...

The Liberals

whom chomsky has noted,
over and over again,
are merely a division

the intellectuals have stood by in america
without raising a whimper

re: an unjust war where hundred of thousands have been murdered...


collateral murder...

as seen on wikileaks...

authentic?...real?...

you just witnessed murder...
those people will not breathe again


Liberal again


now the authenticity hoax
is not that there is
not a concept of authentic

------
it has has been branded
and thus limited
in it's usefulness...

$$$$$$$$$$$

that which supports
the system
is accepted by it...

capitalism's beauty

and as we get
more streamlined
the corporations
(slowly?) take over


Free Country

i live in a corporate
centrally controlled
government state

with unprecedented freedoms

in urban areas
i am under
almost constant
surveillance



Canadian Letters: Re: Andrew Potter


"gossip is for children
surveillance is for criminals"

the government has
little faith
in it's citizens

Wednesday

a.

a women has been left by a man
with two children (5 and 1)
for a love interest in japan

she lives in social housing
close to her part time job
at Home Depot

she says children make
it all worth while
and who could disagree


b.

in the old days

difference were permitted

not any more

now we're all equal

c.

in social transactions
there is an exchange

rarely are two parties of equal resources

d.

beauty is valuable
money is an idea


technological distractions

Was in a computer store and
saw the clumsy gore
of a video game...

forever moving forward

they shot at images
that shot back...
in virtual life...

no one really got hurt...

Commentary

the participants were enmeshed in a system
that stimulates their nervous system and neural pathways

like an addiction

short circuits a reward cost ratio



For Dale Carnegie

timing and good fortune
are neccessary ingredients
but they do not bake the whole cake
throw in a little,

hardwork, perserverance, inspiration, humulity(1)
and whatever else
is required

Note:

(1) Humility is not neccesary for capitalism or violence


Computer Baseball

at my first at bat
i hit a home run
in a professional
looking stadium

the crowd went wild
and even the children
really watching cheered

I ran around the living room
pumping my arms in the air

Tuesday

The world is a wordy place
and unfortunately i must add
a few...

A good book by another Canadian


The
Authenticity
Hoax

How We Get Lost Finding Ourselves
Andrew Potter

Co-Author of the International Bestseller The Rebel Sell

which i also know about

words that have not been translated into English

such as -----

that which goes unsaid
adds depth
complexity
and intimacy

HE ALSO WRITES ABOUT MONTY PYTHON

King Author approaches a peasant digging and asks directions.
Arthur tells him he is the king of England with an incredulous wink.

THE PEASANT DOES NOT REPLY AND THE KING INSISTS.

Arthur is after all, the king.

An argument ensues on the nature
of legitimate government
with the peasant insisting
executive authority

derives from a
mandate of the masses,
not from a belief
in an "aquatic creature"

refering to
the Lady of the Lake
and the famous sword Excalibur (this is how arthur became king)

In the heavy books

now power is derived from power
which is tied to capitalism
which is tied to a belief

from a good northern philosopher
who is hardy a soul

ASLVOJ ZIZEK
"The most dangerous philosopher in the West."
New Republic

"anti-capitalism is anti-Semitic."

So i hear

Hegel's system is living on credit it can never payback."

and is the system of the west


20% of the work force is used to move it around...money...


spinning

My tarnished two cets

a small group of unemployed people is necessary to keep prices low
if their was a surplus of jobs wages would be dictated by the majority

now a resturant owner brings six cooks into the kitchen and gets to the point,

"What will you work for, lowest wage starts tomorrow."

and capitalism requires these idle hands...even 20% unemployed is OK...

the majority are working and doing OK
at the bottom
and very well at the top...
in the first world...

Labor

In a union busting company
one strategy includes
keeping a small percentage
of long time employees
on good wages
the rest get less.

the well paid
are well liked
by mangement

the rest
are given
less credit


Professors

it is very unlikely
that one will be motivated
beyond academic approval
and perhaps notoriety

and i believe in free markets



statistics

number one factor
concerning longevity

net worth

get off your health kick

an economic blog

rip

I bought a bird today
the old one died



the post modernists

tell we live in a disposable society
and everything is a signifier
and nothing is significant

and capitalism has won the day

now most things can be bought
birds, food, labour, clothing,
organic bird food, toothpaste
birdcages, shelter, water, entertainment
etc. etc. etc.


Wide head

i read in a business magazine

if it wasn't for a guys obsession
with giving everyone a better shave
we would still be struggling with our rubble

he worked for Gillette
and they became
very profitable

Business Journals

report the structural aspects
of a capitalistic society

not concerned
with the hedonistic
and by definition
excessive aspects
of capitalism



Canada

headline Monday 2010 December 27th

Cheer up-
more wealth
means better
quality of life

"The merchants of gloom derive their
pessimism from the underlying misapprehension
that life is a zero sum game.

They choose to believe
that wealth can only be taken,
never created,so their can never
be improvement
only injustice.

The reality is that everyone is getting wealthier
and the environment is generally improving,
so something else must be happening:
human ingenuity is creating
win win results."

Commentary

i wonder why he is telling us to "cheer up"
when things are on the upswing...
the climate is realizing it's potential
and the economy is expanding...

that is good news...

This

the middle class of America lost their unions...
the fisherman on the east coast of canada lost their fish


ok

we expand into cyber space...
and outerspace...

"The United Nations Human Development Index, which has measured health, longevity, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living since 1980, shows that nearly all countries have improved over the last three decades."

"nearly all",

this guy is a senior policy analyst for right wing propaganda Internet at fcpp.org

"we fail to understand that increased wealth increases concerns about the environment and the demands to protect it..."

he may fail to understand capitalism by its very nature is not egalitarian...


philosophy and poetry and music
from the underground
will not be sold out

only a few known players
china, usa, and europe, maybe russia

india's rocket blew up

maybe ghandi is watching

A Religious Blog

 

“Spiritual Consumerism”

     a spiritual man

              is foreign to most

 

                   a none self seeker

                                   is rare

 

mentioned a zen teacher

                     in the late sixties

 

A Blue Bird Died

                       “Don’t party too hard”

the cage was open

he flew from den

and knocked over

some things in the

bathroom…

                

he was missing when i got home

but i was tired and went to sleep

 

in the morning

i found his stiff body

pinned by the dresser

 

the yellow bird

is not preening as much

but eats and sings

as usual

 

and in my dreams

i was able to find the blued bird

on the internet

and this was normal

 

J continues along

Saturday Where i Live

Xmas in the suburbs 

a wet coast city

is quiet…

 

                    the hum of traffic is barely discernible

             and the planes are less busy

 

there is no snow

and i have called friends and family

to wish them a happy holiday

with my usual abandon

and good cheer…

 

may the wind

be at your back

and may the sun shine

on your fields.

 

In the old days

one would write alone

and seek  others

to help him or her

get their work

published

 

have as you will

 

a story told

poems presented

novels delivered

 

with an i to discerning taste

 

it at least had to be good

now in a skewering

of that system

 

Effort Reward

the rewards are two fold

the effort prevalently

towards economics….

                                  money and fame

neccesary characters

in the consumer game

 

this poem will be left in cyber space

 

merry christmas

cheers

Freelance Friday

 

happy xmas eve

I am alone and lonely…

missing the company of J

who is far away in shanghai

            the days are short

and the weather is gloomy

 

Celebrated Early

and will wrap

            gifts hung over

and tired

 

Slumming

Hanging in the downtown eastside

and the painful frivolities

 

today my chest hurts

from the strong smoke

 

all addictions are numbing

 

Is there no place on earth for me 

is the title of a book by a female American journalist who witnesses the struggles of a schizophrenic and won a Pulitzer Prize in the early eighties

some children will still have the luxury of a Christmas

what’s under the tree?

 

We Were All Children Once

a loving son and brother

will wrap presents with care

beyond an ideology  

Poems for Edmonton’s culture and Convention center…

the book is coming along…

on a drunken night i decided to keep a few renditions,

and now back in suburbs,

i recall i am to have someone type the entirety of the book and then let me edit as i go along…

the problem is i wrote some pieces as stand alone

and other parts help the narrative…

which for some reason

is important…

one cannot be

for…

unless one is choosing death…

                          opposition and control…

as the Buddhist proclaim

no duality,

or as the christians profess

eternal love

or as the P&G crowd preach

authenticity

we do not want to win arguments

only share ideas

Let’s get rich

i support wealth and creation

now say a super ambitious dude

worked 5X harder than me

if he wants two wives

that’s fine with me

 

but if he wants to earn

eleven thousand times what i do

                      there is  some conniving

logic is not at play    

 

Money

Paper money was backed by labour…

and in demand just prior to the revolution 

                           

labour was the first currency

then slaves were brought over

       

then paper was backed by gold

which is finite

 

now paper is backed by the super power

                        an industrial military complex

 

“who” now systemically

is outsourcing to corporations

 

it has to be an endless war

that is their industry

their manufacturing base

their high paying jobs…

 

and did i mention

home to billionaires

 

smile it’s xmas   

 

Capitalism      

to spend a billion,

one would have to spend $30, 000 every day

for ninety years

or more realistically

a billion dollars is spending

a thousand a day for a million days

or

1,000,000/365=                            2739.72602739 years

roughly 2500 ears

 

2500 years of theirs             is worth one of yours spending a $1000 a day

to make a billion dollars if you were paid a 1000 dollars a day would take a million days or 2739 years

so on a average salary of $30 it would take 33,333,333 hours 

or 11,415  years working everyday, i mean everyday,

8 hours a day, at $30 an hour

a billion dollars a year is

365 days

eight hours a day

is 2920 hours

divided by a $1,000,000,000

is $342,465 an hour…

 

a billionaire makes $342,465 an hour

 

and a really super good extra deluxe phd

carpenter gets $500 an hour

 

while the rest of us stiffs are lucky to make $30 an hour if that

             there is some massive disparity in wealth in the united states

 

News

mainstream media call it wealth

it has it’s own section:

         business 

              in old days it was called power…

master slave as camus describes

 

question

competition is good

but when the house

keeps changing the rules

in their favor,

            to use a sports analogy

                               the playing field becomes unlevel

and lets sing along

the rich get richer

Wednesday Canada Lit

 

“As the generations pass they grow worse.

A time will come when they have grown so wicked that they will worship power;

might will be right

and reverence for the good will cease to be.

At last when no man is angry any more at wrong doing

or feels shame in the presence of the miserable,

Zeus will destroy them too.

And yet even then something might be done

if only the common people would rise up

and put down the rulers that oppress them”

 

-Greek myth on the iron age

 

Now one might ask what this could possibly have to do with Canadian literature…glad you asked…there was time when literature was used in the cause of socialist movements…for example, let assume,

some Russian novelists and a few Canadian poets,

Dorothy Livesay, Earle Birney, P.K. page, Miriam Waddington and Dudek

with Laytnor just coming on the scene

                    in the 40’s it was said

“new roots…new shoots were needed to  produce a rough, socially indigenous poetry”

Alan Crawley took up the cry

and provided a vehicle

Contemporary Verse

for well over a decade…

                                if you’re into canada lit. read

                                              “The Little Magazine in Canada 1925-80”

                                                           by Ken Norris

better than the bible 

Marx

perhaps hard work and innovation should be rewarded…

but surely, not as disproportionately as it is today

if we want to keep capitalism we need to tax the bastards…wtf

 

do you have anything else to say…?

                           why of course but first a quote or two

 

“Primitive people give things away, ……….

                    in hunter gathering society   gratitude is non existent”

                                             .R.  Service1966                                                                                

 

“When i look at history i am a pessimist

when i look at prehistory i am an optimist.”

                                                 J.C. Smuts  

 

both quotes from Erich Fromm’s book

                                      “The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness.”

 

IT WOULD APPEAR TO BE

COMMON SENSE

THAT WEALTH IS CREATED

WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A CIVILIZED SOCIETY

AND NOT IN A VACUUM…

SOCIETY IS MORE IMPORTANT

THAN ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL,

 

          THE STRENGTH OF A NATION or the world 

IS MEASURED

                BY THE WEALTH OF IT’S CITIZENS

                                 NOT A FEW INDIVIDUALS.

apparently not

IN 1961 THE USA

TOP WAGE EARNERS AVERAGED $13,700,000

 

SMALL CHANGE I KNOW

FOR MOST OF MY READERS…

 

IN 2006 THE TOP WAGE EARNERS

AVERAGED A TIDY                                 $263,000,000

                    A LARGE INCREASE

 

                           SAY YOUR $10/HOUR JOB

                                        GOING TO A HUNDRED

OR YOUR LIBRARIAN SALARY GOING

FROM $40,000 A YEAR TO $400,000

 

AVERAGE WAGE ROSE

FROM $22,000 TO $30,000

 

OBVIOUSY THE GAINS HAVE TAKEN PLACE PRIMARILY IN THE UPPER ECHELONS OF THE FINANCIAL ELITE…

THE TOP 25 HEDFGE FUND MANAGERS SALARY WAS THE EQUIVILANT OF OVER  500,000 TEACHERS   

I think i just reached

the halfway mark

of my existence…

half time…

                           44 to go

maybe 45…

 

Irreverence

rumor has it

we’re celebrating

jc’s birthday again…

…

“the word “gift”

has overtones of charity

not of reciprocity”

                                 E.R. Service, 1966

                  

cheers! 

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/13dec_globaleruption/

Tuesday close to xmas

 

Where amazing happens…

http://christophervincent.blogspot.com/

                        and on Thursday i head back

to the mainland to celebrate Xmas

i have little inspiration so i will go and smoke a joint

and thus disrupt the action-reward mechanism

              roll some weed, smoke it, feel better and more creative

                              not a whole lot of work involved….

 

the country is being sold

time to move to another island

development has won

another day 

 

 

 Really

“poetrising

we live in a world

that has devised

a system of

private property

enforced by

man made law.”

 

To the Environmental Movement  

the human species

has not been here long…

die if you must…

i will be fine…

work on your own problems…

not mine

 

Reminded    

one must look at the under lying issues, money, possessions, climate change, titles are poor materialistic excuses for deeper problems…

i.e. the wealthy having too much

you think equality in the western world is increasing

         what about the billionaires

and the billions who are starving? 

 

“bettershopping”

the military has too much might

the new frontier of cyber space

is where the new front is being lost

 

Times man of the Year

why is facebook worth billions

           after all it is a social network site

that collects users data

and sells it to advertisers…

who encourage consumption…

 

Zucherberg is a financial elite…

                                            you are constantly monitored

 

The Rules

and those of us with

the most private property

decide the course we all take…

even in a so called democracy …

 

money buys fawning and favours 

 

Pump it up Dawg

          we are not brother and sister…

we are “the have’s and the have not’s.”

                 money buys tickets to freedom

                                           poverty is a grind…

 

Next

capitalism has released

more human potential

than any other system known to man…

                                                                            time to move on.

                                       One of the shortest days of the year…

An Economic Blog

Insofar as we can affect the world, let it be to utterly eliminate guilt and fear as a motivator of man and replace it cell for cell with love for one another and the passion of creation.

                                          Julian Assange as quoted on his blog

Failure

Was running down a mountain trail

when i was tripped up by a wire fence

I fell hard on a rock and

tumbled down a short embankment

bloodying my hands and knee

                    life i suppose does not always go as planned

 

Extreme

“to utterly eliminate guilt and fear”

      but is that not human?

              “replace it cell for cell with love for one another”

                     is that all there is?

                         “and the passion for creation”

here! here!

 

to see things anew when one is in the mainstream

is called irony and is not particularly useful.

 

Economics

capitalism is based on private property

and competition

               (private property includes computer money)

 

it is slightly painful watching my net worth grow through investments

 

Read

of Thomas Jefferson

“…tried  his best,

as an enlightened,

thoughtful individual might.

But the structure

of American society,

the power of the cotton plantation,

the slave trade,

the politics of unity between Northern and Southern elites,

and the long culture of race prejudice in the colonies,

as well as his own weakness

-that combination of practical need and ideological fixation-

kept Jefferson a slave owner throughout his life.”                      (p.89)

               “A Peoples History of the United States” by Howard Zinn   

 

love and hate…

the new agers, hippies

and surburban housewives

agree with oprah

the republicans are competitive

and the elite control the money

Marx said

consumers eventually consume themselves

 

Retail

I find it amusing the largest employer in the US

targets the under thirty thousand crowd…

           they pay low wages and are anti union…

Arkansas   

 

if things continue as they are

it will only get worse       

 

 

Back in the day

if a European went and lived

with the Indians for a while

he didn’t want to come back…

if an Indian came to live

with the white folk

he’d  do anything

to get home… 

 

On a personal note

awoke to snow

but it was not too cold

                                      the birds seem happy

A Religious Blog

As i lay in bed this morning i wondered

why god didn’t give me a bigger toe

 

                     perhaps i could get an enhancement

 

it looks about average

and my readings and measurements

back this up

          

how did i ever arrive at this lack?

not tall enough

not smart enough

not rich enough

not big enough

 

and i imagine if their is a god

he is disappointed with my vanity

 

At the Hermitage

fell asleep

in front of the fire

listening to the

Goldberg Variations

by a Canadian pianist Glen Gould

while reading

Billionaires are Bad

by canadians

Linda McQuaig &

Neil Brooks

B.

while i was asleep

i could hear the birds

flying around the cabin

at one point i had to get off the couch

and direct the yellow one

June, back to the cage

 

C.

I awoke just after midnight

took off my clothes and

went to bed with a glass of

cran- pomegranate,

mixed with S. Pellegrino

D.

I finished the Trouble with Billionaires

which logically encourages

an egalitarian civilization

                                                     which the US and Britain are not  

through more progressive taxation

 

News Flash

no estate tax in canada since 1972 and when the

“NDP considered including

a pledge to restore the estate tax

the media heaped scorn on the idea

and the NDP quickly beat a full retreat.” p.231

 

Winner Take All

Fortunes are not accumulated in a vacuum,

one individual should not claim

all the rewards for a single idea or invention

and since the financial markets are only possible through regulation and enforcement,

and since private property is protected by the state

progressive taxes should be used

to recognize the debt the well heeled

have to society

                   Brian Mulroney did not help…

                                                     paper bags of money.

 

A Short Poem

Religion and money

are all tied up. 

 

Technorati Tags: Brian Mulroney,egalitarian,billionaires,hermitage

Where i Live

 

Hyper-civilized influences, such as computing, artificial lights, drugs, films, instant food supply, telephones and reading decalibrate by disconnecting behavior and reward    Julian Assange as quoted from his blog  

The sky is low,

the rain is loud

up on a hill

I’m in a cloud.

                  “A disconnect between behavior and reward.”

This afternoon i dug drainage ditches by the road approaching my writing retreat…

their is one steep incline and already the side closest to the ditch is beginning to soften,

i wore rain gear so i was fine…     

Reading

here i am in the shadow of a super power

on an island in the pacific northwest

far away from the maddening crowd

and reality of the street

 

though i wandered

for over a decade

           my predicament

                               was different than most

 

working poor

and from that vantage point

the machinations

of capitalism

are difficult to unwind

                                        n o time

                                            n o peace

                                                                   Canada

we are complicit in US foreign policy,

perhaps more than the Republicians

who believe war, is a divine right.

 

and here I sit 

       easing out the day

       alone in a cabin

       on a hill

        on a liberal island.

 

“burn baby burn”

the fireplace

that is

Friday Freelance

Oh the joys of living in seclusion…

the book says it’s not good to drink before bed

so i start early…after my morning coffee

and i get up at 5am…

The good news

The book “poems for the shaw”

has been nudged along

and as one of my editors suggested

i am adding…

instead of subtracting

newsflash:

bill gates did not invent the personal computer

More good news

the trees are quiet and their is a day of merciful sun

i can see snow covered mountains in the distant

this is real time

miles and miles away

from the maddening crowd

as my good friend Daniel once said

“the peace lends itself to ritual.”

or at the very least a schedule

 

An Aside

the rich will inherit the earth if the victories continue

   on purpose or not

it is a dead end

           and nothing get through

                                                           because nothing wants to…

The bad news 

i spent some cold times

in a house in Richmond

as Shawn knows

poring over the work of a philosopher

who believed he knew a way out of the conundrum

                            the idea was branded integral…

applying an evolutionary concept

with an underlying belief

in continued improvement

                things are better today than they’ve ever been

is the argument

and even Chomsky

despite occasional protesting

would agree…

OK

today

as the sun is shining

and i can write

and think

and say

as i please

most of the world suffers

in ways we dare

not imagine

who knows if it’s getting better

but study after study indicates

wealth is being distributed

in fewer and fewer hands

and this leads to many

inequalities

This is disturbing

American wars  are being fought

less and less with civilians

more and more through corporations

       and rich individuals with private militaries

                                                 re: Blackwater

 

This is known as “outsourcing”

which saw unprecedented levels

in the recent iraq wars

 

in hyper capitalism it is no longer

the right to bear arms

                                                now one can own an army

                        and the lawyers will argue

it is the same thing

Finally

in case you didn’t know

wealth is imaginary

 

a sum of a billion

cannot fit in a truck

as paper money

 

and you could never

buy that much gold

 

it is a number

on a computer screen

                                    says the rich little banker

Poems for the Shaw on Thursday

Unions today are around 10% of the workforce,

down from 35% through the forties and fifties and sixties and seventies

                             Ronald Regan a b-movie star

                       better known for his union busting activity to industry insiders

       was elected president

and the “neo-cons” began their reign

    

“how do you know?” the liberal class scream

                   (an underperforming division of this new empire)

                                     oh how do i know?

a few get richer and wages have stagnated (politely)

                     in the last thirty years…

it’s well documented read a book

 

bukowski told me the americian dream

was never alive and even then

it still died

 

tax cuts for the rich is not an idea

for the common good

it benefits those who have ample

so as a small act of protest i made a move for the left

which resulted in an official goal

      the union was in position

and conditions got better

 

 

 

4:38 PM

i have raked the gravel drive

to an eastern inspired cabin

i have rented for the winter

nestled quietly in a mountain

the owners are lovely

he a writer and she a travel agent

  and vice versa

there place well looked after

and well thought out

for example

the windows open

to a view of a jutting

mountain i have seen before

 

Besides    

                                   i’m assisting julian assange

                by transmitting my well wishes

and strategy through brain waves

                     

                                to the

unfettered capitalism leads to perpetual war

and as my good friend john lennon suggested

              “let’s give peace a chance”      

                          

the industrial military complex must stop

                                              for that “Peace thing”  to happen

we, the liberals, evil hippies, all know 

 

A thanks

At this time i would like to thank my readers                                                           and authors for making these terrible poems  possible

especially my Korean contingent who’s faithful friendship

  has been a source of comfort during difficult times…

An Explanation

art is not in need of an explanation when it comes from the left

art from the right needs an explanation…hence post modernism

peace on earth

                     take care

                                  poetizing good night

Canada Literature

I have heard very little of Canadian literature over the last week…i did see Copeland's new book was reviewed in a short column in the NYT book section, and Ronald Wright and John Ralston Saul are both quoted in the book

Death of the Liberal Class.

Regardless of publicity i urge all Canadian writers on,

we now all know that regardless of color, sexual preference, gender etc. etc. we were all children once…let us move on…

Part 2

Bigger problems than your personal identity may be on the horizon…

      On a ferry,

so literally am out at sea and not sure of my bearings…

  heading to the island to finish my magnificent book                                          

“Poems for the Shaw” a working class proposal

 

The birds are  in the truck and have not voiced any displeasure about being on the move…i actually enjoy it…

Part 3

Julian Assange is being marginalized by the mainstream media…he is being portrayed as a conspiracy kook, who is unstable and anti big government…or at least anti establishment…

but of course it is ok that the top 25 earners on the stock market made the equivalent of over 500,000 teachers salary…

yes that is fine…

that people die in labour battles in India and the US is still at war with Iraq…

                                                hey we need that oil…

don’t believe the people in power want to hold onto that power and expand their universe…

don’t believe there are secrets…that if exposed would reveal some startling things…

don’t believe that corporations encourage a celebrity culture…

don’t believe that Lady Gaga could be considered Times man of the year…

don’t believe Pay pal still takes donations for the KKK but won’t take them for Wikileaks

don’t believe that the media manufactures consent

don’t believe you will ever be enlightened

don’t believe Hollywood perpetrates the hero mythical narrative

don’t believe the personality culture is relevant

because for sure

you are not…

Tuesday

I am too lazy to look for the schedule re: blogs

sunday is religion

monday is economics

tuesday is…

friday is freelance

saturday is where i live

thursday is poems for the shaw

wednesday is Canadian literature

my memory is good

 

A Jun Story

     uncle  fights

  cricket against cricket

   explains egg yolk

and grass

        keeps ‘em strong

           says he makes money

                and many people follow him

                   June's father says

“that is a lie.”

            the place is china

uncle is sixty

has three children from

three mothers

  and still lives in the house jun grew up in

uncle is on the right

                    “we were all children once”

Schedule 

father coffee

vince lunch

car dealership

immigration

pack

                                                      ferry tomorrow at 11am

buy Zinn book

buy why billionaires are BAD

BRING CITIZEN WEALTH

ACORN INTERNATIONAL

Technorati Tags: jun stories

An economic blog

               

I know very little about the derivative’s market…

       in the NYT a front page story indicates it is run by American banks whose           members meet on the third Wednesday of every month…

the customers are complaining they don’t know the price of these products…and now

they, the banks,  are proposing a clearing house to handle derivative transactions…

                                       for the betterment of society

i have read it is like insurance and reduces risk…

but unlike insurance companies they were not required to put up collateral,

                                 it was all imaginary money

and the basketball players got paid better

athletic salaries are indicative of the money being spent to keep you entertained

as the old line goes…

more money on miseducation    than schools

we can thank bill for taking down the wall between commercial and investment banks in 1999…

-they could now use deposits as leverage

which contributed to so much easy money…

       when they said the banking system was going to                                               collapse                                                               people would find out the banks spent their savings…

ie no deposits

 

An economic poem

no need to worry

         800 military bases

                   the empire can only decline

 

                    penny stocks

             up today

it is not raining

 

          i whisper 

   remember            

take time…

 

wow i write bad poetry

 

and if fame

is the new art form

assante is the best director,

actor

screenwriter going

            the world is abuzz

the implications 

“what people thought was true”

                             indignation

but tempers have not flared

a different freedom

                                  waiting  

Technorati Tags: economics,assange,wikileaks,military

A Religious Blog

In an 1823 letter to Lafayette, Jefferson warned:

“The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted to be freely expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure.”

People of countries

under authoritarian rule 

must nod knowingly

as the USA

a brutal proponent of Democracy

                       - free speech rule one

are demanding the cease and desist of wiki leaks

                     using moral suasion

to disrupt their funding and publication…

     the usa

              is a pretend democracy

      is it still about the worker

                                         and the elite?

in Bangladesh they die in labour battles

                   workers have a vote and terrible conditions

 

rich, fat and uncensored…

or so we were told…

                        if it can be

bought and sold

                                                  it can be manipulated

                                         commodified…

 

past tense

                  in the west i have been led to believe

life is a celebration

and money can buy appearance

 

calculating 

fortunately power is

and Assange has devised a brilliant

marketing strategy

almost unstopable

because of the internet 

and at least the idea

                                           of free speech

Churchill said,

                          “Democracy is the best we got”  

 

on a personal note

i will be going to see mom and dad before i head out

on a writing retreat, til the end of March.

The areas internet connection is suspect so the blog publishing  may be irregular…

                                           we were all children once…

 

        

Technorati Tags: religion,free speech,democracy,assange,usa

Saturday

                        An old school poet or a self indulgent poser?

 

Richmond BC is where i live…

                    a leak has offended the Vatican…

                                CBC radio reports

                   Assange is in jail for not wearing a condom

                           Obama gave the rich their tax breaks

 

money is more important than votes

             power is more important than people

                             idle rich

                             

             white collar pays better than blue

and in a slave master society

i don’t take orders

or give away

“my time” 

                     

 

oh the working class…oh the working class

                              the voices of oppression

the betterment for the good                                

 

anytime i hear the words

“cause” or “activist”

I am confused

 

no longer in the halls

but in the kitchens

of power…

               the liberal class eats the best food

running into the night

we forgot nothing…

A two week or so absence…

I was in Shanghai and when i went to blog

unable to make the connection…

asked around and Google waz censored…

tried a few times…

China has an abysmal record when it comes                                           to human rights as determined by the liberal class.

people from the villages coming to the cities

have a 3 in four chance of not getting paid in full                                                     if at all…

                             400 hour month’s

are not uncommon,

                   (14 hours a day                everyday…)

 

tall tall buildings beautiful parks

                                     better than average jazz clubs

                       not so good blues

water water everywhere

   

all empires fail says a priest

in Chris Hedge’s book

“Death of the Liberal Class”

                                                      

but wait

the Chinese government tried to hack Google

               how does one censor the internet?

obama transfered

11.2 trillion dollars

                               to the world

and 4.6 billion to the Indians

and the black farmers

                                         that’s:

11,200,000,  (trillion)

vs

4,600, (Billion)

the corporate world got 2,437x more

(600m to the campaign)

 

china,

don’t even bother,

                        “If a vote meant anything it would be illegal”

                           this is freelANCE FRIDAY

canada  

       it is good

                 to be free

                          of censorship   

                                courage is contagious

so i read at wikiLeaks

http://93.90.28.65/

Technorati Tags: death of the liberal class,shanghai,chris hedges

Technorati Tags: Intellectual property rights is an oxymoron invented by the barbarian who confused "ideas" with "property"

An Economic Monday

 

Well I'm sure the markets are open and my trip to Shanghai is causing no major fluctuations.

My trip will be filled with a book called Death of the Liberal Class.

http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/page2/the_death_of_the_liberal_class_20101029/

In the Vancouver airport and enjoying a Stella while J rests on a bench.

    Across from me is an elderly gentleman and a younger Asian woman…

i imagine she is a mail order bride as she bites into her burger with relish…

                        they appear to be fond of each other…

to my right is a table full of white males in their thirties who are also enjoying a morning drink…

one is talking about his girlfriends dog walking business…

not to worry…the dog’s are fine

My good friend says we travel to see different sets and enjoy a new cast of characters…

of course she is cinematic but strangely hates the word “movie.”

An Airport Poem

The economy can only go

up…up…up…

a strange belief in perpetual improvement…

                                        did we not know Oprah lied

An Airport Reality                  

the security is getting better

                                    you are being watched

                                                  you better buy  

let the drum beat

                   in the distance

                                   be your war cry…

Did i mention drinking…

                              The liberals, the musicians, the musicians, the artists 

                                 sold out

and are into Buddhism or capitalism

                 Ozzy Osborne and Gene Simmons are clowns

the Dali Lama knows no better.

  This is Monday and this is an economic blog

A Religious Blog

travelling, time, god  J  evolution, internet, narrative and my schedule 

 

think deeply for 

I am a man

on the move

which is not great

for contemplation…

 

 

Travelling

in a way past language…

                       mercifully i will have none in Shanghai

but the cons

outweigh the pros

 

Time

goes only

one way…

winding down…

but the cons

outweigh the pros

 

God   

for years i would yell

then  mutter

“I still believe”

but the cons

outweigh the pros

 

J

eyes shining

the Buddha

providing mercy

but the cons

outweigh the pros

 

Evolution

fifty years ago

we were the same species

did something happen to our soul?

but the cons

outweigh the pros

 

Internet

                                   words on screens

a bigger quicker

more seamless

                                           consumer

but the cons

outweigh the pros

 

Narrative

           what’s the point?

there is none

          what does that mean?

there is no story

we are the

happy ending

but the cons

outweigh the pros

 

schedule

for asia

Monday-stock market, economic financial musings

Tuesday-J. Stories

Wednesday-Cdn literature from a chinese perspective, a CBC documentary

Thursday- Poems for the Shaw will be put on hold, my great curse

Friday- Freelance (sweet)

Saturday-Where I live

Today is Sunday and this is a religious blog.

a thoughtful day

                                    Now that my great poem is complete i need to buy my cute niece a birthday present, pack, bring the birds to my sister, eat and hygiene and the rest of that…then one sleep and here i go Shanghai…my debut in yet another international city

“His earthshaking documentary on Chinese ignorance of Canadian literature.” 

“He came to prominence in western thinking with his treatise on Nietzsche and Mao…”

being delusional is one of my hobbies

No Operator

The snow has fallen early this year

as i sit slightly disgraced

bragging in the bar

i was a stock market operator

to Paul, who is in his seventies and a mining engineer. 

 

I am an idiot gambler

                     who…barely knows…

I have invested in a diamond mine in the Yukon…

                        i mean Artic

based on a tout sheet

the brother of a notorious Howe street speculator

and the interest of a major. 

                                             Commentary

“The instant gratification thing”

is getting faster

hence peoples propensity to gamble…

…

the junior resource sector should out perform the general market…

money has to go someplace and they keep printing more…                                             

so i speculate

to increase my wealth

                                                                while creating nothing personally

 

and maybe the company has a successful diamond mine…

thank goodness.

 

Footnote: in post modern parlance that is known as an “excess economy”       

 

A-G

a.Vincent is getting organized and the odds of him getting evicted are one in ten.

                          I keep reminding him to pay the rent. 

 

b. I’m off to Shanghai on Sunday and am excited and confused, really I’m    going    on Monday which is only two sleeps…a 12 hour plane ride…then a two hour train ride then up 6 flight of stairs and i say hello to j’s father

                                             nee how ba ba

 

c. the cute barkeep, Brooks whom I have a crush on is a  lesbian…                          

i said “I can set you up”…and she looked interested  

c+.with absurdity via Camus.

     d.               Shawn would you like to write a poem.

   oh the paradox…life is meaningless yet we have to make meaning while            realizing it’s all meaningless…you can see how that leans into existentialism…and i’m not sure about Sartre…i never got through “Being and Nothingness”

f.                           Getting harder to complain.

g. Edmonton is a good cold city. 

                                             This is Saturday and this is where i live.