Posties Sign Own Death Warrant

I have nothing against postal workers or unions in general, but going on strike during the midst of an economic recession is, in my opinion, completely insane.

Like many others I suspect, if Canada Post were to cease operations altogether, I wouldn’t miss their “service” in the least. After all, the only thing they deliver to my doorstep is junk mail and utility bills. The former I can quite happily live without and the latter could more easily be replaced by an e-mail notification from my utility providers.

If anything, this pointless strike should spur more small businesses and people in general to transition all of their vital transactions to e-commerce alternatives. There is no sensible reason in this day and age that pension cheques and even welfare payments can’t be done by means of automatic deposit.

Democracy in America

Another day, another nadir of utter stupidity…

“This is what democracy looks like,” the dancing assclowns shouted in defense of their right to behave like jackals at public memorial sites.

Meanwhile, their country is in a total shambles… $15 trillion in debt, 3 “official” wars (several other undeclared ones) are ongoing, 14 million are unemployed, 45 million people are on food stamps (about the same number without any health insurance), 1 in 7 children are homeless, and America boasts the most fantastic income disparity in entire world…

Nice to see that these “democracy” activists have their priorities straight.

Gunsmoke

The passing of James Arness (aka Sheriff Matt Dillon) the other day reminded me of this excerpt from the Adam Curtis documentary “The Power of Nightmares” dealing with the curious TV viewing habits of Leo Strauss, the influential political philosopher whose teachings some have argued fostered the foreign policy adventurism advocated by neoconservatives within the Bush administration.

More interesting to me than the tenuous connection of Strauss to neoconservatism however, is his apparent endorsement of what have been called “noble lies” – myths leveraged by political elites for the sake of maintaining a cohesive society. The notion traces its roots back to Plato’s Republic and the ridiculous tale told by Socrates to explain the metallurgical origin of the different stratified classes of citizens in his proposed republic.

No Stopping Harper

Brigette DePape, the now former Senate page, who gleefully abused her position by flashing a “Stop Harper” sign during the Throne Speech, attempts to explain the reasons behind her inappropriate stunt:

Noble though Ms. DePape’s intentional act of civil disobedience may have been, to claim – as she repeatedly did in this interview – that “three quarters of Canadians disagree with the Harper agenda” is just flat out incorrect.

The sorry fact of the matter is that the majority of Canadians really did vote in support of spending untold billions of dollars on dubious military hardware, vastly expanding the penal system, eliminating gun control, continuing the pointless wars in faraway lands, surrendering national sovereignty for the sake of a phantom “perimeter security” zone that will be negotiated in secret, engaging in so-called “free trade” agreements that accelerate the race to the global bottom line, and maintaining massive transfers of wealth in the form of egregious corporate welfare to “job creators” that are nothing of the sort.

What a pitiful commentary that the available political alternatives to that “agenda” were actually deemed by a majority of voters to be a less desirable offering…

The World According to Palin

Everything you need to know about the outrageous fakery and stunning ignorance of Sarah Palin is neatly summarized in her version of Paul Revere’s so-called “Midnight Ride” delivered on her ludicrous self-promotional bus tour the other day…

“He who warned, uh, the the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms, uh, by ringin’ those bells and, um, by makin’ sure that as he’s ridin’ his horse through town to send those warnin’ shots and bells that, uh, we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free and we were gonna be armed.”

Which begs the question, raised here by Thomas Roberts filling in on The Last Word program: why would anyone in their right mind trust Palin’s interpretation about anything (potential effects of not raising the U.S. debt ceiling, in this example) given her obvious lack of elementary knowledge about even the most basic facts?

Sadly, the answer is simple. She appeals directly to the countless millions of Americans that are every bit as woefully ignorant and catastrophically dumb as she is.

Failing U.S. Economy Explained

Of course! It’s all so obvious now.