There was a time when the wealthy elite actually paid substantial taxes. The purpose of taxing the extraordinarily rich is to prevent an aristocracy from developing and to maintain a true democracy, a feat Aristotle recognized as impossible in the face of great income inequalities. Now, after over 35 years of cut, cut, cut for the rich, we have the most powerful aristocracy in history, and they are waging war against the rest of us. If you follow the results of studies that show the disparity of wealth in the US, you will see the flow of money from the bottom 90 percent to the top 1 percent over the 60 years between 1950 and 2010. The statistical evidence of the existence of class war is the direct result of the wealthy elite’s ownership of Congress, the executive branch and the courts.
— Class Warfare, the Final Chapter (via azspot)
Life is Cheap, Property is Priceless
Blogs have been beating up on CNBC talking head Larry Kudlow today for his warped and callous perspective on the recent the Japanese earthquake expressed in the video above. Kudlow stated, “The human toll here looks to be much worse than the economic toll and we can be grateful for that.” With the Japanese earthquake death toll estimated at 10,000, the only thing we can be grateful for is that the wave of human suffering didn’t spread from Sendai and cross the Pacific in the form of a catastrophic tsunami causing more lives to be lost.
However, if you think critically about Kudlow’s statements, can you really knock him? In a way, his statements are patriotic. The right to property is the bedrock of American values and his gaffe taps into the weight we give material over life. A quick walk through history shows us our disregard for human life in respect to property. Remember the institution of slavery, a practice legitimized by the Constitution that ignored the moral and social ramifications of bondage for financial gain. In 1850, we passed the Fugitive Slave act which would penalize white Americans through fines for not returning slaves that had gained their freedom by escaping.
Sure we could condemn Kudlow. But it would be more constructive to use this tragedy to reflect on what is truly important to us and begin moving the country towards a consciousness that thinks about the pain and struggles of others before we think about markets, capital or cash.
Before and After Satellite Photos of Japan
Horrifying.
“This is an information war. Who do you think is more capable of succeeding? The old-world behemoths, fighting old-world tactics; or the anarcho-socialist borg of anonymous interaction? They practice on small [fries], but don’t you ever wonder if they’re just exploring their new-found consciousness? Like a baby exploring the world for the first time. Immature. But, beware how quickly the new form of post-human consciousness learns and matures.” -User Dystopia via Reddit
The Deep Web— What lies beneath your Google search
Apparently search engines such as Google and Yahoo only crawl a limited portion of the internet. Underneath that small swath of sites crawled by search engines is what has come to be known as the deep web.
Imagine the internet as a large floating iceberg, with the tip or top of that iceberg representing what is reachable by traditional search methods. What’s above the surface seems massive, until you dip below to find the stuff that brought down the Titanic.
Massive troves of information lurk out of the reach search engines. In many cases this information involves seedy things like child porn, drug recipes and sex trafficking. If you are into that sort of thing, you should check out this post on the fashion forum Superfuture to learn more about the deep web and how to access it.
Bootsblack is interested in the deep web because it is rumored to have hosted many of the documents leaked by Wikileaks long before Assange and Co. officially released them to the media.
Please check back with us as we continue to investigate the deep web and the validity of these claims.
Huffpo’s just posted a mesmerizing slideshow of our nation’s top burgers.
As I flipped through these greasy photos of steaming hot ground flesh topped with oozing American Cheese and condiments, my mind wandered through thoughts of the industrialized farms where cows are fed corn and hormone cocktails, the fast food workers alienated from their work on the burger assembly lines, the flocks of obese children too large to fit down slides on the playground because of too many happy meals and the oh-so delicious taste of warm fat and salted groundbeef on my tongue.
More than almost anything, the hamburger represents the conflicted nature of this country. At once they are both delectable and despicable, tantalizing yet terrifying.
So, go ahead and flip through these images of one of one of our greatest contributions to humanity; the unsustainable industry of two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun.
Call the President a liar, a communist, a socialist, a pretend American and a racist, get a raise. Point out that the guys with all the racist signs are racists, lose your ability to work in America. Freedom of speech, Joe McCarthy style. What values does America stand for anyway?
—Comment at TPM that should be shouted from the rooftops.
PR Exec Loses NEXT Job Over James O’Keefe Video
(Also, James O’Keefe is a piece of shit.)
