Main Page Podcast Videos Photos Archives
Contact - host at breadwithcircus dot com
_________________________________________________________________
January 2010
January 21st 2010
US Congress for Sale: Foreign Bids Welcome
The US Supreme Court has just ruled that in the interest of freedom of speech,
corporations ought to be allowed to make unlimited donations to political campaigns.
The Court also ruled that corporations should not be prohibited from directly sponsoring
political advertisements.
"Got a law you want changed? Make me an offer..."
The implications of this ruling effectively ends what integrity might have remained in
the electoral process. Despite our high-minded ideals about the process, elections are
decided on television. The candidate who spends the most on advertisements is usually the
candidate who wins. With this ruling, corporations can now easily buy members of Congress
by pouring millions of dollars into election campaigns. They can fund the ads of their chosen
candidates and directly buy ads themselves to attack their opponents. Any candidate who
plans to work for the people, rather than the corporatocracy, can expect to lose as their
opponents are flush with cash, and countless expensive attack ads are aired against them.
Imagine a Goldman Sachs or Citigroup sponsored smear campaign against Ron Paul.
It could even be paid for with bailout money!
The most disturbing part of this ruling is in the understanding that corporations are not
citizens of any given country, but businesses with offices in different places. What is to stop
Russia's Gazprom or a Chinese lead mining/toy manufacturing conglomerate from buying a P.O. Box
in Delaware, and then showering an obscure candidate from a small state with millions of dollars
for their election campaign? Once elected, that congressman would be expected to vote a certain
way on a certain bill or even introduce new legislation on house floor.
Given the influence of big money on campaigns, elections have been corrupt for a long time.
Only a certain breed of highly corrupt candidate has been able to raise enough money to
buy enough ads to win. However, with the contribution limits and ban on foreign donations,
the occasional populist could still find a way to compete by raising money directly from
the people. No more. Corporations are only interested in maximizing profits, in fact, they
are legally required to do so. If a change in the law will allow them to make billions, they
will certainly spend whatever it takes to enact such a change. Its nothing personal. If they
need to take action-y to achieve outcome-x, and x is greater than y, they'll do x every time.
Its just about the numbers.
By allowing corporations to contribute unlimited amounts of money to campaigns, they will
be able to pick and choose which candidates win elections, effectively buying up the US Congress.
The power of Congress, including the ability to declare war, is now available to the highest bidder.
The interesting thing will be to see which companies and which countries wind up owning it.
January 7th 2010
CNN: A Terrorist's Best Friend
click to listen
Alex talks about the motivations of terrorists and the nature
of assymetric warfare, the psychology of fear and the foolishness of
mainstream media in their reaction to the "Underpants Bomber."
Links
The CNN logo is a penis <==
January 5th, 2010
Alex is Also a Musician
Music is my spiritual undertaking. I endure legitimate suffering and write
songs to banish demons. I've been playing around with some new software lately.
I wanted to invite you to check out something that I've come up with
In keeping with my pro-pirate philosophy, if you like what I've done,
I invite you to share this music. If you are a creative type who needs a couple
minutes of audio for whatever purpose, I encourage you to use it in your medium,
just so long as its not for profit.
_____________________________________________________________________