Why I Am A Socialist

Sex in the workplace is hot!
A shame that 4 million Germans can't enjoy it!
SPD!

Poster advertising Germany's Sozial-Demokratische Partei, or SPD, the Social Democrats. Their position as the ruling party in the German Bundestag for quite a while had given them the ability to appoint one of its party leaders as Chancellor, and a majority of cabinet ministers -- to run the government and set national policy, so long as they held a parliamentary majority.

That Pull Position of the SPD ended in 2005 with nationwide elections. The SPD / Green Party coalition (which had dominated Germany's government and policies for neatly 20 years) had broken apart, allowing the conservative CDU (Christian Demokratische Union) to take a majority of seats in the Bundestag -- something they have continued to do since. Germany's current Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was appointed in 2005 and is principal leader of the CDU.

The CDU is roughly equivalent to our Republican party -- except, without being pushed farther and farther to the Right by fundamentalist religious crazies, or having its party's future shaped by barely stable media personalities who preach a particularly vicious, know-nothing brand of hatred in the name of making Even More Money.


Lil' Boots Attempts To Give The Chancellor Of Germany A Shoulder
Massage: G8 Summit, 2008. (Laß mich in Ruhe, Lumpenhund!)

German conservatives are -- well, conservative -- but much more adult. Most European politicians are certainly capable of lining their own pockets, but they give more than just lip service (Silvio! being the exception) to the belief that politicians are in fact accountable to their people, rather than to the Rich, and to each other, as it is here.

Unfortunately, few Americans are interested in European politics. Most Europeans look at America's internal political clown show with a grimace, but most Germans also look at us with real alarm: They've seen what's happening here before.

They've already been down the road our Right (and Left) seem determined to take us -- and they note we don't seem to care, which alarms them even more. Germans tend to get frightened and angry when any form of totalitarianism appears; and some get really angry. Like, shove-a-boot-up-the-ass-of-any-neonazis-first, and worry-about-the-niceties-of-political-discourse-later kind of angry (As Woody Allen put it in Manhattan, "No; physical force is always better with nazis; 'cause it's hard to satirize a guy in shiny boots").


Schieb' ein Stiefel in ihren Arsch! Berlin, 1.5.04
Anitnazi Poster -- Lisa With Tire Chain and Pepperspray;
"Prevent Nazi March In Berlin!" Put A Boot Up Their Ass!
(Poster by Antifa, an antifascist coalition; No Pasarán!)

Gosh; think they might have a reason for feeling this way? Think they might know what Rightist political extremism leads to?

Why did 200,000 Germans come to the Siegessäule in Berlin on July 24, 2008, to listen to (then-candidate) Obama speak? I'll be succinct: Because Bush, his cronies and handlers were seen by Europeans as running a proto-fascist, repressive government, in control of (what was then) the most powerful economy and military in the world.



To Europeans, the Bush-time smacked of the Hitlerzeit -- an aggressive war, waged primarily to prove America's foreign policy was now based on invading whomever it wanted and intimidating anyone else; complete with secret police, secret arrests and prisons; torture as official policy; special laws for enemies of the State and secret courts; mass surveillance of communications; and demands for an uncritical support and loyalty to the State by the mass media.

All of this frightened Europeans -- because many alive today can still remember what German (or Soviet, or their own home-grown Communist) occupation felt like. Their history (unlike ours) is a progression of wars, of lives disrupted and repressed, destroyed, and millions murdered by tyrants and religious mania. They know, too, what swearing allegiance, giving up your Soul to a tyrant or the "-ism" of the moment is like, and what the cost of that can be -- the Germans in particular.



And, I would bet serious money that many of the 200,000 Germans who came to see Obama speak did so (not because of a rock band or free food, as Right-wing blogs trumpeted in the U.S.) but at a minimum because Obama's appearance meant that the idea of America -- the 'Noble Experiment' in representative government begun in 1776, might not end in failure and the kind of totalitarianism their own history has seen.

Many Europeans believe in the power of ideas, and of hope; often, it's all they've had to hang on. The idea of America has always represented the Rule Of Law, and at least the notion that a basic fairness in human affairs was possible. Most Europeans saw Bush's rule as effectively shitting on not just that tradition, but on the concepts themselves.

So, on that Summer evening approaching sunset at the 'Grosser Stern' in the western half of the Tiergarten, when a clear sky is made out of pale colors so delicate they seem floating, liquid; a Hochsommer hint of Lime trees and Lindens in the air... at that moment, to the 200,000 listening, Obama represented the ideas and the hope that America can still claim to hold out to the world.

However, Obama's Presidency hasn't quite worked out so well. If anything, America's liberals and progressives seem dispirited and disappointed. The Banksters are firmly in control; if you believe our conservative-leaning media, the Right appears poised to roar back in our faces, and the fringe elements -- the Becks, Palins, Bachmanns, Limbaughs and screeching Teabaggers; all of them courted, pampered and feted by the Mainstream Media -- keep pushing the GOP ever further Rightwards, from common sense to a radical, fundamentalist-christian-colored incoherence.



They're no longer a political party of fiscal sobriety and smaller government; they're a party of crony politics and corruption, run by unstable personalities who only believe in power, and maintaining it.

Climate change agreements are in the toilet (Industrialized Nations To 'Developing World': Learn To Swim); the Goldman-Sachs' of the world keep getting obscenely richer, with active assistance from the Obama administration; hundreds of thousands of ARM mortgages on American homes will reset in 2010, leading to more unemployment and another kick in the teeth to an already damaged economy -- and the administration we elected to right the country and reverse the damage done by the Thugs are doing very little -- most of their political capital is now spent on a Health Care Bill which will years of fine-tuning to make any real difference to human beings, and will probably be sabotaged by the Right.


More Homeless; Fewer Busses; Larger School Classes, Fewer
Teachers; Higher Prices; No New Jobs -- Thank Lil' Boots
and Wall Street... (Photo: The Homelessblog, 2008)

In short, we seem to be entering a Weimarzeit of our own, which the Germans know very well: The time of the Weimar Republic, fourteen short years between the Germany of the Kaisers and World War One, and the rule of the nazis. Everyone knows what happened after that.

The Weimar-time was marked by growing disorganization in government, hysterical political agitation, and the alienation of regular citizens from the idea of 'government' at all. Well-meaning liberal or centrist governments were continually paralyzed by demonstrations and attacks from the Right. Finally, frightened of the possibility of a far-Left takeover, the Weimar government offered Hitler the position of Chancellor, to unite most of the political parties in the Reichtag into a coalition which could get something done (Hey! Guys! How'd that work out?).


(Cartoon By Mr. Fish; Harper's Magazine)

Nothing seems to be able to stop the Rich, and the Right, from rising -- and making the United States into a place more like Oligarch-run Russia, where wealth and power rule; and the rest of us should be fucking grateful for long hours and less benefits. And, we'd better learn to keep our traps shut, move along, and remember to bow and smile when Our Betters pass by.

A German acquaintance (who is a lifelong SPD member, back home) said to me some months ago, "It is part of the understanding of every European what can happen when a country's government is driven farther Right by a radical minority," she said. "You end up with oligarchs and fascism, no matter what name you call it."

"This is part of the lesson of what happened, with [Germany], with Spain, with Russia; with the Eastern European dictatorships under Communism. The warnings are right in front of you. But America thinks it's immune from history, somehow -- you are just allowing this to be a real possibility, letting this happen. Like [the Germans] allowed the nazis to happen. And, your Democratic party seems willing to participate in this."


Lesson Of History Learned: Dresden, February, 2009:
Police restraining Antifa coalition demonstrators
at annual neo-nazi march on anniversary of the city's
firebombing in 1945 (Photo: Reuters)

"Don't your people even remember what it was like with [Lil' Boots] Bush? That was nothing -- a taste. But we know what can happen -- to you, too -- and it can be worse. It might not happen for you; I hope not -- but it's part of our history, and believe me, no one is special," she finished, and shrugged. "Maybe you won't believe it's possible, until it happens to you."


Message From Palin-Huckabee and the Republican Party, 2012

Oh, yes -- The SPD poster which started this whole post is about high unemployment, and presented in a way that wouldn't be allowed here in America without making Xtian fascists upset... and we just can't have that, can we.

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Funny; We Think Of Los Angeles As Bizarre...

(Screencapture: Los Angeles Times Online, December 18, 2009)

The Los Angeles Times, a paper I grew up reading, has a section in it's online version entitled, "Bizarre And Unusual Destinations Around The World". As I started clicking down the list of photos, suddenly there was the picture above -- right after a glow-in-the-dark worm grotto. As Charles Bronson would have said, Whut d'hell??


Lombard In 1933, taken from an apartment building almost
opposite on Hyde street. Houses on the left (South) side of
Lombard had been demolished to create a firebreak following
the 1906 earthquake. (History Center, S.F. Public Library)

As a boy, visiting The City with my family, we occasionally took a trip down this section of Lombard. As a resident, I've only driven it a few times -- in late Fall and Winter, when traffic isn't backed up by a line of Die Touristen in their rented vehicles, wanting to drive down its 87-year-old brick-cobbled curves (read this article about the history of Lombard's "crooked" portion by Susan Saperstein, San Francisco City Guides organization).

But, that section of Lombard Street between Leavenworth and Hyde on Russian Hill isn't what we'd refer to as a 'Bizarre' travel destination.


On the Other Hand...

San Francisco, and the Bay Area, has given the world Silicon Valley, Apple and Macintosh and iPod and iPhone; Adobe and Macromedia, Electronic Arts and Google; the Free Speech Movement; the Haight and the Castro; The Beats and City Lights; American Conservatory Theatre (it is the best off-Broadway company); Underground Comix, and the Psychedelic and Outsider Art of the 60's; The Grateful Dead and the Airplane / Starship; The Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge and the Marin Redwoods; The Dot-Com Bubble (Our Bad; sorry); The Suicide Club, Cacophony Society and Burning Man.

Los Angeles has given us Hollywood.

Oh, and some guy standing out on Sunset and LaBrea with a sign that says Be Incoherent Like Me! Ask Me How!

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In Urgent Times, A Good Legacy

Photographs of the Swiss Matterhorn (taken in 1960, left, and in
2005) show the shrinkage of its glacial ice. Both photos taken
after major snowstorms.

(All Photos: Left, © Bradford Washburn; Right, © David Arnold;
via LA Times online, December 13, 2009)

During the 1930's, photography as both art and documentation was a branch of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration (WPA). Most of America's major photographers -- Ansel Adams, Margaret Bourke-White; Edward Weston; Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange; Ben Shahn -- were employed making records of life in America.

Artists like Adams were drawn to vistas of the natural world. Along with the more well-known photographers came others whose names were never known outside a limited number of federal bureaucracies needing specialized work performed, specific industries, or a circle of people who had .

Henry Bradford Washburn was one of the leading American mountaineers in the 1920s through the 50's. He made first ascents of, and added climbing routes to, many major Alaskan peaks -- often with his wife, Barbara Washburn, herself a pioneer among American mountaineers. Bradford established the Boston Museum of Science in 1939, served as its Director until 1980 and then as its Director Emeritus until his death in 2007.

The Washburns also pioneered the use of aerial photography in the analysis of mountains and in planning their mountaineering expeditions. Bradford was also a cartographer, and he used the black-and-white photos (primarily of Alaskan peaks and glaciers) he'd taken took as references for maps of the Alaskan wilderness that are still standard references. The photographs themselves are standards for detail and artistry.

I tend to have sharp words for what I see as a class of persons useless and empty of anything except hereditary wealth and the dull-witted avarice which accompanies it. But, on rare occasion they produce individuals with passion and intelligence for something greater than the world they were born into (in fact, often antithetical to it); people who spend their lives adding to, rather than subtracting from, the sum of human knowledge. Both Washburn and his wife, fortunately, were such people.

Washburn was born into privilege in Cambridge, Massachusetts; his family was modestly wealthy by the standards of his class, and he attended the usual route of private-academy-to-Ivy-League-School, taking an undergraduate degree at Harvard in the middle of the Great Depression.


Washburn in the 1940's (American Mountaineering Museum)

He could have done little of consequence with his life beyond helping to tend his family's fortune for later generations, or tossing money at a charity as a way of "giving back" -- but Washburn had spent years learning to climb mountains and had fallen in love with the Wild spaces; they were nothing like a sedate Cambridge or the quiet exclusivity of Porcellian at Harvard. Washburn was determined to document the geographic magnificence he experienced first-hand, as the great naturalists of the 19th century had. His tools were the camera, a set of Dietzgen mapmaking compasses and pens, and his own eyes.


Henry and Barbara Washburn atop a peak in Alaska, 1940's

Fortunately, he found someone who wanted to share the trek and climb alongside him. And in 1939, when the world was poised to fall into another World War, Henry and Barbara Washburn put their money where their hearts were by being the primary drivers behind an expansion of (and founding, in a way) the Boston Museum of Science.


Although the Guyot glacier in Alaska may look larger in the 2006
photo [at right], most of the white in the image is fog. Ice has
receded over 14 miles since that pictured in the 1938 photo at left.

David Arnold is a photographer with the Boston Globe, who had grown up looking at exhibitions of Washburn's aerial photos. "Five years ago I purchased a photograph by the late Bradford Washburn", Arnold told the Los Angeles Times. "Driving home and sneaking peeks of my new picture ... I started wondering: If global warming is real, what does that icy scene look like now?"

Over the past several years, Arnold has flown over the same remote sites captured by Washburn, taking nearly-identical pictures. He reported, "The news is not good," and organized an exhibition of the side-by-side photographs.

As the photos show, the ice world is melting fast. This includes the ice stored in the planet's largest water tower, the Himalayan mountain range, which annually sends drinking water down seven major rivers to hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indian citizens. In another 20 or so years, they are likely to start getting thirsty; the well-armed governments for another 7 billion people will be getting snippy about their water; and I won't be able to buy flood insurance for my home on the Boston waterfront.

When Washburn photographed the Shoup glacier near Valdez,
Alaska in 1938 [left], it extended six miles beyond the right
edge of the picture. Arnold’s photo at right is from 2007.

About the arguments made that predictions of the effects of global warming are the result of "bad science", and it can't be proven to exist, Arnold is blunt: "I look at it this way: I'm told I have a malignant brain tumor and it's growing -- and out of one hundred doctors, ninety-eight say that if it is not removed, I will die. Two well-credentialed doctors say there is no research that can prove the tumor will continue to grow, and say to sit tight, do nothing.

"I'm going with the surgery," Arnold concludes. "And the flood insurance."

This is an additional, if unanticipated, benefit to Henry and Barbara Washburn's legacy: Documentary evidence of climatic change; a comparison between then, and now, in a detailed graphic format. If he hadn't had the passion and commitment to goals he had seen and set for himself, we would not have it now.

To create a comparative record of changes to glacial and mountain ice fields may have been possible to reconstruct through anecdotal observation and occasional photos of others -- but not with the detail Washburn provided. And at this point in our species' history, we need all the data we can get.

You can see Arnold's full exhibit online at doublexposure.net, created through the Washburn's legacy, the Boston Museum of Science.

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White House Says Job Growth By Spring Of 2010

Lawrence Summers, President Obama's top economic advisor, predicted today on ABC (see the report by the New York Times) that by the spring of 2010, the ranks of working Americans will start to grow again.

"We've walked back from the brink -- and never mind what we [the administration] say; most professional forecasters are looking for a return to job growth by the spring," Summers said. "I think everybody agrees, the Recession's over..."

...and that has been the rising opinion offered by most publicly-quoted Wall Street forecasters and other flacks -- The Recession's over! Job losses have slowed, and they're gonna grow -- maybe not so fast; but then, ya gotta be patient!! Everything's gonna be just like it was again!!

American Banks, and Goldman-Sachs, are making more money than ever. It's even been given to them, for nothing. Taking all of the unemployed in the country into account (including those working at reduced hours and pay), nearly twenty per cent of the teenage and adult populations which could be working, aren't.



For whom is it going to be the same, again? Will the so-called 'Recovery' benefit a few, and not most, in America? Will it have contributed to wider gaps between wealth, and the working poor and real poverty? Will our cities limp along with fewer busses, less safe water, fewer firehouses; higher crime, dirtier streets, more crowded classrooms, higher tuition and fewer electives? And while a certain segment of the population continues to live very, very well?

But, we're not supposed to say that. Smacks of Communism, or disloyalty to Free Market™ principles; or being uppity and not knowing our place in the Brave, New Order.

Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics and regular columnist for the Times, completely disagrees with the notion that the Recession is over -- and on the subject of job creation, has this to say:

I don’t think many people grasp just how much job creation we need to climb out of the hole we’re in. You can’t just look at the eight million jobs that America has lost since the recession began, because the nation needs to keep adding jobs — more than 100,000 a month — to keep up with a growing population. And that means that we need really big job gains, month after month, if we want to see America return to anything that feels like full employment.

How big? My back of the envelope calculation says that we need to add around 18 million jobs over the next five years, or 300,000 jobs a month.

This puts last week’s employment report, which showed job losses of “only” 11,000 in November, in perspective. It was basically a terrible report, which was reported as good news only because we’ve been down so long that it looks like up to the financial press.

How these jobs will be created, when the administration is still sleeping with the Banksters (who have no incentive whatsoever to lend, which is a prerequisite to creating any jobs), doing little if anything to regulate a pack of hyenas run wild, is beyond me.

This implosion of the economy, caused by a relatively small group of men and supported by the entire financial structure of the United States, has been just short of horrific.

A return to The way things used to be is not what we should be hoping for -- it's normal to want it, but it's impossible. And, those who voted for Obama and Democratic candidates in 2006 and 2008 did so (just one Dog's opinion) because people know the game is fixed. They want systemic change -- real regulation of the financial industry; real health care; less politicization of government bureaucracies. Something more than the usual political lip service politicians like Lil' Boots gave to equality and basic fairness.

I wonder if the President and his people realize any of that.

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Berlusconi Attacked By Cathedral

No; It's Not Simon Pegg In Star Trek (A Bit Old, For Simon)
-- It's The Capo d'Buffoono Capo! (UK Mirror, 11/13/09)

Earlier today (tonight, in Italy), Silvio Berlusconi, 73-year-old Prime Minister of the Republic of Italy and Chief Clown of the European Union, appeared at a political rally in Milan when he was struck by the Duomo Cathedral which borders the square where the rally took place.


Milan's Duomo Cathedral Of The Maria Bambina, Which Is Being
Held For Questioning By Italian Police After The Surprise Assault

Berlusconi, whose reign as Primo Penis L'Italia has been threatened by a series of sex scandals, alleged mafia connections and criminal charges of bribery and money laundering, had appeared at the rally in a local hotel, but was continually heckled by onlookers. Even though he was the only person in the room who happened to have a microphone and a really large public-address system, Silvio! had to spend some time shouting them down.

While exiting the building, Berlusconi had been slowed, walking through a crowd of people, shaking hands (for any other head of state, taking that kind of risk is unheard of), when he was attacked. Obviously bleeding, he was whisked to a local hospital, reportedly having suffered broken teeth, a fractured nose, and various contusions and cuts, but was otherwise still able to have sex (after a fashion) with women forty-five years younger than himself.



(Screencaptures: BBC Video Footage, December 13, 2009)

The 623-year-old Cathedral which struck the Prime Minister was thrown by Massimo Tartaglia, who had gotten close enough to the Capo de Tutti Frutti in the crowd as he left the rally. That Tartaglia (who reportedly "has a history of mental problems") was able to get so close to a major European political figure to carry out the assault is troubling to Italian authorities.

But, even more astounding is how Tartaglia was able to reduce a gigantic, Gothic-style building to the size of a paperweight, and throw it, striking Berlusconi in the snout (probably had been between the thighs of some-a young girl not long before, eh?).

How the huge stone building was then returned to its normal size and position without being seen by anyone is unknown, as Tartagliga was immediately seized -- which raises the spectre of a wide conspiracy.


Italian Authorities Consider A Connection Between The Cathedral,
And Another Architectural Feature With Time-Travel Capabilities

"We have not ruled out aliens from space, or time travelers, using futuristic technology to injure our beloved Silvio," an anonymous source in Berlusconi's security detail told the BBC.

It is also not known whether Massimo is related to the Tattaglias in the Godfather saga ("Sonny hit Bruno Tattaglia at three o'clock this morning"), and what this may mean for Diane Keaton, James Caan and Al Pacino.


Bruno Tattaglia: "Scotch? Pre-War -- Or, A Little Strangling?"

The Duomo was ordered by Italian police to remain in place in Milan and not to attempt to leave the city. In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the Duomo claimed it had never met Tartaglia before and that it had been quietly hosting an evening Mass when it was picked up and swung at the Prime Minister.

"I am innocent", the Cathedral told the BBC. "It's true -- I don't like the immoral and disgusting acts by which the Prime Minister has besmirched his office. But I have never, ever caused harm to anyone, except witches, and Protestants, and a whole bunch of Jews." The Duomo has asked for Papal lawyers from Rome to be present during further questioning.


Silvio's Own Television Network In Italy, Providing Unbiased
Coverage Of The Prime Minister's Glorious Reign Over What's Now
The Theater Capital Of Europe (Photo: UK Guardian 11/09)

[Okay; if you haven't figured it out, or don't follow the links I handed to you: Tartaglia allegedly struck Berlusconi in the face with a souvenir model of the Duomo cathedral. The symbolism is obvious and even amusing -- and no, I'm not going to explain it to you.]

While his popularity ratings remain above 50 per cent, Berlusconi's hold over his office may slip as the result of poor life choices and too much bouncy-bouncy. Dogged by rumors of connections with the mafia as a Billionaire oligarch; publicly romping with women (which led to a messy, continuing public divorce from his second wife); and after a law granting him immunity from prosecution as Prime Minister was overturned earlier this year, Silvio! may be the first leader of Italy in several generations to be convicted of criminal acts while in office.

Silvio's own television network and newspapers continue to broadcast a campaign of positive reports about him (he is reported to like dogs and enjoy life), but many Italians dismiss them as obvious propaganda. Basta!

Then, there is Berlusconi's former pay-for-play mistress, Patrizia D'Addario, who recently published a tell-all autobiography about the Buffoono's inner circle, and their sex life, entitled "What You Require, Mr. Prime Minister".


The Oligarch Minister and a Simple Italian Prostitute Girl

It seems that she saw her chance for opportunities, attention, money, and more money in her relationship with Silvio!; but even if some of her alleged details are incorrect, he is still the married head of the Italian government and was still committing adultery with (at least) D'Addario in a relatively public fashion -- not to mention whispers about the 18-year-old Silvio was seen hanging with after D'Addario smeared him in the press, which seemed one way to thumb his nose at the world (I don't give a rat's ass what you think!) -- ho ho ho; that Silvio!!.

Even his own handlers are stumped by what to say about the public backlash towards their Capo's antics. Asked about the assault, Berlusconi spokesman Paolo Buonaiuti told CNN, "There has been such a buildup of hatred toward the premier, and this is not good... This campaign of hatred has been building quite rapidly recently, and I am not surprised that what happened tonight took place."

Doctors at the hospital in Milan have indicated that CAT scans of Berlusconi's head show no abnormalities, but want to perform additional tests to be certain.


Silvio's! Physicians: Shocked by the assault -- except Dottore Tano
Carridi (At Right), CAT scan director, who wanted extra Pet Treats.

The physicians also agreed that he has Un Poco Pene, then showed scans to reporters and cleaning women on the night staff before blowing off the remainder of their shift to eat Pasta Pesto, or play with catnip bags in the shape of the Pope.

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