Posts Tagged ‘obama’

According to a CNN report a law has now been passed in the Gulf of Mexico that makes it illegal for any media or journalist or blogger to come within a visible distance of any oil-cleaning operation. Is this is potent handling Obama was supposed to be all about? Just ban the media so no one sees whats going on? And what a flimsy excuse for this law: ‘the oil operations are supposed to be hindered by the presence of the media’ – yeah, right, and dictators are hindered by the presence of free media as well. Do these people actually have a brain?

Don’t believe this news? It even made the NY Times: See here

“Journalists struggling to document the impact of the oil rig explosion have repeatedly found themselves turned away from public areas affected by the spill, and not only by BP and its contractors, but by local law enforcement, the Coast Guard and government officials.”

The new law states that journalists, media and bloggers could be fined 40.000 dollars and prosecution for a federal offence if they are caught within a certain radius of an oil cleaning operation.

Absurd, utterly absurd. And a very strong signal that the States are still heading the wrong way, in spite of the more friendly Obama appearance. Its just an appearance, unfortunately. To forbid media access to one of the largest ecological disasters that has ever occurred on this planet is the act of either a lunatic or an evil man.

What is going on here? Why cant these people be honest about what is going on? Are the American people simply accepting this sort of censorship? It’s obvious that Obama is not very happy with the whole disaster but banning journalism seems an oddball way of handling the situation.

What does Novo Unversalis think of Social Darwinism?

We are against such ideas, like Nietzsche was. The idea that the ‘strongest always survive’ is a delusional fabrication of Evolutionists. The opposite is true, as Nietzsche rightfully observed: all our institutions and traditions are centered around the idea to make anything ‘strong’ or ‘high’ impossible.

The irony of our western states is that they in fact are not very different from the communist states they used to deplore. As an individual one has to serve the collective for 60 years, after which you are ‘rewarded’ a few years of freedom to enjoy yourself. The difference with communism is mainly that capitalism succeeded in surrounding this position with superior illusions.

The illusion industry of the West is in such state now that it can accomplish miraculous things, such as present a 50-year-long Washington insider multimillionaire as an advocate of change.

How does Novo Universalis see the Obama phenomenon?

Unfortunately we do not think he will make any difference. The fact that he has pegged his cabinet with old insiders and hardliners, under the cheers of Dick Cheney, points to the same illusion machine mentioned above. But the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a good testcase. If Obama doesn’t come out and condemn it we can safely say he’s just another media puppet.

So are you a pacifist movement?

We are not against war per se, but we are against unsportive war. The idea that there would be something ‘desirable’ in battling a stone age tribe with an overkill of modern technology is exemplary of immense spiritual corruption.

We would like to create a different sort of education system where the prime focus does not lie on ‘pumping machine knowledge’ into kids but developing character qualities in our young people, qualities of chivalry, heroism, honour. A Spartan education system that focusses on the highest possible qualities, where philosophy, poetry, fysical skills and test of intelligence are created that do not exist only on paper. After this spartan eduction, when they reach the age of 18, they will be free until they are 35 years old, so they can enjoy their life at its full height. After that, they are supposed to serve community for the rest of their lives. They will be glad to, out of a feeling of gratitude. In the current situation, the idea of service is not one out of gratitude but out of the old suspended fear model – it’s simply the transgression from the ‘have a boring life and you’ll be rewarded after death’ of christianity to ‘have a boring life and you’ll be rewarded when you’re 65′ of modern kapitalism. It’s not essentially much different.

Aren’t these ideas rather naive and impractical?

In what sense? Listen, there will never be any ‘change’ unless we change the system itself. It’s perfectly all right with us if you don’t want any change, but then you should stop complaining about it. You either want change, then you have to change the current system (media democracy) – or you don’t want change, fine, but don’t come complain to us when the New Dark Ages arrive.

But your ideas are naive in the sense that, for example, all war is by definition unsportive

That is a nonsensical idea with no basis in reality. Any General that prides himself from winning a battle between Goliath and David is not a general worthy of its name, in fact in our opinion he is not a general at all but a coward. You cannot understand the ethics of war until you have thoroughly studied classical masterpieces such as The Art of War by Sun Tzu. The problem is not, and has never been, war itself: it is the wrong immoral and corrupted application of war that is the problem. Without any chivalry, honour and dignity there simply is no real masculinity. A real warrior looks the enemy into his eyes. Real wars do not know any ‘collateral damage’.

The Global superpower is in fact a Global Underdog

One of the greatest faults of the generation that grew up in the 50′s and 60′s, which now, through Obama, is about to be replaced by a new generation which I call the multitasking generation (MTG) – one of their greatest faults was that they invented the American Dream as an answer to World War II. The American Dream always has been a denial, a negative quality on itself: the idea that ‘Anything is possible, anyone can be anything’ as a life philosophy is so ridiculous, not because it is false but because it’s simply always true, everywhere. Anyone can be anything anywhere in the world. That last part, the ‘anywhere’ is exactly what is missing out of this ‘American Dream’ – according to their projections this very simple idea is ‘only possible in the US’. Let us look at this idea very carefully, because what we see here is incredibly typical; let us imagine a small town where 500 people live, including farmer Johnson, who always teaches his family that only on the Johnson Farm anyone can be anything he wants, while out there, on the other farms, this quality would be somehow lacking.

It is not very hard to see how ridiculous this idea really is. But instead of focussing on how false the idea of the American Dream is it is far more interesting for us to look at why it was a ‘denial of service’ after the horrors of WWII and why, in effect, the American Dream is in fact an expression of the utmost inner uncertainty, of a massive inferiority complex the entire United States suffers from. Let us start with the latter.

America, a fugative state, has always had a love-hate relationship with Europe. Europe represented the Slave Masters they broke away from, Europe represented Law and Order, whilst they represented Freedom and Opportunity. The relationship of the American with the European is therefore primarily the relationship a former slave has with his old master: he ridicules him, but deep inside still fears him. There is a giant inferiority complex hidden in the citizens of the US, which is exactly why they behaved as they did the last couple of decades: no one sane would behave as if he is the ‘cop of the town’ unless he has some sort of complexion that makes him believe that, by behaving that way, he will gain the respect or admiration of the others.

The simple laws of psychology say that anything that needs to be stressed is a signal of disease. In Holland we have a proverb that reads ‘Goede wijn behoeft geen krans’ which means as much as ‘Good wine doesn’t need to be advertised’. The more a person stresses that he is ‘free’, or ‘great’, or ‘admirable’ the more suspicious this person gets from a psychological viewpoint, since anyone who is really free or admirable doesn’t need to tell himself or others such messages. The fact that it is stressed so often points to a process of hypnotism: but why the need to hypnotize oneself, and what is being hidden here?

What is being hidden is a monumental inferiority complex. It is a well known fact that aggressive macho’s and violent people almost always behave operating from such complexes. Because authority, real authority, is calm and serene. When someone gets mad, gets ridiculous, loses his nerves this is a degradation of his authority, you can ask any teacher that. The worst possible thing you can do in class is exactly that. So, in this light, isn’t it typical that ‘the American Dream’, which consists of the most bland of observations one could possibly summarize (Anyone can be Anything) is formulated as the answer to WWII? Isn’t that exactly the great tragedy that took place in the latter half of the 20th Century for which my generation, the Multitasking generation that has its first Beacon in Barack ‘Blackberry’ Obama, must face? The idea that all we need to get by is that ‘Anyone can be Anything’, and only in the US to boot?

The reality is that we are far, very far from even starting to see how this massive inferiority complex is going to get worked out. As long as it is not recognized, it will just get worse.
America isn’t a global superpower. They cant even get a piece of desert under control. They are a global Underdog, and hopefully someone somewhere will find a big enough mirror to show them.

Martijn Benders, Dutch Poet and Writer, Istanbul 24-11-2008

One of the first things Obama did when he was elected was promote some rather hawkish long time career democrats as his staff. The rigid pro-Israeli Rahm Emanuel, who voluntarily joined the Israeli army to serve became his chief of staff. Secretary of Finance? 3 nominees, all 3 straight from the Federal Reserve Bank. Having someone from the Federal Reserve as a head of finance is like having someone from KLM be the head of Schiphol Airport. It’s essentially corrupt.

Now, one of the first things Obama lets us know, besides that Iran is still on the list, is that the rockets will still be installed in Poland. Excuse me? Is this supposed to be someone with an agenda for ‘change’? He doesn’t even sound like someone from another party than Bush – in fact probably most Republicans sound more revolutionary than he does. Do me a favour and look at a world map. Now, draw a line between Iran and, say, Paris. Does the line cross Poland? Of course not. The only countries a rocket installation in Poland would protect against Iranian missiles are Norway and Sweden.

What a strange kind of ‘change’ we have here. We have a weird, provocative plan to build a rocket defense system at the Russian border. Then a ‘new president’ comes out and the first thing he lets us know is that this plan won’t change. Wow, that’s rich. I bet Norway and Sweden are going to be really happy to feel safe & protected from Iranian missiles.

Fatta Morwanna

Will Obama find Osama or a Drama for his Kamma,
will Osama be the Lama or Obama duda Bamma,
think i’m gonna do da fonne with ma runna who is wonne
but Obama is da Slamma widda Gamma of a Shamma.

Think I’m gonna do da fonne with ma runna who is wonne,
but Osama bome Mamma wida Hamma ini Pijama
See ya hum into da womma wida hummer that is gonna
Slamma Mamma duda Wamma what a Dramma fo Osama.

Will Osama do da Bamma or Obama do da Slamma?
Me knickin up da Kamma juz to fin a betta Jamma.
Will Obama and Osama be the Samma? Marihuana?
Think I’m gonna do da fonne with ma runna who is wonne.

Is Obama dan di Fatta an Osama di Morgana?
Is Osama dan di knick and di Fatta Marihuana?
Think I’m gonna do di wonne with a honne that is bonne,
Fo di Fatta is di Batta and di mary is a Wanna.

Will Osama do da Bamma or Obama do da Slamma?
Me knickin up da Kamma juz to fin a betta Jamma.
Is Obama dan di Fatta an Osama di Morgana?
Di Fatta is di Batta and di mary is a Wanna.

Martinus ‘Kwesi’ Benders

There is lots of people out there who do not understand what this crisis is all about. They have no idea what fractal reserve banking is, why banks can make billions of profits and all of a sudden be bankrupt one year later. Well, fractal reserve banking means the bank is not obliged to keep your money when you bring it to them but they can spend it. This usually means they will lend it out to someone else against a higher interest rate than they give you, and the difference is their profit.

However, when stuff got deregulated banks could not just lend out your money to someone else, they could also start to gamble with it on the stock markets. This is where things went wrong. Banks bought giant amounts of mortgage-packages that were promised to be good and they turned out to be bad mortgages that do not return any profit, at least not yet. They’re problematic. So they have spend lots and lots of our money on bad investments. This means that
the profit figures they have flaunted last years, based partly on these investments, were fake. They made it look like they were growing and growing, just to be able to cash in more money at the stock counter.

So now they’ve got called on, they have a huge cash flow problem. These bad debts are made of your money, and when too many people start asking their money back: euh, its just not there. In fractal reserve banking the bank keeps just a small amount of money inside to be able to pay direct transactions. For that reason they have put caps on daily withdrawal amounts too, too high caps would bring them into trouble.

That’s one side of the story: they wasted your money on bad loans and don’t know how to pay it back. But there is more to this crisis. The whole American economy and partly European economies and other economies are debt-based. The American national debt has risen in the last eight years from 5 trillion dollars to 10 trillion dollars. So it has doubled under the Bush administration. This is all borrowed money. It has to be paid back. And every time the amount gets higher, it gets harder to pay back because of the interest issue. So what we see here is a debt figure that has risen to such an astronomic amount it has become virtually impossible to pay it back, or maybe even to stop it from growing. This is the core phenomenon we are dealing with at the moment: Crisis which will return at accelerating speeds, like this debt money is accelerating in size all the time. The effect of this in the long term is an economy in perpetual crisis. There will no longer be good times, bad times, depressions or recessions. People who believe this is a returning pattern in our economies are right, but they forget that we already had a major crisis in this decade: this is the second one. The crisis is a circular pattern but its exponential: it will keep coming back at a faster and faster pace, because debt is an exponential phenomenon.

The American author Gore Vidal wrote a book called ‘Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace’. In it he suggests that America has to stay in a state of Perpetual war to afford their lifestyle – there is much true about that, and what we will now see is that the economy more and more will follow a Perpetual Crisis model: faster and faster will these Crisis return. Either that, or there will be a total collapse. I’m not sure which option is the worst one. In the long term a collapse might be much, much more healthy. The 700 dollar bailout plan is of course ridiculous: more debt, to keep ‘things running’.

There is no quick fix, this time around. It’s pretty hilarious to see McCain and Obama talk of nothing but tax cuts.

Martijn Benders, Dutch writer and Freelance Economist