Beautify me

Saints 2, Science 0

This is at least a week old, but just in case you hadn't heard.
While I am personally charmed by the myriad of rules and regulations contained within Catholicism, I must be fair and paint those guys with the same brush everyone else gets.
In this story  from MercoPress, the new Pope decides two other Popes are to get sainthood, including John Paul II (from just a few years ago).
Kind of quick don't you think?
These things have traditionally taken years, centuries I imagine, in past cases.
I would think it is easier these days, with all the technology and such to er, verify the required miracles.
I always assumed they attempted to asses and vote on cases from ancient history precisely because nobody had much proof of anything other than what they were saying.
But no, now this previously rare vestige is being handed out as easily as some silly science or literary prize.

"I heard one was a kind of card trick"

Read up on one of my favorite religions (voted most conflicting rules and most confusing rules two centuries in a row ! - Heaven and Hell Magazine )

What we appear to have is an ever increasing level of absurdity in religious belief that gives cover to everyone. There's always some crazier, more extreme group than the one you're in. "Please, whatever you do, don't lump me in with those people."That nearly universal human characteristic of admitting to be a part of it while also saying you are apart from it.

You are your thing.

I know, you think you have a 'get out of hell free' card, so if the rest don't make it, well you warned us right?
Not cool and BTW not true.
No soul searching necessary just cut out the fantasy stuff and do good, as much as possible.
Pretty simple.
http://en.mercopress.com/2013/07/05/john-paul-ii-and-john-xxiii-will-be-made-saints-announced-the-vatican

What do we do now?

Well that's what the State Dept. must have been muttering once they learned that Orange County California Sheriff's Dept. prosecutors were preparing to bring a case against a Saudi Arabian princess who had a slave, oh I mean servant, eh maid, yeah a maid escape the house and take a bus to find freedom and some while she and her family were staying in Irvine, Ca.

This story from The Los Angelis Times is sad and a bit hillarious.
I imagine the top brass are pretty cozy with those particular A-rabs, with as much secrecy as possible of course. Now the forces of the US justice system were about to collide with the 'special relationship' that exists between the world's biggest oil producer and it's best customer.
Disaster averted, phew!
The Saudi Arabian Consulate posted the 5 million dollar bail. I'm sure the princes and the rest of her property were whisked away to the safety of their nearest villa. Hopefully in a country that doesn't forget who's paying the bills around here, sheesh!
Try to read up on this foul and GROWING trend in crime and entitlement.
Still thinking to vacation in Dubai?

You will loose 1 child for every hour I spend here, do you hear me?

I call those rednecks in Irvine righteous dudes. And brave!                                                                It looks like it might have been a hassle to arrest this broad, check out her eyes.

Now that's inappropriate!

So this guy, sends some pictures of his 'package' to a woman he wants to impress? It doesn't work, but does get him kicked out of congress. Now he's running for Mayor of New York and not doing too badly either. No judgement, just reporting the facts.

How you like me now?

Read about this latest failure of the main stream press (New York Times in this case) to inform and educate the populace from one of our heroes, Greg Palast Investigative Reporter.
http://www.gregpalast.com/

You-all have a good day.

"I object"

 Read No Evil

You can read what I say you can read.

 
Just in case I'm called upon to co-council Bradley Manning at his trial, that's what I'll lead with;
"I object!"
Then something like "this whole court is out of order". I'll probably be screaming "you can't handle the truth" as they drag me out.
Don't let's forget a hero of the Free-the-Information era. Read this Motherboard story and join your energy to your indignation.

Down Low Dead

We are fortunate here in the Southern Cone, downloading torrent files is the norm. Without making a case against the Mega Music Corps that have ripped off consumers repeatedly, people simply don't have $25 bucks for a plastic disc with music on it. It's widely agreed that if prices had been or even become reasonable and more of the money would go to the artist, we'd pay for music. Many of us consider it indispensable. But alas, the music is out of the bag. There will be no putting the toothpaste back in the tube. Here's a cute image to help with your guilt.
http://imgur.com/ZEB27Rb

SEC? LOL!

Remember Bernie Madoff? I know, the people that lost big with this guy deserved to, but the bigger story is that people are still trying to 'alert' the US Federal Government to various illegal schemes, fraud and waste and are astonished that no one cares. Imagine!
News Flash: Those guys are usually running the scams.
What flim-flamery they're not directly in charge of is either sanctioned or ignored. Keep those wheels turning. Until they fall off I suppose.

It's heart warming to see people becoming aware....as they go broke. Snif.
Here's the story from NPR.

Boom Chica Boom

Money in the bank

Let's have another good read on modern banking practices, corporate behavior and the atmosphere in which they thrive. Big surprise, this story is critical of 'Merica.
I hope you find this and related stories not as an insult, but another step toward understanding the mess we're all in.

The only bank you need.

Article
Don't skip the comments, for me they are usually as good as the featured article.
I agree with the "everybody goes on strike" guy.

Snowden Watch 

Well this is getting good. Mighty Amerika is flexing it's muscle again. Actually it's pitiful flailing, the death throws of dying super power, but I digress. Our hero is stilled holed up in a Soviet airport as far as we know and Captain Amerika grows ever more desperate trying to catch hold of the little snitch.
A neighbor of ours, Evo Morales (president of Boliva) was headed back home from what was apparently a fact finding visit to Snowden, had his plane diverted after France and Portugal denied his plane passage over their sovereign soil. Hmm, let's see how that's explained.
UNASUR has called a special meeting for South American leaders to discuss the matter.
Every person can seek asylum. The US says he's wanted on charges, he needs to face those first. Some of the wimpier countries are saying the same; as a fugative he can't ask for asylum. Aside from the sticky problem that you need be in the country that you are asking asylum from. Plus Tio Sam has revoked his passport, not nice.
They're doing their level best to bring this guy to heel, but we can find the collective will stop them. Read Snowden's statement, weigh the facts and block out the chest thumping indignation from a country that is in the middle of being exposed for spying on just about everybody.

The Truth

If you're wondering how we stay so positive (Uruguay is a frustrating place to live, just like where you are), despite the seemingly unstoppable progression of decay made all the worse by the cranking of the machine to 11 (thanks Spinal Tap)- "full power, our technology and wealth will pull us out of this!". Wonder no more.
We know the truth.
(OK, full disclosure: I'm not all sure I understand this full and have not read the book, but I WILL)
The Present is a rambling and repetitive wake up call to anyone listening. It at once chides us, abandons the likely masses who will ignore this, yet still unceasingly rallies toward an understanding that will help friend and foe alike. We all benefit because there will be no more 'us' and 'them' to begin with.
Read this without fail or delay.
I'm not messing around.
Afterwards you'll have more questions than answers, but somehow you'll think that's just right.

Peace

What's next?

General Malaise

This is a quote from a U.S. Civil War commander fed up with some bozo he had to serve under. The story is here if you like that sort of thing.

"You have played the part of a damned scoundrel, and are a coward, and if you were any part of a man I would slap your jaws and force you to resent it. You may as well not issue any orders to me, for I will not obey them. . . I say to you that if you ever again try to interfere with me or cross my path it will be at the peril of your life."

In other news

Which social media site do you hate most and why?

"I think I’d have to go with Facebook. The details are too numerous to list here, but my general view is that it’s a den of superficiality and petty narcissism that acts as a massive black hole for time and attention – which to me are the two most valuable resources a person has."         Scott Garner

I think Scott said it well enough there. Please try to keep that in mind.

In keeping with the general a theme here I humbly submit a post on Edward Snowden.

Seems it's well known what he's in hot water for, but it's hard to judge just what people know.
What you hear depends on where you are to a large degree, and we all kind of believe what can fit in our head, so to speak.

We are all connected

"The purpose of whistle-blowing is to expose secret and wrongful acts by those in power in order to enable reform. A key purpose of journalism is to provide an adversarial check on those who wield the greatest power by shining a light on what they do in the dark, and informing the public about those acts. Both purposes have been significantly advanced by the revelations thus far."  

Glenn Greenwald - The Guardian

Here are some stories to bulk up your information store:

• Story: what's happening right now.

http://falkvinge.net/2013/06/22/petition-to-preemptively-pardon-ed-snowden-reaches-goal-of-100k-signatures/

• Story: background and support for Snowden

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/22/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-julian-assange

Keep your minds pliable folks; how many guys have to get 'in trouble' for exposing all the misdeeds of  governments or individuals before we demand they are ushered up to the public mic to speak? 

If and that's a big if, if there's a chance anything can change and I'm not saying I think it can, I believe a big first step is for everyone to insist upon honesty. Transparency in government: at a minimum!
The more difficult steps that have to do with a universal respect for one another and the planet, losing this love of money (that has completely captured our attention) can come later.

Think about it, the whistleblowers are attacked, villified and hardly anyone is talking about what's being revealed and why it needs to be in the first place. Then it's a small step from exposing some misdeeds to exposing a rigged system. OMG, help my whole world is tumbling down around me!

The chance to work this out in a good way is now. Do things looks "out of control" to you?

If it's not attended to by everyone and I mean everyone (think: Gary Oldman in The Professional) things are likely to continue heating up.

Peace

Next Post: Brazil is on Fire

Banks for nothing

More malfeasance from the twisted reality of The Banksters. In a story from Reuters, your worst fears about bank practices are confirmed.
I've always wondered where that paperwork went to...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/14/us-bankofamerica-mortgages-idUSBRE95D10O20130614

Love in our Time

Here's a good one.

The Catholic Church is working hard. 

Working hard to keep the laws lenient toward sex offenders.
After all the (misguided) trust they've squandered, all the denials, all the back-peddling, the lawsuits and finally all the reparations, they're still doing their best to slam the cashiers cage shut.
This article is a nice reminder of just how they do that: hire PR firms to lobby against laws that protect children, punish those responsible or in this case, limiting the time that victims can come forward to press charges.
Read this.
Still keepin' the faith?

This article was viewed on Reddit.com

Props to Reddit

That's just the fear talking

Says Gomez, something we hear a lot of around here.

Here is some compelling testimony that's pretty hard to ignore. Do check this out.

From director Chris Smith (American Movie) this 2009 documentary called Collapse is yet another "I told you so" or "the sky is falling" depending on your take on the shit storm that is this modern world.  

If not every purported fact, definitely it's message is closer to reality than the average CNN story.

My kook-o-meter definitely went off during this film, but usually the nuttier the story, the better the chance of it being something real.

Of course by the slim chance anyone reading this is still in the everything-is-fine camp, they might choose another, loopier category.


The film is a focused interview with Michael Ruppert who tells a riveting story of how he apparently predicted our most recent financial crisis in his newsletter 'From the Wilderness'.

Peak oil is the center of his we-are-doomed treatise although he doesn't have much good to say about the intelligence agencies (US or otherwise), the Federal Reserve or the Oligarchs who rule the world either.
Hey, who does?

Ruppert was a police officer in another life has turned independent reporter and talks us through crises after crises in economics, energy, and the environment. Par-tay!

What to take away from his 'knowing' what was going to happen could spawn another series of documentaries. I say bring it. People have had a sense of the rigged game we're in since the
strong wrested power from the weak ages ago.

Right on Michael. Now what?