Vol. 180: From the ACA to JFK

Spread the Truth. Spread the Outrage

News from the Front

Ladies and gentlemen, The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been put into effect and much like the hope and promise of Barack Obama’s early years in the office of President, it has been left to deflate into a complicated technical mess of laughter and “I told you so.” To draw a slightly amusing comparison, there is a publicly traded financial company that wheels out old baby boomer male actors as their spokesmen that is located in downtown Minneapolis and that has been trying to implement an operating system for the last year and a half. Ladies and gentlemen they have been having problems for a year and a half; folks, that is just a publicly traded company with clients and employees; it is nowhere near what the United States of Surveillance is attempting to implement with their nation-wide database health insurance exchange; the bottom-line, it is going to take some time; probably a year or more; it sure as hell isn't going to be fixed by the end of November; let’s be honest with ourselves. Health care for everyone is a great idea, but it's not going to happen overnight. 

In another sign of JP Morgan Chase’s guilt and complicity over the financial mortgage meltdown of 2008, Jamie Dimon CEO, has agreed to pay the United States of Surveillance over $13 billion dollars in fines. You know you’re guilty when you pay $13 billion in fines; but how much coverage are the major media outlets giving this story? Surprised? Maybe Dimons’ are forever? With enough money, you can buy yourself out of anything. 

On November 1^st Food Stamp benefits decreased. Surprising we didn't see mass riots and outrage at Wal-Mart’s and Dollar Tree’s across this great land.

What the hell is grown up Fes doing dealing drugs?

            Down south there is a bloody drug war of epic proportions continuing in Mexico, throughout other areas of Latin America and beyond. When it snakes its’ way up into the streets of the United States, there is more concern, but not much that isn't responded to with answers of more incarceration and tax payer dollars thrown into the incinerator of stupidity. There are no solutions, only temporary fixes. For instance, in certain locales of Mexico and Latin America, 80% of the population grows drug crops; because when you can make 300 times more money growing something illegally, why would you ever concentrate on growing produce and fruit? In Mexico, where corruption has run free for decades (much like the halls of power in D.C.), where power is handed off in backroom deals and campaign contributions, the Federales hold little sway other than extorting tourists for cash while standing on the side of their narrow roads with loaded rifles upon their shoulders. It is here that El Chapo Guzman still runs free; considered to be the most powerful drug lord of all time, his influence is ubiquitous. The head of the snake still roams free after escaping from prison in what could be believed to be a plot from the television show 24. Where is all of the NSA surveillance when you need it?  

In the last decade 80,000 people have been killed in the “War on Drugs.” Ask yourself, why do we continue fighting a war that can never be won? Is it because the powers that be have money invested in the correctional facility industry throughout North and Latin America? Is it because the alcohol industry would see their profits drop in half? Or is it simply another way of locking up, cornering and controlling minority populations without raising eyebrows? Your guess is as good as mine, but one thing is certain, the continuation of the “War on Drugs” is a futile attempt at controlling a brush fire while the wind increases.

            According to those whispers of the wind and the received messages from the media elites, the reason all rich conservatives protest politically is due to the 16^th Amendment and the levy of the income tax. Maybe that’s why they all work so hard to hire lawyers smart enough to hide their money in off-shore tax havens? It makes sense. For example, the telephone service giant Verizon believes it has the 1^st Amendment right to edit/censor Internet content based on the subscription price of users creating a tiered level of speed and access. Ladies and gentlemen, keep an eye on Comcast as well. Pretty soon the information superhighway will have by-pass lanes affordable to those that are willing and able to spend more, while the left behind will be breathing the fumes of their discontent. 

Do you agree or disagree that the Internet should be patrolled on a toll-based access?

           According to the former Deputy Director of the CIA, Michael Morell, the most dangerous threat to the national security of the United States of Surveillance is the politicians' in Washington ineptitude in passing a budget based on compromise with one another. According to Morrell, the destabilization of the nation’s economy by uncertainty will be the undoing of America; if it hasn't already started some 50 years ago. Maybe it’s because he knows that since 9/11 there have been only 20 deaths on United States soil due to acts of terrorism (it may be a testament to the surveillance apparatus that is all pervasive); but since that time, there have been 364,000 deaths on United States soil due to privately owned firearms. http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/us-death-toll-firearms-suggests-america-country-gripped-civil-war 
            In the last 45 years alone, 212,994 more Americans have lost their lives to privately owned firearms than all of the wars involving the United States combined since 1776; and we cry about second hand smoke. Then again, what does it matter when it’s not white suburbanites getting shot? We’re all such God-fearing love our neighbor types aren't we? Just so long as they don’t live in our neighborhoods.

Although only 1% of the American population serves in the Armed Forces, it is apparent as to how much power and political influence they wield; although don’t tell that to the veterans that continually deal with less than desirable care and conditions; however, the Military Industrial Complex keeps reaping big profits. (Insert video of Eisenhower’s warning to Americans in farewell address.)

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook creation, the man with the grey hoodie, not Trayvon Martin, made over $2 billion dollars last year; that is $6 million dollars a day. How’s that for a status update? In the past year, the top earning CEOs took in over $4.7 billion and none earned less than a $100 million last year. Where does all of the money go? Why to job creation and philanthropy of course. Don’t you just see it trickling down the sides of your houses and into the streets? 

He CAN afford better clothes.

When adjusted for inflation, the median household income in 2011 was $51,017; 9% less than what it was in 1999. One thing is for sure, it hasn't gone to the middle class; and a large portion of that demographic hasn't seemed to notice how royally screwed they've been for the past 30 years, because were all too damned busy looking down at our newly purchased distractions; heads up dumb-asses.  No wonder we’ll never see the next big crisis coming. Ohhhhhhh I-Phone 73 is out!!!!
  

This leads me to the fact that the number of Americans who say they have “no religion” has doubled since 1990. It is obvious that we are worshiping the created and not the creator. But then again, people did really love Steve Jobs didn't they? Too bad he didn't die on a Friday attached to a piece of wood; we could have really used another chosen one.

A 2010 Gallup Poll revealed that 21% of Americans believe in witches. That explains a lot; particularly the hold Kim Kardashian appears to have over the lame-stream media. Another eye popping number is that some 63% of Americans ages 18-29 believe in demonic possession and 57% of Americans between the ages of 47-65 do as well. No wonder horror movies based on Exorcisms do so well at the box-office. There is a built in audience.

I don't carry a Smartphone, I carry a Smart-Cross

In other related news, Pope Francis (Insert Picture of Pope Francis) is making sense (is he possessed?); word out of the Vatican is that he understands the role the Catholic Church needs to play in the 21^st Century; changes need to be made and less focus needs to be upon birth control and the subjugation of women and instead upon a more inclusive nature of the Church. Finally, the incense coming out of St. Peter’s is a breath of fresh air.

"I think I ate the baby?"

According to a new poll, 50% of cats and dogs are overweight or obese. It’s not just humans that binge on an excess of available food and resources. Those damn pets are eating us out of our entitlements. Maybe we should cut their welfare programs while we’re at it?

"I almost got the part for Jabba in Return of the Jedi"

Another strange but true story is that the flamboyant Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford (who looks a little like the ghost of Chris Farley) has admitted to smoking crack on more than one occasion. He admitted he may have partaken in the illegal usage of crack cocaine while on a “drunken bender.” However, he promises he will not resign and that he remains steadfast to doing what is right for the great city of Toronto. With credentials like these, he could run and win the office of Mayor for Washington D.C; he’d only have to become a legal citizen first, good luck getting past our mess of a lack of an immigration law now buddy.

"I think I ate David Spade and chased it down with some Jack and Crack."

Should the Washington Redskins football organization change their team name? You’re damn right they should. What if Edina had a football team called the “Whiteys” or North Minneapolis the “Darkies?” You could guarantee that there would be some justifiably upset people protesting and rightfully so. Haven’t we done enough to the poor Native Americans? Just a thought.

Much to my surprise, I have recently discovered that Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) is an ingredient in Diet Mt. Dew. It is an endocrine disrupt-er ( it plays Dr. Frankenstein with hormones), which may explain my inability to lose any more weight, although regularly consuming less than 2200 calories a day, walking more than 2.5 miles a day, 6 days a week and eating meals 2-3x a week of nothing more than broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. It has come to my attention that BVO is actually used as a flame retardant!!! Is Pepsi afraid that their sodas will catch fire? Maybe they should just attach a fire hose to the bottle just in case. Ladies and gentlemen, never again will I drink anything with Brominated Vegetable Oil as a listed ingredient; educated and Outraged!

It's not just a Movie

Fifty years ago, an act of terrorism so horrific caught the nation and the world’s attention and it was all caught on film. But, to this day, we are no closer to the truth of what really happened and so the day continues to hold a magnetic trance over concerned and disgruntled minds; like moths to a flame, our curiosity, time and money has been spent investigating that fateful day in search of meaning and justice. 

The day is of course 11/22/63, the day our nation changed forever. The day that forever changed our country; when the powers that lay hidden, reached their shadowy claws out from the depths and flipped the switch. Whether it was a cabal of secret society members with a nefarious agenda or a lonely nut in search of attention and purpose, it doesn't ultimately matter who was wholly responsible for the assassination of JFK on that ugly day in November; what we’d really like to know is why?

The who, what, where and when all keeps us from asking the main question, why?

The list of his enemies was endless. From the mob, the CIA, the FBI, the Military Industrial Complex, Cubans and the husbands of his lovers; who didn't want JFK dead? In honor of that horrible day I ask each and every reader of this beloved past time of mine, to watch Oliver Stone’s masterpiece JFK. Whether or not you believe in any of the presented scenarios is not the point; the purpose is that there may be more than one way to view the events of that horrible day and Stone's film is what I hope will be to our generation what Citizen Kane was to the greatest generation; a work of art that only gains more appreciation and importance as time slips by. It is well worth the time.

From the beginning of the film’s processional of “taps,” the film is flawless; it is a military style execution from start to finish. The editing, from visuals to sound is utterly impeccable. Oliver Stone does an excellent job laying out all of the key players, the nuances and the irregularities of the years, months and days leading up to that terrible day. From the open windows to the open roof tops and to the removal of the bubble top on the Lincoln limousine; there is the changed parade route that includes a ridiculous curve of 10mph all to set up a morbidly beautiful triangulated crossfire. As one of the characters in the film states, “It’s a turkey shoot.”

Ladies and gentlemen the strange coincidences and facts are encompassing; before Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly shot the President, he was a US Marine, who in 1959 defected to Russia and then 3 years later returned to the United States with his new wife; all of this happening without prosecution for treason and during the height of the Cold War; how was this possible? Who was pulling the strings?

Within three hours after the assassination, the government had then arrested their possible scapegoat, Lee Harvey Oswald; background information was quickly disseminated all over the world, and all of this happened in an age before the 24 hour multimedia orgy was a common occurrence; how did they have it so quickly and readily on hand? Oswald was then questioned for 12 hours after the assassination and not a word of it was recorded or written down. Why not? What possible explanation can excuse this problematic behavior? 
You can’t make this stuff up.

Ask yourself, who orders a gun to a P.O. Box in Texas when you could walk in to any gun store and give a fake name that could never be traced? But that's what LHO did in the months leading up to 11/22/63. On live television only two days later, the American public witnesses the dispatching of Oswald by the hand of nightclub owner Jack Ruby. The birth of voyeuristic television is released from the static womb of electricity.

The head of the Warren Commission, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren appoints Allen Dulles to investigate the assassination; the same man that Kennedy had relieved of his duties as Chief of the CIA in the fall of 1961.

Call it the fox guarding the hen-house.

Then there is the fact that not one expert could duplicate the supposed shooting that Oswald did from the sixth floor of the book depository and why didn't Oswald shoot Kennedy when he was coming up Houston? That would've been the easiest shot for a single shooter from the book depository window?

Why didn't RFK prosecute a case as Attorney General? Did he not want him and his brother’s affair with Marilyn Monroe to go public and chose instead to save his wife and the country the embarrassment? Did he know that he would then be the next target? Unfortunately he wouldn't have to wait but 5 more years to find out by the gun of Sirhan Sirhan.
Two brothers, both assassinated. Just bad luck?

The powers that be would not be disturbed, no matter what.

I can see you rolling your eyes; Scharber, maybe all “these books have gotten into your mind!!!”

As Kevin Costner's character Jim Garrison retorts to his wife, brilliantly played by Sissy Spacek,“God damn it Liz, I've been sleeping for three years.”

Maybe we've all been sleeping for the past 50?
We all know were highly-caffeinated.

Oliver Stone’s masterpiece captures some of the best acting performances of the many assembled and talented professionals. It is lead actor Kevin Costner’s second best performance to his Oscar winning portrayal in Dances with Wolves; Ed Asner has never been creepier, Gary Oldman once again does his chameleonic best as Lee Harvey Oswald and then there is Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci who since Goodfellas, was never better. The list goes on to include Walter Matthau, John Candy’s best performance since Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, career supporting actor Michael Rooker and the always brilliant Donald Sutherland who was an original “deep throat” who in the film went by the name of “X.” Why would all of these talented individuals sign on to do a film if it were not an excellent script, an excellent story with a chance to work with a director at the height of his creative genius? The film had to be made and the film has to be seen. As an American who values the freedoms we hold so dear, each one of us owes it to our fallen leaders to watch, listen and learn; only then can you decide if things have changed for the worse or for the better. It’s up to you.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate all of your interest and would like to communicate that there will be a 3-4 month hiatus of the Global Outrage of an Educated Man that will allow the editor to focus solely on continuing and finishing writing the rough draft of his 1^st novel GIDDEOM. It will also give Theona Donther and Thelonius Ronscpiacy some much needed vacation time. Happy Holidays and as always, spread the Truth. Spread the Outrage. 

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