The Trouble IS...

 Problematic email:

SCHOOL BUS IN JAPAN

 

SCHOOL BUS IN INDIA

 .........and which country do you get when you have a technical problem with your computer?

Comment: wow that was bold and large. I'm still reeling...   Yet, what is true here, aside from the single case scenario pictures? Look at the "school bus" from Japan. Does it look safe to you?  Actually this must be a computer lab of some kind on wheels. Park it next to a school and bring out the computers. They don't even seem to have any unique features built for travel. The bus says "Microsoft" on the side of it. Photographers are taking pictures. The bus isn't rolling down the road. It's a photo op.

While the actual school bus in India has "established 1951" on it. "An English Medium Co-Education" dates it as well. "Medium" I get but "CoEd?" That term is way old. Smack of colonial times? "English Medium School:" you bet it does.When was this photo taken? Sure this is a poor country but swagger and underestimate them at your peril. Further, the comparison made is between Japan and India.  Either way, we are outsourced.

This India school bus may seem funny which is precisely why it was photographed and probably why it was even given to them.... making fun of their unimportant lives. Though, perhaps the missionaries were just carried away with Anglicanism. Perhaps the picture has not even been doctored but again why does it have "English" on it and why is it yellow?  But even a lazy mind can figure out that this is just one picture. Could there be other school buses? Why, yes indeed.

A quick search revealed this school bus in India that someone had photographed. Yellow (this time probably as a result of time and the success of missionaries rather than as a gift, but who knows?) and crude, yes, but actually, anyway, its what your students are doing inside the CLASSES not the school buses. Apart from the bad accents, Indian customer services reps are very bright. I think the Philippines have more friendly customer service (and much better accents) but India usually has the better techs. Their school system must have improved a little in the time when ours just deteriorated. Many many doctors in the USA are from India.

I find email humor to be less than inspiring. No one in their right mind in other media would have things that are this elitist, well Fox News aside I mean. Poor people are actually eating our lunch in the capitalistic system, while we stand by and laugh at their clothes or whatever. No longer fettered by Godless colonialism where industrialized countries bled them dry of resources, they now free to push ahead using the Godless values of capitalism. I'm guessing the former will have been more profitable than the latter, for us.

The comparison made is between the rich and the poor, with the poor being dehumanized and the rich given more credit than is due. I would want to see all the kids on rich school buses with small computers or better yet, learning devices similar to airplane personal TVs safely embedded in the seat in front of them. On airplanes a small remote control gives a variety of options and is wired to the seat for safety. The tech is there, (probably on some very extravagant buses, too, for the purposes of entertainment) but it is used for entertainment for those who can afford plane travel rather than for education. These oversize screens make no sense on a school bus. Is that the underlying message? That both are ridiculous. I doubt it. That is too subtle for this email.

Disney used small TVs for video describing the cruise I was going on. But they weren't very interactive. They were educational and highly entertaining. After all, relax, you're on vacation. Now why again is vacation more important than our schools? Oh well, I'm chilling on this topic. I just hope I get no more emails like this one, reminders that relaxing is not the best idea in the world for our kids.

"So the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Matthew 20 16) It is ironic that we paid little or less attention to this than India did with an entirely different religion influencing their history. "Blessed are the poor; woe to the rich" (Luke 6 17-26)  Oh, the irony that we have ignored so much, at our peril and possible demise. The seeds of arrogant destruction are continuously sown, even today, after we know better. Relax though. Isn't that Indian school bus a hoot?

My Sakes Michael, or, So Many Michaels But So Little Time

Main Stream Media (MSM) has become a catchphrase for basically all media. I think in the beginning it started out as being just the media outlets the name caller didn't like but it has grown to encompass all media.

I was watching a documentary called Collapse this weekend. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_(film)  It is described by the director:"In the end, it is a character study about his [Michael Ruppert's] obsession." However, one must wonder just how correct Michael Ruppert is in his obsession given his really tight and seamless world view. He is at least more compelling and journalistic than a favorite MSM, Fox News. His world view really hinges on one concept, that of "peak oil." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil

Actually, the prediction of U.S. oil production peaking was accurately predicted in 1956 to be 1965-1970. While the evidence for peak oil on an international scale is somewhat slim because Middle Eastern countries aren't as open with statistics, we do see them beginning to drill offshore. Why would one be drilling offshore if one had plenty of cheap supply onshore? Wikipedia's article puts the prediction of peak oil at about 2020 or later. Does that seem far away to anyone?

There is a great deal of evidence that we have an economic pattern that is systemic in nature. It is indeed sad to see Michael Ruppert's obsession with what people might call "alarmism." Yet the alarmists just before the great fanancial catastrophe of recent years were correct. Some made lots of money and the book about these guys probably is the single most interesting book about the financial collapse. Michael Lewis' The Big Short. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Short

Michael Ruppert says there are three kinds of people in a Titanic type disaster where there is a sinking ship and not enough lifeboats. 1) those who see the boat sinking but have no idea what to do, 2) those that see the boat sinking and want to prepare and build lifeboats and 3) those who refuse to believe the boat is sinking. Personally, I fall in a different category, how do I get my family and myself near one of those lifeboats. That is actually the view shared by the various businessmen Michael Lewis reports on. It's a selfish view but one based on facts and correct predictions. If we knew in advance (and did due diligence to warn others while being ignored) wouldn't we be sleeping in the lifeboat instead of our cabin? Now the businessmen profiled by Michael Lewis did not warn very loudly but they couldn't believe such idiots surrounded them ignoring the same information they had or the obvious ice on the decking.

Over the weekend, I also watched Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism:_A_Love_Story  This is a very funny documentary and might well be the best Michael Moore has ever made. I guess it is funny unless one needs one's eyes opened about things. It is harsh humor then.

Capitalism has never been truely questioned in the MSM, nor has our system of government (the one with the current unmistakeable veto power given to Senators.) The MSM savaged President Jimmy Carter when he talked of things like sacrifice. How would you feel if people were being asked to sacrifice your advertiser's products? So sacrifice is not popular.

Yet in capitalism's lack of values lies the seeds of our destruction. Other countries are simply better at this stuff than we are. As Michael Moore so aptly points out, the reason we were so far ahead in the 1950's was the lack of competition from a war torn world. Now that these US industries are basically gone because of more efficient competition from the rest of the world, do we still want to swagger around spreading good old loveable unfettered capitalism? We are no longer unique with our form of economics nor our form of government. Absent competition we shone like star atheletes. With competition, we were fat guys drinking beer. 

Blaming the MSM for a lack of understanding of the ice on the decks would be easy. The blame should be shared by people who watch and read the Main Stream Media and just no longer think for themselves.  Really, it's not like Michael Ruppert didn't get his "knowledge" from somewhere. He talks about scanning the MSM although he hates the MSM with all his might. Where else is the knowledge going to come from? Where else is ours?

I can watch this documentary of Michael Ruppert's alarmism and still not be alarmist. I can critically read Michael Lewis' The Big Short. I can watch Michael Moore's tongue in cheek humor with a tongue planted in my own cheek. And I can take the MSM for what it is: advertiser supported news.

The point is that we all need to try to understand. We ARE at a critical moment here. Reading and learning is important and we need to take time for it.

My Gosh Michael

Ok, ok. The new new beginning. Following a cruise... water calm, sun shining, happy times, I decided that blogging to myself wasn't so bad after all. :)

So, first up, Charter Communications. Evidence of Schizophrenia: I called from the cruise ship to make sure that my wife had Internet access. "I am counting on you personally young lady, to make sure that my wife has Internet access while I'm on my cruise. Please do whatever has to be done to get it fixed. Will you do that for me?"  "Yes, sir, I will personally make sure it is fixed." "Thank you so much. That is such a relief."  End Result: no service for my wife for two weeks, no one showed up to fix the problem.

Now... I'm not sure whether this next bit is schizophrenia or anal retentiveness, but this has pretty much been the toughest rebate I have ever done in the history of rebates. As always, I will probably jump through every hoop the set to get every penny as I have in the past. I'm guessing "lost in the mail" will be an excuse because there in the fine print it says "Proof of mailing does not constitute proof of delivery."  But, regardless of how they try to umm keep the money they offered me, I will persist in calling customer service or whatever until I get my rebates. As I submit my photographic evidence below, please keep in mind that each envelope contains full copy of the first Charter bill which goes to the same P.O. Box but requires different envelopes because of the different offer numbers which are part of the address. I combat anal retentiveness with my own super anal retentiveness. A confirmation number is asked for on some of the rebates, others it is already preprinted. The confirmation number I am required to submit is either the one Charter sent me, the one Chartercommunicationsoffers.com sent me, or the one that is preprinted on the other offers. In one of the offers I am to send a "copy" of an invoice of a cable modem that was shipped to me, another requires the exact invoice. In one of the offers I am to send a "copy" of a bar code, on the other I am to send the bar code from the package. Photographic Evidence:

All to same P.O. Box, all with different addresses. Each rebate form says: "Mail these items to: [different addresses with same P.O. Box]. Please keep a copy of all materials submitted for your records."

Should I add on proof of delivery postal costs? Yes Sir, go ahead honorable customer, multiply that times five!

The wait for rebates (10 to 16 weeks).... umm is that 4 months? Why.... yes Sir, it is, honorable customer!

Wait why would Charter treat me so shabbily? Umm Sir... "Broadbandoffers.com is an independently owned and operated company. Charter Communications has contracted with Broadbandoffers.com to serve strictly as a rebate intermediary for purposes of this offer."

Is it fun working there?  I'll guess the answer is "No, Sir."

The New Beginning

How long did that take?   :)   To my credit, Laurence Sterne would have put "The End" in the middle, in fact, maybe he did. :)

Anyway, this entry to list blogs of interest. Please don't follow them if you don't like me or my politics or whatever...  the management.

New Non-anonymous Blogs:

Thousand Words  - photography
Torpedo Sandwich of Truth  - current politics and life (not for everyone)

Epilogue - Things I might have written about - dynamically updating paradise of the torpedo sandwich of truth

5/6 Finally, the Republicans take my advice and leave my Medicare alone :)  Backing off of the Medicare decimation bill, Republican leadership leaves pretty much every GOP representative free to dangle in the propellor wind from the inevitable attack ads that will be swooping their way like blackhawks in the moonless night. :)

5/6 Meanwhile the commodity bubble continues a glorious burst. The fun here is the good news for average American at the expense of the rich guys who speculate selfishly:
 http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/06/markets/commodities_oil_silver/index.htm

5/6 Job report is good. Equity market reacts well so far today: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/06/markets/Markets_newyork/index.htm
(even though the unemployment rate gets higher as more people seek jobs feeling like they might snag a few, the job numbers are higher than expected)

5/6 Republicans to take down economy we have salvaged. The treasury is force to make moves that will hurt the economy in stages to avoid the worst case scenario of the spector of bankruptcy the Republicans seem so fond of: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/04/debt-ceiling-treasury-slgs_n_857238.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=050411&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief


5/5  Commodities bubble finally bursts. Great news for consumers about inflation. Oil dips for a second below 100 dollars a barrel. All this from heightened margin requirements on silver. Awesome.

5/5 Geraldo  breaks news of Bin Laden first, worries about his career while breaking the news (channeling the empty vault of years past) then proceeds to report incorrect accounts of Osama being killed by a bomb weeks ago, high fiving his guest. Happy days, good times. :)  Meanwhile Fox News leaves an edited version of the hilarity up as proof they first broke the "news,"  I watched the edited version that night.  But the more telling version is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPrtA7e6pW4&feature=related  that shows the great speculation about Libya long beforehand. Missed it by that much....  Fox edit: http://video.foxnews.com/v/4671809/geraldo-happy-days-everybody