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  Observation/Organization/Opinion

Commentary by John Braxton Masters

             VOLUME XV                                                                         Edition #  2


  What follows is the beginning of a new (as of late September 1996) Web site.    In it  you will find various editorials and reviews that reflect my viewpoint on relevant aspects of our lives.   I invite you to respond and may well include parts of your reactions in subsequent submissions.     I do not belong to any company or affiliation that might influence this perspective.     If editorials and/or reviews seem dated, note when they were written.    All editorials and reviews are written by JBM for this page unless otherwise noted.   All reviews are book reviews unless otherwise titled.    Previous editorials and reviews may be obtained upon request.   My E-mail address is listed at the end of the following entries.

EDITORIAL:

EXPANDING THE CIRCLE OF INFAMY

   Even educated historians would have a hard time making the case that presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush haven't been the most destructive, villainous Americans this country has had to suffer. Now that ring of infamy has been joined by Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas is right on the door step. Not only did these 2 do their best to elect GW Bush in 2000, now they have joined the majority in the horrific Citizens United v FEC, "free speech" decision last week which opens the door to corporate buying of all the congressmen and every other elected public official in federal and state governments. Supposed non-activists, these 2 reverse themselves when corporate advantage is involved. The hell with what's best for the country.
    Reagan nominated Scalia and daddy Bush nominated Thomas and sunny Bush acted to surpass even Reagan as the worst American ever with the nomination of Roberts and Alito, who proved their worth to the corporate controllers with this latest, most egregious ruling. Along with all the damage he has done and left for President Obama, Bush 43's the legacy of Roberts and Alito may make him the all time most heinous American when all is said and done.
    And said and done the America dream of government of, by and for the people is, or soon will be, if the infamous 5 on the court, which now includes Justice Kennedy, are not thwarted in their attempts to turn the U.S. into a certified plutocratic corpocracy. And before the issue fades away and everyone adjusts to the new, denigrated reality, something must be done to undo the court's damage. This year.
    Keith Olberman, in a "Special Comment" on his MSNBC Countdown show, recited a list of almost certain consequences resulting from bought and paid for congressmen wholly representing big business interests. They included more tax cuts for the rich and program cuts for the disadvantaged (of course), driving unions out of business, closing down all independent opinion outlets, WallMarting the country and so forth. When our business interests are willing to employ Haitians for 70 hour work weeks at a dollar an hour, you can imagine how our work force will fare when the takeover is complete. Soma (Brave, New World) distribution was not mentioned. Olberman admitted that he might have gone too far, perhaps all legislation won't have to run through the corporate gauntlet but he left the viewer with this question: "Who will stop it?"
    Certainly not major media. The 3 major network nightly news anchors barely mentioned this most important decision. Perhaps that is because ABC, CBS and NBC and station affiliates stand to make loads more in advertising revenue. Curic, Sawyer and Williams stand indicted for not warning us of the potential harm headed our way, instead they all showed a dog being rescued from flood waters. No one mentions firing the lot of them. The Sunday morning talk shows did bring up the issue but only gave it second or third place priority.
    Corporations are not, and never have been, people. That is obvious to all sentient humans. They should never have been considered legal people in the first place. This was the ideal opportunity to overturn that questionable 1886 court decision. It would have involved less judicial activism than overturning the precedents established since then. It is time to start finding ways to impeach the infamous 5 before they do more damage to the country. Think Dems have the courage to do that?
    America's dissolution just took a big step closer. Get ready for the inundation of pointed, negative political advertising and remember that a lie or distortion, repeated loud and long enough, will be believed. Corporations have the money to do that, citizens, even political parties, don't. Only congress stands in the way and Republicans, who now can stop anything in the Senate, stand in the way of corruption reform.
January 26, 2010
JBM

Knockoff
Tim Phillips
2005

   This book is devoted to alerting the reader to a growing world wide crime wave in counterfeit goods. Phillips tells us about regions, countries and organizations whose economies depend in large part on swindling the public, from high end designer clothes and accessories to computer software to illegal copies of music and movies to reprocessed and substandard airline parts to fake prescription and recreational drugs.
    But the picture is complicated. Globalization means that trafficking in counterfeits is easier than ever. Distribution and chains of transactions which make tracing sources is more difficult. Anything that can travel the Internet can be sent from and to almost anywhere in the world. Bribing officials and police is just a cost of doing business--and that cost is low in some places. Overpricing goods in the still developing world invites counterfeiting.
    The costs are high. From the public's cynicism that develops from being frequently victimized to the discouraging aspect of invention and development of a product to the increased dangers of traveling to the suffering and premature deaths due to substandard or poisonous medications to the gangster criminal offshoots and the funding of terrorists, this lawlessness takes countless lives and increases untold suffering.
    We learn about "The Scene", an untraceable pyramid of operatives (suppliers, crackers, testers and packagers) and servers which grab pre-release prints of movies, music videos and computer games and distribute them peer to peer over the Internet. Hackers and distributors work for bragging rights. Digital technology means that the copies are virtually, if not actually, perfect. The industries are being devastated. Between 1/2 and 2/3s of the Internet is being devoted to the knockoff economy.
    Although Phillips goes into the counterfeiting going on in the industrialized west, he also describes the situation in semi and underdeveloped nations. Russia has it's own knockoff economy going, as well as India and China. In the deprived nations he describes Nigeria which is known for its criminality but he says that it is slowly but surely policing its counterfeit economy.
    Complications arise from Big Pharma which tries to lump generics (the only affordable medications in the 3rd world) with counterfeits and substandard drugs. The big drug companies don't want to prosecute the perps because of the fear of bad publicity curtailing their sales. Business cooperation is insufficient.
    Four remedies need enhancement: governments the world over must respect intellectual property more than they do and become more intolerant of domestic and foreign fakes; international policing; stiffer penalties for the big fish and a profound education of the consuming public looking for a bargain. None of this is on the horizon.
    The increasing tolerance of unethical behavior and outright criminality should be a concern to all. The burgeoning field of counterfeiting is undermining the intolerance that still remains. This book is easily read and well laid out. It's contents should be present in the well rounded mind.
09/April/2006
JBM


2010

   A new decade begins but a forecast 10 years out won't be presented here. As previously predicted, 2009 was a busy year, however, little remediation was accomplished. Republicans coalesced to block or hinder almost every initiative the Democrats proposed, health care reform demonstrating the most outlandish recalcitrance .
    But, as predicted, it was the underlying economy which was most important. The financial sector bailout, which put off financial collapse, got back of the hand treatment from the recipients. The meager main street stimulus could not keep unemployment from reaching double digits, albeit later than the summer expectation. Nothing tangible was done about the environment and it is now clear that we will always be chasing the curve of climate change; never heading it off. In a Conservative, every-man-for-himself world, sacrifice for the common good is perceptively foolish. If a health care bill passes, it will be seen as little better than nothing, if not worse than that. Nothing was done about congressional corruption so nothing efficacious was really done about anything.
    What would impact millions of Americans in their living rooms would be the virtual collapse of over-the-air TV. The Leno experiment, according to USA Today at least, has been a flop. Fox is already demanding money from the cable providers and Comcast has bought up NBC and will move better programming to its cable outlets such as USA. More viewers will desert ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox until a tipping point is reached. The question then will be federal subsidies or the end of 1 or more "free" TV channels and its newscasts. That is not likely to happen this year but don't be surprised if more talk of such possibilities becomes common.
    Two other economic factors are likely to become more visible. High end commercial property, built to house well to do buyers and renters, continues to stand empty and will remain so. The write downs are inevitable but there will be a battle to unload the costs on others. Along with housing foreclosures, this could push the economy downward again. As also pointed out in the Jan/Feb The American Prospect, our loss of America's manufacturing capabilities will hold up the unemployment numbers as well as diminish industrial property values. Export competitor nations will use every trick in the book to keep us dependent on their goods and some, like China, don't have public sentiment to worry about. Frustration will mount and if Dems just keep playing defense, as they have done for so long, then look for Republican gains in congress in the fall despite being the nihilistic party of "NO". One can always be safe in predicting the masochistic stupidity of the American voter, especially out of the urban centers.
    And we are certainly overdue for a Muslim terrorist attack here. This could usurp other debates and delay even inadequate attempts to recover. Finger pointing will ubiquitous.
    All in all, this will continue to be an interesting period, although not a pleasant one. It looks like another caustic year.
January 1, 2010
JBM

Just How Stupid Are We?
Rick Shenkman
2008

   Subtitled "Facing the Truth About the American Voter", Shankman dares to take on the myth that we are competent citizens. Calling us "The People" he explores why neither the right or the left is willing to tell us the truth, how dumbing us down serves their purposes. He goes into U.S. history, back to the founding fathers and their anxieties about self government.
    As our society has grown increasingly complex in the last half century and the population less aware due to inadequate schooling and media coverage, as well as entertainment distractions, more reliance on public opinion, however underinformed, has shaped our politics. Polling is more extensive than ever. Primaries weed out more thoughtful candidates. More initiatives and referendums are offered for public decision. More of the underinformed are allowed to vote in the name of democracy. This combination is driving the country and other parts of the world to decline and decay due to the poor choices we are making. Image and trust substitute for the work of understanding who the candidates really are and what they stand for.
    Commercial TV comes in for much of the blame. This is particularly true when it comes to properly informing the voter near election time. Ever shorter commercial spots overwhelm the casual viewer but in depth, incisive interviews are relegated to Sunday mornings at best. As Leslie Stahl famously found out during the Reagan administration, pictures far out weigh substance.
    Denial provides comfort for the under informed even if they are intelligent. Myths are more enticing than pragmatic investigation. And so we collude to look the other way, or not at all. Many are easily duped; for instance all Republicans who don't gain from the plutocratic tendencies of the party leadership, let alone its immoralities. Our real needs remain unaddressed.
    Shenkman's remedies involve making polls more informative and less distortive, reforming media "public service", teaching civics all through school even if it means subsidizing the classes and increasing newspaper subscriptions with subsidies. The last deserves a quick public debate as papers are declining and disappearing fast.       
   This is a short (183 pages), 5"x 8" book written at high school level. If it blows up the myth of the competent citizen it will have served a very valuable purpose, for we first have to recognize the problem before we will do anything about it. April 2, 2009
JBM


                                                               reaction and response: E-mail  JB Masters at:   jzkingjz@coosnet.com

THIS SITE ALSO CONTAINS:

2008 EDITORIALS

2008 REVIEWS

2009 EDITORIALS

2009 REVIEWS

AMERICA'S FUTURE

Reviewed books may be checked out at your local library or through inter-library loan programs or may be purchased at book stores, used book stores, on the Internet or from publishers if still in print.
Recommended reading:

The Future of Capitalism   by Lester Thurow
Peoples History of the United States   by Howard Zinn
Rich Media, Poor Democracy  by Robert McChesney
Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam
Primal Scream and other works by Author Janov PhD.
Who Will Tell the People and Secrets of the Temple by William Greider
America: What Went Wrong and
America: Who Really Pays the Taxes
by Bartlett and Steele
The Overworked American
by Juliet Schor
The End of Work by Jeremy Rifkin
Ingenuity by Thomas Homer-Dixon
The World Is Flat  by Thomas Freidman

The Big Con by  Jonathan Chait
Deer Hunting With Jesus by Joe Bageant

        
ACKNOWLEDGMENT:   This Web page would not have been possible without the generous technical help from Bruce Moon.  He unexpectedly died on 5/Jan/1997.  This page has continued with the help of others.

     YOU ARE INVITED TO CHECK BACK FROM TIME TO TIME FOR NEW LEAD ENTRIES AND NEW REVIEWS.   YOUR COMMENTS WILL BE APPRECIATED.