I DID NOT AGREE TO THIS SHIT!

The TPP.  The Trans Pacific Partnership.  

Our President, along with most of Congress are for it.  Hilary Clinton claims to not favor it.  Bernie Sanders feels it is utter bullshit.  The fully loaded clown car of Republican Presidential Nominees Hopefulls?  I could care less what their opinions are- they're all friggin' nuts.  

Me?  I think it's just another raw deal for everyone but Big Corporations and their Wealthiest Stockholders.

It's being negotiated in secret.  The little we do know has only come to light through leaks.  And judgin' by the previews, it's on track to be yet another Corporate Protectionism Plan implemented across National Boundaries.  

A couple of the larger points- the TPP seeks to expand and extend protections on Intellectual Property, which, in turn, stifles competition, which then results in higher prices for consumers.  (But bigger bonuses for CEOs and other corporate officers.) This will be of particular benefit to Big Pharma, as well as Big Ag. 

Another primary tenant of the agreement will allow Corporations to sue National Governments where they operate for any legislation enacted that impacts, or even might impact, profits or projected profits.  This would place sovereign authority in a position where they could be held responsible for any legislation, let's say somethin' like anti-pollution laws, for instance, if a Corporation can prove that such laws reduce their profit margins.  And the Corporations won't have to prove that they lost money, only that they might lose money.  And Taxpayers, here and abroad, will be the ones on The Hook.

Historically, free trade agreements have little or nothin' to do with free trade or creatin' or protectin' jobs.  These "agreements" are constructed by Big Business, in secret, with the primary goals of squelchin' competition and ensurin' the continued profits of the organizations that use their great wealth to strongarm 'em in place.  (Incidentally, TPP ain't the only trade agreement slitherin' around boardrooms and law offices right now...)

 

We can look back at the failed promises of NAFTA, (which, incidently and ironically, was supported by President Bill Clinton), particularly the broken promise of more American jobs, and with the benefit of hindsight, see the real reasons it was championed by Politicians and Corporations.  Strictly Greed.  

The Rich get richer, while the rest of us just get poorer.  

Unfettered and Unregulated Capitalism ultimately destroys the Consumer-based Economy that it relies on for its Profits by reducin' or even doin' away with the capacity of the Middle Class to participate through their ability to purchase goods and services.  (The Poor and Unfortunate?  They never really even get to play.)

The Money-Grubbin' Über Rich have created a system that is both untenable and unsustainable.  Like a snake eatin' it's own tail...

Fish~

IS IT BULLSHIT? WELL...

So, been sorta broke down for the past few days, hangin' around the house, completely non-productive.  Bluesy.  A Stationary Front, somewhere between the Top and the Bottom of a Depressive Swing--just ain't exactly sure of the direction, up or down.  (Odd.  The direction is usually pretty damn obvious.)  But, this afternoon, feelin' better (up?), I thought I'd kill a little time by diggin' up a few thought-provokin' (emphasis on "provokin'") historical quotes that I could drop out here on the Ol' Interweb.  (I call it "Stirrin' the Pot...")

With not a lot of time or effort, I soon gathered several bits that I found interestin', even topical.  You know--Venerable Statesmen, Foundin' Fathers, that kinda stuff.  Bona fide--or so some might have you believe...

Never intentionally wantin' to be the Purveyor of Bad Info (though I have been guilty in the past) I set about the task of vettin' my Chosen Slices of Flowery Dead Man Rhetoric.  However, the actual content of these particular Pearls of Wisdom ain't exactly what I've wound up feelin' like sharin'.  Nope, not exactly.

It ain't that tough to do a little fact-checkin'.  Just copy a relevant snippet of text, drop it in the tiny window, search, cross-reference and compare.  (With somethin' as specific as quotes, the results of a query are fairly free of irrelevant material.)   More often than you might expect, results may render strong evidence, or downright proof, that information peddled as Truth is, in reality, a Falsehood. Or, what is better know by it's more descriptive common name--"Bullshit".

So, I shifted gears and went lookin' for it.  (For Bullshit.)

Curious as to just how broad a swath this phenomenon cut, I began to pull up random quotes and claims and statements.  Even dumb stuff;  Stuff you wouldn'ta thought anybody would ever bother to lie about or have any reason to misrepresent.  (I suppose my original pursuit--quotes from historical figures--would be placed in the Dumb Stuff Column by some.)  I found that, with suprisin' frequency, after a little diggin' and the application of some Common Sense...  Yep, some Bullshit.  Sometimes, it's hard to question the validity of a statement or postulation, particularly when it's comin' from somethin' we may consider a "trusted source", or if it should happen to fit a particular pre-conceived notion we may personally hold in favor.  (This would be a polite way of sayin' "what we want to hear.")

"Where'd ya hear that?"

"Read it out there on that Internet."

"Oh.  Well Hell, then it must be true..."

If you can find additional reasonable points of proof, arrived at independently from one another, that either support the original information or contradict it, then you have attempted to do due dilligence when it comes to acceptin' somethin' as a point of fact.  (One nail in a board- not very secure and easy to spin.  A second nail--more secure, much harder to move.  Three nails--damn secure.  Ad infinitum...  A simple, succinct analogy.)

First, I started drillin' down on the really easy things, the kinda stuff saddled with histories rife with subterfuge and manipulation:  Partisan Politics;  the Media--Left, Right, and Center;  Big Business;  Advertisin';  Religion--all of it; the Obvious Bullshitters; Those with Agendas Clear as Chrystal.

Some things were blatantly suspect on the first read, quick and easy to refute.  Other Bullshit was more cleverly disguised.  Some deceits were so subtle, so camouflaged, they were virtually transparent, invisible.  Arguably, Works of Art.  I'm confident that, if confronted, many of the more adept Authors of Bullshit would refer to their "manipulation" of information (I'm bein' extremely gracious) as "Spin".

The more I looked, the more Bullshit I found.  Everywhere.  Absolutely dead up everywhere.  Did I learn anything?  Did I experience an epiphany?  Have a revelation?  Maybe feel just a tiny bit smarter...?

It would appear that the Internet has become the New Roost for all manners of Bullshit: Hate, Commercialism, Religious and Political Dogma, even a place for the promotion of an authoritarian and nationalistic system of government and social organization with a contempt for Democracy.  (Okay, that last one is Fascism.  Just felt like slippin' in a quick definition...)  

Perhaps, regardin' the Distillation of  Legitimate Fact from a Churnin' Sea of Bullshit, it may actually be better, simpler, smarter in this particular scenario, to view the information in question with the help of metaphoric blinders, or as through the center of a narrow philosophical tube.  Somethin' that would assist us in shuttin' out some of the Noise and Flashin' Lights, increasin' our capacity for Focus, intensify Concentration, assist in avoidin' the Intentional Distractions designed and constructed to Influence and Sway.

We have all become active, unknowing participants in a Global Exercise in Gullibility, deployed on the Grandest of Scales.  Suspicion?  Sure.  Paranoia...?  Maybe...

The Internet, in so many ways, has become (relative to Conflict) a reflection of our Contemporary World.  On issues of Morality, Religion, Politics, All Things Devisive, it has become the Forum of Choice, where anyone (includin' Yours Truly) can inject their personal version of "Fact" and "Truth", in almost any style or form they choose, while enjoyin' near-total anonymity.  (Or, even more fun, under the cover of a fictitious personality purely of our own design.  How freakin' cool is that?!  Huh?  Whoa...)  

Yep.  The metaphysical Blunt Instrument of Propaganda.  The Information Highway:  our New Frontier--devoid of the Virtues of Honesty and Civility.  Unencumbered by the Rule of Law, Matters of Conscience, or the Burden of Fact.  Even the very Laws of Physics themselves fall before the Power of Bullshit.

Gotta say--this is startin' to get a little Crazy...

And, you know, a funny thing about Bullshit:  Whether well-intentioned or malicious, it's still Bullshit.  And, Bullshit is Dishonest, Dishonesty is Wrong.  Right?  Wrong ain't Right, right?  It can't be--it's wrong.  That's right, ain't it?  Ain't that a constant?  Wrong is wrong?  Anybody...?

Regretably, this has led me to what appears to be an Inevitable and Unavoidable Conclusion:  To blindly trust anything, anyone, is to do ourselves an injustice most grave.  Even dangerous. 

And yet, it seems that many of us consistently choose to embrace even the most suspect of statements, no matter how absurd or illogical.  Why?  Is it Intellectual Sloth?  Zealotry?  Plain Ol' Dumbass?  All these things, and more?  

Hell, I'll be honest--I ain't got a freakin' clue.  That's an admission of Ignorance and Confusion.  You ain't gotta vet that.

~Fish

LIFE AND LIMB? IS THAT ALL YA GOT?

Just allowed myself to get caught up in some Bullshit Exchange about Prince Harry visitin' Arlington that immediately decayed into a buncha mouth about how our Current President doesn't respect Our Fallen, with no kinda actual examples or facts given.  Just a buncha mean-spirited hot air.

Pissed me off.

So, I decided to gather some facts and figures and assemble them into an example of what I consider to be one of the most extreme examples of Disrespect for Our Troops in my lifetime.  Actual facts.  What a concept.  (If you have any questions regardin' my sources for any of this information, I welcome them...)

I did some diggin', crunched some numbers...

If you happen to be an Avoider of Truth, you may want to look away.  Gonna get a little ugly...

A while back, we sent our Boys into Harm's Way in Iraq based on some fabricated Bullshit WMD "Intel" that was leaked to select Bush-friendly members of the Press by Dick Cheney, then cited by him on the Sunday mornin' talk show circuit like he knew nothin' about it.  

Now, over Four Thousand, Four Hundred of our Boys have died durin' the course of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  (Killer name!)  Thousands of others have come home forever injured- permantly debilitating head injuries, devastating burns, missing limbs, (missing limbs- don't shoot past it- missing limbs), PTSD, etcetera.

All predicated upon a Lie.

 

Dick Cheney's Halliburton received 39. 5 BILLION DOLLARS during the first decade of the Iraq War, most of it on no-bid contracts.  ("So, how much ya want for that?"  "A Shitload."  "Okay...")

Let it soak in- 39.5 BILLION DOLLARS.

39.5 BILLION DOLLARS.

39.5 BILLION DOLLARS.

39.5 BILLION.

BILLION.  With a friggin' "B".

This is how much of OUR TAX MONEY wound up in the hands of our Vice-President Dick and the War Machine that he and his Associates had spent decades creatin', while also hammerin' away at changin' Government Policy so that more and more military work and logistics became "privatized".  Then they just "happened" to have a Mechanism in place to step to the fore in this New Theater of Commerce, just as it became a Reality.

"Create a need, then fill it."

This means that, by Simple Math, Halliburton made approximately Eight Million, Nine Hundred Seventy-Seven Thousand Dollars for every Dead Soldier.  This does not include other smaller contractors and the cash they pulled down.  We paid for this with our tax money.  Our Soldiers were forced to use other forms of Currency.  Some of our Best and Brightest- we cashed 'em out.  

Their Wives, Children, and Mothers?  They got a Friggin' Apology.  It should have gone somethin' like this:

"So sorry for your Loss.  But you can be Proud in knowing that your Son/Husband/Father forfeited his Life in the Name of Capitalism..."

The Blood of Our Children is now traded as a Commodity.  Shouldn't be long until it's assigned a Ticker Symbol.

Those that Fall are considered as having Failed the System.  They have rendered themselves Devoid of Net Worth.  They are no longer capable of supplyin' Corporate America profits via their Surplus Value.  In fact, they are now an Ongoing Liability.  A Drain on the System.

Unless they are Among the Dead.  

Much simpler, then.

And, in the Right hands, a Damn-Good Public Relations Opportunity.

Mission Accomplished.  The Real One.

Fish