Monday, December 31, 2012

Office Of Congressional Ethics

Am I the only one who sees the absurdity and corruption in this report?

Congress creates an independent organization with no enforcement powers in order to investigate congressional members for possible ethics violations, and then to report their investigative results back to the people they're investigating for enforcement.

And now we're supposed to be outraged that (OCE), a toothless and costly organization that hasn't accomplished it's mandate of improving congressional ethics, and should never have been created in the first place, may be disbanded by Congress?

WTF? No wonder this country is in the dire financial straits that it's in. Happy Frigging New Year.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The Untouchables | PBS Frontline

It seems like a common occurrence that individual bankers continue to escape criminal prosecution for their corporate crimes, and those corporations are allowed to settle their cases and continue with business as usual. Why is that allowed? Are the CEOs of mega-banks too big to jail?

Though fraudulent practices at banks contributed to America’s financial meltdown, to date no Wall Street titan has been convicted of a crime connected to the crisis. FRONTLINE investigates why Wall Street’s leaders have escaped prosecution for any fraud related to the sale of bad mortgages.

Here's the trailer. The entire report can be seen online at PBS.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Michigan: A Right-To-Work State

A paradigm-shift just happened in one of the States that led the nation in workers' rights.

The corporations and moneyed interests running the show, with the support of their Republican lap dogs, have effectively busted organized labor in the state of Michigan.

With Republicans in control of the legislature and the governor committed to sign the laws, Michigan could become the 24th right-to-work state by the middle of the week, dealing a stunning blow to the power of organized labor in the United States.

So, a few years into the future when you're bitching about how your lives have been marginalized by the people that you foolishly thought were on your side, make sure that you don't forget that it was "YOU" who voted the Republicans into office, and that it was "YOU" who unleashed the devil.

Voiceless | A Short Film

Swedish short film from 2012. A successful advertiser faces trouble while losing his voice prior to a meeting with an important client. In his mute state he is forced to do something unusual: start to listen and to observe the reality around him.


Voiceless (Röstlös) from Waway Film on Vimeo.