Thursday, December 23, 2010

Best and Worst of 2010

"Corrupted by the complete absence of resistance, power went on
occasions to outrageous lengths...."

-------- Alexander Herzen, "Farewell".


1. Worst Propaganda Campaign: "Recovery Summer"
runner-up: "Policy is working in Afghanistan but hasn't worked."
Best Propaganda Campaign: CrashJPMorgan: Buy Silver

2. Worst Kind of Fundamentalism: "Free-Market Fundamentalism"
Islamic Fundamentalism is merely an anti-Colonial struggle against
"Free Market" fundamentalist interventionism in Middle East and Asia.
These same "Free Marketeers" created and funded Islamic groups to
destabilize Afghanistan to wound the Soviets and Kashmir to punish
India for cozying up to Soviets.

3. Best Weapon Against Plutocratic Imperialism and War Crimes: The free
distribution of information. Wikileaks, etc.

4. Worst Servant of the People Besides Corporate Run Government: Corporate
Run Mass Media. Their disservice towards the interests of the people is
shocking. Disinformation and propagandizing for "Free Market" Elitists
is pandemic.

5. Worst Act of Legislation: Failure to end Bush Tax Cuts. After these Cuts were
passed US experienced the largest rate of job loss in US History. It also allowed
a continued stagnance in living wages for middle class folks as the top .1 %'s
wealth grew exponentially as their tax burden lessened. So much for trickle
down..This trickle defies gravity and goes up.

6. Best New Criminalization of a Former Freedom: Targeting Wikileaks for
providing information to people on its government's action around the world.
This is an attack on free speech and also on the right of citizens to have access
to such information.

7. Worst Government Agency: DOJ. Protects torturers and war criminals and
punishes and tortures those who report them. President Obama's Executive Order
to continue Indefinite Detention without charges enshrines Bush era torture and
war crime policies.

8. Best New Feel Good Form of High Tech Terrorism: Drone Bombing.

9. Best New Sign 18th Century Values are Back: People incarcerated for Credit
Card Debt in multiple states.

10. Best New Sign 19th Century Age of Trusts is Coming Back: Income Disparity
is at its highest in US history. TBTF Banks account for 60% of US GDP.

11. Best Welfare Bum on Planet: The Pentagon. US spends more on Military than
the next 48 nations combined. Keep in mind this is during a Depression.

12. Best Welfare Queens Ever: CEO's of Major US Corps and Hedge Fund
managers. Many were bailed out in the billions by US Taxpayers and cried about
a 3% rise in taxes on high income earners. One compared a 3% hike in taxes
after receiving billions in TARP funds to Nazi Germany's attack on
Poland(Blackrock). BTW Blackrock has yet to pay anything back on its TARP
assistance.

13. Worst Form of False Consciousness: American people accepting MSM
demonization of Assange and agreeing he is a "threat". When the truth about
your Gov't's actions all over the world is a "threat" do you shoot the messenger
or question the policies?

14. Worst Person of the Year: President Barack Obama A criminal DOJ,
washing his hands and doing nothing as Banks defraud homeowners and
violate property law. Increasing military presence in Yemen, Afghanistan
and Colombia. Enabling Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in West
Bank and not demanding the end of Blockade of Gaza. Also silence over IDF
assassinating a 17 year old defenceless US Citizen in international waters.
Shameful spinelessness towards Wall Street. The same towards BP. Hillary
Clinton a close second for the militarization of State Department and
pushing the greater use of Private Mercs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

15. Best Person of the Year: PFC. Bradley Manning. For allegedly exposing
military personnel committing War Crimes in Iraq and leaking cables
embarrassing US diplomats.


16. Worst Trend of the Year: The continuing corporate and gov't attacks on
the free distribution of information. From Cable, Net Neutrality to the co-option
of MSM we are seeing a new effort to silence dissent and truth by controlling
information distribution.

17. Best Trend of the Year: People becoming conscious of Gov't's and Corp's
colluding to shroud crimes under secrecy as people are asked more and more
to surrender their privacy rights for protection. It's a double move to set up a
Pop Authoritarianism.

18. Best Hope: Consciousness

19. Worst Fear: American Exceptionalism and love of Militarism supports tyranny
for our own interests and to protect "Free Markets". Free Market Fundamentalism
is the greatest and most murderous form of Terrorism on this planet.

20. Best Institution: Wikileaks

21. Worst Institution: Federal Reserve (Private Banking Consortium)

22. Worst Currency: US Dollar

23. Best Currencies: Silver and Information.

24. Worst Example of Disinformation: US Unemployment Numbers

25. Best Example of Disinformation: Dow Jones

26. Worst Economic Policy: Chicago School Monetarism
close second--Austrian School "Rentiernomics". The "Fraudulent
Debts Must Be Paid at All Costs" crowd--Either by monetizing
or austerity.

27. Best Sign Financiers Exploit System: Wages from Labor are taxed higher than
wages from Investment, Interest from Debt and Inheritance.

28. Worst Sign They are Winning: Continuing calls for Austerity and cuts to
Social Security and Medicaid but silence on Military spending....Why?
Military Spending is corporate welfare to Arms Contractors, Multinational
Oil Companies and Banks.

29. Best Sign of American's Waking Up: Desire to end Criminalization of Drug
Use and the insane and costly War on Drugs.

30. Best Book of the Year: "It Can't Happen Here"---Sinclair Lewis

31. Worst Book of the Year: "Decision Points"--War Criminal Bush

32. Best Country: Iceland

33. Worst Country: United States

34. Woman of the Year: Marcy Wheeler--emptywheel on Firedoglake

35. Man of the Year: Max Keiser---Keiser Report, Activist against criminal
actions of international banking cartels. His many TV and radio shows
are not only informative but incredibly entertaining. Kudos to Stacy
Herbert who keeps him sane.











No comments: