Weekend Update - Big Fat Business Edition

Got a chance to go see comedian Lewis Black Thursday night at the Hult Center here in Eugene. This was thanks to good friends Annie and Jim who found themselves with an extra ticket, and redefined for me the term "good friends" by giving it to me. Thanks again, guys. Calling Lewis Black a comedian feels a little strange. Oh he is a comedian, but he's quite a bit more. For you not familiar with him, Lewis Black has been categorized as a "ranter," i.e. one who rants. He's been called one of the best stand-up comedians in the world and has been mentioned in the same breath with Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin. He directs his ranting anger not necessarily at any political party, but at stupidity. And his act consists not just of what he says, it's the way he says it. His best bits are ones like pointing out the stupidity of listing the nutritional contents on bottled water. Thursday night I watched as he suddenly paused, took off his glasses, slowly rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands, then rubbed his stretched out trembling fingers over his temples with the pained expression of someone experiencing the worst migraine of his life, then quietly he begins talking again, building his voice slowly, making his case, then suddenly pinching his 62-year-old face into raging anger screaming epithets into the mic, and incredibly saying things that you and I wish we could say everyday at one time or another. Lewis Black feels our pain. We feel better knowing that he understands us. We are healed. But we digress ...

• Hooray hooray, the United States government isn't going to shut down for lack of funds afterall. Goshalmighty I sure am glad. And what's even better, the Repubs and Democs worked together (sorta) to keep everything going. The Repubs agreed to not make a big stink over abortion (this is a budget item?) and the Demos agreed to stop making fun of John Boehner going through male menopause. We all couldn't be happier. Especially the REAL people who are running this country, the big corporate CEO's. In the fourth quarter, profits at American businesses were up an astounding 29.2 percent, the fastest growth in more than 60 years. Collectively, American corporations logged profits at an annual rate of $1.678 trillion. So far, this recovery has not trickled down. After two relatively lean years, C.E.O.’s in finance, technology, energy and beyond are pulling down multimillion-dollar paychecks. Bizzzzzzness as usual.


• "I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism ... Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents." The above is a quote from the most highly decorated Marine in American history, Uncle Bob's favorite Marine, Smedley Butler. Check out this timely and fascinating article by Kevin Zeese of Warisacrime.org, as he describes how war is so good for U.S. Big Business.


• Repubs are always going on recently about how their style of budget will help "the job creators" in our society. Who are these so-called "job creators?" Those really really really rich people who pay little or no taxes and never come down out the hills. So where are all those jobs these super rich people are supposed to be making? The Daily Kos says It's Time for Accountability for "Job Creators."


• Glenn Beck is packing up and moving on down the proverbial media road. Yes friends, we've won. Well, I say "we" metaphorically. Maybe it was just Mark Morford. After all Glenn and Mark apparently share something. To quote Mark: "I had no idea the renowned right-wing fudgeball was, like me, also a burgeoning neo-pagan tantrika with a mystical, metaorgasmic, well-caffeinated alchemist edge, studying and practicing and soaking in the universal Spanda, the eternal vibrational wisdom of the ancients."