USA & BofA VS. Wikileaks

"it's a concerted, unified effort between government and the most powerful entities in the private sector "

Colbert can give a quick rundown easier and more entertaining than I can:

For a detailed article on the whole thing, check out the article written by Glenn Greenwald:



"the real issue highlighted by this episode is just how lawless and unrestrained is the unified axis of government and corporate power."

Obama promised to "walk on that picket line" if workers are denied the right to bargain

I can recommend some good walking shoes for Barry.

nails in the coffin

Entries on Dead Time Pacifies have decreased steadily. I address why HERE and then HERE. The obligation I feel to keep up my posts are tempered with the functionality of reaching the most/best audience.

New York Times just published an article detailing most of the reasons I have abandoned this blog and the "marketing" it would take to drive traffic here in favor of social media where I can easily reach a more personal audience.


discouraged by how few people bothered to visit, he instead started posting his clips on Facebook, where his friends were sure to see

Among 18-to-33-year-olds, the project said in a report last year, blogging dropped two percentage points in 2010 from two years earlier.

Former bloggers said they were too busy to write lengthy posts and were uninspired by a lack of readers. Others said they had no interest in creating a blog because social networking did a good enough job

Still, blogs remain a home of more meaty discussions

anyone who is taking blogging seriously — they’re using several mediums to get a large amount of their traffic.”



I am toying with the idea of re-inventing Dead Time Pacifies on Tumblr.

Wisconsin Crit

This is not a critique of those struggling in Wisconsin. This is a short critique of what I wrote... Or at least some thoughts I had after initially writing about it.

The struggle we see in Wisconsin is part of a failing empire. The bourgeois democracies of Europe and America are increasingly finding it difficult to maintain capitalist growth and any semblance of social services (even in the USA where such social services are practically non-existent). This bumps up against the peoples' increasing demands for society to provide for its members who really feel the pains of dying capital.
As global capitalism's crisis deepens, those in government along with their masters in industry will continue to cut social spending. They see this as a sort of austerity measure that meets with rightwing libertarian Reagan/Thatcher-esque ideas of individual "responsibility." One thing is true, governments will find themselves unable to support social welfare. This does not mean we should not struggle for and demand all social services. We should. It will sharpen the contradictions.

Ahead of us are the struggles against dying empire and for building new societies.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill Protest from Matt Wisniewski on Vimeo.

Hopefully you know what's going on in Wisconsin right now. The bad and the good. Especially the good. There is no way, at this late stage in the game, I am going to try and give an exhaustive explanation. It is inspiring and I will say this...

I am White and I come from the midwest. In the seemingly ever present question of 'what is the revolutionary potential of White Americans?', I tend to be a pessimist. I tend to point to too many examples of privilege giving in to privilege at the expense of others (or even one's own interests). However, I have this friend. He is Filipino from California and much more committed to social change in day-to-day terms than I probably am. Wisconsin makes me think of him. He is much more optimistic of White America's capacity for change. (And this is not to suggest that the struggle in Wisconsin is only White people or that Madison is even indicative of the midwest.)

If there is to be change on any major level in this country, it probably needs to look and feel like Wisconsin does right now. To the folks in Wisconsin, never give up. Never give in. Never concede an inch. Occupy that shit and stay strong until we win. The whole country is watching you and corporate media can't paint you in lies enough to fool all of us. Keep inspiring.