Holding Court – Gospel Of The 1 Percent

Holding Court Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

I Was Offended!

What follows is the account of an encounter I had the other day in our local Meijer grocery store. I see this more and more frequently these days. Some Apostle of the GOP, spreading the gospel of Fox News and the 1%, will begin loud talking someone. Most often this is a person whom they perceive to be uninformed or under informed and they promptly get busy planting the seeds of their delusion in what they perceive to be fertile ground.

I do try and mind my own business… However, when someone is playing to an audience and seeking converts… I don’t do “audience” well. I tend to talk back, object and ask questions. Hopefully you will enjoy the following exchange and perhaps join me in pushing back against these charlatans who seek to pull the wool over the eyes of people they believe are beneath them. Enjoy!

Holding Court – Gospel Of The 1 Percent

The other day I had to go down to our “City Hall” to pay our property taxes… I’ve had several bad experiences with their security check point – read: damn near had to strip – so, I figured I’d put on some sweat pants and a sweat shirt with nothing on me other than my wallet, keys, checkbook, a pen and my smart phone. All in all? I looked pretty grungy.

Weather report called for sub-arctic temps, so I figured while I was out I’d swing through Meijer’s and grab a few items so I wouldn’t have to go out again for a couple of days. Thus it was, with visions of a glowing fireplace in mind, I found myself on the dairy aisle heading towards the eggs.

Holding Court - Dairy Aisle My first intimation of an unusual exchange came when I heard this older white guy talking in what I call his “holding court voice.” I’m sure you’ve all heard and experienced this. When people talk way too loud for a conventional conversation such that people 20 or more feet away can hear clearly and follow along whether they’re interested or not. The second thing I noticed was… damn if they weren’t standing dab smack in front of the egg section!

Let me paint the picture for you. The older white gent was wearing some designer jeans, loafers and something like a members only jacket. He had silver hair, was about 6′ tall and exuded wealth and power. The poor employee he had “buttonholed” was maybe in his late 20’s, early 30’s. Rather scraggly faced. Ponytail, tall and lean. I’d seen him around numerous times. He was always pleasant but quiet and reserved.

My intentions were to grab my eggs and get the hell out of there… glowing fireplace, remember? What stopped me in my tracks was, I heard the younger employee defending himself by saying, “Meijer made quite a profit this year… to me that means they ought to be able to give us employees a raise.”

My eyes narrowed as the alarm bells begin to go off. This older fellow must have been pressing the employee quite a bit because this isn’t generally the topic of conversation that goes well… *on* company time and on company *property.* The older fellow – again in his “holding court voice” – proffered, “well, all these grocery stores are running quite a lean ship and there’s just not as much money as you think there is…” He rocked back on his heels smugly and gave a knowing smile.

Holding Court - Silver FoxI slowly turned, looked at him and said, “you seem to be as old if not a bit older than I? I’m sure you recall when we grew up, things really weren’t all that bad… back in the days when the CEOs of corporations didn’t make 700 times what their front line employees make? We did pretty well back then didn’t we? Just because something is a certain way, doesn’t mean it has to be, or should be that way…” Jamie Dimon, the CEO of Chase just got a $20 million bonus package… this same year Chase paid out over $29 Billion in fines… but the board still gave him a $20 million bonus package.

I noticed his spine stiffen a bit. Clearly he had foreseen things going a different way. He was game however and immediately argued that, “the federal government almost put a gun to J.P. Morgan Chase’s head and made them buy several banks which is how they incurred those fines.” At this point I tried to sort of clue him in that it is unwise to judge a book by its cover… namely me. I informed him that I knew all about it as my wife happened to be an executive vice president for the bank. I then pointed out that this did nothing to explain the investigation being carried out by the U.S. Attorney General’s office into criminal wrong doing at Chase.

At this point he became almost apoplectic! I had to step back a bit to keep from being sprayed as spittle formed at the corners of his mouth. “Eric Holder is a criminal he spat!” I did try to make allowances even though I felt myself begin to do a slow boil… nevertheless, I pushed the fury down, looked him directly in the eyes and said, “he’s the United States Attorney General and I choose to respect him as such.” A more prescient man would have detected the edge in my voice and noticed the fire that had begun to flicker in my eyes. Not so with this fellow…

“Well then he needs to start prosecuting criminals he bawled!” He had just crossed the Rubicon and there was no going back now. The game was afoot! Okay, I said. “Tell me which crimes he isn’t prosecuting.” “Well he can start with all those guns coming in from Mexico!” “Uh huh,” I said, “that’s ‘Fast and Furious’ and that was under George Bush.” “Next? Have you got anything else???” He turned beet red and began to sputter. No time like the present to start my evisceration of this fool. “Your problem” I said conversationally, “is you get all your news from Fox News. Studies have shown that people who don’t watch any news at all, actually know more about the news than people who watch Fox.”

At this point he literally began to shake, his fist clenched as he exclaimed, “I don’t watch Fox news… and I don’t watch CNN, ABC, CBS or NBC… furthermore, *watching any other station is useless!”* The more agitated he grew, the calmer I became. Lowering my voice a level I said, “so you’re a liar! You do get your news from Fox! You just admitted to it.” His mouth flew open and he began gulping air. Attempting to recover, he exclaimed, “no I don’t! I don’t watch any of the news channels!” He was shaking now… and I had him. Time to deliver the coup de grĂ¢ce. “So where do you get your news?” I asked pleasantly. “Or do you just pull it out of your ass???”

I didn’t think it was possible for him to become any more red! He began to shake and then with the almost plaintive wail of a child, he said, “I get my news from sources…” “Which sources” I pressed. “Sources that *I* trust!” At this point I looked over at the employee, spread my arms, shrugged my shoulders and with a smile and a nod I said, “Fox!” I shook my head and calmly walked away, eggs in hand, to get the rest of my items.

A moment or two later the employee located me, walked up to me, shook my hand and said, “thank you so much. I really can’t debate these people while I’m working.” I smiled and said, “no worries, I had you covered.”

Technological Subjugation In Our Nuclear Age

Technological Subjugation - Header

Technological Subjugation In Our Nuclear Age

by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Yes there is certainly validity to the argument that a nation who builds a nuclear reactor could also build a bomb. To be sure the by products of nuclear technology can be weaponized. These materials could also fall into the hands of terrorist. Although, given the relative paucity of security around some of our nuclear sites, one has to wonder if this really is a primary concern.

War – Incubator For Technology

Human beings are a twisted species. Wars often provide the blood soaked, fertile ground in which the seeds of advancement are sown. It seems throwing a party where we all agree to murder one another, certainly gets our creative juices flowing!

Advancements in metallurgy were a result of building better swords, knives and battle axes. The sharpest edge known to man is still the edge on a fractured piece of flint. That perfect edge goes down to one molecule of thickness which is far sharper than any metal blade can ever be. The problem of course is, stone blades while excellent at slicing and cutting, make poor weapons because they chip and break under impact. Hence metals.

Technological Subjugation - Composite Bow

Composite Bow

The simple bow and arrow, while more than adequate for hunting, when applied to war, caused us to learn about adhesives, the advantages of compressed fibers, the mechanical advantages of geometric shapes and the list goes on. Some of the early “composite bows” were simply works of art. They used backings of animal sinew – applied with natural adhesives – to allow them to store more energy when flexed. They used animal horn on their recurved tips to provide mechanical advantage. Some of these same principles – albeit using different materials – can be seen practically applied in the construction of skyscrapers today.

Technological Subjugation - Egyptian Chariot

Egyptian Chariot

Egyptian chariots employed highly sophisticated suspension systems. For the archer to hit his target, the ride needed to be as smooth as possible. Some of these same principles are in the suspension systems of the cars we enjoy today. The lightness of the spoked wheel that first appeared on war chariots can be seen on high performance sports cars today.

Technological Subjugation - German V2 Rocket

German V2 Rocket circa WWII

Hitler’s V-2 rockets designed to rain down terror and destruction on England and other Allied Nations, were the genesis of our space program. Without the V-2 rocket and the technologies developed making it and refining it, Neil Armstrong would never have left his footprints on our Lunar surface. The technologies we developed solving the problems of surviving the harsh vacuum of space, not only had their genesis in war, but they too spawned other technologies we take for granted today.

We ended WWII by dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. This was horrible, malicious, genocidal and brutal. In my opinion, there was no excuse for it other than the fact, we wanted to test out our new weapon on human guinea pigs. That said, out of our weaponization of nuclear physics, we have discovered technologies that have reshaped human existence on this planet and stretched the very concepts of what is and isn’t possible.

We’ve developed high flux components which are used in heavy duty electrical contacts. We’ve developed super-conductors that are used everyday in MRI machines. Microwave technology came about as a result of research into nuclear physics. Plasma physics was spawned with all its applications. The ability to create and use carbon fibers was yet another advancement that came out of our nuclear program.

Technological Subjugation - Microwave Oven

Microwave Oven

The vehicle you drive today, no doubt would not be possible were it not for the war that caused us to create the atomic bomb. That microwave oven sitting on your kitchen counter, would not be there had we not learned how to build atomic bombs.

Technological Subjugation

When we place a global embargo on nuclear technology what are we really doing? If you’ve been paying attention to “Political Speak,” by now you’ve no doubt learned, to really understand what they’re saying, it is often better to simply take the opposite meaning. For instance the whole “Right To Work” laws, really have nothing to do with anyone’s right to work and everything to do with giving employers carte blanche to abuse and oppress their employees.

Thus when you hear things like “nuclear non-proliferation,” what are they really saying? Are they saying that those nations who currently have nuclear capabilities will not build any more bombs? Bigger bombs? Of course not! Why is it that the European powers are so dead set against anyone other than them having nuclear capability? I suggest for two reasons and the second may be the most important.

  1. They don’t want any non-European nation with the power to use a nuclear weapon against them.
  2. They want to keep a monopoly on the the economic gold mine that comes out of spin off technologies spawned by nuclear development.

What would happen if say, Iran as a result of its nuclear program, cracked the secrets to anti-gravity? Suddenly Space exploration would open up and Iran would hold the keys. The biggest cost of Space exploration is lifting men and materials into Space. Anti-gravity would make that cost a non-factor.

If India or Pakistan solved the problems of fusion reactions, suddenly nuclear power plants capable of safely and cleanly running entire neighborhoods and cities or even vehicles would be small enough to fit on your kitchen table. The Oil cartels would become all but extinct within a decade.

Technological Subjugation - Star Gate Earth

Star Gate Earth

Then there are the exotic technologies. What if one of these so called “3rd World Nations” learned how to make “worm holes” through which people, goods and services could be transported instantly? The entire transportation industries would be overturned instantly. Think “Star Gates.” We could send robot probes to the moon and mars, set up gates on those planets and build bases and begin Terra-forming those planets. We could begin mining our asteroid belt.

Technological Subjugation - Piri Reis Map

Piri Reis Map showing Antarctica’s coastline 4,000 years ago before the ice.

All these things would be wonderful for humanity as a whole… but they would spell doom for the current power structures who exist to control and yes, enslave humanity. If there is a “New World” by definition, there must be an “Old World.” The Americas are called “The New World.” The European continent is referred to as “The Old World.” Interestingly enough, there is irrefutable evidence that knowledge of the Americas existed during the times of the Egyptian Pharaohs. Yet, there were myths that kept sailors from venturing too far out to sea. Stories of Sea Serpents, the Kracken, the belief that if you sailed too far you’d fall over the edge of our flat Earth. All these things were designed to inhibit exploration.

Yes, many of the sailors – simple men – believed these myths. However, there were a cadre of people who knew better yet continued to support and proliferate these myths. They feared a mass exodus of taxpayers to the New World where they would no longer be under their control. This nation – The United States – was founded on the principles of freedom. Why was freedom so important? The founders knew first hand what life under the despotic monarchies was like. They believed that a democratically elected, Constitutional Republic would protect them from the despots in the “Old World.” They underestimated the insidious nature of their resolve.

When you hear Israel screaming bloody murder about the possibility of Iran having a nuclear program, remember that Israel already has one. Iran is no more of a threat to Israel than any other nuclear power in the world today. With the exception of North Korea, all of them, any of them could deliver a nuclear payload to Israel if they wanted to. What prevents them from doing so? Simple! The rest of the nuclear powers would immediately exterminate any nation foolish enough to employ a nuclear weapon against another nation. Why would Iran be any different? If you’re worried about nuclear materials falling into terrorist hands, you need to be more concerned about Russia and the now independent members of the old Soviet Republic. Some of those countries pay the people guarding their nuclear stockpiles less than $20 per week.

Price Of Injustice?

Price Of Injustice - Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

THE PRICE OF INJUSTICE IS ALWAYS HIGH… THE COST? HIGHER!

Almost everyone is familiar with the Star Wars movies. They’ve become a part of not only our national but the international culture as well. “May the force be with you…” “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” “The dark side.” These are phrases we use – sometimes daily – and they’re so much a part of our culture everyone understands the meaning conveyed often without stopping to think about from whence the phrase comes.

When they launched the prequel trilogy beginning with “The Phantom Menace,” we packed the theaters because we were invested in the tale. We wanted to know how things came to be. I remember watching the first Star Wars movie “A New Hope – Episode IV” and wondering where the hell were episodes 1-3. Thus, like most of you I found myself also sitting in a darkened theater, fully engaged to see the events that led up to the first 3 movies I had seen.

Price Of Injustice - Young AnakinWe were introduced for the first time to young Anakin Skywalker. I remember thinking, like many of you, “how in the world does this adorable child grow up to become Darth Vader?” We were told that he and his mother were Slaves. They were owned by “Watto” a Toydarian junk dealer/human trafficker in Mos Espa on Tatooine.

The reality of their Slavery was made comfortable to the audience. They seemed to have a home, own property and were able to host a meal for Qui-Gon Jinn and his party. Price Of Injustice - Qui-Gon Jinn AnakinSlavery was made to seem like just another job. You didn’t really begin to understand until Qui-Gon Jinn purchased Anakin from Watto. But hey! It was for the better wasn’t it? His mother Shimi Skywalker seemed to understand. Surely Qui-Gon Jinn would have purchased her too if he’d had enough money. The first episode left you with the feeling that they’d be back to get her. It was almost as though her gifted son was going away to college. Yes there were tears, but most mothers cry on their child’s first day of school. Were you *really* paying attention though?

Price Of Injustice - Anakin Mother Goodbye SceneIt turns out, they never did go back to get Anakin’s mother. Clearly this weighed heavily on him as he grew into a young man. There remains an unbreakable bond between mother and child and the full impact of this is realized in the second episode – “Attack Of The Clones.” Anakin senses his mother’s distress galaxies away and drops what he is doing to rush to her aid. He neglects his duties something anyone of us would do if our mother were in distress.

Price Of Injustice - Watto Toydarian Junk DealerIt turns out that Watto needed some money so he sold Shimi Skywalker to a group of “Sand People” who mistreat her sorely. It is the mistreatment she is suffering at their hands that Anakin feels. He arrives just in time for her to die in his arms. It is this hurt and rage that sets his feet firmly on the path to “The Dark Side.” He uses his Jedi training to murder them all. His rage makes him powerful. Were you paying attention?

Yes, Chancellor Palpatine – a Sith Lord – was certainly contributing by egging him on. However, the real message – almost subliminal – was the injustice of slavery, the need for retribution is what actually made him vulnerable to the suggestions of Palpatine. The Chancellor only acted as a catalyst for the explosive brew that was already present.

Price Of Injustice - AnakinYes, we see and understand the highly sanitized concept when it is surrounding by special effects and a well written musical score. However, we forget that everyday in our society we are allowing the creation of millions of people who are raised on the heady toxin of injustice to be loosed upon our society. No, they will never pick up a light saber, but they may pick up a gun. They cannot move objects with their minds but the seeds of pathology planted in the fertile soil of poverty, lack of opportunity and injustice are growing like weeds all around us.

Price Of Injustice - Darth VaderThe transformation from a young adorable Anakin Skywalker to the murderous Darth Vader whom without remorse slaughtered the “younglings” – children training to become Jedi – was jarring. Were you paying attention? Yet, it was a metaphor for what occurs on a daily basis within our society. We’ve got children murdering children. Mothers burying their young instead of the natural course of nature. Instead of paying attention, we look for the simple solution. Must be the guns! If we could just get rid of those, everything would be better. No it wouldn’t. We’re creating monsters wholesale in the test tubes of ignorance and lack. The price of injustice is high, the cost is even higher. Pay attention!