vzn's Open Salon Blog

NARCISSISM--disease of bloggers, executives, and sarah palin

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:11:21 -0500

hi all, as some of you may have noticed I like to psychoanalyze people. Ive read big buckets of psychology books, and particularly new age/spiritual psychology. after awhile it gets repetitive-- both the books and the people.

and yeah, if you're really good at it you can get to be a little uncanny. people will accuse you of all kinds of crimes against humanity rather than confront their own "shadow side".

I guess if you're really good at it you also tend to be attracted to the biggest basket cases. because the truth is, healthy people dont really need much psychology or psychoanalysis. they're already aware of it all. its the people who have the strongest shadow side that can be psychoanalyzed to the yin-yang [literally so to speak]. they can also be like nitroglycerin. powerful, but unstable.

Ive been collecting very interesting links on narcissism for awhile now. there is a basic misunderstanding or misperception of narcissim that it might render its subjects antisocial. nothing could be further from the truth. in fact, narcissistic people appear to be somewhat hypersocial. they surround themselves with as many pseudo-friends as possible. but they are really unthinking admirers. the worst the narcissism, the more blind the followers will be, the more intolerant the Alpha at the center.

just FYI, here are the basic traits of narcissistic people. this is one somewhat common list that pops up. Ive seen various others that are mostly similar.[9]

- Glibness and Superficial Charm
- Grandiose Sense of Self-Worth/Extreme Ego-Centricity
- Need for Stimulation/Proneness to Boredom
- Pathological Lying
- Conning/Manipulation
- Lack of Remorse or Guilt
- Shallow Emotions
- Callous/Lack of Empathy
- Parasitic Lifestyle
- Poor Behavior Control
- Promiscuous Sexual Behavior
- Early Behavior Problems
- Lack of Realistic, Long-Term Goals
- Impulsivity
- Irresponsibility
- Failure to Accept Responsibility for Own Actions
- Many Short-Term Marital Relationships
- Juvenile Delinquency
- Revocation of Conditional Release
- Criminal Versatility

it seems somewhat remarkable that there might be a disease of narcissism esp. in american culture.[3] however, the case can be made. the strengths of americans such as independence, free thinking, power, etcetera can be turned into narcissism if taken too far. this is one of the basic ideas of spiritual psychology-- all traits are sort of like razor edges that require a balance.

a very interesting case s made in links [1-3] that narcissism is tightly coupled with the new internet culture revolving around blogs, social media eg facebook/myspace, and also twitter, the new invention. its strange that they all have narcissism amplification in common.

it would seem with the invention of this new printing or vanity press we call cyberspace, we are initially getting carried away with its narcissism amplification abilities. Im sure this will balance out after awhile. Ive noticed/observed, technology tends to magnify our personality defects until they become so glaring that we are forced to confront them. [thats a very deep/complex topic for a whole other post I guess....]

also fascinating is the idea that executives tend to be narcissistic and that the economic crash may be related to it.[4,7] we have what we call the "vampire economy". but you know, narcissists are sort of like psychic/emotional vampires. maybe the rise of vampire culture is a way for culture to confront its shadow side indirectly. maybe the stars of twilight have narcissistic tendencies?

just fyi, the link that tipped me over the edge and finally made me write this post was the one on sarah palin.[8] now its hard to psychoanalyze someone publicly, due to lack of detail about their life and their personal feelings, but if you have their autobiography, you can do a respectable job.

I dont know what the verdict will be on her book, but it appears to be full of endless projections. all of what she says about other ppl may be true, yet she apparently takes virtually no personal responsibility. on the other hand one wonders, is that a trait of the republicans? it does seem very much in line with bush [eg Mission Accomplished] and cheney [go f*** yourself].

if sarah palin has narcissistic tendencies, as I think she does, it wouldnt be surprising that americans find her very attractive and repulsive at the same time. a lightning rod, a jungian archetype realized in the flesh. it is no coincidence that other celebrities seem to have the disease of narcissism, eg britney spears comes to mind.

in fact the whole celebrity culture has a strong whiff of narcissism to it. and it is not a coincidence that britney spears veered into apparent mental dysfunction after awhile. that seems to be the endgame for intense narcissism.

ok, I really dont like most flamewars [esp those with nothing significant at stake], and Im not trying to restart a recent one on here. however Id be remiss not to mention our very own narcissistic crowd. I would cite "aeofe" as one of the 1st narcissists I met on here. its too bad she deleted her whole blog on here. but you can still read it.[14-15]

and then theres EP, with her recent infamous post, "I dont care what stupid people think" along with the disclaimer from her and her lawyer that it applies to anyone on Open Salon [10]. I think this post does fit many of the criteria for narcissism. which inspired a raft of parodies and retorts.[11-13]

I dont want to lecture here. I think the key is, "know thyself" and "the truth will set you free." and jack nicholsons immortal words in Few Good Men. "you want the truth? you cant HANDLE the truth!"

[1]
Social Media
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/06/funniest-venn-diagrams-th_n_347552.html?slidenumber=uRsXIbhkUi4%3D#slide_image

[2]
Narcissism, Key Ingredient in Success of Social Media
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/val-brown/narcissism-key-ingredient_b_262072.html

[3]
The Royal ME
How our society encourages narcissism, why it creates suffering,
and what you can do about it
BY ROZ BROWN
http://www.nexuspub.com/articles_2009/feature_2009_so_royalme.php

[4]
Narcissism and the Economic Crisis?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-drew-pinsky/narcissism-and-the-econom_b_178541.html

[5]
Echoes of Narcissism
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-sigman/echoes-of-narcissism_b_186234.html

[6]
Know any narcissists?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-goulston-md/are-you-a-narcissist_b_169340.html

[7]
The Narcissistic Ego and Vampire Economy
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vivian-norris-de-montaigu/the-narcissistic-ego-and_b_311188.html

[8]
Does Sarah Palin suffer from narcissistic personality disorder? Michelle Goldberg puts America’s hottest author on the couch.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-18/palins-ego-trip/

[9]
Narcissism/ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism

[10]
I don't care what stupid people think UPDATE
http://open.salon.com/blog/emma_peel/2009/11/06/i_dont_care_what_stupid_people_think

[11]
The Height of Blogdacity: Emma Peel
http://open.salon.com/blog/twinman1959/2009/11/08/the_height_of_audacity_emma_peel

[12]
An OS Post for the Amazing Ms. Emma Peel
http://open.salon.com/blog/just-walt/2009/11/08/an_os_post_for_the_amazing_ms_emma_peel

[13]
I no longer care what my stupid dog thinks
http://open.salon.com/blog/john_ii/2009/11/11/i_no_longer_care_what_my_stupid_dog_thinks

[14]
Adventures of a faux escort
http://open.salon.com/blog/aoafedotcom

[15]
A.O.A.F.E.
The scandalously delicious diary of a UCLA college student (Ali) and several of her friends who create a faux escort agency to finance their crazy addiction to fashion, celebrities, music, art, film, nightlife and oh yeah, school!
http://www.aoafe.blogspot.com/

OUTED! secret diary of a call girl "belle du jour" & others

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:11:59 -0500

hi all. anonymous/pseudonymous blogging is a whole new phenomenon. there were influential anonymous pamphleteers since the dawn of the printing press, but the widespread phenomenon of blogging is a real game changer.

thomas paine was one of the most influential pamphleteers of all time and a very prescient 1995 wired article acknowledged the similarity of his style to the modern internet blogger.[9]

Id like to make a list of the "most influential anonymous bloggers". it would take awhile to figure it out. maybe you can make some suggestions in the comments.

three of the most influential come to mind. the particular links below are quite fascinating & much better written than I ever could, I highly recommend reading them and I hope you enjoy surfing some of them.

* * *

Belle Du Jour

the big news this week is that Belle du Jour has "outed" herself.[1-5] Belle is one of the most famous anonymous bloggers ever. her fame was esp high in britain as newspapers got into the act of speculating on her identity and trying to "out" her. but it really spiralled as the HBO show "secret diary of a call girl" came out and has had 2 seasons, and as far as I hear will have a 3rd season. Ive watched it all on DVD. pretty good, I recommend it. (Id say if you like "girls next door" you will probably enjoy belle's adventures)

one newspaper article said that she was going public because she feared an exbf would "out" her. has a little bit of an extortionist smell to it if you ask me. she is a highly accomplished scientist-- she has a PhD. I read this book, and I was impressed with her writing. I do feel she was kind of affectless at times. kind of emotionally distant. she didnt write much about her childhood, but I suspect she had a kind of cold one, maybe.

belle kept her identity secret for many years, maybe half a decade or so. apparently even her literary agent didnt know her identity. thats quite a feat.

* * *

Minerva

one of the most remarkable, phenomenal cases is Minerva.[6] he was commenting on the south korean stock market & economics, and starting to influence the markets themselves with his prognostications. the korean mass media started to speculate on his identity, and he became nationally famous in his anonymous identity.

he was "outed" probably by someone at his ISP, and something like 5 police showed up to knock on his door and arrest him. what you definitely call a "worst case scenario".

theres an excellent article on wired on the dynamics. last I heard he was in jail for 1.5 years awaiting his trial.

* * *

Fake Steve Jobs

another famous one was the Fake Steve Jobs, aka dan lyons.[7] he was quite brilliant. while senior editor of forbes, he revealed himself & stated that he never made much money at his blog, even at the height of his popularity.

he was a [presumably!] well paid writer before he tried his hand at blogging. seems like you'd have to be kinda desperate to try blogging to make money after being a senior forbes editor.... as they say, whats wrong with this picture?

I gotta hand it to dan, though-- he couldnt have picked a better target. Jobs was just named "CEO of decade" by money magazine.[8] now, I usually "dont believe the hype" or "drink the purple koolaid", of which there are copious quantities in the tech biz. but man, jobs really is the real deal. nice job stevie wonder boy. my hat goes off to you.

(fine print caveat: I think googles brin and page deserve some kind of award for managing to not merely avoid the artillery-tank treads of microsoft but to thrive. maybe 1st 21st century company and ceos!)

it is a sad story that very talented writers seems to be commodified by the web in a kind of "race to the bottom". I do hope that better models for remunerating writers arise in the next few years. I think it will happen, slowly. but anyone who wants to make money at blogging really needs to see his excellent essay 1st as required reading!

theres a great dramatic movie plot in all this somewhere, and I bet hollywood is gonna discover it in a bit. starring, lets see, as the intellectual, dynamic, edgy, erudite blogger..

Keanu Reeves? Ashton Kutcher maybe? Megan Fox? Ill be 1st in line to see that one. hey, Megan could fill up a blog just transcribing her tattoos....!

* * *

[1]
Scientist announces that she is call girl and blogger Belle de Jour
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/15/belle-de-jour-blogger-prostitute

[2]
British scientist says she penned call-girl blog
Internet star blogged about the experience in the guise of Belle de Jour
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33952098/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

[3]
I’m Belle de Jour
Finally the anonymous sex blogger from Diary of a London Call Girl comes clean to The Sunday Times. She's Dr Brooke Magnanti
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6917495.ece

[4]
Autobiography: Belle de Jour
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article411134.ece

[5]
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Diary-Call-Girl-Belle/dp/044654082X/

[6]
The Troubles of Korea’s Influential Economic Pundit
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/mf_minerva/

[7]
Time to Hang Up the Pajamas, by Dan Lyons
I learned the hard way: while blogs can do many wonderful things, making huge amounts of money isn't one of them.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/183666

[8]
The decade of Steve
How Apple's imperious, brilliant CEO transformed American business.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/04/technology/steve_jobs_ceo_decade.fortune/index.htm

[9]
The Age of Paine
Thomas Paine was one of the first journalists to use media as a weapon against the entrenched power structure. He should be resurrected as the moral father of the Internet. Jon Katz explains why.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.05/paine.html

[10]
The World's Brainiest Call Girl
This week a research scientist was unmasked as blogger Belle de Jour, inspiration for Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Olivia Cole on a sex scandal's surprisingly happy ending.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-19/the-worlds-brainiest-call-girl/?cid=topic:mainpromo1

beautiful women of open salon gallery IX, clickable pics

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:11:12 -0500

hi all. here we go. yet again. you know the drill. yada yada yada. click on their pictures to visit their blogs. if you're in a daring mood, tell 'em I sent ya.

oh yeah and here are those vaguely related links that show up on my endless, aimless cyberspace surfing.

I guess my heart just aint in this after one of the lovely ladies stopped talking to me. BAM just like that. I thought we had something going. my heart fluttered [yeah, I know, its hard to imagine]. I wanted to learn about what she thought of anais nin, her charitable work with the $100pc, her travel all over the world... I had a lot of curiosities. she was smart. PhD smart. too smart I guess. high quality.

the biggest kick in the stomache was hearing her react to my AGE. oh man. she was pretty shocked. she said something like "man I had no idea". I said, "geez, its on my blog". man do I feel OLD sometimes. middle age. just a slow downhill ride from here.

she said, "do you have any advice for someone my age?" or something like that. its strange, I had a premonition she would say that. except in the fantasy, it was so much more erotic. in real life, it was pretty unintentionally cutting.

oh wait, its slowly coming back to me. I remember now. she asked me if Id ever experienced tantra. oh man was she a keeper. talk about a Near Miss. (dream on, or in your dreams, the girls say....)

The Really Big One That Got Away. I told her, "tell you what, I think I should write a post about that and dedicate it to YOU". of course it was all TGtBT. ouch, ouch, ouch. maybe I should just change my nickname to Excruciatingly_Unrequited.

she acted like she cared. )( that much. she must not have read much of the blog at all. especially the bio. geez man. Ageism. the ultimate prejudice. no matter how evolved or enlightened we get as humans, its not gonna go away.

for good reason. I would argue that ageism is evolutionarily hardwired. re evolutionary psychology. we are highly attuned to signs of age. for preservation of the species. and some signs of age may actually be evolutionary traits. male pattern baldness. female breast sag. Im not kidding. age is not a pretty picture. but so is childlessness. (its a long story. maybe for another post I guess.)

so, getting that kinda nihilistic feeling lately. whats the point, anyway? as freddy mercury whined in one of his rock operas. "nothing really matters...to me". (death by AIDS. kinda a nihilistic end. RIP)

generations ago, in the early 20th century we had the formation of nihilists. nihilism seemed to be inspired by technological warfare to some degree, I think. nietzsche and kafka were some of the contributers. they made an impression on me in english class, almost two decades ago. now we have the internet.. and terrorism via its signature suicide bombing.. two endgame scenarios for nihilism it would seem.

my favorite nihilist writer was Camus, and his work The Stranger. man, thats a pretty heavy piece of literature. his protagonist shoots someone (as I recall) and acts completely amoral, as if the action had no real or deeper meaning. it seemed very subversive to be reading that in sophomore english class or whatever.

internet surfing as nihilistic? absolutely. you can surf all over the place for hours, and nothing is left from the experience. except a history trail and maybe some bookmarks. and not even that if you just delete your history and dont bookmark anything.

so yeah, after 6 mos Ive spent massive hours here on OS, reading, commenting, writing. what do I have to show for it? if I deleted the whole blog tomorrow, would anyone notice? (yeah I know a few who would celebrate-- they've emailed me. you're free to comment on that if you feel like it.)

maybe I have some kind of rare defect. lonerism. impossibility to make lasting friendships. oversensitivity to instantaneous, meaningless crushes. tendency toward superficiality. maybe my defects are so rare, that Im the only one on the planet, and the universe, with the constellation of symptoms.

sometimes I think of all the beautiful, amazing, classy women that Ill never meet in this lifetime. a crushing thought. "crush" is surely one of the most descriptive words in the english language.

to me, sometimes monogamy ranks right up there in tolerability with medieval torture. a gilded prison. sometimes when I think of women, I think of that old ad campaign for lays potato chips. "no one can eat just one."

or how about that advertising slogan for Ashley Madison. "life is short. have an affair."

a girlfriend once said to me that there was a school of hindu thought that stated our entire reality was "created by a very evil god". an interesting idea. sometimes I think its all a total waste of time. whatever.

speaking of a gilded prison, have you heard the new shakira song? they were playing it while I was buying lots of stuff at the grocery store like the well-trained, domesticated one that I am.. the lyrics have a really polyamorous feel to em...

(hey BC, divine one, I never did get to write about tantra for you. I guess ~~we're~~ you & I are gonna have to settle for this post dedicated to you instead. namaste)

12 Hottest Geek Girls
http://www.manolith.com/2009/10/12/12-hottest-geek-girls/

Why men will ALWAYS pick 'curvy' Scarlett Johansson over 'size zero' Victoria Beckham
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223331/Men-prefer-curvier-ladies-size-zero-women.html

Eight steps to Internet unpopularity
http://www.macworld.com/article/143491/2009/10/internet_unpopularity_steps.html?lsrc=rss_main

Hip-shaking Shakira says she has felt trapped in a golden cage
http://www.metrolyrics.com/2009-hip-shaking-shakira-says-she-has-felt-trapped-in-a-golden-cage-news.html

Shakira : She Wolf Lyrics
http://www.metrolyrics.com/she-wolf-lyrics-shakira.html

She Wolf (Deeplick Club Remix)
http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/Shakira/She-Wolf-Deeplick-Club-Remix--217281303

beautiful OS women gallery archives

part 8
part 7
part 6
part 5
part 4
part 3
part 2
part 1

carrie_anne_king

hihola

summerlee

checka

sc2009

selah

joan_wilder

elizabeth_friedland

gro

sue_scheff

sharona_selby

elvira_hancock

kolikalove

save the economy!! audit the fed!! slice the parasite(s)!!

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 23:11:04 -0500

hi all. some of the more astute among you may have noticed that I have a bazillion links on the left of my blog. finally, my links runneth over. I tried to add a new one tonite, and then it wouldnt add. I presume this is because I have too many links. of course salon wouldnt be so kind as to tell me what the max limit is, or that there is a limit, or have an easy way to reorganize links or whatever. what, me complain? hey, you get what you pay for.

the big section that is spiralling out of control is "economic warfare". why I call it "economic warfare" is a long story that would be understood only by hard core conspiracy theorists. however, its ripe for "refactoring" as they say in the software biz. it looks like the big section to extract is on the federal reserve. so, here we go. an interesting way to build an essay-- one link at a time, until they spill over....

the federal reserve was basically installed in 1913 by an "act of congress". how well the fed has managed the economy is mostly a matter of political perspective. my perspective, mostly libertarian, is that the fed is a massively parasitical institution, possibly at least as much as the other great ones such as the military industrial complex (aka pentagon), that has defied oversight and accountability and transparency for decades. its very origination is as one of the most undemocratic, secretive institutions that has ever existed in the history of mankind.

so obama wonder-boy ran under a platform of Transparency, and I see he's managed to make a few feeble gestures in that direction. but how "strong" is obama? is he anything akin to an irresistible force? so far, his will, despite strong populist support, is far from irresistible, quite to the contrary he is often looking like he is spinally-challenged. but, I do like to think that the drive for transparency in government is an irresistible force that transcends obama's own feeble meanderings in that direciton...

if obama was an irresistible force, we could find out what happens when an irrestible force meets an immovable object. that immovable object is the Federal Reserve that in its history, easily defies presidents that attempt to touch it. so far, the federal reserve is clearly much more an immovable object than obama is an irresistible force.

you might think the federal reserve is a deadly boring topic. of course it is. thats exactly what the elites want you to believe and feel. but-- do you care how much money is in your wallet? do you care how much groceries cost? do you care if you have a job? do you care if your home is being foreclosed?

there may not seem to be a connection, but the normally docile, compliant, even-at-times politically-comatose americans are starting to see the connection. it takes the worst recession of maybe half a century to figure it out, but even Joe Sixpack can eventually smell a rat.

as they say in sports, "dont take your eye off the ball." the public is easily distracted by the scandal-or-decoy-du-jour and fails to notice the federal reserve. the bottom line however is that the Fed controls the US bottom line. if it is mismanaged, then we all suffer, possibly catastrophically. we are now the economic laughingstock of the entire world, and the federal reserve management has a lot to do with that. recessions come and go, but bad management and corruption are transcendant human conditions....

* * *

a good introduction to the fed & its influence, or rather tentacle-like control over the money system can be found in ellen browns book & her online articles.[1] maybe you'd just like the trailer version. as one article title goes, "the federal reserve: instigating crisis since 1913".[26] and thats a more favorable review. try [39] that calls it "the dark hole of democracy". to say the least.

the worst conclusions are that its basically an out-of-control parasitical monster. it doesnt help that even its head Bernanke can remember or divulge where a half-trillion dollars went to .. although it was foreign banks...[38] but that little factoid was well concealed from the public. who said in response, "what else is on tv?"

75% of americans support an audit of the fed.[2] so then, why should it happen? of course, just because the public is overwhelmingly in favor of something [in this case provably quite sensible and rational], has never caused congress to act on "the will of the people". in fact some of the washington elites sometimes take great pride in their disdain of popular opinion....

the hero in this story is Ron Paul who was pushing for greater fed transparency and accountability long before it was fashionable by the latest massive economic disaster. he's got excellent books out and authored the house bill on the subject. at this point, it hasnt yet passed the house but there is strong support there. however, it seems likely the bill would get highly watered down in the senate. [3-11]

ron paul himself says, "audit the fed, then end it" [10]. and other experts suggest or assert that a thorough audit would make a shutdown inevitable [12]. I say, I secretly sympathize, but they are jumping the gun. just getting a REAL FULL AUDIT of the fed would be the event of an entire century. the fed has NEVER BEEN AUDITED IN ITS ENTIRE CENTURY-LONG LIFETIME. one thing at a time. those who say that the fed should be ended can easily be branded as extremists by the reactionaires.

* * *

and look at the list of reactionaries, its so convenient. they all signed a petition that said the fed has to be private and unauditable or the sky will cave in.[28] either that or their bonuses might be affected... this is just the least of the fed's tricks. we are talking about an entrenched, parasitical institution that has escaped extraction, and even largely mere confrontation, for an entire century.

the fed has lots of tricks up its sleeve to "push back"--HARD. they can reject public review.[24] thats easy. they can hire an expensive, sophisticated PR wizard to stealth-lobby in its favor.[27] they can BUY favorable articles in economics journals, to the degree one writer argues they "bought the entire economics profession"!![25] they can threaten congress with the destruction of the economy!![29,30,31] and the designated govt patsy/pushover/stooge Geithner [who used to work at goldman sachs, didnt he?] reliably parrots the propaganda.[32] maybe the federal reserve should have that little color-coded threat level monitoring device that the DHS invented years ago. is congress in session??? yikes, RED LEVEL THREAT!!!

there was a brief feint by the fed, PROPOSED BY OBAMA, that the fed would INCREASE its oversight power.[33-35] that thankfully last I heard has been quietly tabled or maybe [hopefully] REJECTED by congress. but how could obama be so utterly stupid as to propose that?? he's basically a lawyer, right? I guess he didnt take any of those economics classes while he was at harvard.

there was a brief moment when obama had tremendous leverage, in the reconfirmation of bernanke. the moment passed as obama interrupted his hawaii vacation to reappoint bernanke. talk about kissing the ring on the finger. the senate also had a chance to delay the confirmation and discuss the ISSUES at stake. anyway, I guess we know who's boss around here.[13-14] even obama and the congress, including the senate, are obviously totally mind-controlled by the propaganda.

here is where I end the play-by-play. Ive been collecting links for nearly a year, and its been a dynamic story. as they say in the news biz, "developing". I dont know whats gonna happen next. will the bill be watered down with p*ss in the senate? seems quite likely to me unless the dynamics change. I may add a new section & links here as new stuff happens.

I must admit Ive been mildly entertained to see it escalate to this level. Ive been studying the fed semi-seriously for about a decade, and the events of the last year are totally unprecedented and would have been inconceivable just over a year ago. but the cynic in me says, "this is as far as its gonna go". the public is just too uneducated and apathetic, the politicians too shortsighed, smallminded and self-serving, etcetera... as they say, "you get the government you deserve"....

* * *

[1]
Web of Debt, The Shocking Truth About Our Money System and How We Can Break Free, by Ellen Hodgson
http://www.webofdebt.com/

[2]
Fed Audit Supported By 75% Of Americans: Survey
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/30/fed-audit-supported-by-75_n_247765.html

[3]
Audit the Fed -- transpartisan coalition for greater transparency
http://www.auditthefed.com/

[4]
Federal Reserve -- Anything Less Than Full Disclosure is Unacceptable, by Ron Paul
http://www.infowars.com/anything-less-than-full-disclosure-is-unacceptable/

[5]
Grayson calls on American public to ‘Unmask the Fed’
http://www.infowars.com/grayson-calls-on-american-public-to-unmask-the-fed/

[6]
End the Fed, Save the Dollar: Ron Paul
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32881898

[7]
A Review of "End the Fed" by Ron Paul
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/reviews/books/1860-a-review-of-end-the-fed-by-ron-paul

[8]
Make Ron Paul a Super-Hero! Pow! Splat!
http://conspiracycards.com/Ron_Paul_Action.htm

[9]
Fed Up Ron Paul Audit the Federal Reserve.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/15/audit-the-fed-opinions-contributors-ron-paul.html

[10]
Audit the Fed, Then End It! [by Ron Paul on HR1207 bill]
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul529.html

[11]
Exclusive Conversation With Ron Paul: The Future Of The Federal Reserve
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2009/06/24/exclusive-conversation-with-ron-paul-the-future-of-the-federal-reserve.html

[12]
Fed Would Be Shut Down If It Were Audited, Expert Says
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31204170

[13]
Ron Paul, Alan Grayson: Senate Should Not Confirm Bernanke Until Fed Opens Its Books
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/07/ron-paul-alan-grayson-ask_n_313055.html

[14]
Re-Appointed Fed Chief Ben Bernanke Didn't Get Us Out of the Economic Crisis, He Helped Cause It
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/142257/re-appointed_fed_chief_ben_bernanke_didn%27t_get_us_out_of_the_economic_crisis%2C_he_helped_cause_it/

[15]
U.S. Senator Slams Washington Post Defense Of Fed Secrecy
http://www.infowars.com/u-s-senator-slams-washington-post-defense-of-fed-secrecy/

[16]
Senate Update on Audit the Fed legislation
http://www.infowars.com/senate-update-on-audit-the-fed-legislation/

[17]
Congress Pushing for Federal Reserve Audit
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/06/30-12

[18]
Hill wants reins on Fed
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23911.html

[19]
House Pushes For Sweeping Audit Of The Fed
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/25/house-pushes-for-sweeping_n_299972.html

[20]
House of Representatives to Hold Audit the Fed Hearings
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS247683+09-Sep-2009+BW20090909

[21]
Frank: Bill Mandating "Complete Audit" Of The Fed [Probably] Will Pass House In Fall
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/28/frank-bill-mandating-comp_n_271384.html

[22]
Bernanke Stutters, Stammers And Shakes His Way Through Questions On Audit The Fed Bill
http://www.infowars.com/bernanke-stutters-stammers-and-shakes-his-way-through-questions-on-audit-the-fed-bill/

[23]
Call for Fed Transparency Grows Louder
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/07/15-5

[24]
Federal Reserve rejects request for public review
http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/09/fed-rejects-geithner-request-for-public-review/

[25]
Priceless: How The Federal Reserve Bought The Economics Profession
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/07/priceless-how-the-federal_n_278805.html

[26]
The Federal Reserve: Instigating Crisis Since 1913
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/fed-bernanke-bubble/index/a/24208

[27]
Fed to Hire PR Wizard to Fight Against HR 1207
http://www.infowars.com/fed-to-hire-pr-wizard-to-fight-against-hr-1207/

[28]
These Are The People Who Do Not Want The Fed’s Veil Lifted
http://www.infowars.com/these-are-the-people-who-do-not-want-the-feds-veil-lifted/

[29]
Federal Reserve Threatens Congress Over HR 1207
http://www.infowars.com/federal-reserve-threatens-congress-over-hr-1207/

[30]
Bernanke fearmongers that Fed audit would be ‘takeover’ by Congress, trigger economic collapse
http://www.infowars.com/bernanke-congress-audit-would-be-takeover-pressure-on-fed-monetary-policy-would-trigger-economic-collapse/

[31]
Racketeering 101: Bailed Out Banks Threaten Systemic Collapse If Fed Discloses Information
http://www.infowars.com/racketeering-101-bailed-out-banks-threaten-systemic-collapse-if-fed-discloses-information/

[32]
Geithner: Auditing the Fed is a “line that we don’t want to cross”
http://www.infowars.com/geithner-auditing-the-fed-is-a-line-that-we-dont-want-to-cross/

[33]
Don't Get Fooled Again -- The Fed botched banking regulation once already. So why does Obama want to give it more power?
http://www.slate.com/id/2221898/

[34]
Some Lawmakers Question Expanded Reach for the Fed
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/business/18regulate.html?_r=1

[35]
Federal Reserve To Be Given Sweeping New Powers
http://www.infowars.com/federal-reserve-to-be-given-sweeping-new-powers/

[36]
Opposing view: Fed needs more oversight -- Bernanke’s abysmal management raises risk of hyperinflation. By Ron Paul
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/08/opposing-view-fed-needs-more-oversight.html#more

[37]
What doesn't the Fed want you to know? MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan, Rolling Stone's Toure and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer discuss.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/32124060#32124060

[38]
Bernanke: “I Don’t Know” Which Foreign Banks Were Given Half a Trillion
http://www.infowars.com/bernanke-i-don%E2%80%99t-know-which-foreign-banks-were-given-half-a-trillion/

[39]
A Dark Hole of Democracy: How the Fed Prints Money Out of Thin Air
http://www.alternet.org/politics/141373/a_dark_hole_of_democracy%3A_how_the_fed_prints_money_out_of_thin_air/

[40]
The Fed Under Fire: Holding One of DC's Most Secretive Institutions Accountable [8m video]
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/141233/the_fed_under_fire%3A_holding_one_of_dc%27s_most_secretive_institutions_accountable/

happy halloween-- SCARY stuff! pumpkins, bugs, Toba eruption

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:10:20 -0400

hi all, I was thinking of leaving my last post standing as this my blog contribution to halloween for this year, but other stuff popped up that I cant resist & deserves a new post -- and anyway the law of unintended consequences has sort of erupted over in that other corner of cyberspace.. the hoodlums have gotten out of control.... maybe this will distract them for awhile....

[a] amazing virtuoso pumpkin carving

http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-home/martha-stewart/staticslideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=21771196

this is #14-- its totally phenomenal, it looks like a poster. most nuanced pumpkin carving Ive ever seen.

[b] bug photos by Thomas Shahan

these are some of the most vivid insect photos Ive ever seen, possibly the best in the world Id say.. check em out in hidef, they look like they could leap right out of the tv. happy halloween & watch out for the monsters-- some in real life!

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33445823/from/ET/?beginSlide=1#

Ive got my eyes on you!!

hey, heres a great idea. instead of stupid "lolcats" (most of which Im sure are propagated by females...or at least gays...) maybe "we" can create ridiculous captions for the insects. maybe that would be an effective countertrend/reactionary force huh?

this is Shahan's flickr stream, well worth visiting
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opoterser

[c] the 74,000 year old toba eruption

this is one of the coolest scientific stories of all time, but still somewhat obscure, few people have heard of it, and the scientific theories backing it are all still pretty young.

basically about 74K years ago, a *super* volcano in what is now Toba lake in indonesa/southeast asia erupted. one of the largest eruptions ever, and it was probably 1000x larger than any monster eruption in recorded history such as vesuvius, mt st helens, etcetera.

independent scientific research into DNA mitochondria divergence suggests that probably only a few thousand human families survived!! this is one of the most incredible population bottlenecks that has ever existed in human history, and perhaps across many species also.

to put it simply, humanity was driven within millimeters of total extinction/annhilation during this period. I am not making this up. did you read about this in school? probably not, because much of the scientific evidence is less than two decades old. the books are being rewritten as we speak, its a real kuhnian revolution in play right in front of our eyes. I admit, not all scientists accept this as fact.

but anyway, can you imagine that if the entire human race just consisted of people/families in your own neighborhood/suburb? it is not known yet if they were scattered all over the world or were localized geographically. the Toba event is considered to have happened when humanity had spread out of africa.

or heck-- maybe this was close to about the current population of Open Salon. can you imagine if *poof* everyone in the entire world vanished except for those of us who post on open salon? hmmm oh yeah theres a real quality gene pool for sure, wink -- yeah we've got a real fighting chance now....horrors!! Ill be having nightmares tonite for sure with that thought....

heres a recent meandering/funky/interesting/excellent/mindbending article that ties in this event with intelligence augmentation and the singularity, a topic of my last post. it suggests that intelligence augmentation will get us through the next "squeeze", basically the mass climate change triggered by global warming-- which the toba eruption almost makes look like childs play.

Get Smarter
Pandemics. Global warming. Food shortages. No more fossil fuels. What are humans to do? The same thing the species has done before: evolve to meet the challenge. But this time we don’t have to rely on natural evolution to make us smart enough to survive. We can do it ourselves, right now, by harnessing technology and pharmacology to boost our intelligence. Is Google actually making us smarter?
by Jamais Cascio
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200907/intelligence

global warming can be a scary thing, and its staggering implications on humanity are not to be downplayed or diminished, but humans have probably gone through several population "squeezes" in the history of humanity (but not recorded history).

it seems to me & others one such semi-recorded squeeze may have been a massive flood; anthropologists argue that it is recorded in many disparate/indpendent cultures/civilizations. there would probably be several others outside the several-millenia range of recorded history.

there is a great Nova video dvd documentary on this that can be found on Netflix, I just watched it last weekend. unfortunately it doesnt get into the one of the most intense parts of it all, the DNA/mitochondria/human "bottleneck" link. hoping to find some other documentary that does.. if you know of one, let me know. here are some articles on their web site. (theres another Nova documentary on the glacier dam in Wyoming breaking, they go well together.)

followed by some wikipedia articles on the subject, so you know its definitely for real. =)

The Next Big One by Peter Tyson
What could we expect if a supereruption were to occur today? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megavolcano/bigone.html

Why Toba Matters
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megavolcano/shindell.html

wikpedia -- Toba eruption
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_eruption

Toba catastrophe theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory

[d] "scariest halloween costume ever"

this video is making the "viral" rounds and some tasteless friend of mine sent it [I know that phrase might sound redundant to some... but more ironically, he works at an elite fortune 500 company...] -- and it shows, there really is a good reason they call this stuff viral. ewwwww!! so of course, perfect for the open salon crowd.... have you seen it???

ok its so tasteless that as a concession, Im not gonna embed the video. you've been warned. NSFW. for those of you women that cringe at this, note that clearly the guy got maced for his creative/artistic/twisted sense of humor!! I wonder what country this happened in!! do you think the women were actors?! it seems awfully realistic.... and by the way, if you pass this on, dont tell 'em I found this.

Scariest halloween costume ever!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjj-qzUWWA