A Standard Reference Work For The Occupy Movement

The corruption of every government generally begins with that of its principles.
Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, Book VII, Chapter 1

Every long lasting social movement has it's standard reference work.  Christians have the Bible, the Jews have the Talmud, you get the idea. Revolutions have their documents. If any of you out there thinks that the Occupy Movement that sprung up was just a one off fling of social angst,  the Oracle of Ottawa would implore you to re-evaluate your conclusions. Sure as spring time, the Occupy Movement will be up and at it again.

Somewhere in upstate New York at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, the guide book of the Occupy Movement has already been written. I mean, who knew?  Not only has the book been written but it is in its fifth edition! The author, Richard H. Robbins is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in of all things anthropology. The title is: Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism. It is published by Prentice Hall, and is available in paper edition.

The Oracle of Ottawa happened to stumble upon the latest edition and jumped on it immediately! It starts with the origins of money and the historical roots of the never ending growth economy, its history through time to the present day and most importantly the various side effects of the ever growing economy. Very nicely printed and illustrated, it held the Oracle of Ottawa in a total grip for the whole time that I spent reading it from cover to cover. It is ironic that it takes an anthropology prof to write one of the best books on economics that the Oracle of Ottawa has read in quite a long time.

You will smile sardonically at the ending chapters when the author refers to the "one per cent" and the "ninety-nine per cent". And when you finish reading it you will clearly understand the whole mess of capitalism as it is now deployed, and you will understand that a compound growth economics cannot go on forever against our initial endowment, the planet Earth. You will realize that we are like the old 19th century industrial baron who has depleted his last raw material and is now just realizing that the whole game is up, and is slowly living on his remaining capital hoping that it won't run out before his debtors realize what is exactly going on....

Occupy will be back in full force again soon....

Sun News TV - Spooked By Occupy Protests

The unequal distribution of income is the chief source of the periodic crises that regularly erupt. This is generally concealed in conventional economics by reference to an unexplained lack of demand.
Herbert I. Schiller, Living In the Number One Country, p. 195

For such an "un-event" Sun News TV has certainly spent an inordinate amount of time covering it! Ever since Saturday last, there  has been practically non-stop saturation of it. The Oracle of Ottawa puts it down to that recurring dream that all the right-wingers are having lately, you know that dream, the one where your minimum wage rent-a-cops lets in the rabble from the street and leads them to the inner sanctum...and then your illegal landscaping crew carves you up with gardening tools that you sold to them! Yeah that dream...

The 99% are coming....

Small media markets are a very hard dollar aren't they? And the way that Sun News goes after it it just keeps getting smaller! The spinning gets tighter and faster and the bottom keeps receding away at near the speed of light. Meanwhile in the sordid press division, the best banner reporters are worked to death, or as the HR thingy would say; fully multi-tasked. That is what all you youngster Sun News word slaves have to look forward to, death in a third rate industrial park "newsroom" way past your retirement, when you should be living on your acccolades and royalty cheques. You would all be better off writing a blog in public housing on welfare!

Speaking about public housing, what the hell is wrong with Krista Erickson? Ever since her long summer vacation I have noticed a marked and profound change in her appearance. Her once posh face is all sinew's and there is bumps and unevenness of the lips that is really gross. What the hell is up with that? And she is missing her cues and teleprompter reads. And it has all happened so fast and recently. Creepy as hell. I imagine in true Sun News corporate fashion they will run her till she drops on air for the ratings surge, no doubt...

Here is real journalism by Russia Today. There is a rumor in Ottawa that this is the network that is going to get Sun News TV's old Ontario channel slots after October 31, 2011...I can hardly wait, RT is just freaking excellent!

Should Mark Carney Resign?

The liar wants to be believed, but lying undermines the foundation for credibility.
Randal Marlin, Propaganda & The Ethics Of Persuasion, p. 149

This all boiled up this morning as I was relaxing in the secure bunker on a cosy Saturday morning hitting the CTV news channel to catch up on the world events. As ugly chance would have it, I walked right into that phone interview with wee Jim Flaherty , Canada's present leprechaun of Finance. Well things did not seem to be going too good, the wee minister was straying far from his "talking points" and what came out of is mouth had the sound of a panicked man. Thank God it was Saturday, the stock market was closed in Toronto, and we all know that when wee Jimmy starts yapping about the economy the market starts shedding points as he is talking!

Chase this....

Lets put all this into proper context. We have our wee Finance Minister constantly babbling to anyone who will listen about things he doesn't know shit about. I am still in shock from that interview around 2008, when he practically openly admitted he never owned a stock in his life! With a background in motor vehicle accident and personal injury litigation Canada is no doubt well represented at the G20 meetings. With the head of the International Monetary Fund being headed by an anti trust and labour lawyer woman from France I guess this makes wee Jimmy look one up!

Bank of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario....

 But what is really cooking this taxpayers chicken is that Mark Carney seems to be always somewhat nearby at usually less then arms length distance. That interview of our Bank of Canada governor sitting in the Prime Ministers office with wee Jimmy for the photo-op in the 'Harper Government's vain attempt to make me feel better still leaves me somewhat pukey at the very thought of it! That should have never happened. The governor of the Bank of Canada is always to be at "arms length" and should never appear in situations or photo-ops that in any way make him look to appear like a Fisher-Price pull toy at the end of a short string... I mean I am just going on tradition here, can you think of any example from the past governors where this has happened even once?

In closing it seems to me that some young NDP member should stand to his / her seat in Question Period and ask a few questions. Such as; when is a partner of a large investment bank no longer a partner? What connections should a Bank of Canada Governor have, if any? Should a major investment bank that was once an employer of a present government official be allowed to pitch any business at all? Should a present Bank of Canada Governor be allowed to be a member of the Group of Thirty while he is holding office as a central bank governor? 

A little more "background"...

'Harper Government' Feeding Occupy Wall Street ?

In modern times sound policy-making must often come to grips with numbers.
Randal Marlin, Propaganda & The Ethics of Persuasion, p. 118

Once Charlie Rose talks about it, you know that it is "on". As the lowlife right wing neo-con media in Canada and the United States tries to whistle past the graveyard over the impact of Occupy Wall Street, all it takes is someone of the stature of Charlie Rose and guests like Paul Krugman  to disavow the neo-cons of that notion. And earlier this evening in Canada the "state broadcaster" the CBC has all but rolled out the carpet on the coming wave. This will be another wrench in the "Harper Government" gear box! With hopefully many more bigger and annoying ones to come.

more wrench's in the gear box....

Meanwhile, earlier today, Lisa "The Hapless" Raitt in an utter move of desperation has referred the Air Canada strikers to the CIRB! ( Canada Industrial Relations Board ) ,in a desperate attempt to prevent the collapse of the Canadian economy! ( Oh Please....) This action is highly irregular, and hasn't been attempted in my living memory. But that is the way with neo-con babes, they always go for the gun too quickly! Meanwhile Canada Post has filed a constitutional court challenge over the 'Harper Government' back to work legislation back in the summer. As you can plainly see the swamp is quickly filling with some very hungry and pissed crocodiles!

Why do the fat conservatives taste like little boys??

Meanwhile, amid all the union busting, as per Bilderberg Group directives, the forward scouts for Occupy Wall Street are arriving in Canada and scoping out the best locations for the coming inexerable wave of future troubles and embarrassments. And in the hapless Tory way of shit fortune, it will all boil up at the same time, and all but ruin the great mans last term as Prime Minister. It all should be very interesting to watch unfold.

Meanwhile, all the labour union lads are arranging for their strikes and last talks to take place during Parliaments very long summer recess!! Those crafty lefty bastards! Methinks the 'Harper Government' is going to be very tired by the time of the next election. No justice, no peace?

Coming Soon!! To a City Near You!!

City of Ottawa - Top 100?

The Rules of good-breeding condemn whatever is openly disobliging, and gives a sensible pain and confusion to those, with whom we converse.
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, p. 152

According to "Salty" Steve Desroches, in recent local vulgar media reports, the City of Ottawa is going to have to skimp on the application of salt again this winter, book the long term care for granny folks. The Oracle of Ottawa finds it all rather weird that the City of Ottawa doesn't have money for road salt and yet they seem to have funds to appear in black hole marketing in the Globe and Mail Top 100 Special Report!

City Hall - Perfect for Wall Street Occupy tent city!!

 Decades ago there was an annual publication listing the Top 100 employers in Canada. It was peer reviewed and moderated. There were tables where you could compare the pros and cons. Do you remember that? That kind of thing is long gone. Now the list appears as a marketing supplement in Canada's National Newspaper. You know it is good, the most despised, reviled, and most sued corporation on earth was listed as number one in Canada a few years back! Do you remember that?

According to the City of Ottawa entry, there are 11,931 employees, and the biggest feature of working for the City of Ottawa is that there is a free lounge and one pool table! (page E11, Friday, October 07, 2011) According to the Oracle of Ottawas sources there are 30 year employees who have yet to find the lounge, and they were in no hurry to get in line with 11,931 people for a crack at the pool table! The real fear down at the union office is that the sky high pile of grievances is going to topple over causing structural damage to the new union hall! This is of course the fruit of the "model human resource practices".  

But one should be fair, that number of 11,931 is probably measuring the managers and the contractors. Or is that measuring the blue collar union card carrying workforce? Someone is befuddled with there numbers me thinks!! You know things are pretty bad when the following joke is going around: Why do people from Human Resources always wear rayon? Answer: The spit dries faster!

This is what the workers at the City of Ottawa and all of Canada and the United States really need right now!
I can hear the knees knocking already and they are not on my side of the table!!

The Arab Spring Comes To Wall Street And The New World

There is nothing more nervous than a million dollars - it moves very fast, and it doesn't speak any language.
Jean Chretien, My Years As Prime Minister, p. 364


It comes as a great surprise and shock to the Oracle of Ottawa that the Occupy Wall Street protests are in fact another import of foment from Canada! Well actually I am somewhat miffed, I mean with the Perimeter Security Deal all but done, how was it all possible? It seems that what ever can't possibly happen in the United States must originate in a "foreign" land. And Canada is the smartest neighbor nearby. None of this stuff can originate in Mexico, I mean really, the Americans still have some pride left. Don't they?

The Bull yields to the pigs...

It is amazing how similar this Wall Street demonstration is to the one that recently took place in Egypt. No leaders, just a lot of i-phones and a lot of very pissed and desperate people. The state seems to be reacting in the same way that the deposed Egyptian state first reacted in the early days of their demise. I wonder if they will have a camel charge just before the end? And come to think of it, I wonder if the "Harper Government", our government of the Bilderberg Groups little helpers, will still be laughing after the process starts at the location our once great financial institutions? Mikey Moore said there would someday be days like this!!

Nicely said and well...very nice!!

What is going to happen when the real big unions get involved? I figure the Teamsters will kick in large and this event will mark the resurrection and / or birth of the New Labor! When they start happening in Canada this month I strongly suspect that the Canadian Autoworkers will be huge and center! Why the Oracle of Ottawa is feeling better all ready!

Tomorrow will be different from today...

  As per history, that nasty one percent is not taking this at all seriously! It as all but a doddle soon to peter out, and then business as usual. I am certain that these people are in for a very nasty shock, not soon to be forgotten. Perhaps this will move Congress in the United States to pass the Presidents work legislation? One thing that we can be certain of that this is going to take off and the world will not be the same as the world of today.

Why does this make me think of the French Revolution?