Quid Pro Quo Corruption or "protected Free speech?"

Lest anyone think that Chris Christie would go to jail for quid pro quo corruption. The Courts set a high bar on that. So whether the quid and the pro can ever be linked is one of those things that involves our officials pointing at each other and saying; "Oh no that's just "protected free speech."

Donated to who	Amount	Year
Republican Governors Association	$200,000	20131
Republican Governors Association	$751,200	20142
1 http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/current-issues/accountability/political-involvement/political-contributions-and-lobbying
2 http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?ein=113655877

For that paltry sum, Exxon Mobil got a hefty reward. Because New Jersey has been suing Exxon Mobil. The article in the New Jersey Newsroom notes:

"New Jersey’s 2004 lawsuit against Exxon Mobil accusing their local petroleum refining plants of contaminating state land and water http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/commentary/are-alec-baldwins-aggressive-chris-christie-allegations-true

And this was no chump change lawsuit:

"According to lehighvalleylive.com, Exxon would pay $250 million for $8.9 billion worth of damage in Bayonne and Linden. The company’s refineries damaged 1,500 acres of waterways, wetlands and meadows, according to reports. Exxon’s liability had been established when the lawsuit went to trial." [alec baldwins allegations true]

Now New Jersey already paid out that $8.9 billion. So Exxon and Christies corrupt team just got New Jersey to pick up the tab for 8.65 billion dollars in damages. Definitely if money is speech, it is a hell of an investment. For a paltry 750K in donations Exxon got 8.65 billion in savings. That is a more than 1000:1 payoff! Good Job Exxon! And thanks to SCOTUS, no one ever need go to jail.

Sources and Further Reading

http://www.ibtimes.com/chris-christie-settles-exxonmobil-case-after-oil-giant-gave-rga-big-cash-1830752

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/us/republicans-corporate-donors-governors.html?_r=0

More at Open Secrets:

http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_contribs.php?ein=113655877

Alec Baldwin finds this outrageous:

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/commentary/are-alec-baldwins-aggressive-chris-christie-allegations-true

Canary in a Coal Mine

I feel more like a canary. Been singing a warning, been singing my heart away. And my heart feels worn, and broken,   My voice is harsh, but I still sing today. And when I'm gone, that should be warning to you. Because I'll leave my song.
Christopher Hartly Holte

Dealing with Nukes, Dealing with Iran

Boehner should be charged for violating the Logan Act. We can't arrest him til the term is over, but he broke the law:

Netanyahu didn't propose a solution to Israel's fear that Iran will get "The Bomb". He tried to prejudice our negotiations with Iran and sabotage our efforts to negotiate an agreement to get Iran to agree to not getting the bomb. All so he could win re-election in Israel. He's got a point. A better deal? I don't think is his goal. His real goal seems to be to sabotage any deal. As I've said before:

"No nuclear program is completely peaceful. They all exist so that governments can do zen proliferation. If they aren't building bombs now, the plants give them the option to in the future. To me the real problem is that nuclear power plants are themselves massive dirty bombs primed for accidental detonation and meantime poisoning their own people. Dimona is more dangerous to Israel than what the Iranians are doing. But an Iranian program under international monitoring is still better than an Iran buying bombs from N Korea, and the best way to guarantee attacks on Israel is to attack Iran."

He also played Balak ordered to curse Israel and praised Obama and his efforts on behalf of Israel when Boehner wanted him to attack him. I still think Boehner should be indicted (he can't be physically arrested til Congress is out of session) for violating the Logan Act but obviously that's not happening.

Attacking Iran might set back Iran's nuclear program, but more likely it would start a war. The only way to guarantee Iran doesn't build atom bombs in that circumstance would be to destroy the country. We could do that, but the Karmic retribution for Israel and the United States might be worse than if Iran were to get the Atom Bomb. Netanyahu is afraid of proliferation. Israel is the only country with atom bombs right now.

Nuclear energy is dangerous to those who have it. If we really want peace in the middle east and around the world we need to shut down Dimona, shut down our program, shut down Iran's program, and shut down nuclear programs around the world. But we aren't going to do that by having the head of a foreign country sabotage diplomacy. And sadly, we can't do it unilaterally without other countries using their own opportunistically.

The best thing that could happen to Israel would be to throw Netanyahu out of the Prime Ministry. It's not like he has any long term strategy for Israel except to beat up on Palestinians, put settlements in the West Bank, and war monger. He wants us to take the heat for Israel and keeps saying the same things. He'd sound like a broken record if you substitute the word "Iraq" for Iran from 20 years ago:

Netanyahu cheerleading the Iraq Invasion: [http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/31/1117211/netanyahu-iran-iraq/]

Individual Enterprise is Free Enterprise not Corporate enterprise

I've made my reading project to read through 12 volumes of works by Alexander Hamilton. This has already yielded dividends. One argument I have is with those libertarians and conservatives who confuse individual initiative with corporate initiative. During Hamilton's time there was a clear distinction. Alexander Hamilton said this about Corporations, referring to the model for modern conglomerates, the "East India Company" in 1795:

"The European intercourse with Asia is, in most cases, conducted by corporations or exclusive companies, and all experience has proved that in every species of business (that of banking and a few analogous employments excepted), in conducting of which a competition shall exist between individuals and corporations, the superior economy, enterprise, zeal, and perseverance of the former will make them an overmatch for the latter; and that while individuals acquire riches, corporations engaged in the same business often sink their capital and become bankrupt." The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 6: [http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/hamilton-the-works-of-alexander-hamilton-federal-edition-vol-6]

When Adam Smith and Hamilton talked of "free enterprise" they were talking about individual freedom, not corporate freedom.

I may revisit this article in the future. But I saw this quote and wanted to share it.

Ignorant Morons in Mosul

Ignorant morons in Mosul;

destroying great memories.

What would they replace them with?

decapitated heads?

 

Gross Angry buffoons,

Knocking down staid, timeless women,

beating their alabaster bodies to dust.

Fetishing their fear!

Thou shalt not image your God

And thou shalt not image that which is merely a thing of beauty.

An object of the past talking to ourselves.

Not an image of God, just a lovely work of art.

 

Yes, thou shalt not image your God!

But can't you leave other people's images alone?

Is your head misshapen like a cone?

Is your blood sugar low?

Do you need to eat a scone?

Are you really that stupod?

 

Yet I see you in a museum smashing ancient things.

Don't tell me your prophet said to do that.

You image a God who is a hateful destroyer.

Can that possibly be the True God?

I don't think so!

Your image of God is smashed stone dusting a museum floor.

You are idolators of destruction.

Imaging a destroyed world.

 

Your image of the future is dreck

Your image of God is a Ruler of hell.

Ignorance is Ignorance, stupidity is stupidity.

You cannot image the ineffable one.

And who would image God as broken stones on a museum floor?

 

Even if you try;

You can't speak for God, or tell H-m what to do.

Either you are a dead soul of false faith,

or deeds speak for you.

Either you walk in divine footprints,

Or you tread on the divine with brutal stupidity.

 

We Choose;

Nurture a World beauty

Or break the world in two.

 

But you put tires

around the necks of the innocent

and light them with lies

that make your prophet look like a Barbarian

It is you who defame your prophet.

It is you who blaspheme in the name of the Lord.

Not innocent statues broken on the floor.

 

Maybe you are jealous,

that these images stood for millennia

While people ignore your PR profile.

Maybe you are jealous,

That man could create such beauty,

in honor of the ineffable one,

and that you feel nothing but hate.

 

Maybe you are jealous,

because in your delusion

you hear no divine voices

and though you pray in front of others

silence greats your pleas.

 

Maybe you are angry because

Your sermons on Friday are preached by charlatans

And your scholars are liars who see a path of hate.

 

Don't tell me that it's I who make fun of your prophet

You walking parodies absurd with pretense.

You don't speak for God, that is the real Blasphemy

I doubt you even hear him.

I hear a voice in the night and it says:

 

He says "what manner of stupidity you do,"

assuming it is in MY name.

 

Meanwhile a museum has lost an invaluable collection

to a bunch of morons.

Christopher H. Holte

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/02/sacrificial-books-mosul-150227060556341.html

Morning

The Sun rose up

til it was high in the sky.

I saw new things.

I saw old things die.

 

Shadows spread,

then grew softer,

and died away.

 

Flowers bloomed quietly,

then faded to brown,

and fell to the ground,

 

Butterflies danced gently,

then laid their eggs,

and fluttered to the ground;

 

...and there was not a single sound.

 

CHHolte written March 11 1981

Erdogan proves to be even more corrupt than the Secular leaders he displaced

In Latin America "fearless Leaders" are known as "Caudillos" (among other terms) and sadly Erdoğan is turning into a typical Caudillo. Until we develop a system that is representative down to the municipality and has true bottom up democratic and Republican structures for representation in federated form, such people will continue to assert power and both fear and use fear to suppress opposition.

Of course he's up against the Former Ms. Turkey, Ms Merve Büyüksaraç. So I think he's the one who should be in trouble now. The poem she's charged with reciting is a humorous and satirical poem. The title translates as the "Master's poem" from the weekly humor magazine Uykusuz. I wanted to post the poem's translation. Apparently it's based on Turkey's National Anthem and so could probably be sun. But our World Wide 1984 censors seem to have deleted it from the entire internet. If I find it I'll update this post with it. I'm more upset with the connivance of our cowardly Internet guardians than with Turkey. Caudillos will be Caudillos, but the real sort of Cowards are the folks who won't challenge them. Erdogan can kiss my Pettuty. (I would kiss Marve's anytime)

And of course this illustrates "Social Dominance" behavior in action. Erdoğan couldn't get away with repression without the lying and connivance of his followers. The Washington Post version of the report quotes A Turkish official, the prosecutor, one "Mr Tepe":

"Mr Tepe does not believe Ms Büyüksaraç's remarks were an example of freedom of speech and in his indictment wrote: "The remarks shared by the suspect could not be considered within the terms of freedom of expression."

So political speech is not "free speech", in Turkey at least. She's of course denying she meant to insult him. But the fact is that she should have meant to insult him. I would be insulting him. He's a political figure not God. Disgusting [Daily Telegraph Article]

Of course political speech, especially satire and criticism, are precisely what "free speech" is about. Our Turkish friends don't get it. Folks like Erdogan are the real ones insulting their countries by subverting and corrupting them. I guess I can cross visiting Turkey off my Bucket List. Wouldn't want to go to jail for criticizing a crook.

People like Erdogan are willing to break their countries to get to the top. Even if they succeed it will It will all fall apart again when they die and in the meantime all their tyrannical power does is to result in corruption for the few and misery for the masses. What does this "Social Domination" get them? Nothing. Seriously, are you a http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/01/are-you-social-dominator.html? Or the kind of enabler that keeps jerks like Erdogan in power?

One Clue for both Social Dominators and Authoritarian Enablers is No Sense of Humor, or humility. The ones insulting these people or insulting the Prophet when folks make fun of how folks use his narratives, are the ones assaulting the humorists. Draw a little Hitler Moustache on his face and we could cast him to play the role.

Three stories on his behavior:

Former Miss Turkey, Ms Merve Büyüksaraç faces a prison sentance for political activity and faces prison for ‘insulting’ Erdoğan" http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/former-miss-turkey-faces-prison-for-insulting-president-erdogan.aspx?pageID=238&nID=78838&NewsCatID=341

Guilt feelings over the Armenian Genocide

Turks still deny there ever was an Armenian Holocaust. The ethic cleansing of Greeks, Armenians and others is denied. The later efforts to ethnically cleanse or launder Kurds into Mountain Turks also gets denied. This is one of the drivers of Turkeys drift rightward.

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/795191/turkey-paid-muslim-brotherhood-$1-million-dollars-to-eliminate-armenian-genocide-documents.html

Attacking his own Central Bank:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/25/turkey-cenbank-erdogan-idUSL5N0VZ44P20150225

Another article on him and the model

http://news.yahoo.com/turkish-model-faces-jail-terms-insulting-erdogan-135345796.html [http://armenpress.am/eng/news/795191/turkey-paid-muslim-brotherhood-$1-million-dollars-to-eliminate-armenian-genocide-documents.html]