Ventura: It came out of the White House

I wonder sometimes, can’t anyone in the press corps do any digging besides Michael Ventura? His “Letters at 3AM” column for February 10, 2012, from the Austin Chronicle.

It Came From The White House

It is a murky story, and no one knows its end.

During the long congressional tussle over the National Defense Authorization Act, some legislators actually read the small print and were alarmed by a section permitting the military, at the order of the president, to arrest designated enemies without warrants and hold them indefinitely without trial. “Without trial” is the usage in the bill; “until the end of hostilities” is its code for “indefinitely.” That section also permits a detainee’s “transfer” to “any other foreign entity” — i.e., disappearance.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., noticed that to subject American citizens to arrest without warrant and to detain us without trial violates the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments of the Constitution. Feinstein proposed to specifically exempt American citizens from the NDAA’s arrest policy.

Her clarification of the NDAA passed the Senate by a vote of 98 to 1. That’s as bipartisan as it gets, even in good times. In these times, passage of Feinstein’s clarification was a miracle of agreement.

Yet in the NDAA’s final version, as signed by President Obama, American citizens are not exempt. How did that happen?

Ventura on Hillman

MICHAEL VENTURA

LETTERS AT 3AM –

JAMES HILLMAN (1926-2011)

Austin Chronicle – January 13, 2012

Santa Barbara is a city on the California coast that teeters over the sea and will one day be submerged. What makes California California is that one lives in cities that know they are destined to die – a James Hillmanesque thought if ever there was one.

I’d ducked out of a conference in Santa Barbara to quaff a beer at a nearby bar. In walked Hillman.  Never had I expected Hillman, with all his exquisite erudition, to step into a bar in the middle of the afternoon. Without a hello or a nod, he sat on the stool next to mine.

Just for fun

My old HRPC partner Bob Friedman’s son Jonathan is in the final five — out of 6,000 initial contestants! — in this year’s Doritos competition. (Read about it in Bob’s email to me below.) I saw the commercial he made, and it is not only funny, it is fully professional, an amazing achievement. I don’t often do this — don’t think I’ve ever done it before, in fact — but I’ve been urging people to follow the links below and vote for him.

[From Bob:]

Sometimes it’s pretty good being a dad with some talented sons. First Matthew wins the Sundance Screenwriting Lab and now this!

I am happy to convey some wonderful news. Jonathan will be posting this on his Facebook page later today:

“Hey everyone, I have some pretty BIG NEWS–I entered the Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” commercial competition this year and was selected as one of the top five finalists! Each of the finalists wins $25,000, goes to the Super Bowl, and has a shot at winning a million dollars. As it turns out, there were over 6,000 entries and my commercial was the only one on the entire east coast to make the top five–so it’s East Coast vs. West Coast here, people. Only two of the five ads are going to be shown during the Super Bowl though, and that’s left up to the public. So I hope you’ll take a few minutes, go to www.crashthesuperbowl.com and cast your vote. My commercial
is called “Man’s Best Friend.” If you want to know more about all of this,
you can go to www.mansbestfriendcommercial.com. There are direct links to all the places you can vote there (and you can vote once a day until January 29th if you want to.) Thanks in advance if you decide to vote, and feel free to pass this post around to as many people as you want to!”

[Bob again:] HE WON! At least, he made it to the top five. He has already been flown to L.A. by the Doritos people to go over some marketing suggestions (they also give them a $20,000 budget for marketing, as the top two commercials to be shown at the Super Bowl will be determined by votes on the web page he mentions above). They also fly all the five finalists to the Super Bowl. If Jonathan’s entry gets aired at the Super Bowl, USA Today rates all the commercials, and if his is chosen the best commercial, he will win a million dollars.

Obviously, even making the top five is quite an achievement out of 6,000 entries. It’s also a fun commercial and you’ll get a real kick out of watching it.

So whatever help you can give to support him will be greatly appreciated! Vote early and often. Please go to www.crashthesuperbowl.com and cast a vote for the home team. And if you want to send Jonathan’s post to all your e-mail friends, that would help it go viral.

[Me again:] So there you have it, and, as I say, it’s fun to watch.

You Have the Right to Remain Silent But I Don’t Recommend It

Michael Ventura’s “Letters at 3 a.m.” column for December 30, 2011. He calls it “What’s Your Sign,” but I have chosen for a headline the best of the signs he quotes.

MICHAEL VENTURA

LETTERS AT 3AM –

WHAT’S YOUR SIGN?

Austin Chronicle – Dec. 30, 2011

The World Of Free Energy

The folk saying has it that “if it sounds too good to be true, probably it is.” OTOH, sometimes what sounds too good to be true sounds too good to be true only because many people have made it their business to make it sound too good to be true. Cases in point, from Global Research:

The World Of Free Energy 

By Dr. Peter Lindemann

URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28365

Changing the budget conversation

If you’re going to bring the nation’s finances under control, you’re going to have to bring under control the single most out-of-control part  of the national budget, and that’s the military. In our descent toward empire since November, 1963, “we the people of the United States” have lost all control over the military, and the result is not only intervention everywhere, sometimes on the flimsiest of pretenses, but looming bankruptcy.

Some people think that the problem of unemployment or underemployment  would be worse without massive military spending, but economic theory is quite clear that the repair expenditures that follow a rock breaking a window do not add to the total wealth, but divert it, forcing someone to spend on repairs what s/he otherwise would have had available to spend for other things, or invest. Spending doesn’t make one richer unless the spending is in the form of a productive investment.

Thinking about that argument sent me looking for an Eisenhower quotation about excessive military spending I remembered he had made very early in his presidency, and via Google I found this interesting website –

Ventura — Occupy the future

OCCUPY THE FUTURE

- Austin Chronicle – December 16, 2011

“I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one.”

The person who created that sign in Zuccotti Park put her or his anonymous finger on the heartbeat of Occupy.

Many wonder what Occupy stands for and why Occupy has not made specific demands – as though it’s not enough that, in Occupy’s brief existence, its participants have emblazoned the difference between the 1% and the 99% upon the consciousness of America. As my longtime colleague Ginger Varney said, “They’ve changed the conversation.”

Ventura – A Workers’ Manifesto

As always, Michael Ventura actually thinks, rather than merely reacting or echoing other people’s slogans. I read this proposed workers’ manifesto with interest and, perhaps, with special qualifications, having spent about half my working life as a worker (read: serf) in various large-scale enterprises and the other half as one of the owners of a small business. He’s right on target when he talks about how one’s time at work can amount to the theft of one’s life. And the inherent inequality of position between boss and worker is a major problem – on both sides, as I learned.

The major difference that he does not address here is that of permanent investment. Employees come and go, and the decisions they would make might not be the best for the longer-term interests of the enterprise. Management of larger corporations (as opposed to owners) also comes and goes, and makes bad decisions when considered long-term. There should be some recognition of the difference between those with only short-term interests and those with either permanent or longer-term interests. I don’t know what it would be, but that’s something to be addressed.

This essay leaves my admiration for Ventura’s thinking apparatus untouched. He’s an amazing individual.

Archdruid: Pepper-spraying the future

This week’s Archdruid Report. John Greer, like Michael Ventura,  is always interesting, usually has a long perspective, is refreshingly detached from the addiction to news-by-factoid,  has a serious purpose for writing, and has a solid base of information to convey.

Naturally, he isn’t perfect. Some of his history isn’t quite right, and doesn’t quite prove what he thinks it does. A couple of serious examples in this week’s column. That isn’t necessarily fatal. After all, a supporting example that isn’t quite right doesn’t necessarily invalidate the argument it is supporting. A much more serious problem is that Greer seems to think he knows what the future will look like.

Hiring Locally for Farm Work Is No Cure-All

As usual, the facts are quite a bit different from the political issues. From http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/us/farmers-strain-to-hire-american-workers-in-place-of-migrant-labor.html?emc=eta1

Hiring Locally for Farm Work Is No Cure-All

Matthew Staver for The New York Times

John Harold found himself short of workers to harvest his corn and onions after he decided to try to hire more local residents and fewer foreign laborers for his 1,000-acre farm.

By KIRK JOHNSON

Published: October 5, 2011

OLATHE, Colo. — How can there be a labor shortage when nearly one out of every 11 people in the nation are unemployed?