I'll Have to Pass On That...

The last few posts were meant to be a little tour of what’s out there for your edification on a daily basis. You might like the sarcastic delivery of truth of a Carlin with a little comedy thrown in, or perhaps the cerebral assessments of Chris Hedges, or my personal favorite of the group, the down to earth writings of Jim Quinn of The Burning Platform (complete with chart porn!). Whatever your taste, some of you might say gloom and doom. Really? Do you think you have a grip on everything to the point where you can honestly assess the situation and say that this is all just morose conjecture? I was going back and forth with a friend recently on IM. After I sent him a couple of pointed links on events of the day, he said: "Enough for today, I'm trying to stay positive", to which my response was: "Reality is positive." He reluctantly agreed. I will continue to drag him as reluctant as he may be- what are friends for?

Some of you will also say- it’s all conspiracy theory!  I love this one. How much conspiracy theory has become conspiracy fact- especially as of late? Try the answer machines known as Google or Bing and you might be surprised. I leave the conspiracy theories to Alex Jones (aka Captain Tin Foil) and the likes of breitbart.com. This is not to say I don’t drop in now and then to see what the latest rant is, as I am capable of listening, toying with the ideas presented, and moving on having filed some of them away for later reconsideration based on events.

What really tickles me these days is having the mainstream news feeds, say CNBC (aka CNBS), and their cadre of sell-side whores whose ratings are completely in the toilet (people are waking up???) up in one window and Zero Hedge or the like in another. It’s like being in a house of mirrors and literally makes me laugh out loud. Hmmm, whom to believe? Yes, sarcasm.

If business or the big picture aren't your style, might I suggest looking in on Jonathan Pelto who is doing a bang up job in describing the violent rape of what’s left of education in Connecticut (a subject near and dear to my heart) among other issues.

The point is that it’s out there and you don’t have to look very hard, but you will have to turn off the TV and use the USA Today and the Courant for what they were meant for- puppy pads. It’s pretty stunning to me that people still pay for this shit.

Thoreau wrote in Civil Disobedience and Other Essays: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

I’m going to have to pass on that option. I’m going to kick, bitch, scream, and sing like Pavarotti to the bitter end because it’s just the way I’m built. And because I was born a natural salesman, although I have come to despise the profession and what it has become (more on that soon), I will continue to try to persuade you to pay attention to what’s going on around you for your own benefit whether you like it or not. If you don’t, all you have to do is go find the remote.  Either way, on with the show…