Nebraska Nuclear Accident and Strange Goings On at The TSA

The newspaper The Nation of Pakistan, as well as the Russian nonproliferation site, Nuclear No, report on the near meltdown at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant near Omaha:

"A shocking report prepared by Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) on information provided to them by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that the Obama regime has ordered a “total and complete” news blackout relating to any information regarding the near catastrophic meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant located in Nebraska.
According to this report, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant suffered a “catastrophic loss of cooling” to one of its idle spent fuel rod pools on 7 June after this plant was deluged with water caused by the historic flooding of the Missouri River which resulted in a fire causing the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to issue a “no-fly ban” over the area.
Located about 20 minutes outside downtown Omaha, the largest city in Nebraska, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant is owned by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) who on their website denies their plant is at a “Level 4” emergency by stating: “This terminology is not accurate, and is not how emergencies at nuclear power plants are classified.”
Russian atomic scientists in this FAAE report, however, say that this OPPD statement is an “outright falsehood” as all nuclear plants in the world operate under the guidelines of the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) which clearly states the “events” occurring at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant do, indeed, put it in the “Level 4” emergency category of an “accident with local consequences” thus making this one of the worst nuclear accidents in US history.
Though this report confirms independent readings in the United States of “negligible release of nuclear gasses” related to this accident it warns that by the Obama regimes censoring of this event for “political purposes” it risks a “serious blowback” from the American public should they gain knowledge of this being hidden from them.
Interesting to note about this event was the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chief, Gregory B. Jaczko, blasting the Obama regime just days before the near meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant by declaring that “the policy of not enforcing most fire code violations at dozens of nuclear plants is “unacceptable” and has tied the hands of NRC inspectors.”

The Nuclear No article goes on to make some what appear to be unrelated comments relating to the coal industry and more interestingly, security operations by the TSA, which are confirmed in this report from the Marietta Times:

"Today, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and several federal, state and local agencies will participate in a scheduled exercise designed to enhance security in the Ohio-West Virginia area. TSA has partnered with local law enforcement to conduct thousands of similar operations from coast to coast. This is a scheduled operation, not related to a specific threat.

The exercise will cover approximately 5,000 square miles throughout Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. The participating teams are composed of a variety of TSA assets including federal air marshals, canine teams, inspectors and bomb appraisal officers. They will be joined by state and local law enforcement officials to supplement existing resources, provide detection and response capabilities. The exercise will utilize multiple airborne assets, including Blackhawk helicopters and fixed wing aircraft as well as waterborne and surface teams....
Federal partners participating with TSA in the operation include the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, FBI and Federal Air Marshals.

State of Ohio participants include the Ohio National Guard, State Highway Patrol, Emergency Management Agency, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Public Safety, Department of Transportation, Office of Homeland Security, City of Columbus Fire Division bomb squad, Ohio Fusion Center, several sheriff's offices and departments of emergency management.

West Virginia participants include the Department of Military Affairs & Public Safety, Division of Natural Resources, State Police, Office of Homeland Security, West Virginia National Guard, West Virginia Fusion Center, several sheriff's offices and departments of emergency management.

In addition to federal, state, and local assets, several other non-government entities are participating in today's operation."

Altogether strange stuff. The Nebraska near meltdown was an event very much under reported and anything involving the TSA outside of airports makes one wonder.

American Decadence And Decline: A Potpourri

Peter Marmarek at Tikkunista brings together four sources which highlight yet another few weeks in the Bizzaro world known as the U.S.A. Here are some exerpts:

"Corruption and decadence doesn’t occur all at once; it’s a progressive disease with no clear tipping point. Part of it lies in the rise of the conservative movement post-Goldwater, when wealthy conservatives began to bankroll think tanks and media organs who were more interested in waging political warfare than getting facts right. Part of it is a pop-media culture that lets an ignorant buffoon like Rush Limbaugh or a bizarre whack-job like Glenn Beck become influential voices in our national debate. Part of it is the culture of non-accountability that is pervasive in official Washington, where the frauds that helped produce the financial crisis of 2007 barely get investigated, or where a Deputy Secretary of Defense can play a key role in causing the Iraq debacle and then get rewarded by being named President of the World Bank, screw that up too, and bail out to a safe sinecure at a D.C. think tank. As L’affaire Weiner demonstrates, in today’s America, you’re more likely to derail your career by sending some lewd and idiotic tweets than by sending thousands of your fellow citizens to their deaths (along with tens of thousands of Iraqis) in an unnecessary war......"

"Americans live in a late capitalist society where the rich have gotten many times richer and the middle class has gotten poorer, where Wall Street bankers have stolen us blind and blamed us for living above our means, where persistent unemployment is worse than in the Great Depression, where most politicians and some judges have been bought by corporations or special interests, where authorities actively conspire to keep people from voting, where the government spies on citizens assiduously without warrant or probable cause, and where the minds of the sheep are kept off their fleecing by substituting celebrity gossip, sex scandals, and half-disguised bigotry for genuine news....."

"With Tea Party conservatives and many Republicans balking at raising the debt ceiling, let me offer them an example of a nation that lives up to their ideals.

It has among the lowest tax burdens of any major country: fewer than 2 percent of the people pay any taxes. Government is limited, so that burdensome regulations never kill jobs. This society embraces traditional religious values and a conservative sensibility. Nobody minds school prayer, same-sex marriage isn’t imaginable, and criminals are never coddled. The budget priority is a strong military, the nation’s most respected institution. When generals decide on a policy for, say, Afghanistan, politicians defer to them. Citizens are deeply patriotic, and nobody burns flags.

So what is this Republican Eden, this Utopia? Why, it’s Pakistan."

"Let’s be clear: Prison is for poor people. Prison is not for rich people. Prison is for people who cannot buy their way out.

We can only assume that this is what a judge in Broward County, Fla., Barbara McCarthy, learned back at St. Thomas University Law School in northwest Miami — justice is blind, unless you’ve got money, in which case justice is a cash register.

Maybe you caught the news story over the weekend. An overgrown brat from suburban Barrington Hills, Ryan LeVin, 36, who had run over and killed two men while drag racing his Porsche in South Florida, was sentenced by Judge McCarthy to a mere two years of house arrest — in one of his wealthy parents’ luxury oceanfront condos — after agreeing to write big checks to the victims’ widows.

LeVin could have been sentenced to up to 45 years in prison for killing the two British businessmen and fleeing the police, and in fact nobody in Broward County can recall another time when a person found guilty of such a crime did not serve time in prison…."

Read the whole series here...

Messer Chups - Super Megera

Another helping of Russian surf-lounge music from Messer Chups.Towards the end you can hear Dick Cheney yelling "Torture! Torture! It pleasures me!"

People Of Walmart

This video lends credence to the words of George Clemenceau:

"“America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”

Last Canadian Mission In Afghanistan

From the Globe and Mail:

"More than five years after taking charge of security in one of the most violent regions in Afghanistan, Canadian troops wrapped up their final combat operation with a two-week sweep through a rural swath of Kandahar that was undisputed Taliban territory just a year ago.

The offensive, conducted with a bulked-up Afghan National Army brigade in the lead, marks Canada’s last days in the long and deadly war. All combat troops are set to withdraw this summer, 5½ years after the mission in Kandahar began."

And from the Waterloo Record:

"Ten years ago, Canada and other countries involved in the invasion of Afghanistan talked of bringing stability and peace to that famously distressed country. Instead, we succeeded only in exporting Afghanistan’s instability across the border into nuclear-armed Pakistan, which now faces its own fundamentalist insurgencies.

Ten years ago, we talked — as the Russians did during their abortive occupation — of helping Afghan women and girls.

Like the Russians, we probably did help some. But like the Russians (or Soviets, as they were known in those days) we have been unable to transform a culture that is fundamentally misogynist into one more to our liking."

Even a hopeless dork like Harper gets it. When will we?

Messer Chups - Swamp surfing

America, Running On Myths And Fumes: Shale Gas

No doubt everyone has been exposed to the wondrous claims of the large oil companies concerning the virtues of shale gas. This, we are told, will be the salvation of America if we would just chill out and let the oil companies work their magic. This is in spite of the doubts regarding a key feature of this industry namely hydraulic fracturing or "fracking". Now a Canadian energy expert has published a report that brings into question many of the economic and geologic assumptions that the public has been fed on this topic:

"The first says that the shale gas revolution will miraculously create 100 years worth of methane; the second chorus maintains that the price of natural gas, a volatile commodity, will stay low for decades; and the last chorus says that natural gas will green the economy and arrest climate change. Hallelujah.

But a new report by J. David Hughes, one of North America's foremost coal and gas experts, challenges every single one of these faith-based assumptions with hard science and clear-eyed math. In the stunningly lucid 64-page report for the Post Carbon Institute, Hughes squarely concludes that all three assumptions are highly questionable, if not total "impossibilities."

"Hughes is no wide-eyed greenie or industry basher. He happens to be one of Canada's most credible energy scientists. The geologist worked for Natural Resources Canada for 32 years and mapped Canada's coal and coal bed methane fields. He has also served on Canada's Natural Gas Potential Committee and is regarded as one of the continent's top global energy analysts. (B.C. politicians take note: Hughes lives on Cortes Island on the West Coast.)"

Here are some of Mr Hughes' more salient points:

"For starters, industry hubris simply defies the law of thermodynamics. From 1990 levels, U.S. gas drilling tripled to 33,000 wells per year between 2006 and 2008 before collapsing back to 20,000 wells. In order to build a modest 21 per cent increase in natural gas production, the gas industry constructed a complex infrastructure nearly 100 per cent larger than what previously existed in 1990.

"What matters are flow rates and how fast the gas can be produced," explains Hughes. "There may be 100 years worth of methane in the ground, but it may take 800 years to produce it." Meanwhile, conventional gas production in both Canada and the U.S. is declining rapidly. In other words, shale gas might temporarily replace some of the air leaving the conventional gas tire -- but not for long.

"Next come the resource's extreme economics. A shale gas well with multiple fracks costs between $2 million and $10 million to drill. But unlike a conventional well, which declines between 25 and 40 per cent in its first year of production, a shale gas well drops like lead from 63 to 85 per cent. So, an initial whale of a return bought by fracturing an industrial scale land base (and watershed) abruptly becomes a sardine in short order.

Due to the high amount of capital, energy and water needed to frack a formation at high pressure, shale gas is expensive and is only economic in the best portions of today's shale plays. But due to over-drilling and the recession reducing demand, the actual market price has sunk to below the cost of production in many areas.

""One thing is certain," adds Hughes. "Shale gas is expensive gas, much of which is marginally economic to non-economic at today's gas prices. The resource will require unprecedented rates of drilling to grow production, and we will need higher prices to justify that. We'll have to carpet bomb landscapes in Pennsylvania and New York with rigs and gas production infrastructure -- those folks haven't seen anything yet."

Last but not least, Hughes demolishes the claim that shale gas is green. For years, scientists generally assumed that the burning of natural gas produces 44 per cent fewer greenhouse gas pollutants than coal. But that's no longer true.

A recent study based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data, for example, found that the cleaner-than-coal claim fell to 25 per cent or less when scientists included methane leaks or "fugitive emissions" from wells and pipelines.

Two Cornell University studies went even further. After accounting for methane vents and leaks over the lifetime of a gas well, (and methane is a much more powerful climate changer than CO2 over the first few decades), these studies found that shale gas has few or no climate change benefits.

According to Hughes' analysis, shale gas repeatedly comes out a loser compared to dirty old coal for power generation over the next half century."

Quite frankly Americans are desperate for anything that might promise jobs or gas or both and the oil companies know this. Meanwhile as Dave Cohen points out at his excellent blog, Decline of The Empire, witless politicians stir up the clueless populace with promises of gushers to come:

"Run, Sarah, Run! With Ms. Palin in the Oval Office, there would be no doubt whatsoever that America is a joke. For every person on Earth outside the 50 states, America's fall from grace would become too obvious to ignore. Just imagine the fruitful consequences. For example, the only way to expose the futility of "Drill, Baby, Drill" is to drill, baby, drill. With no new oil forthcoming from those allegedly bountiful reserves in Alaska and unexplored parts of the outer continental shelf, it might occur to Americans that using less oil—for real!—is the only true path to salvation. And that's just one example. The possibilities are endless."

Workers Of The World Do Something

Russian workers have expressed their opinion, they don't accept 60 hours/week without overtime. From RIANOVOSTI:

Russians are ready to work longer than the current 40-hour week, but want to get more than their basic wage for this additional labor. This is why they have rejected billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s idea. He suggested formalizing a 60-hour working week without paid overtime.

According to a recent survey conducted by the national pollster VTsIOM, 77% of respondents are not ready to work more than 40 hours a week for their basic salary. This is understandable, as nearly half of Russians currently get additional pay for working overtime.

Similarly, 61% of respondents blackballed Prokhorov’s proposal that educational leave should only be granted to working students who were sent to a college or university by their employer. There are few such students in Russia. Most students who take on a job to pay for their education or housing will be unable to combine their studies with employment if this law is approved.

Half of Russians are against giving the employer too much freedom: 51% of the respondents do not think employers should have the right to change the working hours, payment and other conditions of a labor contract because of a crisis or falling demand.

At the same time, the respondents support Prokhorov’s idea that labor contracts be concluded with pensioners and inexperienced young people, provided the contract is signed for a minimum of 12 months. They also think employers should be allowed to extend fixed-term contracts as many times as they need (provided the employee agrees of course), and agree that probationary periods be cancelled for people the employer sends on further education courses."

"Last year, Prokhorov suggested amending the labor code to increase the working week by 20 hours to 60 hours and to give employers more freedom to manage their labor force. He said social guarantees and motivation should be tied to labor productivity, which is low in Russia compared to developed states."

Mikhail Prokhorov is the owner of the New Jersey Nets and is the 39th richest guy in the world and hopes to start what is essentially the Oligarchs Party in Russia. Makes Putin look rather progressive.

Memorial Day 2011 USA/David Crosby - What Are Their Names

We have way too many holidays meant to reinforce blind patriotism and social conformity. It is worth remembering that Memorial Day was started to commemorate the greatest existential conflict in American history, the Civil War, where America almost destroyed itself. This is a time for real reflection rather than an excuse for obese, vacuous, Americans to ride motorcycles.

Corporate Controlled Nukes

The Herald of Scotland reports that the management of the British nuclear weapons base at Coulport is being privatized and will be run by a corporate consortium headed by Lockheed-Martin:

"THE running of Britain’s nuclear bomb base at Coulport on the Clyde is to be handed over to a consortium of multinational private firms led by the controversial US arms dealer, Lockheed Martin, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

Defence ministers in Westminster have decided that the highly sensitive job of managing more than 200 Trident nuclear warheads, and arming the Royal Navy’s submarines with them, should be taken over by the group of companies within the next year.....

"Angus Robertson, the SNP’s defence spokesman and the party’s leader in Westminster, attacked the decision as “highly questionable” last night.

“Weapons of mass destruction are the most sensitive areas of military technology and should not be put in private hands,” he said.

“The SNP opposition to the nuclear fleet is absolute, but as long as Trident and nuclear missiles remain on the Clyde, their security must be absolute and UK ministers should reconsider their decision to give responsibility to companies outwith the country.”

"COULPORT’S Royal Naval Armaments Depot is meant to be one of the most secure places in Britain. Sprawled across the slopes above Loch Long, surrounded by cold war-era watchtowers and fences, are buildings and bunkers in which Britain’s nuclear bombs and missiles are kept.

The fact that private companies were bidding to take over running the site caused a furore when it was first disclosed by the Sunday Herald last October. At the time, the MoD said that Coulport’s management was under review, but insisted that no decisions had been taken. Now, however, arrangements for transferring management to ABL have begun.

According to the leaked MoD plan, ABL will be responsible for “processing, handling, and storage” of Trident warheads and missiles, along with “dockside handling”, “explosive handling”, “radiological safety” and “nuclear emergency response”.

This if anything shows that there is no limit to the monetization and corporatization of the most sensitive and potentially catastrophic of human activities. Obviously Fukushima and the Gulf Oil catastrophe, both corporate ventures within the past year alone, have changed nothing in the relentless pursuit of profits over common sense.

Messer Chups - Tremolo From The Crypt (HD)

A little Russian surf music: 31.07.2009 — Санкт-Петербург, клуб А2.

The Koch Brothers and The Tar Sands

Here we have the diabolical combination of America's premier oligarchic kleptocrats, the Koch brothers, and Canada's world class eco disaster, the tar sands of Alberta. If you really want to understand how demented the whole tar sands thing is read "Stupid To The Last Drop". Here's more:

"Stupid to the Last Drop by William Marsden is without question the definitive guide to Canada’s oil sands and what Marsden describes as ‘environmental armageddon’. In fact, the full title to his beautifully researched, and absolutely riveting book is: Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn’t Seem To Care). Marsden, an award-winning journalist with the Montreal Gazette, has provided a detailed account of the oil industry in Alberta and how that industry is now threatening to destroy the entire province.

The oil sands in Alberta, Canada, occupy about 148,000 square kilometres – roughly the size of Florida. Marsden describes it as "…the oil capital of the world –the new Saudi Arabia". Stupid to the Last Drop painstakingly documents the levelling of the Boreal forest to access the oil sands, the creation of tens of thousands of gas wells, the water waste, poisoned rivers, impact on communities, politician corruption and companies that will stop at nothing to squeeze every last resource out of Alberta."

This is the on land equivalent of the Gulf Oil Spill that never stops.

This is What Fascism Looks Like

Wisconsin republicans dispense with the appearance of any interest in Democracy. Hopefully this will be tied up in court for the foreseeable future, if not, where do they think suppressed voters are supposed to go? Assholes.

John Nichols At Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

John Nichols is a Wisconsin resource. He has a grasp of history of the state which is unmatched. A place that has produced a demagogue like McCarthy and socialist mayors of Milwaukee has a history which at the least can be described as colorful. Perhaps he should run for something, there do seem to be a few oppurtunities.

Madison WI: The Fight Is Not Over

Myself and Mrs. WINston SmITh attended a rousing labor rally at the now very familiar steps of the state Capitol this afternoon. I am happy to report that the battle against the corporatization and commodization of every aspect of human existence is alive and well in Wisconsin. While ostensibly sponsored by AFSCME there was a very diverse range of people and interests represented including but not limited to students, undocumented people, retirees, farmers, and labor unions in both the private and public sectors. This is in part due in no small measure to the fact that the Fitzwalker regime has managed to offend almost anyone in the state who is not a millionaire or corporation with its budget bill. While the crowd, which I would estimate in the 25,000 to 30,000 range, was in good humor the stakes in this struggle are high for everyone affected and even more so as the radical right in our state makes an effort to disenfranchise as many as possible through voter suppression. Increasingly what passes for MSM has tried to portray these gatherings as wild and out of control I am hard pressed to find much extremism amongst people who for the most part look like folks you'd run into at the grocery store. The real extremists unfortunately meet in small rooms inside the the Capitol and at the Governor's residence.

MSNB's Dylan Ratigan Talks To Mark Ames & Yasha Levine About The Koch Bros.

A fascinating interview that connects the dots on many levels. I found the Russian references particularly interesting in regards to manufactured movements and democracy (or as the Russians would say, dermocracy).

Brave New Films Takes On The Koch Bros.

More info here.

U.S. Energy Information Agency to Quit Analyzing Energy Data

As economically distressed Americans take a bit of a breather from speculator driven gas prices (until the next round) the Oil and Gas Journal reports that the government agency responsible for keeping track of oil and gas reserves among other things is having its activities curtailed due to budget cutbacks:

"WASHINGTON, DC, May 2 -- The US Energy Information Administration will not prepare or publish US oil and gas reserves data for 2011 as it cuts $15.2 million, or 14%, from its budget, the US Department of Energy information and analysis agency said on Apr. 29. The reductions are part of Congress’s latest continuing resolution that was signed into law by US President Barack Obama on Apr. 15. The resolution keeps the federal government running through Sept. 30. ...

I found this little snippet particularly telling and unsettling:

"In addition to not preparing the annual oil and gas reserves data survey, the agency said it will be necessary to curtail efforts to understand linkages between physical energy markets and financial trading; suspend analysis and reporting on the market impacts of planned refinery outages; suspend collection and dissemination of monthly state-level data on wholesale petroleum product prices including gasoline, diesel, heating oil, propane, residual fuel oil, and kerosine; and halt preparation and publication of the annual petroleum marketing data report and the fuel oil and kerosene sales report. "

This is breathtaking in the depths of its shortsightedness and stupidity. Not to mention akin to aiding and abetting quasi criminal activity. It is hard to imagine clearer evidence of a society and system incapable of understanding its own problems let alone dealing with them.

The Canadian Elections

Americans may be surprised to learn that there is a national election in Canada tomorrow pitting Stephen Harper the current conservative Prime Minister against a variety of contenders including Michael Ignatieff of the Liberals and Jack Layton of the New Democratic Party.Harper was widely thought to have the advantage but surprisingly the NDP has been coming up in the polls which could make things very interesting. I was intrigued by this passage from the party platform which would seem to suggest exporting all to insatiable Americans might not be a priority.

"Recognizing that oil and gas will continue to play a prominent role in our energy mix in the medium term, we will discourage bulk exports of our unprocessed resources and encourage value-added, responsible upgrading, refining and petrochemical manufacturing here in Canada to maximize the economic benefits and jobs for Canadians."

Wow Canada with an energy policy.

Go NDP!

Putin: Measure your success by non-fired missiles!

This video raises alot of questions about "modern political systems" and the future world international relations.

Sen. Randy Hopper's 1 800 475 TALK for "Hot, Horny Girls"!

Randy Hopper continues to live up (or down) to his double entendre name with this latest exploit as reported from Uppity Wisconsin:

"First Sen. Randy Hopper's wife told protesters he wasn't home: He was in Madison shacking up with his mistress that was half his age.

Then it was found that he got his mistress a plumb state job AND a hefty raise shortly after she started.

Now Randy has put the perfect cherry on this FUBAR sundae: He put out a newsletter to ALL of his constituents that mistakenly gave the number of an ADULT XXX CHAT LINE."

Russian Oligarchs Oppose Pension Reform, Echos Of The Tea Party Russian Style

The similarities between oligarchic kleptocracies never ceases to amaze as these articles from the Moscow News amply illustrate. Unbeknownst to most Americans a struggle between Russian oligarchs and the Russian people now mirror Americans struggles to prevent the sell off of basic human benefits such as medical care or in this case social support for the elderly:

"Workers in dangerous jobs, generally involving oil or metal, just lost out as a long-discussed bill on employers paying more into their pensions was finally dealt a mortal blow by the Duma.

The bill has been talked over since 2002 and Friday’s death knell passed largely unnoticed, overshadowed by trade unionists and parliamentarians decrying the efforts of Mikhail Prokhorov, one of Russia’s richest men and leading light of the RSPP or ‘oligarch’s trade union’, to tilt the labour code in favour of the employer.

The pensions bill would have meant that workers in dangerous industries who retire up to ten years earlier would have their pension shortfall made up by employers. The standing situation poses ominous consequences for the pension fund.



Dead hand of the oligarchs

Of Russia’s 20 richest oligarchs 16 have made their money in the listed dangerous industries of oil, coal, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, ports and airports, Moskovsky Komomolets reported.

The paper links this with the failure of the bill, something that Lyubov Maslova, of Alttrak, a currently mothballed tractor factory in Altai region, agrees with.

Yes, it would affect the tycoons’ profits and “Yes, they did affect [the fate of the bill], because it’s additional money that would go nowhere but to the welfare of the common worker,” Maslova told The Moscow News.

Interestingly Vladimir Putin, attempting to raise some sinking political capital has weighed in on the side of the workers:

"Amid proposals for increasingly liberal economic reforms, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was adamant about boosting the pension fund, and insisted on getting whatever funds necessary to provide adequate care for some 40 million veterans and pensioners.

“Everyone must pay for the pension system,” Putin said in a Monday video-link meeting with pension fund heads from eight federal districts. This came amid a growing debate on the budget deficit and talk from President Dmitry Medvedev’s advisors of easing the burden on businesses in paying social and pension fees.

In 2010, pensions rose by over 40 per cent, with people receiving an average of more than 8,800 roubles a month ($312). Putin pointed out that Russia was one of few countries that raised pensions during the economic crisis, and said pension spending would increase by 20 billion roubles ($0.7 billion) this year.

“There is money in the budget for this,” he said. “I want to stress that this is our top priority, and we must find the funds. We cannot allow a return to a situation of the 1990s, when pensions were not paid out for months.”

Tom Tomorrow Weighs In

Unfortunately this seems all too plausible.

Messer fur Frau Muller - Funny man

After the previous post this seemed somewhat appropriate.

Russian American Parity: Nukes Now Income

Americans are used to comparisons of Russian vs. American military strength however they may have to adjust to the idea of approaching income maldistribution parity becoming unnervingly similar in both countries. From the Eurasian Review:

"The real incomes of the two least-well-off quintiles of the Russian population have fallen since 1991 while those of that two best-off have risen significantly, dramatically increasing income differentiation and potentially exacerbating class-based tensions, according to two studies by the Higher School of Economics...
" The bottom 40 percent of the population has fallen behind over this period, he reports. The level of real incomes for the lowest 20 percent has fallen 1.45 times and the next lowest quintile by 1.2 times. At the other end, the top 20 percent have seen their incomes double, and the next highest quintile had their incomes go up a quarter...
"This change in the distribution of real incomes has hit the least-well-off groups especially hard because of the decline in state support for housing, education and especially medicine, with the lower quintiles forced to spend a higher proportion of their incomes for all these things or do without them, the studies found.

The situation in medicine is particularly striking, Polunin observes. In the European Union, for example, individuals directly bear 24 percent of the cost of medical treatment while in Russia that figure is now 40 to 50 percent, a dramatically higher fraction than only twenty years ago.

And this increase is hitting Russians, especially those least well off, because the average rate of illness among Russians rose 43 percent per 100,000 population over the period 1990 to 2008 and because many of the illnesses involved, such as cancer and heart disease, are particularly expensive to treat.

But the most striking findings of the report concern income differentiation, Polunin suggests. “In Soviet times, the earnings of a worker (120 rubles a month), an engineer (180 rubles a month), and a colonel in the KGB (350 rubles a month) of course were different, but not by ten times as much as is the case today"

Meanwhile in the U.S. misplaced concern about socialism aggravates more social disparity as noted by Reuters:

"Americans actually live in Russia, although they think they live in Sweden. And they would like to live on a kibbutz. This isn’t the set-up for some sort of politically incorrect Catskills stand-up joke circa 1960. It is the takeaway from a remarkable study by Michael Norton and Dan Ariely on how Americans think about income inequality.

The right likes to argue that income inequality as an issue doesn’t win elections because Americans don’t begrudge the rich so much as they want to join them. The Norton and Ariely study suggests otherwise. Given a choice, the authors find, Americans would prefer to live in a society more equal than even highly egalitarian Sweden.

Another popular view is that income inequality isn’t experienced as acutely by most Americans as the numbers suggest because of how much can be “consumed” by the lower rungs of the nation’s socioeconomic ladder. No less a figure than Alan Greenspan, the maestro himself, once made this case at the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole conference, presenting data on the consumption of dishwashers, microwaves and clothes dryers showing that if measured by the possession of these goods – as opposed to the huge and growing income divide — inequality was decreasing.

That interpretation is not without merit. But it turned out that allowing Americans to prosper by using their homes as A.T.M.’s and maxing out on their credit cards was maybe not such a great idea.

Personally, I lean toward two other theories. Americans are mistaken about income inequality because of national self-confidence and the lottery effect.

By national self-confidence, I mean the widespread conviction that the American way is probably right because all those other ways don’t seem to work out so well. This is a wonderful national quality and one of the reasons America has such resilience. But confidence in the American way can make it hard for the country as a whole to recognize when things aren’t working.

Take, for instance, the health care debate, when a politically effective criticism of what has come to be known as Obamacare was to argue that it would destroy the “best” health care system in the world. Mary Meeker, a Silicon Valley guru of impeccably capitalist and American credentials debunked that idea in her recent USA, Inc. presentation, in which she pointed out that “U.S.A. per capita health care spending is 3x OECD average, yet the average life expectancy and a variety of health indicators in the U.S. fall below average. But if you spend way more than everyone else, shouldn’t your results (a.k.a. performance) be better than everyone else’s, or at least near the top?”

Aside from faith in American national excellence, the other main reason Americans seem so unperturbed by the widening chasm between the rich and everyone else is what I like to call the lottery effect. Buying lottery tickets is clearly an irrational act — the odds are hugely stacked against us. But many millions of us do, because we see the powerful evidence that an ordinary person, someone just like us whose only qualifying act was to buy a ticket, wins our favorite lottery every week.

For many Americans, the nation’s rowdy form of capitalism is a lottery that has similarly bestowed fabulous rewards on the Everyman. The current leading exemplar of self-made billions is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, and he may soon be outstripped by the even more instant cyber-star Andrew Mason, the founder of Groupon.

But the problem with lotteries is that there are only a few winners. That is the story the numbers tell us about American capitalism today — and unless that underlying reality changes, at some point all those folks who think they already live in Sweden will realize they live in a winner-take-all society, and that most of us aren’t winning."

I first visited the then Soviet Union in 1975 and was struck more by similarities than differences in the two societies. The Russian communists had more in common with republican rotarians than American leftists. Today both countries have embraced what I call Fuck You capitalism and are run by oligarchic kleptocracies with similar results for their respective peoples.

oleg kostrow in three hands

From the great album "Moscow, the sex the city, the music".

Prosser Wins But State Investigation Into Years of Waukesha Voting Irregulaities Looms

Supposedly David Prosser has pulled off a squeaker in what was to be a cake walk:

"A conservative state Supreme Court justice overcame efforts to tie him to Wisconsin's polarizing governor and survived a near-upset in a race that drew national attention after a fierce fight over union rights.

County tallies finalized Friday showed Justice David Prosser defeated little-known challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by 7,316 votes. State election officials said they will wait to declare an official winner until the deadline for Kloppenburg to seek a recount passes. She has until Wednesday to call for one."

I say supposedly as an investigation into the suspicious activities of the Waukesha county clerk, Kathy Nickolaus, is in the offing:

"The state's investigation into vote irregularities in Waukesha County will stretch back at least five years, the head of the Government Accountability Board said Thursday.....
"Now questions have emerged over Nickolaus' published vote counts from as far back as the fall of 2006, when there were key statewide elections including races for governor and attorney general.
"This is part of what we're looking into. We have a lot of complaints," said Kevin Kennedy, the director and general counsel for GAB. "It's part of our investigation."

This woman is not an aberration but rather an example of the ongoing criminal conspiracy known as the Republican Party. A RICO indictment is more in order.

Wisconsin Recall Update: Randy Hopper Joins the List

Randy Hopper, whose name alone is now a double entendre, is now on the recall chopping block.From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"With the results of Tuesday's state Supreme Court race looking more fluid by the minute, the statewide battle over Gov. Scott Walker's budget initiatives pushed forward Thursday on its other major front: recall elections.

Organizers of the recall effort against state Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) filed what they said were more than 22,500 signatures with the Government Accountability Board in Madison - making them the second campaign to claim enough signatures to force a recall election involving a GOP state senator."

While I could give a rip about his personal morality the fact that his wife and maid have both signed the recall petition is added spice since he took up with a 25 y/o female staffer in Madison. More republican family values on display from Fitzwalkerstan.

Russian Art Group Voina and the Болшой Хуй

This was too good to pass up. Russian political/artistic expression is always in a class by itself. The group's website is here. H/T to Mark at Norwegianity. More background:

"SAINT PETERSBURG — The artists have overturned police cars on one of Russia's most famous squares with dozing officers inside and painted a giant penis on a drawbridge in front of the ex-KGB headquarters.

In a radical group called Voina, or War, they have exploded any notion that Russia's modern art scene is dry or conservative. But their provocative installations have also left them exposed to legal action.

The Saint Petersburg-based group's name means that "we have declared war on triviality and injustice," said artist Oleg Vorotnikov, 32, a philosophy graduate from Moscow State University.

He and another member, Leonid Nikolayev, 27, were recently freed on bail after spending three months in pre-trial detention as police investigate last September's car-tipping performance.

In a single night they turned over three police cars -- with sleeping policemen inside -- in the centre of the city to protest against police abuses of power and corruption."

Waukesha, Heart of Darkness, Reports For Duty

This is so suspicious and coming from Waukesha county, the most republican, and some would say racist, place in Wisconsin. Its very interesting to look at the Waukesha QuickFacts and notice a few things stand out: 94.6% self identified white people, avg home value 170,000 (state avg 112,000). Waukesha is where whites fled to from Milwaukee and its African-Americans and decaying industries.

Why Kloppenburg's Election Means Something

As of this posting it appears that JoAnne Kloppenburg has won the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. A bruising recount no doubt looms. The above pie chart shows why this matters. This is the last stand for the remnants of the American middle class.

Zombies For Democracy In Wisconsin

State Street in Madison Wisconsin witnessed one of the more unusual marches against the Fitzwalker regime today as hundreds of the living dead and their supporters took to the street to express themselves.This was shortly after another somewhat smaller gathering of union supporters at the capitol. In attendance were teachers, state workers and immigration activists, among others.

Update: Wisconsin Recall Efforts

The Milwaukee Journal reports on the first of what will be many deliviries of signatures to the state's Governmental Accountability Board. The following are a few salient points from the article which I have taken the liberty of translating from the native obfusacatese to what it really means:

"Organizers of the recall campaign against state Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) delivered about 21,700 signatures Friday in an attempt to force Kapanke into a recall election - well beyond the 15,588 signatures required, and in half the time allotted to collect them."----That's a shitload of signatures from pissed off people rounded up in a short period of time.

"The filing of the signatures with the state Government Accountability Board was the first from the recall campaigns against 16 senators being waged around the state. And it suggested that Democrats seeking to unseat Republicans are better organized, or at least better coordinated, than those on the other side.

For example, recall efforts against the Republicans were all registered the same day and with the same treasurer, and organizers say they're shipping their signatures to Madison as they collect them."-------In an unusual move the Democrats, or rather people who support the Democrats for lack of anything better, are highly organized on this project.

"By contrast, Kim Simac, the Eagle River tea party activist running the recall campaign against Sen. Jim Holperin (D-Conover), says petitions and envelopes are piled up on her kitchen table.

"It's a mess," she says. "I'll be glad to get my life back when this is over" - though she also said she's confident her organization will get enough signatures to force a recall election against Holperin.

Juston Johnson, a state Republican Party spokesman, says the Republican efforts are purely grass roots.

"It's a top-down effort on the Democratic side," Johnson said."-----the Republicans don't have a fucking clue what they've stirred up let alone what to do about it. It also begs the question of what constitutes grass roots coming from artificial plants.

"Kapanke couldn't be reached for comment Friday, but Bill Feehan, chairman of the La Crosse County Republican Party, said the announcement that the goal was reached was "not a big surprise."-----Locked in a closet and crying.

"Kapanke was identified by several political scientists recently as the most vulnerable of the 16 senators targeted for recall, because of the relatively strong performance of Democrats in his district in the past two statewide elections."----Likely to be locked in the closet and disconsolate for sometime to come.

Leningrad Cowboys & Russian Red Army Choir - "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" / "Oh, Field"

A Miserable Day In The Life Of A Fukushima Rescue Worker

Business Insider reports on the treatment of workers expected to save Japan. Republicans are no doubt taking note for further degradation or irradiation of the working class:

"Kyodo has published a depressing description of a day in the life of a Fukushima rescue worker.
Around 400 workers sleep in conference rooms and hallways in a nearby building, wrapped in lead-lined sheets.
At 6 a.m. they wake up and receive 30 "survival food crackers" and a 180 millliter pack of vegetable juice.
Until recently they were limited to one bottle of mineral water during the day.
They work through lunch.
At 5 p.m. they return to their shelter, where they eat rice and one can of chicken or fish. The men look warn out, according to nuclear safety official Kazuma Yokota.
No wonder the workers say they can't stand it anymore in emails also published today."

MSNB's Dylan Ratigan Talks To Mark Ames & Yasha Levine About The Koch Brothers

An succinct history of recent American oligarchic kleptocracy and the ramifications beyond Wisconsin. Ames and Levine are uniquely qualified given their experience in Russia with the Exile.

TEPCO CEO Hasn't Been Seen In Weeks

Speculation now swirls around the whereabouts or existence of the CEO of the Japanese energy firm TEPCO which owns the facility at Fukushima. Business Insider relates:

"His company is in the midst of an existential crisis that may see it go bankrupt or nationalized. So where is TEPCO CEO Masataka Shimizu.

The Washington Post runs a startling report noting that he hasn't been seen in two weeks at his upscale Tokyo apartment, nor is he showing up in public, nor did he join the head of the country's nuclear safety board in front of the Diet.

There are rumors in Japan that he has fled the country or committed suicide, More likely, however, is that he's basically gone into hermitude, not unlike Toyota's CEO during the recent brake pedal controversy.

Politicians are furious, calling his absence inexcusable.

Meanwhile, TEPCO shares have crashed hard for the second straight day as the odds grow that a nationalization will wipe out all the equity."

Rap News 7: #revolution (Wisconsin Edition), Meanwhile Walker Tanks in the Polls

As much as I enjoyed the above satire Dane 101 reports on Walker's continued plummet in the polls:

"A new poll out today shows a widening margin in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's approval rating. The poll, conducted on March 27 by We Ask America, finds that 54.87 percent of Wisconsinites disapprove of the job Walker is doing while 43.71 percent approve. The pollster notes an even more striking number in the results, only 1.42 percent of those polled had "no opinion." We Ask America's margin of error is +/- 2.38 percent.

The most recent poll before this one (that I can find, so please correct me if I missed one) was released on March 4 by Conservative polling outfit Rasmussen. That poll found 43 percent approved or strongly approved and 57 percent disapproved or strongly disapproved. Rasmussen's margin of error is +/- 4 percent.

The substantial change seen in the recent polls comes when undecideds are factored in. The first known poll was released on February 22 by Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. In that poll they found 43 percent approved with Walker and 51 percent disapproved.

Comparing the February 22 polling data to the March 27 polling data it appears that Walker isn't making many new friends. While his approval rating has remained stagnant his disapproval rate is fluid. Undecideds, it appears, have begun to take a position and that position is one of disapproval."

Forward Wisconsin.

Laibach America and Morality

Laibach has always been a difficult study for most Americans. The Slovenian take on things doesn't translate easily but is worth listening to these days.

Welcome to Hudson, Governor Walker

The Middle western despot again flees the people this time in Hudson caught on film by folks from St.Paul.The heartening aspect of this is working Americans awakening to the realities of corporate fascism.

Cumbion Mountain - Chico Sonido & Toy selectah - official video

Also known as Up Bustle and Out with hints of "RawHide". More Wisconsin republican corporate criminality in the next days.....it never ends.

Backdoor Scotty

Scott Walker now travels around the state like an Arab despot avoiding the mobs.

Kismet - Love will tear us apart

Joy Division cover by Macedonian Serbs playing bagpipes. Need I say more?

Wisconsin State Troopers Not a Private Army?

While though the Fitzgerald brothers dad runs the highway patrol show even rethugblicans have some insight that this is probably illegal as per CREW:

"Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his Republican cohorts in the legislature have some explaining to do. The rookie governor rose to national fame after picking a bare knuckled political fight with Democrats over union rights. He showed up on our radar when he illegally sent in the Wisconsin State Patrol (WSP) to search for the Democratic state senators who had fled to Illinois.

On February 23rd, we submitted open records requests to the Office of the Governor, the Office of Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and the Wisconsin State Patrol (which is headed by Sen. Fitzgerald’s father, Stephen Fitzgerald) asking for any records of communications regarding the decision to send troopers out after the legislators. Their responses were surprising.

Several documents produced by Senator Fitzgerald’s office clearly show his staff was well aware there was no legal authority to dispatch the troopers, and that doing so would have required - at the very least - an amendment to Senate rules. No legislative fix was ever passed, but the troopers were deployed anyway.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which houses the WSP, claims to have no documents about the whole debacle. That seems unlikely. An unprecedented request made of the WSP by the governor and the majority leader, yet there is not one single record about the affair. Do you believe that? Neither do we.

As for the governor, his office is stonewalling, claiming that due to the “breadth” of the request, it could take weeks for his office to respond. Nearly three weeks later, still nothing. We’ll keep after him.

Back in February, CREW filed a complaint with the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board over the misuse of state troopers, and today provided the board with this new information.

It seems pretty clear that Gov. Walker and Sen. Fitzgerald knowingly violated the law. It’s up to the Government Accountability Board to hold them accountable."

The McCarthy-Walker Connection

The New York Times has an Op-Ed by UW Madison history professor William Cronon drawing parallels between Scott Walker and another Wisconsin demagogue, Joseph McCarthy.

Obama, Libya, and "The Death Of The Liberal Class"

The Libyan civil war raises huge questions one of which is where does President Obama stand regarding U.S. policy. A place to start might be our current wars, started by Bush and continued by President Obama. Chris Hedges in his book "Death of The Liberal Class" cites Dostoevsky's "Notes From The Underground" as a description of an ineffectual liberal:

" I never managed to become anything: neither wicked nor good, neither a scoundrel nor an honest man, neither a hero nor an insect..."

Medvedev-Putin partnership split over Libya

An interesting development in Russian domestic politics. Look for Medvedev to perish in some mysterious plane/helicopter/banya accident.

The Kissers perform "Scotty, We're Coming For You" at rally at WI Capitol

Recorded this past Saturday.Love the title.

Libya, Bahrain, and "Good" Wars

As we rev up another "good war" George Galloway raises some uncomfortable points.

Kismet - Post Communism

The best of Macedonian new music.

"My Wisconsin" - budget bill sung to tune of "On, Wisconsin"

From the Greater Wisconsin Committee.

Honest John - the Koch brothers

Quite frankly I don't know this guy but I expect to be very much like him in 10 years or less. I especially like the parting shot.

Glenn Grothman Rejects Love of a Stranger

I have the feeling that we will be seeing more stories of Wisconsin republican strangeness and Glenn Grothman, one of the strangest, weighs in with this one courtesy of the Madison Police:

"Tuesday afternoon, several Madison Police officers were monitoring a crowd of around 100 protesting outside of the M&I Bank, 1 W. Main St., when Sen. Glenn Grothman approached. Demonstrators allowed Sen. Grothman to pass, but some were verbally abusive to the lawmaker. When Sen. Grothman exited the bank, he was also subjected to angry words, but as he walked away a man hugged Sen. Grothman. An officer reported that Grothman did not appear to enjoy the embrace, and was able to squirm away. The officer came up to the man and told him it is not okay to put hands on people who do not wish contact. The man told the officer he had no idea who Sen. Gorthman was, but that he hugged him because,” I loved him." He added that he loves "everyone," and that he decided to hug Grothman because he was wearing a suit, like the one the man used to wear when he worked in insurance. The man told the officer that he is the "peace walker,” that he had trekked here from Las Vegas, and that he is considering running for president. He also asked the officer if he knew "Snoop Dog." The officer said he did not, and again told the man not to touch people who do not want to be touched."

This may be the only love he gets on the streets of Madison that he can expect for some time to come.

Wisconsin Republican Shame, A Case of Gingrichitis

Republicans will need to gird themselves for increased scrutiny as the saga of Randy Hopper amply demonstrates. According to the Raw Story:

"Protesters who marched at the home of Wisconsin state senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) were met with something of a surprise on Saturday. Mrs. Hopper appeared at the door and informed them that Sen. Hopper was no longer in residence at this address, but now lives in Madison, WI with his 25-year-old mistress.

Blogging Blue reports that the conservative Republican's much-younger new flame is currently employed as a lobbyist for right-wing advocacy group Persuasion Partners, Inc., but was previously a state senate staffer who worked on the Senate Economic Development Committee alongside Mr. Hopper. Her bio has been scrubbed from the Persuasion Partners' website, but a screen-grab is available here.

Sen. Hopper has worked closely with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to implement the state's new anti-labor laws and enact policies favorable to the interests of big business. Like Walker, Hopper is one of the Republican politicians named in a massive recall effort spearheaded by Wisconsin Democrats.

According to Wisconsin law, state elected officials who have served at least one year of their current term are eligible for recall by voters. Hopper was elected state senator for district 18 in the fall of 2008, making him eligible for recall, whereas Governor Walker will not be eligible until 2012.

Blogging Blue also reports that Mrs. Hopper intends to sign the recall petition against her husband. The petition has already been signed by the family's maid."

You just can't make this shit up, we are so blessed that our foes are such hypocritical dimwits and I apologize to non-hypocritical dimwits everywhere.

Hipodil - Stand By Me

After a day of solidarity in Madison this version of "Stand By Me" by the Bulgarian group Хиподил seemed somehow appropriate.

Wisconsin Fab 14 Return to Tumultous Welcome

The 14 state senators who fled the state almost 1 month ago returned to a tumultuous welcome at the state capitol in Madison today. The crowd of 50,000 to 100,000 (my estimate, it was big) loudly thanked the legislators for their courage and perseverance which, to a large extent, allowed an unprecedented mass movement to be born. The focus is on recalling scumbag republicans, repealing egregious legislation, and rebuilding civil society in Wisconsin (now known as Fitzwalkerstan). As usual many creative expressions of opinion to be seen amongst the throngs.

Wisconsin: This Is What Corporate Facism Looks Like

A naked power grab in Wisconsin as per TPM:

"The special conference committee in Wisconsin -- convened in order to strip out the fiscal elements of Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, in order to pass the anti-public employee union proposals and avoid the state SenateDemocratic boycott of the three-fifths budget quorum -- just met for roughly five minutes and passed the bill.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D) attempted to make a motion to delay the meeting or make amendments -- and was not recognized for a motion by the chair, state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. Barca argued, over Fitzgerald's attempts to say there would be no motions, that the conference committee violated the state's open meetings law, which requires at least 24 hours notice before a government meeting, unless there is good cause to act more quickly.

The bill then passed in committee on a 4-2, party-line margin -- and in a surreal sight, the online feed of the state equivalent of C-Span, Wisconsin Eye, faded out to tranquil music as the video was playing the shouting and ire of the meeting itself.

The bill to strip away most collective bargaining for public employee unions, and impose new limits on union organization, is now headed to the full chambers.

Late Update: Jessica Arp with the local CBS affiliate reports that the Senate has just passed the bill by a margin of 18-1 -- with only moderate Republican Dale Schultz voting no, in absence of the Democrats who had fled the state in order to block budget quorum.

Mary Spicuzza with the Wisconsin State Journal reports that the Assembly will move on the bill tomorrow."

Sensenbrennner Heckled and Booed at Townhall Meeting

This is sweet on so many levels. First a republican congressman being waylaid at a townhall meeting and having to bail 27 minutes into the proceedings. Even better the congressman is James Sensenbrenner, arguably the dean of rightwingbats in Wisconsin and representative of that heart of darkness, Waukesha county. Quite frankly Scott Walker's agenda and moronic handling of the whole thing is an unbelievable gift.

Hitler Finds Out About Prank Call to Governor Walker

'America Is NOT Broke': Michael Moore Speaks in Madison, WI -- March 5, 2011

The past 3 weeks here have been the the most amazing thing I've seen in my life and gives hope that a true from the bottom up awakening is possible in spite of astroturf movements and media concentration. People who never thought about politics are becoming engaged and breaking the molds. Wisconsin will never be the same.

Moscow Grooves Institue - 2 Professors

Musical relief from American political tension courtesy of MGI.

Elizabeth Warren: Assault on Middle Class (March 1, 2011)

It's debatable whether Scott Wanker has even heard of Elizabeth Warren. He certainly has never heard of the reality that she describes.

Republican Shill Glenn Grothman Pursued in Madison and Rescued By a Democrat

Glenn Grothman is the asshole who referred to the citizen owner/occupiers of the Capitol as "slobs".