Creditland: The Publisher's Blog

Creditland is ready for your lil' anecdotes

2008-07-31T08:10:00.000-07:00

Don't be threatened by the AWESOME architecture of Creditland.org - we need you to go to the site right now and sign up as a user - don't feel like you need to submit content immediately, or that you even need to have content as well thought out as the forms imply.

Send us scraps and pieces of this giant puzzle: It's the specific little incidents that illustrate the big view about the major happenings in the US right now.

But if you can go - we'd love to see you there.

Bloggers: We are working on a way to integrate your blogs to feed into the site.

-The Publisher

PS. Volunteer editors accepted

it's like creditland is writing the story or something

2008-07-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

Image: Train cars carrying 18 wheeler trailers. (Photo to coming soon)

I saw trains carrying Schneider and JB Hunt today - 18 wheeler hitches on the backs of trains. The old distribution system in America is changing as fast as oil prices. Truck traffic is looking at a future of localization. Trains to do the long pulling. No more Walmart never raising it's price in an impossible economic model. Shit's gonna get real expensive man.

Rushing not important? Who knows how this might change things. Fuel prices alone are set decrease death by car 1/3 this year. The AP article is out today. Can a non-economic growth event actually be a quality of life improvement?

Hey Economic Growth Mantraist... the answer is "yes." Expensive gas means less death by vehicular crash.

been so long, so long | porcelain prince and pauper set

2008-07-11T13:07:00.001-07:00

...to the East Coast and back. Friends Burlington. Friends Bangor. Family Bangor. Work and family Philly. so good to touch what seems so far away and yet is incredibly close.

As a reward for irregular blogging check out these
PresidentialShakers.com I photographed in the crib yesterday for Aldo and Gallery 13's
much discussed Sugarman

custom porcelain for $40 a pair? call me East Coast (please, please call me east coast). But I think that's a steal. Unlimited edition makes it a little Chinese sweatshop, but the American labor is priceless (you'll have to meet Aldo Moroni to understand. he's available for interviews if you bring beer)

Dear Editors,

2008-06-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have been soliciting your posts for two days now. There are 34 of you as of 6PM Tuesday, still coming in regularly, to my amazement. I am traveling to work in two days and I'm a photographer. I am going to go ahead and pull down my post right now.

I'm going to be honest with you right here: It's going to take a good awhile to get back to you. If I had known I would draw this response I would have definitely delayed the posting for after the one and a half week trip I am taking beginning on Thursday in Philadelphia and hitting points north along the east coast, where I am from.

I would like to say, however, that you are amazing - in number. And in qualification from what I have seen, when not being totally overwhelmed with the body of you. And that I can see you are inspired by this project. I am inspired by your response to the project. Thank you for what you have already put in just prepping the paperwork to send my way.

I see this project as needing a lot of editors, but you'll forgive me if I gave the business guy the first interview. That photograph above, taken today, is my perspective across the way from Banker Rachael Kohler of Bremer Bank assisting me sending a rather large check to some current employees. I need an employee who can at least pay for hisherself. I hope you understand.

All I can say is be merciful, patient, and generally un-editor like with me.

unless you think I'm too over my head,
whoever finds this first let me know,
-Tobin

ABC News: Senate Close to Passing Housing Rescue

2008-06-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the link.

for those who don't know: I do keep many articles regarding economics archived publicly online at a social bookmarking website called del.icio.us/creditland - I don't know why it has so many subdomains, but it works well.

My favorite feature which I rarely use, but will insist Brady, who just got hired today for Sales Support use for research, is that each bookmark links to other poster's who have the same bookmark. You can then look at what they have bookmarked which may be of interest to you.

It's both convoluted and useful - viva the web.

minnesota monitor gives a shout out | june 24 media monitor roundup

2008-06-24T15:40:00.001-07:00

The Minnesota Monitor gives a shout out to Creditland today, June 24

creditland beta is online | you can participate now with content for July 4 launch

2008-06-24T15:35:00.001-07:00

You can be part of the final launch NOW by going to the Creditland BETA site.

Now, instead of finding this blog at Creditland.org you will find the teaser page to links on the right hand side. One of those links is to CREDITLAND.org BETA!

You can create your permanent user account and submit stories, give feedback. The BETA site is fully functional - most of the activity is smoothing out the interface in the administration and editing side.

Please spread the word and let people know: You can submit your real life nightmare story now and get published - do not be put off by the fact I am the primary author!

Let's get it started....

send us your old, tired and sick | internal memos, training manuals, absurd corporate memos

2008-06-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

We'll edit for maximum protection. Send directly to the publisher your scanned item of ridiculousness - bmp, jpg or pdf preferred.

send to: publisher@creditland.org

newsletter Collect! | self-description of collection agencies

2008-06-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Category: Internal memos
Notes: CL is looking for training manuals, leaked memos from financial collection and other firms, and industry specific bits like this - please send to creditlandonline@gmail.com

Excerpt from Sales June 2008 Newsletter - Collect.org

What is a Collection Agency and can I make Money Doing this?
What is the main difference between first-party and third-party debt collectors? Third-party collectors are directly regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which is enforced and administered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FDCPA sets forth guidelines to protect consumers from abusive, misleading and unfair debt collection practices. First-party collectors are the credit grantors or your clients, business owners who have extended credit.
Third-party debt collectors work with First-party collectors or credit grantors to secure the payment of debts that have not been paid. As a professional debt collector you will locate consumers, determine why a bill or debt has not been paid and work with the debtor to get the payment. Unforeseen circumstances such as illness, death, job loss or divorce can sometimes cause an otherwise good credit risk customer to plunge into a situation where they cannot pay their bills.
A collection agency is a service business. Bill collectors act as agents for clients who could not get paid for products or services that they provided to their customers. A business places past due accounts with an agency and the agency tries to collect for them. Some agencies collect what is due on the bill and keep a commission on what they collected, and then send the client the balance of the money. Some agencies charge a flat rate for collection efforts.
Agencies can collect for hospitals, physicians, lawyers, retailers, service providers, and many other types of businesses. Any business that extends credit or accepts checks may have a need for a collection agency.
There are many laws an agency must follow when collecting debts. You should familiarize yourself with those laws and keep them available for reference. I include a listing of these laws in my book; I also include a listing of what you can and cannot do when collecting money that is owed to your clients.
Collection agencies have a terrible reputation caused by a few agencies that have created bad names in the industry. This is why you should follow the FDCPA closely. Surprisingly, not all agencies follow the FDCPA.
Some collection agencies collect in different ways, some only collect by mail, some by mail and phone and some only with legal action. You will need to decide which type of agency you want to have.
Collection agencies do not normally get paid by the hour. Instead, they work on a commission basis, therefore if you do not collect, you do not get paid. Commissions range from 25% on young accounts to 50% on those that are older or small balances. For instance, a collection service that gets the debtor to pay a $1,000 medical bill will earn $250 to $500 depending on the age of the debt and the agreement with their client. Typical annual gross revenues range from $30,000 to $60,000 based on a 25% commission for collections of $10,000 to $20,000 per month (the average for a small collection service.)
This article is taken from "Starting a Collection Agency, How to make money collecting money 3rd edition", by Michelle Dunn. This book is the only award winning, comprehensive book on how to start and manage a collection service. Available at http://www.MichelleDunn.com

assume any corporation collecting information is sharing it with other corporations | even perceived competitors

2008-06-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

The insurance industry wants to know what your HMO knows.

The credit industry wants to hear from the card you paid late so it can Universally Default you.

As DeNiro says in that bad/good movie "Heat," "Assume they know everything."

In other words, when you give out information - assume you are giving it to the person in front of you, their superior, the corporation who runs their superior, every management decision that will be made after the current management leaves and their crappy replacements come in, and most of all: Your information will be used by any corporation for this purpose: To increase their bottom line.

If that means selling your information to a competitor and that's what the board tells them to do when they go bankrupt (a corporate fire sale), than your information gets disseminated.

The only guarantee from Corporate America is this: They will use anything they have, they will do anything within their power in order to fulfill their only mission: Increase quarterly profits.

If that doesn't scare you, it should.

materialistic living | a pink floyd song about soul problems

2008-05-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

Pink Floyd, "What Do You Want From Me?"

As you look around this room tonight
Settle in your seat and dim the lights
Do you want my blood, do you want my tears
What do you want
What do you want from me
Should I sing until I cant sing any more
Play these strings until my fingers are raw
Youre so hard to please
What do you want from me

Do you think that I know something you dont know
What do you want from me
If I dont promise you the answers would you go
What do you want from me
Should I stand out in the rain
Do you want me to make a daisy chain for you
Im not the one you need
What do you want from me

You can have anything you want
You can drift, you can dream, even walk on water
Anything you want

You can own everything you see
Sell your soul for complete control
Is that really what you need

You can lose yourself this night
See inside there is nothing to hide
Turn and face the light

What do you want from me

rss this sh*t | have the information come to you - several easy ways how

2008-05-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

So, lots of important stuff is happening here right?

But do you really want to GO TO this site day in and day out hoping something new is up? If you're like me, you'd rather have the information come to you AS it is released.

Enter: RSS or Real Simple Syndication. RSS is one symbol to click on. ATOM is another. They all pretty much work with the programs I use.

If you have a Google account, RSS has at least two really good options. My absolute favorite is 'Web Clips' in Gmail. On a line above the email I'm reading appears the titles to recent entries in blogs I try to follow.

So, when I want to avoid answering that email - which I usually do - my wandering ADD eye has the opportunity to check out what's coming up on blogs I like. You can even fast forward with the arrow buttons to do a quicker run through.

How does all this magic happen, you ask? Here's how I make it happen with my PC:

1. I go to the blog I want to subscribe to.
2. I search for the RSS or ATOM or SUBSCRIBE button, hyperlink or whatever.
3. I click on it, or right click on it to get its properties, then Ctrl + C the subscription address in properties.
4. Then I click on the Settings tab in Gmail. Then I click the Web Clips tab under Settings.
5. Under the header "Search by topic or URL," I paste the URL I have copied from the Properties.

be part of history | users needed to test creditland content management system and interface

2008-05-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

positive feedback loop here you come! if you are interested in being a test user for the creditland test site, now operational, please email creditlandonline@gmail.com for instructions.

every user has a profile with a list of articles - don't you want to be a little famous?

look forward to hearing from you.

-The Publisher

creditland broadcast one | first recording session tuesday may 13

2008-05-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

In collaboration with G-Hunk productions and Erik Helgeson, interviews and discussions with Tobin and guests will be recorded at the G-Hunk studio on Tuesdays and broadcast the following week.

The target is 6 episodes of Creditland Broadcast One before the July 4 release.

Topics include the debt subsidy, the history of Creditland and what the idea behind Creditland is, how the site is being developed and the teams behind the development, and the publisher's personal reflections leading up to this very exciting launch on July 4.

Also we are looking to include guests in Minnesota including several state and national politicians (see press release information here). If you have a suggestion for a guest, please let us know.

The first "Creditland Broadcast One" should be posted here next Tuesday.

5000 business cards arrive via ups | launch announce in time for art-a-whirl

2008-05-15T12:58:00.001-07:00

Just in time for the NE Minneapolis annual art crawl, "Art-A-Whirl," five thousand business card announcements for the Creditland launch just arrived.

They look pretty damn good. Ready, set, this site'll be laying it down in under 2 months.

Yo.

you make it | we post it

2008-05-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

Filmmakers, interviewers, still photographers, recording artists and writers have all been asking about creating unique content shorts for Creditland.

Not only will the test CMS (content management system) be in place on May 19 - which will allow us ample opportunity to utilize your content in our tests, and in the launched site - but the publisher's blog is also YOUR forum if you want it to be.

Please send your files to the email address at the right, or send an email about your idea. And to the rest of you who've had some great ideas that you've pitched me I say this:

Your space is now available.

the ultimate corporate tax | a meal with visa

2008-04-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

I recently, or less recently now, had a meal at Jasmine Deli. Jasmine is an age old institution with a younger brother around the corner (Jasmine 21, I believe).

Whenever I find a business owner willing to talk disparagingly about credit card fees, I'm all ears. (It should be said here that Jo at Plan B Coffee Shop considers credit card fees a fully legit 'cost of doing business.') So there are plenty who consider it absolutely fine.

I consider it an administrative tax on a massive percentage of all transactions globally. Most credit card fees for small businesses, for most transactions, depending on how often they "batch out" run in the neighborhood of 2-3% not including a basic per transaction fee of 25 cents or more.

This is why so many businesses have signage re: "NO Credit Card purchases for under $5."

Because at $5, they're hemoraging, directly from some likely marginal profit at the corner store or mom and pop coffee shop, about 30 cents or more of that $5 - that's a solid 6%. Not too far from what local American municipalities and states charge citizens on cash transactions.

Except all this money is going directly to VISA. How much money is that? From The International Herald Tribune April 2, it becomes clear just how much cash is flowing through this taxation system, "One euro in every nine is spent using a Visa card and the company has set itself a target that by 2015 one euro in every five euros will be spend using one of its cards."

That's a lot of tax for a service that, if applied correctly, could pretty much run itself. It's not a lot unlike state and municipal taxes going exclusively to the bureaucracy that collects the tax.

In response, a group of ex-Visa employees have responded with Noca. " The headline reads, "NOCA Targets Transaction Fees with New Online Payment System. Now, if we can get retailers hooked up via the WWW, maybe we can start getting past these modern parasitical relationships.

But, back to Luke at Jasmine. He confirmed he pays some steep fees, but more importantly he makes this point. "Just use cash!" When you put $20 on your debt card, you'll be paying at least that much back as a customer - and your retailer isn't even getting close to all the money.

please make comments | survey says

2008-04-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

hello readers,

I know you are out there. I monitor my site statistics.

I also think you probably have opinions on my many opinion pieces or thoughts in general. I'd like to have evidence of your presence. Can y'all leave a comment?

I don't believe a login is necessary to do so. I know my opinions aren't necessarily right or popular or good for turning the wheel of cash flow to grease the global economic supply chain - but hell. Can you give a little shout anyway?

Also: Coming soon: The Creditland Online Survey - to begin gathering information for the lauch in July....

heads up on HMO funded counseling

2008-04-10T13:03:00.001-07:00

I just came from the HMO counseling clinic on Riverside where I was able to get an appointment at 2pm today. They told me to come in at 1:15pm to fill out a 20 page questionaire which covers, extensively, personal and medical histories for yourself and for your family - along with very specific and frank self-evaluations regarding personal problems, alcohol and drug use, family history, mental history, etc.

At first I thought the intake form was an excellent way to lay out the ground work, and I took the opportunity to lay it all out completely onto their extensive records. However, I had no idea what their confidentiality agreement was regarding what the HMO could utilize from the forms I was filling out, so I did not sign any release forms.

My counselor, who I immediately recognized as the kind of soft-ball guy that would get steam rolled by my mind, was very nice. I asked him if he shared his office because there was just a piece of paper in the office door name area. He said it was indeed his office but he had made the sign himself. He joked the HMO wouldn't pay the $10 to get a permanent one.

Insurance companies looking for reasons not to pay.

My counselor opens immediately to the release part of the page. I ask him about confidentiality and he begins to describe what rights I have regarding keeping information from the government. I tell him I am concerned about information getting to the HMO from the paper work he just filled out. There is a tremendous amount of information in the packet I have just handed him. Luckily he only has it open to the HMO's release page - we're talking about that and here is what he says:

My question is, "Does the HMO have access to these records for any reason?"

He answers, "If the HMO does not agree with a diagnosis and wants to do their own evaluation to determine what level of treatment you will be insured for, they have the right to all of these records." He went on to describe other instances the HMO can look at the records: Pretty much whenever they feel like it.

My next question: "Can the HMO use the information contained in my counseling records to deny service, diagnosis pre-existing conditions, catch me doing something they don't like and otherwise finding reasons to not offer me coverage for future problems."

He answers, "They can do whatever they want with the information contained in your counseling records."

"And then, for all I know, when I switch insurers, this information has passed into the free trade information vortex for HMOs and could easily come up for the rest of my life?"

"I can't say that definitely would not happen."

That settled it. I was out of there. How could I be frank with a man who has been made the agent of an insurance company? Everything I tell him can possibly be used against me for the rest of my life. I asked him if this was true of every counseling service paid for by the HMO, he said they all must agree to these terms to hold an account with the HMO and that any covered counseling service is subjected to the same standards.

What an incredible trap.

I asked him about outside counseling. He said I could pay for it myself. I said I can't pay for it myself. He then referred me quite quickly, like he'd done it before a hundred times, to the "Walk In Counseling Center" on Chicago and 24th (612-870-0565). It's free for 10 sessions he says, run by volunteers - grad students and the like, ask for donation, much like NIP in Uptown.

He even called them on the phone to get the hours and ask if they charged anything. I swear it was a practiced performance. During the hours, which include non-business hours, you can just walk in and get counseling. No HMO. No permanent record they can use against you. He said you don't even have to use your real name.

The paperwork took me - and I am fast yet thorough - 45 minutes solid. I was in the session at 2:05pm with the HMO counselor. He was shaking my hand, saying "I completely understand you want your privacy." and sending me on my way by 2:15pm. He said he wouldn't even charge me the copay, mark it as a cancellation. I swear to god he was happy to see an intelligent person flee the system. And I was happy as hell to get out of there.

I took my paperwork with me, as you might imagine.

"Did you get your parking validated?" was the last thing I heard on the way out. I don't think he's a big fan of the system either.

-Tobin

you heard it here first | the health care system is incredibly inefficient

2008-04-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

("you first heard it hear" is a joke. you live it.)

Holy mantras of navigation. Get me on a seaworthy vessell I'm diving into the ocean of privatized, individualized, decentralized, capital intesively planned world of health care planning. This vast ocean of free range providers roam under the oversight of several major non-liable entities. Yikes!

whoa is the efficiency of ever finding what you are looking for. That is out of the question according to their being no plan, just a sprawling, unchecked growth inefficiency in health care service. If ever there was a car that needed counseling for self-esteem - it's not here in Minneapolis. This car, forever in use, shuttles people from one capital intensive spot to the next, as inefficiently as possible. Perhaps this is what create jobs.

In the healthcare industry it creates a whole lot of driving, unless you like fishing in the ocean without a rod. In which case the bus will gladly take you where you are going if you have half a day to dedicate to the pursuit of your own care. I need to declare my phobia of driving so the healthcare industry can provide me with my driving!

After a bad accident under a very large bridge in Queens involving a t-bone collision and decent speeds and a totally destroyed bus kiosk interrupting our path towards a giant brick wall right on the corner, let me tell you: Intersections completely fuck me up! I am a bonafide phobic driver!

I am going to throw parties for people who are also phobic of driving, or just don't like it, if you have 10 bucks and your insurance is so lame they won't cover you. The parties will be a celebration of face time. A celebration of face time.

two surveys and a whopper - I must be American

2008-04-03T14:18:00.001-07:00

I voluntarily took an online survey and a phone survey today. This kind of free participation in market research is exactly the kind of activity I have been hell bent against - then I thought about it from the perspective of the surveyors and decided: It's something I might find useful someday.

Then I went to Burger King and at a Whopper.

Go figure

Let's lose this war

2008-03-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

War is supposed to be a way to get the economy going is it? That's the conventional wisdom I keep hearing in the United States. Yet somehow this $500,000,000 dollar a day operation isn't getting the job done.

In a recent conversation with a good friend visiting from New York, the topic of Germans knowing how to make capitalism work by doing it well and making the most out of the resulting vacation time associated with quality production came up.

My friend responds, "Well, they lost WWII and they had no military to focus on developing." In other words, the lack of a military economy allowed the country to focus on the sustainable goal of creating value-added jobs in production.

Viola.

Japan too. From ashes to economic tower of power. Is it time for America to lose a war now? Could it be that funneling $500m a day into the necessary technology to survive global warming could create a boom to manufacturing? To the entrepreneurial innovation the States are known and loved for?To the US economy?

Well, dumping $500m/day into corporations bent on destroying, with an unenforced mandate to rebuild a country they don't live in with dollars they are never forced to account for just isn't working. So is it time to give losing this war a try?

I say 'hell yeah.' Let's lose this one and see where it takes us.

gathering your personal information, selling it for a profit, subjecting it to security risks, then charging you for information about yourself

2008-03-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

oh...and did I forget wasting your personal time and natural resources by facilitating the bombardment of your mailbox with relentless garbage offers from creditors of every sort?

You can stop that garbage coming in your mailbox and over your phones by filling out forms by the underfunded government institution charged with consumer advocacy.

Yet another 'pro-business' practice in the land of the free (to milk your butt for as much as I like 'cause I, corporate America, write the laws here) look to me like the definition of modern financial institution extortion.

Britannica defines extortion as:
extortion - n. - Unlawful exaction of money or property through intimidation or undue exercise of authority.

The only reason it's not extortion is because the corporations write their own laws, therefore it is lawful and, as many corporate law practices are in the States, completely unethical.

Gathering your personal financial information, selling it to any Russian mafia gangster who has a fax number at an incredible security risk - to as many entities as the information gathering entity wants to, then... in the greatest insult:

Selling you YOUR information back to you. It's like a parasite worm puking up the nutrients it's sucking out of your stomach and billing you for nutrients.

Yes, by law, you have access to your credit report at www.freecreditreport.com. And you think it's that easy? Try again. Since they only give you the tour once you've filled in too much information and invested too much time to turn back when you run into the inevitable demand for cc information, I am offering the following free tour as a service to you:

1. You must provide credit card information to enroll yourself in a subscription service you don't want but must remember to cancel within a period of time or you will then be billed by the service monthly.
2. You must provide a credit card. Many people with scores don't have a cc
3. After you are into your report you may think that's all the info out there on you: bull. The collection companies harvest tons more information than they show you.
4. One very important piece of info NOT included in the 'Free Trial' is your actual credit score. You must pay to find out what every landlord, employer with a snoop problem and others find out instantly about you.

It's pretty much a good example of an industry writing it's own laws running itself. You can thank the little known Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC ain't down with ME) of the US government for that. Their hilarious motto, "Ensuring a Safe and Sound National Banking System for All Americans." A little known entity with a big job, they're charge is 'regulating' the credit industry, essentially a high-level rubber stamping assignment.

If you're looking for a talking head apologist for the industry for your new dartboard, I suggest using the image of Julie Williams that leads this post. She's the stooge in charge of letting CC corps do as they like and has a fantastic time rapid blinking her eyes as she lies her way through Frontline interviews on their excellent expose "The Secret History of the Credit Card"

Eating alone in America

2008-03-23T20:11:00.001-07:00

There's a beautiful scene between an American FBI agent working on a murder case in Bangkok and the story's narrator, who is the son of a successful Bangkok prostitute and an American service man he never knew.

The scene elaborately describes her eating a pint of ice cream right in front of him. He's so shocked by her rudeness, he is rendered speechless. (He also happens to be a Buddhist adept).

Not only is eating this freezer desert absurdly counter intuitive to his nature - the Thai respond to heat with hot foods, but far more inconceivable is that she is able to eat in front of another human being without offering and sharing. It's a beautiful scene.

Bangkok 8 is generally a fantastic written assessment of Western and Eastern values. Let it be known men in Thailand, despite being stupid, clumsy men like myself, do not go long without physical love - an act this Buddhist nation considers nothing more than "scratching an itch."

There is considerable pagination devoted to running parallels between insatiable Western consumption and it's ills, including the practice of Western adults shelving the actual practice of sex for the idea of sex. I'll get into my thoughts on Western masculinity when I'm feeling more controversial. Back to eating alone...

An acquaintance from Kosovo here in Minneapolis, when asked what he most missed about Europe, his response, not coincidentally I think: "I miss eating with neighbors. Every night someone would invite us over. Every night. Here no one shares."

I can corroborate. As a supplier of many a party and happy hour, you all - generally speaking - are a stingy bunch of human beings. This creates a certain lack of compassion among suppliers like myself - good heartedness turns sour. Then we all get jobs on Madison Avenue cynically making money on your gullibility when you could of bribed all us smart people with a little generosity please. A sad comment on our country, and more importantly you.

From what I understand, it's not the Thai or Europeans who are the exception in eating with their countrymen, it's us. I think it is a pitiful kind of existence that we can't share it on a basic level. I don't know if something was lost with the 'Get your own bag' Doritos campaign - maybe it was never there. Greed likely grew out of the (annoying as hell, completely dated mythology - god, how I hate Western American expansionist opensky, spread out industrialization, expansionist mythology) frontier days of super scrounging.

This doesn't mean There Will Be Blood wasn't a fantastic movie. It means I harbor serious antipathy for the main characters.

Whatever the reason, I find it a sad reminder that among the super abundance of the States, there's a poverty in our minds and imaginations on so low a level. It's pathetically juvenile for what is supposed to be an adult society. And this poverty manifests itself in the pettiness of our foreign policy, our Bushes and Hillarys.

Praise be to Obama: He appears to be the rare adult leader in a country of inexplicably successful children, many age 55 or more.

I find this lack of sharing lonely. We are one of the few places in the world where you will find truly lonely and isolated people in major population centers. It simply does not happen elsewhere. Canada doesn't count - and they're probably less lonely anyway. At least they found a way to share health care.

My guess is it's another melting pot hangover: Most countries are based on a shared ethnicity, implying a shared fate - what we call racism here in America - allowing a kind of participatory genealogy among the population. I think with all the possibility, prosperity and potential, America has sacrificed this type of human self-knowledge.

Eating alone, along with driving alone is a daily ritual exercise in self-alienation. What a waste of time and life. Now consider Americans eat 30% of their meals in the car. When do we stop paying to have our lives stolen from us?

The Gas Tank Challenge

2008-03-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

I am instituting the Gas Tank Challenge for myself. I am filling up the tank of my ridiculously gas guzzling truck "my shadow" you might call it, and I am seeing how long I can go - exactly how many weeks and days that is - before I fill the greedy engine again.

To be sure Charlie loves a full tank. But I'm sick of gas. Using gas. Buying gas. Supporting George W. Bush and Dick Cheney with gas. Gas is boring. Gas is yesterday. Gas is what The Gas Tank Challenge seeks to avoid.

I encourage you to join me in my disdain for petromobility. Thank god Spring is coming. Yo' bike. My butt do exist.

PS> The next challenge is the PC Face Time Challenge. Reducing the number of hours you spend vis a vis your f-in computer screen. Progressively month after month. I'm beginning the timing now. Quality of life improvements and increased human face time, here I come.