Although I hate television at least as much and probably more than I ever did, some of what I've seen here has been illuminating. Regulars have seen me lauding what I've seen from Abby Martin on "Breaking the Set" as I had never seen her before. It's possible RTV is not available in the U.S. but "Breaking the Set" is a relatively new programme so that also might be the explanation.
(Minor side note: I've been using Brit spelling while I've been here but this isn't the first time I have had to shift my accent and change my spelling in my life. The first time was after going to the U.S. from Australia when I was a kid. The accent and spelling were more ingrained in me than my brothers and sisters because I am the oldest. I tried and failed miserably with Greek and ich bin noch mit Deutsch arbeiten. In any case, I will switch back to American when I get back to the U.S. One thing I have learned and which surprised me is that the grammar of Brits is at least as bad as that of Americans and, gasp, hardly any of them sound like Prince Charles. He's pretty much of a sleaze personally but the man definitely has command of the language ... the surprise was that he's one of the very few. However, very few Brits end sentences with prepositions ... if you know where I'm coming from.)
Although BBC is rubbish for news as it's often singing about David Cameron, possibly the most revolting politician on the planet and at least as evil as anyone America can offer. However, BBC did have a cute feature on watching a lunar eclipse. The amusing aspect of the feature was that - what a shock - it was too cloudy to see it in England. The cool part was that an astronomer demonstrated how a lunar crater is formed by using a tray with a bottom layer of flour and an upper layer of dark cocoa powder. The astronomer then chucked a rock to simulate an asteroid and it made a quite credible crater complete with the rays that often project from lunar craters.
The BBC followed that show with David Attenborough doing a quite extensive show on birds with a quite detailed review of bird pornography. I've now seen more bird sex than I had ever considered might, erm, enter into my life. The Brit love of animals is unlike anything I have ever seen before and this is where I saw a bumper sticker that read "A Puppy is for Life, not Just for Christmas." I have never heard barking dogs here like I have heard so commonly in the U.S. where people buy them and then just throw them in the back yard where they bark endlessly ... out of loneliness.
But that isn't what prompted this article. Corporate behaviour is often characterised by grasping parasites like Monsanto, a massive conglomerate of corporations it has swallowed and thus sucks off profits that should have gone to shareholders. For example, Monsanto owns Pepsi Cola AND Coca Cola for pretty much of a monopoly on dark soda products. There is a very long list of other corporations it has swallowed and that's just part of the egregious crimes committed by Monsanto as it was been working to control seed distribution in the European Union such that it can promote its genetically-modified products. I'm not convinced that genetic modification is such a terrible thing but the way they are managed, particularly by Monsanto, has been a travesty. If GMO products are so innocent then why is it so much to ask that they be labeled.
But that isn't what prompted the article either. There are many smaller American corporations that are not massive leeches and these are the ones featured in "Undercover Boss U.S.A." in which the CEO of a corporation goes out to work with his or her people to get a feel of how the business is doing and how it can be improved. At the end of each show the CEO reveals his or her true identity to each of the employees and typically gives them quite large bonuses for their loyalty. There are usually tears all 'round and maybe it's fake but I have the feeling it's authentic.
Lest you think I will suddenly become an apologist for America, lose that thought right away. If I see something and I think it sucks then I will say so no matter who is doing it. Something that definitely sucks is lumping all American corporate behaviour in with that of Monsanto. It's not fair ... so I write.
I have also written enthusiastically about what Putin did about Syria. Cat and I have spoken with this quite a bit as she is definitely not one to put up with gallons of mushy-gushy crap when we talk. She doesn't trust Putin any more than she could chuck him over a Stasi interrogation room and she has good reason. He was, in fact, the leader of the Stasi secret police in East Germany and he has done some Really Bad Shit in his life. Covering all that up with a very pretty public relations campaign for the Sochi Olympics is cool to watch but should be regarded with the appropriate reserve as to why he is doing it. Free Pussy Riot!!!
While Sid Vicious destroyed himself in punk rock, he didn't do it for anything more than a small dose of nihilism and a huge dose of heroin ... and he wound up a cult hero for it. I suspect more because of Gary Oldman's brilliant performance of him in "Sid and Nancy" than anything Vicious actually did. Conversely, Pussy Riot destroyed themselves for the true cause of exposing Putin and they had to know they were sacrificing themselves but I question if they had any idea how brutal the punishment would be. They had to push it until they got arrested as that was the only way to make the point. They're just a bunch of young girls and Putin hasn't lifted a finger to help them. Free Pussy Riot!!!
(Minor side note: I've been using Brit spelling while I've been here but this isn't the first time I have had to shift my accent and change my spelling in my life. The first time was after going to the U.S. from Australia when I was a kid. The accent and spelling were more ingrained in me than my brothers and sisters because I am the oldest. I tried and failed miserably with Greek and ich bin noch mit Deutsch arbeiten. In any case, I will switch back to American when I get back to the U.S. One thing I have learned and which surprised me is that the grammar of Brits is at least as bad as that of Americans and, gasp, hardly any of them sound like Prince Charles. He's pretty much of a sleaze personally but the man definitely has command of the language ... the surprise was that he's one of the very few. However, very few Brits end sentences with prepositions ... if you know where I'm coming from.)
Although BBC is rubbish for news as it's often singing about David Cameron, possibly the most revolting politician on the planet and at least as evil as anyone America can offer. However, BBC did have a cute feature on watching a lunar eclipse. The amusing aspect of the feature was that - what a shock - it was too cloudy to see it in England. The cool part was that an astronomer demonstrated how a lunar crater is formed by using a tray with a bottom layer of flour and an upper layer of dark cocoa powder. The astronomer then chucked a rock to simulate an asteroid and it made a quite credible crater complete with the rays that often project from lunar craters.
The BBC followed that show with David Attenborough doing a quite extensive show on birds with a quite detailed review of bird pornography. I've now seen more bird sex than I had ever considered might, erm, enter into my life. The Brit love of animals is unlike anything I have ever seen before and this is where I saw a bumper sticker that read "A Puppy is for Life, not Just for Christmas." I have never heard barking dogs here like I have heard so commonly in the U.S. where people buy them and then just throw them in the back yard where they bark endlessly ... out of loneliness.
But that isn't what prompted this article. Corporate behaviour is often characterised by grasping parasites like Monsanto, a massive conglomerate of corporations it has swallowed and thus sucks off profits that should have gone to shareholders. For example, Monsanto owns Pepsi Cola AND Coca Cola for pretty much of a monopoly on dark soda products. There is a very long list of other corporations it has swallowed and that's just part of the egregious crimes committed by Monsanto as it was been working to control seed distribution in the European Union such that it can promote its genetically-modified products. I'm not convinced that genetic modification is such a terrible thing but the way they are managed, particularly by Monsanto, has been a travesty. If GMO products are so innocent then why is it so much to ask that they be labeled.
But that isn't what prompted the article either. There are many smaller American corporations that are not massive leeches and these are the ones featured in "Undercover Boss U.S.A." in which the CEO of a corporation goes out to work with his or her people to get a feel of how the business is doing and how it can be improved. At the end of each show the CEO reveals his or her true identity to each of the employees and typically gives them quite large bonuses for their loyalty. There are usually tears all 'round and maybe it's fake but I have the feeling it's authentic.
Lest you think I will suddenly become an apologist for America, lose that thought right away. If I see something and I think it sucks then I will say so no matter who is doing it. Something that definitely sucks is lumping all American corporate behaviour in with that of Monsanto. It's not fair ... so I write.
I have also written enthusiastically about what Putin did about Syria. Cat and I have spoken with this quite a bit as she is definitely not one to put up with gallons of mushy-gushy crap when we talk. She doesn't trust Putin any more than she could chuck him over a Stasi interrogation room and she has good reason. He was, in fact, the leader of the Stasi secret police in East Germany and he has done some Really Bad Shit in his life. Covering all that up with a very pretty public relations campaign for the Sochi Olympics is cool to watch but should be regarded with the appropriate reserve as to why he is doing it. Free Pussy Riot!!!
While Sid Vicious destroyed himself in punk rock, he didn't do it for anything more than a small dose of nihilism and a huge dose of heroin ... and he wound up a cult hero for it. I suspect more because of Gary Oldman's brilliant performance of him in "Sid and Nancy" than anything Vicious actually did. Conversely, Pussy Riot destroyed themselves for the true cause of exposing Putin and they had to know they were sacrificing themselves but I question if they had any idea how brutal the punishment would be. They had to push it until they got arrested as that was the only way to make the point. They're just a bunch of young girls and Putin hasn't lifted a finger to help them. Free Pussy Riot!!!
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