Down with the cartels

Down with the cartels in Mexico down to wherever their influence spreads. They are murdering, brutal, power-wielding thugs who are taking over and causing so much terror and fear and death upon the country. And down with the very corrupt power structure and leadership in Mexico, as it has been since before the Revolution in the 1910s, that uses military force against the cartels that doesn't work at all. And to the United States, which has funded a lot of the Mexican government's forces, end the war on drugs and come up with much less militaristic policies and such that haven't helped, like maybe saying that it's a crisis or major problem to fix than a war. I urge the people, the citizens, the everyday people of Mexico, to take a stand and say no to the criminals in charge, no to the cartels, no to the administration.

The US: Take back an import permit for rhino hunter

It has recently been announced that a big game hunter from Dallas who "won" at auction the right to kill an old bull black rhinoceros in Namibia, got a permit to import the trophy corpse back to the States. Essentially meaning that it won't be a problem to get it back here, and a major deterrent is removed. This is messed up on a lot of levels. First off, there are actually "safari clubs" in places like Dallas where big game hunting for sport is accepted?  What year is this, 1909, and Teddy Roosevelt's tagging along? Then there's also the reason they approved it: All the proceeds apparently go toward conservation of the species itself. Which raises the question, how badly are conservation efforts underfunded that they have to resort to hunting a member of the species for funding money? And how badly are they managed? If it'd been funded maybe by the US or something, the whole thing might not be happening right now. And I am aware the rhino is an old bull keeping other males form mating, and that poachers are a huge problem in this matter, but is contracting this out like a Mafia hit really the best way to go about it?

I have some proposals in this section. First, the FWS should take back the import permit. Second, the US and other countries involved in the colonial period and Cold War should fund reformed and more effective conservation and wildlife protection and breeding programs and projects, like maybe even some improved cloning and gene banks. The reason I suggest those countries is basically they helped cause a whole ton of problems on the continent, and they should pick up the tab to fix the mess thye helped, while freeing up funds for the countries themselves to use in other areas and programs like law enforcement and housing.

Finally, to the hunter who bought this shooting permit, Corey Knowlton: I doubt you'll read this, but I want to say that I think deep in my heart that you're not an evil person at all, but unfortunately all signs point to you as a very stupid, stupid, stupid oblivious rich guy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11500229/US-says-Texas-big-game-hunter-can-import-trophy-black-rhino-head-from-Namibia.html

Say No to Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz just announced he's running for president. And I'm going to put my foot down and say no. Even if Ted Cruz does not win the party nomination, he's still a sign and symptom of a very large problem that should not be in power. If he or his allies or GOP friends are elected, I suggest you either turn your home into a Canticle for Leibowitz situation, or head to Washington DC and go all revolution on those ibn power like it's 1789 France.

Police reform

It is time to completely reform the police of the country, right down to the very concepts and foundation. First off, I want to saw there probably are a lot of honest and hard-working cops who are good people wanting to do the right thing, and this post is not directed at them. But there are a lot of problems with the current police structure utilized pretty much everywhere. The results of which has a long history of corruption and military mentality and such. For example, living in Los Angeles County, I'm aware of more than a few examples, such as the extreme corruption in the department pre-1950, Bloody Christmas, the death of Ruben Salazar, racial profiling (experienced by a person I knew who once was pulled over for having slightly darkened skin by the cops), the Rodney King beating and the 92 riots, Rampart and CRASH, May Day 2007, the LA County Sheriff's clique called the Jump Out Boys who were basically rogue and claimed "We are alpha dogs who think and act like the wolf, but never become the wolf", I could go on. And then there are other instances in policing that might show the whole current system at least a major part of the problem. Such as the military equipment and siege mentality seen in a lot of departments in recent days such as in Missouri and New York City, the pepper-spraying of students at UC Davis and Santa Monica College, there's plenty others, if anyone wants to comment below on their own experiences. But it's clear there are a lot of flaws, and some things that produce for example the feeling in police forces to act like a gang. And I'm not proposing anything specific, maybe like less emphasis on becoming "wolves" to fight crime.

Federal cinema project

(Note form the author: This isn't currently a big priority, it's under a lot of the other stuff I've proposed and such, so don't complain about me making a big deal out of this)
I propose the federal government start providing funding for independent film making and such.  Motion pictures, cinema, film, or cinematic arts is a relatively nascent medium, and while profitable the current output by the major industry based here in Los Angeles is only a tiny percentage of what could be. And many persons in the US with film ideas might never get any work made, due to the incredibly inefficient process within the metaphor known as "Hollywood". So this would basically be funding for all that, basically support for the arts and speech. The government however would not be a censor, a distributor, or an influencing body, only an unconditional crate-Blanche financier, and the films would not be turned into like subtle films to influence viewers based on some politicians's influence. I mean if something is illegal (like something endangering child actors) then the can step in and stop it. But it's all about the films and giving life blood to them.

Open letter to the FEC

An open letter to the Federal Election Commission: Please reform your rules so that it is no longer necessary for someone wanting to be a candidate to have to spend or receive more than $5000 in order to be declared a candidate. And before you try and exploit a loophole, I also will say make it much much less expensive, or better yet remove money from the equation, since that's a big problem in the political system today. By removing the requisite money, many more people could run for public office, and not those in the service of political kingmakers and corporate backers, but ordinary people, nonfamous people, or people who can offer more ideas to voters without trappings of the current system. The choice is yours, but I'm telling you to reform that rule.

The Israeli election

(Note:The following may be taken as controversial, even though the author intends little controversy, but for the record it must be advised that this is what the author is thinking off the top of his head, and may not be necessarily true)
So the elections in Israel are over, and Netanyahu has already pledged a bunch of stuff, such as against Palestinians and such. And looking at the results and news, it's hard not to think “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster . . . when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you” Basically that by fighting anti-Semites and enemies, Israel (might have) has become something it would hate otherwise: Voting in and accepting far-right politicians and personalities, hating on a group of people within its borders viewed as a threat due to being of different genetics or whatever excuse is made, increased territorial expansion  that in the back of my mind kept flashing "Lebensraum", you get the drill. The ideology isn't the same, but a lot of behaviors and tactics are. And with the re-election of Netanyahu, it might be too late when some self-reflection happens, and the picture Israel sees in itself is frightening.

(By the way, I am aware the quote is from Friedrich Nietzsche, but also be aware that Nietzsche was anti-nationalist and his connection to the Nazis was because of his sister rewriting his works when he started losing his brain.)

Comedy and mocking authority

What happened to comedy? And I mean by that is savage mocking comedy against power? Where are the Mads and National Lampoons? What happened to questioning very questionable authority figures? I don't want to sound like an old codger doing this, but I might, and I apologize. Is it the absurdity and insanity of the modern world, pressures placed where the brain stops working, where subversive humor can't have a place? Or perhaps the targets are better at actively fighting any satirical criticism by painting whoever is doing it as pure evil puked up by Satan, and any attempts instantly get played as political bias? (Examples, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, advertising executives, Bernie Goldberg, pretty much anyone of the right wing internet and cable)Where Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon don't bother to face any corrupt political figures on their shows. Is it because corrupt authority has simply evolved into some kind of supervirus that simply lambasts or ignores any criticism of itself? (Example ted Cruz with NASA) What happened?

Irreligion

I just want to point out that the correct name for what is currently called New Atheism is actually irreligion or being irreligious or nonreligious. There are lots of atheist religions, such as Buddhism (I think, I need to double check), and also a lot of militant atheists are real jerks with a lot of the same personality traits and behaviors as their enemies.

Alternative economic zones

The United States should officially set alternative economic zones, of sorts, for several reasons such as: Provide some experimental, theoretical, hypothetical, practical, and other kids of testing grounds; Provide a place for people wishing to find alternatives to the current economic world, or even to perhaps escape economics altogether; a place to set up non-conflictual competition with the literal and metaphorical Wall Street. Um, I can't think of nay others right now.

Los Angeles Pleistocene

I propose that animals and plants related to, or possibly cloned or genetically engineered to closely resemble, Pleistocene and Ice Age lifeforms should be reintroduced into the Los Angeles Basin. And if you're wondering "wait, wouldn't that mean the creatures walking among us?", well, probably, maybe at first they live on what were the county's numerous golf courses, maybe some set-up corridors and tunnels in case humans are concerned about anything.

Trillions of ideas

An open message to anyone: Indifference is only one thing to do, but there are trillions of ideas out there in the cosmos. And while this day and age things are going pretty badly, there is a lot for hope. It's a double edged sword, I know, one that produces the kind of pictures that if aliens from other worlds looked at Earth they'd think "This is sane and smart to these chuckleheads?", but anyway, there's a lot that can be done with the technologies of the present, like I'm doing with this blog. You don't have to stand by and feel powerless, or decide to not care, or think it wouldn't fit into the context presented by many. Go out and dream it, build it, demonstrate, protest, fulfill life, something. Like I said, there's a trillion or more ideas out there that haven't even been seen yet.

More land to the indigenous

The United States (and other countries over the world) should give and put aside more land for indigenous peoples, as well as plants and animals too.

Sustainable settlements

The United States should set up set-aside sustainable development settlements in its borders. Not sure what else to say, since my brain is currently still waking up, but basically it'd be, um, maybe I'm getting confused with another term. But still, zones set up for sustainable development, maybe just take existing logging towns and turn them into these?

Third parties and no parties

The current two-party system is incredibly corrupt and obsolete in a lot of ways, as well as harmful to how things are done in this country. Now that I write that, I'm not sure how, but the conclusion is still valid. It's a failing way to look at and understand world around us, plus the two parties currently in both houses of Congress have a track record of incompetence, petty power playing, and utterly, utterly stupid and often illegal things, such as taking bribes, becoming more obsessed with money and campaigns than actual work, spending taxpayer money on "extreme adventures", shutting down the whole federal government over a health care insurance act, being often deliberately scientifically illiterate and being placed on the science and technology committees, I could go on. But instead, I'm calling on everyone for a fresh slate, or, something. To start your own third parties, or better yet, not even giving to the party system and declare yourself a candidate witohut any affiliation except to solving many problems of today and tomorrow. I've probably said this before, but usually I'm indifferent to politics, but with the state of the world as it is, I would rather those in power and making the globe-affecting decisions not be there.

Get rid of the state lottery

The state lottery should be gotten rid of. Why? For one, it's basically what the Mob did in Miami and Havana back in the 40s and 50s to suck money out of people's pockets. It's basically gambling, and i don't like gambling unless I'm cheating because mathematically, the chances of winning are so low, thee is a higher chance of getting eaten by a shark than winning in the lottery or casino. Plus,as with all gambling it's always rigged. Second, no money from it goes to education. $68 billion, and yet I notice a lot of schools are just run down and underfunded. Third, if you need any more reasons, just look up "lottery winners fates" on Google.

Abolish the permanent standing armed forces of the United States

A simple proposal to anyone this may concern, or not: Abolish the permanent standing armed forces of the United States, and not like the National Guard or Coast Guard, but the Army, the Marines, the Air Force, that stuff. I know the Coast Guard is part of the federal military services too, but I don't know, maritime law enforcement is very important so it's needed. And the navy too, although it could be downsized a lot. But anyway, the reasons and arguments for suggesting it. One, the money spent on a constant permanent army, in the hundreds of billions, is obscene,  especially in an economic recession. That money could be going into so many other things. Two, the Cold War is over, even if a ton of people don't think it, such as Congress, Israeli leadership, Russian leadership, Iranian leadership. A large giant military complex is great unnecessary for situations these days. Three, it would be a great example of a state abandoning power projection tactics and such, and while some might say it's a sign of weakness to enemy nations who will then invade us, to them I say "try to think outside the conspiracy bubble". Fourth, abolishing a permanent military might make diplomatic relations and foreign policy much less militaristic, where the emphasis is on power and force in a geopolitical dick-length contest, maybe, I'm still getting used to the time change and my head's still a little loopy. Fifth, I like peace, and I don't want a future where warfare could erupt and we all die (as seen in any future-set Call of Duty game), or at least some do very painfully. Getting rid of the world's top armed forces could make that a much lower chance of happening. Sixth, a lot of problems over the years all over the world can be attributed to use (or probably misuse and abuse) of the military in situations, for example the US-Mexico war, interventions in the banana republics, the Spanish-American war, IS from after the Iraq War, I could go on. Although to be fair, a lot of problems that came back later were made by non-armed figures doing stuff, such as the US giving support to various unsavory (to say the least) figures if they were anti-Communist, such as Batista, Trujillo, Savimbi, the mujaheddin, Diem in South Vietnam, et cetera, without direct armed invasions. Plus, I'm just opposed to lots and lots of violence and such.

Now I'm not suggesting completely doing away with armed forces in the United States, because in a perfect world I'd suggest completely abolishing it, threats, emergencies, and unexpected problems do occur (the odds are a different story). My proposal is the permanent standing armed forces under the Department of Defense be gotten rid of and very much downsized to very small standby uniformed services, but with the ability for rapid troop build-up in case of an emergency where absolutely no other solution than armed force and defense can be worked out, and Congress decides to raise an army. Also, I propose closing all overseas bases, since with a much smaller organization it'd be difficult to upkeep. In addition, military R&D would be similarly downsized, and most of it put into peaceful and civilian purpose, while personnel currently enlisted could choose to sign up for new non-military groups that would be directly based on a lot of functions previously held by the military system in some cases, such as international humanitarian work. and veterans would get more benefits and help due to the freed-up budget.

So that's the post. I left out more "radical" and out-there stuff because I couldn't come up with any (So don't say I'm being a sellout). Comment if you have any additional stuff I didn't write down, or if you have your own proposals and alternatives.

Call of Duty remastered

Tons of important things and problems in the world go unnoticed everyday, with nary an active voice or group of people working to make a difference in the face of indifference. Economic inequality, suffering, wars, the degradation of the environment, et cetera. The idea of possibly changing the world gets squashed. Meanwhile, a petition to release a remastered version of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 gets 100,000 signatures and national internet attention. There is no God.

"I, Russian Occupier"

I do not get it. Some crypto-fascist asshole in Russia named Evgeny Zhurov makes a propaganda film addressed to President Obama called "I, Russian Occupier", basically saying, and these are words form the video itself translated, "I'm an occupier by birthright. An aggressor and a bloodthirsty monster", and it goes viral across the Internet. Meanwhile, I sit here and sound off in the hopes of somehow preventing people like this guy from taking over the world, and I really want to make the world a better place, nothing, I've barely gotten any stats whatsoever. Guess the universe does have a sadistic sense of humor.

Peace in Korea

To the United Nations, and anybody who might read this: Work to bring peace between North and South Korea. The two countries are still technically in a state of war, and a peace plan could at least hasten the end of the totalitarian North Korean regime, and possibly unify the two countries into one hopefully way before 2045 (the centennial of the partitioning).

Half Earth

To the President and Congress of the United States, the United Nations, and whomever might read this: Please consider a plan by E. O. Wilson to set aside half the Earth for wild areas and such, or any similar ambitious environmental plans. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-world-really-set-aside-half-planet-wildlife-180952379/?no-ist

To the City of Los Angeles: Monorails and infrastructure

To the city government of Los Angeles, including no-response mayor Eric Garcetti, please put in research and funds for building monorail, people mover, and tram lines across the city, and please please be more efficient with the infrastructure rebuilding, otherwise the city could fall apart in the next few years.

Reform the CIA

An open letter to President Obama, Congress, or whoever reads this: Please reform, change, strip, whatever, the Central Intelligence Agency back into the original role it was to be back in 1947, just a simple intelligence gather and analyzing agency. No covert ops, no torture, no assassinations, no coups, no military ops, no drug traffic, no funding sociopaths in foreign countries, none of that. Even Harry Truman was complaining about what it'd become back in the 1960s, as found in this article. http://www.maebrussell.com/Prouty/Harry%20Truman%27s%20CIA%20article.html
Reform it, restructure it, put it under a parent agency, close loopholes allowing covert action, heck even replace the National Security Act of 1947, but it needs reform, and has a long history to prove it.

To US leaders: Please stop ignoring the Mexican cartels (and other organized crime)

In the news for the last half or more year has been filled with headlines of the horrors of the terrorist group known as the Islamic State, but while those are very horrifying and the psychotics of IS should be arrested or something, there are many other groups within the Americas that authorities and the public seem to be overlooking who are as bad or worse, such as, and especially I guess, the Mexican drug cartels, who have killed more people than IS. http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/10/isil-vs-mexican-drugcartelsunitedstatesislamophobia.html But also there are plenty of organized criminal groups who still walk around, such as the Yakuza, the Triads, the hell's Angels, the Outlaws MC, the Mongols MC, the Latin Kings, the Israeli mafia, the Korean Killers, MS-13, the Russian mafia, Aryan Brotherhood, , I could go on and on, but that's not the point. The point is these groups are still around, even as crime rates have dropped in years, but they're still around, and going about with their crimes and dealings. So to pundits, persons in power,  and other US leaders, please stop ignoring all these guys who are dangerous criminals and syndicates.

To the CIA: Declassify and release every file

The CIA has a long history of clandestine and often very illegal and unethical activities, but a lot of which are not yet public, and have given rise to a lot of conspiracy theories. Basically, this isn't a sole document request, but a call to action to the Central Intelligence Agency, to get over their disdain for FOIA and such, and release every bit of information, every record, every file, classified, top secret, everything, that can be found in their vaults or hard drives or whatever, unredacted and intact rather than destroyed. Declassify it all, CIA. I want to know, and I am sure a lot of others do too.

US Apology to Cuba

The United States should apologize, at least, for its behavior for more than a century towards Cuba, such as supporting the dictator Batista's regime after his 1952 coup d'etat; military interventions in Cuba during 1906 – 1909, 1912 and 1917 – 1922; and all the other jazz that's been done to it.

Worldwide nuclear disarmament

I say we should completely ban and disarm all nuclear weapons across the world. Why? Well, I don't want to be on the receiving end of the off chance that I die in an apocalyptic firestorm because guys with penis insecurities running nuclear-armed countries do not like each other. Or anyone else to fdie in a nuclear fireball, for that matter.

Los Angeles Homeless

The recent shooting of a homeless man in Skid Row by LAPD officers has got me thinking, the city of Los Angeles is ignoring the large number of homeless people on its streets, and it's resulting in things like officers shooting at them. So I propose, one, the city stop focusing on the problems of the rich elite and instead on caring for the homeless, two, take a page from George Carlin and convert golf courses into low-income housing and shelter for homeless persons, and three, give officers training in how to deal with mentally ill suspects. That, and look into investigating aggressive LAPD officers who are trigger-happy as NYPD officers are chokehold-happy.