"Had" been out running the flu.

I had been out running the flu for like 5 weeks and now it has finally caught me and flattened me.

I went running in the rain on a cold evening of December 25. Came home felt fine, went to work driving the cab on December 26 and woke up flattened by flu on December 27 not really enjoying that at all.

Damn viruses. I have book on my book shelf  I hope to read one day about evolutionary biology and how nature requires species to have genetic diversity to out run these lousy viruses.

Anyways I got two days off from work here, as I try to study some XHTML and CSS with my down time and maybe do some other reading in the next 36 hours as the New Year of 2013 rapidly approaches.

Contrail and moon around 4pm in San Francisco's Mission District November 2012

I cut way back on corporate media consumption.

I have cut way back on my corporate media consumption as I think it is not healthy to consume what these corporations and spin masters are putting out. I don't believe most of how the "news" is framed is good for the consumer of it.  The information is full of things to make one confused, distracted,angry and misinformed.

I must say that doesn't mean I am not still reading articles of the corporate establishment, I am just not doing it as intensely and as long.

The Immortal Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac is immortal because of the words that he put down in his books. Some of the greatest prose ever put into form in the English language.

I took a spin through the "Beat" Museum in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood cost me $5 bucks not a bad way to let 5 dollars go from your pocket I recommend the place for 20-30 minutes of contemplation.

Books I have read of Kerouac were Dharma Bums, Subterranean's, and a short story called Rail Road Earth.

Juan Manuel Marquez vs Manny Pacquiao IV—WOWZA!!

One word WOW! That is what I say about the Manny Pacquiao Juan Manuel Marquez fight.
This was the 4th time these men have fought and wow.  Marquez looked slower and bulkier but I guess that translated into punching power as Marquez knocked Manny Pacquiao cold for what felt like about 2 minutes.  What made the fight so exciting was the ebb and flow.  Just when Pacqiuao felt like he was taking over Marquez knocked Pacquiao down. The Pacquiao got organized and knocked Maruez down, Pacquiao started picking up momentum and it felt like he might even knock out Marquez when in the middle of one of these two mens fierce exchanges with Pacquiao more in the driver seat, pow a thunderous right hand at the end of round 6 sent the Pac Man Pacquiao prince of the Third World Barrios down for good. Man what a fight.

5 million years of history.

We live in the present but every time a man and woman have sex with each other they have the potential to trade about 5 million years of genetic history with other through their DNA.

Cab driving beating me down here.

Cab driving wearing me out. Trying to engineer my escape from this industry by learning XHTML and JavaScript gonna see what comes of this.

I wonder if immigration from Europe will increase due to poor economy there.

It is hard for me to access how bad Europe's economy is but it is quiet often framed in a fairly negative light in the US media. For example 14% unemployment in France which is trending even higher levels of unemployment or I hear of mass demonstrations in Spain from all strata of society protesting austerity measures.

My personal experience is talking to a German businessman in my cab who told me there is already a brain drain in Spain of educated Spaniards showing up in Berlin, and I have met a group of 3 Spanish people in there late 20's  who were educated and working in the information economy in San Francisco.

Kelly Pavlik vs Andre Ward

This fight is tentatively scheduled for 1-26-2013 in Los Angeles.  It will be for Andre Ward's WBC and WBA Super middleweight title.

I would have to favor Ward in this who is a top pound for pound fighter, who is at his best weight of 168 pounds, and who has just cleaned out the the 168 pound division,  by beating Arthur Abraham, Mikkel Kessler, Bika, Carl Froch and a weight drained Chad Dawson.

Where as Pavlik's best wins where about 4 years ago at middleweight 160 pounds, and Pavlik has fought a few club fighters and a fringe contender in his comeback from alcoholism and inactivity. That said I will be pulling for Pavlik in this fight , even if his chances of winning are remote.

If you owned the US empire who would you rather have working for you?

      If you owned the US empire who would you rather have working for you? Mitt Romney or Barrack Obama.
    I would rather have Obama. Obama is more palatable to domestic and international populations as Obama carries out the work of empire.
    Obama mollifies the domestic population while he takes resources from them in the form of cutting  Social Security and medical care {see Obama care known as health care reform where you are forced to buy insurance ? go figure}These resources are then give to the Wall Street Bankers , and the Pentagon, while the military wages wars over resources , control of planet, and insuring the dollar as the reserve currency of the world through the pricing of oil in dollars.

The last man standing.

 I would say the USA is in the lead of the main global powers right now which are the EU, China, and the USA.

The USA the Virgina Centric flavored empire, whose 4 of first 5 presidents where born in Virgina.  Those being George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe.

The Virgina midwifed Empire churns out dollars through the Federal Reserve Bank which sustain the system and the stock market.

As the working class which is increasingly Hispanic limps along , in it's Costco*  reality working in the service economy for the corporate aristocracy.


*Costco is a warehouse type store, that is a pleasant and cost effective way to shop in the U.S. but it is without any frills.

Hitting bottom with cab driving.

When the pain of driving a cab is greater than the pleasure of driving a cab then I will consider changing jobs.

I am at that tipping point. The low pay, hard work, risk, bureaucratic corruption and injustices implemented by the city are out weighing the positive sides of cab driving for me.

to be continued....

I will probably vote for a 3rd party in election.

Not written in stone but almost positive I will vote for a 3rd party in the upcoming presidential election.

CAB DRIVING WORSE THAN HEROIN ADDICTION

Cab driving worse than Heroin addiction and sticker than fly paper.

The money you earn cab driving is enough to get a little food and pay a couple of bills.

Yet the amount of work is soul numbing. You are so tired after the amount of work you put in during a day of cab driving that it is difficult to think clearly and implement of plan of change.

A career change that is.

So every day you wake up drive the cab , get enough money to buy some  food to eat another year escapes your grasp.

Of course many drivers have an escape plan , go to college , become a musician etc, but few escape the trap of the cab.

Romney wins debate 1 by accusing Obama of being a Republican:This and other ramblings for past few days.

After watching about 30 minutes of the US Presidential debates. It seemed to me that Romney was clearly better at arguing on that evening than Obama. Even if Romney was lying, Obama was unable to look like a winner in the debate. President Obama's body language and energy seemed flat also.

That said just because you can argue better than someone doesn't mean you should be President, and Obama theoretically represents my working class interests more than Romney although I suspect that both men being representatives of the very wealthy are all for cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to the bulk of the American people.

The whole political process is a bit of mystery to me as it seems the candidates promise everything but rarely do what they promise once in office.

**
On another front Gasoline has jumped to 4.75 a gallon here in Northern California and the price of my favorite pens has gone up .50 cents a piece, which is all indicative of inflation.

Regardless of the inflation thought the economy seems to be improving for the moment and that is a good thing.

BLOOD MERIDIAN : CORMAC MCCARTHY

I have been reading the book “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy. It is  a violent tale of the South Western Region of North America taking place in the 1840’s.

McCarthy is a fantastic writer almost more of a poet than a Novelist , creating fantastic violent imagery.

My one criticism is that McCarthy doesn’t use quotation marks and it is sometimes hard to know who is speaking in the dialogue. On the other hand it is a testament to his writing that I can follow most of the time who is speaking in the dialogue with out quotation marks, as I have to use McCarthy’s  queues  of context, logic and narrational rhythm to effortlessly follow along.

This is the first fiction book I have read of my own volition in about 5 years. I usually am reading about 2 non fiction books at a time.

Garbage Dumps

Third world garbage dumps.
Poor people scavenging in the dumps.
Soldiers shooting at the human scavengers  as if the people were feral dogs,
the people are of the same ethnic group as the soldiers ,
really cousins at heart, soldiers work for the governments,
who work for the corporations,
 who create the economy
and consumer products that fill the garbage dump.

:Prose

RANDOM NOTES:

The economy is alive but it is uneven, with some pockets of extreme growth and some lagging sectors, with a fair dose of inflation thrown in.

--

Ben Bernanke plans on buying toxic debt at a  40 billion dollar a month clip as he long as he see’s is necessary.

--
There were three really good fights last week.

Rigondeaux Vs Marroquin

Martinez Vs Chavez Jr.

Maidana Vs Krauss


Rigondeaux on of the greatest amateur champions ever , looked good but not razor sharp as he had been distracted by management problems. Rigondeaux was in control of his fight 90% of the time but was wobbled by left hooks twice.

Martinez vs Chavez Jr.

Great fight to determine who is the king at 160 pounds, with Martinez deciding this definitively , but it wasn’t easy as Martinez after dominated most of the fight was almost KO’d in the 12 round and after the fight Martinez was found to have fracture in his left hand and torn ligaments in his knee.
At the age of 37 Sergio Martinez probably doesn’t have many more fights left at the top but came through big the night that he had to and cement his legacy as a very good Middleweight champion.


Maidana Vs Krauss

In an all action fight of the year type of contest. Rene Maidana defeated Jesus Soto Karass in a blood and guts all action 147 pound fight.


In the past 3 weeks Argentinean boxers have shown their mettle the Maidana defeating Karass, Sergio Martinez beating Chavez Jr and super exciting Lucas Matthysse defeating Ajose Olusegun.

Must have some tough economy down in Argentina to produce this type of fighters from a nation with a demographics base of around 41 million people.

Neoliberalism

Is the name of the economic system that most of the planet falls under today.  This system is promoted by the IMF, World Bank and WTO.

"Neoliberalism  is known for economic liberalizations, "free trade", open markets, privatization of nationalized industries, de-regulation and enhancing the role of  private sector in modern society. "
                                                                                                  This definition was taken from Wikepedia.

Its all about power first and foremost.

One of the battle fields to keep power, is the battle to control the Eurasian landmass. This has been known since the British Geostrategist Halford Mackinder, Hitlers Geostrategist Karl Haushofer ,and the US Geostrategist Henry Kissnger, and Zbignew Brezezinski.

The Eurasian land mass has 60-70% of the worlds resources on it above land and below, holds two of mankind's two most advanced civilizations Western Europe and China and is geographically centrally axial in relation to the other continents.

Last night was Central Asian, Eastern European boxing night on HBO.

Last night was Central Asian, Eastern European boxing night on HBO. As Gennady Golovkin of Khazakstan destroyed Grezgorz Proska of Poland and Sergei Dzinziruk of Ukraine fought Jonathan  Gonzalez of Puerto Rico.

Gonzalez of Puerto Rico came in about 10 pounds over the weight limit.

So in an unfair fight of basically a Super Middleweight Gonzalez at 168 pounds fighting Dzinziruk a Junior Middleweight at 154 pounds the fight was fought to a draw.  Which was a win for Dzinziruk who pocketed 100,000 extra in penalties levied against Gonzalez for coming in over weight , and kept Dzinziruk in the US public spotlight.

A more intriguing character is Golovkin a former amateur stand out, who is obviously talented and doing the work out side the ring that it takes to be a superstar, things like getting the right promoter with right connections, learning English, and doing the necessary foot working promoting himself and the fight to the media.

My only question mark about Golovkin who has tremendous offense and punching power, is he seems to have a lack of defense that a top 3 Middleweight maybe able to capitalize on. This is something that will only be revealed with time and more fights against better competition.

I would rate Golovkin the 3rd best Middleweight in the world now after Sergio Martinez and Chavez.

New York City still resonating in my mind.

I came back from visiting New York city about a  month ago and the place is still resonating in my mind. Hard to quantify things around, history, the living culture of the place, and it's dynamic energy.
Subconscious thoughts about how this was one of the major European pathways into North America, to how American the city is in it's diversity . How much American culture and thought must bounce out of this place and how America must bounce back into New York  in a type of symbiosis or living dynamic.

Before there was Xanax and Prozac there was booze.

In boxing it is the punch you don’t see that knocks you out

In boxing it is the punch you don’t see that knocks you out. In life it is often events you don’t foresee happening that devastate you. A personal illness or illness to a family member may do the trick.

The main thing though to do in life when knocked out and knocked down is to get up again. As long as you keep doing that you are doing your best.

CAB DRIVING = TOO MUCH RISK+ TOO MUCH WORK + NOT ENOUGH REWARD.

The Corporation and the Nation State.

Corporations are social organizations, as are Nation States. Corporations are social organizations that can out agile the general population  and use the Nation State to it's benefit, though I suspect a major pivot for the corporations are the Central Banks and currency of the nation state, and that the corporations gather around the credit and money making mechanism of the central bank. Which often is not really controlled very firmly by the nation state.

Paul Ryan VP running mate Romney.

Paul Ryan is very good at framing arguments  for cuts to services given to the American people. To bad he didn't have the same passion for stopping subsidies and bailouts to the Banking industry, that holds the economy hostage with it's to big to fail setup.

Obama , Putin are just symobls for powerful groups and interests that are really in charge.

Obama , Putin just symbols for powerful groups and interests that are really in charge.
No one can rule a nation alone and most leaders we see and call the leader are really the talking heads for powerful behind the scene economic interests.
I have an inkling of who President Obama's supporters are such as big Pharma, Wall Street etc..

With Putin I have no idea, maybe something like the energy sector and the Russian military industrial complex.

Just got back from 5 days in New York Mostly Manhattan wow!

Just got back from 5 days in New York Mostly Manhattan wow!

I just started reading Cormac McCarthy’s book Blood Meridian.  This will be the first non fiction book I have read for pleasure in about 5 years.

I have read about 20 pages of Cormac’s book and it is awesome, but I have some critiques that sometimes I don’t know what character is speaking in his dialogue.

New York really blew my mind, I will write more about it over time after I get more sleep and unpack.

China set to acquire Nexen,Candadian oil and gas company.

Nexen Building Calgary-Canada

Below is part of an article with link to it from Asia Times Online.
In it it discusses the implications of China acquiring Nexen inc, a Canadian oil and gas company.
It has slightly ominous implications from this Americans point of view if interested there is a link to this original at bottom of intro to article.

By Robert M Cutler

MONTREAL - The US$15 billion purchase by China-based offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC of Calgary-based Nexen Inc, Canada's sixth-largest independent oil explorer and producer, marks the biggest foreign acquisition ever by a Chinese company.

CNOOC has agreed to buy all Nexen's outstanding common shares at US$27.50 cash per share, nearly a 62% premium over what the stock was trading at before the announcement. Total cash to be paid for Nexen's common and preferred shared will reach US$15.1 billion. The company's current debt of $4.3 billion will remain outstanding. The transaction will close within three to six months.

A Reuters analyst notes, concerning these acquisitions but in particular regarding CNOOC's purchase of Nexen, that "the critical market intelligence on the supply situation in the North Sea that CNOOC will obtain" may be one of the most valuable results of the transaction. North Sea Brent serves as an important benchmark for global oil prices.

Robert Campbell writes that CNOOC will be now able to play the Brent crude oil futures market more efficiently, in addition to having the right to participate in discussions over how prices for various North Sea benchmarks are calculated.

This means that China is moving in the direction of ceasing to be merely a price taker and will gain access to information about what drives short-term price shifts that influence its import costs. It may thus also be able to influence the rules of the futures price-setting game.

The deals are also part of the Chinese firms' continuing their worldwide search to purchase or otherwise acquire energy technology. Important in this profile is technology for exploiting shale-gas deposits, as well as the shale-gas reserves themselves. For this purpose, Chinese companies have focused on North American firms, which have developed the techniques perhaps furthest.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/NG27Cb01.html

Control energy and you control the nations.

Control energy and you control the nations. 
                                             --Henry Kissinger   

The Prophetic Sir James Goldsmith-Globalization-GATT-WTO

Watch James Goldsmith prescient talk on Charlie Rose 1994. Laura Tyson of Bill Clinton's administration debates him for part of the show and see how wrong her argument is.

In this interview James Goldsmith discusses what will happen with GATT(General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) , WTO and the coming destruction of US labor force. This was 1994 and much of what he has said has come to pass.

 

Kelly Pavlik vs Will Rosinsky

Kelly Pavlik beat Will Rosinsky in an entertaining bout this last Saturday night 7.7.2012.

Pavlik while not his old dominant self made good strides as he tried to resurrect his career following the loss of his Middleweight title in 2010 to Sergio Martinez and a slew of personal problems revolving around alcohol that followed.

Pavlik left his old trainer Jack lowe and Youngstown Ohio to  come out to California to train with trainer Roberto Garcia, in Oxnard California in one of boxing best gyms.

Pavlik doesn’t seem to have the same punching power when fighting in the 168 pound division that he had fighting in the 160 pound Middleweight division.

Pavlik may regain some  power punching dominance as he grows into the 168 pound division, and improves his Stamina and technique.

Pavlik is now working on improving his left hook to the body and head, punches he has shown improvements in applying during fights  during his comeback. He is also working on throwing short uppercuts a punch he never really threw while under the tutelage of Jack Lowe.

I ended up scoring the 10 round fight against Rosinsky 97-92 for Pavlik. Pavlik Knocked Rosinsky down in the 2nd ground which was another bright side  to Pavliks performance.

Rosinsky put up a good fight. Rosinsky is a former amatuer champion in the Lighheavyweight division and fought top prospect Edwin Rodgriguez to about an even fight about a year ago but Rodriguez was given the disputed decision over Rosinsky. Edwin Rodrgiguez is currently rated 11th the world at 168 pounds on some reputable boxing websites.

The big question’s are can Pavlik keep his demons in check , stay on the right path and who does he fight towards the end of the year.

Pacific Slope of North America:Prose

Living on the Pacific Slope of the North American continent, traveling up the freeway from Fresno to Stockton looking for work. Traveling the freeway system through  mass ghetto’s of Hispanic’s .The state over run by a different culture, of people broken  from previous colonizations. He  trying to hang on to his standard of living in a time of mass Third World  immigration to North America lowering of  wages and massive outsourcing of jobs to China and Mexico, the White working class battered by their  corporate elite stagger up and down the free ways looking for work. In the Petrol/Oil empire.
Air condition corporate parks tucked away  on former farm land, hooked into the corporate structure doing accounting, making electronic components for the defense industry etc.
Now as the global neo feudalism gains pace even the new Third World immigrants are wondering why they came to America as it is almost as poor as where they came from and  far lonelier.
He hung on  to his psychological center with  prayer, tried to get enough sleep and stay positive, tried to defend the family.
Large masses of impoverished people Large seas of impoverished people.

Things I wonder about.

It takes 1.25 US dollar to buy A Euro .. I wonder why the Euro is still stronger than the dollar by so much if it's imminent demise is near according to the media?

LAWYERS VS ENGINEERS

Much of the United State Political leadership are lawyers and much of China’s current political leadership are Engineers and scientists what this really means who really knows?

You could say manipulators vs  builders
or talkers vs builders
or managers (lawyers) vs workers (engineers)
There are a million ways to look at it but it is an interesting factoid.

Just a few examples of this on the US side, President Barrack Obama educated as lawyer, Hillary Clinton educated as Lawyer, Bill Clinton educated as Lawyer, in the 111th US Congress 2009 54 out of 100 or 54% percent of Senators educated as lawyers and 162 out of 441 or 36% Representatives in the House.

As for China from Wikepedia

Thus, in official discourse, the "third generation" lasted from 1992 to 2003, with Jiang Zemin as core, and other leaders including Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Qiao Shi, Li Ruihuan. These leaders were born before the revolution from 1924 to 1934 but were educated afterwards before the Sino-Soviet split. Most of them received education in the Soviet Union as engineers and entered the party initially as factory managers.

Jiang Zeminin -General Secretary of the Communist Party of China-1989-2002.

Graduateed 1947 with a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.

Hu Jintao-General Secretary of the Communist Party of China 2002-present.
He graduated in hydraulic engineering in 1965.

UNDER EASTERN SKIES

Slavic Boxers have Dominated the Heavyweight division in boxing since 2003, waves of them were knocking on the door of the top tier of the division before that.
When it has finally settled the top of the Heavyweight would be ruled by  Vitali, and Wladimir Klitschko. From 2003 or 2006 depending on your metric until present a time frame of over 6-9 years .Impressive.

THE BIG RIPOFF: PACQUIAO VS BRADLEY

    In a display of something that in my opinion reeks of corruption. Timothy Bradley was given the Welterweight title over Manny Pacquiao.
    I actually stopped scoring the fight after 7 rounds because Pacquiao was winning so convincingly.
    I was in awe as an aging past athletic peak Pacquiao beat the hell out of Timothy Bradley.
    I will now always have a great respect for Pacquiao after watching him dismantle Tim Bradley a skilled determined 28 year old opponent.
    I have never been much of a Pacquiao fan and had been a bit of skeptic as I believe he as been handled very carefully and matched against opponents that it was construed he would beat. I also think Pacquiao has gotten some gift decisions in the past.
    But what was done Saturday night was total disrespect to fair play and boxing fans around the world. The people who allowed this to happen should ashamed of themselves, that they would disrespect their fans and sport in this way to allow this to happen. Really sad thing to see.
   

The Dollar a death by a thousand cuts.

The dollar took a mid term hit recently as the Japanese and Chinese agreed to trade with each other directly using each nations currency instead using the US Dollar as in intermediary currency in each nations bi lateral trading arrangements.

This direct use of currency could also deepen economic integration between China and Japan.

Tonights The Night..

Yes it is.

Album of great emotional power that just sounds great. Takes you through the dark side of depression, drug addiction, skidrow, failure. Sounds like someone trying to get their intimate relationships right in their 20's while dealing with fame, and addiction. Captures a dark more rural side of modern in the 1970's.

MARVIN HAGLER : BOXING

    Marvin Hagler was an awesome Middleweight. Speed of foot and hand, dynamic upper body movement, wide variety of punches, good chin to rely on when defense failed.
    Hagler best Middleweight since 1980, followed by Bernard Hopkins.

The Crunch is On.

Stagnant wages, higher gasoline, and food prices = poorer population.

Is love stronger than evolution?

Or is love an evolutionary phenomena that creates bonding and team work and gives an evolutionary advantage in the natural selection process?
**
I actually think love comes from down on high and is larger than even evolution.

French Foreign Legion similarities with cab driving

Sometimes think driving a cab might be a little like being in the French Foreign Legion.
Taxi Drivers, who’s lives are 100’s of stories of quiet desperation , washed up into the industry through , a myriad of life problems, from failed marriages and relationships,to  loss of business, good jobs, or just a desire to chuck the corporate rat race.
Then there are the new immigrants with there big dreams of making it big in America but that’s a story for another day.

Hobo jungle’s of the 1900-Current

Hobo jungle's of the 1930's. Men who rode trains, robbed, killed each other in this outcast culture, derived from economic depravation.
The great American Heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey emerged from this culture along with modern literary characters like the the Walkin’ Dude in Stephen Kings Magnum Opus novel “The Stand”. In the book “The Stand” the “Walkin dude” is an evil anti christ type of character.

Dislocation and Migration

   After collapse of Soviet Union in 1991, millions of ethnic Russians returned to Russia proper. This was one of the larger global migrations to take place in the 1990’s, along with internal migrations in China, and Mexicans migrating to the United States.
    I sometimes wonder if a similar migration may happen inside the US from the United States  de-industrialized Mid-West to more prosperous areas within the United States.
    Of course this movement would be on a smaller scale as the United States has not collapsed but just declined.

Desperation City.

    I see “them” the homeless on the streets of San Francisco. So many of them, seems like more than ever before, rooted into the side walk, sleeping in the nooks and cranny’s , in the cracks and contours of the buildings.
    A thousand stories of addiction, mental  problems and bad luck.
I see them and think but for the grace of God go I .. and I drive on.

Reincarnation and the soul. One possibility.

I sometimes wonder if everyone on this planet has not committed some crime in their past life and their souls were sent to earth to learn a lesson.
As if not in some cosmic school that you can’t leave until your lesson is perfected you return to the school over and over until your lesson is learned.
    In this school maybe things are not what they appear maybe the people in charge of the planet the corporations and their owners are really beginning pupils and the meek peasants and downtrodden of the planet are  the advanced students in their senior year waiting to graduate to another place of either perfection or for more learning.
    The movie Jacobs Ladder gave me food for thought, the movie has twists and turns but it is similar to the idea I am talking about. I won’t spoil the movie for you but if you ever watch the movie to it’s conclusion it is actually about spirituality although about 90% of the movie comes off as a horror/thriller flick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob's_Ladder_(film)
I definitely recommend this film.

Like the famous saying goes..

Life is what happens to you while you are making plans..

Mission District Noir

16th + Mission , San Francisco

16th and Mission skanks, and skags shooting skag, Pentecostal preachers proselytizing in Spanish, lots of immigrants mixed in with hipsters and Scientists going to work at genetic engineering labs at UCSF's Mission Bay complex....to be cleaned up and continued..

TACO TRUCK

Trying to climb above the Blade Runner* reality.

Taco truck customers wait. Mixture of Hispanics, White professionals, Homeless and wanna be gang members.

It is not necessarily an unpleasant reality. Although I want to climb to more security, and options for me and my family.


*Blade Runner is a 1982 futuristic movie directed by Ridley Scott. Loosely based  on Philip K Dick book "Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep" . In this future setting the earth is over crowded and living conditions are harsh along with hi levels of technology.

Heart of Darkness

photo take in San Francisco near Fisherman's Wharf

Joseph Conrad born  Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski was a Polish writer who would later settle in England and write such great books as Nostromo and Heart of Darkness.

For much of  Conrad's life he made his living as a merchant seaman.

Part of the story line for the movie Apocalypse Now was taken from the book Heart of Darkness.

Kelly Pavlik wins comeback tune up fight over Aaron Jaco:BOXING

Kelly Pavlik took a step in a bid to resuscitate a promising career left in shambles by alcohol and personal problems.
Pavlik KO'd over matched opponent Aaron Jaco early in the second round to begin a path  to try to climb back into the elite of boxing.

It is yet to be determined if Pavlik will campaign in ithe 168 pound Super Middleweight division or 160 pound middleweight division.

To my eyes it appears that Pavlik is to big and sturdy to make it back down to 160 pounds again but only time will tell where he finally ends up.

Pavlik working with boxing super trainer Robert Garcia in Garcia's Oxnard California gym appear to be working on developing a better left hook in Pavlik's arsenal. Pavlik threw about 9 left hooks in his 2 rounds of fighting, and although Pavlik's hook is yet to be a thing of beauty , one can see a lot of potential in its development.

If Pavlik continues on this path of development I would say he needs about 2 more fights before being ready t start testing the elite fighters of the 168 pound division.

Pavlik is supposed to be scheduled to fight again in June 2012 .

We will see how Pavlik handles his latest victory, if he stays focused or gets distracted by personal issues again.

ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT.

US Federal Reserve lowers interest rates to create liquidity. 
The Price of oil goes up sopping up liquidity, as the key pivot/pillar/building block  to economic growth oil shows it’s power in the dance between fiat money and commodities.

                                                          VS

The greatest challenge facing the United States in the next 20 years .

The greatest challenge facing the United States in the next 20 years is the conflict within it’s ruling class on how to deal with China. In this business power dynamic the conflict is between the allure of access to cheap Chinese labor and potentially large market, and in staying in control and remaining the global Hegemon.

It all starts with a look.

It all starts with a look.
An affair,
A sexual relationship
A fight
A cab ride
It all starts with the first look.

The 4 Posts

                                                                   ILLINOIS
                                                                   CHICAGO



CALIFORNIA                
LOS ANGELES                                                                        NEW YORK                          




                                                                   TEXAS
                                                                   DALLAS
                                                                   HOUSTON

The cross or diamond shape that create the 4 posts that are the major metropolitan areas that create the exoskeleton for the perimeter of the Continental United States.

The Sleep Pit.

Into the sleep pit he would go. In this modern age of stress and anxiety, long work hours, he would occasionaly get to go into the sleep pit in his apartment a small room/closet that was quiet dark and warm and he would get a good 7-8 hours of sleep.
He was battling to survive, driving a taxi and in his spare moments studying computer programming.
While sleeping in a deep sleep in that dark room he had a dream about,
**
Capitalism, from Europe to the Americas, the Atlantic Slave trade, Capital, Money, Dollars, defined by the Federal reserve,  Bankers, wars for plunder around the globe especially the plunder of Hydrocarbons. Instead of money being on the gold standard it was on the oil/commodity standard, and the oil fields were like large bank accounts.

Manny Pacquiao vs Timothy Bradley jr. June 9, 2012

I can't wait.
Has Classic written all over it.
Would not be surprised if Bradley won.

Cab driving is a good job for dreamers .

Lots of time to think and dream. When not battling for your life in the cab.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

NATION STATES

TRIBES

FAMILIES

SPORTS TEAMS

CORPORATIONS

ARMIES

MILITARY UNITS

All have social protocols that are forms of communicating information between various people and groups.

This is the kind of economy that beats you into submission and makes you question yourself.

“We would like to live as we once lived but History will not permit it.”

President John F. Kennedy November 22, 1963.

All I got to say is Johnny Cash Baby....

Johnny Cash is a hell of an artist. A little monochromatic sometimes but deep..

Guillermo Rigondeaux "The Jackal" 122 pound WBA Champion.

Saw great fighter last night on TV his name was Guillermo Rigondeaux , I had seen his name in the boxing press before and knew he was a former Cuban Amateur stand out and that was it.
    I found out from the broadcast that he had defected from Cuba twice, being caught the first time in Brazil and sent back, and then successfully defecting a second time.
    I heard that he had not lost a boxing match since 2003. He claims and Amateur record of almost 400 fights with only 12 losses, and had won Gold Medals in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
    In the fight I watched last night Rigondeaux in  his 9th professional fight he beat Rico Ramo’s of the USA for WBA 122 pound title.
    Rigondeaux beat Ramos by standing in front of Ramos and not allowing himself to be hit and hitting Ramos with devastating punches.
    Rigondeaux has the cool nickname of El Chacal / The Jackal which fights his fighting style perfectly.
    The day after the fight I thought to myself that Rigondeaux was a representation of hard work and determination brought about by his environment and that Rico Ramos was just not as motivated a person due to his up bringing in the US. This is all conjecture on my part, but none the less Rigondeaux is obviously a special athlete with only one thing working against him his age of 31.
    I do see him even at this age and limited pro experience being able to run off a clip of 5-7 really good fights if faith is with him.
    Although he has limited pro experience I am sure he will grow and all those amateur fights 400 of them will hold him in good stead.

America's two greatest Geo Strategists of the last 40 years not born in the USA.

 

Zbigniew  Brzezinski Born in Poland and raised in Canada.
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Henry Kissinger Born in Germany and immigrating to New York as a teenager.
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Here are two  instances where immigration paid big dividends to the United States.

Sergio Martinez vs Dmitry Priog is the fight I would most like to see this year.

Pirog vs Jacobs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the fights I most would like to see this year is Sergio Martinez the top Middleweight fighter in the world vs the intriguing Dmitry Pirog of Russia.

Car driving probably the most egalitarian activity in the United States

 

Car driving is probably one of most egalitarian activities conducted in the United States primarily because of the insurance industry, that in an invisible hand kind of way metes out punishments to those who fail to drive correctly.

I was always waiting for the Cavalry to arrive and one day I realized I was the the Cavalry

Meaning there was no one coming to save me I had to save myself, and do for myself..

The Waiting.

Tom Petty said it best when he sang “The waiting is the hardest part.”
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Life is what happens while you are waiting for your plans to pan out.
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Waiting for the economy to get better, waiting for the election, waiting to see what happens to China, the EU etc.

2012-TWENTY-TWELVE----TWO THOUSAND AND TWELVE

Well the New Year is here.  I have a positive feeling that things are going to be better for me financially and career wise this year.
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2011 was tough year but not a disaster more of grind, but that is behind and me and on to the New Year..
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I hope everyone has a happy,healthy prosperous 2012..PEACE..