Posts under ‘accountability’

What is money?

Money is imaginary to begin with. It consists of something (credit, paper, gold, a number in a computer, etc.) chosen by a society to represent measured units of value for people to exchange goods & services. It is not only a straight replacement for goods & services, but money itself is a commodity. The particulars of how money works makes for good reading.

Money is in one sense, the confidence we have in this society of ours; in our ability to work together, exist together, live together for the betterment of us as individuals and as a group.

Money is trust. Money is a membership in society. Money is a varying measurement on how we feel we are doing as a group. How this plan of working together is going. Money is a report card and an assertion that we all believe in ourselves as a society.

Money makes it possible for people outside our daily transactions, consumptions and interactions with each other – to contribute to each of those parts of our lives. Money makes it possible for someone to make a shoe in one town for us to buy in another without ever seeing or even knowing that shoemaker or town. It’s not just shoes – it’s everything.

Today, on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol, US Senator Al Franken held a press conference to declare his intention to seek a second term as Minnesota’s junior Senator. Sen. Franken spent his entire first term in a lengthy court battle with The Party of “No”. With his wife Fran at his side, he addressed a large crowd of press, supporters and curious onlookers who seemed surprised to learn that Minnesota actually has two US Senators.

Wikileaks servers are overloaded and cannot operate. They recently posted a secret list of a proposed banned sites.

According to Forbes, the scope of Australia’s internet censorship has developed far beyond its initial aim to block child pornography and web pages associated with terrorism. Free speech advocates fear it could be used to block legitimate activity.

I am an alcoholic.

I got sober almost 20 years ago. Before that, I abused alcohol, drugs, sex and money in order to ignore the damage I had done to my life, deluding myself . I crawled through life in a cycle of being drunk or not yet drunk, making more mistakes that would need more drinking to erase. I am nobody special. Absolutely nobody. Everyone on this planet has problems and I have mine. I chose to deal with them by ‘feeling better’, one glass at a time. All day. Each and every day…week…month and year – until I turned to someone for help.

She helped me by asking me two questions.

… could become as important a journalistic tool as the Freedom of Information Act.
- Time Magazine

Wikileaks is the world’s #1 resource for publishing secret documents that are in the interest of public good. This site is a colossal pain in the ass for corporate criminals, corrupt governments, tax cheats and anyone out to abuse the general public. The site allows anyone in the world to submit secret documents anonymously so that the whole world can know what the criminals don’t want you to know. Whistleblowers and people of conscience who come across powerful secret information are able to make it public through Wikileaks. It is the only site of its kind.