Josh Buckner

In Conservative America, two poor kids in a small rural town were awarded football scholarships and left home for college. Meanwhile, the rest of the folks competed for the handful of local jobs that provided decent pay. Twenty years later, both men returned to their hometown.

One became very wealthy in the business of large-scale commercial farming; his winning formula was a combination of global trade, government subsidies, and low-cost immigrant labor. The other became a schoolteacher and widely respected advocate for a variety of poverty-related issues such as livable wages, worker’s rights, and public education.

The businessman became the town hero – a shining example of what you can achieve in this free market land of opportunity. Forever the opportunist, he ran for mayor on a pro-business platform and enjoyed wide support.

His counterpart Mr. Socialist, on the other hand, was a liberal elitist paving the way for serfdom to big government -  a despicable example of what threatens the dwindling opportunities in Conservative America.

Posted in: Politics by Josh Buckner / Tags: business, economy, partisanship, poverty, recession

1 Comment

PROCLAMATION.

Norton I., Dei Gratia, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, being desirous of allaying the dissensions of party strife now existing within our realm, do hereby dissolve and abolish the Democratic and Republican parties, and also do hereby decree the disfranchisement and imprisonment, for not more than ten, nor less than five years, to all persons leading to any violation of this imperial decree.                        Norton I.

San Francisco Herald
August 13, 1869
Source

Posted in: Politics by Josh Buckner / Tags: leadership, partisanship

No Comments

Altered Egos hard-hitting electronic hip-hop track with Kontra on the raps. Beat composed on the MC-909. Unreleased 2005 song for your enjoyment. Creative destruction. Enough is enough but sometimes it’s too much.

So run and hide
unless you want to come inside
these spaces which I coincide
Let these feelings multiply
cross your heart and hope to die
Kontra the destroyer
I’m free at last
and you’re the reason why I just laugh

Posted in: Music by Josh Buckner / Tags: hip-hop, Music

No Comments

A slow, eerie, tortured song with drums that assault you. There’s no-where to run to, all roads lead back to the beginning. No lyrics or vocals yet. Hit me up if you want to do something with it.

Posted in: Music by Josh Buckner / Tags: beats, Music

No Comments

Time to share a few of my favorite tweets over the past few days. Twitter becomes more fast-paced as you follow more people, so I thought I’d pluck some blurbs out of the real-time stream and show them off in my little aquarium.

When reporting on the War on Christmas, avoid giving away troop movements or revealing supply line locations.

There is an actual war on Christmas in Israel (and the Christian right is silent)

Dreams are only strange when you wake up from them.

conspiracies believe in you.

What is the Treasury hiding about Goldman Sachs and AIG?

Creativity contains opposites, like any new birth: joy of newness balanced w/labor of leaving comfortable status quo

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” – Aldous Huxley

There were a lot of good ones, but they’ll have to wait until next round. If you think these tweets were stupid, then you’ll see even stupider ones when you add me on Twitter.

Posted in: Digest by Josh Buckner / Tags: bailout, culture, philosophy

1 Comment

President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize today in Oslo, Norway. In my opinion, this was one of the best speeches Obama has given since being elected President.

Watch the video of his entire speech: CNN (w/ transcript) NY Times

Here are a few select quotes that resonated with me:

I understand why war is not popular, but I also know this: The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it.
…
For if we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something.
…
Those who want peace cannot sit idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war.
…
And within America, there’s long been a tension between those who describe themselves as realists or idealists; a tension that suggests a stark choice between the narrow pursuit of interests or an endless campaign to impose our values around the world. I reject these choices.
…
The nonviolence practiced by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance, but the love that they preached — their faith in human progress — must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey. For if we lose that faith — if we dismiss it as silly or naive; if we divorce it from the decisions that we make on issues of war and peace — then we lose what is best about humanity. We lose our sense of possibility. We lose our moral compass.

Posted in: Politics by Josh Buckner / Tags: Afghanistan, decision making, foreign policy, leadership, Obama, peace, terrorism, war

No Comments