Banks, Bailouts, Bonuses

Somebody, help me out. When the financial crises (created on W’s watch) struck, much of the populace was outraged that the big banks were given billions of taxpayers $$ to stay afloat. Now many (mostly Republicans) are outraged that the “leftist” Dems propose recouping some of that money through taxing the huge profits and bonuses big banks have generated over the last 12 months. WTF? Can you say, “Can’t Win”?

A Pox on Fox

Though I rail against the Fox “News” team (fair and balanced…gag), I don’t really blame Glenn Beck or Hannity or Limbaugh (or any left-wing commentators for that matter–though none of them have mastered the art like the Fox News clique). They are simply making a buck off playing to their audience. It’s the audience that is the problem.  Fox News’ core audience is largely provincial, narrow minded, intellectually lazy, and frighteningly gullible.  Harsh, but true.

Hurumph….

Hysteria, Paranoia, and the Flying Public

I love this question, put to every cable news talking head “expert” earnestly analyzing the latest (and thankfully botched) attempt to take down an airliner: “Is flying safe?” or the broader variation, “Are we safe?” Why don’t we ask these questions: Is Driving Safe? Is hanging Christmas lights safe? Is packing on an extra 50 pounds of body fat safe? Life has risks. We do what is REASONABLE to minimize risks. What is “reasonable” has limits, and having limits means that we do, as a society, put a price on human life. We accept 40,000 highway deaths a year (that’s about one fully loaded airliner every one to two days) for the convenience of having wider mobility than our legs can take us. Most people have no qualms about getting in their automobiles and driving to the airport, yet they are vastly more likely to be killed or maimed on the way there than to be killed or injured in a terrorist attack. The list of such life and death compromises we make in our everyday lives is long, and we accept them. Yet the hysteria and paranoia surrounding air transportation safety, and the non-stop drumbeat of the same fed by the media, is ridiculous to the point of being sublime.  The very people who are clamoring for more and more safety procedures and assurances are the same ones who are insulted or annoyed or feel that their privacy is being invaded when subjected to longer security lines and more invasive searches and scans.  From the Washington Post, “Privacy groups say whole-body imaging scanners conduct a “virtual strip search,” and have mounted a campaign to stop what they predict will be the abuse of electronic images of naked individuals. In a nonbinding vote in June, the House overwhelmingly approved a measure to prevent scanners from being used for primary screening.”  The Post’s article went on as follows: “We’ve spent eight years [and billions of dollars] looking for little scissors and toenail clippers,” said Ken Dunlap, IATA’s director of security in North America. “Perhaps the emphasis should be looking for bad people.”  No kidding.

The Right Wing, 150 years ago

There is little doubt that had Fox “News” been around in the early to mid 1800s, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, and the rest of the right-wing crew would be loudly defending Slavery, and condemning those who oppose it with relentless attack pieces. Think about it. Can anyone really see that bunch of talking heads vehemently denouncing slavery as it existed in these United States? The Conservatives are the ones who defend the status quo, and the status quo then was slavery. Of course you can throw in womens’ suffrage, voting rights for minorities, and a host of other social and political issues that conservatives were decrying and viciously opposing (and continue to do so) with all the hypocritical fervor of Republican Senators and Congressmen today condemning “socialized medicine” while they themselves get lavish health care benefits paid for and administered by the GOVERNMENT.

It’s, like, a disease…

Four words should immediately be banned from from the vocabulary of all people under the age of 30 (or at least restricted to infrequent and correct usage) before someone gets hurt:

#1– The word, “Like”: Really listen to the stream of un-punctuated phrases passing for complete sentences emanating from most young people these days (and many older ones who should know better). What you’ll hear is machine gun repetition of “Like” every three to six words. They don’t even know they are saying it. It is lamentable to put it mildly how far English education (and education in general) has fallen in this country. Teachers and parents bear responsibility for not nipping this lame speech pattern in the bud early. What passes for conversation amounts to inarticulate streams-of-consciousness ramblings. It is sad. Any young person who does not fall into this category immediately stands out as being better educated, more articulate, and more likely to be hired.

#2–the word, “Amazing”: Just listen. Everything, positive or negative, is “Amazing,” with very few things actually qualifying for that level of astoundment.

#3–closely related to that is the word, “Awesome”: It means “inspiring awe.” Really? It is time for to expand the lexicon of adjectives.

#4–”Whatever” as in, “What-ev-errr”: That Valley Girl holdover is still around.

Gr-r-r-r

Junk Political Emails

The incurable anti-Obama email forwarding crowd does not hesitate to gleefully pass on the most outrageous internet email pieces, many of which have been floating around for months or years…most of them with no claim of authorship (that can be verified, anyway), with no back-up references, no support whatever…nothing, but wild, ludicrous claims. It is akin to throwing garbage out of a moving car, or tagging a public wall with spray paint. There are sources to check the facts, and Snopes.com is only one of them (Snopes itself has been attacked simply because they are so effective at debunking internet rumors and pieces being forwarded as “fact”).  If you care about the truth, then check the facts before forwarding venomous junk.

George Will, twenty five years ago, wrote an opinion piece in Time Magazine entitled “The Rise of the Indignation Industry.” It was about the talking heads whose job it has become to be outraged and spread outrage at anything that they, or their compatriots, disagree with, which today has effectively boiled down to this, “If Obama, that non-American-born-Muslim-Communist-Socialist-Heathen is for it, then all good patriotic Americans should be against it.” And, with that as their marching orders, they will concoct anything, no matter how far from the truth for dissemination over the internet.   Sarah Palin, who is not qualified for anything beyond vice president of the local PTA, can lie through her teeth and get full support from the Fox news crowd.  This is damaging to the country, and to our spirit, and it is these spreaders-of-lies who are the real un-Americans.  If they want a debate, fine.  But let’s talk based on facts, not on fabrications.

Obama Haters…

Obama haters are going to have to get their stories straight. There are pictures of Obama with a hammer and sickle behind him, and pictures of him with a Hitler mustache and swastika armband.  If they read history (too much to ask, I suppose), the fascists and the commies hated, loathed one another.  To label a half-African American, liberal politician a fascist is the height of ignorance-driven hyperbole.  (Hitler, if he had a grave, would be turning over in it at such a ludicrous comparison).  And, by the way, no administration in recent history has done more to merge corporate America with state power than Bush.  Are they not aware of how the Bush Neo-Cons created the biggest financial bubble since the 20’s?  Blaming Obama, who has been in office 7 months and who walked into office trying to catch a falling knife, with any of the financial disaster is a gross, Fox-news-like, mis-characterization of the facts.  Most of these name-callers are so far off in space that it isn’t even possible to have a rational conversation with them.

Conservatives and Liberals–a History Lesson?

What follows is a “politically conservative” piece that has been circulating on the Internet.  It was forwarded to me in early August 2009.  Below it, you will find my response.

“Subject: TODAY’S LESSON: SIMPLIFIED AND TRUE

History 101
For those that don’t know about history, here is a condensed version:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals, and
2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That’s how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q’s and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided. Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn’t fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today’s lesson in world history:

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.

A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to tick them off.

And there you have it.  Let your next action reveal your true self.”

Response to: “TODAY’S LESSON: SIMPLIFIED AND TRUE”  What a bunch of BULL…

What should actually be “noted” is that it was LIBERALS, not conservatives, who started and finished the Revolutionary War. The conservatives supported the King. Read your history. I have no idea where that backwards notion about who the liberals were and who the conservatives were in 1776 came from, whoever authored that quaint little Hannity-like piece. It is, however, typical of the twisted logic of the far right.

In addition to fighting for our independence, it was the LIBERALS who pushed to eradicate slavery. If the Conservatives had had their way, we’d be the only country in the world that bought and sold human beings as property.

It was the LIBERALS who stood up to Gov. Maddox and his ilk in the South, and I’d challenge anyone to offer a convincing argument that we’d be better off as a country had that not happened.

It was the LIBERALS who, in fact, challenged the basis for the Vietnam War (which I blindly supported at the time–see below). In hindsight, nobody I know, conservative or otherwise, thinks now that it was a good idea to sacrifice 58,000 American Lives for a back-water of no strategic value to this country, all in the name of fighting Communism. The Soviets enjoyed bleeding us dry, laughing all those years. They supplied the arms, we threw our best youth into the meat grinder. Robert McNamara admitted it was a huge mistake, one that
haunted him all the remaining days of his life.

It was the LIBERALS who correctly, as it turns out, questioned the logic for going into Iraq. That little conflict worked out well, didn’t it? Just the way the Conservatives said it would…with us being greeted as liberators, and the whole thing over in 6 months, at no net cost to this country.

Those are just three major examples. Remember…liberals typically question authority and the status quo.

It’s been over 40 years since my 21st birthday, and finally, this one-time dyed-in-the-wool conservative, member of Young Americans for Freedom and the Young Republicans, campaigner for Barry Goldwater before I could vote…who voted for Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush senior (twice), Robert Dole, and “W,” twice, finally realized that most of what the conservatives champion no longer comports with my beliefs. That said, I look at each issue I’m interested in, try to find out as much as I can about it, and then decide which “side” I’m on. In the last 4 years, it has become exceeding obvious that the neo-cons in office did their best to trash the economy (not intentionally, but that is of little comfort), fight the wrong war, and whistle past the graveyard when it came to major social issues.

Oh, and by the way…the “American Beer,” BUD, is now a “foreign beer,” owned ironically, by Europeans, who are, in fact, more enlightened than the bible-thumping, creationist-believing, America-love-it-or-leave-it crowd.

Lastly…

I love the phrase in that piece, Conservatives…”provide for their women.” Hilarious. What troglodyte wrote this? In a considerable number of the families I personally know, the “little woman” provides at least half the income.

Second, the notion that it was the “conservatives” who left Europe and founded this country is exactly the opposite of what happened. The conservatives in Europe at the time were the persecutors (mostly religious-based…nothing ever changes, does it?), and it was the free thinkers, the non-conformists (i.e., liberals) who left, or were thrown out. For what it is worth, however, the Puritans, who no one would tag as liberal in anything, fortunately, were not in the majority, and our Founding Fathers, who were at best deists, wisely did not establish this nation under any religion. It was THAT sort of revolutionary thinking, (liberal thinking) that set this country apart. No country in the history of the world had established a central government without a state-sponsored, state endorsed, religion. That’s what CONSERVATIVES would have done, and to this day try to insist it is otherwise, or should be. Scary.

The Sean Hannitys, Rush Limbaughs, Newt Gingriches, and deliver us…Glenn Becks, of the world should read their history. It is these men who are inspiring and leading the storm troopers of today. As to Bill O’Reilly, he used to be fairly “neutral,” but since the election he has towed the Fox party line like the good trooper he is.

…and that’s all I have to say ’bout that.

Oh, by the way, if Barry Goldwater were alive today, he would be appalled at what happened to this country under 8 years of “W” and his master, the Emperor.

If there was any lingering doubt that Glenn Beck…

…is an inveterate whore, and simply not very bright, recent Daily Shows and Colbert Report segments have laid that to rest. You owe it to yourself to log onto the Daily Show on line and search for Glenn Beck Operation, which should bring up the opening segment for August 13. Glenn Beck is first shown ranting on his Fox News show that we already have the best health care system in the world. Then, Jon Stewart plays clips from January 2008 when Glenn Beck was still with CNN, and himself recovering from an operation that went “horribly awry,” in his own words.  Glenn went on to rant about how bad our health care system is.  It is really hilarious, in a dark, scary sort of way, given that there are people who actually listen to Glenn Beck.

As the summer wears on…Water Crisis

Southern California (and most of the rest of the country) is facing a water emergency.   Not presuming to lecture anybody, here, but this is serious.  We need to cut back.  It’s not that difficult to make a 25 percent cut in water usage, which would have a huge positive effect.  Let’s face it.  We are ridiculously spoiled. We treat water as if it’s nearly free, and unlimited. Most of the world is thirsty.  Water is the next resource crisis item. So, here are three suggestions to help out, all of which I’ve adopted personally.  To begin with, I’d bet money that 4 out of 5 people don’t know how long they actually spend in the shower, and if they had to guess, they would seriously UNDERESTIMATE it.  If you shower 10 to 15 minutes (and you should time yourself just to see), you’re sending 3 to 6 gallons a minute (flow rate can vary greatly…measure your shower when you have a moment) cascading into the sewer, or a total of 30 to 90 gallons which, times 365, amounts to 11,000 -  32,000 gallons over the span of a year.  You can do the math for longer showers.   Come on, rough it just a little.   And cutting down to 6 or 8 minutes does not count as roughing it.  Try this instead: wet yourself down for 20 to 30 seconds, then turn the water off, soap/shampoo your entire body, only turning the water back on to rinse off.  Not that much of a sacrifice, easy to get used to.   If you install a flow restricter, the gallons per minute are about 1.5, so all the better.  Second suggestion: if you typically run the water for a while waiting for it to get it hot, whether over the lavatory, the kitchen sink, or the shower, have a plastic container nearby to capture the water that would otherwise go down the drain. Use that water to refresh indoor plants and landscaping (which should be on restricted watering anyway).  Third: don’t run the garbage disposal longer than necessary to clear it out. It’s too easy to turn the water on and walk away for a moment while the disposal works, usually way longer than needed to do the job.  Better yet, start using it less, and the garbage can more.  Art