Captain's Log

Fair Taxes

2012-01-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

Much is being made about the top 1% getting off on less than 15% tax rates.
I know of an 80 year old widow living off of social security, her pension and he dead husband's making less than $30,000 dollars a year and her tax rate is 25%.
Tell me Mr. Romney and Gingrich do you think that's fair?

Free At Last

2012-01-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

I now have the publishing rights to Optimus: Praetorian Guard. PA over the last 4+ years has done a roller coaster ride on pricing that it was difficult to generate sales. They got me to buy over a hundred copies, most of them given to family and friends. I sold some at book signings and a few to blogger friends who gratefully wrote reviews.

I plan a complete re-edit and e-publish at Smashwords and Amazon for a reasonable price. The sequel "Stephanus" is in the works.

Hungarian Tea Party

2011-12-20T09:06:00.000-08:00

Paul Krugman ran an article about what's happening in Hungary. Today he has an article by Kim Lane Scheppele explaining what going on there. Within one year of gaining a majority in the unicameral parliament the Fidesz party has scrapped the constitution and imposed a new one. One aspect is total control of the judiciary:
Under the new constitutional order, the judiciary has taken the largest hit. The Constitutional Court, which once had the responsibility to review nearly all laws for constitutionality, has been killed off in three ways. First, the government expanded the number of judges on the bench and filled the new positions with their own political allies (think: Roosevelt’s court-packing plan). Then, the government restricted the jurisdiction of the court so that it can no longer review any law that has an impact on the budget, like laws pertaining to taxes and austerity programs, unless the law infringes particular listed rights. Finally, the government changed the rules of access to the court so that it will no longer be easily able to review laws in the abstract for their compliance with the constitution. Moreover, individuals can no longer challenge the constitutionality of laws without first going through a lengthy process in the ordinary courts. The old Constitutional Court, which has served as the major check on governmental power in a unicameral parliamentary system, is now functionally dead.

The law on the judiciary also creates a new National Judicial Office with a single person at the helm who has the power to replace the retiring judges and to name future judges. This person also has the power to move any sitting judge to a different court. A new constitutional amendment – to the new constitution! – will permit both the public prosecutor and the head of this new National Judicial Office to choose which judge will hear each case.

The independence of the judiciary is over when a government puts its own judges onto the bench, moves them around at will, and then selects which ones get particular cases to decide.

I thought about making a few statements, but then read the comments and thought they're saying about what I'd say.

RMWeston Greensboro, NC
..Wonder who the Republicans sent over there to make photocopies so they don't have to write it all up themselves?

MSG New Jersey
..there is something about this story which obviously rang a bell with many readers. Its the introduction of a plethora of measures, many of which have a surface plausibility, but the totality of which tend towards entrenched single-party govenrment. The reason this sounds familiar is that the Republicans are currently engaged in exactly such an effort thru dozens of voter-supression bills being passed in states where they currently have the majority. The idea is to supress enough Democratic votes so that they never have to give up that majority. And now, on top of that, Newt wants to destroy judicial independence, a la Fidesz. The authoritarian mind never sleeps, they just keep chipping, chipping away at democracy. A powerful lesson for the USA.

james hogan smoky mountains
..Would you guess that in Georgia, USA, that you can only vote for the nominal "republican" or "democrat" parties? Third party votes are only counted when the outcome of the election could be affected by the number of votes cast by "other" ballots. So if you dare to vote for a different choice, you may as well not vote.
In case you haven't noticed, Georgia USA is not Hungary, but there isn't that much difference between them.

mcgloinm bowling green, ky
..Boy, doesn't that sound like what the tea party wants to be?

R. Law Florida
..It's not just Newtie; remember that Perry has proposed a 2/3 vote in Congress could over-ride SCOTUS decisions, and that life-time SCOTUS appointments become staggered terms of 9 years each.
Scary that an 8 year two-term president from either party could then replace at least 8 Justices or even all 9, if some retired :(
Tim Kane Mesa, Arizona
..Germany = Conservative,
France = Conservative
Britain = Conservative
Spain = Conservative
Italy = Conservative
It doesn't look good anywhere. The communists came to power in 1917 under conditions of war. In the post war crisis that began with the Great Depression, almost all continental countries (meaning Napoleonic/Civil Code countries) reacted to the crisis by adopting far right rogue ideological rule:
Italy, 1922 = Fascist
Germany 1933=Nazi
Spain 1936-39=Falangist,
Japan 1929-1935=Nationalist/Militarist
The only nation that went from right to left, was the United States, where the Great Depression started as a result of decade long right wing Republican party rule. The reaction against the Great Depression was to go from right to left.

I could go on, there are many good comments to this post, and if you're interested there are a few trolls out there screaming that he made a mistake in calling Hungarians of Slavic descent when they're Magyar. I love this reply:
Joseph O'Shaughnessy Downers Grove, Illinois
..Yes, they are not Slavs. Yes it was a misstatement. Oy.

Atlas Shrugged the movie

2011-11-21T12:31:00.001-08:00

I avoided this film, but for some reason my son rented it and gave it to me, so I watched it.
What can I say, the book has taken a life of its own and all the teabaggers and banksters treat it as their holy scripture. A movie was inevitable.
Someone invested a lot of money making the first 1/3 of the book. There are supposed to be two more coming out. If this is any indication let's hope not.
For one I'm sure Ayn Rand is rolling over and screaming in her grave at how stupid the director is.
For the most part it followed the general plot and the first part of the book does have a plot. The major characters are introduced and you pretty well know who the good guys (industrialists) and bad guys (government regulators and the media) are.
The stupidity is that the movie and evidently the writers and directors forgot to include the one vital plot point that made sense of all of what was going on. They were so focused on this shadowing character walking up to people and then them disappearing they skipped Francisco D'Anconia's explaintion of what happened at the San Sebastian Mines. They're mentioned and it shows the military goose stepping to nationalize them, but that's it.
For those not all that familiar with the story this is what's left out.
James Taggart and the other bad guys all invested in these mines. When the're nationalized there's no ore in a copper mine.
At the party for Hank Reardon's wedding anniversary in the book James confronts Francisco and demands an explanation. It's really one of the best parts of the book. Francisco is like a cat playing with a mouse and then gutting it. He explains that he was only putting into practice what all the Communists and Socialists were preaching. He spent his and investor's money hiring laborers and putting them to work all for the common good. Best line, "I hired an engeneer to oversee the project. He wasn't a very good one, but he needed the job badly." The fact that this produced nothing according to their economic theory shouldn't matter.
When Taggart argues that it was a swindle on the investors Francisco points out they didn't do their homework and relied on him wanting to make money not realizing he was wanting to lose money.
This they left out of the movie. Francisco only tells Dagny that James and his cronies tried to ride his brain and not use theirs. For anyone who's actually read the book this was STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.

A Military Approach to Stimulus

2011-11-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

Ruined chapel had an interesting take on a few Krugman articles about Military Keynesianism and the Repugs. This gave me a thought of how to get a stimulus package through congress that all congress critters would vote for. Since all spending will be done for military reasons its all in the packaging.
1. Rebuilding infastructure. We will spend money rebuilding the decaying railroads, interstates and bridges for good sound military logistical reasons. They were built by President General Eisenhower to facilitate troop and material transport, and the need is even greater now since we are fighting three hot wars instead of one cold one. Being able to get our humvees, tanks, and troops from California to North Carolina is even more important now than then.
2. Childhood military training. JROTC is too wishy washy at civilian schools. Lets build at every city of over 100,000 population one military school. For a city of over a million one military school for every service branch. It would be a magnate school for parents to send their disobedient children, and for all the behavior disordered students expelled from public schools, and it would be cheaper for the parents than private schools. Military discipline would be implemented including corporal punishment, rigorous exercise programs would help with childhood obesity, the esprit de corps manifested would help curb gang activity within the cities and we'd have a ready made crop of cannon fodder to feed into the war making machine.
3. Military bases. Every town between 20,000 and 75,000 in population that wants one gets a military base. What were we thinking in closing down military bases within our borders and building them six thousand miles away. Congress critters can proudly vote for something that will bring economic prosperity to their states and create wonderful payday and title loan jobs. Besides what else are you going to do with all the graduates of those military schools. It doesn't matter if we build a naval base in Arizona, there are lots of lakes to put patrol boats for training purposes.
4. Militarize our borders. Every paved or graveled road gets checkpoints and thorough vehicle searches by drug and explosive sniffing dogs. We not only build the wall between us and Mexico we build a fort every ten miles with trenches between and keep troops in them 24/7. Let one of those illegals show his head and it's over the top. We do the same with Canada, we certainly don't want them coming down here to use our medical facilities. We can build naval bases every fifty miles along our coasts to stop and inspect all shipping fifty miles out at sea to stop all drugs and illegals from reaching out shores. We can send all those trying to get here from Cuba and Haiti in life rafts and innertubes back home long before they can set food on our pristine beaches. All airports will have an airforce base than is responsible for security against terrorist attacks, drugs and illegals.
5. Its a job, stupid. Every physically fit person between the ages of 18 and 30 applying for welfare or unemployment benefits is given the choice of nothing or enlisting in the military. Think of all the medicaid, food stamp and money that will be saved.

Lets put the undeserving poor to work. Give them training and a gun.

Bloody Cold

2011-10-17T14:53:00.001-07:00

I have a golf tournament on Saturday and started coming down with a cold last night. Nose is running like a river today. Blast!

Done

2011-10-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

Monday was my last day volunteering at the golf course. Ten hours a week didn't leave me any time to get any golf in and that's the reason why I was out there in the first place. It was fun for awhile, just with the added hours at the legal office it wasn't worth it. There's a good chance I can get back on in late March or April. I should have more time then than now. It's a real shame because this is the best time to golf here and it would be nice to get in two or three days a week hitting that little white ball.

Pissed of Caterpillar

2011-10-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

I was filling in divots with sand and seed when I brushed this little guy with my shoe I thought it was a leaf. He reared up on his back legs and started chewing me out for disturbing him. I had to take a picture of the brave little guy. I left him alone after that.

Too Little Too Late

2011-09-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

I can't figure if Obama has been using Fabian tactics against the Barbarian GOP for three years. He's finally coming out for the little people that have been forgotten, except to die or come home wounded in needless wars, for the past ten years.
Most everyone knows the Barbarians held us all hostage in August on the government shutdown deal, renegging on a promise made a year earlier in order to not rescend the Bush tax cuts. Now he's come out swinging on the jobs bill, now he wants to get rid of tax deductions and loopholes on the rich.
Many are saying it's about time, but for many who have lost all unemployment benefits and those that lost their houses to illegal forclosures. For many teachers who have lost their jobs and those coming out of college with not job in sight, and for the students who are entering overcrowded classroom without textbooks or supplies and facilities falling down around them this is too little too late.

What's with Channel 4 news?

2011-09-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

We have a convicted cop killer in our state. They are now at the sentencing phase. The catch is that after he was arrested and before his trial the state repealed our death penalty law and replaced it with life without parole. Since the crime and arrest came before the REPEAL. The DA is trying to select a jury to sentence him to death.
Channel 4 news last night and this morning said that the death penalty was declared unconstitutional after his arrest. There's a big difference between a repeal from a legislature and a court declaring a law unconstitutional. If it had been declared unconstitutional then they wouldn't be open for the death penalty.
They just have to put in buzz words to inflame the public against judges even if almost all judges local and federal were appointed by Republican presidents and governors or bought the office in an election.

Bruce's speech

2011-09-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

On this day I'm posting a click here for full speech delivered by my brother to Oklahoma Conference of Churches 02/11/03:

Instead of the frightful overreaction we have witnessed since September 11th, our nation would do better if it would respond to terrorism the way the people of Oklahoma responded to the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. That bomb did not prompt us to surrender our civil rights or to infringe on the rights of others. Unlike our federal government:

We did not suspend the constitution.

We did not send the police out to round-up, lock-up or expel all the foreigners and immigrants in town.

We did not hold suspects indefinitely without access to the courts or to counsel.

We did not tape conversations between suspects and their lawyers.

We did not suspend the laws requiring probable cause for wiretaps or search warrants.

We did not expand the role of the military in domestic law enforcement.

We did not torture suspects to obtain information, nor did we allow surrogates to torture suspects for information.

We did not create a military tribunal to try and execute suspects without applying the Constitution or state and federal laws.

We did not endorse assassination as an alternative to capture.

We did not create a private foundation to issue ID cards to all citizens.

We did not create a network of free-lance spies to report anything that might be considered suspicious.

We did not create a massive computer system to keep tabs on every aspect of our citizen’s daily lives.

And, we did not use the bombing as an excuse to suspend the first, second, and fourth amendments and then attack militias or invade white supremacist compounds to make them disarm.

What we did was to rescue survivors, clean-up the wreckage, rebuild our city and bring the criminals to justice. The bombing of the Murrah Federal Building did not destroy the freedom-loving, risk-taking, self-sacrificing spirit of the people of Oklahoma. Neither should the criminal acts of a few terrorists destroy the freedom-loving, risk-taking, self-sacrificing spirit of our nation.

Since September 11, 2001 it has become commonplace to say that the world changed that day. Some things did change. Several thousand precious, unique and irreplaceable lives were lost and the lives of many more were irreparably harmed.

I must object, however, to assigning any significance to the evil that transpired that day. In my mind, the most important lesson to be learned from that day is to be found in the images of heroism and the examples of self-sacrifice demonstrated by the men and women of the New York City fire department and police department and others like them.

We need to learn from the people who left places where they were safe and secure and walked courageously into harm’s way to rescue the victims of a grave injustice. From them we learn that there are some things in life that are more important than safety and more valuable than security.

Shame on Channel 4 news

2011-09-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

Watched Obama's speech. It's about bloody time he came out firing instead of being the punching bag. I only watch channel 4 news as the other two local stations are over the top in their bias. Last night and this morning channel 4 said the jobs bill would be paid for by taxing the rich. Nothing was even remotely mentioned about raising taxes in this speech. The Republicans don't have to get up and lie to the American people to sabatoge the bill. The media can do it for them by misreporting it.

My take, Obama's doing a Harry Truman 1948. Running against a "do nothing" congress and blaming the opposition for the lack of improvement on the economy. There's no way the Senate, controlled by Republicans, will pass this bill. It would kill their chances of getting one of their dunderheads like Rick Perry elected. Obama just might be using political ju-jitsu to use their strength against them.

2011-09-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

I remember the summer of 1980. Wife was pregnant and Albuquerque had a solid week of +100 degree days. Most of the 40+ years I've lived here we don't get over 98 degrees all summer. My grandfather died on the 4th of July and we had to make a trip to Temple, Tx when they were in a major heatwave. It was 100 degrees there with 90% humidity. Talk about driving into a Turkish bath. When the football season opened in September I watched the Cowboys home opener and they were talking about Dallas having over 60 days over 100 degrees. That was by far the hottest summer I remembered up to this year. Don't believe me? Check out this chart. Look for 1980 and compare it to this summers.
As Fox News says: There is no such thing as global warming.

Captain's Log stardate 082411.1240

2011-08-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

Books, TV and movies focus on Lawyers. They show secretaries (who do most of the work) and mention para-legals. There's nary a word said about legal assistants or runners. I can't complain too much since I have no legal training and what I do for Attorney X is grunt work and he pays me more out of the goodness of his heart than my ability.
He's started picking up cases out of town. Last year a criminal case in Los Lunas and now Domestic cases in Santa Fe and Rio Rancho. The last two weeks I've made a half dozen trips to the courthouse on the northern edge of Rio Rancho, which means it's only a few miles south of the town of Bernalillo. It's easiest to take I-25 to Bernalillo, go through the town across the river, past Santa Anna Star Casino and back on Hwy 528. It seems like for every set of documents I take there is something wrong and I have to bring them back, get Att X to sign them or correct them and take them back. Friday I took a set of papers out there at 12:10 only to find out they close on Fridays at 12:00. Jupiter Optimus Maximus! This is getting old. Att X is paying me for my time and gas money, so the wild goose chases he is at least paying for, but the wear and tear on me fighting the heat and traffic is taking a toll.
Today he had me deliver a letter that had to be in Santa Fe by 10:00am. He was supposed to meet me at his office at 0800 so I could drive his car up there and back or I was going to ask for mileage. When it's that far gas money doesn't cover it. He didn't show up until 0815. Still plenty of time. I'd printed a google map of the place I needed to be and got to the turn off at 0900. Every road ended with a gated private drive. I went back to a gas station bought a map and found Google doesn't have a clue where that little dirt road is located. Delivered the letter at 0955, said, "Tag, you're it." and headed back.
I don't mind running papers to be signed or processed at the county courthouse here, but the stuff out of town is driving me crazy.
Good part is that now I can sit and do more writing before picking the wife up and heading home.

Deny Deny Deny

2011-08-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

A. Larry Ross has a post on the Daily Beast. Saying that Christian Dominionism is a myth.

Kind of reminds me of the classroom. I see little Chrissy or Johnny turned around talking. I tell them to turn around and be quiet and they immediately say, "I wasn't talking." They think the act of denying what they are doing negates the fact they were.

A. Larry Ross can deny Christian Dominionism exists all he wants to, but it's a lie. Michelle Bachman, the quitter from Alaska and Rick Perry are all hip deep in Dominionism. Dominionists don't want the Elmer and Emily Fudd's out there to know what they stand for, because most American's would run screaming from a country they want to create.

They want a theocracy where God rules and the preachers are His police force. They are Calvinists and want to set up their version of Heaven on Earth like John Calvin tried in Geneva, and the Puritans set up under Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum, and New England when the English had a belly full of them and kicked them over here.

Getting Defensive

2011-08-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Paul Krugman and Mystery Man both have words to say about a WSJ article concerning common sense in economics.
From a layman's perspective that only taught high school economics a few times I can't get into too much on the macro economic level. I've figured out that there are two main competing economic theories divided between the University of Chicago around Lake Michigan and Princeton close to the Atlantic Ocean. So they two groups have been dubbed freshwater for Chicago and Salt water for Princeton.
Fresh water economics is the cut taxes, get the government off business's backs, deregulate and privatize everything crowd.
Salt water follows Keynes who's policies FDR used to set the social safety net during the Depression by regulating business, especially banks, getting off the gold standard, creating Social Security, subsidising farmers, minimum wage, unemployment. Medicare and Medicaid was an expansion of this by Johnson in 1964-5 in his Great Society.
So you could say that from 1933 to 1980 Salt water economics rules the day. From 1981 to the present day fresh water economics has ruled. Clinton and Obama both embraced freshwater economics.
So lets examine historically how the two theories have fared. That's what common sense would dictate: what works, what doesn't.
Hmmmm, FDR had a pretty big mess to clean up that the old timer freshwater guys made, but his safety net and regulations kept us from going even deeper into the economic hole created by Coolege and Hoover's do nothing attitude. After WWII our economy boomed until the 70's when we hit stagflation. In those years there was no stock market crash: you couldn't make money selling low. No banks went under.
Reagan came along and unemployment went from 8% to 12%, but he's a hero, he saved the day. He busted the air controllers union ya see. Since 2001 when Bush took over and ruthlessly applied freshwater economics our economy had done nothing but tank. a trillion dollars lost in deregulating the savings and loans. Crash of 1987, crash of 2001, dot com bubble, crash of 2008, housing bubble, too big to fail, and nothing has been done to stop this. The freshwater panacea for keeping out of a depression is to fight wars: good for business, cuts unemployment, who cares about the lives destroyed, but unfortunately that hasn't worked this time.
That's why they write non-sense editorials like this, they say Obama is a salt water guy, but other than an too weak stimulus package and a cloned Republican health care package all of his policies have been staight out of the university where he taught law: Chicago.
The fresh water guys are running scared. Edward Prescott can win all the awards economics can throw at him, but Krugman is being consistently proved right. They know their fiercly held religous belief in supply side economics has only opened the flood gate to graft, corruption and the pre-New Deal roller coaster ride of boom and bust economics.
Common Sense says fresh water economics seems to be winning the reality debate.

Best Reason Yet For the Fix We're In

2011-08-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

Jason Linkins on Huffpo has this to say why our political situation is so messed up.

Duh, Follow the MONEY

As I recently pointed out in the Financial Times, a tidal wave of political cash that emerged in the 1970s has washed away the remnants of the old seniority system in Congress, drastically changing the way that body operates. In its place, Congress now uses a system of "posted prices" for selecting who serves on committees and assumes leadership positions. Individual members of Congress compete for key slots by raising enormous amounts of money not only for themselves, but for the national congressional and senatorial campaign committees. These are controlled by Congressional party leaders. The leaders' control of these committees, along with the vast fixed investments in research, polling, and media capabilities these committees maintain, gives them more leverage over individual Congressmen and women. It makes crossing party lines far more costly than, for example, in the nineteen fifties.

In dividing so sharply and refusing compromises, Congress is listening primarily to those who contribute political money, not the public.

Golfing Ambience

2011-08-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

Started being a course marshall. With the hospital and doctors bills from wife's surgery last month this is the only way I'll be able to afford golf for years to come.
Saturday a strip club had a tournament and I was there to keep the drunks off the grass on par 3's, speed up play, make sure they didn't bring in their own booze and do other really stupid stuff. Each foursome had at least 2 girls sitting on their laps as they drove between hits. I know sitting around watching prettty girls in tank tops or polo shirts without bras is a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
On the greens the girls would sit behind the hole and put their legs out in a V shape, or bend over so their cleavage would give the guy a target to shoot for. There were three high school boys that had the job of collecting the trash at the recepticle on each hole. You would not believe how fast they filled up with beer bottles. When the day was over they all went to the manager in the pro shop and said this was one job they didn't want to leave. The boy at the 18th green who washes down clubs for tips was invited to hit a 15 foot put between one gals legs. He's leaving in a week for to play at a small college's golf team. He'll remember sinking that putt and use it as inspiration from now on.
The girls riding in the concession carts, they had four of them out there, made more tips in five hours than they normally do in a month. Those guys would hold up play for 30 minutes buying stuff off the cart, the group behind didn't fuss because they were waiting for the cart to get to them.
One guy broke a back window on a house and the owner came out wanting to get the golfer's name, who naturally wouldn't give it to him. Problem was homeowner was a cop and had three squad cars there pretty quick. Nobody said how it was resolved, but the manager told the homeowner that's the risk you take when you buy a house around a golf course.
Riding around yesterday and it was really slow from noon until around 3pm. Too bloody hot for most people. I found I was getting as much satisfaction riding around the course picking up broken tee on the tee boxes, putting sand in the divots, cleaning up stray trash with my grabbit and shagging wayward range balls on the holes close to the driving range as if I was out there golfing. One Fly might know what I'm talking about since he works at a golf course in CO. There's just a love of nature while you're out there. Hitting the ball and getting into the hole just give you something to do while you're enjoying nature at it's manicured finest.

No Surprise Here

2011-08-04T10:27:00.001-07:00

Yahoo has posted the ten metropolitan areas with the worst housing markets:
1. Tuscon, AZ
2. Indianapolis, IN
3. Memphis, TN
4. Atlanta, GA
5. Baton Rouge, LA
6. Dayton, OH
8. Detroit, MI
8 Kansas City, MO
9. St. Louis, MO
10. Oklahoma City, OK
No I didn't number them wrong Indianapolis and Kansas City are tied.

Seems to me almost all of these cities are in states that voted for Bushco and have Rethug governors.

Collaborator-In-Chief

2011-08-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Letting the Bush Tax cuts continue was about the stupidest thing Obama did up to this day, but he'd been promised by Boehner that there wouldn't be a fight over extending the debt ceiling. Hmm, remember when Hitler promised Chamberlin that all he wanted was the Sudentenland?
At least England figured out that Hitler couldn't be trusted and stood up to him.
Now Obama is imitating another figure from history, Marshall Pitain, who collaborated with the Nazi's and set up Vichy France.
I got an urgent e-mail from the guy heading Obama's reelection campaign saying that Obama has the Republicans right where he wants them for the 2012 election. So what! When will he grow a back bone and stand up to the bully's?

I'm reminded of a Roman Emperor who was captured by the Parthians in battle. He spent two years chained and brought out to act as a step stool so the Parthian King could mount his horse. When the King tired of this he was flayed alive.
What will be Obama's fate since he's surrendered his integrity and moral standing to the opposition without a fight?

Golf's back

2011-07-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't played much golf the last few months. Number one reason was money, then all the smoke from the different forest fires didn't make it too healthy, plus the heat.
Yesterday I did some traning to be a course ambassador at Desert Greens golf course, which is where I play with the gaggle and I start on Monday. It's only two five hour shifts a week and you get to play free with up to a foursome (after 12pm). Looks like golfs back for me.

Space Program

2011-07-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

William Manchester in his book The Glory and The Dream mentions that the U.S. did three things in the 1960's that would have bankrupted any other country or empire. 1) The Great Society with the programs of Medicare/Medicaid, food stamps, HUD, and federal funding of education. 2) The Vietnam War and 3) space race.
Since Bushco took over Johnson's Great Society is about finished. No Child Left Behind is putting the nail in the coffin of federal funding for education, Obama is bargaining away Medicare as I write this. With the space shuttle Atlantis now heading to the Smithsonian the space race is being taken over by private industry and NASA's future is uncertain. The Vietnam war is over, but we've doubled down by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan now for ten years with no end is sight, when Vietnam only lasted eight.
The space shuttle program is now history. In looking at its post mortem and you consider the number being bandied about for its 30 year existence is 200 Billion dollars. Sounds like a lot of money, but when you compare it to the money and lives lost on these two wars with very little gain in security to the scientific and technological advances the space shuttle provided it was a bargain.
When the first space shuttle lifted off there was no:

Satellite TV

Home computers

Internet

Cell phones

Satellite phones

Satellite photos on the weather reports.

Deep space photos from Hubble telescope.

The current space station

The technological advances from the pure science will last for decades. In all it could be said that many fortune 500 businesses today didn't exist before the shuttle program.

I wonder what more we would have if all the money wasted by giving the wealthy tax cuts and writeoffs since Bushco took over and the money lost to bailing out the banksters. If we'd spent just 10% of all that money that has evaporated into the numbered banks accounts of 1% of the population how many more jobs would be available for college graduates, high school students might feel like their educations meant something and have goals other than working the night shift at Circle K's or being a stocker at Wal Mart. How many more fortune 500 companies would exist? To sum up, since we launched Telstar and John Glenn orbited the earth 3 times it has been money well spent.

If there is any one aspect of NASA that has failed it's been their PR. It took a forever for the first shuttle launch and they dropped the launch platform reverting to the verticle rockets. The only time the shuttles seemed to make the news was when they failed. The Challenger explosion and Columbia destruction gave the impression that NASA was cutting corners. All the public knew was the failures, very little was told about their accomplishments. In essenced they didn't toot their own horn enough, but again its hard to toot pure sciences horn. The technology that comes from pure science rarely gives credit.

If there ever was a time for Obama and Congress to invest in the future that would help the economy recover by announcing an ambitious space program it's now. Returning to the moon and establishing a permanent station there would be just the ticket, but private industry is wanting to do that. Private industry won't provide the benefits that NASA has in the past and would if given the chance.

Poetry on hold.

2011-07-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

Wife's been in the hospital since Sunday.
Surgery tomorrow, hoping for Lapro instead of major
Get back to blogging when things settle down.

Poems

2011-06-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Mary Newmarch Prescott

THE DAYS OF A STORY

THE SCENE

Soon the catkin's velvet tassels will be blowing.

Soon the brimming brooks will call and shout;

And the green grass will be growing, growing.

And the crocus buds will all look out;

Soon the eager birds will come, with trill and

whistle,

Little wings a-whirring through the air.

Fetching wisp of hay, or down of thistle,

Such as last year's harvest had to spare.

Soon anemones will show their startled faces,

Violets will be pushing towards the light.

Soon the leaves will steal into their places.

And the fairy frost will take its flight.

Soon the dear earth will be set in all her order.

Evening heavens bloom with tender spheres.

Summer will come blushing o'er the border

Swift and meet her, Love and Joy and Tears!

Another poem

2011-06-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

INVOCATION

Mary Newmarch Prescott

Oh, sweet Romance, let me know

If by any rhyme or reason

I can woo you, that you blow

In my garden every season!

Tell me what the soil you need.

What cool showers, what April weather;

If like any common seed

You put up a pale green feather?

Though a hundred years are vaunted

To perfect the aloe flower.

You, dear Romance, most undaunted.

Bloom a hundred times an hour.

And though bay-leaves crown the brave

While the myrtle's for the poet.

Plant immortal, I would crave

Seed of thee that I might sow it

Broadcast, round my wicket-gate,

Till—wide-spreading, multiplying,

Ingress to dull care denying

—

I might sit the world defying.

Through my mood, my state belying,

Learning gayly how to wait.

Hark! through all the crystal pauses

Breaks the treble of thy leaves;

Silverest of silvery noises,

Tapping at my cottage eaves.

When the wandering winds are tired

—

Till one more than half believes.

Sighs some weary-hearted Dryad

Whom the daily sun deceives.

Yet when morn is just beginning

To foretell its grand surprise.

Through thy boughs what chorus ringing,

What chatoyant splendors winging

—

Splendors caught from sunrise skies

Wedded with celestial singing—

Singing birds of Paradise.

For me, never, never lonely

Days nor nights, if thou wilt only

Not delay thy spring-tide budding.

Nor forget the June-day flooding

Of my ways with subtlest fragrance.

Calling home the winged vagrants

That from memory vanished quite

Out of hearing, out of sight.

Lose in the- uncertain distance

Claim to true shape or existence.

Through thy tendrils, sky-aspiring.

Leaving little for desiring.

Let me hear the tempest's choiring.

Mellowed to the flute's respiring:

Let the sunbeam's warm embrace

With thy being interlace.

Leading by a shining clew

Heavenward to the quiet blue

Let the rainbow's bridge of sighs.

Which the earth to heaven allies.

Touch thee into a disguise

Radiant as the dragon-fly's.

Can it be that storms may splinter

All thy strength some cruel winter?

That some wild and bleak New Year

Bring thee but a frozen tear;

So when little May winds shiver

Thou wilt make no answering quiver

Oh, be ever green and growing,

No repulse thy spirit knowing!

Like the noble Banyan tree

Tenant of the soil, but free!

With thy magic seed shed wide

On laden west-wind, laden tide,

Each ripe harvest loosely cast

And borne upon each flying blast.

Daily journey everywhere

That the great heroic dare.

Wandering now to farther Greenland

And the coasts of the Unseen land;

Into chilliest regions going

—

Regions of perpetual snowing;

Striking latitudes that smile

Into summer all the while.

Blown across the open sea

Of a vast humanity.

Where no other plant will flourish

Thou thy rarest blossoms nourish!

By the merest thread of bliss.

By a whisper, by a kiss.

Bid thy folded leaves expand,

Beautifying all the land.

In thy shade, that sunshine is.

Let me taste of happiness;

Oh, dear Romance, let me be

Evermore at home with thee!

Poetry

2011-06-22T11:23:00.001-07:00

I came across a book of poems from this lady and found I like them. Thought I'd share some.

Mary Newmarch Prescott, American author and sister of Harriet Prescott Spofford, was born in Calais, Maine, August 2, 1849, the daughter of Joseph Prescott and his wife Sarah Bridges. Her parents removed to Derry and afterwards to Newburyport, Massachusetts. Mary was educated chiefly at home by her mother and sister. Her first story was written as a school composition, but was sent to Harper's Magazine and accepted. After that she wrote many poems and short stories which were published in various magazines. She died at the home of her sister, Mrs. Spofford, at Deer Island, Amesbury, Maine, June 14, 1888.

POEMS

MARY NEWMARCH PRESCOTT

OVER A GRAVE

Though underneath the silent clod

Thy body rests—thy soul with God

Doth mount on wings of prayer and praise

To swell the measure of thy days.

Even though the grass is tall and green,

That grows thy heart and mine between.

Even though thy face be hid from me.

My Father's will I clearly see.

Reality check

2011-06-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

I have a different post about reality at Family and Friends blog.
Staying on my Ayn Rand kick, here's another quote from Atlas Shrugged conservatives have forgotten.
Diatribe by Fransisco D'Anconia on what the root of money is: The root of money is production. Money is used to exchange one man's produce for another. It only works if both sides get value for value.

"When is a society doomed? When those who produce something have their production taken away by force by those who produce nothing, and laws are passed to protect them from you. That's when you know that the only real law is from the barrel of a gun."

Now let's do a short comparison/contrast. The year 2008, months before the presidential election. Wall Street, which produces nothing, is going belly up, the economy is collapsing as banks are forclosing on all real estate, not just private homes. The stock market crashes and the legal monetary lottery, again which produces nothing, wipes out Billions in imaginary wealth. Hedge funds, the housing bubble, speculation are to blame. People are losing everything because there's no credit. Bushco with a vote from then Senator Obama doesn't blink an eye and they bail out Wall Street to the tune of 800 Billion dollars with no strings attached. The top brass of those too big to fail banks, hedge funds, whatever get fat multi-million dollar bonuses. All those bailed out kept the money and are continuing the same practices that caused the problem. The economy is still suffering from tight credit and the top brass still get the big bonuses. 800 billion and no jobs saved, the housing industry is still comatose and good hard working, producing, tax paying, citizens still having their houses foreclosed so the banks can pocket the money the government gave them for their losses and after they foreclose and resell pocket that money too. The love to double dip.

At the same time General Motors and Chrysler are going belly up they do produce automobiles which gives jobs to dealers, mechanics, gas stations, transport companies, etc. Should they go bankrupt thousands of jobs would be lost. Obama is now president. The republicans want him to let them die. Their problems are due to the unions, bad management, we don't need those jobs. Money is allocated, but tight strings are attached. Actually that was the right thing to do and GM and Chrysler are now solvent and have paid back what was loaned. Partly because of a timely program called "cash for clunkers." Part of what the republicans called in the 2010 elections Obama's failed stimulus package. The net result is that the loans to producers saved thousands of jobs, not all as the corps did close plants in Detroit and some dealerships. The stimulus package is still being spent and it did save jobs for a few years.
Aren't the Republicans the ones who think Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is their supply side economic Bible? Did any of them ever read it?

Battling Philosophies

2011-06-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

Moonlight had a quote that I am copying here: For the complete article click here.

William F. Gavin:

"What we have in the United States today is not an ideological battle, or even a cultural war, but something larger and deeper: a true clash of irreconcilable philosophic views, not just about abortion, but about truth. One of those views encompasses all that is best in the Western tradition from antiquity until now, including the findings of science, and the other holds that everything that is essential to human betterment in the modern world began during the Enlightenment, and everything preceding that was obscurantist, credulous, and bloody... the strategy is always the same: create a climate of doubt about the possibility of objective truth, discoverable by reason; corrupt the inherited intuitive wisdom by which the people have always lived; construct and then promulgate through mass-media entertainment a philosophy that puts an end to all philosophy, destroying civility in its broadest and deepest sense."[Emphasis mine.]

One of the most venerated voices for the conservatives is Ayn Rand and her novel Atlas Shrugged.

John Galt in her book says: "When two men have differing views they let reality decide which is right and which is wrong. One may lose, but both profit."

Gavin claims that objective truth, discoverable by reason corrupts inherited intuitive wisdom.

Well which is it. Empirical objective observation or intuitive wisdom. Ms Rand did call her philosophy Objectivism after all.

There is nothing objective in believing in Fresh Water economics. Thirty years of failed supply side disaster should have proven to the dimmest bulb that it doesn't work except for the 1% who buy our politicians and pay these economists to be their mouth pieces. Read Paul Krugman's op/ed piece in today's NY Times.

Ask for a coherent theory behind the abandonment of the unemployed and you won’t get an answer. Instead, members of the Pain Caucus seem to be making it up as they go along, inventing ever-changing rationales for their never-changing policy prescriptions.

While the ostensible reasons for inflicting pain keep changing, however, the policy prescriptions of the Pain Caucus all have one thing in common: They protect the interests of creditors, no matter the cost. Deficit spending could put the unemployed to work — but it might hurt the interests of existing bondholders. More aggressive action by the Fed could help boost us out of this slump — in fact, even Republican economists have argued that a bit of inflation might be exactly what the doctor ordered — but deflation, not inflation, serves the interests of creditors. And, of course, there’s fierce opposition to anything smacking of debt relief.
Gavin and the other conservatives want to keep the debate about abortion or gay marriage so while that's all the conservative media talks about the crooks keep robbing us blind.

Can't get through

2011-06-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ruined Chapel by Moonlight.
I've been trying to post comments on your site, but the comment troll keeps giving me the runaround. It wants where I'm posting from, then I have to sign in and when I try to post it puts me back to sign in. I have no idea what the problem is.

Nice mural

2011-06-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

Stopped and got gas at a station in Offerle Kansas on the way to Nebraska. While gassing up I couldn't resist taking a picture of the mural next to the station. It's really quite good.

Another prophet with egg on face

2011-05-22T11:38:00.001-07:00

What about the Bible saying that no one knows the date and time do these idiots not get?
It's so easy for someone trying to make a name for themselves and attract non-thinking groupies to dream up a doomsday scenario and rake in the money.
Living a Christian life is a committment. Cheap Grace and sitting around waiting for the sky to fall in is only delusion.

I'm Honored

2011-05-20T18:19:00.001-07:00

Mystery Man From The Shadows has honored me with this award. It's gratefully appreciated.

I'm supposed to pass it on to someone who needs it.

Russ, who recently lost his wife is the person I feels needs this award the most. He's been through years of hell and suffered great loss. A little sunshine will go a long ways with him.

Here's the deal

2011-05-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Dear reader click on this link to my page at Smashwords.com and look at my list of books available. I have dropped the price of all short stories to 0.00. That right Free, and what's more you don't need a special app like Kindle or Nook to download the story.

I've reduced the price on my anthologies and novel, but here's the deal. Just for coming to this blog you can download them for free too. Here's how you do it:

For Human Sacrifices when you check out put in coupon code PA52R (not case specific).

For Flash Stories: Married Love coupon code is RR26Q

For Flash Stories: Erotica coupon code is UY58W

For Erotic Flash Stories 3 coupon code is XF25Q

Have some time to read? What are you waiting for?

The coupons are only good through June 6, 2011.

Free Short Stories

2011-05-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

I have two short stories up at Smashwords.com and I've priced them at 0.00. The titles are Car Hop and Super Erotic Bowl. At Amazon and B&N I had to price them at .99.
Smashwords let's you choose which format to download or no format at all. No need for an app from Amazon, B&N, Sony or other readers.
Hey, mon, check 'em out.

Medical Costs

2011-05-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

Bruce has an interesting graphic on his blog but I can't get it to embed here. I'm still a blogger dummy on some things. Take a look it's eye opening.

Touching words

2011-05-02T08:04:00.001-07:00

Russ has a touching eulogy posted that he delivered Wednesday at his wife's funeral.

Back In Business

2011-04-26T13:25:00.001-07:00

I haven't been able to post in some time due to a mix up with Javascript.
I've published three short stories, three anthologies and one novel at Amazon.com, Barnesandnobles.com and smashwords.com.
Optimus is now at Amazon for $9.99 and at publishamerica.com for $27.99. I don't think PA wants to sell many e-books.
The other books are under Patrick Prescott:
Human Sacrifices $8.99 e-book only
A story about a young woman confronting a demon that feeds on the pain and suffering all around her. She's facing an abusive fundamentalist husband that fights to keep her from divorcing him, starting a teaching career and getting on with her life trying to reach her students and keep them out of the mouth of Mal, the demon she sees in the trees outside her window.
This story has the three things you should never talk about at a party: Sex, religion and politics.
Short Stories:
Bona Dea $.99 at Kindle and Nook, Bona Dea Redux at smashwords (long story)
A lonely security guard's spirit touches the spirit of a goddess that has been trapped in an eagle for hundreds of years. The goddess slowly comes back to life through Steve and his friends to start providing the world with love and happiness again.
Wife Quest $.99 e-book available at the sites listed above.
John Fletcher is a young knight helping escort is leige lord on a tour of his estates stopping at numerous other castles to find the Lord's son and daughters spouses. Set in 1190 England this story explores the different social classes and marriage customs of the middle ages.
Woman on the Beach $.99 e-book
A woman is distraught on a beach and lets her cover slip exposing her to all present. A family with small children and the man who has told her he's taken employment out of state. This story lets the reader understand the viewpoint of all involved in a chance encounter.
Anthologies:
For years I would select a picture from the internet at first describing it in exact detail as an exercise for my summer writing. Quickly the description turned into flash stories (1,000 words or less) telling a story about the picture. The three short stories above started off as flash stories and the story grew. The remaing stories have been compiled into three anthologies.
Flash Stories: Married Love $4.99 e-book
All of these stories deal with marriage in all it's stages from newly weds to divorce, remarriage, mature marriages, loss and grief, fights, making up and many more phases.
Flash Stories: Erotica $4.99 e-book
My stories here are discriptions of the people involved and how they wind up in bed and it's aftermath. Nudity is described, but not the sex act itself. I leave that up to the reader's experience and imagination. Erotica not pornography got it?
Erotic Flash Stories 3 e-book $3.99

Publishing up a storm

2011-03-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

These are my two short stories I've published since finding out how easy it is to get an e-book or story out there. Both are at Amazon for the Kindle as well as Optimus:Praetorian Guard.

Optimus sells for 9.99 while the two short stories go for .99 each. You can download Barnes & Nobles Nook format to your pc, ipad, iphone or android for free and be able to read all their e-books. Four free books come with the download and four magazines. So if you've never read Bram Stoker's Dracula or Louisa May Alcott's Little Women its not a bad deal.

I discovered smashwords.com where they make you format the story along pretty strict guidlines totally different from the publishing format that's been in use for print, but you can set your own price and they convert it into the Kindle, Nook, Sony and other formats so anyone can buy the book from them and read it on their reading device or pc. An interesting feature is that they let you read the first three pages of the book or story before you buy it to see if you'll like it.

For a couple of years before I retired to work on my descriptive abilities I'd find a picture that I liked on Playboy's Cyber Club and write a description of it, that turned into writing a flash story to make it interesting. I then posted them on the message board that comes with the membership and got some good feedback. Both of these short stories started this way I expanded them from a couple of hundred words to six and seven thousand words. I'm editing, revising and expanding the others and plan to publish them soon.

Stardate 031511.0901

2011-03-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

Need to rest up today from all the running around I did yesterday
Have Optimus:Praetorian Guard available for Amazon Kindle, Mom tried to download it yesterday and couldn't get it to work. Frustration level reaching critical.
First short story, Wife Quest, on Kindle and will be on Nook tomorrow or Thursday.
Editing numerous short stories I've written over the years and will have them ready for e-stories shortly.
Legal case on hiatus and Steve's office has moved, there's not much room for me to write without being in the way.
Moved daughter's bed over to Mom's giving us a room to set up as an office so I can do my writing in there without being bothered by grandkids.
Planning on starting interiews of friends to tell their stories. Will audio tape and then transcribe possibly post them on this blog page. It will give me more use for it.

Repeat over and over

2011-03-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

From John L Merz from A Newbie's Guide to Publishing. An interesting blog and good advice.

In a nutshell, for those who haven't heard me spout it before, here are my plans for ebook success:

1. Write a damn good book.

2. Make sure it has professional cover art.

3. Keep the price under $4.

4. Make sure the formatting is flawless.

5. Write a good product description.

6. Upload to Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.

7. Repeat. Over and over, until the world can no longer ignore your work.

Supreme Court Ruling

2011-03-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

Today the supremes ruled 8-1 against a father who sued a baptist church and won a 5 million dollar judgement against the protesters that have been harassing soldiers funerals for the last ten years. The supremes overturned the civil court decision on the basis of free speech. Is standing outside a cemetery with signs that read God Hates Fags, God Hates America, and other offensive slogans truly free speech?

1. Can the government charge the protestors with a crime?

The Supreme court ruled in the case of Skokie Ill, that the American Nazi Party could hold a rally in a town with a large population of Holocaust survivors and give speeches. The citizens of Skokie, however had the option of not going to the rally. At a funeral that is not an option. Arizona passed an ordinance before the funerals of those killed in that senseless attack last month that any protests would be held in a separate location away from the grieving families. They used the same law Bush set up so that he would not have to see any war protestors. Protests of this nature have not been outlawed, but are now regulated depending on state or city.

2. Can the family sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Obviously the supremes ruled today that you cannot bring a civil action against protestors of this nature. Why?

This is the law on Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress:

Cause of Action for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Eric M. Larsson, J.D.

COA2d ACTION GUIDE

PRIMA FACIE CASE

• A prima facie case in an action for intentional infliction of emotional distress requires proof that:

1. the defendant's conduct was extreme or outrageous;

2. the defendant acted intentionally or recklessly;

3. the plaintiff suffered severe emotional distress; and

4. the defendant's conduct was the proximate cause of the emotional distress suffered by the plaintiff .

PERSONS ENTITLED TO RECOVER

• Action may be brought by the person toward whom the defendant's conduct was directed and, under certain circumstances, by a person who was not the object of the defendant's conduct but who witnessed the conduct.

PERSONS LIABLE

• Primary liability will be imposed against the person whose conduct caused the plaintiff to suffer severe emotional distress.

• Other persons may be vicariously liable.

JURISDICTION

• Action may be brought in state court, or in federal court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction.

LIMITATIONS

• Action usually will be subject to limitations statutes that apply to personal injury actions.

RECOVERY

• Compensatory damages are recoverable for the emotional distress suffered, bodily harm which results from the emotional distress, economic losses which result from the emotional distress or its physical consequences, and loss of consortium.

• Plaintiff may be entitled to punitive damages.

By this ruling the supremes have nullified this major part of defamation law. If this case does not fall into the category of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress what does?

The reason for civil suits of this nature is to maintain order in society. Instead of duels to defend a person's honor there are now lawsuits to settle the matter. It's not about free speech, it's about keeping people from killing each other when offended by the other persons speech.

On the CBS evening news the father who brought the lawsuit expressed this point very well. He said if the government won't protect the grieving families then they will and the blood will be on the hands of the Supreme Court.

There is a legal defense called "Fighting words." If someone says something to you that is so offensive that you can't control your anger and you resort to violence. It's justified and is considered self defense.

Family Pride

2011-02-28T12:01:00.000-08:00

Bruce has a video on the Mainstream Baptist blog of a debate he was in on the resolve: The U.S. Constitution is not a Christian document. The video is of excellent clearness and volume, depending on your speakers. Warning: It is a full debate and takes over an hour to watch all of it.

He has six posts under the video writing out his introduction, questions, conclusion and answers to questions asked.

Overall it's an enlightening video and series of posts. Naturally I side with Bruce's position. Debates never change minds, if anything they reinforce the beliefs each person holds before it begins. Curmudgeons and other readers who want to weigh in on the topic I welcome your comments.

Solidarity

2011-02-23T11:12:00.001-08:00

Got this from Russ at the Cornfield blog. I'm going to have to go back up to Colorado and thank him in person for participating in the rally in Denver. Curmudgeon Power.

Union uprising

2011-02-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

Not much to say right now about what's happening in Wisconsin other than: It's about bloody time.

MYOFB

2011-02-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

People who don't have children always seem to know best how to raise them, and are usually very vocal to parents, they even right books telling parents how they're doing it wrong.
Some fat couch patato watching the super bowl always knows more about how to coach the team. mea culpa
Bill Maher on his last show admitted that he's never been married. Then on his new rules he has a diatribe on the overuse of pornography by married men. It seems he thinks that married men have gotten lazy and would rather stare at a computer screen with young, beautiful, naked women having sex in every combination probable and improbable than have sex with their wives. That women are alone crying because their husbands don't want to make love to them anymore. What a crock of shit.
If that woman would stop crying, sit on her hubby's lap, kiss him on the neck, rub his back and tell him she wants him most men would find a way to part the Red Sea with a straw.
Maher asserts that porn used to be plan b, but has now become plan a. How the hell would he know the dynamics of a marriage and what constitutes plan a and plan b? He's rich, a celebrity, parties at the Playboy mansion. A chick magnet. They give it to him pro boner. (sic)
Here's where someone who's never been married, and many who are and some have been numerous times don't understand the contract.

Marriage is an economic union. Depending on the division of labor with a single wage earner or both working, it's about sharing costs.
Avoiding loneliness. Why do so many once they get divorced rush back into another marriage, they can't stand the loneliness. Marriage is about sharing: bodies, bed, conversation, time. What makes a person lonely is not having anyone to share things with.
Raising children. Yuppies may have skipped this option because they'd rather substitute luxury items instead of assuming the financial burden of kids. In old age it's a choice some will regret.
Sex is the attractant that brings the couple together in modern society. I'm all in favor of an arranged marriage for my daughter, but for some reason she thinks that's too old fashioned. She's 24 and still single, somehow the new fashion isn't working for her.
Within marriage romance comes and goes matching the rhythm of life. A marriage is a marathon. If you burn up all your energy in the first few miles there's nothing left for the next twenty or more.
Many complications set in that relegate sex to the back burner of a relationship: health issues, time issues, privacy issues, trust issues, money issues, work stress, parental responisibilities. Most of these affect women in greater proportion than men when it comes to libido. There are exceptions to every generality. There are many women who are unsatisfied because their husbands have a lower libido, but two people's sex drive, no matter how much they love each other will not always match up. What makes sex special is when it does.
Even the man who gets all the sex he wants in his free time will look at other women, fantasize and be tempted (Jimmy Carter PB interview 11/76 issue). It's genetic. The best way to control our DNA is to make it mental (lust in heart) and not physical. Erotica and porn are safety valves for men who desire to live up to the marriage contract and stay faithful to their wives. Hypocritical religious leaders wanting to mind fuck the sheep into thinking sex is dirty, women who judge men as inferior because they see no need for visual stimuli, and a never been married wealthy comedian have no right to condemn men for having or using this safety valve.

Whew, was it as good for you as for me?

Old Man Resigns

2011-02-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

He put up a hell of a fight, but Mubarak resigned. He tried to weasel his way out of doing it, but the military most likely didn't give him much of a choice. He didn't want to finish his reign like Sadat.
It will take some time for the dust to settle before seeing if there is true change in Egypt or another military leader takes over and it stays the same with just a different dictator in charge.

Now I Know

2011-02-09T14:47:00.000-08:00

John Esckew has a very informative post about today's singers. I call it yodeling, you know where they embellish every word in a song going up and down the scale. It's worse than hearing a baby scream for an hour. Esckew calls it Oversouling. I don't care what you call it, just shoot it and put it out of it's misery. (btw, that's hyperbole)

Old Songs

2011-02-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

My, my, my those old songs get harder and harder.
Pop stars that get by with weak squeeky voices have a hard time coping with our national anthem, whether they remember the words or not.
Sorry to say I didn't hear the blonde diva muff the lyrics. I left to get some more snacks because she was so horrible. It used to be just the Star Spangled Banner (do you think 90% of the population today know what spangled means?), now they've added America The Beautiful, still plenty of high notes for them to croak on. But with Lincoln worship hitting a high mark, let's really challenge our hip hop, rapper, baby voiced American Idols and make them sing The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

More on Deposed Dictators

2011-02-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

Scott Horton has an excellent take on what happens today when dictators go into exile. Their assests get frozen and now they face criminal charges.

Old Men Don't Leave

2011-02-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

There's something about old men and women in power. They are stubborn.
Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko help on to power with their last breaths no matter how much the Soviet Union was crumbling around them.
Mubarak is in his 80's, he's not about to resign and go into exile. Main reason he'll die in six months to a year. The shock to the system from falling that far that fast is deadly. Look what happened to the Shah and Ferdinand Marcos after they went into exile. Younger men can survive the fall, but not those this up in years.
Oldsters fight to the bitter end and that's what's happening. He's pulling out every trick in the book:
"I'll retire in six months" and throw the Golden Gate in too.
Supporters stage a counter rally - yeah his body guards might be in real trouble if he left them behind.
Supporters attack protesters - time to crack some eggs. reference here the Duc L'Orleans telling Louix XVI "In order to make an omlet you must crack some eggs."
Mubarak learned from the French, Russian and Iranian revolutons not to rely on the military because there reaches a point when they stop shooting the protesters and point their guns at the leaders.
Tieneman Square worked because it was only one aspect of society damanding change: college students. They could be spanked and put in a corner while the rest of society did nothing.
Egypt has erupted from too many aspects of society. Mubarak's use of force will backfire. The people are speaking, not spoiled kids.

Next point:
What's going to happen. All hell is breaking loose and it's a virus that spreads. First Tunisia, now Egypt and Yemen. Despots beware.

All spontaneous revolutions like this result in an Oligarchy. Once the despot is removed the group that moves in first seizes power and rules by committee. Iran's oligarchy was made up of clerics. Russia's by the Bolsheviks, France's by the Committee for Public Safety. England is an exception here, Cromwell's reign is a miltiary dictatorship. America's by Congress.
Oligarchy's are prone to graft, corruption, and anarchy resulting in someone grabbing control. In Russia: Lenin. Iran: Ayatollah Koumeni. France went through two phases, first Robespierre, then after he was beheaded the directory was set up and replaced by Napoleon. America dropped the Articles of Confederation, which had no executive, and adopted the Constitution setting up a Presidency, putting one man in charge temporarily with reduced power (until recently).
The new despot consolidates power like Khomeni, Lennin, Cromwell and Napoleon. George Washington decided to step down and allow the electoral process to work. Once the despot dies the country goes back to a limited monarch like England and France or a new despot takes their place like Russia and Iran even if it's by sham elections. England and France evolved into parliamentary systems. Russia and Iran have the system in place, but they still have despots manipulating the system. America since WWII starting with Truman (Korea) has seen the rise of an imperial presidency that is leading to despotism no matter which political party is in power. Obama has continued what W and his legal thugs set up since 2001.
Tunisia and Egypt will follow this pattern putting their own spin on it.
The Chinese would say Mubarak has lost the Mandate of Heaven. An emperor comes in, there's peace, prosperity, no bad things happen. Later generations there's war, crops fail, natural disasters like flood and famine hit. The emperor loses the mandate of heaven and the people revolt, overthrow this emperor then set up a new dynasty.

Moisture

2011-02-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

Pop Quiz
What happens to all the water that melted in the last few years from the polar caps?
A. It comes down is rain (Australia) and snow (U.S.).

Preach On Brother

2011-01-29T10:50:00.000-08:00

Matt Idom has a really good article at Huffpo on worshipping God not the Bible.

Here's a few good quotes:

Of course, folks who think the bible has to be taken literally are threatened when someone who does not believe like they do are still confident about going to Heaven and serving God. Gives 'em the willies!

Literal? Nope, not for me. Authoritative? Absolutely! Important to my life and faith? Without it, I would be lost.

Maybe the bible should be made like a laminated auto mechanics manual or a good, serviceable travel atlas. You know, something we can handle and not be afraid of, something that is viewed as the honest tool we can trust as we negotiate the repairs we need to make and navigate through life.

My Two Cents

2011-01-22T11:29:00.001-08:00

Quote from No Comment blog today.

Torture is the habit of tyranny, not of free republics, and it cannot simply be switched on and off. It inculcates a conception of state power and human worth that directly conflicts with our founding principle of an inalienable dignity to the human person, even the most culpable. As we know from Abu Ghraib, once it is unleashed, even as a supposedly well- quarantined tactic practiced by putative professionals, torture spreads like cancer…. This is the lesson of history for all governments that turn to torture: an isolated practice expands to become the emblem of state power and the reality of the citizens’ subjection.

—From Because It Is Wrong—Torture, Privacy and Presidential Power in the Age of Terror

I'm no expert, and believe me I don't wish to be, on the subject of torture. Since the day W announced the opening of Guantanamo and the suspension ofHabeas Corpus I knew torture would be in the mix. When the first pictures of torture surfaced from the normally lap dog press the only surprise was that it came to light so soon. Here's what I've learned since then:

A. Why torture is ineffective:

Torture does not get the information you need. The ticking time bomb scenario makes for good fiction, not reality. Military leaders and the different JAG's have all pointed this out repeatedly.
Standard military procedure is for captured soldiers to hold out under torture for 24 hours. At that point all the info they have will be useless. Sun Tzu mentions the Doomed Spy. Someone given information they think is correct so when captured and they reveal the information under torture makes the enemy believe the false information as true. We call this today Misinformation.
Eventually everyone under torture will say or do anything in order to make it stop. How many people have confessed to crimes and spend years or their lives in prison for a crime they didn't commit? Chicago is a prime example of a city's police department that trampled justice for decades until their practices came to light.
It dehumanizes the torturer as much at the one tortured. It dehumanizes the society that allows it. See quote above.
To implement torture you have to violate the following in our constitution: 1. Habeas Corpus - indefinite confinement without charge 2 Bill of Attainder - punishment without due process of law (5th and 14th amendments) 3 cruel and unusual punishment 6th amendment.

B. Torture's effectiveness:

I only came up one mention of how torture can be done right, and it came from a cartel hitman interviewed in Harper's magazine. Naturally he was in the country's police force and kidnapped people to hold for ransom. He recounted that he would get all the information about the person he could find and when he started questioning the guy would know at first when he was lying and then would apply torture. Only after he had conditioned the prisoner to not lie would he ask questions he needed the financial information for a ransom amount. This is kind of hard to do in a battlefield situation or by randomly grabbing people off the street in Iraq or Afghanistan. Stimulus/response only works with foreknowledge.
Conformity or obedience. In prisons like Guantanamo those prisoners who have been tortured are the least likely to cause problems, they've been tamed, so to speak.
They are however a tiger by the tail. Yes they will not cause problem while under guard, but let them loose and send them home and they want revenge. Many of those who were tortured and then released join terrorist groups wanting payback, can anyone blame them? This is unfortunately why Obama is finding it so hard to close these prisons down.

Bragging

2011-01-22T08:30:00.001-08:00

Went golfing yesterday temp in the 30's with 20mph winds. I had to bundle up, but it was nice as not too many idiots were out there that early. Finished the first nine in 1 1/2 hours. Foursome walking the back nine slowed me down, but it had warmed up to the 40's by then. Usually at La Dera on a Friday or weekend it can take up to six hours to get in 18 holes.

There are loads of geese and ducks this time of year. The course in about 2 miles from the Rio Grande so you see plenty of V-shaped flocks going back and forth. I snapped a picture with my cell phone of a couple of geese that are pretty tame. The other picture is where my second shot at the par 4 9th hole rested. I usually have a hard time getting a 6 on this hole as the water hazzard in front of the green acts like a magnet for my ball. It would be nice to claim a birdie for the hole, but as usual I missed the putt and settled for a par. Still for me a par is two shots better than normal. I love golfing this time of year as I'm not the longest hitting of golfers and with the ground like concrete I get an extra 50 to 60 yards on the roll. When the grass gets green I really miss those extra yards.

Gold Fever

2011-01-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

Frank L. Cocozzelli has an article at Alternet about the gold bugs calling for a return to the gold standard.

He makes a good point, that they don't want the masses to make money off of inflation. His example: You buy a house at X percent interest, as inflation goes up and your wages go up, the loan payment stays the same thus increasing your wealth, even if the house stays constant if value. This explains to me why Wall Street deliberately imploded the housing market. They couldn't stand that the average Joe could make money off his house.

He points out certain passages of William Jennings Bryan's 1896 Cross of Gold Speech. I thought it was worth posting a little more of it. The issue of the day was bimetallism: expanding the amount of money in circulation by adding silver instead of only gold. Notice the gold bugs of today are content to include silver.

But we stand here representing people who are the equals before the law of the largest cities in the state of Massachusetts. When you come before us and tell us that we shall disturb your business interests, we reply that you have disturbed our business interests by your action. We say to you that you have made too limited in its application the definition of a businessman. The man who is employed for wages is as much a businessman as his employer. The attorney in a country town is as much a businessman as the corporation counsel in a great metropolis. The merchant at the crossroads store is as much a businessman as the merchant of New York. The farmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day, begins in the spring and toils all summer, and by the application of brain and muscle to the natural resources of this country creates wealth, is as much a businessman as the man who goes upon the Board of Trade and bets upon the price of grain. The miners who go 1,000 feet into the earth or climb 2,000 feet upon the cliffs and bring forth from their hiding places the precious metals to be poured in the channels of trade are as much businessmen as the few financial magnates who in a backroom corner the money of the world.

We come to speak for this broader class of businessmen. Ah. my friends, we say not one word against those who live upon the Atlantic Coast; but those hardy pioneers who braved all the dangers of the wilderness, who have made the desert to blossom as the rose—those pioneers away out there, rearing their children near to nature’s heart, where they can mingle their voices with the voices of the birds—out there where they have erected schoolhouses for the education of their children and churches where they praise their Creator, and the cemeteries where sleep the ashes of their dead—are as deserving of the consideration of this party as any people in this country.

It is for these that we speak. We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conquest. We are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned. We have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded. We have begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came.

We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them!

The gentleman from Wisconsin has said he fears a Robespierre. My friend, in this land of the free you need fear no tyrant who will spring up from among the people. What we need is an Andrew Jackson to stand as Jackson stood, against the encroachments of aggregated wealth.

They tell us that this platform was made to catch votes. We reply to them that changing conditions make new issues; that the principles upon which rest Democracy are as everlasting as the hills; but that they must be applied to new conditions as they arise. Conditions have arisen and we are attempting to meet those conditions. They tell us that the income tax ought not to be brought in here; that is not a new idea. They criticize us for our criticism of the Supreme Court of the United States. My friends, we have made no criticism. We have simply called attention to what you know. If you want criticisms, read the dissenting opinions of the Court. That will give you criticisms.

They say we passed an unconstitutional law. I deny it. The income tax was not unconstitutional when it was passed. It was not unconstitutional when it went before the Supreme Court for the first time. It did not become unconstitutional until one judge changed his mind; and we cannot be expected to know when a judge will change his mind.

The income tax is a just law. It simply intends to put the burdens of government justly upon the backs of the people. I am in favor of an income tax. When I find a man who is not willing to pay his share of the burden of the government which protects him, I find a man who is unworthy to enjoy the blessings of a government like ours.

He says that we are opposing the national bank currency. It is true. If you will read what Thomas Benton said, you will find that he said that in searching history he could find but one parallel to Andrew Jackson. That was Cicero, who destroyed the conspiracies of Cataline and saved Rome. He did for Rome what Jackson did when he destroyed the bank conspiracy and saved America.

We say in our platform that we believe that the right to coin money and issue money is a function of government. We believe it. We believe it is a part of sovereignty and can no more with safety be delegated to private individuals than can the power to make penal statutes or levy laws for taxation.

Mr. Jefferson, who was once regarded as good Democratic authority, seems to have a different opinion from the gentleman who has addressed us on the part of the minority. Those who are opposed to this proposition tell us that the issue of paper money is a function of the bank and that the government ought to go out of the banking business. I stand with Jefferson rather than with them, and tell them, as he did, that the issue of money is a function of the government and that the banks should go out of the governing business...

Mr. Carlisle said in 1878 that this was a struggle between the idle holders of idle capital and the struggling masses who produce the wealth and pay the taxes of the country; and my friends, it is simply a question that we shall decide upon which side shall the Democratic Party fight. Upon the side of the idle holders of idle capital, or upon the side of the struggling masses? That is the question that the party must answer first; and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter. The sympathies of the Democratic Party, as described by the platform, are on the side of the struggling masses, who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic Party.

There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it.

You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard. I tell you that the great cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.

My friends, we shall declare that this nation is able to legislate for its own people on every question without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation on earth, and upon that issue we expect to carry every single state in the Union.

I shall not slander the fair state of Massachusetts nor the state of New York by saying that when citizens are confronted with the proposition, “Is this nation able to attend to its own business?”—I will not slander either one by saying that the people of those states will declare our helpless impotency as a nation to attend to our own business. It is the issue of 1776 over again. Our ancestors, when but 3 million, had the courage to declare their political independence of every other nation upon earth. Shall we, their descendants, when we have grown to 70 million, declare that we are less independent than our forefathers? No, my friends, it will never be the judgment of this people. Therefore, we care not upon what lines the battle is fought. If they say bimetallism is good but we cannot have it till some nation helps us, we reply that, instead of having a gold standard because England has, we shall restore bimetallism, and then let England have bimetallism because the United States have.

If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.

Slip of the tongue

2011-01-14T07:47:00.000-08:00

The new tea party backed governor of Oklahoma said in taking the oath of office that she would, "offend" the constitution instead of defend. She's blaming it on the cold weather and signed the document which is correctly worded, but Freudian slip or not it might be the only time while she's in office where she actually speaks the truth.

Anger

2011-01-13T12:41:00.001-08:00

Doesn't it make you angry when those who incited violence deny they had a hand in it when it happens? Come on loud mouths, stand up and admit it like the trash talking punks you really are.

One Fly up in Colorado in a comment on my last post said I sound angry. He should know, he gets pretty fiesty on his blog from time to time too.
There are times when I do get angry at what's happened in the last thirty years and keeps getting worse and worse no matter which political party is in power. When will the fucking pendulum stop and head back the other way. Actually I think the pendulum is broken because one side of the debate on all issues is now walking around with Glock 19's and 33 round clips.
I've always felt the reason Obama and the dims the past two years were so timid and caved in on so many issues is because they were afraid of assissination. Maybe they were right, but it still makes them cowards, and a fat lot of good it did them.

In me anger preceeds serenity. I can't stay in a perpetual state of anger, don't want to. There comes a point when there's nothing you can do about it but accept it and live your life accordingly. Something like what happened last Saturday takes a little more time to accept that other things.

Happy Now?

2011-01-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

A little over two years ago on election night Bill O'Reilly made a statement. He isn't a conservative. He is an anarchist.
At least he's truthful about it. All the people running around saying government is the problem and we need to get rid of it may call themselves the Tea Party, or libertarians or dog shit, for all I care. They're anarchists.
Arizona is becoming the anarchist capital of America. Texas has been replaced as the home of rabid crazy. It's such a pretty sight living in a place where the rule of law has been replaced by rule of the gun.

Both sides of congress are weeping crocadile tears for the dead and wounded, just like they did when abortion doctors were murdered in their homes and at church. Nothing changed about the rhetoric or the laws then, and it won't now.

Here are my sociological rules impending anarchy:

1. When Church and State merge everything is fucked up. (Me)
2. When religion takes up arms the world's in a pile of shit. (Barry Sadler Casca: The Samarai)
3. The more religious a community or country is the closer it is to barbarism. (Gore Vidal)

Pro Life assassins and bombers, Osama Ben Laden, Timothy McVeigh: Do it in the name of Heaven, you can justify it in the end. Song One Tin Soldier

Meanwhile back at the bank we're all getting screwed by the magicians who let their pet media outlets provide smoke screen for them robbing us all blind. This did happen as the Massachussettes state Supreme Court ruled that banks can't forclose on homes unless they can prove they actually have title to the property in question. Whew talk about fortutious that something big happened to move this juicy piece of information off the radar. But then again someone in Hollyweird is always getting divorced, pregnant, being sent to rehab, getting out of rehab, etc.

Sympathies

2011-01-09T11:30:00.001-08:00

Sympathies to all those lost and injured in Arizona.
The heated rhetoric from those opposed to abortion that led to bombings of clinics and assassinations of doctors has now spread to the political arena. Rush, Glenn, Sarah and the others spewing their hyperbilated filth have blood on their hands no matter how much they condemn what someone did after following their words.

Twilight of an Empire

2010-12-29T08:17:00.000-08:00

As I see the graft and corruption spread like a plague across America since the Supreme Court decided all elections can be sold to highest bidder it reminded me of one of the short stories in James A. Michener's The Source: Twilight of an Empire. The story is about the Ottoman Empire in the late 1800's and centers on the town of Tubariyeh (biblical Tiberias) on the edge of the Sea of Gallilee.

Kaimakam Tabari had one simple rule of administration, and it was understood by his subjects: In Tubariyeh positively everything was for sale... For the issuance of the simplest government paper, and established scale of bribes was in force, and in either the civil court or the religious court of the Mufti and decision that was wanted could be had by paying the proper baksheesh to the kaimakam.
Of course the income thus gained was by no means all his. He was generous in paying off his subordinates and in splitting fees with the qadi and the mufti. Furthermore, he had to send regular bribes to Akka and Beirut. As a constant drain on the people of Tubariyeh; there was no money left for schools, or sewers, or water supply, or a jail in which a human being could survive. There were no hospitals, no adequate policing, no fire fighting and no roads.

Our tea party governor takes office on Sunday. She just appointed a crony from El Paso to head CYFD. How many more New Mexico government jobs are going to go to the Texans that bankrolled her?
As our infastructure crumbles, schools decay, people die from want of health care, houses being allowed to burn because the homeowner didn't pay the fee, inner cities fear the police if they come at all, does this ring a bell?

It's What You Make Of It

2010-12-24T09:07:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas eve. I've had a house full of kids, and extended family coming and going all week and most likely will next week too. I've read a number of blogs today talking about how messed up this holiday is. One article in Alternet was about forgetting it. Teacher in me is breaking forth.

Much of the was we celebrate Christmas comes from Queen Victoria. She's the first modern British monarch to set up a Christmas tree with ornaments. Actually she only allowed her German husband Prince Albert to set it up starting in 1839. The merchants used this as an opportunity to push the holiday, which was at the time had a bad reputation. Those with houses had to have an alcoholic bowl of punch for those who came around demanding a drink. Wassail it was called. If you didn't have wassail they'd vandalize your place. Kind of like Trick or Treat. As said earlier merchants changed the character of Christmas and started making a nice profit in the process. After the Civil War the holiday took off for the same reason in the U.S. As much as those pushing this war of Christmas crap feeling that the commercialization cheapens the reason for the season wouldn't have a season to fuss over if it wasn't for the merchants.
The Germans celebrated this time of year centuries before Christ was born and continued it against the wishes of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther joined the pagan tree worship of Woden where they would decorate evergreens because they were a symbol that the Ice Giants would be conquered in Spring. They started the tradition of giving gifts at this time of year, but not among families and loved ones, they made gifts, traveled sometimes great distances and gave the gifts to their enemies. In the Norse religion dying with a sword in your hand meant you'd be taken by the Valkeries to Valhalla, if you died in bed you spent the afterlife in the ground (German word for ground is "hell"). They give gifts to their enemies thanking them for the upcoming battles that would send them to Valhalla. Talk about twisted logic, but religion does that. Luther took the symbols of Woden worship and gave them Christian meaning. Giving of gifts was because of the gifts of the magi. The star on top the Tannenbaum was for the star of Bethlehem, etc.
Historically Jesus was born in summer. The shepherds tending their flock by night wouldn't do that in winter. The magi most likely didn't show up until he was two or three years old. Herod ordered all children killed under the age of three. He's also referred to as child, not babe.
The Romans celebrated the Saturnalia. It was the only day of the year slaves were without duties. Most of the early Christians were slaves as it promised equality in the afterlife. It would be natural that their one free day of the year they would choose in celebrating the birth of their God's birth.
John Calvin in reaction to Luther's profaning Christmas with German paganism ended all celebrations at this time. He was rather a dour party pooper agains all forms of celebrations. There were penalties in Geneva for whistling on the sabath. Calvinists spread to France (Hugenauts), Scotland (Presbyterians), England (Puritans). Oliver Cromwell set up a Puritan theological state in what is known as the Interregnum after the English Civil War. Upon his death and the restoration of Charles II much of the party pooper restrictions were lifted, but Christmas wasn't one of them. The Puritans then infested the New World with their fundamentalist bullshit which brings us up to where Christmas stands today.
If your a little minded, mean spirited, religious bigot; then you fuss about too much commercialism because you want to impose you beliefs on everyone else.
If you hate the hussle and bussle and commercialism because it stresses you out and makes you depressed and you wonder why you're doing all of this because you really don't believe in all this nonsense. Then why are you? Tradition, seems kind of silly.
If you choose to put up with all the commercialism because you enjoy the smile on your children's and loved ones face as they open their presents. Feel fullfilled to be around family that you don't get much time with because your scattered all over the world. Then this is a great time to put up with all the hassle and mess. It's worth it.

Guess what?

2010-12-23T11:42:00.001-08:00

All of a sudden Obama is getting things done: Gays can now openly serve in the military, court appointments are now unlogjammed, the arm's treaty has been ratified, 911 responders now have health coverage, and who knows what else the party of no is going to allow now that they got what they wanted. The extension of tax cuts for the wealthy.

Do you feel like you've been screwed with your pants on?

Thumbs up to Russ

2010-12-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

I want to thank Russ for having a nice lunch discussing the particulars of my next novel. He helped a lot. Same to Steve as well.
It's been nice having an office with quiet for me to have "butt in seat" time. The holidays are going to disrupt this a bit and the office will be closed most of Jan. as attorney will be tied up with other things. I may have to hang out at a coffee shop to get writing done like other authors.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

All wars are rather stupid, but the so called war on Christmas is by far the most insane one on the books.
All the ranting and raving over calling the winter solstice holidays is nothing but pure puffery by imbiciles trying to make an issue over nothing.

Is Christmas a holiday? Yes: Everyone agrees on this.
Is Christmas the only holiday this time of year? No: Everyone agrees on this too
Should Christmas be the only holiday this time of year? Ah, here's the rub. The Moral Mafia want exclusivity. Sorry funidies, you're not the only ones that live here, and you don't have the right to cram your religion down everyone's throat.

Why is the Friday after Thanksgiving called Black Friday? Because that' the first day of the year when most retailers go from red ink to black ink in their ledger sheets.
So if you're a retailer that is trying to get everyone's business an all inclusive phrase that kills many birds with one stone works.
Happy Hollidays, read into it what you will.

Don't Blame Obama

2010-12-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

I'm not happy about the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy getting another two years. You'd think that he could have at least negotiated for the same number of years extensions on unemployment and payroll taxes instead of being set up for a fall in 2012. At this point I don't think he wants a second term. I think in January of 2012 he'll go on the air and say: "A plague on both your houses."
There is howling by the dims in congress and most of the blogs I've read are raking Obama over the coals, even some of his former aides. Krugman gave it a luke warm assessment. Huffpo is screaming about the prez being a bad poker player.
Well the problem he's facing, from my point of view, is that the poker hands are all face up and the Reptilians hold all the aces thanks to last months election.
If the wealthy get to keep their tax cuts and the poor get poorer it's because the poor were too stupid to know they were being conned by Reptilian advertising and are getting what they deserve. If you make less than a million a year and voted Republican don't come crying on my shoulder when your taxes are too high, your children are cannon fodder ten thousand miles away and there are no jobs. I voted to make a difference and lost. You voted against your economic interests and there were more of you than me.
If the senate votes this down, yes the wealthy lose their tax cuts, but the middle class gets tax increases too, and the unemployed don't get an extension on their benefits. There was no way Obama could bluff the reptilians here, they have the dims over a barrel. Now if there were a fillibuster proof senate, no blue dogs, and dim control of congress they could have ended Bushes tax cuts, then again it would be nice if rain water was soda pop, but it ain't.

Check it out

2010-12-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

Check out this guest post on RZ. It's sobering.
I've put my two cents worth in on the topic at my Family and Friends blog.

I Need the Curmudgeons

2010-12-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a story right now that is very technical and I could sure use Russ and Woody's help discussing it. I know Russ is up to his ears in family problems, but if you could find some time to drop by the office to chat I'd appreciate it.
Woody if you've got some free time it would be nice to chat as well.
An evening out would work just as well. E-mail me and let me know.

I'm currently working on the story from my friend's offices. He doesn't need my help for a trial yet, and has graciously let me get out of the house with all its distractions.

2010-11-28T13:25:00.000-08:00

Mount Kailash, 21,778' (6,638m), is a peak in the Gangdisê Mountains, which are part of the Himalayas in Tibet. It lies near the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia: the Indus River, the Sutlej River (a major tributary of the Indus River), the Brahmaputra River, and the Karnali River (a tributary of the Ganges River). It is considered a sacred place in four religions: Bön, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism. In Hinduism, it is considered to be the abode of Lord Shiva and a place of eternal bliss. The mountain lies near Lake Manasarowar and Lake Rakshastal in Tibet.

There have been no recorded attempts to climb Mount Kailash; it is considered off limits to climbers in deference to Buddhist and Hindu beliefs. It is the most significant peak in the world that has not seen any known climbing attempts.

One of the reasons why religious freedom took such fertile root in America was the fact that the Europeans that came over ignored the religious holy places of the natives (at first at least) and there wasn't any sacred land. Think of places that have little or no true value other than more than one group of people have claimed it as "Holy." Jerusalem comes readily to mind. Three religions have killed each other over it for thousands of years.

The ugly head of sacred sites if infiltrating America. Native tribes are claiming certain places as sacred and the courts are ruling in their favor. The Moral Mafia is claiming all of America as blessed by God so we can wage wars without guilt.

Remember the song: One Tin Soldier? Do it in the name of heaven/you can justify it in the end.

Nothing makes a place bloodier than to be known as a holy site.

Beware the Meek

2010-11-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

⁵"Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 NASV

In the King James gentle is translated as meek. The major misconception on both words is that people associate meek and gentle as cowardly. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was the gentleness of Martin Luther King's non-violent demonstrations that showed America the injustice of Jim Crow laws. Mahandas K. Gandhi's non-violent movement that forced Britain out of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Cowards don't stand and allow the English soldiers to bludgeon them row after row after row until the soldiers get tired of clobbering people. Cowards didn't march in Selma to face tear gas and attack dogs.

Mike Huckabee and others of the religious right have told churches and their mindless sheep that they can pick and choose which laws to obey. They are the cowards. You see they know that the justice department has been taken over by the moral mafia and that nothing will happen. This is not Civil Disobedience. True Civil Disobedience is where the person who willingly breaks the law is first and foremost prepared to suffer the consequences be in beatings, jail or even death.

Let a preacher lose his tax exemption for a partisan endorsement of a political candidate or party and you'll hear someone screaming like a stuck pig ten thousand miles clear across Texas.

Here are Gandhi's Seven Social Sins, and one added later by one of his devotees. He does seem to be describing the problem of America today.

Politics without Principle

Wealth Without Work

Pleasure Without Conscience

Knowledge without Character

Commerce without Morality

Science without Humanity

Worship without Sacrifice

- Young India, 22-10-1925

Rights Without Responsibility

- This is the 8th sin by Arun Gandhi.

Stardate 112310. 1645

2010-11-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

Settled on a publisher and sent manuscript off for publication. Holding breath.
Grandson was left behind at his preschool. Bus driver refused to wait for his class which was a little late. Did not have transportation to retrieve him. Wife had to leave work early.
In process now of finding another vehicle. Found a really nice van in price I wanted, but when out on test drive the transmission wouldn't shift after 30mph. Shucks. Need to look some more.
Wish all the Captain's readers a fulfilling Thanksgiving dinner, and that they have the good sense to stay away from all malls or bix box stores for their safety's sake. Those shoppers are nuts!

Stardate 112110.0900

2010-11-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

Captain's Log:

Good friend and fellow blogger, Rus, is facing dire times beyond understanding. Please leave him a comment of support.
Still looking for a publisher for Human Sacrifices that will put it in an e-book and/or Kindle format without charging an arm and a leg.
New story After It Hits The Fan is coming along nicely after a three week hiatus due to cold. Need to get with Russ and Butch for some insights for the story.
Fellow curmudgeon Woody has a post that the title bothered me. I run into a lot of people now that have the same feeling and express the same idea. I don't blame them. If a Hindu, Muslim, Jew or Druid were cramming their beliefs down my throat I'd feel the same way.
To set the record straight: God is not "my God." Jesus is not, "my Jesus." I don't own them. I am theirs because I believe in them. My belief is personal. I don't force it on anyone, but if asked by others I will share what I believe. When I write my books I express my belief, but the public has the option to buy or not to buy. More than anything what I admire most about God and Jesus is their insistence on a believer's free will.
The organized religion that Woody, the Cornfield Blog, and others rail against has nothing to do with faith. It's the moral mafia's violation of free will that is the cause of our objection.

Confessions

2010-11-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

For years now there has been a call to investigate the Bush/Cheney criminal acts of authorizing torture. What's to investigate? Cheney on numerous occasions confessed in interviews and in writing that he authorized the use of waterboarding, stress postions and other forms of torture. Bush in his recently released book brags about authorizing these methods.
Again there is nothing to investigate. We know beyond a reasonable doubt that they violated the law and the constitution. What is lacking is the WILL to prosecute from those currently under oath to uphold and protect the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.
There's an old saying that in history events start as tragedy and repeat as farce. I think what we're seeing to day is the opposite. What started as farce: remember Pat Paulson for President? Bart Simpson for President? etc. Everybody knew it was a joke and not to take it seriously, but how else can you explain the tea party candidates as other than jokes that people have started taking seriously?

P-R-O-J-E-C-T-I-O-N

2010-11-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

The psychological term "projection" is when a person's own personality is projected onto others. Example being a thief thinks everyone is a thief, a liar believes everyone is a liar, and they act accordingly. In essence they shadow box against themselves while dealing with those around them.

Hence Glenn Beck and his so called revelations concerning Soros: Ruined Chapel has this to say about it. Ruined chapel's comments are in [] mine are in blue.

Beck's much-hyped two-part report supposedly "reveals" that Soros has a five-step plan for destroying countries. It is as follows, in Beck's own words with my comments in [brackets]:

"Form a shadow government using humanitarian aid as cover." Faith Based Initiative seems to apply here.
"Control the airwaves. Fund existing radio and TV outlets and take control over them or start your own outlets." [Beck apparently believes that funding Media Matters, NPR and Huffington Post constitutes "controlling the airwaves".] Fox News, and most of the radio stations and newspapers are right wings propaganda machines.
"Destabilize the state, weaken the government and build an anti-government kind of feeling in this country. You exploit an economic crisis or take advantage of existing crisis — pressure from the top and the bottom. This will allow you to weaken the government and build anti- government public sentiment." [An old saying about pots and kettles occurs to me.]
"You provoke an election crisis. You wait for an election. And during the election, you cry voter fraud." That seems to be what the reptilians do every election.
"Take power. You stage massive demonstrations, civil disobedience, sit-ins, general strike, you encourage activism. You promote voter fraud and tell followers what to do through your radio and television stations." Tea Bag party enter stage right.

Long Read

2010-11-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

Bill Moyers eulogy for Howard Zinn is posted at Alternet It is rather long, but well worth the time to not just read it, study it. A few good quotes:

In polite circles, among our political and financial classes, this is known as "the free market at work." No, it's "wage repression," and it's been happening in our country since around 1980. I must invoke some statistics here, ... recent analysis of tax data by the economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. They found that from 1950 through 1980, the share of all income in America going to everyone but the rich increased from 64 percent to 65 percent. Because the nation's economy was growing handsomely, the average income for 9 out of l0 Americans was growing, too - from $17,719 to $30,941. That's a 75 percent increase in income in constant 2008 dollars.

But then it stopped. Since 1980 the economy has also continued to grow handsomely, but only a fraction at the top have benefited. The line flattens for the bottom 90% of Americans. Average income went from that $30,941 in 1980 to $31,244 in 2008. Think about that: the average income of Americans increased just $303 dollars in 28 years.

If this were a functioning democracy, our financial institutions would be helping everyday Americans and businesses get the mortgages and loans - the capital - they need to keep going; they're not, even as the financiers are reaping robust awards.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. But he's run off with all the toys.

When Howard came down to New York last December for what would be my last interview with him, I showed him this document published in the spring of 2005 by the Wall Street giant Citigroup, setting forth an "Equity Strategy" under the title (I'm not making this up) "Revisiting Plutonomy: The Rich Getting Richer (pdf)."

The legendary correspondent Edward R. Murrow told his generation of journalists that bias is okay as long as you don't try to hide it. Here is mine: Plutocracy and democracy don't mix. Plutocracy too long tolerated leaves democracy on the auction block, subject to the highest bidder.

You will hear it said, "Come on, this is the way the world works." No, it's the way the world is made to work. This vast inequality is not the result of Adam Smith's invisible hand; it did not just happen; it was no accident.

Time to close the circle: Everyone knows millions of Americans are in trouble. As Robert Reich recently summed it the state of working people: They've lost their jobs, their homes, and their savings. Their grown children have moved back in with them. Their state and local taxes are rising. Teachers and firefighters are being laid off. The roads and bridges they count on are crumbling, pipelines are leaking, schools are dilapidated, and public libraries are being shut.

Why isn't government working for them? Because it's been bought off. It's as simple as that. And until we get clean money we're not going to get clean elections, and until we get clean elections, you can kiss goodbye government of, by, and for the people. Welcome to the plutocracy.

Post Mortem

2010-11-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

This from Realityzone seems to sum up our political problems better than most that I've read. It's a little describing the water to a drowning man, but at least we have an idea of what's killing us.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

Pushed by Wall Street and Wal-Mart, American manufacturers moved production for US markets offshore to boost profits and shareholder earnings by utilizing cheap labor. The decline of the US manufacturing work force reduced the political power of unions and the ability of unions to finance the Democratic Party. The end result was to make the Democrats dependent on the same sources of financing as Republicans.

Prior to this development, the two parties, despite their similarities, represented different interests and served as a check on one another. The Democrats represented labor and focused on providing a social safety net. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment insurance, housing subsidies, education, and civil rights were Democratic issues. Democrats were committed to a full employment policy and would accept some inflation to secure more employment.

The Republicans represented business. The Republicans focused on curtailing big government in all its manifestations from social welfare spending to regulation. The Republicans’ economic policy consisted of opposing federal budget deficits.

These differences resulted in political competition.

Today both parties are dependent for campaign finance on Wall Street, the military/security complex, AIPAC, the oil industry, agri-business, pharmaceuticals, and the insurance industry. Campaigns no longer consist of debates over issues. They are mud-slinging contests.

Angry voters take their anger out on incumbents, and that is what we saw in the election. Tea Party candidates defeated Republican incumbents in primaries, and Republicans defeated Democrats in the congressional elections.

Policies, however, will not change qualitatively. Quantitatively, Republicans will be more inclined to more rapidly dismantle more of the social safety net than Democrats and more inclined to finish off the remnants of civil liberties. But the powerful private oligarchs will continue to write the legislation that Congress passes and the President signs. New members of Congress will quickly discover that achieving re-election requires bending to the oligarchs’ will.

This might sound harsh and pessimistic. But look at the factual record. In his campaign for the presidency, George W. Bush criticized President Clinton’s foreign adventures and vowed to curtail America’s role as the policeman of the world. Once in office, Bush pursued the neoconservatives’ policy of US world hegemony via military means, occupation of countries, setting up puppet governments, and financial intervention in other countries’ elections.

Obama promised change. He vowed to close Guantanamo prison and to bring the troops home. Instead, he restarted the war in Afghanistan and started new wars in Pakistan and Yemen, while continuing Bush’s policy of threatening Iran and encircling Russia with military bases.

Americans out of work, out of income, out of homes and prospects, and out of hope for their children’s careers are angry. But the political system offers them no way of bringing about change. They can change the elected servants of the oligarchs, but they cannot change the policies or the oligarchs.

Stardate 110310.1245

2010-11-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

Encountered a plasma storm yesterday. Our previosly damaged warp drive corp which was nearly back on line has been badly damaged. It may be years before warp capability can be restored. Life support is hanging on by a thread another direct hit could see massive casualties. Both shuttles are currently engaged on planets with hostile populations need constant resupply with men and material draining our resources even further.
Situation is critical time is running out.

Hat's off to Russ

2010-11-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

We're stuck with another governor veto, but only lost one congressional seat. I'm sure she'll invite the mouthpiece from Alaska to hunt wolves from helicopters down here to piss off environmentalists.
Hats off to Russ Sype for working tirelessly for Martin Heinrich the past two elections as a volunteer on the technical side.
Jimmy Carter in his interview with Bill Maher last week said he thought if the Republicans take control of House they'd have to start being responsible. I thing he's been a great former president a wonderful humanitarian, but is a lousy politician and even worse historian. Since 1994 the last thing the Reptilians have been is responsible. They have made an art of blaming everyone else for their mess and this election is another prime example. As Paul Krugman says, "It's always heads they win, tails you lose."

Over For Now

2010-11-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

I know the polls haven't closed yet, but by now the outcome is fairly certain. The counting begins, the crying starts and a new day dawns. Batten down the hatches.

Unregulated Banks

2010-11-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

Washington's Blog has this to say about one of the underlying caused of the American Revolution:

... when Benjamin Franklin went to London in 1764, this is what he observed:

When he arrived, he was surprised to find rampant unemployment and poverty among the British working classes… Franklin was then asked how the American colonies managed to collect enough money to support their poor houses. He reportedly replied:

“We have no poor houses in the Colonies; and if we had some, there would be nobody to put in them, since there is, in the Colonies, not a single unemployed person, neither beggars nor tramps.”

In 1764, the Bank of England used its influence on Parliament to get a Currency Act passed that made it illegal for any of the colonies to print their own money. The colonists were forced to pay all future taxes to Britain in silver or gold. Anyone lacking in those precious metals had to borrow them at interest from the banks.

Only a year later, Franklin said, the streets of the colonies were filled with unemployed beggars, just as they were in England. The money supply had suddenly been reduced by half, leaving insufficient funds to pay for the goods and services these workers could have provided. He maintained that it was "the poverty caused by the bad influence of the English bankers on the Parliament which has caused in the colonies hatred of the English and . . . the Revolutionary War." This, he said, was the real reason for the Revolution: "the colonies would gladly have borne the little tax on tea and other matters had it not been that England took away from the colonies their money, which created unemployment and dissatisfaction."

The Second Bank of the United States was killed by Andrew Jackson because it foreclosed without warning on mortgages. It earned the nickname "The Many Headed Monster" Click the link above and see if what the bank did then isn't rather similar to what we're going through now.
If this is such a recurring problem, the solution that was found by Andrew Jackson when he pulled government revenues that starved the Monster and FDR when he passed regulations that controlled how far they could go. Could be used today. At least in FDR and Andrew Jackson we had Presidents with balls.

Boxing Match

2010-10-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

Ladiiie's and Gentellllmen! In this corner speaking for Freedom of Religion and the Separation of Church and State is Dr. Bruce Prescott at Mainstream Baptists and in the other corner is John Avalon's article God for VP. Come out swinging!

BP Through The Roof

2010-10-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

At F&F I've posted about a recent court case ruling teacher don't have first amendment rights.

A few thoughts from a retired teacher.

A k-12 teacher's speech is highly regulated. It has to be age appropriate and politically correct. Not only can they not say the words forbidden on network TV, but they can't allow the students to say them without a consequence. It's easy to keep yourself from saying the F word or the N word or the B word, but to keep the kids from saying it is tough. Especially if you give a consequence for doing so the administration won't back you up and the parents complain your picking on their precious child.
History is all about airing dirty laundry. How much and at what age should students be exposed to the nasty ways devised for inflicting pain on the human body in warfare? Religious practices? Caligula? Teachers walk a mine field on students wanting to find out about the down and dirty and what is age appropriate.
The real mine field for all subjects is getting the students attention, and with this sacred cows make the best hamburger, and not getting some uptight, nose out of joint, do gooder, self-righteous asshole of a parent or community member from throwing a temper tantrum.
Most teachers cave. Parents complain threaten a lawsuit, administration calls in teacher tells them to stop, teacher's blood pressure goes throught the roof, they spend a few sleepless nights feeling like they've been screwed with their pants on and do what they're told. It's not worth getting fired over. Students lose.
Everyone wonders why students aren't learning anything today. I wonder why?

Intolerance

2010-10-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Wade Burleson has two posts concerning the strangulation of the SBC by Fundamentalists. I've seen it happen since a renegade state supreme court judge from Texas and a loud mouthed associate pastor of FBC Dallas decided to use political hardball tactics to gain control of the convention.

Bill Moyer had an episode of his PBS Journal detailing this take-over and asked the question, "Could these same tactics take over our government?"

Until the day George W Bush was elected president my answer to Moyer's question was no. That we had more checks and balances than the SBC's bylaws. One branch couldn't exert that much influence, yada yada yada.

Our government has been taken over by Fundamentalists whether theological or not. The same mind set and tactics apply and are on display this very moment across the country.

Wade gives the five steps of fundamentalism:

The words in blue are my extrapolations on how the same mind set is affecting our elections today.

(1). Make a third-tier, non-gospel doctrine a first-tier doctrine upon which without agreement no Christian fellowship will occur.

My way or no way, political polarization with no compromise.

Pick an issue like tax cuts, or abortion, stem cell research that has nothing to do the real problems our country is facing, but because of them thwart or obstruct anything the party in power tries to do.

(2). Suggest that any "professing believer" who disagrees with the Fundamentalist's interpretation is immoral ("corinthianistic") or perhaps "unsaved."

Those against the war and building up the military are anti-american. The only Republicans are patriotic rhetoric. Bill Clinton was a womanizer and had a groupie, impeach him. The fact that those impeaching him were doing the same thing or even worse doesn't matter. Tell the lie that Democrats are immoral and Republican moral and the people will believe it. No matter how many times it's proved untrue it doesn't matter, most people don't want to change their minds once they've accepted something as true.
(3). Shut down debate on any questionable interpretation of Scripture by engaging in destructive personalized attacks against those who disagree.

Does any politician talk about the issues anymore. Character assassination is all that's left. Ever listened to a reptilian on Sunday morning talk show?, they have diarrhea of the mouth. They have so many talking points to spew out, not that anyone can understand a word they're saying that anyone else is deprived a chance to speak. The don't debate because they won't let the other side say anything.
(4). Delete or ignore any comment that places the Fundamentalist's logic in a poor light.

See comment above.
(5). Become so worked up over tertiary issues that eventually the power of the gospel is lost.

Is there an exit strategy for the wars bankrupting our country? Getting our economy back on track? Doing something constructive with illegal immigration? Rebuilding infrastructure? Truly improving education?

No, both sides are too busy posturing and throwing mud and keeping the other party from actually accomplishing something.

The Tea Party you might say is the most fundamental party. Even the head reptile Newt, (isn't it wonderful his name is of the reptilian variety?) says they're crazy. I mean they want to close public schools, make masturbation a crime, abolish all birth control, etc.

Wade in his second post gives reasons why fundamentalism is so destructive:

The list is from John Piper giving seven reasons why Dr. Gresham Mechan disliked the term fundamentalist.

(1). The absence of historical perspective;
(2). The lack of appreciation of scholarship;
(3). The substitution of brief, skeletal creeds for the historic confessions;
(4). The lack of concern with precise formulation of Christian doctrine;
(5). The pietistic, perfectionist tendencies (i.e., hang-ups with smoking, drinking alchohol, etc . . );
(6). One-sided otherworldliness (i.e., a lack of effort to transform the culture), and,
(7). A penchant for futuristic chiliasm (or: premillennialism).

Go down this list and check off everyone that applies to Dubbya and the quitter from Alaska. They pretty much match up. Look at the damage Dubby did in eight years. Think of all the damage that will happen after the coming election.

Buyers Remorse

2010-10-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

I well remember two years ago after Obama was elected the exultations and predictions that the Republican party was finished for at least ten years. I said back then don't count them out the American public has a really short memory.
Two years later and the majority of the american public has forgotten Bush fucking us over and over for eight years. Now Obama is the cause of all our woes and wars.
It seems that we're going to have a Texas transplant teabagger for our next governor and in Washington congress is going to shut down for the next two years.
Did Obama and the democratic congress accomplish as much as we wanted? No. But they did accomplish a number of important things. For the next two years they'll be fighting like hell to keep regulations on Wall Street and health care reform. Forget about extending unemployment or another stimulus package to save jobs.
Between a teabagger governor and gridlock in Washington public schools are toast.

Goddamn the mindless imbiciles sitting and watching fake news and buying the crap marketing of character assassination that passes for a political campaign today. They're going to get what they deserve for either not voting or voting reptilian. They'll get eaten, but so will all those who tried to stop the feeding frenzy.

Anti-Anarchy

2010-10-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

Much is being made out of John Lennon's 70th birthday. I'm not one of his fans. I never liked the Beetles. The one song they trot out from the hundreds he wrote and co-wrote is Imagine.
It has a beautiful melody, but the words are ugly. He tries to frame in the song for all of us to imagine no government, no religion and has the stupidly simplistic idea that without them all people would live in a utopia of brotherhood. How absurd! Anarchy in it's other name is Social Darwinism, or survival of the biggest gun.
In 2008 Bill O'reilly was commenting on fake news on election night. Another commenter asked him how the Republicans were taking this. O'reilly answered that he wasn't a Republican, he is an anarchist.
Isn't that pretty much what all the tea baggers are promoting? Anarchy!
Well if you want to see what happens when there's no government and no one pays any attention to the religious leaders, take a good long look at Mexico right now. Just don't get too close or you might get caught in the cross fire.

Open Letter 2

2010-10-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

Letter 1 is posted at Family and Friends.

Mom has been invited to a lunch with Diane Denish, the democratic gubernatorial candidate for New Mexico. She's trying to get me a ticket so I can join her.

A little history, Diane Denish was the Bernalillo County President for the democratic party and Mom was 2nd Vice President many years ago. I was a ward chair at that time, so we rubbed shoulders a few times. I was sponsoring YMCA's Youth and Government at my school and Diane graciously spoke to the entire group in Santa Fe during our mock legislatures. I even gave her some literature on William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech. In August of 2009 coming back from a trip to Oklahoma we ran into her and her husband at a curio rest stop on I-40 and she said hello to me. Mom had a nice little chat with her.

This means I might have 30 seconds to speak to power. What do I say? Obviously I won't have time to say it all, so I thought I'd post my thoughts here.

1. Stop the duck and cover. Not just in this campaign, but all over the country the reptilian party is giving shock and awe. The democrats are only ducking and covering. By this I don't mean throw the mud back, that's the strategy that's killing them. Get a backbone and be proud of your accomplishments: The Health Care Reform bill, restored regulations on Wall Street and Banks, pulling back from Iraq, the stimulus package. The reptilians are screaming all these were too much and the progressives (including me) are screaming they're not enough. But they are accomplishments. Shout them from the tree tops.

2. Stimulus package: all the reptilian commercials hit the theme of a FAILED 800 billion stimulus. Not one democrat has refuted this accusation. This is suicide!

When Bill Clinton was running for re-election in 1996 every speech he boasted of 100,000 more police officers on streets, 100,000 more teachers in the classrooms. Use the same strategy. The stimulus package for the last two years saved thousands of police and firefighter jobs, it saved thousands of teaching positions, it saved thousands of construction jobs. Those salaries that were saved meant more spending in the economy saving thousands of retail jobs. Yes unemployment is high, yes APS is right now considering laying off nearly 500 teaching position for next month. What we need is not to accuse the stimulus package as being a failure, what we need is more federal spending to keep police officers, fire fighters, teachers, construction workers on the job. Without that stimulus package what we are facing now would have been reality two years ago.

3. This election is about saving jobs, and that means more governmental spending, not less. The reptilian party wants to destroy jobs by keeping a tax break for the top 1% of our population that has already led to a loss of revenue in the last ten years of 2.7 trillion dollars, and if retained would do the same in the next ten years. That's what the reptilians are offering. Ten more years of everything going to the top 1% and the bottom 99% getting squeezed. How much could we handle the budget deficit, provide decent health care for all, and have a jobs package by only raising the top income tax bracket from the current 36% back to the 39% it was at during the Clinton Administration. Remember when we actually had a balanced budget and were paying off the national debt?

When little miss reptile talks about our national debt being too high, laugh in her face and at all those who mindlessly make this ludicrous statement. They were the ones who ran up the debt, don't blame the one's trying to clean up their mess.

4. Let Bill Richardson campaign for her. Joe Biden was here and tied up rush hour traffic morning and evening, not the best way to get votes. Bill Clinton is planning on a stop. Why not use the one guy who's in the round house's adjoining office? It's mind boggling that the latest poll had little miss reptile leading Denish 47% to 41%. Little miss reptile has been hitting her over the head for nine months about how bad Richardson was as governor. The man won two elections very handily with Denish as his running mate. Turn him loose to crow the praises of his eight years running this state. Let him explain how much better New Mexico would be if Bush had not starved the states of federal support making them dip into their reserves when the economy was strong. This could turn the campaign around.

5. In conclusion: If Al Gore had been assertive instead of wooden and let Bill Clinton campaign for him in 2000 he would have been elected president (well he actually was, but it wouldn't have been so close that Bush could steal it).

Denish is making the same mistakes. Stop the duck and cover and nit picking mud slinging. Richardson would gain her votes if she'd only let him.

Mr. Vice-President It's About Time

2010-10-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

For the past two years the great tragedy of the Obama administration in my opinion, is that Biden has been ignored and over ruled. He is the only sane voice in the whole administration. If Obama had listened to him two years ago we'd already be out of Afghanistan and Billions of dollars better off with many young men still alive or whole.

He also speaks his mind. His speech recently hit the Huffpo. I like it, here's a portion:

The vice president said that “the people of Minnesota, the people of the United States, were absolutely devastated by the eight years of neglect, eight years of a policy that masqueraded as a vision, which was little more than a Ponzi scheme, that Wall Street was conducting. For eight years, all that happened was we piled up debt, we generated losses for the middle class, and the end result was, when we came into office, we inherited, before I a chance to turn on the computer in the office -- Fritz, your old office – we were handed a bill for $1.3 trillion, a projected deficit of $8 trillion for the next 10 years, if we did nothing.”

The vice president said “if I hear one more Republican tell me about balancing the budget, I am going to strangle them. To the press: that’s a figure of speech.”

The Republicans’ new “Pledge to America,” he said, will increase the debt by $1 trillion.

“These guys have absolutely no credibility, no credibility on debt,” he said. “Folks, look, we’ve seen this movie before. We’ve seen this movie. We know how it ends”

The vice president sounded an optimistic note about the upcoming midterm elections, saying Democrats “have got to make sure we make this a choice, not a referendum….I am absolutely convinced if we make it a choice, and we fight back, we will do very, very well….This is not your father’s Republican party, this is the Republican Tea Party. These are not the same brand of cat you are dealing with.”

He said “if we don’t bring this case to the American people in the next three weeks, shame on us. This is going to come down to a ground game. If we organize our voters, we will do very well. If we don’t, we won’t.”

Shades of Marcus Crassus

2010-10-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

Point 1: Marcus Crassus was the wealthiest man in Rome in his day. One of the ways he amassed his wealth was by training a group of slaves to efficiently put out house fires. He had someone start the fire, as the family ran out of the house and were looking at everything burning, he'd approach the man and offer him a low price on the house. The pater familias or head of the house about to lose everything would accept his offer and then he'd signal his men to put out the fire. With a few small repairs he'd then sell the house and make a rather tidy profit.

Point 2: Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered in New York City in 1969 while around 40 of her neighbors stood at their windows and watched and did nothing, not even phoning the police. Psychologists now have a name for this: it's calle by-stander syndrome. In effect everyone thinks the other guy is going to call or do something and at the same time morbid curiosity and voyeurism take over.

Point 3: A house burned down with the fire department refusing to do their job because the family had not paid their $75.00 fee. The talking heads on the news instead of castigating and being upset over this are actually defending the fire fighters. For video and other links on this clicke here.

Questions that come to mind:
A. How corrupt have we become that this could happen and it would be defended on national news outlets and those who speak for one of the two major political parties?
B. Could this be the wake up call that those who are choosing to throw their vote away (by not voting) finally get what's happening and vote even if they don't like their choice?
C. Have we as a people and a nation become so cold and callous that the Mafia mindset is now the prevailing philosophy? Mario Puzo's explanation for all the murder and mayhem in The Godfather: "It's just business."

Final thought:
Isn't deregulation fun?

That's Right

2010-09-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

From Ruined Chapel:

From Reality Zone:
Last week, the Chinese state mining company China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) signed an agreement with the Afghan government to develop plans to construct a much longer railroad in eastern Afghanistan. MCC estimates the project's initial price tag would be between $6- to $7 billion dollars.

So let me see if I got this right.

We are fighting a war in Afghanistan. Spilling the blood of our soldiers, and spending 2 Billion dollars a week.

China is going to build a railroad in same country.

Mostly to get natural resources out of Afghanistan and into China.

While we in America can not even fix, maintain our rail lines.

We are not building any new lines.

China lays thousands of miles for bullet trains in China.

We will not have a bullet train in America for decades. And even if, and or when we do it will be engineered, built, and financed by a foreign country.

Probably China, Japan, S/Korea, France, or Germany.

And Americans still believe that they are superior over the rest of the world.

Amazing, simply amazing.

From Krugman today:

To be fair, though, I understand from the Times that whenever I mention in my column that WWII ended the Great Depression, the paper gets a lot of mail accusing me of being a warmonger. Amazing...

The point is that it would have been much better if the Depression had been ended with massive spending on useful things, on roads and railroads and schools and parks. But the political consensus for spending on a sufficient scale never materialized; we needed Hitler and Hirohito instead.

My comment.

This is what happens to all empires when the military/industrial complex takes over. Endless war destroys the very foundations of that society.

We were once a country that manufactured products and sold them within our borders and to the rest of the world. We only went to war to protect our trade. Today one party wants to be the world babysitter and the other one the world policeman. Neither of which is even remotely possible. Today we only manufacture wars and let the rest of the world make money off of the chaos we create.

An Invitation

2010-09-25T10:19:00.001-07:00

Not wanting to double post today I'm inviting my readers at the Captain to visit my Family and Friends blog to read my post on John Calvin's idea of a Godly marriage.

I forget that some of the bloggers I read can't remember what I do, and it's nice when they discover things and post about it. Ruined Chapel came across this song on U-tube. For us old curmudgeons it's a trip down memory lane.

I hate posting videos and stuff, mainly because I can't get them to work and if someone else posted it why not just post a link.

Great Quote

2010-09-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

The link and post were on Krugman today.

From Kung Fu Monkey:

-- There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

Fools and their money

2010-09-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Krugman has an interesting thought today:

Suppose you had spent the last five years actually believing what you read from the usual suspects — the WSJ opinion pages, National Review, right-wing economists, etc.. Here’s what would have happened:

In 2006 you would have believed that there was no housing bubble.

In 2007 you would have believed that the troubles of subprime couldn’t possibly spread to the financial system as a whole.

In 2008 you would have believed that we weren’t in a recession — and that the failure of Lehman was unlikely to have bad consequences for the real economy.

In 2009 you would have believed that high inflation was just around the corner.

At the beginning of 2010 you would have believed that sky-high interest rates were just around the corner.

Now, we all make mistakes and get things wrong — after this string of errors, wouldn’t you at least begin to suspect that the people you find congenial have a fundamentally wrong-headed view of how the world works?

Tom Degan has an excellent rant today. Hold your nose when you vote this year, but VOTE.

Once upon a time I was so disgusted with the two candidates for Mayor I stayed home on election night. I don't know if the guy who wasn't elected would have been better than the idiot who was, but what I learned was that they had played me for a patsy. They shut me up until the next election. You can't effectively complain about the government if you didn't vote. Hate negative advertisements, that's what they want. They want fifty to sixty percent of the electorate to stay home.

I vote in every election. That is what gives the right to call the Reptilian party thugs and thieves. I didn't vote for them. It gives me the right to criticize the spineless dims for folding every time the reptilians fillibuster. I voted for them. I'm not happy, but I will vote for the lesser of two evils than give the keys to the nation's economy back to the crooks that pillaged it for the last thirty years.

Good Question

2010-09-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

Wade Burleson asks a good question:

The U.S. military has confirmed that Bibles of United States soldiers serving in Afghanistan were confiscated and destroyed by order of the U.S. State Department because Muslims were offended that the soldiers were filmed reading the Bibles on Arabic Al Jazeera television. CNN reported that that the Bibles were "burned" in order to satisfy the demands of Muslim authorities who were deeply offended that copies of the official sacred book of Christianity, printed in the local language of the Afghans and read by U.S. soldiers fluent in Pashto, were allowed into the country. The burning of the Bibles in Afghansitan was approved by the U.S. government, lauded by the Afghan Muslims and seemed to satiate the anger of those Muslims deeply offended at Bible reading on Arab network television.

Why was there not a similar outrage among Muslims, the American military and the American government over the burning of Bibles in Afghanistan?

I know the issue has pretty well died down, but this was the first time I became aware of the problem since our fair and balanced news never mentioned it around here, and a couple of answers came to mind on this question.

1. It mixes apples and oranges. An Islamic country's legal system is religion based. There are lots of laws and practices that are not compatible with our democratic ideals. They have the right to preserve their laws and we have no right to openly push our religion on them.

2. Retaliating by burning their sacred book here is just childish. For that matter throwing temper tantrums over where they build a mosque/community center is just as childish. We are a democracy and should act like it.

The Anti-party

2010-09-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

The Reptilian party is most known not for what they are for, but what they are against. Most voters don't know exactly what they're against, for if they did no sane person who makes less than a million bucks a year would vote for one of them.

Alternet has an article that lists what F News and it's spokesmen are against. Here's the list:

Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (lets throw grandpa and grandma under the bus)
17th Amendment - direct election of senators (back to the smoke filled rooms)
16th Amendment - Income Tax (see thoughts below)
Americans with Disabilities Act (they're against Darwinian evolution, but not Social Darwinism)
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (preserve the white race)
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (back to literacy tests)
Nuclear arms control (back to Dr. Strangelove)
Abortion rights (let's keep women barefoot and pregnant)
Labor unions (Back to serfdom)
Department of Education (no more riff raff in our schools)
Unemployment insurance (starvation is our friend)
Environmental Protection Agency (pillage and destroy for big bucks)
Progressive taxation (greed is good for the few)

On some of the issues they are close to victory. The more we lose the battle against them the more we lose as a nation and as a people.

A note of irony. It was the reptilians that pushed for the income tax. Something had to take the place of taxes on alcohol, which was 40% of the federal governments budget. The income tax made prohibition financially possible. The Great Depression and reduction in the tax base is what allowed for an end to prohibition and between the income tax and taxes on alcohol helped pay for much of the New Deal. Which is what may explain why the reptilians are always so pissed off about it.

Nail Him To The Fornicating Wall

2010-09-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Michael Moore has a Fantastic article on Alternet today telling Rahm Emmanuel exactly what he thinks of Rahm's F bomb concerning the UAW.

It's about Fornicating time (hey my mother reads these posts) someone stuck up for the unions in this country.

The Nutshell

2010-09-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

A rather long and detailed post at Realityzone kind of says everything that's going on in a nutshell. Very sobering. Here are a few high points.

The Republican Party was once a moderately conservative, pro-business outfit, until it was highjacked by the oligarchy and turned into a full-on predatory machine, hiding behind the facade of hate mobilizing issues like bogus overseas threats abroad and uppity brown people and demanding women at home. Basically, any way that middle class white males could be distracted from their sinking economic status - through the diversion of a sense of superiority over others, or the supposed threat to that superior status - was employed to cover for a party whose true agenda was to quietly produce the greatest transfer of wealth in all of human history.

Having succeeded dramatically, they are back at it again. It is now transparent, for anyone who cares to look, that the tea party movement in America is an invention of the Koch brothers, Rupert Murdoch, Dick Armey and their sick ilk, once again mobilizing a boatload of fools who are angry, but too stupid to know quite why. This explains their endless rhetoric about the evils of the federal government, and their simultaneous desire to keep their Social Security and Medicare benies. It also explains their unmatched idiocy in serving as tools for their own destruction. If they succeed, they fail. If they get their champions elected, they lose their government-provided (Shhhh!) goodies. Brilliant.

In any case, the takeover of the GOP by Serious Money is now well into its second stage. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it is. Seriously, what is the next step after this one fails to provide any long-term solutions to what ails America, as most assuredly will be the case? For a decade or three now, regressives in America have been showing that they are capable of anything. Which more or less answers that question, doesn't it? If you're willing to savage military icons like John McCain, Max Cleland and John Kerry in order to win elections - and especially after you get away with it every time - you're willing to do anything. If you're willing to mock the 9/11 widows as scheming opportunists, you're willing to do anything. If you're willing to don a tuxedo and joke about missing WMD at a press banquet in Washington, just as you're telling the American military's adversaries in Iraq to "bring it on", you're willing to do anything.

Looking at the rhetoric the right throws in the direction of our president these days, questioning his very nationality (oh, did I mention that he's black?), it's easy to see that they‘ve gone completely over the line. But what's really out of control is what lies underneath this insanity generated for the consumption of an ignorant hoi polloi. And what that is - what you see when you move the slime-infested rock away - is an unfathomably monstrous greed. Watching these folks in action, you could easily get the impression that they had been impoverished their whole lives. That they had been denied everything, right down to food and water. That they had been deprived through poverty especially of their dignity. You know, like the real poor people of this world, the forty or fifty percent of the Earth's population that survives on less than two dollars per day. Those folks.

Instead, we are talking about people who are already fantastically rich. And who, despite this, are absolutely hell-bent on getting richer, even if that means depriving hundreds of millions of people in the American middle class of their middle classness, and in many cases, ultimately of their lives. How do we explain people like this? Are they not essentially sociopathic? Are they not made of essentially the same stuff as those who can kill without guilt or remorse? Especially when you consider that even the greediest among us reach a limit beyond which one can effectively make use of the next dollar and the one beyond that, so that pushing others into poverty is no longer even for purposes of your own benefit, but instead for some kind of sick sport? Aren't these the characters whose essential sickness preachers and philosophers and shrinks have been trying to sort out for millennia?

Obama and the rest of the cowardly and corrupt members of his party have guaranteed their own destruction, that's for sure, but that is likely the least unkind thing that history will say about them. If we think about where this all goes next, it becomes clear what these shallow punks are trading away for their pathetic self-interest and unwillingness to fight against treasonous criminals. Democrats will be smashed in the next two elections, and the right will gain full control of the government and full responsibility for the state of the country. At that point, Republicans will have to put up or shut up. Since they will have no remotely viable way to solve the problems people face - since, indeed, their real mission is to make those problems worse, because that is necessary to further enrich their sponsors - they will reach for ever greater means of distraction to keep the public's attention elsewhere. All I can say is, "Watch out, third world countries everywhere". We know what these people are capable of, though Cheneyism has only hinted at how bad it could ultimately get

Backhand grateful

2010-09-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how much of a fight it will be. Wife loves to watch these stupid reality shows. Idol is over, and soon so will Talent, only just as those are out of the way comes Dancing. This time instead of an old fart Republican they're passing as a "Star" the daughter of an Alaskan quitter whose only claim to fame is that she was pregnant, out of wedlock and somehow that get passed off as being pro-family because she didn't get an abortion.
I refuse to watch a show where the kool-aide drinkers get to vote her on week after week. Which is a good thing, it's a convenient excuse to not watch a show I'm really not that interested in.
Well, Brook Burke showing up every week in cleavage revealing evening gowns did make it bearable.

How Many More Must Die?

2010-08-31T20:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday another 21 year old was buried in the National Cemetary in Santa Fe. He was killed on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.
How many more will we bury on these useless wars?

Only Crooks Like Anarchy

2010-08-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Russ has a great post concerning Rules of the Road. He equates the need for rules on our financial instutions just like we need traffic rules.

When I was a security guard the only posts that were armed involved money. Banks, armoured cars, and just about anywhere that has large amounts of cash have someone in a uniform and a side arm. Those businesses understand that where there's money there's temptation to steal.
Now why would our dear elected officials not understand this simple concept when they had Billions of dollars to businesses that have wrecked the economy. The government needs to watch for potential crooks on wall street that handle most of the country's economic life blood.
The ideology of a self regulated market is just a con by crooks to steal the store.

Costello Christians

2010-08-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

I finally watched Bill Maher’s Religious. I wasn’t surprised. He’s a comedian and makes his living ridiculing whatever he sets his sights on. So does Rush Limbaugh, and most of the mouths that roar on radio or teevee. It seems poking fun at other people is what passes for legitimate debate today.

It was painful as someone of faith to watch the way he painted an entire belief system with the brush of fundamentalism or institutionalized religion. Believe it or not there are many believers that have not assassinated their intelligence to someone who rants and raves from a pulpit or considers themselves God’s elected mouthpiece and they enjoy a meaningful personal relationship with God.

It’s easy to make fun of fundies and the orthodox because they’ve taken reason out of their faith and delivered it into the hands of someone who does their thinking for them.

The mechanism used by charlatans to fleece the flock of all their money and gain political power is literalism. The Bible has to be interpreted literally, and only literally.

Today I’m coining the phrase “Costello Christians” to describe literalists. They are a laugh riot, just like Abbot and Costello’s routine Who’s On First. If you’re not familiar with this comedy classic you can google it. There are about a dozen or more U-tube versions of it.

Lou Costello tries and tries every way he can to find out who’s on first, but never makes the connection that the first baseman’s name is Who. He stays stuck in his literal understanding of the word and can’t make the leap from literal to symbolic. It’s funny because the audience knows the difference and enjoys listening or seeing someone who is that stupid.

Here’s my example of a Costello Christian:

Anyone who wants to argue or defend the idea that Jonah was swallowed by a large fish or whale. Bill Maher devotes quite a bit of his movie on the issue and both he and those he’s arguing with miss the point. The book is not about a fish anymore than Gulliver’s Travels is about Lilliputians or Yahoos. They’re allegories.

Jonah represents the Jews and Nineveh is symbolized as all the other people on the Earth. They are commanded to share their God and refuse. The symbol of the fish or whale would be the Babylonian captivity afterwards they are returned to their land. Jonah preaches and Nineveh repents and is spared destruction. The allegory here would be through Jesus the Gentiles become believers or Christians and are entitled to Heaven. At the end of the book Jonah goes up to the top of a hill to look down on the city. A large plant grows up giving him shade, but the plant dies and he is doubly miserable because the city has not been destroyed and he has no shade. This is a reference to Judaism’s refuting Christianity because they can’t stand the idea of the Goyim being in their Heaven.

The main points of Jonah are:

The Jews are commanded to proclaim God to the whole world.
They at first refuse and are punished until they consent.
The World is spared destruction because of their belief.
The Jews are upset and pout because they’ve lost their monopoly on God.

The central message of Jonah is:

God and Heaven are for everyone, not just a chosen few.

The Costello Christians want to make it about a fish and give fuel to the fire of skeptics and comedians who rightfully point out how stupid it is to interpret something written as allegory literally.

This is my interpretation of Jonah. I don’t claim it to be the official or only way to read the book. I don’t think anyone who understands it differently needs to be kicked out of the church or burned at the stake.

I wrote a post some time ago entitled “I’ve Been Fooled.” It’s still one of the most viewed posts I’ve ever written. It’s about an allegorical book and movie: The Princess Bride. I admit that while reading the book the author had me actually believing there were countries named Gilder and Florin, but I didn’t accept it at face value. I checked it out and discovered the deception. Kicked myself for being foolish enough to buy it in the first place, then marveled at how artfully the author had tricked me. It also made me realize the depth and power of the truth he was writing about in the story. As I explained how the story relates to economics to my wife she just fussed at me for ruining a good story. The beauty of a good allegory is that it can be understood on multiple levels. The power of allegory is that its theme and message can be understood without being preached at or to. You just have to exert more mental energy than most people are willing to spend today.

My Two Cents

2010-08-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

Since just about everyone is saying something about the Muslim Community Center proposed near "Ground Zero" I thought I'd speak up.
Actually I hadn't wanted to be a lemming, but the wife and I got into a discussion about it. She's usually not into debating hot button issues so that makes this something I need to speak up about.

The president took an oath to uphold the Constitution which is basically what his quote did. The crazies are naturally milking the issue for all the free publicity they can get, and others are naturally falling into the trap of refuting bullshit.

I look to the Amish community as the best example on how to handle a situtuation like this. A man killed their children then committed suicide. As a community they reached out to the dead man's family and included them in the healing process. They turned the other cheek, they prayed for those who dispitefully used them, they loved their enemy, and found peace.

If the Christians howling like mad dogs against this proposed community center were actually following their core belief they would embrace this group, join with them and work to heal the damage done nine years ago. These professional whiners don't want peace, there's no money in it.