7/28/10
The Fox Is In The Henhouse
My high primal thinker spouse stated in the According To Marge blog that "We are no longer a Democratic Republic. We are a Corporate Capitalistic Republic!" The Supreme Court has insured that this will persist when it ruled that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections. The fox is in the henhouse and corporations will feast on chickens otherwise known as voters. The days of ten and twenty dollar contributions making a difference in political campaigns are over. Corporations will overwhelm the system and make sure "user friendly" individuals sit in governmental positions.
7/25/10
High Primals And Cell Phones
It is my sad duty to report that the high primal has added a disdain of smart phones to her list of technological wonders she can do without. This is more serious than her laborious attempts to get familiar with computers. The latter has not hampered my computer activities but the cell phone issue is another matter.
We both have cell phones which to the high primal’s amazement are very capable of making phone calls. On the negative side, our cell phones are frozen in time. Its almost like having a crank phone for our land line phone service. Texting is next to impossible without a QWERTY keyboard. Our cell phones think that the term apps is just a fancy term for abs. The only image the phones are capable of capturing is a reflection of the users face if the light is hitting the display properly. I just learned that it is now possible to deposit checks to your bank account with some new app. We are lucky that our cell phone can complete a call to the bank.
When I first met the high primal she was employed as a telephone switch board operator by one of the Ma Bell companies. Those gadgets scared the hell out of me but not the high primal. This is what makes her disdain for smart phones difficult to understand.
The result of the high primal's smart phone bashing is that she has practically made a cell phone Luddite out of me. Actually its not her fault. If I wasn’t so cheap I’d get into a more expensive cell phone service and sign up for a smart phone for me and a crank phone for her.
We both have cell phones which to the high primal’s amazement are very capable of making phone calls. On the negative side, our cell phones are frozen in time. Its almost like having a crank phone for our land line phone service. Texting is next to impossible without a QWERTY keyboard. Our cell phones think that the term apps is just a fancy term for abs. The only image the phones are capable of capturing is a reflection of the users face if the light is hitting the display properly. I just learned that it is now possible to deposit checks to your bank account with some new app. We are lucky that our cell phone can complete a call to the bank.
When I first met the high primal she was employed as a telephone switch board operator by one of the Ma Bell companies. Those gadgets scared the hell out of me but not the high primal. This is what makes her disdain for smart phones difficult to understand.
The result of the high primal's smart phone bashing is that she has practically made a cell phone Luddite out of me. Actually its not her fault. If I wasn’t so cheap I’d get into a more expensive cell phone service and sign up for a smart phone for me and a crank phone for her.
7/24/10
God Bless America
An improbable ending for a President's Speech:
Fellow Americans, for the last thirty minutes I have tried to explain why our beloved country is in such a mess. I have faithfully followed the precedent set by Reagan and added 'God bless America' at the end of every speech but tonight it might be more fitting if I asked God to have mercy on America. I doubt that this will get anymore of his attention than my usual closing. Why God is ignoring my pleas is very perplexing. Could it be that God does not play favorites? Anyway, God bless you and yes, before I forget , God bless America.
One of Ronald Reagan legacies was that all presidential speeches should end with 'God Bless America'. When will American presidents learn that exhorting some Supreme Being to bless this country at the end of a speech has become trite and unconvincing. Blessings will come to this nation by deeds and not prayer. Like a good politician, God is much too smart to favor one nation over another.
Fellow Americans, for the last thirty minutes I have tried to explain why our beloved country is in such a mess. I have faithfully followed the precedent set by Reagan and added 'God bless America' at the end of every speech but tonight it might be more fitting if I asked God to have mercy on America. I doubt that this will get anymore of his attention than my usual closing. Why God is ignoring my pleas is very perplexing. Could it be that God does not play favorites? Anyway, God bless you and yes, before I forget , God bless America.
One of Ronald Reagan legacies was that all presidential speeches should end with 'God Bless America'. When will American presidents learn that exhorting some Supreme Being to bless this country at the end of a speech has become trite and unconvincing. Blessings will come to this nation by deeds and not prayer. Like a good politician, God is much too smart to favor one nation over another.
7/17/10
Repeal Murphy's Law
My guess is that in spite of a law degree from Harvard and experience as a law professor, Barack Obama was not appreciative of Murphy's Law when in the midst of his presidential campaign the country entered into a financial crisis. Inheriting a financial crisis from the previous administration was just the beginning of his troubles. In the first eighteen month's of his presidency, as Murphy's Law dictated, anything that could go wrong, did go wrong, culminating in an epic oil spill in the Gulf.
If Obama intends to run for re-election, and he should, its imperative that that he use his bully pulpit to get Murphy's Law repealed even at the risk of alienating some Irish-Americans.
If Obama intends to run for re-election, and he should, its imperative that that he use his bully pulpit to get Murphy's Law repealed even at the risk of alienating some Irish-Americans.
7/11/10
We Plead Guilty To Hypocrisy
My high primal spouse had this profound observation in one of her According To Marge posts, "Shopping for something made in the U.S.A. can be frustrating. About all you can find are paper napkins and crayons". Not so! We recently went shopping for a lamp shade and had a difficult time finding the style and size the high primal required. We finally ended up at a store that specialized in lamp shades. Sure enough we found just the right shade. We didn't find just the right price. Fifty-five dollars plus tax for a shade? As the clerk patiently explained, the shade was hand made right in Cleveland, Ohio. The last I heard Cleveland, Ohio was still in the good old U.S.A., so here was something besides paper napkins and crayons made in America. The clerk perceived that that we were shopping for price rather than a lamp shade and surprisingly recommended a certain big box store where we might find just what we were looking for - a cheap shade which met our needs.
Sure enough we found just what we were looking for at $19.95. Where was it made? Where else but China. We purchased the shade and have been wrestling with our conscience ever since.
Its OK to rant and rave about jobs going offshore, its OK to take American manufacturers to task for dismantling our manufacturing base but is it compatible with choosing Made In China versus Made In The U.S.A. in order to save thirty-five dollars? Only if you succumb to hypocrisy! To resort to cliches, you can't have your cake and eat it too or better still, put your money where your mouth is. As long as price is the determining factor in our purchases we shouldn't be shocked at the difficulty of finding something made here. Before long even our paper napkins and crayons will speak with an accent.
( Yes, the shade looks great!)
Sure enough we found just what we were looking for at $19.95. Where was it made? Where else but China. We purchased the shade and have been wrestling with our conscience ever since.
Its OK to rant and rave about jobs going offshore, its OK to take American manufacturers to task for dismantling our manufacturing base but is it compatible with choosing Made In China versus Made In The U.S.A. in order to save thirty-five dollars? Only if you succumb to hypocrisy! To resort to cliches, you can't have your cake and eat it too or better still, put your money where your mouth is. As long as price is the determining factor in our purchases we shouldn't be shocked at the difficulty of finding something made here. Before long even our paper napkins and crayons will speak with an accent.
( Yes, the shade looks great!)
7/9/10
La comedia e finita?
La comedia e finita! Lebron James is gone ! After weeks of suffering through pitiful stories worthy of an operatic libretto, 'King' James has given the finger to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wow! Now we will start getting real news in our newspaper and on the local TV newscasts.
Hold the presses, the comedy goes on! The Cavaliers majority owner is pissed and is dissing the self proclaimed 'King'. More fodder for the sports writers- less news for those of us who don't give a damn about spoiled players and disgruntled owners.
If I were the Cavaliers owner , I'd be careful about what I said. Basketball players take their right to bear arms seriously.
On the positive side, with the departure of 'King' James, the Cleveland sports scene can return to normalcy otherwise known as mediocrity, and that ain't necessarily bad.
Hold the presses, the comedy goes on! The Cavaliers majority owner is pissed and is dissing the self proclaimed 'King'. More fodder for the sports writers- less news for those of us who don't give a damn about spoiled players and disgruntled owners.
If I were the Cavaliers owner , I'd be careful about what I said. Basketball players take their right to bear arms seriously.
On the positive side, with the departure of 'King' James, the Cleveland sports scene can return to normalcy otherwise known as mediocrity, and that ain't necessarily bad.
7/7/10
Whither The American Dream
The New York Times ran an article, “American Dream Is Elusive for New Generation” which really got me musing. The implication of the article is that The American Dream has almost become a nightmare for the millennium generation.
The American Dream has some sort of mystique about it. Just what is the American Dream? According to Wikipedia, “The meaning of the "American Dream" has changed over the course of history. While historically traced to the New World mystique — especially the availability of low-cost land for farm ownership — the ethos today simply indicates the ability, through participation in the society and economy, for everyone to achieve prosperity. According to the dream, this includes the opportunity for one's children to grow up and receive a good education and career without artificial barriers . It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the prior restrictions that limit people according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity”.
The last sentence, is the part of the American Dream that has driven this country to greatness and I submit that it is no more elusive for today’s youth than it was the children of the Great Depression. In fact, one might argue that restrictions limiting choice are fewer than they were decades ago and promise to be even fewer if our government can go back to governing rather than firefighting. The Dream is not elusive as long as Americans continue to have the fortitude to overcome all obstacles in their path to a better life.
People have the freedom “to make individual choices without the prior restrictions that limit people according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity” but people may very well be limited in those choices because too much emphasis has been put on the part of the American Dream which emphasizes prosperity.
Witness the Great Recession which lingers on today. At the very roots of the 2008 financial meltdown was the quest for prosperity fueled by greed and financial irresponsibility leading to an American Nightmare rather than an American Dream. As we have seen , this quest to achieve prosperity has relied less on the participation in the society and the economy and more on greed. Abuses of our financial system in order to achieve prosperity has led to the American Nightmare.
As long as the corporate and financial world persist on minimizing their responsibilities as corporate citizens of America, the American Nightmare will persist. As long as the consumer puts greed ahead of financial responsibility, the American Nightmare will persist. A reckless quest for prosperity is creating obstacles which even American fortitude will find difficult to overcome. As a result the millennium generation will indeed be shortchanged.
The American Dream has some sort of mystique about it. Just what is the American Dream? According to Wikipedia, “The meaning of the "American Dream" has changed over the course of history. While historically traced to the New World mystique — especially the availability of low-cost land for farm ownership — the ethos today simply indicates the ability, through participation in the society and economy, for everyone to achieve prosperity. According to the dream, this includes the opportunity for one's children to grow up and receive a good education and career without artificial barriers . It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the prior restrictions that limit people according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity”.
The last sentence, is the part of the American Dream that has driven this country to greatness and I submit that it is no more elusive for today’s youth than it was the children of the Great Depression. In fact, one might argue that restrictions limiting choice are fewer than they were decades ago and promise to be even fewer if our government can go back to governing rather than firefighting. The Dream is not elusive as long as Americans continue to have the fortitude to overcome all obstacles in their path to a better life.
People have the freedom “to make individual choices without the prior restrictions that limit people according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity” but people may very well be limited in those choices because too much emphasis has been put on the part of the American Dream which emphasizes prosperity.
Witness the Great Recession which lingers on today. At the very roots of the 2008 financial meltdown was the quest for prosperity fueled by greed and financial irresponsibility leading to an American Nightmare rather than an American Dream. As we have seen , this quest to achieve prosperity has relied less on the participation in the society and the economy and more on greed. Abuses of our financial system in order to achieve prosperity has led to the American Nightmare.
As long as the corporate and financial world persist on minimizing their responsibilities as corporate citizens of America, the American Nightmare will persist. As long as the consumer puts greed ahead of financial responsibility, the American Nightmare will persist. A reckless quest for prosperity is creating obstacles which even American fortitude will find difficult to overcome. As a result the millennium generation will indeed be shortchanged.
7/3/10
With all due respect
If one wants to add insult to injury before launching a rebuke of someone's position, he usually will preface his remarks with "with all due respect". With all due respect, there is no respect intended, only an attempt to belittle another's point of view by hitting him below the belt. On the other hand, perhaps the person being criticized does command respect. All in all, getting right to the point would hit the nail on the head no matter the circumstances! If that doesn't cut it, maybe its time to zip it.
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