Listening Post

One of the definitions of a listening post is:

A position from which to listen or gather information.

Listening Position

While in my favorite listening position in the recliner,  I heard a cerebral voice suggesting that I write a listening post. Why not? A post devoted to what I've heard is just what the blogosphere has been waiting for. One problem. My listening position invariably subjects me to dreams and nightmares which affect the recollection of what I've actually listened to. Nonetheless, I'll try to recall what came through at my listening post.

Listening Post

I heard Arianna Huffungton on the Colbert Show dismiss the right and the left in favor of right and wrong. At first blush it makes sense. At second blush some rightie might say that he heard that you are either a right rightie or a wrong leftie. As I listened to more from Ariana, I concluded that what we really need is common sense rather than righties and lefties. That's what happens when dreams confuse what you are actually listening to.

How about all the speculation on presidential candidates? If you listen to the pundits, the 2012 presidential election is old news. The real news is who is going to run in 2016. I've listened to all of their guesses and decided that it was time to wake up. If these characters lull us to sleep by declaring that the 2012 race is boring we are likely to be confronted by President Romney. Now that would indeed be a nightmare.

I keep hearing that Social Security and Medicare are in trouble because of an aging population. As I understand it, these programs were needed for the aged, so why are we blaming the aged. If everyone passed on before the age of 65, Social Security and Medicare would be in excellent shape. I'm sure some rightie will come up with a program to make this happen. I've also heard that those vitamin pills advertised for those past the age of 55 may be a version of Soylent Green. 2022 is just around the corner. I wonder if Charlton Heston is planning a presidential run in 2022. Probably not, I've heard he's still knocking at those pearly gates clutching his favorite rifle.

How about those Secret Service agents carousing with prostitutes in Colombia? I listened to a female lawmaker suggest that the solution to this sort of male behavior was to enlist more female Secret Service agents. I'm not quite sure whether the intent is to eliminate the need for prostitutes or just give gigolos a shot at the president.

I put my ear to a railroad track the other day hoping to pick up some news but discovered that all the news makers are flying these days.

Many people these days get their news from Twitter and Facebook. I tried listening to both but the silence was deafening.

I listened to some Cleveland sports pundits proclaim that Johnny Damon will be the second coming of Christ when he is activated as a Cleveland Indian. This will only happen if he grows a beard  and lets his hair grow down to his shoulders. He's done that before.

The High Primal has a habit of accusing me of not listening to a thing she says. Not true. How else could I have come up with "According To Marge".

That yawn I just heard was either from my horde of readers or just me getting ready for another listening post session.

The Nuclear Club Revisited.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it. India has  successfully launched a missile with nuclear capability and a range of 3,100 miles, giving it the ability to strike Beijing and Shanghai, and heightening fears of an Asian arms race.

 Reading all about it reminded me of a post, "The Nuclear Club", whichI wrote on 1/27/2007, more than five years ago. An excerpt  follows:

         But what of The Nuclear Club? The Nuclear Club expanded to include the Soviet Union. The price of admission ? A free pass due to a lapse in security in the United States! The United Kingdom joined - it's entry assured by it's cooperation in the Manhattan Project. Then came France. No outcry - what are allies for? In turn China, India and Pakistan were admitted to the club. The price of admission ? A free pass again as merchants of death discovered that millions were to made by helping these countries develop a nuclear capability. And then there was Israel . Israel did not seek admission - they preferred to keep their nuclear capability secret. So now we have North Korea and Iran. Both desperately want to join the club but the club members apparently think they are unfit to hobnob with such an august group. The price of admission? Capitulation! In the end the price will be lowered under the guise of peaceful use of nuclear energy. In the end The Nuclear Club will not be such an exclusive entity. In the end greed and alliances will foster even more proliferation of nuclear power. Let us pray that it will indeed not be THE END!

Little has changed since 2007. Club members are still flirting with "THE END" and wanabe members are getting closer and closer to qualifying for membership.

 What are the odds that The United Nations will bless some sort of "Stand Your Ground" resolution when it comes to nuclear missiles?

Who's The National Disgrace?

I've been waiting for some words from the National Rifle Association concerning the Trayvon Martin tragedy. Sure enough, on page 15 of yesterdays New York Times the headline N.R.A. Official Attacks Florida Shooting Coverage caught my attention. Wayne LaPiere, executive vice president of the N.R.A., accused the news media on Saturday of engaging in sensationalized coverage of the Trayvon Martin killing. His were the first comments that the gun lobby has made publicly about the fatal shooting since it occurred six weeks ago. Mr. LaPierre criticized news organizations for singling out one killing and ignoring many other violent crimes that happen in the United States every day.

“You manufacture controversy for ratings,” he added. “You don’t care about the truth, and the truth is the national news media in this country is a national disgrace, and you all know it.”

Poor Mr. LaPierre. He’s not satisfied with having the U.S. Congress and most state legislatures in his back pocket. Now he’s out to trample the media. He apparently does not understand that the media does not ignore the many other violent crimes that happen in the United States everyday, a good number of which involve one of his weapons of choice. He does not understand that the Trayvon Martin murder is an example of the absurdity of the “stand your ground"  laws his organization is vigorously promoting in legislatures across the country.

It is the N.R.A. lobby that is becoming a national disgrace not the media. Mr. LaPierre can act tough only because arguing for gun control has become the third rail in politics. Without the help of our political leaders in reining in the N.R.A. agenda, we are faced with a gun in every household. That indeed would be a national disgrace.

Goodbye Fuji, Hello Toby

Fuji The Corolla, aka Fuji The Toyota, has been put up for adoption. It was the most merciful action to take. He had endured three years of bad mouthing from the High Primal. Nothing about him seemed to satisfy her. It came to the point where he was no longer welcome in our garage.

Fuji and I went through some trying times together. I nursed him through his sudden acceleration syndrome and stayed up with him while he underwent an accelerator pedal implant. We bonded! Unfortunately he never bonded with the High Primal.

After consulting with SPCA, The Society For The Prevention of Cruelty To Automobiles, it was deemed that Fuji was still a youngster, hardly broken in and would be welcomed into the garage of many families. I ran Fuji through the best car wash I could find, revved up his engine once more and took him to the Toyota dealer . He was promptly certified as a hot deal. That was a few days ago. The garage still does not seems the same without Fuji.

True to form, the High Primal poo -pooed my attachment to Fuji and informed me that Japanese cars are very stoic and didn't give a shit about who drove them as long as they got their oil changed now and then. Fuji's replacement? The High Primal had her heart set on a Matrix. It turned out that so did many other drivers and the Matrix was in short supply and pricey. Her second choice was a RAV4. I hope that the RAV, or Toby as he is now known, does not end up in therapy over being second fiddle to a Matrix.

 It turns out that Toby  has a ravenous thirst as compared to Fuji's camel like thirst. I'm sure that's why Toyota christened him as a RAV. I'm also sure this will not sit well with President Obama. I can quell his disapproval later with a donation to Obama For America. I must say that when it comes to cars it is difficult to satisfy everyone but the High Primal's approval trumps that of POTUS every time.

It will take a few days, but I'm sure I will develop an attachment for Toby in spite of his thirst. Already Toby has impressed me with his stature on the road. He stands head and shoulder over most cars. I guess that's what the high primal was looking for.

Genric Political Strategist For Hire

I've decided to become a generic political strategist.  Not a  Democrat Strategist or a Republican Strategist but a Generic Strategist. Neither major party would have me so I've gone generic. The major parties do not know what they are missing. I'm eminently qualified to fill the role of a political strategist. First of all I say dumb, stupid things the likes of which would put Hilary Rosen to shame. Secondly I'm very apologetic. My apologies are as sincere as what I said in the first place. Thirdly, my neck is not arthritic which permits my head to bobble. The latter is important in order to qualify as a talking head on the Wolf Blitzer CNN Situation Room. Last but by no means least, I know very little about presidential politics so I would enter any strategy session with an open mind. At the urging of Newt Gingrich I'm giving Obama and or Romney one last chance to invite me into their inner circles. I doubt that they will take me up on my offer since one of my conditions for employment is that I will have nothing to do with their wives.

Run For Cover Law?

I'm beginning to wonder if blogging, at least the kind of  blogging which can be regarded as inflammatory, is such a good idea these days. Why? If someone, for whatever reason feels threatened by my opinions or position on issues, they might very well take advantage of  the liberal Stand Your Ground Laws that the N.R.A. is promoting. The N.R.A. has been engaged in a surge, a surge backed by political blackmail to secure the passage of laws expanding when and where a gun may be used. They are lobbying effectively for broadening the definition of 'being threatened'. The N.R.A. is convincing one legislature after another that the places where a concealed gun may be carried need to be expanded.

 I'm sure that a post such as this might come under the category of a threat - a threat to deny someone their  "God given right" to bear arms and use of those arms as they see fit. In the face of action that might be taken to wipe out a perceived threat by my blogging, I should probably run for cover ( is there a Run For Cover law that I can take advantage of?). It hasn't come to that yet, but give the N.R.A. time and money and it won't be so far fetched. Run for your life!

High Primals And Junk Mail

An important part of a High Primal's leisure hours is reviewing and absorbing the content of junk mail. When told that the USPS was in trouble the High Primal had this to say:

I’m suffering at the prospect that our once vaunted mail system will leave me in the lurch. I don’t get much mail in the form of personal letters anymore but I do love my junk mail.

It used to be fun to take pen in hand , write a letter and receive a written letter in response. No more, its all texting, twittering or e-mail. I would love to write a love letter to Tony but that would be overkill since he’s underfoot all the time. Besides the price of stamps is out of site. Sorry USPS, e-mail it is ( I’d try texting, but my thumbs get in the way.)

Tony tells me that spam e-mail is almost like junk mail but he doesn't know what he is talking about. He hates junk mail.

If the USPS loses its junk mail business, I'll be pissed. Can't Washington bail out the USPS? Why can't they get some stimulus funds? . If there was a Postmaster General in the President's cabinet the USPS wouldn’t be struggling for funds and  junk mail would be a cinch to get to my mailbox.

Campaign 2012 Has Its Byproducts

 Now we have the racially motivated killings in Tulsa on the heels of the Trayvon Martin slaying in Sanford. Two men are accused of killing three black people and wounding two others over the weekend. It may be coincidence but have racially motivated attacks and killings become more frequent as Campaign 2012 heats up? A  United States Senator calling the President of The United States, who happens to be black, "stupid", just throws another log on the fire. It's only April. There is still a long road ahead to the November elections. There is still time for campaigning to be drawn around issues affecting the welfare and security of this country rather than dwelling on what church one worships in or why one does not worship or what one does in his bedroom or what one's skin color is.  There is still time for candidates to clean up their act, but I'm not holding my breath. There is big money devoted to retiring the country's first black president. There is big money devoted to putting a gun in every household. Racially motivated murders may very well be the tip of the iceberg. We need a little political climate warming.

Easter 2012

The papers, TV, blogs and social networks are full of Easter greetings today. The salutation most often heard is " Happy Easter ". Nothing wrong with that, yet I'm a bit skeptical about the intent of the greeting. I suspect that nowadays it has less to do with religion and more to do with a celebration of Spring and good times. A bit harsh? Why then the wars, killings, racial strife, dirty politics and greed that surround us. I confess that I am as guilty as most in observing  today as purely a holiday rather than a religious commitment. I do try not to let an Easter go by without listening to Mascagni's , "Cavelleria Rusticana". As my son puts it, "Sicilians killing each other on Easter morning. It doesn't get better than that!". Buona Pasqua!

About Time

I'm still coping with how quickly time passes. That is another way of saying that Father Time is moving along much too fast for his years. No wonder he moves fast - I peeked the other day and the old fart was wearing $300 Nike sandals. I'd like to slow him up but he is bound and determined to win a gold medal in the Senior Olympics.

Actually it doesn't make much sense to slow him down. If tempis didn't fugit there would be no memories. I must quickly acknowledge that not all memories are thrilling to recall. If that is a problem, there is always selective memory. One of these days, Father Times' sneakers will wear out and time will come to a screeching halt. There will be no memories to recall, only time for relishing the present until it too fades away.

Given that time and tide wait for no man, perhaps it is best if I admit that when it comes to time I don’t know what time it is. All in due time, some philosopher will make some sense about time but don't bet on it. From time immemorial, the subject of time has mesmerized philosophers. Time and time again they have pondered the mysteries of time only to leave us more confused than ever. My two cents worth can only add to the confusion.

Time to put this post to bed. Time really does fly when you are having fun.

AWTTW - 4getabout reading this

I was perplexed recently when my dumb phone chimed away, trying to get my attention that I had a rare text message. I opened the phone, pushed the soft key ( which is just as hard as all the other keys) which said 'view' and glory be, I indeed had a text message.

10Q for visiting my blog. Why I don't no, but 10X anyway. You may find that it's GIGO but 4COL at least you won't be BTD. AISI my.02 is probably more 411 than you really want. My ! on that is that it BTHOM why UR here in the first place. IMBGO since 404 as to what I'm talking about. Before I fall AAK ::poof:: :( ha-ha.

All that I could figure out is that I had visited someone's blog and left a comment. Being dumber than dumb, the blogger decided to send me text message. How some alien got my cell phone number is a mystery. My dumb phone was no help in deciphering the message. After my Buck Rogers decoder failed to shed much more light on the message, I surmised that in this age a smart phone is the only phone capable of deciphering text messages. More importantly  I concluded that I'm too old to learn another language and it's best to stick with my dumb phone. It suits my personality- LOL.

P.S. !'s on this post are welcome but have  a <3, please ! in English. @TEDTD IGWS that English is the language of choice. :)