There is something poignant and meaningful about Castro meeting the Pope and speaking in civil and cordial terms. Their friendly meeting shows that killing off one's enemies is not the best way to go about things. Far better to show patience and understanding and to wait for the imperial court of the world & the times to settle the great Questions. I can remember when some Republicans were calling for the assassination of Castro. It is probably better that he lived without undue interference. If nothing else, a superb accomplishment of Castro is the free public health care system in place in Cuba, as well as the Cuban doctors and nurses that are exported throughout the third world. I believe that the sanctions in place against Castro's regime should be lifted. His regime is not as bad as others that we do business with.
In truth, Castro and the Pope have much in common. While inhabiting different sides of the political spectrum, they are both representatives of declining ideologies.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Marijuana & Obamacare
If the U.S. Supreme Court now throws out provisions of the health care reform,
then a reinterpretation of the Commerce Clause has occurred, which would have implications for marijuana prohibition, were the Supreme Court composed only of honest individuals. However, I suspect the Justices vote along party lines with little or no regard for logic, reason or the Constitution. They pick and choose based upon their own prejudices.
They may rule that the federal government "exceeds its authority" in compelling citizens to purchase health insurance, and then turn around and support previous rulings that a citizen growing a non-toxic, non-addictive, medicinal natural plant may be imprisoned. In the former case, the Court supports "individual freedom," whereas in the case of marijuana, the government can do whatever it wants, anytime it wants, and for any reason, whether valid or not.
I think that this Supreme Court has been clipping away individual rights and freedoms for a long time, and it will oppose health care, while claiming that they are supporting "freedom," namely the "freedom" to suffer and die without health care or with substandard health care. Meanwhile, marijuana, which has never caused death, unlike substances such as prescription drugs, tobacco and alcohol, continues to be the most common excuse that the government uses to wage war against its own citizens.
They may rule that the federal government "exceeds its authority" in compelling citizens to purchase health insurance, and then turn around and support previous rulings that a citizen growing a non-toxic, non-addictive, medicinal natural plant may be imprisoned. In the former case, the Court supports "individual freedom," whereas in the case of marijuana, the government can do whatever it wants, anytime it wants, and for any reason, whether valid or not.
I think that this Supreme Court has been clipping away individual rights and freedoms for a long time, and it will oppose health care, while claiming that they are supporting "freedom," namely the "freedom" to suffer and die without health care or with substandard health care. Meanwhile, marijuana, which has never caused death, unlike substances such as prescription drugs, tobacco and alcohol, continues to be the most common excuse that the government uses to wage war against its own citizens.
Good Republicans are Eliminated
Good Republicans get eliminated by the base. The only Republican I may have voted for over Obama, Jon Huntsman, was eliminated early in the Republican primary. Only far right-wing nuts survive the primary process, because only they reflect the Republican base. You have people who do not believe in evolution, who want to make birth control an issue, who think women are sluts, and who want gays to go back in the closet. They think education is a misdemeanor at best, and war is the only way to improve the country. In a nutshell (not the Republican one), that's why I vote for Democrats, every time. I hope that one day the Republican party will start nominating intelligent and reasonable people again, like they did back in Lincoln's day.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Florida Republicans Say, "Thou Shalt Kill"
What if the New Black Panther Party decided to launch a Neighborhood Watch program of their own, riding around black neighborhoods with loaded guns and questioning any random white man or woman they see walking along the road at night?
In the Wild, Wild West of Florida, anyone has the right to kill anyone they please due to Florida's Stand Your Ground law, the brainchild of the Republican Party & the NRA, which allows people to kill anyone they want, anytime they want, as long as they remember to tell the cops they were in fear of their life when they shot and / or killed the unarmed victim. They certainly won't be contradicted by anyone, as dead men tell no tales!
Republicans think the Ten Commandments must be posted in public spaces all over creation. I suggest they learn how to follow the Commandment that says, "Thou shalt not kill." That's the most important one of all. Once they master that one, then they can progress to the other nine. But by that time, they will have become Democrats.
Republicans hate gays, marijuana and birth control, but they love guns, war and now just plain ol' shootin', murderin' and killin'.
In the Wild, Wild West of Florida, anyone has the right to kill anyone they please due to Florida's Stand Your Ground law, the brainchild of the Republican Party & the NRA, which allows people to kill anyone they want, anytime they want, as long as they remember to tell the cops they were in fear of their life when they shot and / or killed the unarmed victim. They certainly won't be contradicted by anyone, as dead men tell no tales!
Republicans think the Ten Commandments must be posted in public spaces all over creation. I suggest they learn how to follow the Commandment that says, "Thou shalt not kill." That's the most important one of all. Once they master that one, then they can progress to the other nine. But by that time, they will have become Democrats.
Republicans hate gays, marijuana and birth control, but they love guns, war and now just plain ol' shootin', murderin' and killin'.
One Thing About Obama: He's Smart
One big reason I like Obama and will vote for him in 2012 is that he's smart and has good morals. I even get the impression that he is smarter than me, and that's a good thing. He damn well better be smarter than me if he is going to lead the United States! In this article, Obama demonstrates awareness of American Sign Language.
Cash Money, Now and Forever!
Some in the mainstream media are eager to celebrate the end of cash. They want to eliminate cash from the world and replace it with credit cards.
If cash isn't used, then the government is disenfranchised from the economy, which sounds good to conspiracy theorists, but consider for a moment the alternative methods proposed for paying for transactions. Using a card of any kind, whether it goes through Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, or any bank enriches a private corporation, which then accrues immense wealth and power. Some of these corporations are already wealthier and more powerful than some states in the United States and some countries in the world. These private tyrannies remain unaccountable to voters or to anyone other than a small group of large stockholders or private owners. They can and will do whatever the hell they can get away with.
The choice between cash and cards is an easy one. Cash for me, thank you very much, whenever I can. Most merchants I know are happy to receive cash, and some of them offer a discount to those customers that pay with cash, because otherwise the merchant has to pay the credit card company a transaction fee. I don't know what rock the writers searched under to find these strange business owners that don't like cash.
Calculating how much cash to pay, how much change to make, and storing the little coins and paper are all helpful and restorative exercises for the brain. Using the brain is a good thing. I like to perform simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Sometimes I like to do simple algebra as well. These tasks are fun, not boring or difficult. As for cash itself, it can be beautiful, when designed properly. My favorite coin is the Walking Liberty, and my favorite bill is the 1976 two-dollar bill with the interesting scene on the reverse.
Making everything as easy as splat is a bad idea. A transaction needs to be slow enough to permit people to stop and consider what they are doing when they make a purchase. Cash is a powerful defense against the impulsive purchases that cards encourage. I wish that paying for things took ten times as long as it does now, because few would then buy the useless plastic crap imported from China and sold at Wal-Mart.
If the lazy idiots and conniving capitalists win this war they are waging against cash, then I will mourn the humble little coins and bills that used to circulate, those elegant symbols of our Republic and its long history, so useful for the education of children and reminders of the great minds that shaped our world. The death of money would be a long nail in the coffin of our democracy.
If cash isn't used, then the government is disenfranchised from the economy, which sounds good to conspiracy theorists, but consider for a moment the alternative methods proposed for paying for transactions. Using a card of any kind, whether it goes through Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, or any bank enriches a private corporation, which then accrues immense wealth and power. Some of these corporations are already wealthier and more powerful than some states in the United States and some countries in the world. These private tyrannies remain unaccountable to voters or to anyone other than a small group of large stockholders or private owners. They can and will do whatever the hell they can get away with.
The choice between cash and cards is an easy one. Cash for me, thank you very much, whenever I can. Most merchants I know are happy to receive cash, and some of them offer a discount to those customers that pay with cash, because otherwise the merchant has to pay the credit card company a transaction fee. I don't know what rock the writers searched under to find these strange business owners that don't like cash.
Calculating how much cash to pay, how much change to make, and storing the little coins and paper are all helpful and restorative exercises for the brain. Using the brain is a good thing. I like to perform simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Sometimes I like to do simple algebra as well. These tasks are fun, not boring or difficult. As for cash itself, it can be beautiful, when designed properly. My favorite coin is the Walking Liberty, and my favorite bill is the 1976 two-dollar bill with the interesting scene on the reverse.
Making everything as easy as splat is a bad idea. A transaction needs to be slow enough to permit people to stop and consider what they are doing when they make a purchase. Cash is a powerful defense against the impulsive purchases that cards encourage. I wish that paying for things took ten times as long as it does now, because few would then buy the useless plastic crap imported from China and sold at Wal-Mart.
If the lazy idiots and conniving capitalists win this war they are waging against cash, then I will mourn the humble little coins and bills that used to circulate, those elegant symbols of our Republic and its long history, so useful for the education of children and reminders of the great minds that shaped our world. The death of money would be a long nail in the coffin of our democracy.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Test Scores Mean Zip
The No Child Left Behind Act, the No Child Right Behind Act, or whatever federal, state or local programs that emphasize tests, tests, and more tests, and even more tests on top of the tests that students are already being tested on, are bad ideas based in good intentions. When salary is tied to students' test performance, guess what, the test scores are going to improve just like magic, or just like teachers spent a couple hours in the staff room erasing answers and marking in the right ones.
There is a difference between tests to control pass or fail and the tests the government requires in order to evaluate teachers and schools. I think students are government-tested entirely too much. In my day, the kids had one official statewide test at the end of the year, period, end of story, and even that one was a week-long hassle and detracted from learning. Testing is not learning. Testing is just a gimmick to appease anxious parents/voters.
It is no great mystery why Johnny Stupid can't design rocket ships. Stupid kids with stupid parents are not going to perform well, and no amount of effort by teachers will change that. No amount of government money thrown down the toilet is going to change that, either. Until stupid people start using birth control, there are going to continue to be a lot of stupid kids in the world. The answer to education problems is a nineteen cent condom along with an instructional video on how to use it.
There is a difference between tests to control pass or fail and the tests the government requires in order to evaluate teachers and schools. I think students are government-tested entirely too much. In my day, the kids had one official statewide test at the end of the year, period, end of story, and even that one was a week-long hassle and detracted from learning. Testing is not learning. Testing is just a gimmick to appease anxious parents/voters.
It is no great mystery why Johnny Stupid can't design rocket ships. Stupid kids with stupid parents are not going to perform well, and no amount of effort by teachers will change that. No amount of government money thrown down the toilet is going to change that, either. Until stupid people start using birth control, there are going to continue to be a lot of stupid kids in the world. The answer to education problems is a nineteen cent condom along with an instructional video on how to use it.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Good Times?
I have a funny feeling that these years we are living through will be remembered as the good years--maybe even the best, although for my money the 1990s were the best for me from the perspectives of health and wealth.
The environment seems like an important issue simmering on the back burner, ignored altogether by Republicans. What if the weather turns really bad and stays really bad for a long period of time? I suppose that those of us alive today will be glad that we were alive today and look back upon this time as a good one.
The environment seems like an important issue simmering on the back burner, ignored altogether by Republicans. What if the weather turns really bad and stays really bad for a long period of time? I suppose that those of us alive today will be glad that we were alive today and look back upon this time as a good one.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
An Infatutation with Firearms
When I was a little boy, I was drawn to fire--flames and burning--but not firearms, other than toy guns or squirt guns, because they simply weren't available (we had no guns in our house). As a teenager, guns were regarded as foreign and dangerous objects, and when I did encounter them, I treated them with apprehension and mild disdain and did not fire them even in play.
I'm glad I don't have any infatuation with firearms, but I'm aware that a number of men do seem to be in love with the things that go bang. They are drawn to guns like moths to a flame. Some get into a great deal of trouble and bring enormous hardships down upon themselves due to their actions involving firearms.
Human beings have no natural defense against the metal missiles fired by guns, and that is why guns are such a big problem in the world, responsible for so many life-altering injuries and deaths. If there were some defense, such as a natural protective armor or self-regenerating capacity, then we might as a species take a more liberal attitude toward guns and their users. But once a man is shot, he tends to go down and stay down. Many are the gun owners that wish that the person they shot could get up again and be safe and sound. Many are the gun owners that regret pulling that trigger.
In regard to the unfortunate incident in Florida, I think a self-destructive urge was at play, a death wish closely related to the need to prove oneself. I would imagine that appointing oneself as the Neighborhood Watch, when nobody was asking or paying for this service, and taking it upon oneself to go out at night and hunt and confront a young man walking alone in a neighborhood was motivated by the desire to express machismo. Such an act was only possible with the addition of a firearm, because the same individual would never have been able to prevail in any fair fight. A coward, unversed in combat and lacking in actual courage, turned to a gun in order to supply what Nature did not, force and courage.
Instead of being the lauded hero of the neighborhood, as perhaps he imagined before our prospective Batman set out on his foolish solo mission with a loaded gun, he is now the detested villain, known throughout the country and even the world for a single act involving a firearm. No one has much to say in his favor, but many speak ill of him, and the vultures are circling, and his remaining days upon this Earth seem dark with many shadows. He went looking for trouble but didn't find it and decided to make it. So it is often with men that feel that they have something to prove, that want to show to others that they are a man and can't seem to find an appropriate and rational avenue to pursue that goal.
I would think he would have been better off volunteering at the local fire department, animal shelter or community theater rather than driving around at night with a loaded gun, looking for trouble.
I think that television is partly to blame for indoctrinating so many young people with the idea that guns are the way to prove oneself, that guns are the solution to problems, for idealizing violence. In real life, things seldom work out they way that they do on television shows. Of course, no one ever volunteers at the local fire department, animal shelter or community theater on a television show. More likely in T.V. land, they are associated with the mafia, a corrupt police cabal, Mexican gangs or are solitary vigilantes. (I betray my age with the references to television, because these days, video games occupy more time of young men than anything on television.)
Law enforcement strategy is largely based upon noticing things that are out of the ordinary, that do not fit an accepted pattern, an assumed version of what is normal. Black people were out of the ordinary for the neighborhood. The perpetrator did not expect that a young black person would have any legitimate reason to be walking alone at night in that area. His imaginative faculties clearly are very poor in view of his actions that night. If anyone should never have appointed themselves to the Neighborhood Watch, he is a prime example. His doom may be wrought on the basis of stupidity, cowardice and overreaction rather than malice in his heart toward any specific group. That does not excuse his actions. Stupidity has never been an acceptable defense for any sort of crime, only a mitigating factor that might be considered during the sentencing phase--or might not.
Robert A. Heinlein once wrote that there is only one capital crime in the universe, and that there is no appeal and no parole and the sentence is carried out immediately, and that crime is stupidity. Most of us spend our lives just trying to avoid making any stupid mistakes. I think it is a double tragedy when someone commits a stupid mistake that results in harm to another person. It is a tragedy for the victim as well as the perpetrator when he is eventually apprehended and has to face the consequences.
I'm glad I don't have any infatuation with firearms, but I'm aware that a number of men do seem to be in love with the things that go bang. They are drawn to guns like moths to a flame. Some get into a great deal of trouble and bring enormous hardships down upon themselves due to their actions involving firearms.
Human beings have no natural defense against the metal missiles fired by guns, and that is why guns are such a big problem in the world, responsible for so many life-altering injuries and deaths. If there were some defense, such as a natural protective armor or self-regenerating capacity, then we might as a species take a more liberal attitude toward guns and their users. But once a man is shot, he tends to go down and stay down. Many are the gun owners that wish that the person they shot could get up again and be safe and sound. Many are the gun owners that regret pulling that trigger.
In regard to the unfortunate incident in Florida, I think a self-destructive urge was at play, a death wish closely related to the need to prove oneself. I would imagine that appointing oneself as the Neighborhood Watch, when nobody was asking or paying for this service, and taking it upon oneself to go out at night and hunt and confront a young man walking alone in a neighborhood was motivated by the desire to express machismo. Such an act was only possible with the addition of a firearm, because the same individual would never have been able to prevail in any fair fight. A coward, unversed in combat and lacking in actual courage, turned to a gun in order to supply what Nature did not, force and courage.
Instead of being the lauded hero of the neighborhood, as perhaps he imagined before our prospective Batman set out on his foolish solo mission with a loaded gun, he is now the detested villain, known throughout the country and even the world for a single act involving a firearm. No one has much to say in his favor, but many speak ill of him, and the vultures are circling, and his remaining days upon this Earth seem dark with many shadows. He went looking for trouble but didn't find it and decided to make it. So it is often with men that feel that they have something to prove, that want to show to others that they are a man and can't seem to find an appropriate and rational avenue to pursue that goal.
I would think he would have been better off volunteering at the local fire department, animal shelter or community theater rather than driving around at night with a loaded gun, looking for trouble.
I think that television is partly to blame for indoctrinating so many young people with the idea that guns are the way to prove oneself, that guns are the solution to problems, for idealizing violence. In real life, things seldom work out they way that they do on television shows. Of course, no one ever volunteers at the local fire department, animal shelter or community theater on a television show. More likely in T.V. land, they are associated with the mafia, a corrupt police cabal, Mexican gangs or are solitary vigilantes. (I betray my age with the references to television, because these days, video games occupy more time of young men than anything on television.)
Law enforcement strategy is largely based upon noticing things that are out of the ordinary, that do not fit an accepted pattern, an assumed version of what is normal. Black people were out of the ordinary for the neighborhood. The perpetrator did not expect that a young black person would have any legitimate reason to be walking alone at night in that area. His imaginative faculties clearly are very poor in view of his actions that night. If anyone should never have appointed themselves to the Neighborhood Watch, he is a prime example. His doom may be wrought on the basis of stupidity, cowardice and overreaction rather than malice in his heart toward any specific group. That does not excuse his actions. Stupidity has never been an acceptable defense for any sort of crime, only a mitigating factor that might be considered during the sentencing phase--or might not.
Robert A. Heinlein once wrote that there is only one capital crime in the universe, and that there is no appeal and no parole and the sentence is carried out immediately, and that crime is stupidity. Most of us spend our lives just trying to avoid making any stupid mistakes. I think it is a double tragedy when someone commits a stupid mistake that results in harm to another person. It is a tragedy for the victim as well as the perpetrator when he is eventually apprehended and has to face the consequences.
The Gym and Other Wastes of Time
There is plenty of work to do in the world, and working out at a gym seems to me a silly or at best a selfish act, because no good work is getting accomplished by the shifting of dead weights or the turning of a treadmill. I have always preferred doing something physical that either serves a purpose or else makes money. Working out at a gym, or going for a walk with no other purpose in mind than walking, always struck me as a slightly foolish waste of time and energy. That said, I've spent plenty of time going for pointless walks and runs and lurking in gyms. But no more. I think it is better to find personal projects around the house, yard or community to work on and complete rather than buying a gym membership. In that manner, the imagination and the soul (and possibly the bank account) are exercised and enriched in addition to the body.
Rather than lift weights at a gym, a prospective bodybuilder would be well-advised to sell his services as a mover and be paid to lift, rather than paying for the privilege of lifting. Rather than walk in a park for no other reason than exercise, a man would be better off working a job that requires him to spend some time on his feet, thereby getting paid, in effect, to walk and move around.
Rather than lift weights at a gym, a prospective bodybuilder would be well-advised to sell his services as a mover and be paid to lift, rather than paying for the privilege of lifting. Rather than walk in a park for no other reason than exercise, a man would be better off working a job that requires him to spend some time on his feet, thereby getting paid, in effect, to walk and move around.
Yet Another Stupid Republican Law
Florida's Stand Your Ground law has been shielding killers and keeping them out of jail for quite some time. Mr. Zimmerman is just the latest rocket scientist to apply the Republican-crafted law to defend himself against charges of murder.
On a related note, the former Mississippi governor, a Republican, pardoned several murderers and even bought them cars for their personal use, which begs the question of what sort of favors these murderers did, or will do, for him.
On a related note, the former Mississippi governor, a Republican, pardoned several murderers and even bought them cars for their personal use, which begs the question of what sort of favors these murderers did, or will do, for him.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Catholic Church
The Dutch Catholic Church castrated boys in the 1950's. I wonder what we will one day discover that they are doing in 2012?
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Is Red Meat Bad?
A recent finding by researchers indicates that any dose of red meat is bad for health. I find that rather surprising. However, I have reduced my consumption of meat to once a day. I may reduce it further, to once every two to three days, if there is a health benefit. I am pretty flexible on diet and will eat anything that seems to improve health, as long as it does not taste too bad or cost too much.
So-Called Terrorist Bombings in Syria
I wouldn't put it past the Assad regime to stage the so-called terrorist bombings in Damascus and Aleppo. The fact of the matter is that the regime is an expert in those sort of bombings and finances them around the world. No one is better at it than Assad's regime. If some other actor is responsible, then the Syrian regime can hardly complain, because the chickens are coming home to roost. A dose of their own medicine might do them some good.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Iraq
The billions we spent in Iraq have resulted in a pro-Iran, anti-American government that allowed the Iranians to use Iraqi airspace to send Iranian troops and war material over to Syria to assist Assad's regime.
Republican leaders must hate the American people, because they want to spend taxpayer money on hostile or indifferent foreigners, but begrudge every penny spent on unemployment insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, Social Security, or any other program that helps ordinary Americans.
Republican leaders must hate the American people, because they want to spend taxpayer money on hostile or indifferent foreigners, but begrudge every penny spent on unemployment insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, Social Security, or any other program that helps ordinary Americans.
Friday, March 16, 2012
An Obvious Injustice
The outrageous case of Mr. Zimmerman, self-appointed vigilante who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, is bad news for everybody, because it will inflame racial tensions and foster a sense of injustice. The harm is compounded by the inaction of the local police department.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Assad's Personal Emails
A bit of black humor is on display in the exposure of Assad's personal emails, which reveal a shallow, self-absorbed man detached from the horror and brutality all around him and focused only upon personal pleasure. Then again, I suppose most criminal psychopaths are the same. There seem to be plenty of similar types right here in the U.S.
Wall Street Banks
If perfect justice were done, the big Wall Street banks (like Goldman Sachs) that are responsible for the economic crisis and that took billions of dollars in government bailout money and used it to buy T-bills would be nationalized, and the executives put to work doing something productive for a change, such as shoveling coal. If that sounds communist, then maybe it is. Corrupt capitalists are the entire reason that communism ever existed in the first place. A little taste of communism might be just the right medicine for these Wall Street types.
Scott Deathly
Scott "Deathly" traveled to small undeveloped countries around the globe spreading an ideology of hate. Seems like Deathly was persuasive in Uganda, because that country is once again considering legislation to murder gays. A number of innocent people in Uganda have already been butchered by vigilantes. I hope that the lawsuit against Deathly succeeds where moral arguments and media attention have not.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth
Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.
(I know, that's a dated expression, ain't it? I'm from the 19th century, how are you doing?)
Malawi is complaining because Madonna has spent only 3 million of a promised 11 million in charity so far. Sounds like corrupt officials are upset because they can't get their greedy little paws on the rest of the stash.
One thing about me is that I do *NOT* look a gift horse in the mouth. If someone does something for me, I keep a ledger in my head that shows their debits and credits. I remember good deeds and seek to pay them back in whatever way I can. In the case of bad deeds, I may avenge, forgive, wait or may decide to sever contact, depending upon the situation. But I know that if I were Malawi, I would not be complaining about 3 million dollars in free money and more to come. Let Madonna build those schools wherever the hell she wants. They are FREE!
(I know, that's a dated expression, ain't it? I'm from the 19th century, how are you doing?)
Malawi is complaining because Madonna has spent only 3 million of a promised 11 million in charity so far. Sounds like corrupt officials are upset because they can't get their greedy little paws on the rest of the stash.
One thing about me is that I do *NOT* look a gift horse in the mouth. If someone does something for me, I keep a ledger in my head that shows their debits and credits. I remember good deeds and seek to pay them back in whatever way I can. In the case of bad deeds, I may avenge, forgive, wait or may decide to sever contact, depending upon the situation. But I know that if I were Malawi, I would not be complaining about 3 million dollars in free money and more to come. Let Madonna build those schools wherever the hell she wants. They are FREE!
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