... I had the temperament for prolonged polemic!
Sadly, these brief epigrams are about all I can manage.
World Seafood Collapse
6 hours ago
Oh! a private buffoon is a light-hearted loon, If you listen to popular rumour; From the morn to the night he's so joyous and bright, And he bubbles with wit and good humour! He's so quaint and so terse, both in prose and in verse; Yet though people forgive his transgression, There are one or two rules that all family fools Must observe, if they love their profession. [Yeomen of the Guard, Gilbert & Sullivan]
Swastika case another race issue for NM town
By TIM KORTE, Associated Press
29 Nov 2010
FARMINGTON, N.M. – Three friends had just finished their shifts at a McDonald's when prosecutors say they carried out a gruesome attack on a customer: They allegedly shaped a coat hanger into a swastika, placed it on a heated stove and branded the symbol on the arm of the mentally disabled Navajo man.
Citing deficit, Obama freezing federal worker payIf only he were kidding.
Senator John McCain
241 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2235
North Korea warns region is on brink of warNorth Korea has at least three political classes:
TSA: Some Gov't Officials To Skip Airport SecurityYep - GOVERNMENT officials here in the U.S. are exempted from demeaning TSA procedures.
TSA: Gov't Officials With Security Details Don't Have To Go Through Airport X-rays, Pat-downs
CBS News, 23 Nov 2010
AP) WASHINGTON (AP) - Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
[emphasis added]
Bart: This is the worst day of my life!... on the bright side, that "so far" bit displays hope!
Homer: The worst day of your life so far.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.As mentioned in previous years, most of my family & extended family is in town. None of us started out here - we all just ended up here. I've 3 sisters. 2 of 'em are in town, with their husbands. My mom is in town. My wife's folks are in town. Her sister & bro-in-law are in town. A sister's sister-in-law is in town. Our kids are in town. My daughter-in-law's folks are in town. We added a nephew this year.
It's secular - religious overtones are secondary.
It's American - the rest of world goes on happily without us.
Most of all, for me the basic premise - giving thanks - is a good thing. Yes, I am thankful for my family, for my undeserved good-fortune in life, for friends.
"If a person can't communicate, the very least he can do is to SHUT UP!"Instead of trying to be brilliant, let me just point you to the folks in My Blog List on right-hand side-bar.
- Tom Lehrer
Remove fish from plastic pouch before cooking.Darn! I knew I was doing something wrong!
Living with our collective heads in sand... There's more, but this captures the idea (and says it much better than I could have!)
It has been awfully difficult to get motivated to write anything -- the lunatics have truly taken over the asylum and it really does seem that things are collapsing at a alarming rate.
The more I see what is going on the more I believe we're toast as a nation. Forget for a minute the morons in Congress running the country -- we are witnessing a huge increase in illiteracy, we are falling behind third world nations in education, our health care system is the most expensive and the most unavailable on the planet, there is not a whiff of moral compass left in our leaders, political courage is extinct, and innovation is more about how much money can be made and not how we can better society. What would be considered inhumane, spiteful, or uncharitable in any other rationale and free society, is seen as patriotic and character-building here. Our national leaders are entrenched in placing politics (and their own power) well-above national security and societal well-being -- and then are hailed by the media as "men and women of honor." Finally, if you even attempt to address the problems or call out what our weaknesses are, you are labeled (and cursed) as unpatriotic and anti-American.
Sarah Palin thinks she could beat Obama in 2012PLEASE, Sarah! Take the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012!!!
Sunday - from Old English Sunnandæg, "Sun's Day", reflecting pagan worship of the Sun as a deity.That's right: all our weekdays are named for pagan deities. The use of this nomenclature insidiously, subconsciously, and demonically teaches all of us to worship pagan gods!
Monday - from Old English mōnandæg, "Moon's Day", reflecting pagan worship of the Moon as a deity.
Tuesday - from Old English Tiwesdæg, "Tiw's Day", reflecting pagan worship of the Proto-Germanic god Tîwaz, or Týr in Norse, a god of war and law.
Wednesday - from Old English Wōdnesdæg, "Woden's Day", reflecting pagan worship of the Anglo-Saxon death-deity, Woden.
Thursday - from the Old English Þunresdæg, "Thunor's Day", reflecting pagan worship of thunder as a deity.
Friday - from the Old English frīgedæg, "Frige's Day", reflecting pagan worship of the Germanic love goddess Frigg or Freyja.
Saturday - from the Old English Sæternesdæg, "Saturn's Day", reflecting pagan worship of the planet Saturn as a deity.
"Sunday" is easy: simply rename it Sonday, for The Son!In addition to ridding American culture of an insidious - and demonic - invitation to worship pagan gods, enacting this reform would be economically stimulative: EVERYONE would be compelled to buy a new calendar! The calendar-making companies would get a LOT of extra, non-seasonal business. Not only every PERSON, but every ORGANIZATION (company, charity, etc.) that distributes "free" calendars would be compelled to buy and distribute new calendars! The economic stimulus resulting from these purchases would help lift us out of recession, and contribute to full employment!
Monday through Thursday? - Rename these in honor of the Evangelists:Marksday, Matthewsday, Lukesday, JohnsdayFriday & Saturday? Rename them to honor the greatest Apostles:Paulsday and Petersday(Note: I suggest "Petersday" to replace "Saturday" because Peter was the Apostle to the Jews, and Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath.)
Everybody diesOld Testament trivia:
Who are the only two people named in the Old Testament who didn't die?(This is sort of 'divinity school 101 humor').
Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.Enoch & Elijah: neither died.
[Genesis 5:24, New American Standard Bible]
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
[2 Kings 2:11, New International Bible]
Scanners and pat-downs upset airline passengersFor what it's worth: I believe that airline security, if properly enforced, was sufficient to prevent 9/11. Box-cutters were illegal BEFORE 9/11 - and routine security scans ought to have detected 'em!
Spanish priest arrested over '21,000 child porn images'
Catholic bishops: More exorcists needed
Historians Admit To Inventing Ancient Greeks
The Onion
October 7, 2010 | ISSUE 46•40
Scholars apologize for attributing Western democracy to a make-believe civilization.
WASHINGTON—A group of leading historians held a press conference Monday at the National Geographic Society to announce they had "entirely fabricated" ancient Greece, a culture long thought to be the intellectual basis of Western civilization.
The group acknowledged that the idea of a sophisticated, flourishing society existing in Greece more than two millennia ago was a complete fiction created by a team of some two dozen historians, anthropologists, and classicists who worked nonstop between 1971 and 1974 to forge "Greek" documents and artifacts.
"Honestly, we never meant for things to go this far," said Professor Gene Haddlebury, who has offered to resign his position as chair of Hellenic Studies at Georgetown University. "We were young and trying to advance our careers, so we just started making things up: Homer, Aristotle, Socrates, Hippocrates, the lever and fulcrum, rhetoric, ethics, all the different kinds of columns—everything."
One Bite at a TimeI'm not sure how much translates to other states, but the basic ideas all seem sound.
I'm thinking that Dems need to learn two basic political skills:Question #2: What do you think the progressive movement should do next? As in, immediately...
1) Communication
2) Organization
1) Communication skills
Democrats had (and have) by far the better story to tell, the better solutions to propose, but somehow failed to communicate either the story or the solutions.
In part I attribute this failure to our 'sophistication'; to our tendency to intellectualize everything, to think things through, to see the world in grey, not in black & white. BUT - even when the issues ARE black & white, we fail. For example:GDP = consumption + govt spending + investment +(exports - imports).... but somehow we got sucked into a discussion about the deficit!... even though it's now cheaper for the federal government to borrow than at any time in past 30 years!!! Some investors are in fact PAYING FOR THE PRIVILEGE to lend the federal government $$$!!!
Consumption: consumers have no money, and are hoarding what $$$ they do have.
They're NOT spending.
Investment? - Businesses are sitting on wads of $$$, sequestering it; they are NOT investing; and those few that seek to invest are stymied by banks that AREN'T LENDING.
Balance of trade? We're importing more than we're exporting.
What's left?
GOVERNMENT SPENDING to stimulate demand & grow GDP!!!
How'd that happen???
We - Dems, progressives, sane people - failed again & again to effectively COMMUNICATE our ideas, our solutions. Furthermore, we failed to effectively rip to shreds the 'arguments' and positions of our opponents.
Over and over. Repeatedly.
To some extent this began at the top, with President Obama.
He who communicated so brilliantly and effectively during the campaign, but has utterly failed to communicate effectively as president.
BUT: we are all guilty.
On the other hand, we simply ridiculed & mocked the GOP's mindless sloganeering, without ever thinking that mindless sloganeering works!
WE ought to get good at mindless sloganeering. But we're too pure, too honest, to intellectual to even try.
[This not said Tuesday night; it represents an after-thought] We're also really lousy at branding/labeling. W's "Clean Skies Act" gutted the EPA, but it was well-named.
When we decided to attack health INSURANCE reform, we mis-labeled it health CARE reform (incidentally allowing the loyal opposition to call it ObamaCARE. Quite a catchy perjorative term; much more catchy than ObamaINSURANCE). The bill itself didn't touch health CARE - it was all about reforming how we provide health INSURANCE. Branding this as health INSURANCE reform would have focused on everyone's bad guys - the insurance industry. Instead, we made it about health CARE.
Branding/labeling is an important communications skill we need to learn.
2) Organization skills
As Dems, we're all absurdly proud of our free-thinking, "I'm not a joiner", lone-wolf approach to politics. I'm as guilty as anyone. Buffoon has fewer than two dozen regular readers, but still I pride myself on doing my part in our great democracy by spewing my drivel on a more-or-less regular basis. Other blogs (including those mentioned on right-hand sidebar) are more effective.
BUT: we somehow disdain formal 'organization'. As a result we are overtaken every news cycle by astro-turf Tea Partiers.
The on-the-ground organization contributing to Obama's election was left to wither.
DNC, DSCC & DCCC are the Catholic Church of politics: centralized, entrenched organizations whose real interest is preserving the status quo.
If we continue to be only a community of passionate bloggers - some with very large readership, others with close to none - we'll continue to fail.
Organization is key - getting people - just folks - to ACT!
Often and routinely. If someone among us can figure out how to motivate folks to ACT, often and routinely, we'll have a prayer moving forward.
Otherwise, it's all just mental masturbation - feels good, but is, in the end, fruitless.
Well - let's address the deficiencies noted above.Question #3: Do you think Pres. Obama and congressional Dems should fight harder for progressive policies or seek middle ground with Republicans? (Please elaborate.)
Someone - likely, many someones - in our community must have expertise in rhetoric (the art of argumentation for the purpose of persuasion). Let's enlist their help to teach the rest of us how to do it.
Again: Surely some few folks among we liberal/progressives have organization skills! Who are they? How much would they charge?
Finally: we oughta be working with business. Yes, I'm serious. The big $$$ are found in biz community (particularly after disastrous and WRONG SCOTUS Citizens United decision).
Let's figure out how to lobby 'em to convince 'em that govt regulation is IN THEIR BEST INTEREST! (Again: I'm serious. Really. I believe a strong case can be made that govt regulation REALLY IS in big business's best interest. See, e.g., Rules of the Road.)
Middle ground with Republicans??? You're kidding, right?So - that's close to how I answered the questions Tuesday night, at 1:00 a.m., after much alcohol and some celebration for NM1 Heinrich win.
Time and again President Obama sought compromise (as a means, not an end).
Time and again he's been rebuked.
I'm not crazy about the phrase, but it seems appropriate: time to man up!!!
Our elected representatives (a dying breed) have no clue how to NEGOTIATE! - another basic political skill. We give away the farm before we get to the table (Baucus: "public option is not on the table"). We give away the North Forty afterwards in exchange for vague promises, never fulfilled.
Again: I'm betting there are more than a few someones among the liberal/progressive ranks who KNOW how to negotiate. Let's employ 'em! - sell the Congressional & Senate Democratic caucuses some training classes! (Heck, if nothing else, it'll be economically stimulative, employing private contractors!)
[note: 'compromise' and 'bipartisanship' are means, NOT ends!]
If President Obama decides his best course is to continue current course he ought not count on a second term.
The so-called loyal opposition are convinced he's a pansy. After all, he gives away the farm before negotiations have started.
If he wants to get anything done in next two years, well - now's the time to play hardball.
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
2010: What are you thinking?
"The Rant" by Tom Degan: Was This a Great Country or What?... Still it has to be conceded that the Democrats got exactly what they deserved on Election Day 2010. So many of them have spent the last two years running like frightened rats from the legacy of their party. Most of them refused to embrace the ideals of traditional liberalism - or even explain them - to their clueless constituency. In fact they ran from those ideals.
The McRib ReturnsFor those among you who think a processed-pork sandwich is just this side of heaven, McD's has answered your prayer!