CV Rick

The Struggling Economy is Not Fictional

Another way a McCain Presidency would be another Bush term is on the economy.  Things are grim and both McCain and Bush refuse to admit that it's bad.  They're just going on the same old trickle-down pay for it later Republican failures that have tanked the dollar and put us in multi-trillion dollar debt with a large chunk of that obligation to China.  Not smart from the self-admitted economic amateurs.

Bank Stocks are tanking and that's prompting a run on banks which includes violence.  The police are coming to bank lines to keep people from harming each other which would trigger riots.  Meanwhile the president thinks everything's a-ok! The chairman of the fed thinks we've got some serious problems.  The dollar's at its lowest point ever with respect to the Euro, the housing market is in a freefall, foreclosures are putting people on the streets along with maladjusted war veterans, unemployment is up and now the Dow Jones Average is showing the effects finally of what the average person has been feeling. Someone needs to tell Grampy McSame and his advisers that these economic woes are real and for those of us who didn't commit adultery with heiresses, it's serious. 

You know how to tell when things are really bad, it's when the administration tells us that everything's okay.  Like in Katrina when the administration was assuring everyone that they had it handled - meanwhile people were drowning or living in squalid conditions without any chance to escape the horror and Brownie was doing a great job - remember that?  Well the other day we were assured that the government wasn't going to have to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and now they are going to do just that.  Guess what they're doing now?  They're assuring us that the banking system is perfectly safe and that your money is insured.  That means I'm taking all I can out of the bank as soon as possible.

Obama might not be able to fix all these problems and they might overwhelm him, but at least he'll step up to a podium and give it to us straight.  All we need as Americans is a dose of the truth.  That's something we haven't had from the government my entire adult life.

 - rick, off to work.

Afraid of Excellence: Steroids and Artificial Limbs

Oscar Pistorius is a world class sprinter who happens to be missing both his legs. They were amputated between the knee and calf as the best correction for a birth defect.  Oscar was born without fibula.  The South African runner learned to walk on prosthetics, and run on them, and run faster and faster on them and then to dominate the Paralympics.  He's fast enough to qualify for the Olympics, but he's been denied because his 'Cheetahs' give him an unfair advantage:

"The runner — who uses carbon-fiber, prosthetic feet — was reviewed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (or IAAF), a review which found the combination of man and machine to be too much for its purely human competitors. According to the IAAF report, the 'mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able bodied athlete is higher than 30-percent.' Additionally, Pistorius uses 25-percent less energy than average runners due to the artificial limbs, therefore giving him an unfair advantage on the track."

Unfair.

What is unfair?  Is it unfair that Lance Armstrong was built differently than other humans?  Is it right that he be allowed to compete against people with standard-sized hearts and normal lactate levels?

His heart is 30% larger than average; however, an enlarged heart is a common trait for many other athletes. He has a resting heart rate of 32-34 beats per minute with a max heart rate at 201 bpm.^[3] Armstrong's most unusual attribute may be his low lactate levels. During intense training, the levels of most racers range from 12 μL/kg to as much as 20 μL/kg; Armstrong is below 6 μL/kg. The result is that less lactic acid accumulates in Armstrong's system, therefore it is possible that he feels less fatigue from severe efforts, and this may contribute to his ability to sustain the same level of physical effort as other elite racers with less fatigue and faster recovery times. Some theorize that his high pedaling cadence is designed to take advantage of this low lactate level.

The notable difference is that Lance Armstrong's heart was built by the genetic lottery of birth and Oscar's Legs were made in a workshop in Iceland. 

The Public Perception of Mormons

The New York Observer had an interesting article about Mormons on the 8th of January.  The article speaks of the young, single Mormon professionals who live in Manhattan.  With some surprise it reveals that Mormons are "everywhere" and that they aren't freaky costume-wearing Fundamentalist wackos or something.  It paints them in a fairly positive light. 

It brings up a different side of Mormonism than I usually post about.  Reading my blog one would have reason to believe that Mormons are all-bad, all the time.  The truth is that they really aren't.  There are some positive qualities, and some attractive benefits for having Mormons as neighbors or employees.  I'd like to discuss that for a bit:

Mormons are dependable.  If you are looking to hire someone, a Mormon isn't a bad bet.  You'll most likely get someone with a strong work ethic who won't come to work with a hangover and won't be fondling members of the opposite (or the same for that matter) sex at the office.  You'll get someone who'll put in hours of overtime when you want, so long as you let them be at home for Monday evenings and at Church on Sundays.  If you send a Mormon on a business trip they won't be expensing bar drinks or strip-club visits.  They'll be in their room, sleeping by ten.  They won't add porn movies to the hotel bill. 

Mormons are healthy.  Sure they eat at McDonald's and a lot of them have weight issues, but they don't drink, they don't smoke, and they don't take coffee breaks because they don't drink coffee.  Overall they're not going to show up with tales of wild parties and embarrassing episodes.  They won't call you for bail money or needing you to show up in court as a character witness.  They won't be asking for an alibi.  In fact, Mormons are a whole lot less intrusive than I am.

If a Mormon has a neighborhood party, it'll be an affair of cute games, poorly sung songs, and biblical life lessons.  There won't be a problem with noise if you have Mormons as neighbors. 

Mormons as a rule, aren't obnoxious people, it's just their religion that's bad for this country.

Fox vs Barack Obama

If Fox News is trying hard to smear any particular candidate, that candidate is probably a threat to the status-quo, pro-war, pro-corporate agenda of Fox News. 

What follows is the best actual evidence of Fox's deliberate and dishonest campaign to undermine Senator Obama.  He's also been boycotting Fox News for a year.  I respect that he's been doing it quietly, yet successfully.  Please watch the video - the part about O'Reilly's altercation ends at 1:07.

Fox vs. Barack Obama

- rick, appalled.

Democracy For Sale, Diebold to be the Auctioneer

No Private Corporation should ever be counting the vote of a free nation.  That shouldn't happen.  This is the public purview, it's a matter of securing the vote and counting that vote and it's not a profit center.  Not everything is a profit center, nor should everything be.  Law Enforcement, Military "defense," Public Safety, Public Schools, and Elections are not profit centers.

Diebold and others have moved into elections in a big way over the past decade.  They are supplying the machines that are supposed to count the vote, but they refuse to show anyone the code they use.  Their machines have been hacked easily, have been shown to be fraudulent, and have been the source of unending questions.  They are not to be trusted.

Then what happens?  Well, in New Hampshire where the machines counted the votes, Hillary Clinton got more than a 5% bump and Barack Obama got more than a 2% reduction.  Where votes were counted by hand, the results came in with Barack on top as had been predicted by polls. 

What if it's not a conspiracy?  What if it's not a dishonest company picking our leaders for us?  Well, why in the hell are we still using them anyway with all the problems they've already caused.  Come on people . . . they aren't good for our Democracy.

Alan posted about this last night.  His post talks about a man, Albert Howard, who might request a real recount.  If he does it could uncover discrepancies.

After the jump you can see a video of how easily the Diebold machines can be tampered with and controlled.

I Support Barack Obama

I should've written this a while ago. I even promised Alan that I would, but time constraints prevented me and now it's going to seem like I'm jumping on the bandwagon. 

I Support Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.

I support Senator Obama because his message is transcendent.  For the first time in my life a strong candidate is running on a message for the future.  He's not running against George Bush or Ronald Reagan.  He's not running against the punditry from the opposing side.  He's not even running against Senator Clinton or John Edwards.  He is running for the Presidency and he believes he can lead America to be better than it has been in a long, long time.  Hope.  Not hope that it doesn't get worse, or hope that we can fix things, or hope that we can stem the tide of right-wing influence.  When you listen to his speeches or read his writing, it's not a message of blame, it's not an indictment of how we got to where we are, it's a step-by-step call to action - “We're here, and we're going to get there.”  Hope isn't just a political slogan, it's a valid offer of betterment for a nation and its individuals. 

In his book, The Audacity of Hope, Senator Obama cuts through the cynicism of our time with simplicity. It's okay to want to be better and it's okay to require that people are responsible for themselves and it's okay to call upon the government to fulfill its role to help those less fortunate or unable but also to force that same government aside when it stands to block individuals and their individual success.  It's not dumb to have hope for without it we are only left with despair.

Of all the people out their who want the Republicans to pay for their misdeeds, to suffer for giving us Bush and Cheney and scandal after scandal, corruption after corruption, hypocrisy after hypocrisy, you'll find me at the forefront.  But you won't find Senator Obama in that line.  There's work to be done and punishing Americans for the past, for their previous choices, for their associations won't free us to become better.  I don't completely agree, but behind Obama, I can support a policy of moving on.  Senator Obama of all people, has the ability to reach out to reasonable citizens from both the parties and from the partyless, the unrepresented, and make that promise to work together, to heal that animosity chasm that's separated us for decades. 

President Abraham Lincoln wanted to forgive the South and welcome them with open arms.  He wanted to free them for commerce and fully fund a reconstruction after the devastating Civil War.  He was assassinated before his plans could take hold.  In Obama I see reflections of Lincoln's message of unity, forgiveness, and repair.  In Obama I hear the words that come from the heart of a leader with Lincoln's presence and from the mouth of an orator with Lincoln's skill.

President Obama would be able to bring an international community a new message from America, we're going to work with you to improve the world.  We're no longer going to shake your hand and smile at your face while our agents are selling your nations out from under you.  We're no longer going to enforce peace with violence.  We're no longer going to spread freedom militantly. In a President Obama I see diplomacy in our future, and yours.  I see an end to perpetual war and the hope of a sustainable peace.  That isn't to say that a President Obama would be afraid of a dangerous world.  In a President Obama I see shadows of Roosevelt and Truman, men not afraid to win convincingly when winning is required, but also men who saw the end of conflict within reach and honestly strove for that end.

He's been compared with JFK, but I don't know if that's valid.  He's young, true.  He's handsome, true. He's intelligent and charismatic, true.  His wife is talented, intelligent, and beautiful, true.  But when it comes to questions of policy Obama is untainted by powerful, corrupt influences.  His money is a matter of public record and his support is from the people in the light, not from those in dark rooms with favors traded.  He doesn't come with that baggage hovering over him and those debts unspoken but required.  He's a free man and only from that freedom can his message of hope resonate truthfully. 

I support hope, and with that hope I support Senator Barack Obama. 

the Democratic Leadership has Betrayed Us

Christmas is over and so is the time of good cheer.  Well and good because I'm fucking pissed.  I have good reason.

Why were you elected, Democrats?  Why the hell were you lame-asses put into office? 

You replaced the Republicans so that you could make a change in the way we are doing things.  We didn't send you to Washington to do every goddamned thing Bush wants you to do.  If we wanted cowards afraid of Bush and Cheney's every word, we'd have sent a bunch of College Republicans, afraid to go and fight but perfectly suited to be cheerleaders in suits, ties, skirts and pom-poms.  But we didn't want cowards and cowtowing lameasses in Washington.  We wanted men and women with backbones . . . and we didn't get them.

Nancy Pelosi is the worst of the fucking bunch.  You people in San Francisco ought to be damned ashamed of yourselves for giving us that spineless administration minion.  For Fuck's sake, what's the first thing she did?  She took impeachment off the table.  And there is no good reason for it .  . . she gave those criminals a free pass, giving them free reign to continue doing whatever the hell they pleased, from taking more civil rights from citizens to creating a phony case to invade yet another nation.  They don't have to look over their shoulder, watch their actions, or even worry about an investigation because what's going to happen?  The only real power Congress has over the Executive has been removed as an option.  Fuck her and you spineless whimps in San Francisco who elected that useless miscreant and infected the rest of the country with her uselessness.  You people ought to be ashamed.

When  the Bush administration wants some money or immunity for their corporate cronies, or a free pass to spy on us or take more liberties, the opposition party turns around, bends over and takes it up the ass lubeless, and thanks Bush for the violation.  What are you thinking?  What kind of way is that to sell out?  At least have a little self respect and meet him in public for your fucking.  At least give us voters a little courtesy of saying right up front, “We're going to be violated in every way a rape victim can possibly be violated, but at least we'll smile for you.”

I hate this party.  I hate them with a passion.  No, I don't like the Corrupt Republicans any better, but at least they aren't lying about selling us out to multinational corporations and Bible carrying hypocrites.  At least they're parading up front with their evil.  Our Democrats are the trojan horse of the enemy, hollowed out, soulless, and ready to sell us out for the promise of what?  Nothing, not a damned thing. 

Not For the Claustrophobic

This toilet is not for the claustrophobic. 

China’s first hidden public toilet. When the toilet is hidden from view only a sculpture located on top of it can be seen. These toilets will be installed on lawns beside the sidewalk along the main streets and bus stops and will be operated by inserting a 1 yuan coin. Once the coin is inserted, the toilet will automatically rise up to the surface.

What if it malfunctions and lowers while you're still unzipped?  Do you have to wait until someone else is doing the pee-pee dance?  What if someone jumps in on your coin?  I know that when I'm in my walk-in ATM at night, no one can open the door until I leave . . . does this urinal have the same safety? 

No thanks.

rick, doing the pee-pee dance

Conservative Obsessions

The conservatives have an alternative to Wikipedia.  It's called Conservapedia.  On the day that I'm writing this post, the top statistics on this page are:

1. Main Page‎ [1,934,026]
2. Homosexuality‎ [1,624,627]
3. Homosexuality and Hepatitis‎ [518,072]
4. Homosexuality and Parasites‎ [434,434]
5. Homosexuality and Promiscuity‎ [422,162]
6. Gay Bowel Syndrome‎ [401,595]
7. Homosexual Couples‎ [374,040]
8. Homosexuality and Gonorrhea‎ [332,093]
9. Homosexuality and Anal Cancer‎ [294,407]
10. Homosexuality and Mental Health‎ [293,745]

This isn't surprising.  They are so obsessed with elements of sexuality and what happens in other people's bedrooms that it's natural that they'd be looking at this stuff most of all.  I'd say it's hypocritical, but it's not really.  It's not because they are obsessed with this stuff and most of them are trying to figure out how to stop it, how to combat it, and how to take pleasure in the cessations of other people's pleasure, not how to do it themselves.  Oh, there's plenty of repressed homosexuals in their ranks, but the majority are so unhappy and afraid of their made-up punishing, vindictive God that they want all other people to be miserable also.

Top Ten Secret Identities - NonFiction

Some people lead Double Lives.  I was listening to this episode of This American Life and it got me thinking about people with Secret Identities.  Not all hidden identities belong to people trying to hide major hypocritical embarrassments, like Larry Craig (thanks, Ken).  Some are valid and reasonable.

Here's my list of the best.

10. George F Kennan / Mr. X 

Arguably, Kennan was the godfather of the Cold War.  He was at least it's architect. 

He published an article in Foreign Affairs in July 1947 (under the name "Mr. X") that clearly laid out a policy of containment. He urged that "the United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies" and called for the defense and support of key regions in the world, such as Western Europe. The article, which created quite a stir in Washington, laid the groundwork for much subsequent foreign policy.

In other words, he said that the Soviet Union was only interested in expansion, violent or not, and wouldn't listen to reason.  So, he argued that threatening them with imminent destruction and subsequently Mutually Assured Destruction was the most rational course. 

For a long time, no one knew who Mr. X was.  Eventually the press narrowed it down and exposed him.

9. W. Mark Felt, Sr. / Deep Throat

The main source of information that Woodward and Bernstein relied on for their investigative piece was only known as Deep Throat.  Knowing that his president and his president's advisers had crossed the line, disregarding the law, he leaked important information that made the case against Nixon, causing him to resign. 

Where is the informant who's going to tell us about Bush?  Where is the inside source?  I think we've had dozens, but the press just ignores them and tells us that the president can do any damned thing he wants.  If we found out that he was spying on Democratic Candidates, I'm sure the American public would just say, "So what?  At least he has a phony Texas drawl.  I think I want to have a beer with him."

8.  The Residents

This is an avant-garde concept band that's released over sixty albums.  They keep their identities secret, and have for decades.  On top of their albums, they've designed three CD-ROM projects, and performed six world tours.  All public relations, interviews and promotions go through the management group, The Cryptic Corporation.  All of the members of The Cryptic Corporation deny ever having been members of the band.

Here's a video . . . take a look for yourself.

 

A Word About Honesty

Honesty isn’t just about using language that is semantically, or legally perfect . . . designed to shirk all responsibility and to avoid any commitment. A lie can be technically true and the truth can be misleading.

A leader knows this and a manipulator uses it.

This country needs a leader, a Commander in Chief, not a misleader in chief. A leader is honest and responsible and hides behind no one and shields himself with no technicalities.

Suppose we had a leader - a real leader - a man in the White House who knew what it meant to lead other men, to lead a nation of individuals instead of a small cadre of sycophants. Suppose we had the leader we need:

Blogger and Live Journal

This is for those of you who use Blogger, Live Journal and other "community" blogging platforms.  They suck.  I'm serious here.  What Google and others are trying to do is to make bloggers into social networks like MySpace and Facebook.  This, in itself, isn't a bad thing but the way they are doing it isn't by creating internal incentives that draw people in and keep them interested.  Instead they're erecting a fence to keep others out. Just this week Blogger stopped allowing outgoing links in the signature bar - because they are trying to keep people inside the Blogger network.  That isn't what blogs are all about.  You should be able to go through someone's post, find a great comment, click on the author and go to her blog, read great content, find another commenter and click through to his blog.  It's a web with infinite connections. 

Live Journal has been doing this longer and they are even worse at restricting people to their network.  Once you're part of the club, you supposedly never want to leave.  Remember when AOL thought this was a good idea as an internet provider?  What happened?  They had to reformat and open up because people don't want to fight their way out to see the rest of the web, to search out "out of network" content. 

It's becoming as complicated as In-Network and Out-of-Network doctor choices on your stupid HMO health care plan. 

Break free of the piece of shit that is Blogger and join the rest of the world, leave LiveJournal and jump right into the deep end of the internet and see where the flow takes you.  Come on people, you are just limiting the number of people willing to come over to your blog and read and comment.  I know I'm less inclined to read a Blogger or LiveJournal post just because of the additional HTML or explanation I have to enter in order to properly identify myself. 

If you want to Social Network, then join Facebook or Tribe.net or whatever.  I know that soon I'm going to be issuing a Scrabble Game Challenge via this blog for those of you with Facebook accounts.  It's not like you can't both blog and be part of a chatty little community . . . but don't restrict your written content to the whims of some fence-building corporate assholes.

- rick, pissed.

Not Hillary and Here's Why!

Hillary is even more a part of a calculated political machine than all the others.  Yes, I know they all use focus groups, advisors, and tailored messages designed to offend the fewest and commit to the least, but Hillary is bought and paid for.  She has received more campaign money from defense contractors than from any other candidate, including all the Republicans in the field.  She's funded by the ultra-wealthy and by corporations more than any other candidate. 

Conversely, while the Defense Contractors are giving Hillary boatloads of money, the soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines are contributing to Ron Paul and Barack Obama.  Who would know better what's good for the military and for the country: those who profit from decisions to engage in violence and destruction or those who bear the brunt of the those decisions.

If she becomes president we have no chance of ending the war.  Look at her voting record, not the words she's spewing on the campaign trail.  She's a war hawk, just as beholden to the perpetual conflict desired by weapons manufacturers as Bush and Cheney are.  That's where her true base is. 

As opposed to Obama, Hillary's supporters are mostly wealthy and are giving the maximums allowed.  Obama has broad support, gathering contributions from three times as many people as Hillary has, but his supporters can't just write $2,000 checks whenever they want - they're working people who have contributed less than the maximums because they have less to give.  Who do you want running the country?  The top pick of the wealthiest who stand to benefit most from a Clinton Presidency, or the top pick of the middle classes who see someone who will work to unite the country, end the war, and start healing our deeply divided wounds from a couple decades of polarization.

Monsters at Play

Have you ever imagined what kind of people the worst monsters of the Third Reich were like?  I never did.  I couldn't wrap my brain around the concept of genocidal maniacs having lives, families, fun.  I didn't want to, until I saw this amazing photo essay in the Times.  These photos are from an album donated by a retired U.S. spy.  He found the album in a German apartment a year after the war was over. 

These people were horrible monsters who were killing thousands of Jews a week - starving them, gassing them, enslaving them, and treating them like animals, no worse than animals.  But when not at work, they were at sing-a-longs, and picnics, and decorating Christmas trees.  These were men and women who had families and personal lives, who took vacations and played with their kids, who drank together.  And, as I looked at the photos and discussed this with people (Tim, Reg), I realized that they probably volunteered for Concentration Camp duty.  It was close to home and safe at a time when Germany was ruining hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Russian front and taking considerable beatings to the West.  The alternatives for these Nazis weren't good. 

You know what it made me think?  It made me think that our own men and women in Iraq and at Guantanamo aren't far removed from these soldiers.  They're just doing their jobs and collecting a paycheck.  They write home to their families and count down the days until they get to return to the States.  Yet, when asked to do something inhuman like torture or terrorize their charges, they do it.  They do it because that's the job and their just doing what they feel is the right thing because it came down from a higher authority.  How far are we from those monsters in Nazi Germany?  How easy is it to convince our men and women that the enemy is below humanity?  To convince them that their charges are really the monsters, are really the potential oppressors and need to be eliminated?

These photos show some of the worst men at play - Josef Mengele is shown singing along to an accordionist.  He's the monster who performed awful experiments on Jewish captives, brutally killing them like lab rats.  Karl Höcker was the owner of the album, who claimed to be a simple soldier when he was caught, but turned out to be camp adjutant intimately involved in the deaths of Jews with exclusive knowledge of all of the camp's atrocities.  He was only sentenced to seven years in prison after his 1961 trial and after his release he lived out his life working in a bank.  Rudolf Hess, Hitler's Nazi Party deputy is also in the photos.  He was the last man in Spandau prison, and after his suicide the prison was demolished to prevent it from becoming a sick shrine to the worst elements of German society. 

Veteran's Day used to be Armistice Day

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the year 1918 all guns went silent on the European Western Front.  It'd been years of shelling and fighting, and the silence was eerie, spooky.  It was deafening.  The end of the war, the end of hostilities (fighting did continue the former Russian Empire and parts of the Ottoman Empire) and the Great War concluded. 

To mark this important moment, an international holiday was declared.  Every November 11th at 11:00 AM, two minutes of silence would mark the memory of eight million dead and a continent scarred by war. 

But once World War II broke out, the promise of peace dashed, Armistice Day went out of favor.  Who wants to remember a cease fire that didn't last?  In fact, the second Great War was degrees more devastating than the first, and more worldwide. 

In 1954, the U.S. Congress changed Armistice Day to Veteran's Day in memory of those who are alive and fought this nation's wars.  It's for us, the veterans, while Memorial Day is for those of us who didn't survive. 

But I ask you, is it better to remember and honor those who survived the battles or to remember that day when the promise of peace was fresh and the silence from guns, bombs, blasts caused tears of joy to millions of people? 

Today, I'm going to honor that forgotten silence with two minutes of my own, at eleven o'clock.

- rick, honoring the end of war

Science Friday - Our Solar Twin

Okay, this is cool.

There's a solar system out there with 5 confirmed planets orbiting a sol-like star.  Could this mean habitable planets?  That's entirely possible, after all we're reasonably certain there's been life on Mars and we suspect life on Europa.  Counting earth that's three locations just in our own solar system. 

The Mormons believe that they'll all become Gods and Goddesses (Goddesses - plural, in polygamy with a God, subservient and popping out human hatchlings of course) of their own worlds, so this discovery reinforces the necessity for additional Gods over habitable planets.  For other Fundamentalists this can pose a problem to the humanocentric ideals of a universe existing for our own sole purposes.  Maybe we aren't the chosen people, or perhaps as the storyline in Battlestar Galactica goes, the twelve tribes scattered, but not just to this earth. 

This system is 41 light years away, located within my constellation: Cancer.  

In the past 12 years, since the first exoplanet was discovered there have been over 260 others identified.  This system, Cancri 55, has been measured exhaustively and scientists do believe that a stable, rocky planet exists within the star's habitable zone.

Good news for science, bad news for theists.

- rick, excited by discoveries.

Wildfires, Hurricanes, and Tornadoes are Great for the Economy

California burned up last week.  Great! 

No, not great for those poor people, rousted from their beds and evacuated with nothing to their names, no money, no possessions, no clothing, no homes.  No, not for the even more unfortunate people who died.  No, not for the pets abandoned and burned. 

But great for the stock market.  Great for the economy.

Hear me out. 

What happens is that thousands of commercial buildings are destroyed and thousands of houses are destroyed.  Tens of thousands more have fire damage or smoke damage.  These buildings need to be rebuilt or repaired.  Since the government and financial sectors don't keep track of the total number of structures that exist, every building remade becomes a fresh start - on the books it's a construction project started and that's great.  With the numbers, this might just pull us right out of the housing slump because all those people are going to have to rebuild or buy houses listed on the market. 

Yeah, that's stupid, right?

But it's the way things work.

It's my unconfirmed suspicion that we entered the housing slump more than a year ago, but the rebuilding all across the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Katrina artificially boosted the numbers.  Fiction reported as financial statistics. 

Economics Lesson - Supply Side

A Simple Economics Lesson

The way it works is that people have needs – food, shelter, clothing – and they attempt to meet those needs by expending resources – work, money, barter.  This is called Demand Side economics.  It's the way it's always worked.  When people have more resources than they require to meet their needs, then they start obtaining luxuries.  Again, luxuries are desired, purchased . . . and voila, more demand dictating the markets.

When demand is greater than supply, the prices go up.  When demand is less than supply, the prices go down. In the former case, there's a shortage, and in the latter, you have a surplus.  Demand is still in control. 

This is the way it worked for thousands of years. 

Until Reagan came along and his advisors started mucking around in the economic works, deciding that what we really needed was a Supply Side economy.  The idea was that the markets would be glutted with cheap goods (cheaply made, as well) . . . many more than are desired.  But in order to encourage people to consume these cheap items, they had to create the demand, based on the supply.  So they dropped the prices and advertised, branded, advertised and cajoled .  . creating the demand out of thin air. 

Science Friday - Bird Flu

We've been hearing about the Asian Bird Flu for a number of years.  It's been couched in a lot of "if's."  If the strain mutates, and if a vaccine isn't developed quickly enough, and if the problem isn't isolated, or if the mutation is widespread . . . a lot of if's in order to come to one very scary possibility:  a worldwide pandemic killing millions of people, a percentage comparable to the 1918 Influenza Epidemic. 

One of those if's is coming closer:  the mutation. 

The changes are worrying, said Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"We have identified a specific change that could make bird flu grow in the upper respiratory tract of humans," said Kawaoka, who led the study.

 

"The viruses that are circulating in Africa and Europe are the ones closest to becoming a human virus," Kawaoka said.

Recent samples of virus taken from birds in Africa and Europe all carry the mutation, Kawaoka and colleagues report in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Pathogens.

 

A Speech by Al Gore

This is the speech I wish Al Gore would make.  It'd be on National Television, during Prime Time.  He'd simulcast it on the Internet and upload it to YouTube immediately.

My fellow Americans,

I'm speaking to you from my home in Carthage, Tennessee.  After much consideration, weighing all my options and discussing all possibilities with my family, friends, and advisors, I've decided to once again run for the office of President of the United States of America. 

My goals as President will be many.  I will bring our troops home and extricate this nation from it's military entanglements in a responsible and careful manner.  We've done some good and some bad in the places where we've deployed our military and while we don't want to erase the good things, like removing a heartless dictator and not replacing him with another heartless dictator, we also need to repair the damage we've created.  We're going to do that with international support and with the involvement of the United Nations.   I will put the United States back in a leadership role in Science and Technology which will create well paying jobs.  I will improve our education at all levels which will give our children and young people the best opportunity to succeed in a competitive world.  I will work to repair the health care industry and under my administration we will have health care for all Americans, not just those fortunate enough to be able to afford it. 

With me here in Carthage is a very familiar face, Barack Obama.  I have met with him and his lovely wife, Michelle.  Senator Obama has generously agreed to end his presidential campaign and to join my team as running mate.  In return for this sacrifice we are going to work together to make the office of Vice President a truly important position in the American political system.  I am giving him control of the direction and implementation of our domestic agenda.  Senator Obama will make a great Vice President and will do fantastic things for the nation in his Constitutional role as President of the Senate where I will expect him to lead the Senate in implementing an agenda of progress that this nation truly needs. 

The decision to include Senator Obama in my campaign was a difficult one.  This year's field of Democratic hopefuls is the strongest group of candidates in my lifetime.  Recognizing this talent and leadership I have the utmost confidence in each and every one of them.  Right now, and at any time in the future I would be honored to work with each of these remarkable men and women.  Consequently, I extend a position in my cabinet to each one of these tremendous people.

As you know, my focus for the past several years has been in the area of Global Climate Change.  We are going to make significant progress reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases and developing plans to deal with the major issues that will be facing humanity in the coming years.  From mass migrations causing refugee crisis to the inevitable battles over limited land and resources we have our work cut out for us.  But there is tremendous hope.  We are a resilient people and we're innovative.  Remember, we fought and won World Wars against ruthless totalitarian powers, we faced and defeated a crippling global depression, we built the world's most extensive interstate transportation system,  we cured polio and eliminated smallpox, and we flew astronauts to the moon and brought them home safely.  All of these things we did as a nation, not as privatized enterprises.  And as a nation we're going to combat global warming by developing alternative technologies, methods for cleansing the air and environment, and by educating and aiding the rest of the world as they enter their own periods of prosperity and comfort. 

I'm marshaling in a new era of advancement.  We're going to replace the profit motive in medical technology with the people motive.  We're going to make this world a better place to live, for us, for our children, and for their children. 

Join me and make these next decades the best we've ever had.

(feel free to forward this as text or a link to anyone you want.  also feel free to Digg this speech.)

Where are the Big Ideas? Where's the Imagination?

NOTE:  Today's The Story of the Vase installment has been delayed until tomorrow due to the October 15th Blog Action Day challenge in which I'm participating.  I encourage all of you to write a post about the environment today, sign up, and join this movement.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
  --Albert Einstein

The solution to the world's problems up till now has been advancement.  Those of us who are worried about the planet and about global warming aren't saying that we have to slaughter nine-tenths of the world's population and move back to caves . . . what we're saying is that we have to do something about it now, or the earth's going to make that 'correction' for us.

We have to come up with great new ideas and implement them, regardless the cost, because the benefits will outweigh the sacrifice.  Offshoot technologies, opportunities, and jobs created will produce a better society even when the idea's objectives don't pan out.  That's the way with innovation, it almost always produces usable results. 

Here are some examples of the creativity and imagination humans are capable of when it comes to working out our energy and climate change problems. 

The ideas can be as simple as a bucket that collects sunshine, stores it, and plays it back during darkness. 

Or it could be as complicated and time intensive as changing the growth of trees in order to create tree houses. 

You May Have Heard of Me . . .

You may have heard of me.  I'm one of the 47 million . . .

without health insurance.  I'm educated, with skills, and I work very hard.  I want the best for myself and my family.  I'm not one to shirk my responsibilities or live my life as one risk after another.  I served my country, paid my taxes, worked all the way through college.  I'm not an alcoholic, I don't take drugs, I don't even smoke cigarettes.  Getting ill scares me.

You may have heard of me.  I'm one of the 47 million . . .

who dread getting a cough, or seeing an odd blemish that wasn't there last time I looked.  I wonder what I'm going to do if I see blood, or if I can't work because of an accident.  I've looked into insurance, I really have.  I even bought a catastrophic policy, which means that if something really bad happens, someone will take care of me for a little while, until I'm bankrupt, and destitute.  They want more for insurance than it costs me to both feed and clothe my family every month plus what I spend on transportation.   Can you believe it?  I have to choose to give my family food, clothing, and opportunity over keeping them healthy.    Have you, who have health insurance, ever thought about the horrors of “what if?”  Have you considered, like I have, the reality that I might die because of that choice and take away every opportunity I'm trying to give them?

You may have heard of me.  I'm one of the 47 million . . .

Rapture Righties Don't Believe in a Future

Fundamentalist Christians overwhelmingly vote Republican and a lot of the reason why is that they don’t believe in any sort of future. Even though Christians have been foretelling the second coming of Christ as an imminent event for over a thousand years, these people believe it’s going to be tomorrow.

I have a friend who works in a Bookstore and he says that he can spot a Fundamentalist as they walk in the door - they head in as straight a bee-line as possible to the Left Behind Series shelf, grab the one that interests them and try not to see anything else as they check out and leave, assuredly hoping to not be tempted by secular literature.

These are people who don’t care about the environment because they think it’s all going to be burned to crisp and repurified by their redeemer.
These are people who don’t care about the poor, needy, afflicted, and destitute because they are all just contributing to the signs of the world’s decadence and the impending doom that we’re all going to be subjected to, any minute.
These are people who love the idea of turmoil in the Middle-East because it was foretold and will envelope the world in a massive world-war which will bring about the end that much quicker and they’ll be rapturized anyway so $%@! the rest of us.
These are really scary people.

Well, I have to live here too and you people and your mythology don’t have a right to mess it all up just so you can have a grand self-fulfilling prophecy that leaves us all suffering the disasterous results of your Armageddon. Stop it now.

Science Friday - Northwest Passage

Explorers long searched for an elusive Northwest passage - a northern open water shipping route around North America - only to find that it didn't exist.  Now it does.  For the first time in history there is open water from Greenland to the Bering Strait.  This is disturbing news, not for the shipping or commerce mind you, but for the increasing rate of melting at the Pole.

According to Leif Toudal Pedersen from the Danish National Space Centre, the ice-covered area (light green in this image) is currently around 3 million sq km, which is about 1 million sq km less than the previous minimum levels recorded in 2005/6. Over the last ten years the sea ice coverage has shrunk by around 100,000 sq km per year, so a drop of 1 million sq km in just one year is an enormous change.

This is the image - the orange line shows open water and the green shaded area is the ice.

Now can we please stop arguing about whether global warming is real or whose fault it is?  Let's just do something about it.

- rick, shaking his head.

The Chickenhawk vs. The Firefighter

See, it goes like this:

I say, “I despise chickenhawks.”

and the war-supporter in attendence says, “So I suppose you have volunteered for your local police and fire departments, because surely you wouldn’t be so chicken hawkish as to support police and fire service but are too chicken to let others risk their lives in such jobs without you risking your own.”

This argument is flawed on so many levels, but here are my arguments against it:

War Supporter, your firefighter argument isn’t parallel to the military situation in Iraq for the following reasons.

1. The Chickenhawks who started and promote this war would be the arsonists in your analogy, not innocent bystanders waiting for firefighting assistance. They caused the problem, endangered the lives, and then refused to serve the cause of rectifying their self-created quagmire.

2. If you are a firefighter, you have the option of quitting your job. It isn’t illegal to quit when placed in a position that violates your safety for an unjust reason. The profit of the corporations engaged in “business�? in Iraq is being defended by soldiers who, when encountering the truth of their situation find themselves forced by law and arms to continue serving.

Science Friday - Vertical Farming

We're facing a lot of challenges in the future.  As oil gets more expensive our transportation costs are going to rise.  Sustainability is going to become more difficult to achieve and in our cities, fresh produce will be rarer.  Fortunately there are some innovative solutions.  One of those is Vertical farming for compact spaces.  It's inspirational. 

From ecogeek: Some features of the "Center for Urban Agriculture" (CUA):

• Fully self-sufficient building: in energy and water.
  • 31,000 sq ft rooftop water rainwater collection
  • Recycling of gray water (including an ability to handle some of the surrounding area's waste water up to "20 times its own discharge potential")
  • 34,000+ sq ft of solar PV cells with hydrogen gas backup
• "Agricultural features include fields for growing veggies and grains, greenhouses, rooftop gardens and even a chicken farm."
  • Local produced food is critical for changing energy patterns as "40 percent of an individual's ecological footprint is generated by the embodied energy in food."
• 318 apartments (studio, 1 & 2 bedroom units)
• Restaurant & Cafe (The "Greenhouse" using building grown food.

All this in less than an acre.

- rick, encouraged.

An Issue of Security . . . and fear.

One of the most telling differences between the Left and the Right is demonstrated in the issue of security. Liberals are characterized as soft, weak, cowardly, etc. by pro-military conservatives who, themselves, fantasize of being protected by an armed retinue of guards.

Conversations with these people usually reach a stage where they assume we don’t understand the dangers of the world and thank God they’re here to do the dirty work . . . to do that which we’d rather not hear about or know about or do ourselves in order to protect liberty.

But, they’re wrong.  They couldn’t be more wrong.  I know what violence is like.  I know what it is to hold and fire an automatic weapon and I know what it feels like to break another person’s bones. I know the dirty reality of violence and I’m not afraid of it.

That’s the point of this post.  I’m not afraid.  We’re not afraid.

We want a better place to live. We want education and health care and all of the advantages that can give our children, our nation, the best foot forward to act with humanity in a progressive model for the future of our species and our world. And we’re not foolish enough to believe that some terrorists can stop those goals in their tracks. We’re not foolish enough to believe that our entire way of life can be halted by anyone or anything.

The Right and the Strawman

Talk radio and FoxNews have perfected the Strawman and it’s gotten so pervasive that all people on the right use it and believe they are winning argument after argument. Why is that?

Examples:

The Iraq war was a mistake.

Left: Iraq wasn’t a part of 9/11 and therefore it’s a distraction at least and criminal at most to have attacked an nation preemptively that hadn’t the capacity or willingness to cause us harm.

Right Strawman #1: When you don’t support the war you aren’t supporting the troops and you are giving aid and comfort to the enemy, which is treason.

*** This argument doesn’t address the Left’s position at all, but instead attacks a made-up anti-American position unrelated to the position.

Book Reviewers Can Be Sued?

PZ Myers, Ph.D., Division of Science & Math, University of Minnesota, Morris is being sued by the nitwit, Stuart Pivar.  Pivar wrote this book: [Lifecode: The Theory of Biological Self Organization].  Myers reviewed it poorly and Pivar thinks that's a valid reason to sue. 

Dr. Myers:

He claims to have a revolutionary idea for how evolution works, but his ideas have no connection to reality, and these lovely elaborate drawings he made look nothing at all like actual embryos. The bottom line is that I said his work was more about the evolution of balloon animals than biology.

Sure, it's harsh, but it was probably justified.

I have reviewed a lot of books.  I read a lot of books and I review them as I find them.  Some bad, some good.  I tend to review more books I like than ones I don't like because I get to choose the books I read and I like to read books I'm going to enjoy.  I know, that's strange, but it's how I roll.

What do you sue a reviewer for?  Assault, Libel, and Slander of course.

- rick, risking litigation

PRD

I recently found out that I suffer from a psychological disorder from which there may be no cure. 

Hi, I'm Rick and I have PRD.

Personal Responsibility Disorder.  It's a malady that greatly handicaps my ability to function in society. It's probably incurable, and it's undoubtedly fatal.

I have this compulsion to take responsibility for everything in my life.  I'm unable to blame my problems on you, or on nature or even on God.  Oh to be a believer and have faith that upon my imminent death I could just repent for all my urges and I'd be absolved and whooshed up to live with that guy in the sky who put me here to suffer in the first place.  Alas, I'm no believer and every choice I make is mine to own.

I wasted six and a half years in the military – a fact I'm sure you already know – learning how to kill people and break things in spectacular fashion.  These are not useful skills in civilized society.  Well, not often anyway.  They sent me places where other people were interested in shooting at me. I didn't like it.  But as a sufferer from PRD, I tend to return to that fateful day when I said to my recruiter, Tsgt Saki Kawasaki (I kid you not), “Sign me up.”  I did that.  Those were my words and a few days later I was raising my right hand and swearing an oath. Whatever happened in those years, things that I may blog about when the time comes that I want to discuss it in public, whatever those things were – they were mine.  I own them because I made the choice to be there and I made the choice to obey orders and I made the choice to execute my oath honorably.  I was involuntarily extended twice while I was in the service . . . twice.  And I was angry about it, because I wanted out . . . but the contract I signed gave them the right to keep me on active duty for up to eight years at the discretion of the U.S. Military.  It was my signature on that form . . . I own that because I suffer from this awful disease – PRD.

Science Friday - Global Warming and Hurricanes

Coming in the wake of Hurricane Dean this is a great commentary from Chris Mooney on the what can actually be said about the links between increasing sea temperatures and the intensity and frequency of hurricanes. 

Here are the facts about Dean:

1. With a minimum central pressure of 906 millibars, Dean was the ninth most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin (for comparison Hurricane Katrina's minimum pressure was 902 millibars).

2. That 906 millibar pressure reading was at landfall, making Dean the third most intense landfalling hurricane known in the Atlantic region and the first Category 5 storm at landfall since 1992's Hurricane Andrew.

3. When measured by minimum pressure, six of the ten most intense Atlantic hurricanes--Wilma, Rita, Katrina, Mitch, Dean, and Ivan--have occurred in the past ten years.

and here's what can be said about the connection:

We can't blame any one hurricane event on global warming directly. Nevertheless, the information above is certainly consistent with the idea advanced by some scientists that global warming is causing an intensification of the average hurricane. We're apparently seeing the strongest hurricanes recur in the Atlantic with a higher frequency than before -- or at least, than we've ever been able to measure before.

Measuring systems weren't as good in earlier eras, you see -- a fact that makes our records somewhat impeachable. A "record" is only what's recorded, after all. And so skeptics will inevitably quibble with our imperfect data and challenge it. There might well have been a storm much stronger than Dean 200 years ago -- we just don't know.

Nevertheless, if you look at the data we have, Dean fits into a very troubling pattern and context. Moreover, the present data, with all their admitted imperfections, aren't all we have to go on. There's also the theoretical expectation that hurricanes ought to intensify, for basic thermodynamic reasons, as global warming adds more heat to the oceans. Add together this theoretical expectation with the new records today and, well, anyone would be justified in feeling pretty worried by Hurricane Dean.

I'm a bit worried. 

- rick, realist

The Price of Propaganda

How much money should the Presidential Administration spend on public relations firms, advertising agencies, media organizations and individuals?  How much of our tax dollars should it take to reframe the message, correct the impressions, and spin, spin, spin? 

One would think that press conferences where a representative of the administration, from Press Secretary to President, stands up and tells the truth would be enough, but it's not.

How much?

1.6 BILLION DOLLARS

Over what period of time?  That's just two years, from 2003 to 2005.  Extrapolated over an eight-year presidency, that's 6.4 Billion Dollars.

How much health care would that have paid for?  How many children would have been college educated with that?  How many teachers could have been hired and paid?

Here's the article.

Armstrong Williams, the conservative commentator, had been unmasked as a paid administration promoter who received $186,000 from the Education Department to speak favorably about President Bush's No Child Left Behind law in broadcast appearances.

Around the same time, a spat erupted between the GAO and the White House over whether the government's practice of feeding TV stations prepackaged, ready-to-air news stories that touted administration policies (but did not disclose the government as the source) amounted to "covert propaganda." The GAO said that it did. The administration disagreed, saying spreading information about federal programs is part of the agencies' mission, and that the burden of disclosure falls on the TV stations.

They feel no need to differentiate news from opinion, fact from fiction.  There was another Propagandist who felt the same way:

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's master of the media.

-  rick, angry all over again

Thoughts About People

We think differently, those of us on the left versus those of them on the right.

For example, I spent some time this week, while working, watching people.  I noticed:

A frail lady with a cane making her way down the sidewalk and across the street and I thought that she was lucky to have lived a long life, lucky to be out on such a pleasant day, and lucky to be able to choose to go places under her own power.

I didn’t question her right to block traffic as she slowly crossed the road. I didn’t accuse her of taking money from my pocket for her social security or her medicare. I didn’t wish her into a home away from the rest of us.

A tattooed young man in a ripped up leather jacket juggling and cracking jokes for passers-by, his hat upside down and partially filled with money. I was glad to live in a city where men like him weren’t marched away by cops for trespassing, disturbing the peace, or violating some other standard of dress and decency. I was glad that he could choose to do something entertaining and make enough money to go another day or two or three.

I didn’t judge him to need a regular job. I didn’t accuse him of being worthless and I wasn’t scared of him for being different than me or different than the ‘norm.’ I didn’t blame him for the decline of discipline or the lack of law enforcement.

A group of friends laughing and enjoying the beautiful midday sun while biking on a hodgepodge of castaway bicycles made from various parts. I thought it great to see people enjoying themselves without having to maintain a consumerist image of manufactured perfection. So what if their welds weren’t perfect or if the paint was uneven, or if the spokes were mismatched? So what if they didn’t sport brand name clothing or equipment, they were having fun and enjoying the day.

I didn’t wonder why they weren’t at work. I didn’t judge them to be dregs of society, living on the dole or soaking up their parents misplaced generosity. I wasn’t even jealous of them for being able to spend their time as they’d like. I wasn’t suspicious that they might be laughing at my expense. I wasn’t concerned that they may or may not support the war or my political ideals.

Live and let live . . .

I wish the righties felt the same way.

Green Memory

Green Memory - 1951

            A wonderful time - the War:
            when money rolled in
            and blood rolled out.

            But blood
            was far away
            from here -

            Money was near.

     Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Romney's a Pretzel

This video is 20 minutes long.  The host is a rabid Theological Republican in Iowa and he takes Romney to task on the ACTUAL teachings of the Church and his contradictory positions.  Romney isn't a strong leader in this video like his camp is trying to frame him to be - he's frantic, over speaking, and nuancing the positions of a religion in which he was an appointed (by God) leader. 

The question:  Are you allowed to be pro-choice and be a Mormon in good standing? 
The Answer: No.  The directives of the leaders of the church prevent that - and you can be disciplined for publicly holding that position.

On this non-negotiable issue, Romney has no footing and will lose votes from anyone who thinks that a person should hold beliefs and live those beliefs without hypocrisy.

- rick, pro-choice with character and honesty.

Great Art - Condom Fashion Show

In China of all places.  Found here.

more after the jump

Special Post - Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

The University Bridge collapsed in Minneapolis yesterday.  Myself, my family, and my friends (so far as I know) are all okay, we weren't anywhere near the bridge during rush hour. 

It's a bridge I rarely cross because my jobs don't come from that side of the river.  It's a tragedy and I wish the best for all involved.  There were specific warnings from fire, police, and rescue for those of us in town to stay away from the bridge area after the collapse because they were having a lot of trouble getting rescue crews to the location.  Consequently, we didn't go down there at all, either to help or to see.

Besides we spent the whole day yesterday moving from our apartment to our new home (in 100 degree heat, with near-100% humidity) and I was sweaty, gross, stinky, sore and exhausted - and we didn't hear about the collapse until an hour after it had happened. 

Thank you to those who have called, or tried to call, and to those who emailed checking up on myself, gf, and the kids.  We're okay.

- rick, staring at stacks of boxes and unassembled furniture

Fear is the Tool of Weak!!

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.”

- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address

FDR took a stand against fear and refused to let it define his presidency, although the atmosphere was ripe for it. He presided during the Great Depression when so many people were hopeless and homeless and dying. He presided during a war, a real war, when America was attacked and fought fronts on multiple continents.

He could have told people that they were in danger, he could have told them to trust the government in all things. Roosevelt didn’t, however. He told the truth. He sat in the Oval Office and addressed the country 30 times in Fireside Chats and sometimes he said to the people, “things aren’t going so well.” 

CV Rick on a Drug Rant

I have developed some pretty severe allergies.  It's always been so with cats, but increasingly bad with pollens, grasses, molds, trees, and dust.  Right now, the beginning of August, is the beautiful gateway into my worst allergy season as everything dries out and starts flying through the air.  With over the counter medications, these allergies have been manageable until this year.

Why not this year?

Because of stupid rednecks and the silly Republican War on Drugs.

Over this past year reactionary authoritarians have decided that the only way to combat this nation's Methamphetamine problem is to fuck me.  The best pills that I take are good for twenty-four hours, but now the laws are so restrictive that I can only get 10 pills at a time, only once every 10 days, and no more than 20 in a one month period.  (I prefer Clariton D, by the way).  And all of this because now nitwit rednecks use meth as a substitute for reality instead of goddamned television soap operas like they used to. 

You know what this meth craze is?  It's redneck Wilburs and Wilmas jealous of all the attention inner-city blacks were getting for Crack.

Those dumbasses make meth out of Clariton in their bathtubs because the damned tubs never get used for anything else anyway and I wouldn't be surprised if they're stirring the mixture in the tubs with toothbrush handles, because what else is a fucking hillbilly going to use a toothbrush for

Goddamned retards

A Discussion on Universal Health Care

The fear-mongering meme traveling around the right-wing is the all-out frontal assault against Socialized medicine.  Now that it's an inevitability they are grasping at every handhold to deride nationalized health care as inept socialism.

Socialized medicine, or any type of government-backed health care program for that matter, has never worked.

Let's just put some facts on the table. I picked two important factors of Health and explored how the U.S. Matches up: Life Expectancy and Infant Mortality.

Lest I be accused of cherry-picking the stats, I picked those two because they show how well the health care system provides for a nation’s babies and also how well it cares for the populace on average throughout their lives. I think these are more important than lines, or waiting lists, etc. These are statistics that take the average of all factors and matches it with the priorities of keeping people alive. What I’m saying is that I didn’t just look through a bunch of tables until I found the two that best supported my position.

Interesting Political Questions

Conservative Christians are having a difficult time with their presidential choices.  Giuliani has more moral problems than a streetwalker, McCain is the position-of-the-day sycophant, Romney is being called a cult-member (with reason), and Gingrich if he gets in has to contend with all those "he's a hypocrite" family values charges.

How about a couple of questions for them to consider:

1. Would you support a presidential candidate who is divorced, has estranged relations with his children, never sees his grandchildren, rarely attends church, strongly opposes a law to ban gays from teaching school, and as governor signed the nation’s most liberal abortion law?

2. Would you support him if you knew his name was Ronald Reagan?

Life must be hard when you're looking for angels to make decisions for you.  On the other hand, it must be nice to have something to blame all your problems on.

- rick, ironic.

Get Them in Debt

This week I attended a birthday party for gf's mother.  While there talking to one of the relatives the subject of hiring employees came up.  I mentioned that I've been having little luck finding someone to hire and this guy, we'll call him Shark, started giving me some advice.  The advice he gave me just floored me, leaving me speechless in light of where I am with my own business, with my life, with my writing 'career.'  As some of you know, I'm following Alan's Financial Program for getting out of debt and remaining debt-free.

Shark has hired his share of employees at his job as a regional manager of a pharmaceutical company.  Mainly he's hiring reps to "establish relationships" (meaning SELL) with doctors, clinics, pharmacies, etc.  Once he gets through the basic resume and determines that they'll be qualified for the job, he meets them and determines if they have a good attitude.  For him, these job seekers are fresh out of college, and he asks them an innocent question about student loans.  The ones who have student loan debt are the ones he's most interested in.

"Why?" I asked.

"Those are the guys or gals who need the job the most and are willing to take a lower starting salary," he said.  (and, yes, he did call them gals)

That wasn't the end of the advice, however.  He had pointers for me on retaining new hires and making them work like slaves. 

Leveling the Playing Field

Today, while reading the blogs and news I kept finding a couple of common misconceptions . . . the American Dream myths. There is an idea that everyone in America started with the same basic opportunities, a level playing field, and that the results of one’s life is measured equally againt every other person with the caveat, “That could have been me . . “ but for some random choices. This myth is incredibly pervasive.

When that myth is dispelled, an oh how easily that is done . . . so easily that I’m not even going to bother. When that myth is dispelled, Conservaties come to the front with the second myth of the American Dream. That myth is that Everyone, regardless their economic reality, their class, or their parentage, can make it in America if they just work hard enough. This myth isn’t so easy to dispell, because it’s not entirely untrue. For all that America isn’t, it is still possible to make something of yourself in this Country no matter who you are. Hope isn’t squashed . . . I call this second myth of the American Dream a myth because it’s used as a weapon, not an incentive by those who would benefit in its belief the most.

Why are you poor?  Because you haven’t tried hard enough.  Because you don’t deserve it.  Because you aren’t worthy. It’s never because you didn’t have the same opportunity. It’s never because your own personal value system is geared toward service (teaching, social work, charity, care) over profit and that’s better for human beings. It’s never because you are disabled, handicapped by your physical or mental genetics or by the fate of accident or by the horrors of war. It’s never because, despite your best efforts and your own hardest efforts, things didn’t work out . . .

Do We Have the Stomach for Nation Building?

It seems that we’re not cut out for Imperialism. We have the military to crush organized defense forces, but not the military to occupy. Why?

It’s a matter of tolerance . . . we’re Americans and we don’t have the stomach for it. The follow-up question is: is that wrong?

Here’s what I mean.

If we were to successfully occupy a nation like Iraq and install the puppet government we protest too much about, we’d have to take some lessons from history. We could go to Britain and ask their historians, how’d you guys do it worldwide? They’d teach us about piano-wiring resistance leaders in back alleys, selling their wives and daughters to brothels and torturing their parents. They’d teach us who to kill, who to threaten, and who to bribe. They’d show us how to pay sycophants and snitches while assembling blackmail on those who can’t be bought. We’d have lessons on all those things we need to be good at in order to control a foreign nation with assets and resources we find desirable.

With Japan after WWII, MacArthur did it correctly. Given dictatorial autonomy, he made deals with the Yakuza and war criminals which on the face seem draconian, but provided an underlying structure for a successful, peaceful occupation. The deal was, keep crime down, keep anti-americanism controlled and you can have the black market, crime syndicates, and favorable legislation to legitimize your criminal empires. It worked and today conservatives constantly tout Japan as a successful example of occupation, democracy, and partnership. Should we do it again?

Is it right for us to manipulate a nation through threats, bribes, violence, and crime?

That’s what it would take.

We need to choose - - stay or go. Because this in between limbo is costing lives - a lot of them.

Why Did I Enlist?

I was recently asked why I served in the military, how I could have served in the military, when my current views are so anti-military. Here’s my answer.

First of all, I'm not anti-military.  I'm for a military that will defend the homeland and protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.  If any of you find that military, drop me a note.

I enlisted because of my early exposure to the life.  My father was in the service. I was raised around the world. It was glamorous, there were men and women in uniform, doing jobs that were important. It was strict, it was structured, and it looked very professional. I was impressed by it. I heard from everyone around me how important it was to defend our freedoms and liberties . . . to protect the American way of life.

And I saw a comparison . . . between the American way of life and other country’s living standards. America had gadgets and cars and planes and the most movies on earth. America had ATARI games, for god’s sake (of course, my family couldn’t afford one).  It was pointed out to me daily how much better America was than the other countries, especially countries in which my father was stationed, where we lived. 

I joined to defend my country and my country’s constitution and to see my country’s flag flying proudly. Truth be told, I still get teary-eyed during the opening ceremonies at the Olympics (I’ve been to two of them live) when the American Flag and the American Team comes out. I can’t explain it, but it really brings an emotion up from deep inside me.

Panhandling

There are a lot more panhandlers out this year than I can remember seeing from previous years.  To me that's a sign that the wealth isn't Trickling Down.  Panhandling is hard as well . . . I don't handle rejection very easily and that's why I'm not a good salesman, but if I panhandled I'd have to deal with rejection from almost everyone I saw.  But as it is a form of occupation and as it's very competitive the more clever, the more sincere, the less obstructive tend to get the most cash.

I suggest panhandlers learn some tricks that will get them a bigger slice of the ever decreasing handout pie.

I saw a panhandler carrying around this sign once: 

I gave him money . . . in fact I was driving my truck at the time and I went around the block to give him three bucks.

Honesty is a good policy:

The Fad of Heartlessness

Many of you may have heard that Ann Coulter was on Hardball with Chris Mathews the other day and Elizabeth Edwards called in to the show.  If you're interested, the clip is at the end of this post.

I've said many times that the representatives of the right-wing get to say anything they want, spout any lies, and poison the political conversation in this country and the so-called media liberals don't confront them on it.  They're followers root them on, cheer them for every disgusting word that they say.  When confronted, people I know will simply say, "Both sides do it." It's simply not true.  It's just not. 

Ann Coulter has repeatedly and personally attacked Presidential candidate, John Edwards.  She has even made fun of Edwards son, Wade, who died in an automobile accident at age 16.  She said that Edwards had a bumper sticker which says, "Ask Me About My Dead Son."  Who on the left has ever made fun of George H W Bush's daughter, Robin, who died of leukemia?  During their respective campaigns, both Bush I and W brought it up as an issue of how death has affected them and how they dealt with it.  No one on the Left ever made fun of it.  We aren't that disgustingly nasty and opportunistic. 

It's considered an asset to be nasty on the right-wing. They view kindness and personal respect as weakness.  They hate actual human beings who behave in unpredictable ways guided by emotions and needs. Sociopaths are cool, psychopaths are understandable, and humans are fucking weak. Don't believe me?  Follow this thread:

Graffiti Research Lab

The guys at the Graffiti Research Lab work on amazing technological solutions for graffiti artists.  Their best project by far is this set-up, using open source software, portable power packs, and a laser writer to create light graffiti on the sides of buildings and other public spaces.  Since it's all light, it's temporary and it creates an instant community wherever they go.

Here they are in Spain.  Wow.  Enjoy

Those Poor Downtrodden Christians

Guess what?  You're not in the minority if you're a Christian.  You aren't being made fun of and derided at every turn.  You aren't losing the battle of righteousness and you aren't subjected to more temptation than ever before in history.

Every business listens to you, every organization bows to your wishes.  Every politician claims to be among your ranks and none would ever make a law or decision that truly upset you.  Only one single representative in the national House claims not to be either Christian or Jewish (let's face it, their strictures of morality are so similar as to be identical to those of us "without" faith. 

From a poll of American opinion:

Majorities of Americans say both evolution and creationism are likely explanations for life on Earth in a new USA Today/Gallup Poll.

Two-thirds said creationism, which the poll defined as the idea that God created humans in their present form within the past 10,000 years, is definitely or probably true. More than half, 52%, said evolution, the idea that humans evolved from less-advanced life-forms over millions of years, is definitely or probably true. All told, 25% say both creationism and evolution are definitely or probably true.

So, you Christians aren't in the minority and yet your continued assault on the rest of us, on the courts, on the Constitution leads us to believe that you won't be happy until you've turned this country into a head-in-the-sand theocracy. 

We're the minority that the Constitution is supposed to protect from undue repression by the majority . . . YOU!

rick, wants to be free *from* religion.

Bush's Drinking

I've had experience with addicts in my time and the fact of the matter is that they don't self-correct, or self-medicate themselves out of their situation.  Bush definitely had a drinking problem, however he claims to have stopped drinking on his own because he wanted to.

Here are some photo's and a story from Michael Greenwell.  If it's non-alcoholic beer, then fine, but that doesn't explain the video at the end of this post.  Enjoy.