McCain

Soon he'll be snapping his teeth at flies.

McCain on Rice

Losing to Obama has made McCain nuts. Who cares what he thinks? Why do reporters keep giving him air time?  Let's never forget his goofy selection of Palin as running mate, if we are tempted to take him seriously.

World Trade Center before 9/11

Obama, don't get your hopes up

The Republicans will never compromise. They hate you, Mr. President and will inflict suffering on the rest of us if it does you damage.

Is this campaign a comedy show?

Romney and his little pal Eddie Munster think we are really stupid

Creepy guy

Ryan can't tell the truth.  He seems to prefer lies especially those with just enough vagueness and innuendo to provide cover while facilitating later backtracking.

The problem is Republicans in Congress

After years of obstruction, years of stopping anything and everything Obama proposed, whether good for Americans or not, it's time to take a close look at these crapheads and do what we can to deliver a Democratic Congress.

Discussion is here

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/za524/i_think_its_pretty_clear_reddit_wont_vote_for/

iPhone

My wife is a salesperson.  When she goes to work she carries two iPhones, one windows based laptop, one iPad. The only machines she actually uses are the iPhones, one personal, one business, and she uses them for everything.  I watched her use an ap to scan a document and then fax it to where she wanted it to go.  She keeps track of accounts and updates sales call data, all on the iPhone.

Impressive, if you ask me.

Crackpots: Romney/Ryan

Both Romney and Ryan seem to be missing some essential parts that allow them to a lie with impunity and without remorse.  There's a lot of nuttiness around these guys, like  transporting a dog on the roof and a Rosie Ruiz style marathon. 

You really wouldn't want to get in a car with either of these guys driving.

Bush and Blair war criminals?

Was attacking Iraq over non existent weapons of mass destruction a war crime?  Should Bush and Blair be tried by an international tribune?  Some think so. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/02/desmond-tutu-tony-blair-iraq

But Mr. Tutu should know that winners are never tried.

Clint

Empty head scolding an empty chair.

Links to best campaign coverage

The best place to find the most links to campaign coverage is here: http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/

Obama/Romney top contributors

Interesting to compare top contributors, via Open Secrets

Barack Obama (D)

1	University of California	$491,868
2	Microsoft Corp	$443,748
3	Google Inc	$357,382
4	DLA Piper	$331,715
5	Harvard University	$317,516

Mitt Romney (R)

1	Goldman Sachs	$676,080
2	JPMorgan Chase & Co	$520,299
3	Morgan Stanley	$513,647
4	Bank of America	$510,728
5	Credit Suisse Group	$427,560

Work for Welfare

If you work for it, it is not welfare. It is a government job.

Christie et al

http://gawker.com/5938790/republicans-are-just-like-you-creepy-two+bit-bad-actors

Romney/Ryan running most racist campaign ever

In addition to the racism the new Republican view of Democrats is that they (we) are somehow unamerican and not entitled to reasonable dialog and compromise.

Basically, the Right started this no compromise relationship and sustains it with a steady stream of hate radio and TV.  Their movement is essentially today's model of fascism.  Fascism traditionally dehumanizes the opposition, defines it as other and wages total war against it. Today's others are Blacks on welfare (generally the welfare label is hung on Blacks who have to prove they are otherwise) illegal Hispanics (as with Blacks this group too is assumed to be something other than  mainstream American, in this case illegal unless they prove otherwise), the poor in general (assumed to be that way voluntarily because they do not want to work and want a handout) and liberals and progressives, usually labeled as socialists and communists and therefore, other and unamerican.

It almost always works this way, setting up the other for disenfranchisement followed in the most extreme cases deportation, loss of property, prison and so on.  In Pennsylvania, for example, there is vigorous move to require voters to have photo identification. Easy enough for those who have driver's licenses, college student ID's, etc. but not so easy for the urban poor.  The idea is to make it hard for large numbers of  to vote. This disenfranchisement is  reminiscent of the poll taxes and literacy tests used in the old South to keep Blacks from voting. Same process.  Same early stage fascism.

As for fascism, the word "fascism," if you don't like it, substitute the words "radical" or "extreme right" for fascist--same beast.




 

Does Christie believe Romney will lose?

Report says Christie would not join ticket because he thought Romney would lose.

Republican Isaac and a link to Naked Capitalism

Looks like Isaac is going to mostly miss Tampa, delivering only some wind and no substance.

Here's a link to some real tell-it-like-it-is writing on our economy and politicians.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/08/ezra-klein-deems-joe-stiglitz-paul-krugman-and-elizabeth-warren-plus-other-serious-people-not-credible.html

Read the linked post and get smarter.

Does NYC shooting reveal training problems?

Reports suggest that all shot bystanders on the crowded streets were hit by bullets fired by the police and that the killer shot only at his victim and fired no shots at the police. Two police may have fired 16 shots at the killer and, according to videos, they were firing at very close range.

Romney's "qualifications"

Romney wants us to believe his experience getting rich by running Bain Capital qualifies him to run America. It doesn't and we are not that easily fooled into accepting his comparison of  apples to horse shit. 

For example: "You cannot run America by avoiding American regulation. You cannot offshore "America.""

Cheers for Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and the rest

If you have never been to sea you can't fully appreciate the courage it takes to storm a Russian oil rig to protest arctic drilling. The same extraordinary dangers are faced by the Sea Shepherd anti whaling operatives.  I am grateful to these heroes.  We will be a sad species if we idly  stand by while whales, elephants, wolves, bears, and frogs go down the toilet along with clean air, clean water and the rest of life and what sustains it goes down the toilet.

On another note, if you've visited the western National Parks and other federal land you know our treasures that the disgusting Romney is willing to trade for western votes.  He will deregulate drilling and mining and otherwise horrific land rapes in exchange for those votes.

Bored with extraordinary wealth Romney craves power. Only those who do not crave power are suited to have it.

Romney's money hidey hole

If you have accounting skills you could like have field day with the information Gawker posted.   Romney maybe the crook on the Crook/Crackpot ticket.

In some experts economic sense does prevail

Here's an outline of an economic plan that appeals to reason, not the fears, hatreds, and delusions that drive Romney's Ryan economics.

Romney/Ryan not fooling everyone

The Romney/Ryan crackpot ticket can't fool all the people all the time.

Clinton's pro Obama ad

Obama needs to emphasize the Republican Congressional obstruction of every initiative that would have rescued us from the economic mess left him by Bush. The Bush deregulation of big banks and Wall Street, and two unnecessary wars, put too much strain on our economy and allowed destructive, if not criminal, mortgage lending that created the mess we are in.

People losing their homes do not buy cars.

Is Republican obstruction of economic recovery programs treason?

The Republicans' plan was to obstruct everything Obama proposed to ensure we remained in the economic mess left us by Bush and his two unnecessary wars.  Then, in this election, Republicans planned to pin the lingering economic problems on Obama.  Everyone knows this.

They will do anything to win, including putting us all at risk and ensuring there is no economic recovery while Obama is in office. If anything is treason, this is.

Romney Presidency? Chaos.

Eric Alterman has done his homework giving us a pretty clear, if nightmarish picture of what a Romney presidency would be  like. The article is  well worth your time, especially if you need facts to backup your anti Romney/Ryan arguments.

VPs

I don't think it will come to this, but if it looks like Obama is going to lose Biden will go away and Hillary will be the VP candidate.

If I was Romney I would have picked Gary Sinise for the Republican VP run.

Nice night

Here in the northeastern edge of Appalachia it is a terrific evening.  Cicadas, and after the thunder storms a wind shift to the lovely Northwest brings lower humidity and cool dry air.  My three big dogs are sprawled around my chair, wife asleep on the couch, baseball on TV. Just right.

Ryan: Fraud? Crackpot? Both?

The Dweeb Team

Gawker has the goods on Ryan.

I think he was a rudderless dweeby, goody goody boy until he came across Ayn Rand and swallowed it as if it had been delivered to him via the second coming.  Armed with Rand's nasty edged goofiness, Ryan the crackpot was launched.

When things are difficult and the problems complex there is always certain percentage of people who are especially vulnerable to those who espouse simple minded solutions. These distortions often are described as "common sense" which has no meaning at all but somehow empowers the most ignorant into equating simplicity with wisdom.

That's what we have here, Ryan's crackpot solutions to over simplified, fictional problems.

Ryan's fraud comes from his distortion of his past, his padded resume', his lack of private sector experience, his wealth derived from government sources, and his entire career as a government paid bureaucrat.

He's a fraud and a crackpot.

Hunting

 Thanks partly to rules here in Pennsylvania that protect "game" and leave predators exposed to open seasons we have exploded deer populations.  It is a cinch for any hunter to kill one or two and happy, successful hunters mean more gun, gear and license sales. In the off season hunters can  shoot coyotes. It's all very popular and is a large industry connected to many dependent industries.

However, the sport of hunting in the greater metropolitan area, where I live, and anywhere else for that matter, depends on suspension of any sense of reality.  Hunters pretend they are in wilderness practicing the same skills as those of our mythical forefathers and facing the same challenges.  It is good for them to do this, they say, because it builds character and nurtures respect for nature and, for the same reasons, good for their children to be trained to shoot animals also. What hunters need to repress is the obvious reality that there is no wilderness, not anywhere, and they are hunting in managed parks, backyards, and "game lands," a kind of primitive holodeck and the hunt is a make believe adventure not so far removed from an evening of TV.

It is all make believe and like lotteries, fashion, car brands, wrist watches and the rest, exists to take our money by getting us hooked on the mental highways to fantasies that decorate the dullness of ordinary lives, keep us from doing real things, and help us avoid thoughts of over population, global warming and our own inevitable, though rarely acknowledged, death.

Big government

How do you address global warming, job shortages, pandemics, over population, without big government?

I don't get what is supposed to happen to poor, sick, and/or disabled people without a social safety net that takes care of the basics.  Do we leave them to die in the street?

The days when simple self reliance was enough are long gone, along with wilderness and wide open spaces.  There are not enough jobs, not enough even for the most qualified and motivated and there never will be in our lifetime and it is foolish to assume that any single unfortunate is so because of some personal failure. Such assumption should certainly not be a foundation for social policy or political principle.

All our lives are entwined and much of what happens anywhere on the planet affects the whole.  That is how it is and without governments that learn to consider the whole in every act and policy we are left in chaos.

Paul Ryan is bad for most of us

Here's how Paul Ryan will screw you.

That is if given the chance. Curious how an average dork can read a novel, take it as gospel to govern by, and end up being called the leading Republican intellectual.  He's either a dope or has taken Rand's fairy tale to heart and is cynically using politics to con billionaires into moving cash from their to his accounts.

And take a look at this showing Ryan at his best.

Ryan, the basics

What you need to know about Ryan

Pierce on Ryan

Zombie-eyed Granny-starver

Brokaw at his pompous worst

I turn on Olympics and I get pretentious Brokaw covering WWII and Churchill, the last remaining subjects worthy of Brokaw's delusional eminence.  What crap.

Romney/Ryan slogan

"We've got ours. Screw the rest of you." 

Might also work for Republicans in general.

Crazy Days and Nights: Penn State Booster Gave $ To School - Molested Boy...

Crazy Days and Nights: Penn State Booster Gave $ To School - Molested Boy...: This Penn State scandal just does not go away and it keeps getting more sordid and messy and makes me wonder if every person of influence i...

Ryan paid for college with Social Security checks

It's okay or him but not for the rest of us.

Like the rest of his insane Republican colleagues, Ryan wants to get rid of Medicare for us, but of course keep high quality medical coverage for members of Congress.

Despair or acceptance?

Saw this extraordinary paragraph, the last one in "Karl Ove Knausgaard’s “My Struggle" via The New Yorker review linked below.  Don't know if I have the mental stamina to tackle the entire book.

 

Now I saw his lifeless state. And that there was no longer any difference between what once had been my father and the table he was lying on, or the floor on which the table stood, or the wall socket beneath the window, or the cable running to the lamp beside him. For humans are merely one form among many, which the world produces over and over again, not only in everything that lives but also in everything that does not live, drawn in sand, stone, and water. And death, which I have always regarded as the greatest dimension of life, dark, compelling, was no more than a pipe that springs a leak, a branch that cracks in the wind, a jacket that slips off a clothes hanger and falls to the floor.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/08/13/120813crbo_books_wood#ixzz238x24wVJ

Dear CNN,

I have had all I can take of the Aurora shootings coverage. Had it up to my nose with reporters and anchors stretching for something more to say and for new ways to manufacture news. Leave it please and let the victims and their families get on with getting on.

David Gergen: Partisan Republican Hack

David Gergen has a pro Romney op ed on CNN's web site.  It is exactly what we should expect from this Republican Party operative who shares financial interest with both Bain and Romney.

Do not be fooled by his posing as bi or non partisan nor by such dupes as Anderson Cooper who propagate the myth.

Write CNN and ask them to correctly identify Gergen as the political operative he is and stop misleading the American public.

Excessive influence of wealth wrecks Democracy

 There is  no democracy when wealthy corporations and ultra rich individuals exercise as much influence as they do now. The Supreme Court, now tilted to the insane Right, is steadily destroying the spirit of one vote per person by advancing the influence of the wealthiest. 

Those that think we have a democratic system are delusional.  We are now a plutocracy and orderly change back to the democracy we thought we had is not longer possible. Those in power will not give up their overwhelming influence willingly or peacefully and will continue to use the manipulations possible with mass media and market controls to ensure huge numbers of citizens always ask the wrong questions and are moved by more compelling emotion invoking non issues than they are by their own best interests.  No one is more pathetic than a poor, working or middle class conservative Republican whose political choices are driven by fear and hatred of gays, abortion, gun control advocates,  immigrants, racism and so on.... 

CNN's woes

Bad ratings are well deserved.

It's not so much the anchors (though Blitzer and King suck) as it is the worn out, tired political hacks they parade out over and over again as "experts" or spokespersons for one or the other political parties. There is never a fresh point of view expressed and never a true Liberal or Progressive view represented. 

It is always the same old Gergen and company in centrist guise as a cover for advancing conservative hegemony .  Worse even than Gergen is the disgusting Ari Fleischer who is unbearable to look at and is both offensively smarmy and relentless.  When Fleischer appears everyone  in their right mind changes the channel.

Maybe CNN should switch to an all day BBC or  Aljazeera.  Real news and intelligent discussion from multiple view points would be refreshing. 

Education via omission of politically incorrect

It's no wonder we're so stupid.  Try to find a public school text that mentions Wobblies, or Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, or Emma Goldman. No wonder also that what we take as a great divide between Left and Right is an insider struggle between two shades of the same, huddled, side by side, at the Right end of the political spectrum.

Given the tilt of education information it is easy to think women's rights struggles, along with a lot of other lefty stuff, began with hippies, when it fact, the left side is an integral thread in our history going all the way back to Thomas Morton going toe to toe with Governor Bradford, and farther back yet.

Coverage

Sometime every inch of the planet will be covered by cameras recording and transmitting live to the powers that be every moment of everyone's life.  Sort of like being watched and judged constantly by the all seeing biblical god, though techno/plutocrats will likely be not so wise. That is, if we don't blow ourselves up or squeeze and pollute ourselves backwards into a post technology dark age.

Iceland: grandiosity fueled collapse to profound recovery

Iceland weathered an economic collapse (generated by delusions of economic grandeur, something like what hits rookie day traders on a national scale) through: "external assistance, debt repudiation, currency depreciation and capital controls." (from the second link below).

The U.S. could learn from Iceland's recovery and sensible economists could use the example to refute the nuttiness of Right wing austerity (for its own sake?) advocates.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47280153/ns/business-world_business/t/banking-crisis-over-icelands-economy-thaws/#.T6ksu1JLeKw


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/iceland-the-broken-economy-that-got-out-of-jail-2349905.html

Exposing the land of the stupid: three links

 The first link presents some of the ways the 9/11 attacks have altered our way of life, perhaps changing America (moving toward  worse) perhaps forever, with endlessly expanding security apparatus (apparati?), inconvenience, loss of privacy, and all present fear. The link goes to Fareed Zacharia

The second (which also references the first) concentrates on the  Guantanamo trials which the Bush torturers boxed us into and which Obama seems unable or unwilling to extricate us from.  The simple answer, of course, is what many of thought before the War on Terror was declared.  The bombers were (are) criminals, should be hunted down as such, hauled into U.S. court and packed away on ice forever in supermax (if convicted, of course). That would have been the way to go if we had strong enough faith in our justice system, conviction that our way was the best way and were not so stupid, (as a nation) as to be easily manipulated into bogus wars that served Bush political agendas. We did not have such faith or confidence and so timidly marched into the box. This, the second, is to the great Charles P. Pierce in Esquire.

Now, the third link is only obliquely political but it goes a long way to exposing how stupid, as a way of life, shows up everywhere. 

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/06/national-security-state/

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/9-11-trial-guantanamo-8657605

http://gawker.com/5908185/stay-the-fuck-away-from-boxing-matches-justin-bieber

Anderson fouls Krugman (does Ari own CNN?)

Anderson had Krugman on, not alone, of course. Republican hack dog Gergen was there to ensure Krugman did not have the opportunity to give us a clear explanation of how the economic crisis, (depression) could be fixed.  He blames Republican intransigence and a wrong headed ideology based on hard work, God's will and budget cutting. Many jobs being lost are government jobs due to Republican driven  budget cuts.

A very agitated Gergen pops up in his tacky shrine room plastered with Harvard stuff (mostly with the word "HARVARD") and did his best to filibuster the segment while jamming in as many anti Obama talking points as he could.

Here's a simple question.  Why not have Nobel Prize winning Princeton Professor Krugman on by himself and give him ample time to present his position? That's what a real news outlet would do.  I know the answer. It is because he is a Liberal, his views are sound but contrary to the Republican agenda of doing the bidding of the richest 1% always and at all costs; and Krugman is articulate, respected and fearless.  CNN ain't got anyone smart enough to take Krugman down in a fair, reasonable discussion--thus the comparably stupid, worn down and over used like a cheap old whore Gergen is rolled out to provide one more smoke screen.

Anderson made no honest attempt to allow Krugman to lay out clearly his views on our economy. The opposite happened. 

No wonder CNN is a mess.  Best to  recognize Anderson for the over achieving little rich boy he is and move on to more rewarding diversions.


Here's a link to Krugman's excellent article How to End This Depression and his new book, End this Depression Now!

You'll have to read it yourself because you can be sure no one on TV is going to give it a fair airing.
  

Let's go to Mars

Or at least be ready.  Though the only extinction that really matters to most is their own, inevitably we are a doomed species. 

Be prepared.

Governor Corbett

is one of Romney's useless allies.  He slashed programs that in many cases forced raises in property taxes, the source of most school funding. Property taxes in Pennsylvania are already outrageous in many areas.  In many areas this is a very economically stressed state. Cutting programs is not the answer when people are already desperate.

“I think that Governor Corbett is amazingly unknown in the state of Pennsylvania for someone who has pretty successfully started to dismantle the public education system,” says Gabe Morgan, president of Pennsylvania SEIU State Council. “I don’t really see him as being able to move votes in either direction. He’s been pretty lucky to be unnoticed."

Bad governor, useless ally.

Wasted

Truth is there will never be an incinerator in my town because it has an unusual density of fools. Supervisors now are good people, but very timid and short sighted. For example, an alcohol and drug rehab is looking to open a branch in a shut down resort, bringing jobs and taxes. Some residents are terrified, however, of recovering drunks which to my mind are less dangerous than active drunks driving cars. Anyway, one even suggested having the patients wear electronic bracelets to keep them from leaving the grounds. These patients (or clients) are to be there voluntarily to recover; in short, they are regular folks with a drinking or drugging problem. Much of the reaction is borderline lynch mob mentality. My town: the gateway to Appalachia. So, suggesting an incinerator would provoke a reaction about the same as would be if we suggested a nuclear waste dump, or plague and smallpox storage facility or sewage transfer station. A small, state of the art incinerator that paid taxes and delivered very cheap energy would energize our corner of despair and may even allow it to prosper. What we have in abundance is trash from NJ and NYC passing through our area. I accept hopelessness and continue.

Waste is not garbage

Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash by Edward Humes.

I just ordered this guy's book from Amazon.  This link goes to an informative slide show that shows the problem and suggests solutions. I am fascinated by the newest incineration technology that transforms waste we can't recycle into useable energy, does so cleanly and is neighborhood friendly. Modern incineration, via small plants, is an important part of  waste management in many European cities.

Is Anderson Cooper going to Fox?

After last night's show it seems to me Anderson was auditioning for a job on FOX.  He never gave moveon's Justin Rubin  a chance to state his case and he followed up with giving Ari Fleischer all the room he wanted to filibuster the other guests.

As for guests, you never see Krugman or Stiglitz, real economists, on Anderson's show.  Instead he parades from the bullpen his usual lineup of hacks and sprinkles in a Congress rep here and there. Boring, insulting and always slanted Right.

What a jerk Anderson has become.

Unemployed? Thank the Republicans and the ultra Rich

1% does causes all the economic damage.

Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem

We have two Nobel Prize winning economists, Krugman and Stiglitz, and both are vehemently opposed to Republican economic policies. Republicans are to blame for the economic mess from which we are trying to emerge. If you are unemployed and/or lost your house, you can thank the Right and the ultra rich.

Anderson Cooper ambushes Moveon spokesperson

Anderson Cooper's treatment of the moveon spokesperson was obscene, as disgusting as anything  FOX does.  And he followed it up with a disgusting suck up spot for Ari Fleischer.  Is there a more disgusting TV commentator than Ari Fleischer?  Good grief. No wonder CNN has horrible ratings.

No person in the galaxy would willing turn on the TV to see Ari Fleischer.  No person turning on a TV and finding Fleischer on the screen would be happy to see him. Most if not all, when seeing Ari's disgusting self promoting routine begin, change the channel as quickly as their fingers can punch the buttons.

Even Tiger Woods at his lowest, fired Ari Fleischer after a very brief taste of Ari's self promotion.

What in the world is CNN thinking.  Do they think the world loves Bush rejects? Do they think the world is all Right wing wingnuts? Do they think any sane person trusts David Gergen and loves to hear his cleverly disguised Republican talking points buying the whole "he's so reasonable and fair and unbiased" bullshit subterfuge?  Do they think Liberals, Progressives, and various genuine centrists  and assorted lefties exist only to be mugged, outnumbered, spoken over, ridiculed, stabbed in the back, verbally punched and kicked and otherwise bullied by Anderson Cooper?  

Wild horses

Wild horses are still in trouble .  Big ranchers want to slaughter them ( Welfare Ranching ) and it takes a lot of taxpayer money to manage horses and burros, or so they say. It's a complex problem. As an Easterner I don't fully appreciate the complexity.  Seems to me we should just leave them alone. I enjoyed seeing wild horses near Reno and wild horses and burros near Las Vegas and I'd like you and my granddaughter to have the same opportunity.  

Cowboy delusion

If I don't have my gun I can't be a real cowboy or secret agent in cover so deep it is known only to me.

"...they're funny, they're rich, they have great tailors ..."

If people are wealthy it is god's will and is because god loves them best.  That line of thought leads to delusions of superior intelligence as in the "born on third base and thinks he hit a triple" characterization of George Bush.  The poor are in that condition because that is where god wants them to be. These fundamental,founding concepts of American puritanism, a thread continuing today in the denials of  their own stupidity and justifications of social meanness characteristic of the extreme Right. It is one of the core beliefs behind American fascism and works nicely with Randism. The joke is that the stupid poor and middle classes are programed to worship movie star heroes and the business bandits and bizarre conservative politicians who can afford the same postures and suntanned expensive suit trappings.  We are most threatened by voters who chose image over substance and select the  harsh puritanical judgements and divinely administered social stratification over genuine compassion and wisdom. 

See also Paul Krugman to Rachael Maddow

Happy May Day

Here's a couple of May Day links including (the first) in which Stephen King asks for higher taxes on the rich, 50% of income he says is about right. It's a short article, so check it out.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/01/stephen-king-tax-the-rich


The Wobblie home page  has some appropriate articles:

http://www.iww.org/  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day 

Prison repair needed

"Why are prisoners committing suicide in Pennsylvania?"

 torture, sadistic guards, long stretches in solitary confinement.

Control for the sake of control

I am filling out forms and writing checks for address signs with new numbers for each of the little houses we own.  I do not want the new addresses and I do not want to dig holes for  sign posts that will allow me to comply with my town's readdressing project. We each get a new number and instructions on how and where to display it.  They say that these numbers will allow emergency personnel to come to our aid more quickly. I say that is good motive and likely, at conception, a sincere one. However, new rules and more efficient data management often morph into more effective control of the public.  I think our new numbers will help bill collectors and the police more than it will help the local fire and ambulance volunteers. 

On a larger scale, here's a link to an old but still pertinent discussion of the Patriot Act:
http://www.npr.org/news/specials/patriotact/patriotactprovisions.html

It is stressful being a socialist and an anarchist at the same time.

Detach

Trying hard to detach from politics and cultivate a serenity based on appreciation of how ridiculous and unfair the process is. Trying to do this without going the extra step to pathos.  So, I'm reading David Foster Wallace and Colin Thubron, Shadow of the Silk Road.  (The latter has been stored, half read, on my Kindle for quite awhile.) 

I predict

Obama is going to win by a landslide, Democrats will easily win control of the House and keep control of the Senate. Because Voters know the buy-now-pay-later economic mess is the lingering result of Bush's wars, deregulation of banks and Wall Street, and deep corruption at the highest levels. Middle and lower class Americans are done with being patsies, manipulated by abortion and gun rights hysteria, to ensure the corrupt, degenerate 1% keep their strangle hold on wealth. Because we're done paying for their private jets, endless vacations, whores, obscenely huge estates, polo ponies, mega yachts, sky boxes, face lifts, breast enlargements, hair transplants, nannies, butlers, butt wipers, body guards and the whole tumbling clown parade of entourages and retainers. (I predict.)

Neanderthal

Mainly, he feels different from others because he is certain he carries an unusual amount of Neanderthal DNA. This accounts, he says, for his unusually large chest, shorter, slightly bowed legs, big head and a habit of leaning forward, bent over like a man older than he actually is. He keeps all of this secret, of course. Though he does believe that his Neanderthal DNA has given him a larger brain than  the more models and a greater capacity for compassion and sensitivity which accounts for how vulnerable he is to hurt feelings.

Old hat

Because of the age difference between them she rarely knows what he is talking about. It doesn't concern her however, and hasn't since she realized what he took as breaking news or up and coming phenoms she knew to be old hat.

Drones 2

Even more buzz bombs to fill the air above our heads doing unspecified robotic services for the powers that be. They're just too good to be true and no agency or institution can bear the thought of being without them.  After so much nifty murdering by remote the rush is on. 

And, you can have your own little buzzer to check out what's going on upstairs at the neighbor's. 

Miraculous Wikipedia

Here's a short appreciation of Wikipedia on Gizmodo: http://gizmodo.com/wikipedia/

Hours of work by dedicated, unpaid mostly anonymous heroes honor the spirit of altruism.

Infested

Too many people and more on the way.

Here's the evidence.

Bull market for drones

Drones are out front today, probably energized by an in-depth article “The Drone Wars” by Michael Hastings, in the current Rolling Stone (subscribers only , for now) and a Washington Post article  “CIA seeks new authority to expand Yemen drone campaign. (link)

In the Rolling Stone article, Pakistani teenager, clearly not a terrorist, describes living in fear as the drones are a constant, buzzing presence in the night.  Nobody’s perfect, not even the CIA, and sometimes these drones kill innocents. While these mistakes may fall within our government’s margins of acceptable error, for those terrified in the night, listening to the drones above, those margins are obscene.  

Our future (and everyone’s) could look a lot like the present lives of teenaged Pakistanis. Soon, we may all live with the constant buzz of drones and  the anxious fear of operator errors. 

Drone wars will be the ultimate video game, with enemy drones being hijacked and turned against their owners and innocents being regularly targeted. (We still don’t know what brought down the drone in Iran.)  It could also be hard to resist and keep in check the lure of sanitary, digitized, remote murder of real and imagined enemies. 

No idea who's running the show

If you're into conspiracies here's some great fuel to fire things up. Little peepers like us will never know what really goes on behind the curtains and all we can do is speculate and grope around in the twilight keeping our little lives stable in the murk.

Secret Service and whores

Two agents brought one prostitute to the hotel and had her to do both.  They wanted to split the fee for one. She wanted to be paid for two services and when they refused she went to the police. The agents attempt to cheat the whore made the shit hit the fan.

So much for the Secret Service being a class act.  Hard to get much lower than trying to cheat a whore.

Bush and National Guard

A good summary and some new details in an article covering George Bush and the National Guard (and the downfall of Dan Rather) in Texas Monthly linked this morning on The Huffington Post. 

The short of it is (no surprise) Bush skated and covered it up. 

Surviving Prostate Cancer

In 2006 I was diagnosed with stage, locally advanced prostate cancer. My Gleason Scores were 8's and 9's.  I had a little more than 2 years of hormone suppression via Zoladex shots every 3 months and daily Casodex tabs.  I completed 43 (I think) radiation treatments around Christmas of 2006. Since then in every exam the cancer as been undetectable.  I attribute these good results, so far, to the skills of my doctors and technicians and to a positive attitude, thanks mostly to what I learn in AA. Also, I developed what may have been an effective imaging practice based on a dream.  I am considering giving the details of all of the above in future posts on this blog.

My cancer experience is on my mind now because my annual blood work, exam and visit to the Radiation Oncologist who treated me comes up next month

The short of it

I don't know if what I hear is generated inside my head or picked up from outside. 

I could say the same thing about what I see.

Noise

On the 10 hour drive back from the Outer Banks I discovered an annoying squeak somewhere on the driver's side of the car.  I couldn't find the source. Finally at home, in a few hours I realized the noise came inside with me and was in my head.

I've lost much of my hearing, I think mainly from loud jobs especially on older tugboats.  What hearing has been lost is replaced with a constant blend of peepers, cicadas, and rushing water, all punctuated with intermittent beeps and squeaks.

To keep what peace I have I cannot fight these sounds or try consciously to ignore them. What works best is to welcome them, occasionally be amazed they are there and always be aware that sounds I hear may or may not be actually out there or only in my head.

Is this it?

The stream behind my house is a now fragile trickle, the lowest it has been in any Spring. The little trout are struggling to find food and places to hide from the herons.   There is no news of future rain.  Maybe it will never again rain enough to bring the stream back.  This could be it and we are ignoring the evidence.

Guns at AA meeting?

Should not be, but it happens here. Usually the pistol is partially concealed, flashed just enough so everyone knows it's there, accidentally, of course, or so the gun carrier hopes they believe.  For the carrier it is another subterfuge,  an attention grabbing device aimed at feeding an ego desperate for attention. The result of this artfully but carefully exposed gun is supposed to make others think they have discovered he is a genuine tough guy; a formidable man who lives on an edge more exciting and interesting than the actual ordinariness of his life.

This urge for recognition and differentiation is typical of many alcoholics.  Most of those in recovery, however are well enough with sound enough egos to keep these urges in check. We also know that the ultimate aim in recovery is to happily become one among many, resting firmly on anonymity, the spiritual foundation, and all it's spiritually sound implications.

Trigger Happy

If you can't be sure you won't be too quick to shoot then it is best to leave your gun home.

Working Mothers are not Romneys

Being a mother is work; being a working mother is really hard work.

The issue over whether Ann Romney ever "worked a day in her life" is not resolved, however, by her motherhood.  The question is how many servants did she have helping her? 

For such a wealthy woman to aim for solidarity with the Nation's less fortunate, hard working mothers is bullshit. Real work is having to work outside the home while raising children, in many cases with no help at all. 

The super rich Romneys seem to want appear to be middle and working class. They are not; their attempt to appear so is aiming to be inauthentic and you would think they would abandon such a foolish effort. What they are counting on, of course, is the proven delusions of many in the middle class who are regularly hoodwinked by rich Republicans into voting against their own interests.

The authentic strength of America's workers comes from being tempered by the day to day challenges of surviving in, and guiding their children through, the economic minefield left us by Bush/Cheney and reinforced by the Republican loonies in Congress.

Mr. and Mrs. Romney, you did not earn that unique strength and those timeless values and you should not claim you did.  Attempting to appear  is not being.

If you don't know, don't do anything

With regards to Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin, the self appointed volunteer stogie chomper who patrols my neighborhood on a quad sometimes makes me nervous. He is legally armed with a 9mm 15 shot automatic.  He has a concealed carry permit (so do I). He is a prescription painkiller pill popper. He keeps an eye on things.  Maybe this is a good thing. In my wood stove heated neighborhood he notices chimney fires, for example, and is quick to call the fire department which can be helpful unless the volunteer fire fighters too eagerly chop holes in your roof prematurely.  Often chimney fires remain contained in the chimney and burn out by themselves. In my case the department Chief himself was on site and the crew were careful and competent and drama minimized.  Having experienced other chimney fires that were harmless and essentially gave the chimney a good cleaning, I likely would not have called the fire department,  but the neighborhood Patrol did not give me that option.  Quick reaction is sometimes good, sometimes not so I give the Patrol the benefit of the doubt and overcame my initial anger.  Usually, I am more afraid of officials at my house than I am of natural disasters.

On trawlers, I learned about the ambiguity that goes with quick responses.  Sometimes they work, even heroically. Sometimes they don't and actually make things worse. Nothing is less productive than the excitement and panic that spreads in an emergency where everyone feels the need to do something.

Once, when I was on a particular trawler for the first time, the Captain said to me: "Don't be first to anything until you get the hang of things. Hang back, don't rush."

What's new in the hood

• Phoebe's nesting above the back deck
• Wood Duck pair hanging around the creek, maybe nesting near by

• My dog Rowdy (above)  is on a diet of one cup kibble twice daily.  He's old, fat, and a glutton. (I am too)

Allen West is nuts

Looney tunes . It doesn't take much to switch from seeing the Republican Right as sinister and frightening to just plain silly, hilarious even.

Does Allen West know anything about Joseph McCarthy? His wild accusations about imaginary Communists (and too much booze) ultimately ruined him.  It is amazing that today anyone would even think of Communists as anything but an almost forgotten enemy. 

Well, there is no telling what nonsense these nutcases will come up with.  Next we'll hearing about the threat from the Kaiser to take over Congress, instead of the neo fascists (that don't recognize themselves in history) that really are a threat.

Memory lane: the dark side

I love seeing gannets.  When I was working on scallop trawlers, far off shore, I would frequently see gannets and was always delighted by their throw caution to the winds dives, wings folded, from high above hitting the water like a javelin.  Suicidal, I learned when I heard from others on the boat about how much fun it was to lash a fish to a board, send it out into the water and watch the gannets fold, dive and hit the board from 30 or 40 feet in the air.  Same guys, I figured, that I sailed with once, who, when the boat broke down passed the time adrift grinding shackles into crude hooks, tied to buoy rope, baited with fish, skates, whatever and hauled in shark after shark for no other reason than to slash open the shark abdomens and watch them swim, guts trailing, and continue for awhile to attempt to feed.

Frisco

Here's what I liked about Frisco, North Carolina in the first week of April:

No bugs
Dolphins just beyond the surf
Gannets diving among the dolphins
No traffic
Very few people on the (free) beach
No waits at restaurants and short lines for the (free) ferry to Ocracoke
60 degree weather
Quiet
No fast food joints, no chain stores
Ghost crabs
Wind just right for kite flying

O

Keep your eye on the ball

Though the wording is frequently different this is a key piece of advice given to nearly every American.  I heard it over and over again, in baseball, tennis, football, rugby, and, later, in business strategy sessions where it often appeared as: stay focused and close the deal, and so on.

It’s amazing how difficult over many years it has been for me to apply this advice.  Yesterday while writing checks for monthly household bills I came to a bill I especially hate.  When writing the first check I made a couple of mistakes, on the second try I made some more.  Also, my handwriting in both efforts had become in nearly unreadable slash and scribble.  I paused for a moment, realizing how much my anger had thrown me off my checking writing game.  It reminded me of trying to hit a golf on a day was one thing or another had me anxious or pissed off. Inevitably the result was a day of infuriating chunks, slices, hooks and topping that had bright red with rage, sullen, short with old friend playing partners and just plain miserable and miserable to be around.

I don’t know if I’m unusually sensitive or if most of us are so easily distracted and that the main difference between the ordinary and the star performer has a lot to do with ability to concentrate; focus; and the ability to keep an on the ball.

It seems simple enough and we all should be able to do it                                                            
 When playing little league baseball one season, on opening day, I hit back to back over the fence home runs. I was startled realizing how easy it was. I was hardly trying, it seemed to me.  Next game I tried, harder and harder to do the same and was afraid I would not be able to live up to teammates expectations.  I doubled my efforts and kept trying to do what was expected of me.  I didn’t hit another homer the entire year.  I had similar, self conscious related year long melt downs in wrestling and football.  My success in rugby was likely related to being usually drunk and ripped on one or other drugs during the matches.

It gets complicated when I recognize not keeping my eye on the ball is the problem.  Then I try hard to keep my eye on the ball and judge as I’m doing it whether or not I am actually focused.  That of course wrecks the process.

It gets simpler when you accept how hard it is. Read Zen in the Art of Archery, for example. Or try to apply (without thinking about it) the advice I read from Suzuki:  “Do what you’re doing while you’re doing it.”

Fact is, I can write accurate, readable checks if I get calm as I can and plan for a tranquil moment and detach myself from the results, the impact on my bank account, how much money is going out the door, and realize how much easier it is if I use a favorite pen and enjoy the process as calligraphy. 

Fact is, also, that rarely happens and I have accepted the truth that for us ordinaries learning to keep our eye on the ball is a lifelong practice offering momentary  rewards, passing awareness that in the last moment we actually did it and it was easy.

Lariam

Mefloquine malaria drug used by the military that may induce psychotic behavior.

Whores and gangsters

Here's a good story about whores and gangsters posted today.  Many are more interesting than politicians and no worse. 

Crazy days and nights. Really.

I'm worn out by politics for the moment anyway. Can't stand the Anderson Cooper political panels. Gergen is worse than a glass of warm milk. It is only interesting to watch is his creative sliding in his conservative talking points under cover of being the wise old voice of reason. Erick Erickson is a robot, held erect by a steel rod going through his skull and out his  ass. Worst of all is Ari Fleischer. Unbearable to watch. Relentless at getting his talking points across. Can't stand, also, Cooper's beating to death the tabloid story of the day. Just awful.

I like Chris Hayes on MSNBC but it's mostly a confirmation of what I already know. Like watching reruns it is not very exciting.

So, instead, I'm reading gossip websites.  It's a step up from politics. If you have been following Entertainment Lawyer's Crazy Days and Nights for even a short while, especially the "blind" items you can find enough craziness to make your head spin. Some of  CD&N filters  (laterally I think) over to Gawker , especially the blind items.

So, why is gossip better than politics?  1.More entertaining.  2. Better writing. 3. More interesting. 4.Less threatening. 5. Does not foster delusions that there is something you should and can do. 6. Easier to detach. 7. Refreshed daily, often hourly.

Happy days. Next comes reading and writing about dogs.

The issue is not the issue

 The Repubican agenda is not to reduce spending through reasonable (or any other) compromise with Democrats; their agenda is to destroy Obama.  Likely this single mindedness fueled by a catalog of resentments, including but not limited to, racism. Their destructive goal is simple, easily understood, easily followed--in short, an effective rallying point.  So, when we think the old approach to government through reasonable compromise is still operative, we are delusional.  No amount of give, on the part of Democrats will ever be enough and will always be rejected. Republicans will sacrifice the well being of middle and lower class Americans because they believe a failed government, at any cost, will rid the country of Obama.

The issue is not ever about what is best for us, best for the country, and to think it is is delusional.  All the noise about deficit reduction, small government and protection of individual liberties is a false sales pitch aimed at energizing the dissatisfied middle Americans. It is the same stuff: abortion, gun owner rights, and welfare abuse that has always been used to trick average and poorer Americans into voting against their own interests.

That is the great achievement of modern Republicans:  Manipulating working people into voting against their own interests.  

Picture this (global warming)

Is it going to be so hot in Chicago this Summer that there will blackouts and people will crowd into the lake and stand there shoulder to shoulder, chest deep, holding umbrellas to block the sun?

Hats

Every street scene photo from the 1940's and 50's shows men wearing fedoras and other brimmed hats. Why did they stop?

Men in the northeast don't wear brimmed hats because they are always in automobiles and with headrests and high backed seats  there's no room for brims.  Baseball hats, however, do work. Those that do wear brimmed hats are often cowboys, or cowboy imitators, or outdoors people from Maine or wish to appear to be any of the former.

Truth is, as a dedicated dog walker, rain or shine, I've come to admire how well my fedoras keep off the sun and guide the rain and snow safely beyond my collar. The fedoras make sense. From time to time I've heard the fedoras referred to as "old man hats".  When it comes to being an old man, I'm the genuine article. There's no sense trying to look like something I'm not.

When I was in a boatman's local of the Longshoreman's union I was already a Socialist sympathizer, if not actually a member.  I sometimes wore a white cap, something like a canvas version of the Irish style wool tweed caps with small front peak and panel sewed top, that (mostly in my imagination) identified me as a Harry Bridges man, a lefty union radical. Though of course, by then (70's and 80's) almost no one in the east coast ILA knew who the hell Harry Bridges was.  Some out west did and still do.

In a New York City strike in 1988 I was fired along with the other tug boat captains that would not cross the picket lines. In that sense, in my scheme of things, I legitimized my little white hat and stood comfortably with a couple of others who treasured their knowledge of labor history, Harry Bridges, and the clear eyed  ideals of solidarity with other workers  in the face of the inevitable greed, corruption and  exploitation.

Near Earth Asteroid to take another shot

This little gem could blow all our cares away. There's so many of them we can't expect them to always miss.

Damage estimates based on asteroid sizes.  

Property taxes

Schools here are funded mostly by property taxes.  Here, is East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.  Main problem is that for a few years this was a boom area. People came because cheaper houses allowed New Jersey and New York residents to upgrade.  Property taxes here were lower than in New York and New Jersey. It was a gold rush. At first the long commute to higher jobs seemed worth it because of woods, big yards, deer, and bears that could be fed doughnuts. Then gas prices went up. Expanding schools required higher property taxes.  Many moved back to where they lived before because it was now cheaper and the long commute proved more taxing than first believed. There are now many empty houses here. There are three on my short road.  Empty houses do not deliver taxes but big school buildings with swimming pools, have long, large mortgages and extra teachers are protected by tenure and unions.  Property taxes go up, catastrophically for many, leading to more empty houses and yet higher taxes.  No one wants to buy a house in a heavily taxed area so there is almost no construction, for many years the main industry here, and unemployed builders and their unemployed workers are losing homes to foreclosure.  No one wants to close schools in their neighborhood and no one wants to fire their children's teachers but many believe it is ok to fire administrators. 

A good solution might be to change the tax support structure. The fairest, of course, would be to increase graduated income taxes but no one wants higher income taxes.  Lots want a sales tax because they think visitors and other outsiders could be made to pay for a good part of our schools. Those that believe this do not realize that this would be a tax less fair to lower and middle income people than an income tax.  They think it would be less painful.  Maybe so. 

It is easy to blame the administrators who stupidly believed that the boom would continue forever.  But, most people are delusional in the same way.  Many of us believe we will live forever, or at least act as if we believe that.  The hindsight approach would be to build flexible schools, schools that expanded and contracted painlessly in sync with  population fluctuations.  But we're not that smart. Yet.  Flexibility in architecture, and likely in all ways of being, would be a good way to go.

For now, there is no way to avoid the pain of past stupidity and greed and a desire to construct monumental schools named after local luminaries.  When there is not enough to go around people get very nasty and concentrate more on fixing blame than on fixing situations. So, school board meetings are packed and people are very vulnerable to solutions that readily translate into slogans. The extreme Right thrives.  This is the kind of environment that breeds racism and other more inclusive forms of fascism. That's where we are today. Here, nationally and perhaps worldwide.

Volatile.

Abdulelah Haider Shaye

Obama keeps Yemeni journalist locked up according to The Nation.

Here's Gawker's take on the same story: "...beaten, tortured and imprisoned for two years..."

And the Huffington Post with videos

Different president, same shit.

Senior confusion

I'm  beginning to wonder if it is not everyone else that is turning into Professor Irwin Corey, but it is me who is losing the ability to make sense of things.  The world seems garbled. Santorum, Rush, Fox, Haley's pardons, David Gergen's endless drone, earnest Anderson--a world of wackadoodles.

Road Kill

Yesterday's count from here to post office (5 miles) : one opossum, two racoons (one blonde), several squirrels and a deer.

Another wonderful day brought to us by global warming.  Thanks Detroit and makers of oil burning engines, coal and oil power plants, clear cutting lumber companies, and thanks also to me and my wood burning stove.

Bring it on.  June in January and toasted in July.

There is no honor...

http://gawker.com/5893188/goldman-exec-ping-pong-star-quits-with-brutal-rant-in-the-new-york-times

CNN's John King confuses me

While on the topic of frightening funny things, I come to John King who everyday now reminds me more and more of Professor Irwin Corey. King's mouthful of marbles garbled nonsense is quickly moving from the incoherent to the hilarious.

More Professor Corey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxtN0xxzfsw

Men wearing wigs

I have a problem with men who wear wigs; not so much with entertainers who do so, but very much so with politicians and businessmen and others who want to be taken seriously.  I sometimes think half the men in congress wear wigs.  It bothers me because choosing to wear a wig indicates a fundamental dishonesty. It also suggests that the wig wearer is uncomfortable with the truth of who he is.  A person who would lie about his hair would lie about anything.  And, most men's wigs are so bad and so obviously fake hair that they make the wearer look like a clown.  Don't wig wearing politicians have mirrors? Or, are the completely dependent on others' willingness to suspend disbelief? Or, do they actually believe that perception is reality?

Anyway, I think the current clown prince of politics, Rick Santorum, is a wig wearing fool who, if elected will satisfy the most cynical, darkest, most perverse side of my sense of humor.  In that sense, electing George Bush II was hilarious but Santorum will be an absolute wig wearing gut buster.  (I would give anything for a reporter who went around asking politicians if their hair was real or a wig.  Makes me yearn for the genius of Stuttering  John .)

The few remaining honest bald guys among us will have little option but to hold our sides and roar ourselves into oblivion as America becomes a clown festival featuring delusional, wrinkled old guys wearing young hair while spitting out a slush of hate tinged racism, sexism, homophobia, anti sex, fear mongering fundamental christian inspired slogans.

One more threat to keep your gut in a knot

Oceans going sour