THE CONTINUING SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENCE.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tsunami, Media, and The Middleclass
Did a Tsunami and an (un)war steal our middleclass moment?
Wisconsin! The vote! The rally! The demonstrations! Michael Moore! Lead story at all the major media outlets! Did I say Michael Moore!?!
America was sitting up, paying attention, and tuned in, to the biggest labor issue since
Reagan fired the air traffic controllers in 1981. This was to be our turn. The republicans had finally
overstepped and over-reached their vague mandate to stop the insanity in Washington. America was screaming for jobs. Real, life sustaining, raise some kids jobs and the opportunistic Rightwing went after the jugular of some of the few good jobs available to regular working Americans. Republicans had tipped their hand and gave us all a glimpse at what we knew they were- Corporate shills preying on what little “we the people” have left. The right to organize. The right to unify. The right to have a say about our lives and livelihood. The right wing’s salvo spoke directly to the heart of their agenda. It said “this isn’t your daddy’s America.” “THIS IS THE REAL NEW WORLD ORDER“! But we were not going to take it! Right? And then. . .BOOM! CRASH! SPLASH! The most destructive and saddest natural disaster imaginable. Men, woman, and children hopelessly washed away and displaced by a 9.0 earthquake and the following tsunami. “This just in”! “Breaking News!”
“Let’s go to so and so in Hawaii!” I’m not implying that Japan was not newsworthy. Quite the opposite. But in a world with quick news cycles and a populous with short attention spans, Wisconsin, as fast as you can say “DOWNSIZE!” became what the republicans hoped it would become to America. . .someone else’s problem. Counting on America’s distaste for any sense of
community or unity, and the attention span of 5yr olds, the nation was captivated by giant waves,
body counts, and meltdowns. And when that story cooled down. . .here comes Libya. We never had a chance. Mobilizing a nation like ours, a movement, if you will, takes timing and luck. The middleclass had neither. The moment passed further and further away with each aftershock and every very expensive Tomahawk explosion. “How much does each one cost,” we would ask each other over dinner? Well, I know how much. Enough to educate our young and enough to pay good people decent wages and benefits for a good day’s work. How will the next moment pass?
Wisconsin! The vote! The rally! The demonstrations! Michael Moore! Lead story at all the major media outlets! Did I say Michael Moore!?!
America was sitting up, paying attention, and tuned in, to the biggest labor issue since
Reagan fired the air traffic controllers in 1981. This was to be our turn. The republicans had finally
overstepped and over-reached their vague mandate to stop the insanity in Washington. America was screaming for jobs. Real, life sustaining, raise some kids jobs and the opportunistic Rightwing went after the jugular of some of the few good jobs available to regular working Americans. Republicans had tipped their hand and gave us all a glimpse at what we knew they were- Corporate shills preying on what little “we the people” have left. The right to organize. The right to unify. The right to have a say about our lives and livelihood. The right wing’s salvo spoke directly to the heart of their agenda. It said “this isn’t your daddy’s America.” “THIS IS THE REAL NEW WORLD ORDER“! But we were not going to take it! Right? And then. . .BOOM! CRASH! SPLASH! The most destructive and saddest natural disaster imaginable. Men, woman, and children hopelessly washed away and displaced by a 9.0 earthquake and the following tsunami. “This just in”! “Breaking News!”
“Let’s go to so and so in Hawaii!” I’m not implying that Japan was not newsworthy. Quite the opposite. But in a world with quick news cycles and a populous with short attention spans, Wisconsin, as fast as you can say “DOWNSIZE!” became what the republicans hoped it would become to America. . .someone else’s problem. Counting on America’s distaste for any sense of
community or unity, and the attention span of 5yr olds, the nation was captivated by giant waves,
body counts, and meltdowns. And when that story cooled down. . .here comes Libya. We never had a chance. Mobilizing a nation like ours, a movement, if you will, takes timing and luck. The middleclass had neither. The moment passed further and further away with each aftershock and every very expensive Tomahawk explosion. “How much does each one cost,” we would ask each other over dinner? Well, I know how much. Enough to educate our young and enough to pay good people decent wages and benefits for a good day’s work. How will the next moment pass?
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Japan 3+11+11
My heart and thoughts go out to our friends, the Japanese people.
An uninmaginable earthquake and tsunami have stolen the peace
and tranquility of an Island nation full of businesses, intellectuals
and hard working decent people. Families and neighborhoods. Young and old.Woman and children. A nation steeped in tradition
of honor and kindness and one of our country's strongest allies.
May the universe bring you rapid recovery and ease your grief
for the lost loved ones.
An uninmaginable earthquake and tsunami have stolen the peace
and tranquility of an Island nation full of businesses, intellectuals
and hard working decent people. Families and neighborhoods. Young and old.Woman and children. A nation steeped in tradition
of honor and kindness and one of our country's strongest allies.
May the universe bring you rapid recovery and ease your grief
for the lost loved ones.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Letter to Larry Mendte on Lara Logan
Larry,
In this sudo-war corrospondet moment, Lara became
a collateral-damaged casualty. I'm all for the preditors getting their deserved justice, but before we make an all out National campaign for "Justice for Lara" we should consider the Egyptians that were killed and maimed in this historical moment in Egytpian history. I know what happened to her is horrible and disgraceful, but I have to wonder if asking a new interim gov't, in the middle of a collasol effort to keep their "new" nation together, to make this unfortunate moment, priority one. These assignments ARE dangerous. I have eons of respect for any journalist, non-embetted journalists that is, that takes on these projects. Reporters are our only real "eyes and ears" and their efforts
are both herioc and imperative. But she got mobbed in a mob. Not to sound callous, but it was
this danger that made her efforts there so special to begin with. I remember a time when our heroes were herioc people, not just people in heroic moments(9/11). Just like there is no crying in baseball, there is no crying in on the streets reporting of civilian revolutionary uprisings. I wish her the very best. I hope they get the guys. No more, no less.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!
In this sudo-war corrospondet moment, Lara became
a collateral-damaged casualty. I'm all for the preditors getting their deserved justice, but before we make an all out National campaign for "Justice for Lara" we should consider the Egyptians that were killed and maimed in this historical moment in Egytpian history. I know what happened to her is horrible and disgraceful, but I have to wonder if asking a new interim gov't, in the middle of a collasol effort to keep their "new" nation together, to make this unfortunate moment, priority one. These assignments ARE dangerous. I have eons of respect for any journalist, non-embetted journalists that is, that takes on these projects. Reporters are our only real "eyes and ears" and their efforts
are both herioc and imperative. But she got mobbed in a mob. Not to sound callous, but it was
this danger that made her efforts there so special to begin with. I remember a time when our heroes were herioc people, not just people in heroic moments(9/11). Just like there is no crying in baseball, there is no crying in on the streets reporting of civilian revolutionary uprisings. I wish her the very best. I hope they get the guys. No more, no less.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!
Friday, February 11, 2011
2/11/11 BILL O'REILLY, LARRY MENTE, AND BILL MAHER
Kman,
C'mon man, Bill's pandering to his Christian right audience is nothing new. Do you believe Bill O. believes the world is 5000yrs old? Ofcourse not. He's Catholic. And not tide down to having to defend every bibical point as absolute fact. Like 800yr old people and dinosaur/people co-existance. But he would never chance offending this Fox News demographic. My point was, where was Larry? But he jumps at Bill Maher? As most of the developed world blows past us in math and science I wonder if Christian ideology, like watching children die rather than going to a doctor, is worth it. Depending on liberals to actually create things and develope scietific principles while labeling them immoral for not being re-born is a convienent position for a party
that offers nothing without a price but words andkk revels in excess as a birthright.
And KC,
As far as the liberal media myth:
Journalists are college educated professionals who's job it is to collect facts and present a story outlining the "truth" or the "heart" of the piece. Ever watch the BBC news? Those are journalists presenting facts. It is the right wing media (murdock) that is ideological driven story telling. I'm not saying there are not lefties (olbermann), but when the facts don't support your views, instead of passing it off as liberal driven media, maybe your views are misplaced. Personally, I have no problem changing my mind because it generally means I've learned something. I've just never learned anything from the right other than ignorance, intolerance and greed. It's our children that will pay the heavy price of the right's obsession with money and de-unifying the nation. Or let me put it another way, outside of the military has the right ever had an idea that might cost more money for the wealthy? No. That my friend is evidence of a selfserving ideology. And taking poor christians along for this ride is evidence of pure ignorance.
Fact: Tea Partiers claim Ronny Reagan as their
model conservative. He would never tax and spend.
They all wanna be like Ronny.
The truth: Reagan raised taxes four times and in his own words- "My biggest disappointment of my presidency is the deficite".
Reagan tripled the deficite. But tea party officials know one thing. The people that follow them are not the type to read anything, never mind
historical facts. If it sounds like their is money in it for them the right will believe mars has no sun like we do.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!
C'mon man, Bill's pandering to his Christian right audience is nothing new. Do you believe Bill O. believes the world is 5000yrs old? Ofcourse not. He's Catholic. And not tide down to having to defend every bibical point as absolute fact. Like 800yr old people and dinosaur/people co-existance. But he would never chance offending this Fox News demographic. My point was, where was Larry? But he jumps at Bill Maher? As most of the developed world blows past us in math and science I wonder if Christian ideology, like watching children die rather than going to a doctor, is worth it. Depending on liberals to actually create things and develope scietific principles while labeling them immoral for not being re-born is a convienent position for a party
that offers nothing without a price but words andkk revels in excess as a birthright.
And KC,
As far as the liberal media myth:
Journalists are college educated professionals who's job it is to collect facts and present a story outlining the "truth" or the "heart" of the piece. Ever watch the BBC news? Those are journalists presenting facts. It is the right wing media (murdock) that is ideological driven story telling. I'm not saying there are not lefties (olbermann), but when the facts don't support your views, instead of passing it off as liberal driven media, maybe your views are misplaced. Personally, I have no problem changing my mind because it generally means I've learned something. I've just never learned anything from the right other than ignorance, intolerance and greed. It's our children that will pay the heavy price of the right's obsession with money and de-unifying the nation. Or let me put it another way, outside of the military has the right ever had an idea that might cost more money for the wealthy? No. That my friend is evidence of a selfserving ideology. And taking poor christians along for this ride is evidence of pure ignorance.
Fact: Tea Partiers claim Ronny Reagan as their
model conservative. He would never tax and spend.
They all wanna be like Ronny.
The truth: Reagan raised taxes four times and in his own words- "My biggest disappointment of my presidency is the deficite".
Reagan tripled the deficite. But tea party officials know one thing. The people that follow them are not the type to read anything, never mind
historical facts. If it sounds like their is money in it for them the right will believe mars has no sun like we do.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!
Friday, February 4, 2011
NOTES FROM THE RIGHT or WHY I'M A LIBERAL 2/4/11
Notes on the Right:
Happy birthday Ronny Reagan. He would be a 100!
His birthday reminds us of the weak field of presidential hopefuls from the red elephants.
The Evang. Christians have you by cohonas again which means you wont run a guy like Romney, who could win.
Bill O'reilly just proposed the question, in his defense of the existance of God " why does the earth have the moon and the sun and mars dosn't?"
Maybe someone can call and explain to him that Mars has two moons and shares the same sun.
And you can throw in: the sun also warms Jews and Muslums, and Buddist, and Athiest, and squirrels and crickets and plants and serial killers and democrats too!!
Texas Christians just tried, unsuccessfully, to remove their speaker of the house, because he's Jewish. That is a glimmer of humanity from the lone star state. That it failed. How do they explain to themselves that God didn't step in and rig it? Could God love Jews too? The leader of the uprising, in an interview, said that any religeon is acceptable in their house, just not Muslim. "You can't count on their loyalty" he claims. Honest man. Dangerous, but honest.
A rightwing friend of mine asked me "how can there be a BET (black ent. tv), but if there was a WET that would be racsist?" I explained to him there is a WET. It's called NBC, CBS, TNT, TBS, Lifetime, HBO, USA, AMC, Comedy Cent, Scy Fi, Bravo, Oxy and every other channel. He responded that I'm all WET! Get it? Lol Then he asked, with the same premise, why do they get a whole month of history? I need to get better friends.
What ever happened to the Mosque? Notice how that issue disappeared as soon as the same opponents went over to the brooklyn mosque with the same arguement? Not the brightest bunch.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!
Happy birthday Ronny Reagan. He would be a 100!
His birthday reminds us of the weak field of presidential hopefuls from the red elephants.
The Evang. Christians have you by cohonas again which means you wont run a guy like Romney, who could win.
Bill O'reilly just proposed the question, in his defense of the existance of God " why does the earth have the moon and the sun and mars dosn't?"
Maybe someone can call and explain to him that Mars has two moons and shares the same sun.
And you can throw in: the sun also warms Jews and Muslums, and Buddist, and Athiest, and squirrels and crickets and plants and serial killers and democrats too!!
Texas Christians just tried, unsuccessfully, to remove their speaker of the house, because he's Jewish. That is a glimmer of humanity from the lone star state. That it failed. How do they explain to themselves that God didn't step in and rig it? Could God love Jews too? The leader of the uprising, in an interview, said that any religeon is acceptable in their house, just not Muslim. "You can't count on their loyalty" he claims. Honest man. Dangerous, but honest.
A rightwing friend of mine asked me "how can there be a BET (black ent. tv), but if there was a WET that would be racsist?" I explained to him there is a WET. It's called NBC, CBS, TNT, TBS, Lifetime, HBO, USA, AMC, Comedy Cent, Scy Fi, Bravo, Oxy and every other channel. He responded that I'm all WET! Get it? Lol Then he asked, with the same premise, why do they get a whole month of history? I need to get better friends.
What ever happened to the Mosque? Notice how that issue disappeared as soon as the same opponents went over to the brooklyn mosque with the same arguement? Not the brightest bunch.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!
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