A Season for NonViolence

The Association for Global New Thought is preparing for the 15th Annual Gandhi-King Season for NonViolence from January 30, 2012 through April 4, 2012 (the days between the dates when Gandhi was assasinated n 1948 and King was assasinated in 1968.)

Girl on Girl

This is so not cool.

Susan G Komen For the Cure will no longer fund grants to Planned Parenthood for initiatives to support breast cancer awareness and screenings for poor women. 

Here is a video of Nancy Brinker from Susan G Komen explaining their decision.  Without further information you might be inclined to understand her point of view.

I read Katha Pollit at The Nation magazine and discover Susan G Komen For the Cure has, in the past few years, hired Karen Handel as Senior Vice President of Public Policy.  According to the article, Karen Handel is 'staunchly and unequivocally' pro-life.  Also, the rationale for withholding funding (a bogus hearing about how Planned Parenthood separates federal funds from other funds and how it doesn't use federal funds to provide abortions) sounds flimsy. 

While Nancy Brinker would like me to think their decision is not about influence from pro-life groups, I think the circumstantial evidence proves otherwise - for me, anyway.

It's sad when women don't support each other.  Divide and Conquer is a winning strategy.

I haven't been a financial supporter of either of these groups in the past (though I did participate in my first Walk for the Cure last summer in support of my friend); Susan G Komen won't miss the money I'm not going to donate. They will, however, miss the goodwill I had toward them.
Today I made my first donation to Planned Parenthood.  They've been in the trenches for years, and my financial support is long overdue.


UPDATE 2/3/2012 - Susan G Komen reverses their decision. 
Frankly, if you watch this video from last night where Nancy Brinker was still defending her position, it just doesn't feel right.  I don't trust that SGK has a true change of heart.  Maybe this will be a blip to long time supporters.  I'll remember (but, as I mentioned earlier - I didn't participate or donate much anyway).

MoonBase RomRich

In a Republican presidential debate last week, Newt Gingrich proposed a permanent U.S. moonbase by Dec 2019 (the end of what could be his second term as president).  Fellow candidate Mitt Romney said that if an employee of his ever suggested spending billions of dollars to develop a moonbase, he'd say to them "You're fired."  (Here's one link to the story).

During these primaries, I think Democrats should encourage the idea that Newt Gingrich has wacky, weird ideas and that Mitt Romney seems like the less outrageous candidate - more electable.
During the general elections, I think Democrats should point out that Mitt Romney lacks vision, he discourages the entrepreneurial spirit, and thinks the government is equivalent to a business.

That's what I'd do if I were in charge.

How much does this outfit cost?

How much do you suppose this outfit costs?   I've put the details at the end of this post.

It makes me wonder how much money a person has who thinks these prices are reasonable?
It's a completely different world than the one I live in.
If I had unlimited funds would I become accustomed to paying this much for an outfit?

I understand clothing can become like art - it's a way for the designer and the person who's wearing the outfit to be creative and express themselves.  I can respect that.
(Although, I suspect a lot of fashionista people also know where to find good deals and put together cute outfits on a budget)

On the other hand - as a regular practice - it seems obscene to spend this much on clothing.

This is an example of income inequality and the blindness of wealth.

White button-down shirt, $598, black shorts, $498, both, Ralph Lauren Black Label, at select Ralph Lauren stores nationwide. Lizard clutch, $2,950, silver sandals, $595, both, Ralph Lauren Collection. Silver necklace with leather and wood, Pilar Olaverri, price on request.

Marriage is Everyone's Right

Washington State Legisture has votes to pass gay marriage laws in Washington.  Yay!

To my way of thinking, there should be a distinct line between a civil marriage and a religious marriage.  Since that's not the case in today's United States, I support gay marriage. 

I hope Washington becomes a state that codifies the right of gay people to be married.

UPDATE 2/3/2012 - It looks like everything passed and we're ready to go.  Opponents are looking to force a referendum on November's ballot; they need 120,577 signatures.  

Republican Debate

If it was Obama who had his fist over his chest while saying the Pledge of Allegiance I can imagine all the furor and hubbub there'd be from FOX News and Rush Limbaugh and others who I've lumped into a big pot I call ' 'troublemakers for many different reasons'.
Not a good pot name, I know.  I can't think of a word that encompasses all the categories of people I put into the pot that isn't the word 'Crazy'.  Calling them 'crazy' isn't helpful.

Snow Week

Snow on Wednesday and Thursday. Local stations had ALL DAY COVERAGE. ALL DAY. Strangely mesmerizing watching reporters driving - especially Michelle Millman on KIRO. She drove the eastside areas for two days straight and then anchored this morning. She loves her job. As crazy as the situation is, she was a standout for me.
Snow teased us last Sunday when I was supposed to see "West Side Story". Followed by two days of expectations, but no more snow. Followed by two days of snow and icy rain. Melting today.
Other than Sunday, minimal impact for me.
My takeaway from the experience is that the snow came, people felt the need to go to work, most people drive to work on the roads, the news people make driving conditions the main point of their newscast for the whole day.
If work wasn't the main thing people do in their lives, and if cars weren't the main form of transportation - our whole view of the world would be different.

Technology is Amazing!

A sign of getting older...
I am constantly amazed at how technology is making my life easier.

When Grandma Ada visited our house back in the early 70's, she'd watch the cars on a busy street nearby and comment "My look at those cars go zippity zip zip."
She repeated it often and with an equal amount of amazement each time.  In those days we understood Grandma is 'getting older'.  We agreed with her and moved on.

Today I had a question about a banking adjustment on our company's daily statement.  The support person was able to access our account detail, look at check images, and verify information within a matter of minutes.  I commented that it was amazing how long it would have taken just 30 years ago to get all the data we had so easily accessed in a matter of moments. 
The support gal agreed and moved on.

I guess the more experience you have to compare things to, the more amazing it all becomes.
In my working life, I remember how excited I was to get a new IBM Selectric typewriter, inserting multiple 5" floppy disks to use Lotus 1-2-3, the first personal computer in the office that made me jealous of the gal who got to use it, the first fax I saw coming through - about one line per minute, using a teletype machine, learning to take dictation.  I remember how heavy the big green ledger paper books were to look up accounting entries, I remember hand writing notes in a customer file, and answering customer questions that came in the mail via a return handwritten memo with carbon copy attachments.  I remember asking the IT person to help me learn how to control the mouse when I first got one (he didn't really help because, looking back, it was a silly request - I just didn't get it.).

I have all those references in my memory and it makes the things we do in an office today seem all the more amazing.  To the young people it's normal.  I expect they'll be astonished when they get older and have today as a reference.

They might say, "My, look at those cars flying in the air going zippity zip zip"
We'll all agree and move on.

Happy Days

Outside Online magazine's Parting Shot photo by Stephen Lewis, Galapagos Islands Ecuador May 2011

Ahhh....

Margaret Anderson

Margaret Anderson, 34.  Mother of two, Wife of fellow Park Ranger.  

See my previous post about the federal law allowing loaded weapons in National Parks.

Yesterday a National Park Ranger, Margaret Anderson, was killed by a man who carried a loaded weapon into the Mt Rainier National Park.  
Since the park doesn't have a futuristic kind of weapon shield, I can't honestly say this would have ended differently without the federal law, but why eliminate one way to keep Americans safe - from each other?

The shooting renewed debate about a federal law that made it legal for people to take loaded weapons into national parks. The 2010 law made possession of firearms subject to state gun laws.
Bill Wade, the outgoing chair of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, said Congress should be regretting its decision.
"The many congressmen and senators that voted for the legislation that allowed loaded weapons to be brought into the parks ought to be feeling pretty bad right now," Wade said.
Wade called Sunday's fatal shooting a tragedy that could have been prevented. He hopes Congress will reconsider the law that took effect in early 2010, but doubts that will happen in today's political climate.
Calls and emails to the National Rifle Association requesting comment were not immediately returned on Monday.
The NRA said media fears of gun violence in parks were unlikely to be realized, the NRA wrote in a statement about the law after it went into effect. "The new law affects firearms possession, not use," it said.
The group pushed for the law saying people have a right to defend themselves against park animals and other people.

Happy New Year 2012

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012.

My previous New Year posts...
2008
2009
2010
2011

If I'd been asked, I would have said I annually document my THEMES for the New Year on this blog.  That doesn't appear to be the case. 

Sometimes I wonder if maybe I'm not quite as consistent, detailed, and organized as I think I am...or as I want to be.
Oh well.

I usually spend time (or so I think - HA!) contemplating how I can improve my life in the new year.  I come up with a catchy theme and write up some positive reinforcement and reminders to keep the theme in my awareness in the twelve months ahead.

In the last few years it hasn't worked as well as I'd like.  I haven't been effective at improving, changing, growing.

I'm changing things up this year and not spending time creating a motto and getting 'emotionally ready' for change.  Blah, blah, blah. 

I think my life will be made better if I follow-through and finish things.  Both at home and at work. 

That's it.  No embellishments.  Follow-through and finish. 
It's my weakness.  I near the end of a project, get bored, and switch to something else.  I encounter a road-block and walk away.  I have interesting ideas, but don't do anything to take the first step. 

I'm fortunate to have the freedom to indulge my interests and hobbies, but I would benefit from having a deeper experience. 
So...slight embellishment...I thought I might focus on one area every month; photography, cards, painting, Photoshop Elements, etc. Focus and Finish. 

Oops - turns out I stumbled upon a catchy motto for the year..FOCUS AND FINISH

***

It seems like people are optimistic for 2012 to work out well.  I think we're tired of the hard times.  I hope that's the case.

Here's to PEACE, LOVE, HEALTH, HOPE, and HAPPINESS for all in 2012. 

Happy New Year!!

Everybody has a story

I found this on a magazine blog called Mental Floss...it's a post about the true people posing on album covers of the past.  I can't help but think this could be the basis for an interesting movie.  

Reborn – Orion

Once upon a time, Georgia-based writer Gail Brewer-Giorgio concocted a story about a popular Southern rock and roll singer named Orion Eckley Darnell. Orion became so famous that his fans referred to him as “The King.” Sadly, Orion eventually felt trapped by his success and staged his own death, complete with a wax figure in his likeness and an elaborate funeral. Elvis Presley died in August 1977 and shortly afterward Brewer-Giorgio’s story was published. It didn’t take fans and conspiracy theorists very long to decide that she was telling the true story of the King, and that the real Elvis was alive somewhere. A producer named Shelby Singleton sensed the opportunity and found a singer named Jimmy Ellis whose voice and style were nearly identical to Presley. Singleton dyed Ellis’ hair black and had him grow some sideburns, but there was no hiding the fact that his face didn’t look anything like Elvis’. Shelby had a brainstorm – have Ellis perform while wearing a mask. Not only that, but have him perform under the name “Orion,” just like the guy in that book.

Ellis wasn’t wild about having to perform incognito, but he went along with it and achieved an amazing level of success, considering his whole career was based on keeping fans guessing as to whether or not he was really Elvis Presley. His voice was so similar to Presley’s that RCA almost sued Singleton; they thought he’d unearthed some pirated unreleased Elvis tracks. Orion recorded nine albums in three years and played to sold-out crowds in medium-sized venues. His ccareer ended just that quickly, though, when he ripped off his mask onstage in a fit of anger during a performance in 1981.

A tragic postscript to the Orion story: Jimmy Ellis and his wife were shot to death in 1998 when the pawn shop they owned was robbed by armed bandits.

Read the full text here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/103165#ixzz1gO38QJkQ
--brought to you by mental_floss! 

Republican Candidates

Left to right...Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Michelle Bachman

My first thought is that this is a joke, right?  I don't agree with the governing ideas of any of these candidates so I'm not going to vote for them.  I'm a bystander in this battle.  
But, a combination of performance and/or policies make this seem like an extraordinarily goofy slate of candidates.
Rick Santorum - too socially conservative to be a viable general election candidate.
Rick Perry - Bumbling, not very smart, doesn't know what's going on.
Mitt Romney - he doesn't mind winning by default.  That's what I want - a president who wanted to be president so bad he doesn't even care that no one has a good reason to vote for him.
Newt Gingrich - he's a hothead.
Ron Paul - he wants to be in charge of a government that doesn't do anything.  That's crazy.
Michelle Bachman - Same as Santorum; she's too socially conservative to be a viable general election candidate.

This would be even more of a joke if Herman Cain hadn't suspended his campaign last week.

It's all very surreal because I'd like to believe the President will represent the American values of a diverse religious and cultural citizenry where everyone gets a fair shake.
I don't think these candidates will.

Bob Schieffer Commentary

I enjoy Bob Schieffer's commentaries on "Face The Nation".

Here is this morning's commentary:

(CBS News)  

As another mean campaign unfolds, I get this question a lot: "Why would anyone put themselves through the abuse that comes with running for or serving in office?"

Well, for some anyway, I'd say, "It's the money, stupid."Running for office has become a great way to make a fortune.You no longer even have to leave office to cash in. A "60 Minutes" expose revealed that Congress has carved out a provision which allows its members to use insider information gathered in their official capacities to buy and sell their own stocks and bonds. Democrats AND Republicans are doing it.Reforms are promised, but not yet passed.For other Congress members the answer to the old question "When does life begin?" comes when they DO leave office. Even those driven from office under a cloud can wind up making millions as lobbyists.Sarah Palin didn't even get to Washington, and became a multi-million dollar industry.There is no end to the ways money can be made just campaigning. Candidates sometimes pay themselves salaries out of campaign funds. The Washington Post reports that Newt Gingrich charged his own campaign $42,000 to use his personal Rolodex of potential donors.Critics said Herman Cain wasn't really running for president, just selling books and campaigning for a job on cable TV. Well, his campaign crashed, but it may have been a sound business plan. The New York Times reports that Fox may be interested in hiring him, and quotes a Fox official as saying, "He's interesting."Well, aren't they all?

The Cost of Saving Money

The Cost of Saving Money - Its fine to save money, but there is a cost to it.  In today's Seattle Times the cover story is about using Methadone as a reliever of chronic pain.  Apparently, methadone is effective in relieving pain, but it stays in the body for much longer than other drugs in the same class (OxyContin, fentanyl, and morphine) so there is a higher risk of death from accidental overdose using methadone.
In addition, methadone is less expensive than the other options so patients on Medicaid are more likely to be prescribed methadone.
"As a result, while Medicaid recipients make up about 8 percent of Washington's adult population, they account for 48 percent of the methadone deaths."

In the interest of saving money, poor people pay a higher price.

Guns were designed to kill more, better, faster...

Image from photographer Francois Robert

See also...the artist's website, and The Bones of Francois Robert by Michael Beirut

It's either to kill people in battle or to kill animals for food that inspired the invention of and innovations for firearms.
Killing more, killing better, killing faster.
I don't think those are noble reasons to innovate.
I will accept that people think it's a necessity, but I don't think it should be glorified.
This photo is a good representation of the truth behind guns.

Patents and Patent Trolls and Extortion

This American Life "When Patent Attacks" (from July 2011)
The United States Patent and Trademark Office   (for general information)
Apple makes a deal with the devil - or worse, a patent troll (for an example from today's news)

Patent Trolls are the new shakedown bullies on Main Street.
They are essentially 'shell' companies that buy up technology patents and then sue other people for infringing on the patents.

First, as I understand, the patent office is having trouble administering all the patents; there are duplicates, and some patents don't have enough specificity to be unique.
That's a problem right there.

It all starts with a person who invents something that is revolutionary and unique.
Then a big company gets wind of it and essentially steals the invention out from under the person.
(Read this New Yorker article by John Seabrook about Robert Kearns and intermittent windshield wipers, or watch the movie "Flash of Genius" starring Greg Kinnear)

We need a system of laws to protect individual entrepreneurs and inventors from being bullied by large companies with unlimited resources.

Fine and dandy.

Now, consider the pace of technological advancement today.  Fast.

The patent office is creating new patents for items that are essentially the same, but with minor differences.  Item A uses 97% compound X and is patent number 423
Item B uses 98% compound X and is patent number 424.
It's a bureaucratic nightmare.

In come the sharks...rich people use the very mechanism put into place to protect the 'little guy' to shakedown every Tom, Dick, and Harry who breathes on a patent they own.
They buy up all the patents they can and make their money suing other companies - big and small - for the least little appearance of patent infringement.

Not only that, but part of the practice is to threaten companies with years of court battles and encourage them to pay money to avoid a lawsuit.

Isn't that strikingly like the protection rackets we used to hear about (and maybe are still in practice)?
Gangs in a territory would sell 'protection' to the retailers, but if they don't buy the 'protection' then suddenly their store is robbed or vandalized.

Listen to the This American Life story linked above.  It's crazy what's going on.

Can the Cans

This is a link to an article on Slate by Matthew Yglesias about why canned food drives are less helpful than they appear.
It's better to donate cash
Summary:
1.  The charity can usually buy in bulk and get better prices than we get for our donated items.
2.  Sorting through the food can be time consuming and logistically difficult for the charity.

Read the article for more.

Bottom Line:  This article convinced me - I'm not donating food to food drives anymore; I'll give cash. 

These are my unclarified thoughts...


I wonder how many jobs an economy needs.
In the barest terms we need people to extract and deliver the building blocks of life:  food, water, shelter.
Beyond that we need people to heal and teach.

After that?

The next level of jobs might not be required, but they mean we have a more developed, sanitary, and efficient world:  airplanes, trains, soap, irrigation, etc.

And beyond that?  I'm not clear where I think the turning point is.

The bottom line...
I've got in my mind that the financial services industry and the marketing industries have gotten too big and hurt our society more than they help.
Marketing is suffocating the arts - movies, theater, television, books are the next wave in the age-old tradition of storytelling to create a myth about a society; to give a framework for the society, to ask questions - to confront, etc.
Instead the stories are taking a backseat to the financial bottom line.

People are supposed to feel good about themselves just as we are.  We are all beautiful, on a journey.
But, marketing spends it's whole time convincing us we're not quite good enough or we could be better, faster, younger, smarter, prettier, more interesting, etc if only...
And the marketing supports movies, theater, television, books.

So, everything gets all mucked up.
It doesn't seem good to me for our society's long term benefit.

The primary occupation of the financial services industry is to move money around so rich people make more money.  That's what got us into our current economic crisis in the first place.

Don't get me started on politics.  That industry is less and less effective and think how many people it employs...the pollsters, the pundits, the television shows, the consultants, the lobbyists.  And we don't even get the truth!

If all these useless industries gave up all their useless jobs - how many unemployed people would we have?

And, it occurs to me that the Republicans like to talk about how bloated the government is, but our capitalist economy is even more bloated, right?
Not to mention - all those useless jobs are the highest paid people.  What's up with that?

Marking The Day...and the moment...

Thank you to all the Veterans.

Welcome to the Union, State of Washington!

My Wish:  Peace

Peace in your world

Peace in your heart

Peace of mind

Peace in my world

Peace in my heart

Peace of mind

Andy Rooney on D-Day

Andy Rooney died on Friday.  At the age of 92 he continued to work at CBS until just 5 weeks earlier when his last commentary was aired at the end of 60 Minutes.  The video below is to acknowledge Andy, and the men he honors - the veterans of D-Day.

O Me! O Life! by Walt Whitman

O Me! O Life!

O ME! O life!... of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities fill’d with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light—of the objects mean—of the struggle ever renew’d;
Of the poor results of all—of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me;	5
Of the empty and useless years of the rest—with the rest me intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer. That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.

Who is waging class warfare?

Great piece in Daily Kos by Laurence Lewis...

President Obama wants to raise taxes on those making a million or more a year, and the Republicans and their media stooges whine about "class warfare." The Republicans kill President Obama's jobs program, but that's not class warfare. And the framing is standard operating procedure. It's standard operating procedure for Republicans to respond to calls for fair taxes by whining about supposed class warfare. It's standard operating procedure for Republicans to do all they can to concentrate more and more wealth and power in the hands of fewer and fewer without anyone calling it what it is. But for a little perspective on the supposed class warfare from the left, we can refer to future Sen. Al Franken's 2003 best-seller Lies And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them:

In her book A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century, Barbara Tuchman writes about a peasant revolt in 1358 that began in the village of St. Leu and spread throughout the Oise Valley. At one estate, the serfs sacked the manor house, killed the knight, and roasted him on a spit in front of his wife and kids. Then, after ten or twelve peasants violated the lady, with the children still watching, they forced her to eat the roasted flesh of he husband and then killed her.

That is class warfare.

Arguing over the optimum marginal tax rate for the top one percent is not.

Of course, it's not only an outrageous smear for Republicans to accuse those seeking some measure of economic justice as waging class warfare; it's also the very definition of hypocritical. Because in the Post-Industrial Era, it's the Republicans who have been attempting a systematic dismantling of all government protections and services that help the less economically advantaged, while at the same time opposing any similar cuts that might affect the wealthiest, while at the same time continuing to promote government spending that further enriches the wealthiest. But that's not class warfare. Calling for a return to the tax rates of 1950s and 1960s—which saw the blossoming of the middle class, the construction of the national highway system, the expansion of Social Security and the creation of Medicare and Medicaid—is class warfare.

Republicans love to blither about moral values. To Republicans, moral values seem solely and obsessively to be about repressing people's sex drives. To Republicans, moral values don't seem to have anything to do with protecting such other drives as the need to eat and have shelter, much less such extreme luxuries as health care, an education and economic opportunity. To Republicans, moral values don't seem to include social and economic fairness and justice. To Republicans, moral values don't seem to have anything to do with being our neighbors' keepers.Child poverty is nearing an astonishing 25 percent, but to Republicans, that's probably the fault of the children themselves, who apparently didn't choose the right families into which to be born.

It's bad enough that the Republicans deliberately pursue an agenda that hurts people, voting against jobs programs, trying to deny expanded health care, waging war on the unions that were responsible for forcing the creation of the forty hour work week, mandated time off, worker safety laws, and an end to child labor. But they also blatantly lie about the dire conditions in which increasing millions of people live. They blatantly lie about the causes of economic duress. They blatantly lie about their own economic agenda, the promotion of which is almost entirely constructed of lies. They know that they can't convince people deliberately to vote against their own self-interests, and their economic agenda is hostile to most people's self-interests—their economic agenda is hostile to most people—so they have no choice but to lie. And the more successful they have been, the more difficult and desperate life has become for most people.

The poverty rate last year hit a 52-year high while the wealthiest continued to grow wealthier. And that was but the continuation of the expansion of the greatest income gapever recorded in this country. But to what purpose? How rich is rich enough? How many future generations need to be ensured of having more money than they will ever be able to spend? What is the need for such extreme greed, such mendacity and such cruelty? Real people are hurting. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 48,800,000 Americans lived in food-insecure households in 2010, and 16,200,000 of them were children. And none of it is accidental.

What kind of people would willingly inflict so much suffering on so many people? On millions of children? What kind of people would block every attempt to help so many people who are suffering, and then label attempts to help them "class warfare"? This is the real question, both about next year's elections and about the past 30 years of right wing economic policy. Which century do these people most want to emulate? The Gilded Age of the 19th century? The Rococo era of the European royals?

Those striving for some measure of social and economic justice mean to hurt no one. Creating some balance in the income gap and the distribution of wealth will not cause anyone to go hungry or homeless or to lack adequate health care. Those using every possible means to deny some measure of social and economic justice are hurting people. They are deliberately and unconscionably perpetuating the causes of immeasurable unnecessary suffering. So who is waging class warfare?

Who are these people?

Hypocrisy in Politics

Don't forget...
on January 19, 2011 the Republican controlled House of Representatives voted 185 (Y) - 245 (N) on House Resolution 2.
House Resolution 2 would have prevented lawmakers from keeping their congressional health insurance benefits if they voted to repeal the new health care law for their constituents.
Of course it didn't pas.
Doesn't it point out the hypocrisy of the Republican politicians when they don't want their own exceptional health care to be taken away, but they don't mind voting on the health care of other Americans?
Not only that, but they want the rest of us to believe it's because they're more American than the ones who support Health Care Reform (Obamacare, as they say).
It's such an overtly hypocritical and self-serving position...how has our national discourse devolved to such a degree that this works?
Let's not even take into consideration the merits of the Health Care Reform plan...if this were any argument about any issue, it would still make no sense.
Unbelievable.

Wasn't there a time when the Republicans would have at least voted yes on this because it wouldn't look good to be idealogical about everyone else except themselves?

Squirrely Corporations

Did Congress Kill the Debit Card?

I've discovered a fondness for squirrels lately, so I don't like to malign them by using their species in a negative way, but here is another example of how the corporations like to grab hold of our money and not let go.

The government tried to help out consumers by putting a cap on the fees banks could get from retailers for Debit Card use. 
Leave it to the corporations to find a way to make sure they get their money; they're making up the revenue difference from retailers by charging customers directly when they use their debit card.  It starts at Bank of America.  Next?  Who knows.

The person who wrote the article linked above blames the government.  I blame the corporations.

All My Children and One Life to Live

Friday saw the end of All My Children.  I was prepared to be nostalgic.  I wanted to be saddened that the show was going off the air.  But, the way they left me?  Bah!  Screw 'em.
Not only a ripoff of Gone With The Wind when Jackson finally walked out on Erica, but a Dallas/Who Shot JR twisteroo ripoff becoming Who did JR Shoot?  And on top of it, a ripoff of the Soprano's where the screen went to black.
Ugh.
The reason that show got cancelled is because whole backstories were changed and switched to suit the plot rather than developing plot from the true characters.
I ignored that because I wanted to enjoy the show.  I held on until the last episode because I'd hoped it would go out with poignancy and give all the rest meaning.
It didn't.
Grrr...

As far as One Life To Live...well, this was my more favorite show of the two.
Yet - on Friday we discovered that Shane killed Victor Lord, Jr.
Wow - think about this:  In the last six months...
1.  Teenager Matthew killed Eddie Ford.  He got away with it because his mother is the District Attorney and his father is the Chief of Police and then he suffered traumatic brain injury leading to coma when he was sucker punched by the son of Eddie Ford, another teenager.  The son hadn't even met Eddie Ford as his father until a month or two previous, but in the soap opera world blood is everything.  Even if you've never met the man, just finding out your blood related means people will say to you "but, he's your father, you have to protect him/love him/talk to him..."  blah, blah, blah.  Ugh.
2.  Teenager Jack Manning killed Gigi Morasco (by setting up a prank that went bad) and got away with it when Victor Lord, Jr (who thought he was Todd Manning at the time) paid a lot of money to the father of another boy to admit he was the one who setup the situation that caused the accident.  Imagine a father convincing his son to admit to a crime he didn't commit so he can get some money - unbelievable!
3.  Teenager Shane Morasco killed Victor Lord, Jr.

In just a few months FOUR TEENAGERS have caused the death or coma of three adults and one teenager. 
I don't feel good about this trend.
It's ugly and lazy; lazy writing.
I will accept that maybe they've had to create some pretty wild resolutions just to bring them to a more speedy conclusion since the show will be be off the air at the end of the year.  I'd like to give them a break and wait to see what they have in store, but I've been burned by AMC, so I'm less inclined.  I'll keep my eye on it through to the end, but I'm disgusted by what they're creating.

Update 12/10/2011...I guess Shane didn't kill Victor Lord, Jr, but my disappointment with the writing and storylines and changing whole backstories and motivations from day to day has increased.  I'm not surprised the 'stories' are going off the air with this kind of writing.  Sad.

Faster Than The Speed of Light

What if this is the first mass media headline related to the beginning of our Brave New World?!
Cool.

The Anderson Institute:  Innovation and Excellence in Time Technology

I'll be back. See? I'm coming back!

What a great picture!  He looks like all you'd expect of a Russian spy in a John LeCarre novel.
Vladimir Putin will run for the Russian Presidency in 2012.

Even though he has a firm hand, controls the media, and limits political opposition, I would rather deal with a politico than an idealogue.
Although once a person has that much power, they could easily turn into an idealogue.

It's just a big pendulum that keeps on swinging.

Government getting out of the way...

The Titanic is an example of government getting out of the way of the free market.
http://www.titanicuniverse.com/

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire is an example of government getting out of the way of the free market.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire

The Financial Crisis of 2008 is an example of government getting out of the way of the free market.
The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 partially repealed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999


Government alone doesn't prevent all disasters and catastrophes - but it cuts down on the instances in which individual citizens are taken advantage of by powerful, monied interests.

Looking back...

"Reflecting Absence"

The National September 11 Memorial is a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.

(2977 people killed on 9/11/01, and 6 in 1993)

The Memorial’s twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. Architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker created the Memorial design selected from a global design competition that included more than 5,200 entries from 63 nations.

The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools, a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.

9/11 Memorial website

I have tried to come up with a clear, concise statement of what the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 means to me.

I can't.

I have sympathy for the personal stories of loss, and I'm filled with awe and appreciation for the courage displayed by regular folk caught in the unlikely horror.  

At the same time, in the days, months, and years that followed, the dignity of the personal stories was co-opted by the media and political idealogues to make money and hold onto power, without regard for truth or nuance.

I have some bitterness about that.

As Fareed Zakaria said in today's GPS on CNN:

Fifty years from now we might even look at 9/11 as simply the beginning of the decline of America as the world's unrivaled hegemon.  On the day before 9/11, the United States was at peace, had a large budget surplus (128 billion) and oil was trading at $28/barrel.  Today the United States is engaged in military operations across the globe, has a deficit of 1.5 trillion dollars, the largest in it's history, and oil is at $115/barrel.

In the Seattle Times, Jon Talton writes:

In attacking the United States 10 years ago, one of Osama bin Laden's major goals was to provoke a hysterical American overreaction that would begin bleeding the nation into economic ruin.
Mission accomplished?
In 2001, the federal government was enjoying its second straight fiscal-year surplus.  The Congressional Budget Office projected the surpluses would grow to almost $700 billion by 2009.  Hard as it is to believe now, the government announced in October 2001 that it would discontinue selling the 30 year bond because it wouldn't need the money.  Although Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, the American invasion was sold as part of a larger "war on terror" which now includes the war in Afghanistan.  The wars, as well as other increased military spending, costs $1.469 trillion through the 2009 fiscal year, helping turn surpluses into deficit, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  

Not to mention the attack on civil liberties, escalating negative rhetoric, and our esteem in the rest of the world.  

I don't think the United States reacted well after 9/11. Its been sad and frustrating.  

To remember the best of the United States, read the personal stories of courage displayed by victims and survivors of the attack on America September 11. 2011.

But, don't forget, the worst of the United States has become evident as well; reactionary, fearful, easily manipulated, controlled by corporations, and revenge-seeking.  

In the end, I hope it's the best of us that we carry into tomorrow.  

Stuff I was thinking about...with some generalizations, but I think the idea is right.

I don't understand why people are complaining that there are no jobs while at the same time the right wing is doing everything it can to stop the government from spending money that could create jobs.
The right wing says the problem is the government is in the way of entrepreneurs who are eager to create new companies or expand, but are stymied by corporate and employer taxes and regulations they're forced to follow.
The conservative right think the entrepreneurs and people who create jobs are people and corporations who already have a lot of money.  They want taxes for rich people and corporations decreased so the wealthy will have more money to spend to create more companies and jobs.  If only the government wouldn't hamper them.
I don't think so.
More often than not, the goal of rich people/corporations is to keep their money/market share.  They don't want to lose what they've already gained.  They have less of an incentive to take a chance and jump into new markets.
I think it's poor or middle class people who make big changes in the jobs market.  They have a big incentive to create new markets and new products and new companies because they want to move from the lower or middle economic classes to the wealthier class.  They are willing to take chances.  These are the entrepreneurs.
It makes sense to give the lower and middle classes an economic break. 

In order for people from lower or middle classes to break out and create jobs, they have to be educated.  The government has a vested interest in making sure all the young people in our society have a good eduation.  They should at least learn how to be critical thinkers.  Think how much time we would have saved in the current political climate if more people had learned how to be critical thinkers.  I wonder if its a coincidence that so many of our population can be manipulated by misinformation in the one or two generations after people started fleeing the public school system? 
We all lose when we live in an uneducated society.  That seems like a no brainer to me.  Why is it an issue?  Pay for schools.

I wonder how much of the old money in our country was originally helped by government research and funding?  How many companies that began in the last century were helped by NASA?  The Internet began from a government project. 

The rich people forget that they didn't get there alone.  Even if the government didn't directly help them, people who are helped by the government were their customers.  The reason many poor people have money to buy things is because of government aid. 

I have to wonder, as well, if maybe there aren't enough jobs because there isn't enough to do.  It's not that long ago that most women were not in the work force.  Now, we are.  And older people left the workforce more quickly.  Now we don't. 
Maybe we should look at the problem a little differently.  If families could survive on less, maybe less people would need to work and everyone who had to work could be employed. 

A big drain on a family's budget is health care costs.
Which is why Obama wanted the Health Care bill. 
And round and round we go.

I'm done for now. 

Here's an idea...

Actual representation of a lightbulb talking.  It's saying, "I have a bright idea."

Part of the cycle of poor neighborhoods is that there are often no grocery stores so residents without transportation can purchase healthy foods.  The neighborhoods have "corner stores where folks buy pricey cigarettes, liquor, and packaged food."  We should bring back the General Store idea from the old West days.  Large chains could create small satellite stores in areas that are not currently serviced.  I think that would encourage residents to be more involved in their community and it would help them eat better.  It might even revitalize neighborhoods.  Economy grows where resources are provided.  Food is a resource.  

Dorian and Viki on One Life to Live

I love these two characters; Dorian Lord and Victoria Lord Riley (those are the names I knew them as when I started watching OLTL).  Today there was a nice (too short) tribute to their complicated, tangled, long, loving relationship.  It made me cry.  Robin Strasser and Erika Slezak did a wonderful job being my touchstones in Landview.  Thank you ladies!

"It won't be the same."

A Prince of a guy...

His Royal Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales

I like this photo of the prince.  He'll be in California in the next several months to complete helicopter training.

From Wikipedia:  The Prince's style and title in full is His Royal Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales. As a British prince, Harry holds no surname; however, as with the other male-line grandchildren of Elizabeth II, he uses the name of the area over which his father holds title, i.e. Wales. Past precedent is that such surnames are dropped from usage in adulthood, after which either title alone, or Mountbatten-Windsor is used when necessary.^[58][1] Prince Harry, however, continues to use Wales as his surname for military purposes and is known as Captain Harry Wales in such contexts.^[59] If his father succeeds to the throne he will be known as His Royal Highness The Prince Henry. Traditionally, male-line members of British royalty receive a dukedom a few hours before their marriage, the most recent being Prince William of Wales, who became Duke of Cambridge.

Revolutionary.

Along with all the technological advances that made my life better growing up in the 60's and 70's (indoor plumbing, television, vaccines, for instance), and the technology that made my work career easier and more interesting in the 80's (desktop computers), I'd add these three technologies as revolutionary in my life since the 2000's...I feel lucky to be alive at a time when I can use them.

TIVO

No more 'appointment' television.  I'll watch when I want to watch.

iPod

ALL my music in one place

iPad

Kindle for iPad, games, notes, schedules, apps of all kinds in one beautiful tablet that I can easily take with me wherever I go.