Planet Reality

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

2011-11-08T17:23:00.000-08:00

The Tragedy at Penn State

I'm sure I'm not the only one in America who is stunned by the recent events at a once proud University - Penn State. You expect to hear things about boosters giving players money or players getting free cars and tattoos but this? Outside of the abuse that Mr. Sandusky dished out to young boys there is the obvious complicity of their venerated coach Joe Paterno. Known as "JoPa" in Happy Valley he is nothing short of a living legend around the school.

But as the story begins to come out it has become clearer and clearer that Mr. Paterno knew that something had gone on and that something was probably still going on and he did nothing about it. Any attempt on his part to feign ignorance will sound false and unbelievable at this point.

You simply cannot work that long with another person without picking up on certain clues. Sandusky took some of these kids on road games with him - no concerns here? So now you have all these clues laying around and then a graduate assistant and his father come into your office and tell you that he personally witnessed Sandusky having anal sex with a ten year old boy in the locker room showers. So even if Paterno had been obtuse enough to have missed the clues up until then, what's his excuse after this?

Reporting it to his boss? From everything I've heard Joe Paterno for all practical purposes IS the boss at Penn State. So it's probably more likely that he had a conference with "his boss" and the two of them decided to keep it all in the Penn State family. That is flat-out criminal negligence.

Too bad that instead of being sent to jail for a few days he will probably be given honorary retirement. I hope he realizes that outside of his very tight football family he's not likely to be welcomed anywhere else. No more trips to the White House JoPa!

Monday, November 7th, 2011

2011-11-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

IS IT JUST ME???????????

Now that the guilty verdict is in on Dr. Conrad Murray and we can all go on with our lives I would like to offer up these questions: What is wrong with all the people hanging around outside? Don't they know that there are bigger issues than this? Focus people.

Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.........

It appears that the final nail in the coffin of Herman Cain might finally have been driven home. After days of bumbling denials in the face of irrefutable evidence a woman has put a face on his behavior. Aside from his crass and cynical attempt to score based on his ability to get this woman a job, his dismissal of all of the allegations reeks of Bill Clinton's "I did not have sex with that woman" and reflects poorly on him at best.

Serious Republicans are quietly ecstatic while Democrats are disappointed that the Herman Cain show might have been canceled. Privately Dems would LOVE to run against 9-9-9, Chinese nuclear capabilities, electric fences, moats, etc. But neither Republicans or Democrats should assume that Cain is dead yet.

You see a funny thing happened to the fork the experts were all getting ready to stick in Cain's ass. The tea party faithful have risen up to defend him, contribute to his campaign, and crop dust news and blogging sites with angry denials and talk of public lynchings. Pointing out to these non-reality planet dwellers (NRPD's) that it was Republicans, most probably one of his GOP primary competitors, who gave this information to Politico is completely lost on them. They are so focused on it being an attack by the non-existent "liberal media" that they can't see the forest through the trees.

And that, friends and neighbors, is the absolutely hilarious irony of the whole thing. The conservatives have done such a good job of indoctrinating their followers that all media is A. liberal and B. liberal that any report coming from them is clearly untrue. It's such a knee-jerk reaction for the tea partiers that they can't even stop themselves.

My guess is that even with the support of the NRPD's Cain won't get past this. But my letter to Santa this year will include a wish that conservatives "liberal media" tactics come back to bite them in the butt and the far-right Republican primary voters select Herman (Don't you want a job?) Cain to run against President Obama. Please, please, please............

Seahawks build a bonfire of slights to warm themselves before the Playoffs

2011-01-05T14:08:00.000-08:00

I know that technically the NFL and politics aren't related but I've always been of the opinion that politics are one of the roughest sports out there (just ask Dino Rossi), so what the hell? I'm going to write about the Seahawks.

I've been enjoying this week as only a fan thrown an amazingly tasty bone right before imminent starvation can possibly imagine. Listening to sports radio, gleefully googling every local newspapers sports pages (if you haven't read Art Thiel then do so immediately, I'll wait), and scanning the national news for pebbles of information about the surprising Seahawks.

Locally we are a shining example of true blue fans. I have seen very few local sports fans on the air or over the internet that have had the cajones to say they weren't supporting the team because their overall record was so poor. I think you'd probably find a lot more of that from a more cynical fan base like New York (nothing personal) but here in Seattle the hope remains stunningly high. Some might say "borderline insane" high.

But digging around this week on the national level has been an exercise in self-flagellation. I mean it's really bad. We've even had some blowhards call for a change in the playoff system so that teams like the Seahawks could never make it to the dance.

Starting pregame people like Mike Ditka and Chris Berman were insulting us in a way they would never do the cheating, narcissistic Brett Favre. Some teams and or people are easy to kick around. Small market, who cares.

Since then it has bordered on the ridiculous. This is just some of what I've heard so far this week:

a. New Orleans should rest their starters during the game because they won't need them to beat the Seahawks.
b. The Seahawks are like a junior varsity team compared to New Orleans.
c. The Seahawks are just happy to be here.
d. The Seahawks have no defense.
e. The only reason the Seahawks won on Sunday was because the Rams lost.

The list could go on and on. It seems like nationally the bandwagon is "dissing" the Seahawks and everybody is getting on board. Now the only challenge is who can find the "catchiest" insult and how to say the same thing about the Seahawks every day until Saturday without sounding repetitious.

My only hope is that the Seahawks are using each one of those as kindling for the fire. Everyday they can bring another one in, this one labeled "junior varsity" and that one labeled "no defense," and add them to the growing pile. If the Seahawks are well-prepared, determined, and lucky then maybe that fire will burn hot enough to give them a whole other week of the same damned thing. Go Seahawks!

Get Ready for a whole lot of Nothing from GOP

2011-01-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

I guess we don't need to wonder where KIRO 7's political loyalties lie since they preempted The Young and the Restless to cover the most non-newsworthy event since the last weather/media hysteria here in Seattle. Otherwise you would have to wonder why they thought that John Boehner being sworn in as Speaker of the House would be MUST WATCH television here in the liberal bastions of King County. I mean who besides Kemper (It's all about me, really) Freeman, Jr. wanted to watch that crap?

Perhaps as their phone lines, e-mails, tweets overloaded with highly agitated "Young, Restless, and Democrat" fans brought this unfortunate choice home to them. But my guess is they already were very well aware of the kick back they were going to get from their viewers and they just didn't care. Decisions made at the top based on political leanings and not on what is interesting or relevant. It is not as if those that couldn't miss the non-event couldn't have found it on a 24 hour news channel. So thanks for that KIRO.

And speaking of the new Crier of the House, you can expect a whole lot of nothing out of these corporate representatives. I love CNN yesterday doing this entire story about how having the Health Care bill overturned by these "we're all for the big guys" members of Congress because it was an absolutely pointless piece of journalism. The new members of the House of Representatives CANNOT overturn the Health Care bill because the American people left the Senate in the Democrats hands.

Boehner and his cohorts can scream all they want about what "the American people" ("the American people" translates from Republican to English as "the multinational corporations") voted for them to a.) lower taxes for the super-wealthy, b.) repeal the restraints on poor, poor Wall Street, c.) return all health care decisions back to the insurance companies, d.) chip away at Social Security and Medicare (lazy fucking old people), e.) and, impeach President Barack Obama. But scream is all that they can do because if that was true the real "American people" would have sent a bunch of asshole Republican to the Senate as well. It's not as if they didn't have a wonderful bouquet of candidates to choose from - Christine O'Donnell and Sharon Angle for instance. But they decided against it because sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don't!

So, Republicans, stop shouting that this is what the American people want. It's not as if you care or even know what the average American wants anyway. Your agenda has been for the rich since the 1980's so why pretend.

Watch out for potential name change of High Fructose Corn Syrup

2010-09-14T14:51:00.001-07:00

The New York Times is reporting today that the Corn Refiners Association is lobbying the United States Food and Drug Administration hard to allow them to change the name of their number one product "High Fructose Corn Syrup" to the simple and sweet sounding "corn sugars." One name defines exactly what it is - a highly processed corn sweetener and the other name describes basically what it is - sugar. One might wonder why we as consumers would need to only know basically what it is rather than exactly what it is and why that would be better for us?

Of course, that is exactly why the Corn Refiners Association is lobbying for the change - a DEEP CONCERN FOR THE CONSUMER. Apparently they have been laying awake at night worrying that we are overly informed in regard to their product and as a result might be denying ourselves something fantastic. Their solution is to give the consumer slightly less information about their product so that we can make better decisions. (Kind of like watching FOX news and then voting.)

"Clearly the name is confusing consumers," said Audrae Erickson, President of Corn Refiners Association. "Research shows that 'corn sugar' better communicates the amount of calories, the level of fructose, and the sweetness in this ingredient."

Apparently we consumers are under the impression that high fructose corn syrup isn't good for us and may pose a danger to our health. Since the Corn Refiners Association disagrees with the consumers assessment of their product (we are just confused), but are still unable to convince us that they are exactly the same as plain sugar, despite big advertising campaigns meant to do so, they have been left no choice but to try to clear it all up with a name change. Just like the cavalry "here they come to save the day."

Has anybody ever heard of a company called AIU Holdings ltd.? They are a mega-large insurance company that recently took millions of tax payer dollars to cover their you know whats. Doesn't sound familiar? Think American International Group or more popularly known as AIG. Apparently the highly payed individuals working at AIG felt consumers might be "confused" if they know who and what they really were so decided to go for the big name change.

It looks like the Corn Refiners Association is following very proud footsteps in the role of looking out for the American consumer. I have to remember to send them a thank you note for their selfless concern.

If you want to weigh in on this with the FDA they have six months to accept or deny the name change petition.

Kohls new ad campaign is snapshot of some of what is going wrong in America

2010-08-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

I have written in this space before about the concept of corporate social responsibility. It is an easy concept that unfortunately cannot find any fertile ground in which to grow within the profit-at-all-cost corporate world. In their world corporate citizenship is tied in chains to the profit first mentality.

Does anybody else ever get tired of being asked at a checkout whether you'd like to donate to some cause or another? As if you couldn't possibly give to charity without the help of a corporate giant. Starbucks recently pounced on all of their customers with a "buy a pound of this coffee and we'll donate to charity." Okay, so Starbucks adds $2 to the cost of some coffee they wish to promote, sends $1 to charity and pockets the other all the while touting themselves as do-gooders. Perhaps as a real citizen you could take that $1 and send it directly to your charity and remove the multi-national corporation from the equation.

The latest and most obvious corporate charity shenanigans is Kohl's department stores back-to-school ad. The commercial is glossy and sweet and it is very nice to look at but if the average price of making a national commercial is $350,000 then this puppy must have been in the $1 million range. Now they have to put the commercial on the air where rates start at $100,000 for a 30 second spot and goes up from there.

So why is this relevant? The ad is promoting the companies intention to give $500,000 to one of our cash strapped schools. They have tied it in with their Facebook page where consumers can vote for their favorite school which is a clever use of social media and also a way to drive people to your site. The problem for me is with the math.

Just a brief look at the costs of creating such a slick commercial and then airing it nationally for weeks lets us know that this is roughly a $15 million ad campaign. That means that Kohls is bragging about "giving" $500,000 to a school while they are spending millions to promote themselves. Can you imagine if they turned those numbers around? How about $15 million to our schools and $500,000 on self advertising? Now that would be real corporate citizenship.

There is a lot of talk these days that corporations have plenty of money but they are hoarding it and not hiring people or investing in this country. What would it be like for our schools and our economy to get a $15 million dollar shot in the arm? I'd say pretty good.

But according to ad week the American people are sucking it up. In a survey by Ace Metrix of 500 consumers the Kohls ads scored higher than any of the other back-to-school campaigns currently on the air. "We continue to see "do-good" creative resonating strongly with consumers and Kohl's clearly evoked this sentiment with their "Vote for Your School" campaign," said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix. I have to assume he put "do-good" in parenthesis because they're not actually doing much good except to themselves.

I am no socialist and I don't believe that companies should be forced to give their money away or deny them the right to advertise their products. But I draw the line at the hypocrisy of the "do-gooder" ad. It is a false claim. If they really wanted to do good they could just do it and then tell everybody later. I'm pretty sure that a $15 million donation would do more for Kohl's reputation than any ad campaign.

http://www.economist.com/daily/kallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16379907

2010-06-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.economist.com/daily/kallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16379907

Horror in the Gulf of Mexico

2010-05-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

The tragedy that is currently going on in the Gulf of Mexico is going to haunt this country for more years then I care to think about. It is startling to me how many of my fellow citizens fail to understand the absolute catastrophe that this is. Perhaps it is because our press is treating the situation pretty lightly, probably because they are all corporately owned, and if the media isn't hysterical then Americans don't think they have much to worry about.

I can only imagine how freaked out we would all be if a TERRORIST had blown up the oil well in the Gulf that was destroying an eco-system stretching thousands of miles. We would be out for REVENGE! But because it's just another friendly, corporate oil company and because we all realize that we brought it on ourselves we're kind of patting ourselves on the back and calling it a sad accident. Speaking of sad.

And, yes people, this is another chicken coming home to roost from the Bush administration's laissez faire behavior with corporate America. In case you ever wondered what would happen if we allowed the oil companies to pen the United States' energy policy, well wonder no more! Dead miners and dead oil rig workers are just a small price to pay for such enormous profit.

It would be best if we Americans just kept in mind at all times that corporations are sociopaths that our Supreme Court chooses to regard as people! Here are the traits they have in common with human sociopaths who don't have one millionth of the power to inflict hurt:

1. Repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest.(In 2005 BP blew up an oil refinery in Texas City killing 15 people and injuring 170 others).

2. Deceitfulness, repeated lying, use of aliases, conning others for profit. ("Nobody could have anticipated an oil rig accident in the Gulf")

3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead. (I think it's called a simple shut off valve that most SANE countries require oil riggers to use - but when the oil companies wrote our energy policy it must have slipped their minds.)

4. Aggressiveness (Wait until the we're so sorry commercials come out and encourage you to buy more gas from them.)

5. Reckless disregard for safety of themselves or others (no need to say more here)

6. Consistent irresponsibility, repeated failure to honor obligations.

7. Lack of remorse, indifference to the suffering of others (within 24 hours had workers sign waivers saying they wouldn't sue.)

Every time you watch a commercial you should keep all of these things in your head, especially #2. Thanks to Pam's House Blend blog for the list of sociopathic tendencies.

While our environment is taking such a beating all the rest of us should do everything we can to keep our own individual impact as slight as possible. No factory farmed meats, reusable grocery bags, etc. Also you should support those that are supporting the people of the gulf coast. Eat Gumbo!

Bush's Chickens are coming home to Roost

2010-02-26T15:44:00.001-08:00

Just when I think that I might be going a little overboard worrying about the food we're eating in the United States, something comes up to remind me why I should be paranoid. In another piece of good reporting the New York Times has reported that Kraft, Safeway, Frito-Lay, and B&G foods have been taking bribes from a tomato food processor called SK Foods. According to federal prosecutors the bribes were offered in order to allow SK to sell them tomatoes so full of mold and other defects they would not pass federal tests. Not that we have any kind of inspection system or anything.

This is just another case of the "chickens coming home to roost." For the last decade the party in power didn't believe that business and industry needed to be regulated and so they didn't regulate them. Because as we all know the captains of industry are the most altruistic bunch you are every likely to meet and would no more endanger the American public then drink a martini without an olive, right?

They certainly proved that in the banking industry, unregulated they made a great deal of money for themselves, not so good for the rest of us though. And how can we forget the peanut recall where the product left the farm knowingly contaminated with salmonella and sickened hundreds? Peanuts that were so disgusting that our neighbors Canada refused them entry.

The problem is that inspecting food, airplanes, banks, etc. after the poo has hit the proverbial fan or somebody has died, is like closing the barn door after Elvis has left the building. People enjoy thinking that revelations such as the ammonia in the hamburger of McDonalds & Burger King is an unusual event when in fact basically our entire food industry is self-regulated! It is becoming increasingly evident that unless you know exactly where your food came from it is a total crap shoot.

I visited Krafts website to try and find out exactly how many tomato products they have but was unsuccessful because they have so many brands. But I did find that they consider themselves one of the most trusted names in the food industry. "We've put in place strong food safety and quality systems for our ingredients and our products."

Apparently some of their food brokers didn't get the memo because one of them was recently arrested at a New York airport. Allegedly Robert Watson, a food buyer for Kraft foods, found himself $20,000 short of a fully paid tax bill. So he called his buddy, a tomato broker in California, and asked him for the money. The broker was happy to help out although, being good businessmen, told him it would have to come out of his normal "commissions."

According to the New York Times these tainted shipments involved as many as 55 companies. "In some cases, companies detected problems and sent the product back - but in many cases, according to prosecutors, they did not, and the tainted ingredients wound up in food sold to consumers." That doesn't leave me feeling warm and fuzzy about the food industry.

The good news is we have access to farmers markets. The bad news is that Redmond Saturday market doesn't start until May. In the meantime, buy fresh and local as much as you can. At least you can see if your tomatoes are rotten.

Cap and Trade like Health Bill

2009-11-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

I just wrote about the unfortunately compromised Health Care bill passed by the House. It is a bill that started out with the intention to help the American people and by the time it was done the health care lobbyists had turned it into something much less. It is not like there are no good things in the bill and that it isn't an improvement over what we had previously but it is still weak.

It has been weakened by corporate lobbyists. So instead of getting bill that will actually work we get some kind of weird half measure that does as much for the corporate interests involved as it does for the American people. We can't win anymore.

The proof is in the other half measure legislation being put forward in the form of the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill passed by the House. I just did a story at OhMyGov about a couple of EPA attorneys who have done a fantastic You Tube video called "A Huge Mistake." They argue that cap and trade can't work because the corporate interests involved always find a way to get around the new rules and actually turn it around to make a profit from it.

A seemingly innocuous part of the bill called carbon offsets are actually giant loop holes that the corporate interests are ready and anxious to jump through. An example provided by Laurie Williams and Alan Zabel, the two attorneys involved, is "suppose that a landowner is paid not to cut his forest so that it can continue capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Purchasing this offset allows owners of a coal-fired power plant to burn extra coal, above the cap."

The problems with this, says Williams and Zabel, is that somebody like Weyerhauser will just cut down a different forest and somebody else gets to spray more carbons in the air with the offset. It is "untrackable shifting economic activity and perverse incentives such as these are inherent problems for carbon offset that cannot be solved by certification or verification processes."

In some countries where carbon offsets are happening, like Great Britain, corporations actually lobby for them because they've managed to make them profitable without having to give up a thing. In fact, the carbon offsets give the pollutant actual value thus creating an incentive to produce it. Personally, I'm pretty sure that was not the original intention of the legislation but what emerges after it's been modified by corporate interests.

It is a pretty simple equation for the rest of us: Politicians + Corporate Lobbyists = Profits/Campaign funds for both of them. Not much for us but a weak bill that pretends to be something that it isn't.

And the reality is.........................

2009-11-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of progressives out there right now who are pretty darn disappointed at the direction the health care bill has taken. They seem to have the impression that they handed the Democrats a majority in the House and Senate and that now, finally, we would be able to take the country in a different direction. Now they can't help wondering how it is that such a weak, corporate and GOP friendly bill is being put forward.

It isn't as if we all didn't just witness a Republican administration without a majority in the last four years still manage to get pretty much whatever it wanted. All they had to do was threaten to call a Democrat unpatriotic and they crumpled like tissue paper. The tax breaks for the wealthy were retained, nobody was ever investigated for ever and ever more obvious crimes, and the beat went on.

The reason is because the Bush administration and his GOP cohorts in the House and Senate never put anything forward that wasn't extremely popular with Corporate America. And if they like it then they'll find Democrats who like it too.

So, why can't the Democrats with a popular President and a super majority in the Senate do the same thing? The truth is that they could if they wanted to. The reality is that they are as deeply owned by corporate interests as their colleagues in the Republican party.

They talk a good game to their constituents and MSNBC but when push comes to shove they are going to take into consideration the interests of the lobbyists who are in their face with money and information 24/7 more than us. We are being given excuses like they just didn't have the votes because the blue dog Dems wouldn't budge. Ever hear that kind of rubbish from Tom Delay?

Personally, I think that Nancy Pelosi is one of the most capable Speakers we've had for a long time but she's not going to challenge the entrenched powers. Perhaps we are expecting too much. This is big legislation after all. Sometimes we get this crazy idea that we actually might have some kind of relevant opinion but we really don't. Not in Corporate America.

Chicken Little needs to Shut up!

2009-05-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

Clearly the weekend news programs are hurting for material these days. I mean what is there to talk about outside of the failing economy, the new President's agenda, the occupation of Iraq, the civil war in Afghanistan, and global warming. With so few interesting things to choose from it should come as no surprise that our radar like media chose none of the above.

No, what our ever vigilant media representatives thought it best for the American people to hear was Dick Cheney talking. The fact that his 9% approval ratings indicate a certain loathing for the man by the American people doesn't seem to register on their media minds. Perhaps all a person of former power needs to to is crook his little finger and the media can't help but come running.

Sooooo, what are we left with? The Today show opens on Monday with the most venerable of newsmen, Matt Lauer, trumpeting his opening news headline 'Dick Cheney says we are not as safe as we used to be because we don't torture anymore.'

May I offer this alternative as an opener for the Today show, "The Vice President who said we were going to be nuked by Iraq says we need to keep torturing. More on the Chicken Little story later in the show."

The Science is called Evolution not Darwinism!

2009-05-07T12:13:00.001-07:00

I don't want to beat an old horse but there are just some things that I can't let slide. Shocking it may be but this time my beef with the View is not with Ms. Hasselbeck but with her co-host Sherri Shephard. Now Sherri seems like a very nice person whom I also find quite amusing at times. I've wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but Monday was the last straw.

In a bit of irony I spent some of my Saturday washing floors while listening to the NPR on the radio. I regret that I don't remember the name of the book or the author that was being interviewed but it was about science. The author has written a book about scientific theory in a way that is simple for everybody to understand. The interview was lively, entertaining, and informative. One of the many scientific topics that were touched upon was evolution. The scientist pointed out that even though the media tries to make it an issue the debate about evolution is over in the real world.

Perhaps the ladies on the View should spend some of their time listening to informative and informed people rather than twittering their "friends." To my utter and total disgust on Monday Ms. Walters brought up the recent case in California where a teacher was held responsible for noting to his class that creationism is pseudo science. She then proceeds to talk about this as if it was an open question. Really, Barbara, according to who? If you mean the Christian fundamentalists who are trying to force their religion down everybody's throats then I guess you're right but since when do we take our cues from them?

This discussion is not valid for a public program unless it's Billy Graham where you know your viewers all share your beliefs/delusions. I mean, what is next for the great brains on the View? Maybe we can have Sherri weigh in on whether the earth is flat or not? (Oh wait, she already did that and she wasn't sure???!!!!!) Or how about whether certain types of people of particular shapes and colors have smaller brains than white people? Perhaps a lively discussion about whether or not blood transfusions will change you as a person?

These suggestions are all previously held beliefs that have been scientifically debunked just like this new fake creationism. In the case of creationism as science all I can say is that if your equation has "then a miracle occurs" somewhere in it then it's not science. For these women to indicate otherwise on a major network is both stupid and irresponsible.

When Whoopi popped out with "I just don't know why we can't teach both," apparently nobody from the group was able to point out that we have a separation of church and state and creationism is religion so it would be illegal. I've known Republicans who are more informed than that. But I think Sherri's ignorance and hypocrisy are the most annoying.

Perhaps she should explain to the viewers of the View how she can trust science to operate on her child's eyes and not trust them in the area of Adam and Eve? If the surgeon had told her before the operation that I'm going to do A., B., C., and then I'll hope a miracle occurs because I never bothered to learn it myself, and then if that works I'll proceed to D. Do you think Sherri would have sent her child under the knife based on some kind of hopeful, miracleish kind of operation? I can only assume the answer would be no considering she spends the rest of the time talking about what a wonderful mother she is.

At least Joy Behar had the good sense to point out to her that if she didn't allow her child to learn about evolution then he probably wouldn't get in to college. That pretty much sums up where we are on the debate. It's over everywhere except in some parts of the South and on The View.

Defection of Specter a Reflection of the Times for Republicans

2009-04-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

I was pretty amazed when I heard the news of Senator Specters defection to the Democrats. I've always known he was a moderate but I've heard him carry the water for the RNC too many times to believe he was a friend to Democrats. In truth the switch by Specter is more about pointing out the problems with the Republican party than with helping Democrats carry a majority in the Senate.

I've written about this before and I'm hardly a voice in the wilderness since journalists with ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC have also talked about it. That is that the Republican party is becoming increasingly far right and thus irrelevant politically. The only news network (and I use the term "news" very, very loosely in this case) that hasn't noticed the precipitous decline is FOX and that isn't much of a surprise.

And what has been so amazing about this whole thing is that it is the Republicans themselves who continue to shovel the hole deeper. It is as if they were all lined up at the top of the water slide ready to watch each other as they leap off and plummet down the shoot while their fellows cheer them on their way. Each time a thoughtful person in line says something like "maybe this isn't such a good idea" they are derided and dismissed as being out of touch with real Republicans.

Even as they watch their poll numbers drop they continue to be just as they always have been. Cut taxes for the rich and corporations, strong military, and citizens are on their own. Despite the fact that those very same citizens decided loudly and clearly they didn't want to do it that way anymore they just don't get it. Apparently the old saying "the definition of insanity is to keep doing things the same way and expect different results" has never crossed any of their desks.

For the Republicans these days it is Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, and the rest of that loony group who sets their agenda. But even though these creeps have high ratings on TV and radio the Republicans should realize that they're still talking to a very small portion of the country. With that being true then it means that they've decided that appealing to only about 20% of America is okay. Call me crazy but you need more than 20% of the vote to win an election.

I am concerned though because in a Democracy you need more than one political party. Our Democracy is already in trouble if we let the free press die off so we can't add this to the mix. I appeal to the saner heads in the Republicans to not be afraid to stand up to the haters and liars and actually try and do something positive for the country.

Specter is just another ugly poll number for the Republican party. He is an indicator of the direction they are heading. Between the poll numbers and the departure of some of their most important members one might think they'd take notice this time. Limbaugh's response of "good riddance and take McCain and his daughter with you," is our indicator that they must really like the view from the bottom. Don't look for any changes soon.

I'm Quickly Losing Interest in "The View"

2009-04-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

It's too bad because I've only been watching them over the last six months or so and they've lost me already. The thing that gave them relevancy and interest was the election and now that it's over they've become irrelevant again. I'm sure their increased popularity at the end of last year will linger for a while but unless they change their ways I think people are going to start heading for the exits with me.

Today was a perfect example of why they are no longer worth watching. First of all I was very excited to hear Whoopi bring up an actually important topic this morning. She talked about the fact that our President has said that he isn't against investigating torture and the folks who authored it. The crowd responded with a cheer showing that they agree with our President and then the whole thing went right down the crapper.

The ladies on the show allowed Elizabeth Hasselbeck to filibuster the response! What???? It's not as if we don't already know what that idiot thinks. Did Whoopi, Joy, and Barbara (Sherry's not worth mentioning when discussing anything requiring serious thought), think that Elizabeth was going to offer anything more than her usual Republican talking points? So, thanks to her co- hosts, we were all treated to her usual method of don't stop to breathe or somebody might get a word in edge wise defense of the indefensible.

Elizabeth actually said that Barack Obama would do the same thing if he thought it would save the country. What kind of an idiot comment is this? If Joy, Barbara or Whoopi can't step in at this point and say something obvious like "how the hell do you know that?" then what are they there for? I guess Joy managed to point out to Mrs. Hasselbeck that her past favorite candidate, John McCain, didn't believe in torture or that torture worked. Elizabeth had no response to that except to continue to defend the behavior. What a good Christian!

It would seem obvious to anybody that the country is not for torture and they think it should be looked into. Perhaps we can look to the last election where even Republicans (not Elizabeth clearly) steered away from the candidates who screamed the loudest for blood and instead did the opposite of what Rush wanted and nominated John McCain. Polls consistently show that Americans don't support and never supported torture.

If "The View" wants to hold onto it's new audience they better start giving us more than one 'view.' Especially if that particular view is one that is only espoused by a small minority of Americans. We can find that on Fox News.

Tea Bagging is a Joke

2009-04-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

The GOP is constantly surpassing even themselves for practicing the fine art of cynical politics. The romantic notion of political ideas gaining acceptance via the actions of normal, everyday Americans who create a grass roots movement has now been kidnapped and mutated by the Republican party. If you've been asking yourself if there is a low where they will not go then you can see it won't be at this level.

I'm talking, of course, about this manufactured Tea Bagging day on April 15th. Fox News needs a reason to be viewed these days by anybody other than the koolaid drinkers. The 'supposed' leaders of the GOP need a reason to even exist. They're desperately searching for a message that Americans can get behind and this is what they've come up with.

The fact that anybody looking at it with any amount of perspective can see that the movement is drummed up by Fox News is of no concern to them. They are just hoping that it catches the eye of the 'normal' media and then somehow given some credibility. So far it isn't happening that way. A true test may be if Jim Lehrer pays any attention to it during the Lehrer hour. Hopefully the GOP influence with PBS has been somewhat negated since the departure of the Bush administration.

The ironic part of the whole thing is the fact that these protesters are protesting Bush's taxes not Obama's. They themselves don't really understand that little factoid judging from the unfortunate remarks some of them have made to reporters. If the man who guarantees that Obama is not an American citizen is an example of the groups overall grasp of reality then clearly none of them are rowing with both oars in the water.

The only thing that gives them any credibility at all is the presence of Fox News and that speaks volumes all by itself.

Turning off the Television

2009-03-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

These days it is hard to watch the news because of the dire economic situation that continues to pile up daily. Not only the grim reality of bailing out one industry after another but the realization that this all occurred due to votes taken by our 'representatives' makes it very difficult to tune in to. There is also our own complicity in the collapse based on ignorance, laziness, and self-absorption. It doesn't add up to programming that is pleasant viewing.

While taking all of the above into consideration it is understandable why many people, me included, decided to take in the NCAA basketball tournament. This year was made even more interesting for us locals because the Washington Huskies were a 4th seed. We also had our across state perennial NCAA Tournamenters, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, to watch. The Huskies made it to the 2nd round before falling a little short against Purdue. The Bulldogs battled there way into the Sweet Sixteen before falling to the clearly superior North Carolina team.

The departure of Gonzaga ended my enjoyment of the tournament and not because I'm a homey. The reason was because the entire time that I watched I was forced to endure commercial messages from some of the biggest robber barons of the 21st century! More importantly, as a taxpayer, I was paying for it! Talk about having the bad news shoved down your throat.

Let's examine some of the tournaments big sponsors and why I find them so galling. Number one robber baron, Exxon. These incredibly long, expensive, and self-serving appeals by Exxon is enough to make me throw the remote at the television. Exxon made record breaking profits during the Bush years while enjoying generous tax breaks from the American people. The American taxpayer also assured Exxon of as much oil it needs in the future by occupying another country on their behalf. Aren't we nice?

For Exxon to use some of the money accumulated during their record breaking profit years to spin the American people into thinking that they are thoughtful, concerned for the environment, and the welfare of the everyone on the planet, takes remarkable balls. That is because out of all the oil companies they are the least of all of those things. They haven't spent any of their profits on forward thinking or in seeking or developing other energy sources. They have spent their money telling us lies about themselves. Are we that stupid?

Next on the list of American Robber Barons with annoying commercials is GMAC. Howie Long can pound sand up his behind for all I care about his opinion. Talk about a company with no shame. They take billions of tax payer dollars so they can continue doing exactly what got them into this mess in the first place and then they run expensive commercials. The most appalling of them all is the commercial where they mention the stimulus money that will be spent on our infrastructure. Apparently they think that in order to rebuild our infrastructure correctly we all need a big, gas guzzling, GMAC truck to do the job with. That way they get money from us both coming and going!

Other annoyances were the Charles Schwab animated whiners. I never liked the format before and now that they're all crying about their 401K it's even less attractive. Besides the fact that taking advice from any "money" expert anymore sounds like seeking medical advice from Dr. Death.

The bottom line is any corporation that seems remotely involved in swindling the American people I have a problem with. The food advertisers for the tournament like Sonic, Applebee's, and Taco Bell are only trying to make us fat not steal our money. The gamers, beer sellers, and deodorant folks just want to sell us their product. But oil companies, financial institutions, and failing auto manufactures should keep a very low profile with outraged Americans.

Dick (The Penguin) Cheney

2009-03-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

In a way it resembles a cockroach creeping back into your kitchen the minute the lights are off and your back is turned. Just when you thought it was safe to go outside again Dick Cheney has re-emerged from under his rock to do a round of talk shows. He, of course, has used the opportunity to espouse his tortuous philosophy on international relations.

Why the media thinks that anybody in America is interested in listening to The Penguin again is a mystery to me? It is not as if the media is unaware of his popularity ranking of 9% when he left office so I have to assume that they just get a jolt out of having well known people to talk to. He wasn't that anxious to talk to the media when he shot his friend in the face after a drunken luncheon, or the cops, for that matter.

So once again we've been forced to listen to The Penguin describe how he is the only one on the earth who can be entrusted with our safety. The fact that he is using his air time to criticize the President for whom he and GWB left the biggest pile of dog poo to pick up since dogs were Brontosaur's is almost too painful to swallow. The only good thing about it is that the President took the opportunity to hit back!

His response when questioned on 60 minutes about The Penguin's comments was quick, decisive, and completely on point. Without getting personal (something I would find very difficult to do!) the President pointed out that he was surprised that DICK would want to defend policies that make people hate us. President Obama makes clear that the Penguin's method was completely unsustainable and he asks us the question "How long were we supposed to keep locking people up and torturing them? Until the entire Arab and Muslim world hated our guts?!"

Good question and clearly not something that The Penguin has given any thought too (along with an exit strategy for Iraq). There is a part of me, however, that wants the Penguin to keep criticizing our President. That is because I'm hoping that he manages to really piss him off and that Obama's current policy of not delving into the past will be put aside for some useful revenge! How about answering a few questions in front of a Congressional panel on illegal torture, Mr. Penguin? God speed the day!

There Ought to Be a Law!

2009-03-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Recently our new President has talked about skipping the practice of giving companies tax breaks for sending US jobs overseas. This is a very good idea. It isn't rocket science after all and one wonders how we got into this situation in the first place. If your constituents are people who need jobs in the United States then why would you pass a law that rewards companies for sending them some place else?

The answer is that for the last twenty or thirty years we have been replaced by a much smaller and richer constituent - the corporate lobbyist. Why else would Senators and Congressman refuse to listen to the public cry for health care? Because they don't answer to us anymore. They aren't afraid of losing their jobs because of the endless sums of money the corporate lobbyists give to their campaigns thus insuring their re-election.

We need President Obama to take on these corporations in the same way that Teddy Roosevelt did. Removing incentives for them to move jobs out of the country is just the tip of the iceberg. Let's consider some other changes that he should make. Many things need to be done in health care, the environment, and energy to name just a few. Why don't we start with the environment?

A couple of decades ago corporate marketers needed to find a new way to make people buy more of their stuff. In the past creating things that were made well and lasted the longest was the manner in which manufacturers attempted to retain a person's patronage. But somewhere along the line a very smart and very evil person recognized that if something worked well and lasted a long time then there was less need to buy another.

This person pointed out that the corporation could have the same thing produced cheaply, sold cheaply, and then when it broke sell another, and another, and another. They would make more money in the long run and the silly patrons would think they were getting a bargain. It has worked beautifully. Now you only have to pay $59.00 for a vacuum that runs a year, breaks, gets tossed into a landfill, and then you get to purchase another one. You think you're getting a good deal while the corporation laughs all the way to a Swiss bank (wouldn't want to pay any American taxes on all that American profit!)

Another evil person decided that the best way to get people to spend more money per person at McDonalds was to make the portions much larger (at almost no extra cost to them.) This allowed them to charge more but left the customer thinking they were getting a better deal. It was so successful it became an industry trend and has single-handedly altered Americans idea of what is a proper portion for a meal. They must be very proud and very rich!

And now for one of my greatest corporate annoyances - Disposability! Perhaps the most evil person of all came up with the brilliant suggestion that if you made things disposable then they would need to be replaced all the time. It might be hard to make consumers understand the benefits but that's what they pay advertising agencies for. Those clever people use every trick in the book to sell their products and guilt is their number one tactic.

Here are some classic arguments put forth by the disposable people: You will be a terrible Mother if you use that stinking washcloth instead of this 'sanitary' disposable one. Your children crawl around on these floors that you've just washed with that horrible reusable mop - be very ashamed and go out and buy a disposable mop with additional cloths right away. Your children never get a hot breakfast of Bisquick pancakes so you must buy this one use only plastic Bisquick container to make your kids pancakes in the morning!

All of those things end up in a landfill. Now doesn't that make you feel guilty? Everybody needs to watch the movie Wall-E at least ten times until they get the message. Once the people get the message then they can start boycotting these products and perhaps forcing them to adjust. But in the meantime their ought to be a law.

So, Mr. President, along with removing tax breaks for companies that move jobs how about penalizing the serial polluters out there? There would be a number of ways to accomplish this. Let's charge companies additional tax dollars for producing items that are not environmentally friendly. We can also reward companies that produce items that are environmentally responsible. We can change the direction we've been going in but it will require all of us to participate, the people and the government.

Newsweek Story Hits the Nail on the Head

2009-03-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading David Frum's story in Newsweek today and I couldn't agree more with him. The man is a conservative and he supported the Iraq War but in this case he shows remarkable sense. His argument is that if the conservative movement doesn't make some changes in it's philosophy it is going to become irrelevant.

More importantly he takes on Rush Limbaugh. He makes an excellent analogy when he says that Rush Limbaugh is to the Republican Party today what Jesse Jackson was to to the Democratic Party in the 1980's. Although Jesse never held sway over such a large and adoring constituency that Rush does he still was the only real voice for African Americans in politics at the time and he needed to be respected. The problems begin for a party when respect turns to fawning and the individual begins holding their own party hostage.

This has clearly become the case for Rush Limbaugh and the Republicans. If anybody says anything that might be offensive to him they 'rush' to apologize and the result is that it confirms his 'leadership' of the Republican party. Even though Rush has the undying loyalty of 20 million Americans the rest of us mostly find him offensive and repulsive. We showed that in a very specific way during the last election. So if the Republicans continue to allow Rush to make their argument for them then they can expect to receive about 20 million dittohead votes in the next election and watch their butts get kicked again.

Believe me when I tell you that is fine and dandy with me. Nobody deserves it more. If any party deserves to serve long term political purgatory then the Republicans are it. They played along while GWB rode this country to ruin and they deserve what they get. But if they decide to let their more intellectual members play a role they might live to fight another day. It was difficult listening to Meghan McCain yesterday on Rachel Maddow's show but I did appreciate her message. She has been writing against another Hate Monger - Ann Coulter. I just wish, like, she had, like, expressed that opinion, like, without so many likes.

In any event it should be fun to watch. At this point it doesn't look like the Republicans are getting the message. They still say outrageous things on the radio and on Fox Noise. These thing are said with the specific purpose of making people think that there might be more than one truth about a subject out there. It's called muddying the waters. As long as they believe that they can trick the American people into believing things that arent' true they will continue to attempt it. Perhaps a few more election cycles will deliver the message more effectively.

I Really Don't Care What the Republicans Think Anymore

2009-03-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

The media is still looking out for the Republicans. All of the major sources for news are clearly still receiving their talking points every day. When the announcer at NBC opens the news story of a new stimulus package by mentioning the number of earmarks that are in it then we know it has been slanted to the right. The other day on NPR they began a news story about how John McCain thinks there should be more corporate tax breaks in the stimulus packages. Am I the only one out there who wants to scream at the radio/TV "I don't give a crap what they think anymore?"

For eight years the American people have been subjected to government at it's very worst. A government that will go down in history as the most ruinous in history. This government was run by Republicans. They were not passive participants in the failure of our economy. Some of them may have been too stupid to have read their history about the unregulated greed that led to the Great Depression or to recognize the danger signs of our current economic catastrophe but they were fully aware that the benefits of their policies were delivered to Corporate America not Middle America.

If you need proof of where the Republicans bloody, tiny hearts lay, please witness the upcoming battle over the Employees Free Choice Act. Now let's ask ourselves who might benefit from a law that allows you to create a union in your workplace? Hmmmmm, let's see, the worker! A union accomplishes workplace stability, a living wage, decent working conditions and a happy middle class. So now let's ask ourselves why this would be bad? Because it cut's into company profits, CEO bonuses, shareholder dividend checks and Swiss bank accounts. Please watch carefully on which side of this argument the Republicans fall on.

Then ask yourself why we should care about them and their ideas when they've shown us over and over that they are not on our side.

Humor Will Help Get Us Through This

2009-03-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

The financial news is getting grimmer by the moment. I don't have a lot in 401K but I can't even look anymore because I'm afraid whatever I did have is now completely gone. I'm out of a job and it's not looking good for getting another one so far. I'm just hoping that things don't get much worse and that somehow we get through this somewhat intact.

What helps me out is to seek out a good chuckle especially at the end of my day. It's good to leave the day laughing and I would be lost without Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. In case you missed it and you need a good laugh here are a couple of samples of Stewart the other day. Showing a picture of the fat, dressed in black, and bouncing figure of Rush Limbaugh at the CPAC convention Stewart noted that "Limbaugh's outfit was color-coded for his soul." In another reference to Rush's large physique Stewart said that "Rush is beginning to resemble a set of Rush Limbaugh Russian nesting dolls." I mean, please, I'm laughing again.

I also find Rachel Maddow to be quite hilarious even though that's not really her job in the same way that it is Stewart and Colberts. The other night she shared a story regarding Iceland's current economic reality. That, in fact, Iceland's finances are nothing more than a hedge fund at this point. But Rachel felt the need to point out that they may have a smaller problem. Apparently the ALCOA company wanted to build an aluminum plant on some empty fields in Iceland. Unfortunately for ALCOA, Iceland has a law that requires that a company verify scientifically that there are no elves living on the land before they build. Rachel felt the need to ask the question as to whether this responsibility came under the "Department of Elf and Human Services?"

And now for my favorite joke of the week. It was delivered by Joy Behar on The View today. Goldberg brought up a new Republican Party bumper sticker that says "Honk if your paying My Mortgage." Goldberg also pointed out correctly that once again the Repubs only seem to want to go after the little guy never the big guy/donor. But, anyway, Joy popped up with her favorite bumper sticker of the Bush era and I only wish I'd had one myself: "Will Somebody Give Bush a Blowjob So We Can Impeach Him!" Love it.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck is an Idiot

2009-03-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

Actually she's not which is why it is clear that she is in a deep state of denial like most of her fellow Repubs. She seems like a caring person and somebody you could have a laugh with until she starts defending somebody like Rush Limbooger. Does she have any idea some of the things that this man has said?

Thirty one days ago when President Obama was sworn in Elizabeth Hasselbeck said on The View that even though she didn't vote for him she would hope for his success. Well, hells bells, that sure as heck didn't last too long. She now hopes, along with Rush and almost every other Repub, that the President fails. Quite a turn around wouldn't you say?

And, of course, what does that say about her morality that she would actually wish for her President to fail when her country is in the worst peril it may have ever experienced? I believe it says a lot which brings us back to the denial thing. Elizabeth is terribly concerned, along with Rush, that Obama is spending too much money in his attempt to bring this country back from the brink of the cliff - a cliff that he inherited. Where was her deep concern when GWB was bringing us to this point by borrowing billions from the Chinese to finance his war of choice against Iraq? In Elizabeth's moral world it is okay to spend money on killing innocent Iraqis but immoral to spend it on rescuing the country. Interesting.

Her failure to articulate her opinions in any manner that makes sense is brought home everyday by witnessing her method. If you cannot win an argument based on the facts at hand then you better be prepared to a. talk loudly, b. talk non-stop, and c. don't let any of your more intellectually capable co-hosts get a word in edge wise. I think that Repubs actually take classes in this method since the facts are never on their side.

If Rush Limbooger and Elizabeth the Hypocrite are what the Repubs have to offer these days then their party is hurting.

Leaving Iraq Later rather than Sooner

2009-02-27T16:29:00.000-08:00

Obama's speech today to a group of our troops was worth watching. Ever since GWB started using the military as his fallback audience it has been difficult for me to watch these spectacles but this time it seemed genuine. As if President Obama actually cares about them rather than using them as a readily available, and pliable audience or as a means of obtaining money from Congress. I was thrilled to hear that he wants to give them a raise. It is criminal what we pay contractors and what we pay our troops. I'd like it if the President would take a pledge to remove the contractors as soon as possible.

For those of us who have absolutely resented our presence in Iraq since the moment we entered we cannot get out soon enough. The date put forth by President Obama is August 2010 and since I was hoping for more like April 2009 I am a little disappointed. But I must be happy that progress is being made and I take hope in the fact that his desire to leave 25 to 50,000 residual troops there until 12/31/2011 may be talked down by the Democrats in Congress. At least according to Nancy Pelosi who was being interviewed by Rachel Maddow.

I noticed that Newt Grinch was running his mouth again today. He has aspirations of rising again as the new/old Republican leader. Apparently this rise from the ashes will start by him suggesting to the American people that Bush and Obama are essentially the same person. I mean Bush came up with the original big rescue plan for the banks (what a nasty big spender!) and Obama voted for it. And as Grinch points out President Obama is continuing down the road attempting to save our economy by more nasty spending. So you can see how this administration is just exactly like the last one. I guess if the American people buy that message than they really do deserve to go down the tubes.

Bobby Jindal is apparently still in hiding and I, for one, don't blame him one bit. If I was him and watched the tape later I'd have called my buddy Dick Cheney to find out exactly where that undisclosed location actually was! I waited in anticipation for John Stewart's take on the speech. His comparison of the entrance and the presentation as being very similar to Mr. Rogers was exceptionally on point. I'd also like to compliment him for suggesting that our President had to fight the urge to turn around and play Whack a Mole with Nancy Pelosi. An excellent an analogy that doesn't need to be explained if you watched the speech.

Obama Delivers a Speech about US!

2009-02-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

Was there anybody besides myself last night who was thinking how refreshing it was to be talking about the United States of America again? I mean really, for the last eight interminable years it’s been all about evil doers, weapons of mass destruction, rebuilding places like Iraq and Afghanistan now that we’ve wrecked them, and almost no discussion of our own country. Finally Obama spells it out loud and clear – It’s time to rebuild the United States of America.

Can you even begin to imagine what New Orleans would look like today if GWB had spent even a 1/10th of the money and time spent in Iraq on our own devastated city? It would be a completely re-born city, perhaps even better than it was before. It would be one thing if Iraq had attacked us like Japan did but they didn’t. This was a war of choice made for reasons that have nothing to do with “removing an evil dictator.”

Why would we even question the motives of an oil man, whose sidekick VP is also an oil man, and whose powerful friends (more oil men) made him President despite the voters wishes? It’s not rocket science people. Over the last eight years I’ve listened to all kinds of rubbish about him going into Iraq because of his daddy or because he wanted to be a war President. Nonsense! This was about securing oil for the oil men. It was about a last big hurrah where you put Trillions of tax payer dollars into the hands of oil men and their cronies so they can retire with our money to a foreign country. That way they get to keep it all with no chance of prosecution. This was a transfer of American wealth into just a very few hands.

Unfortunately for us even though we already gave all of our money to Haliburton we still owe the money that George borrowed from China. We get screwed twice! Obama told the American people in clear terms last night that the amount of deficit that GWB created hasn’t even yet been fully defined. Since he never included the cost of the war in his budget it has also not been included in the deficit numbers. This is going to hurt people.

So basically when a Republican these days says whoa we can’t afford this stimulus package because I’m a fiscally responsible conservative and you’re just a tax and spend liberal, I want to rear back and slap them in the face. Where do they get off? What did they think they were doing the last eight years if not driving the car that has now gone over the cliff?

I feel you have to ask yourself whether the Republicans are against spending money or just against spending money on Americans in America? They didn’t scream or cry about fiscal responsibility when we were spending money on Iraq or Afghanistan. They didn’t seem remotely disturbed that they were waging a war while cutting taxes for the rich (apparently some Americans are more deserving than others are). But now, suddenly, they are horribly affronted by the amount of money that Obama wants to spend on us.

The Republican party has shown us who they are over the last eight years and when people show you who they are then you need to believe them.