A severe case of the ...

I cant wrap my frontal lobe around just one theme today....

THE FOX NEWS THING....

Yep, the ratings are out and they are first again in cable TV, killing everybody in sight with Bill O'Reilly still king of the hill. So what? I say. Add up MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, ABC, CBS, PBS and NBC and the preponderance of the media is still pretty liberal in its prism. I know my progressive / left blogger brethren like to pound on the little network that could, but I hear as much bullshit, lies and skewed massaging of the news from the 7 dwarfs as I do from the Fox fellas. I personally like MSNBC for whatever reason, but I am a known to be a glutton for punishment. I think people are pissed because Fox has the better looking eye candy...

Al Gore the Oscar Winner...

It was good to see Al Gore peel himself away from the buffet table long enough to waddle up there to accept the Oscar. And he won for doing a movie that mixes some very truthful facts with some amazing stretches of subjectivity. No, I am not an expert on Global whatever, but I personally picked 7, SEVEN facts in this celluloid masterpiece that were -at best- pure fiction. But hey, if Al really believed his own bellowing he would have rolled up to the red carpet in a stretch Toyota Prius with 22-inch wheels and recycled tires..., screw the hypocrite bastard I say...

What makes religion the bogeyman?...

It occurred to me today that the left bangs away at the dangers of electing anybody with a deep devotion to their faith (that's code for Romney bashing, by the way), but isn't bowing to the vestiges of big Government or to the evangelical fury of zen environmentalism the same thing? So its dangerous to elect somebody because he or she is a Mormon or a Baptist, but its OK to elect somebody who kneels at other altars of worship? Isn't a deep belief in ANY ideology whether its socialism, capitalism, anarchy, religion or otherwise just that?... a deep belief in something?... I know its not an apples for apples comparison, and there are too many factors to make this a simple dissection of study,.... but my mind still does not see the dangers of either thing, UNLESS they use that one singular belief as their sole axis of governance. I say screw U if you use religion as a basis of rule, and even a bigger screw U if you use big government as the sole source of your platform. You want to believe that Christ came from a virgin and walked on water?,.. go ahead and rule the freakin' Country. You want to believe in the power of the almighty Government to cure all the evils of society,... jump in as well. We've had far greater idiots in our history who served far worse masters...

So we have decided to talk to Iran...

I know this is gonna' sound like I am a Republican (and I actually was at the time), but I remember in 1980 when Iran held our people hostage at the embassy,... Reagan did not even mince words. He simply said "If the hostages are still there at my inaugural, your country is a parking lot the next day". The hostages were on a 747 on their way home the day of the election. I know, its Neanderthal thinking, and its not the way of this brave new "we are the world" globe,... but an important part of strong diplomacy is giving the appearance of being crazy enough to drop a tactical nuke in someones back yard if they don't play ball. Talking to Iran made sense oh... 15 years ago when we where aiding Saddam pummel them in the 8-year Iran-Iraq war, not today. We are not in a position of strength. Bush 43 obviously did not take lessons from 41 on this one. Truman, where the hell are you?.... We are the incredibly shrinking country. Let's just give ourselves back to England and be done with it...

the Penn State of thinking...

...I spent a week in Pennsylvania visiting my daughter and the differences between there and here (California) still has me in haze...

~ As opposed to Cali, you order fast food in the drive-through and people are just so very kind and courteous that it is jarring to the senses. In addition, you don't need a U.N. interpreter to figure out if fries come with the burger.
~ Unlike Cali, there are no culture wars brewing in the streets, at least not apparent. There are few foreign-soil flags visible, regardless of the fact that there are polish, Italians, Jews, Irish and Puerto Ricans there. Most everybody flies the U.S. flag in their front porch, no matter the political ideology. What a novel concept...
~ As economically depressed as the region is, I am amazed at the disposition and can-do spirit of the township. Not a lot of victims here, just ordinary folks born to believe they are not owed anything except a fair shot at happiness; I wish it was contagious...
~ As news spread about the region's first war casualty, all the talk in the town was on how to pull together and make sure the family of the fallen soldier was not in need of anything. Posters, newspaper articles, .... regular conversation at the town diner all centered around helping their own. No anti-war this, or pro-war that,... just men and woman rolling up their sleeves and asking "how can we help?" What a resilient and warm-hearted people.
~ When asked what I was doing visiting a place like their little town, -considering I live in the Golden State-, I answered "well, my daughter lives here, but I am learning to love it here so I hope to be a regular visitor".... At first they looked at me strange,... but then they smiled, and asked about MY life, and is it true about all they say about California,... I tell them they aren't missing anything.

I've been back 14 hours. Already my stress level is back to Defcon 3, I found my car was keyed along the door while I was gone, there was a drive-by shooting at the local high-school and have been told I am going to be going to a "diversity and cultural" training as part of our company's involvement in the community. Funny, I doubt there is little -if any- cultural and diversity training in this little Pennsylvania township. People are just regular Americans, living a hard blue-collar life, ... with very little complaining about it. Is it perfect? no (what is?), are there problems? sure, of course. Can the region use an infusion of capital, and other economic help? Absolutely. But why then, are the people there, much happier than the people that supposedly have it all?... Is it perspective? or is it just me wishing for simpler things?... whatever it is, the American dream is not dead, it has not vanished. It's still there in middle Americana. The big metropolitan areas may have the masses, the glitz, the glamour, the population explosion and the cultural diversity to boast,... but its little towns like this little place in north-west Pennsylvania that has my heart. Beam me up.

Headed to Pennsylvania...

The House of Pain is closing for the weekend,... my daughter beckons and I have a Friday flight to catch....

I'm beginning to like going to the Quaker State. It is like a major-league detox from my life in California,... not to mention that I am on the market for a house there,... just to have a nest for when I visit my little one,... and to have something to give her when my time here is up....

Try to keep your opinions in your holster until I get back..., but if you must shoot, at least know what you are aiming towards....

Be back Thursday ...

Education, the real silver bullet...

Education is IT for me. My father taught me the love of reading, of discovery, of questioning; and the joys of challenging the common notion of things. To this day I thank him for investing so much time in my personal education.

Libertarians like me are always harping about choices, about freedom and liberties, about the power of the individual versus the intellectually lazy way (to us) of depending on the grander schemes or Government "anythings" to make things better. But I wonder, is Education the one exception to my self-imposed ideology; is it the aberration? Allow me to give a little perspective to my quagmire.

Most of the time, I believe in the power of choice. Choice is good. Choice allows me to pick the best from that which the market offers me. The question in my mind? Is the sacred chalice of Education something to be seen with a "market" prism? or does it fall under -what I call- the "social aberrations" of our culture; meaning things like the Military.

In the military there is no choice. Over a period of more than 200 years, the military has forged a system of conduct, protocols, ideals and -for better or for worse- a culture of being that makes the marching in lock-step a virtue, and not a place for questioning of authority or methods. From the birth of our nation, we drove towards that single ideal. It needed to be done, and it worked. There are no million roads to China there, only one path. No dissent, no discourse. There is one military, one ideal.... , and most importantly, one standard. Stop for a second and contemplate what I just said, ... one standard. Is a standard more important in education than choice? (shudders...). Should we as a nation trade the ideals of choice when it comes to educating our kids, for an agreed-upon standard?

I am beginning to believe that to be true. For as much as I applaud people who take the challenge of home-schooling their kids, and knowing personal successes of home-schooling myself, I cannot deny that there are plenty of home-school parents who have no idea what they are doing and are thus harming the chalice of education for their kids. Regular schooling? I know, I know. For every good school there's a few crappy ones, for every excellent teacher there is one less able to teach, even a bad apple here and there. Heck, in states like California it takes the proverbial act of legislature to fire a teacher who has shown time and time again that he is incapable of teaching. The unions are that strong....., but be that as it may, and in spite of these challenges, education should not fly in the winds of whimsical market shifts. Education HAS to be standardized; there HAS to be a methodology from which any, repeat ANY child can start to fulfil whatever potential was written in his or her genetic code. The level playing field starts right there, in the solace and temple of that classroom. Is education a place for experimentation? for deviations of curriculum to adjust to the nuances of regional and cultural idiosyncrasies? Maybe,... but I am going to admit that I just don't know; and when I don't know, I play the conservative card. The Education a child receives at the hands of his parents or caretakers, what he is taught about life, morality and the culture around him will be variation enough. Religion will stick its finger in there somewhere, pop culture will weigh-in to the child, and on and on will these factors take part in the life-education of a child. Nevertheless, the "scholarly" education in a child's life should be the lifesaver from which these plebes can hang onto when the ocean around them is stormy, when the home life is un-safe, and when there is no hope left. Education should be that silver bullet that kills that big bad wolf of poverty and social despair.

So the question is, does Government get more involved?... or less...,

One of the tenants of President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" initiative involves the testing of teachers and schools; and "grading" them for the success, or lack thereof of the system it employs to teach. When I first heard of this, I was like "hell yeah!, I get tested, graded and evaluated for every flipping thing I do in my job, what's wrong with Teacher's tasting the same sauce everybody else has to suck on?" If they can't take the heat, fire their asses I said...

(at this point my posting was stewing on draft status until...)

Today, I was blog-hopping around my usual suspects when I happened to drop into QuakerDave's blog. Anybody who's perused both our blogs knows that besides an affinity for music, the state of New Jersey, and the obvious love for our children; there is little in common as to ideology. A libertarian he is not. Nevertheless, he laid down one of the funniest, most sarcastic and full-of-true-ism postings I've read in some time. I beg you, take a read of it; you won't be disappointed, no matter what side of the fence your watching this from. At the very least you will admire the irony of things. The very notion of events I want to happen, -the standardization of things and testing to make teachers and schools "better"-, he finds to be a flagrant intrusion of government, the very thing I hate the most... ironic indeed. (nice rant QD).

Can you feel my pain?.... have I ever been more torn?......, Let me end with this. There is a 5 year-old girl, in a little town in western Pennsylvania, going to a public school, and hoping to learn the joys of reading, the joys of discovery and the joys of learning; just like I did back in the day. That little girl is my daughter. Maybe my ethos of choice is skewed when it comes to my kid, whose isn't?... Am I am being naive in thinking that the interests of Teacher's unions, home-schools, school districts and public and private institutions of all methods can somehow put aside their own unique interests for the sake of my kid's future? Maybe they can,... and maybe it will even happen in my lifetime,..... a libertarian can dream, can't he?...

Wanted, Congressional Scrotum Magnus...

The new and improved Congress of the United States took center stage today. Not to discuss important things such as the national debt (something that gets no pub at all), not to discuss say Social Security or Medicare, two looming disasters; not to talk about re-newable energy sources, fundamental problems in funding varied educational systems, not to discuss the viability of single payer health care, not to discuss the increasing size of the budget and or Federal Government, nor the importance of dialogue between nations of differing cultures,... Nope. They got together to discuss, -for 3 days mind you...- a NON BINDING resolution to curtail the deployment of further troops to Iraq. Nice. Three days, getting paid, to TALK about a resolution that will -in the end- mean nothing to anybody but idiot bloggers like me.

I just can't get past it. If I were to tell my Director at work that I was going to spend 3 days on a "non-binding" anything, I would be summarily fired without question. Can anything be more un-productive as a resolution with no bite, no directive, no force or action, no reason in being other than allow the blowhards to vent away with Keith Olbermann narrating the play by play? What to hell does that do? Non-binding? Like I don't know what these clowns stand or don't stand for in the first place! Other than allow everybody face-time on C-SPAN, ... what does it do? Non-binding...,Is that akin to wearing a condom without the reservoir tip? And we wonder why the cynicism towards do-nothing-Congresses? In the name of all that is holy or hole-y or goalie, or ... Tom Foley.... will Congress ever grow a sack of balls and say what they really want to say?...

I will.

"We the so-and-so (insert number) Congress of the United States, do hereby declare the following in this year of our ___________ (insert Lord, other God or other pagan idol) two-thousand and seven...

~ Whereas the President of the United States has conducted this war in a manner not mirroring the true nature of its original intent, or at least not in a way any of us experts would have him do it...
~ Whereas empirical proof exists of blatant and abhorrent corruption in the fiscal management of said war, thus draining the national treasure of precious reserves to the tune of a trillion-plus; moneys for which the further expansion of the size of Government can be achieved, not to mention pork projects and other earmarks...
~ Whereas the preponderance of Senators voted en mass to authorize the use of said force with no tangible or irrefutable proof so as to authorize such stupidity and are now trying to wiggle their way out of it..., and getting away with the wiggling',,,
~ Whereas the Congress of the United States has lost faith in the ability of the President to fully undertake his duties and responsibilities of Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, (especially the stupid landing on the Aircraft Carrier for which we are still pissed...)
~ Whereas we the representative of the people are tired of getting impaled with new orifices by all the bloggers in the world wide web...

... For the above-mentioned reasons, (and many more that we could say if we had as much time for this crap as we do to rub elbows with Lobbyists) we hereby forgo any more appropriations of the Federal Treasury towards the foreign military interventions in Iraq. Furthermore, the President will present to Congress his plan for immediate withdrawal of troops levels to coincide with the ending of said funding...

Signed~~~ Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, U.S. Congress.

See? It took me 10 minutes to write that up; and from the musings I gather from the blogosphere, it pretty well mimics what every Senator and Congressmen wants to say, but for reasons unknown to me, dares not say it. People, for once in your sorry election cycle-lives, can you just do what you think is best for the flippin' country instead of posturing your platitudes for the media? Can we have a "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" moment from anybody? hello?..... anybody?... My fellow bloggers, all irony and sophomoric sarcasm aside; Is this not stupid? Regardless of your political leanings, regardless of whether you agree with the resolution's theme or not, .... can we stop pissing on each other and agree to collectively condemn this action as unproductive, silly and tantamount to grand-standing?...

The Butterfly Effect ....

Politics is like the NFL, I swear. Just like the end of the season, marks the countdown to the college draft, does the end of the Congressional elections mark the beginning of the "draft" for the primaries of the Presidential elections. Its never-ending. Sometimes I think the networks, bloggers and media keep the hype going just to get ratings. It really is the best reality show on the tube.

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "Who do you think is going to win in 08?'", I would have serious dead Presidents in the Banco de Truth-Pain. Its like a cottage industry, political guesswork is. And don't look now, but with Obama, Clinton, Romney, Giuliani, McCain, Brownback, et al having announced its going to be a looooooong 2 years. Don't get me wrong, it gives us blogger-holics serious fodder for rants, but to be honest, I am already burned-out on the topic. Trouble is, there are just so many juicy tangents... you can't help it. Speaking of tangents...

Barack Obama. I guess he is running. I first saw him speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Good looking man, elegant, composed and charming to a T. He made a good speech, not great, but good. But then again, -for better of for worse-, any "eloquent and articulate" black politician is going to sound great after you hear Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do their usual thing. I've visited a few websites that have his entire Illinois voting record during his years as a State Senator. Make no mistake, he is a liberal, a believer in "New Deal" philosophies. He is bluer than blue, and the only "purple" thing in his past is owning a few Prince CD's, that's it. I've read his book;... the whole thing. Its ok. He probably had a ghost writer, to help him edit and bring the whole thing together, but a Pulitzer prize winning tome this is not. Way too much of a "gee whiz" attitude for my reading taste, but I give the man credit; although he is a liberal at heart at least he is appearing to be saying the right things and looking at things with dignity and good manners. And to this humble man, that goes a long way. Is he experienced enough though? It should matter, but it won't. This the age of the TV president. Technically the best person should win, but he or she won't. The most qualified, compelling, visionary and experienced person should win. Nope, that's not gonna' happen either. Whomever survives the advertising bloodbath, raises the most money, panders to his base to win the primary, flip-flops like a Salmon in heat, and finally convinces the hoi poloi to yank the lever for him, ..... That is the one who will win, just like our founding fathers envisioned such a dignified process to be. But having said all of that, I ask myself, if i was a terrorist, who would I WANT in the white house?.... think about that one for a few minutes. Would I want another hard head like Bush who is going to come after my ass no matter what the public opinion says? or do I want a man like Obama who is many thing to many people and looks like he already has his finger on the "Iraq Eject" button?....

Finally, inquiring minds want to know, why is Obama referred to African-American? did the part about his mother being a Kansas Caucasian get lost somewhere? Seriously, I'm not being facetious or funny,... but it is funny to me. Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers is Black AND Korean yet not once have I heard him referred to as Korean-American. Same for Tiger Woods being Black AND Thai. I know enough about genetics to understand that black is a predominant gene etc, but something about that bugs me,... and I can't put my finger on it. But maybe if we started looking at people and not the skin then this trivial observation would be a moot point. That's another rant altogether.

I'm still betting on a Romney - Huckabee ticket by a touchdown over Clinton - Richardson. Yep, 7 points. This election will be like 1980.... it will not be close.... as my Libertarian vote once again pisses against the wind....

The "new and improved" Democrats...

High Flying Pelosi

I keep saying it and nobody believes me. Every time I hear a newly-elect party espouse "a fresh new beginning", I want to impale myself onto the headstock of my electric guitar...

You would think that the perpetually surprised-looking Pelosi would have learned from all those years waiting in the wings of what to do and maybe what NOT to do. After all the crap about the Republican Party's "culture of corruption", about the "free spending" government etc, now comes a little story (www.washingtontimes.com) about her using one of the largest Air Force jetliners to ferry her and her posse to California and back. Amazing. I know, i know,.... its the Washington Times; but even that defender of conservative values, Wolf Blitzer from CNN gave the story credibility so I don't want to hear it.

Look people, I am fully aware of the security needs the Speaker requires in these days of post-911 protocols,... but how can she not see that at the very least it looks bad! If Dennis Hastert could wedge his 300-lbs plus frame into a government Gulf-stream, then why can't she squeeze her skinny ass into the same damn plane? This C-32 jetliner she is supposed to be wanting is a $22,000 per hour guzzling monolith. Not too many congressmen get "non-stop" service from D.C. to their districts. Not too many congressman get to carry their entire staff, friends, family, the pet, and whatever other ass-kisser in sight. Why should Madame Pelosi get this joy? Nancy honey!, don't you care about me? Joe Taxpayer? What will the Sierra Club think of you? What of the effects to the environment? (snicker, snicker...) To top it off, instead of just saying "Look, I know how it looks, and I think I have to lead by example, so I've decided to accept Dennis' old jet when traveling to California, even if I do have to make a pit stop in Vegas (shucks). I'm sorry for the lapse of judgment"..... nope. Not even close. Watching her dance around the questions at her press conference made me think she was auditioning for the Spin Doctors.

I spent 6 years wailing and bashing on Bush 43 for spending like an irresponsible teen with his Dad's credit card. So now its Nancy's turn to get to a dose of my vile .... , what a crock of shit, pardon my vulgarity. As a man who is more than willing to give ANY party not my own the chance to shine and win me over I look for reasons to have faith in a new beginning when a new Congress or a new President comes to office, regardless of party. But its doings like these that sears into my frontal lobe that what used to be an elephant, is now a donkey,... albeit with an extreme makeover; and terrible eyebrows. Go ahead Dems, explain this one ,... I'm all ears..., donkey ears that is.

(The more this unravels, the more I am beginning to think the press, and I, may have jumped the gun in the judging of Ms. Pelosi. I am quick to hammer the press for pulling this fast-trigger shit. If I got this wrong, and many things point to that very fact, then I am sending a letter to the Speaker's webite and will apologize for publishing something not factual. I am giving myself 24 hours before I kill this posting- TP)

"Articulate"... the anti-ebonics

And here I was thinking the topics would be boring....

Joseph Biden's mouth got him in trouble,... again. In comments about Senator Obama, he mentioned that the Senator was the first maintstream (paraphrasing) "clean-cut and articulate" African-American candidate in a long time. Maybe by "mainstream" he meant someone not mind-melded with the typical pure left or liberal viewpoint of most blacks in the political world, but really, who knows what he meant It has created quite the firestorm in this news cycle. Topics like these are difficult to discuss, and are typed and treated in the blogosphere with condom-fingers. Nobody wants to get too close. Let me take a crack at it.

I think its true that when a black person speaks accurately (as I define it), with no slang, Ebonics, or cultural affinities, it gives the illusion to most people that they are better educated and "above and beyond" (my terminology) to the images they generally hold for Black Americans. I am first in line to admit this. All,.. and I repeat ALL my black friends speak to me with "black-ism" sprinkled words. I don't even question it, think about it, or really pay mind to it. Heck, it doesn't stop with blacks. I know Latinos, Asians and Caucasians that take the style as their own, and credit the phenomena to the hip-hop culture and not necessarily to the black community per se. But does that fact deny that I don't judge them somewhat? No. I do. One particular friend was pissed when he felt he blew an interview about a month ago. And he felt, justifiably so, that he was being judged by the way he talks and not by his answers to the questions at hand.

In listening to the talk shows and reading editorials, I can fully understand why some people are upset. To them, coat-tailing any description of a black person with the word "articulate" is code for the person talking in lock-step with the ideals of what the predominantly white majority deems acceptable and standard. I can see how that would piss anybody off. But just like saying that ANY black person having "white" diction, accent and pronunciation is a sellout to their race; the notion that being articulate is a back-handed compliment is just as narrow-minded. Personally I admire people with good diction and flow of gab. In politics I admire people like Mitt Romney, Russ Feingold, Jim Webb, Gary Locke, Bill Clinton and Mike Huckaby. Not necessarily for their views -which are as varied as anything-, but because I admire anyone who can put a collection of sentences together into an opinion that is easily digestible. I love when I can hear someone give me their thoughts saliently and cleanly. I love a good voice, a good story-teller. Not everybody can do that. So when someone comes along that sticks out as "eloquent", I say it. Tell me you can listen to James Earl Jones, Colin Powell and Barack Obama and not say "eloquent" or "articulate". It cries for it; regardless of race. Yet, I can't say the same for other "well spoken" black or white legislators. Having good diction and a lack of regional accent does not an articulate person make. Look, listen to any black Briton, without knowing their race,... can you tell what race they are? Sure there are differences in what is considered "good" English and "low brow" English, but to me, more British subjects take their lingo seriously enough to uphold some basic standards of their language than us Yanks do. Listen to a guy like Seal, ... it's beautiful to hear him speak. Its not the fault of anyone but the preponderance of the black community that Ebonics is considered cool and cultural. Americans don't hold their children to a standard of speech and diction. Nowadays our culture, education and views are too politically correct to even go near that concept. We mangle our national tongue at the peril of being judged by it. Its not a black or white thing, at the end of it all, its a choice. Resistance is futile. Is judging people by the way they talk wrong? In principle, yes. Do I think the majority of us do it purposely to put people down? No. It is what it is. A reflection of the social condition we all condemn, or bless.

As to the "clean-cut" thing?.... I've no quarrel with that. I laughed today when I heard Al Sharpton rail against Joe Biden. If you ask Al Sharpton if he looked "clean cut" -when he was pimping the streets of Harlem in white Nike sweats and a 40 pound gold medallion around his neck-, whether he looked clean cut or not -as opposed to the dapper Al that he now reflects-, I doubt his diatribe would sound the same.

I think Joe Biden said what we all feel and think, without much though to it, and certainly without malice. The Neil Kinnock plagiarism bomb was one thing,... this is just something that happens to most of us every day. Maybe this is one of those events that will help us study our prejudices. Maybe it will do a lot of things, but giving white America yet another reason to be terrified of yet another word they can't use in daily life is just stupid. Why should Joe Biden get it in the shorts?

Oh yeah, if you're wondering what does the photo have to do with the posting?.... probably nothing. It's just thought-provoking....., and if you know me....

Buenos Dias...

Seems like I've been gone longer than just a two months. Since my last posting, I've visited the lovely state of Pennsylvania to visit my daughter, settled nicely into my new position within my company, and have had a nice long vacation from blogs and politics. Not because of burnout, or "mental cleansing"; but just because like everything else in life, one needs to step back sometimes, take measure of yourself and your beliefs, and move forward when you are ready to go.

One of the things I am looking forward to doing is enlarging my blog roll. I have to admit, I fall into what is familiar in terms of blogs. Regardless of views, my comfort level is there with those of you kind enough to have accepted (or not) my comments, and you all know who you are, yes? I know there are literally thousands of great bloggers yet to be discovered, and I hope to bring some of those to light in the coming months.

As to the current topics?.... I have plenty of ammo stored in the dungeon and my acerbic tongue is just as lovely so don't think I am a kinder, gentler TP,... but maybe I am a wiser one. At least I hope so. It will be good to read all your blogs again.......... Onward!

(p.s. oh yeah, that is my mug, in case you were wondering what TP looks like:)