9.29.2003
LAND OF THE OSTRICHES
You can try and pretend that everything is normal. That things are going great. That for all it's flaws, that our government is here to help us.
Then you read this, and you realize what a massive crock of shit those thoughts are.
All I can say is that anyone who believes that giving our government any more power than they have already taken from us is beyond stupid.
go and tell me all about it
You can try and pretend that everything is normal. That things are going great. That for all it's flaws, that our government is here to help us.
Then you read this, and you realize what a massive crock of shit those thoughts are.
All I can say is that anyone who believes that giving our government any more power than they have already taken from us is beyond stupid.
go and tell me all about it
9.25.2003
HMMMMMMMMM......
I wonder why they care so much?
It's a nice concept the National do-not-call registry. I like it. I signed up 2 days after it went on-line.
But what we really need legislatively speaking is for our peronal information to stay with the companies we do business with, and not used as an other means of revenue generation for said companies. If you can't stay profitable within your core business, then maybe you should get out of it, instead of selling my demographic information to every Boilerroom Operator with a checkbook. Identity theft continues to be a growing problem in the US, and while much of it can be prevented by informed and cautious citizens, what we really need are Businesses that act above board on everything they do. Write your congressman - congratulate him/her on doing the right thing (unless it was one of the eight that voted against it, of course), and then tell them that this is only a start. That we need comprehensive privacy legislation that puts protection solidy in the hands of the people.
go and tell me all about it
I wonder why they care so much?
It's a nice concept the National do-not-call registry. I like it. I signed up 2 days after it went on-line.
But what we really need legislatively speaking is for our peronal information to stay with the companies we do business with, and not used as an other means of revenue generation for said companies. If you can't stay profitable within your core business, then maybe you should get out of it, instead of selling my demographic information to every Boilerroom Operator with a checkbook. Identity theft continues to be a growing problem in the US, and while much of it can be prevented by informed and cautious citizens, what we really need are Businesses that act above board on everything they do. Write your congressman - congratulate him/her on doing the right thing (unless it was one of the eight that voted against it, of course), and then tell them that this is only a start. That we need comprehensive privacy legislation that puts protection solidy in the hands of the people.
go and tell me all about it
LOOKING BACK AT THE PRESENT
I was reading this, when it occured to me - how will our essential rolling over for the Bush administration be viewed by future generations? Considering the powderpuff treatment Brit Hume gave him over at FOX, I'm sure people will wonder what mass hallucination we were all functioning under.
go and tell me all about it
I was reading this, when it occured to me - how will our essential rolling over for the Bush administration be viewed by future generations? Considering the powderpuff treatment Brit Hume gave him over at FOX, I'm sure people will wonder what mass hallucination we were all functioning under.
go and tell me all about it
9.24.2003
Not much to say right now, other than the new Blogger is getting under my skin, with its annoying posting, but not publishing when i post and publish. I hear lots of others mention things like this from time to time, so I guess it was just my turn to slog through this....
go and tell me all about it
go and tell me all about it
IT'S REVIVAL TIME
Ever get the feeling that the Prez really missed his true calling by heading of to the Ivy Leauge, Mucking about with numerous failed buisinesses (not to mention the Texas Rangers Professional Baseball Team), and the whole political career thing? The more I think about it, the more I realize what George was best cut out for.
He would make a real folksy Evangelist.
I'm serious here. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Revival Tent Brand of preaching, let me give you a Cliff's Notes version of the methodology.
a. Keep the topics simple. Don't worry that real problems in our lives and the world around us are often complex, and at time quite difficult to fully understand. The trick here is to boil a problem down into an almost trivial sounding issue - so that the proposed remedy that the Preacher is going to present to us seems like a no brainer. (ex. Al Queda and Saddam were in Leauge with one another. Now there is no proof that they were, but it sounds good and makes blowing the shit out of Iraq almost seem justified)
b. Keep Detractors on the defensive. This is an easy one. With enough passion (or venom), a good Preacher can make your mom seem like a painted whore. Anyone who questions the divinity of the Preacher's message is an emmisarry of evil. (ex. Bush used the cliche'd but never out of style "With us or against us" line of crap)
c. Make sure that everything is set up in a simple good/bad black/white kind of mentality. Make sure that you use only the darkest darks and whitest whites, so as to leave even the most addle-minded clear on the agenda. (ex. Remember the Axis of Evil bit Georgie gave us? - if that isn't classic foreshadowing I don't know what is)
d. Take the podunk town for all it's got. Move on to the next revival. Rinse. Repeat. (Patriot act, Massive Deficit Spending, Preferential treatment for certain government contractors [Halliburton], Over 2 million jobs lost in the U.S. in less than 3 years, a complete lack of honor)
Let me put it this way - Supporting the current administration and it's policies simply because you share the same political or religious affiliation of it's figurehead, would be like me helping a guy commit murder because we are both Steeler fans. It's assinine.
This Revival is scheduled to be in town for about another year or so - with designs on an extended engagement, but I'm hoping that a lot of you will go to the polls with me next november and revoke the permit.
go and tell me all about it
Ever get the feeling that the Prez really missed his true calling by heading of to the Ivy Leauge, Mucking about with numerous failed buisinesses (not to mention the Texas Rangers Professional Baseball Team), and the whole political career thing? The more I think about it, the more I realize what George was best cut out for.
He would make a real folksy Evangelist.
I'm serious here. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Revival Tent Brand of preaching, let me give you a Cliff's Notes version of the methodology.
a. Keep the topics simple. Don't worry that real problems in our lives and the world around us are often complex, and at time quite difficult to fully understand. The trick here is to boil a problem down into an almost trivial sounding issue - so that the proposed remedy that the Preacher is going to present to us seems like a no brainer. (ex. Al Queda and Saddam were in Leauge with one another. Now there is no proof that they were, but it sounds good and makes blowing the shit out of Iraq almost seem justified)
b. Keep Detractors on the defensive. This is an easy one. With enough passion (or venom), a good Preacher can make your mom seem like a painted whore. Anyone who questions the divinity of the Preacher's message is an emmisarry of evil. (ex. Bush used the cliche'd but never out of style "With us or against us" line of crap)
c. Make sure that everything is set up in a simple good/bad black/white kind of mentality. Make sure that you use only the darkest darks and whitest whites, so as to leave even the most addle-minded clear on the agenda. (ex. Remember the Axis of Evil bit Georgie gave us? - if that isn't classic foreshadowing I don't know what is)
d. Take the podunk town for all it's got. Move on to the next revival. Rinse. Repeat. (Patriot act, Massive Deficit Spending, Preferential treatment for certain government contractors [Halliburton], Over 2 million jobs lost in the U.S. in less than 3 years, a complete lack of honor)
Let me put it this way - Supporting the current administration and it's policies simply because you share the same political or religious affiliation of it's figurehead, would be like me helping a guy commit murder because we are both Steeler fans. It's assinine.
This Revival is scheduled to be in town for about another year or so - with designs on an extended engagement, but I'm hoping that a lot of you will go to the polls with me next november and revoke the permit.
go and tell me all about it
9.11.2003
It's 1:02am in New York City, as I write this. September 12. Just another day. 11 is still lingering here though on the Westrn fringe. I've dona an admirable job of avoiding the main topic of the day, like a seasoned boxer ducking a clumsy jab. That's not to say that I didn't remember. I remember most days. For me it will always be the begining of a very dark time. When F.D.R.'s admonision that "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself", was tossed aside for a fundamentalist junta, so preoccupied with feeding it's own ravenous appetite, while wallowing so deep in fear-mongering tactics, and slowly disintegrating everything I ever thought his country stood for.
I can still tell you where I was, but my location is irrelevant to the event, so I see no reason to dredge it up. For some this mourning seems to be theraputic, but I suspect that it does a job on the old psyche, how these people can even find the strength to get up in the morning. The way they somberly recount the errata of their relationship to the events of that day, regardless of how absolutely disconnected from them they might be truly disturbs me.
Still people deal with the events of the day in their own ways, and I certainly offer no magic words to get to the other side. I'll just try and keep things in my own perspective, try and not sound too paranoid, and pray that greatness returns to our society in a way that does not involve jack boots.
go and tell me all about it
I can still tell you where I was, but my location is irrelevant to the event, so I see no reason to dredge it up. For some this mourning seems to be theraputic, but I suspect that it does a job on the old psyche, how these people can even find the strength to get up in the morning. The way they somberly recount the errata of their relationship to the events of that day, regardless of how absolutely disconnected from them they might be truly disturbs me.
Still people deal with the events of the day in their own ways, and I certainly offer no magic words to get to the other side. I'll just try and keep things in my own perspective, try and not sound too paranoid, and pray that greatness returns to our society in a way that does not involve jack boots.
go and tell me all about it
