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DIVIDING LINES

Posted on October 28, 2013 by halviv

“We have met the enemy and he is us,” said Pogo, a cartoon critter located, with his pals, in the Okefenokee swamps in Louisiana. While this quote appeared in Walt Kelly’s cartoon strip during the 1970s, it was never more true than in today’s on-going political and social events. The country has never been more divided in the nearly 150 years since the Civil War ended. As a result, consequences adversely affecting our economy and and society as a whole are multiplying on a daily basis due to our highly polarized and dysfunctional government. And this polarized government merely reflects the deep divisions and fault lines that have developed among the citizenry of this country. Unless some leadership rises to the forefront that has a uniting ability to bring us together, we are becoming the divided states of America.

Let’s take a gander at some of these fault lines. Red states, those that reliably and consistently vote Republican, exist throughout the entire south, except, perhaps, for Northern Virginia and Florida. Red states also exist in parts of the mid-west and west, such as Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Montana. Blue states, those that more often vote Democratic, are situated primarily in the northeast, and west coast, along with several in the mid-west such as  Ohio and Illinois. The problem is that there is a world of difference between the political, social and religious views of majorities in the Red and Blue states. Red state majorities are becoming more religiously fundamentalist, and politically right-wing in their views of American society. The tea party’s primary political clout comes mostly from southern Red states. Their extremism is made obvious in issues that were once thought to be settled policy, but are now up for grabs. For example, a woman’s right to obtain birth control pills, an issue thought to be firmly established by the early 1960s, suddenly became a big deal in the 2012 election. Also, Red states have been establishing more and more stringent abortion rules, to the point where it’s getting almost impossible for women in Mississippi or Texas or other Red states to obtain legal abortion services. The quest to overturn Roe V. Wade is a driving force among and Red state partisans.

Red states are also circumventing the Voting Rights Act of 1964 by enacting new barriers for the poor and minorities to cast their ballots. Knowing that these groups usually vote Democratic, Red states are now requiring that potential voters obtain photo IDs before being registered. Since many poor can’t afford cars, and thus don’t have a driver’s license, (the only photo ID I have in my wallet) the effort to cast one’s vote can become exceedingly difficult. But, a primary tactic, if you belong to the tea party, in keeping the “riff-raff” out of the voting booth, and assuring that Red states remain solidly red. The culture wars are also a casualty of the Red state-Blue state divide. While many, if not most Blue states have legalized gay marriage, almost all Red states are fighting gay rights and marriage, tooth-and-nail. In Red state country, homosexuality is still among the deepest of sins and an abomination. This past summer, the CEO of Chick-Fil-A, a fried chicken chain located mostly in the south and mid-west, likened approval of gay rights to punching God in the face. If we don’t change our ways, he warned, God will wreck his vengeance on this country. To show solidarity with that kind of thinking, this past summer, hundreds, if not thousands, of like-minded customers, lined up for hours in front of Chick-Fil-A outlets to gobble down some greasy fried chicken.

The worsening of the political, social, religious, and cultural chasms afflicting our country came to a boiling point in the latest government shutdown we all experienced. Led by Red state tea-partiers in the Senate, and, especially, in the House, Republicans were quite willing to have the government cease functioning unless the President agreed to defund his signature health care legislation. This political suicide mission was led by Senator Ted Cruz, the recently elected tea-party favorite from, of course, Texas. The son of Rafael Cruz, who fought with Fidel Castro to overthrow the Batista regime in Cuba; but who, subsequently fell out of favor with Castro and fled to the U.S. To atone for supporting Castro in the first place, Rafael established a large fundamentalist, evangelical church in Texas which he runs to this day. He also imbued son Ted with a deep hatred of secular, all-powerful government, to the point where Senator Ted equates the Obama administration to the regime run by Castro in Cuba. Thus, Senator Cruz’s kamikaze mission to defund and destroy Obamacare.

Of course, this tea party effort has been greatly abetted by unbelievable Democratic ineptitude. An overly clumsy piece of legislation to begin with, but with 3 years to prepare, the rollout of Obamacare on-line has been a mind-bogling nightmare. Administration sloppiness in implementing this Act is, in effect, the Democrats doing the Republicans dirty work for them. Perhaps the Democrats will finally get their act together, and create a reasonable, glitch-free on-line site, where, in the near future, people that are uninsured, can actually obtain reasonably priced health insurance. Don’t hold your breath, however.

Of course, tea-party Republicans, (most are now, especially in the House) will keep coming like the charge of the light brigade, that I wrote about previously, to destroy Obamacare and the rest of the President’s political agenda. Even if it’s a similar suicide mission. The agreement to re-open the government has an expiration date come January, when Washington, once again gets to put its fiscal follies on stage. Meanwhile the political, social, religious, and cultural values dividing this country, grow deeper and more entrenched. Nothing good can ever come of that.

 

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THE DIEHARDS

Posted on October 24, 2013 by halviv

In 1854, British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote his classic poem, “The Charge of The Light Brigade,” which was based on actual events that occurred during the Crimean War (1854-1856.) The war united Britain, France and Turkey in a very bloody confrontation with Russian expansionist goals in Europe. As you may well know, the history of Europe is replete with centuries of constant warfare. There were often shifting alliances among countries fighting each other. For example, Britain and France engaged in numerous bloody wars over many centuries. But in the Crimean War, Britain and France were united, along with Turkey, in battling Russia. Lord Tennyson’s poem covers a specific event that resulted from a General’s incredibly incompetent and blundering orders to have a British light brigade (which was comprised of about 600 calvary men) charge Russian fortifications over an unprotected, flat terrain.

There was no way this mission could have succeeded and every one of the 637 in the light brigade knew they were being sent on a suicide mission. Yet they were bound by their honor to obey orders. As Tennyson wrote: “Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred.” Other famous lines from the poem are: “Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.” Needless to say, the men in the light brigade were slaughtered like cattle, an obvious outcome from the beginning. But representative of a diehard mentality that will bear any price, no matter how hopeless the outcome, in order to achieve its goals. Which brings us to the Government shutdown we all just endured for a couple of weeks. It was the same diehard tea party mentality, that the only way they would allow the Government to stay open and function, was to defund Obamacare. A political suicide mission that failed to accomplish its goal and whose only achievement was giving about 800 thousand federal employees a free, two-week paid vacation. And since the Government was only allowed to re-open on a temporary basis, we get to experience this all over again in January.

So I began wondering who exactly are these tea-party diehards and extremists, that now seem to control most of the Republican Party, especially in the House of Representatives. From what I’ve gleaned, the common thread that runs through tea-party mentality is a virulent hatred of Government. Nothing delights them more than actually seeing the Government being closed for business. So I’ve put together a list of common denominators that one is likely to possess to be in the tea-party movement. Sort like that comedy routine some years back about being a redneck. For example, you know you’re a redneck if you pee against the same tree trunk that your dog does, when out for a walk. So here goes in identification of who is in the tea-party.

You’re likely to be a tea-partier if you’re a fundamentalist, evangelical Christian. Although the New Testament focuses heavily on helping the poor and the sick, evangelicals go bonkers at thought of the Federal Government providing such assistance. I believe this goes back to when the Government sanctioned stuff like legalized abortion, widespread availability of birth-control, gay rights and marriage, removal of religion from public schools, availability of pornography, etc. Nothing good could ever come from any Government that allows such satanic occurrences. So in the evangelical mindset, the Government is the devil’s playground, bent on destroying organized religion. The Government is to be fought tooth and nail in order to preserve their religious freedoms and beliefs.

You’re likely to be a tea-partier if you believe that the poor, the sick and the elderly that receive Government assistance are nothing but slackers. They’re either lazy, indolent, dumb, or inept, or a combination of all of these. They’re the 47% that receive Government handouts, that Mitt Romney talked about when he thought all the cameras had been shut off. I wonder if he still ascribes his election loss to those “on the dole” as they used to say. In these tea-party minds, the income taxes they pay are all going into the pockets of those too lazy to work. Their taxes are never spent on the military or counter-intelligence efforts, but go strictly to those with their hands out. Therefore, the tea-partier hates the Government in general and the IRS in particular, and bitterly resents forking over the tax money he’s forced to pay.

You’re likely a tea-partier if you’re paranoia has reached through the stratosphere, and you feel the Government is out to destroy your life or kill you altogether. Or perhaps throw you into one of those large concentration camps the Government is building somewhere in Indiana to house political dissidents. You know the Government is reading all your emails and tweets, so if you erred in emailing your recipe to Grandma for chicken-pot-pie your life is as good as over. And where does all this paranoia come from? Try listening to the Rush Limbaughs or Glen Becks of so-called “talk radio.” They claim to have millions of listeners all tuning in for their daily dose of paranoia or Barack Obama vitriol. The same is true if you watch Fox News on TV.

Your likely to be a tea-partier if believe that America should become a shrinking violet in foreign affairs instead of leader of the free world. Of course, in that regard, right-wing wackos have teamed up with left-wing looney-tuners to bring about this current state of affairs. It’s one of the reasons that the mid-east is crumbling into chaos before our very eyes. One of the reasons that a terrorist state like Iran is about to cross the finish line in building nuclear weaponry.

I could go on but I believe you get the picture. I haven’t even talked about Ted Cruz, the unofficial tea-party leader and crusader in Congress. Or his evangelical father who runs a fundamentalist church. But my endurance is waning, so I guess I’ll save all that for another posting. It’s that senior thing again.

 

 

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REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

Posted on October 14, 2013 by halviv

This is not about the classic by Marcel Proust, although kudos to you, if you are one of the few that has been able to read Proust from cover-to-cover. Instead this entry is about what old-timers do with increasing frequency; and that is dwell on memories of past occasions. Mainly, I believe, to escape the aches and pains of the so-called golden years. Which should really be called the zinc alloy years.

In any event, and for no particular reason, I got to thinking about my life during the 1950s, as I was taking my Sunday walk, yesterday. During that decade I went from early teen-agehood into my early 20s. I grew up in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn that was roughly half Jewish and half Italian; and would hang out with guys named Vinny or Vito or Carmine, as well as Robert, Alvin and Seymour. In those days people aged much more quickly and died a lot sooner than today. People started looking real old by the time they reached their mid-to-late 60s, and their life spans rarely went beyond their mid-to-late 70s. I remember as an early teenager hanging out with the guys in one of the neighborhood parks and watching the many old people that lived in the “hood.” Invariably, they were bent over, usually had to use a cane to walk, and barely had the energy to schlep from one park bench to the next. For most their teeth had been removed and they were wearing dentures. Or else, their teeth were in the process of falling out, virtually before our very eyes.

So, with youthful bravado, we declared that this was no way to live, and that the best thing for us would be in dying by age 60, or 65 at the very latest. After all, that was still a good 50 years into the future. At our young age, 50 years seemed like all eternity; so we bravely declared that by 65 we all preferred death rather than schlepping along, with a cane, all bent over, no energy and false teeth. We didn’t specify how death would occur by that age; it would somehow just materialize at our will. So now I’m well past that age limit, and I suspect the rest of my teenage “buds” are too. Indications of the progress medical science has made in the last several generations.

When I entered City College in the mid-1950s (where tuition at that time was a stunning $10 registration fee each semester) I quickly developed deep friendships with 3 other guys who shared similar views as mine. If you weren’t already aware, the 1950s was a particular stultifying decade, where strict conformity to what were considered societal norms was demanded of everyone. The 4 of us would routinely bemoan the widespread conformity that had been inflicted on everyone. So we became atheistic existentialists, and tried to behave as the French existentialist writers of the time did. Writers like Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Simone De Beauvoir. We would read all their stuff, and tried to tailor our thinking to accommodate their philosophies. When Albert Camus was killed in an auto accident in Algeria in the 1950s, it was as if we had lost a parent. To believe in God when there was so much wretchedness and despair in the world was unthinkable. When the Beat Generation finally came upon scene during the latter part of the 1950s, with writers such as Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsburg, it felt to us like a breath of fresh air.

But it came to pass, during those college years, that each of us got a part-time job, after school,  with a tax accountant who operated in the Bedford-Stuyvestant neighborhood of Brooklyn. For those of you not familiar with Brooklyn, (shame on you, if that’s the case) “Bed-Stuy” was an all black, mostly poor working class neighborhood, similar to Harlem in Manhattan. The man we worked for, who had a typical personality one would expect in a tax accountant, was named Herman Lord. Don’t think that the irony of we 4 would-be atheists working for The Lord, as we called him, was lost on us. The Lord had built his tax practice on the premise that everyone coming in to have their income taxes prepared would get a refund. And just about everyone did, since they all had low incomes. Once a man came in that had a high enough income to where he actually owed the Government money. I almost couldn’t find the words to inform him that he had to write a check to IRS.

In those days Bed-Stuy was as free from crime as any other neighborhood in America. Some nights I was in the office by myself, as the other guys didn’t have a shift, and The Lord had decided to take the night off. Never once did I have the slightest concern for my safety. When I would leave the office about 9:PM my car was often the only one parked on the street. Never once was any damage done to it. Of course, as we all know, those days are gone forever. After I graduated college, I had to get a full time job, and could no longer work for The Lord. Shortly thereafter, I wound up relocating to Paris, France for 3 years. I’ve written several previous blogs about my experiences in Europe, if you’re further interested.

The 1950s was also the decade that Dwight Eisenhower was President. Everyone liked Ike, even if you disagreed with his policies. Who couldn’t adore that warm smile he always generated. Today’s looney-tunes Republican Party would never nominate a sane, rational and moderate man such as Eisenhower who won 2 landslide elections. Perhaps the decline of the American empire started when the nation failed to heed Ike’s warning about the growing and intrusive influence of the military-industrial complex in our every-day lives. Or, perhaps it began when us four atheists stopped working for The Lord.

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ECOLOGICAL END OF DAYS

Posted on October 10, 2013 by halviv

For most people long-range planning consists of preparations for the coming weekend. Some people might establish long-range plans for their retirement years by creating specially-crafted financial investments. Most don’t, however. Some parents might establish college funds for their children’s future. A few of these often decide to vacation in places like Las Vegas and wind up blowing the kid’s college funds at the craps tables or slot machines. In the end, it’s human nature not to think very far into the future because most have a full plate just coping with the present. But if you are the parents of young children, or are just a young person period, you might want to give some thought to the long-range prospects for the fragile eco-system of this planet. Because it ain’t looking too good.

Most people are aware of the dangers of global warming and the resultant climate change that is taking place because of ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide being pored into the atmosphere. Man-made CO2 emissions caused by the ever-increasing burning of fossil fuels. But few are aware of just how fragile the Earth’s eco-system is, and the long-term degradation of both our oceans and rain forests. Or that the ecological loss of either will in turn destroy life on this planet as we know it. Let’s start with the oceans which cover 71% of the planet’s surface. Most people have probably never heard of phytoplankton and couldn’t care less. But the oceans have lost 40% of its phytoplankton since 1950, and are currently losing about 1% of the remainder every year. Do the math to figure out how long it will be before its all gone. And why does this matter? Because if you’ve gotten into that nasty habit of inhaling oxygen every day, (isn’t it amazing how we’ve all become oxygen junkies) phytoplankton provides our planet with 50% of its total atmospheric oxygen. Breathing might become a wee bit more difficult without it. For those not in the know, phytoplankton is basically microscopic marine algae that is the foundation of all oceanic food chains.  All marine life relies on phytoplankton for its food supply, including sea mammals, sea birds, fish, and in the end, humans. Also phytoplankton absorbs about half of all the CO2 that we pump into the atmosphere on a daily basis. So in the end once these microscopic critters are fully destroyed there’s no going back and fixing the oceans. And, of course, our old friend, increased CO2 emissions is the cause of all this degradation.

O course, other factors are also destroying our oceans. Such as acidity. Oceans have become 30% more acidic in the last 100 years, thanks again to our old friend, carbon dioxide. Also more man-made fertilizer is wending its way into our oceans which further exacerbates the problem. Much marine wildlife will not be able to survive in water that has become increasingly acidic. Coral reefs, which provide habitat for over 25% of marine wildlife are disappearing at an alarming rate, and are estimated to be virtually gone within 50 years, thanks to higher levels of acidity. And I won’t even get into other oceanic destroyers like vast chunks of the Pacific Ocean being covered with plastic debris that floats on top of the water. Sea birds sometimes mistake this debris for food, nibble away at it, only to choke to death. Concerned yet? If not, perhaps a look at our rain forests might have you thinking otherwise.

Like oceans, rain forests produce a prodigious amount of oxygen and absorb huge quantities of CO2. Rain forests cover only 2% of the Earth’s surface but are home to about 50% of the planet’s plant and wildlife. I’ve written before about how scarce drinkable water is on this planet, but it’s interesting to note that about one-fifth is in the Amazon forest alone. The problem here is that rain forests are disappearing faster than a pile of snow on a warm spring day. Originally, it has been estimated that rain forests comprised about 6 million square miles of land. At least until homo sapiens came upon the scene. Then they started shrinking like a cheap cotton garment thrown in the dryer. Of course, the biggest shrinkage has been in the last 100 years when Earth’s population mushroomed from about 1.5 billion to currently, over 7 billion and climbing. Today, only about 2.6 million square miles of rain forest remain, and the rate of deforestation is accelerating.  Currently more than 56,000 square miles of rain forest are lost each year. That’s about 80,000 acres lost on a daily basis. Most losses are attributed to uncontrolled logging, farming, cattle ranching, dam building, and mining. As Earth’s population continues to explode, more people are hacking down rain forest trees so they can grow crops or raise cattle. The Amazon in Brazil alone, the largest of all rain forests, is expected to be wiped out in about 40-50 years. Oh, and did I mention that life on this planet no longer becomes sustainable with the loss of either the oceans or rain forests. Is your interest piqued yet?

A few days ago, Congresswoman Michele Bachman, when commenting on the current ongoing political debacle in Washington concerning the government shut-down, stated, in her unabashed delusional, religious fanaticism style, that she believes all this political dysfunction indicates that we are in “the end of days.” In full dingbat mode, she went on to say that this was actually a good thing, because then Jesus would reappear and sweep all those that are worthy into heaven. But laying aside her religious crackpotism, she may be on to something. Because if the degradation of the planet’s ecology continues on its present course, these indeed, may be the end of days.

Perhaps this the the natural course of universal planetary life. Perhaps there was once a thriving civilization on Mars, maybe millions, or even billions of years ago, only to be swept away because of indifference to the planet’s ecological system. As I’ve said before, old guys like me can probably make it to the end without severe ecological consequences. But for young people, or those that care about the young, it might well behoove you to take notice about the on-going ecological destruction of this planet. And perhaps even initiate some actions that could make a difference.

 

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THE SHUTDOWN DEBACLE

Posted on September 30, 2013 by halviv

Hope you haven’t made any plans to visit any one of our national parks at this time. Over 300 million visitors come to our national parks annually; with a large chunk of them visiting around this time of year, especially those parks with trees that display colorful autumn foliage.  If you have made such plans, and put down a large deposit to cover the costs of trip, you will likely be out of luck. Because if the Government shuts down at midnight tonight, as it appears highly likely, you had better hope that your travel agent is understanding enough to return your deposit. One of the first agencies to shutter their operations during a Government shutdown will be the National Park Service. You can also forget about obtaining a passport at this time, just in case you were planning an overseas trip. The passport office in the State Department will be another shutdown casualty. Welcome to your dysfunctional and delusional Government in the early part of the 21st century.

Technically, if Congress makes no funding appropriations by midnight tonight, the entire Federal Government is supposed to close shop. Because the Constitution clearly states that no expenditure is permitted for any Government operation if funds have not been appropriated by Congress. But there is a tacit, unspoken agreement among politicians of every stripe, that essential Government operations will be permitted to function. I guess it wouldn’t look too good for Congress or the President if we were subject to a major terrorist attack because counter-intelligence operatives in the Dept. of Homeland Security, the Dept. of Defense, or the CIA were told to go fishing instead of coming into work. But where are the strict interpreters of the Constitution when you need them. Where are the strict-constitutionalists like Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia, who are always railing about liberal interpretations of the Constitution.

One of the reasons I write this blog is because its so much fun to highlight the irrational delusions that obsess many people’s lives and their ensuing actions. It’s fun, but it’s also tragic at the same time. Yes, reality is often a bitch, but it needs to be faced if one has any hope of succeeding in life. Delusional fears, paranoia, anger, or blaming others for one’s own mistakes or failures may be temporarily comforting; but in the end they are always highly counter-productive, and will usually lead to disaster. So it is with the House Republicans pandering to the most extreme right-wing elements that have now taken control of the GOP, and have this mantra that everything will be sweetness and light if they can only defund Obamacare. If that would only happen, then the sun will shine, the birds will chirp, and we can all go tiptoeing through tulips every morning with carefree abandonment. Thus, House Republicans refuse to pass required appropriations legislation unless it includes provisions to defund Obamacare. Democrats refuse to accept this defunding provision so Congress has stalemated itself into a Government shutdown at midnight. It’s like 2 cars coming head on at each other from opposite directions, and at high speeds, in an adolescent game of chicken. Which one will swerve to the side to avoid a head-on collision. If neither will, then tragedy ensues.

Time has long since passed when elected officials actually cared about the welfare of our citizenry. Now there is just one item on the agenda of our politicians-and that is getting re-elected next time around. To accomplish that, most politicians feel they have to appeal to their “base,” which is usually comprised of the most dedicated, fanatical, and extremist elements. People that are willing to work themselves into a coma, if that’s what it takes to get their guy elected. Because of this, there is hyper-polarization in Congress, with neither side willing to budge an inch. Which, turn, has resulted in a magnificent the 8-10% approval rating from the public in all the latest polls, that Congress so richly deserves.

Awhile back I posted an entry about why Congress has such dismal approval ratings. I theorized that Congress had been taken over by Plutonians. It seem that a few years back, scientists in this country downgraded Pluto from being a full-fledged planet in our solar system because of its smaller size. To seek vengeance, Plutonians came to Earth in space ships, took over the halls of Congress, and vowed to act as irrationally and dysfunctionally as possible. And that’s exactly what they did. It all made perfect sense, if one thought about. Alas, because this site is devoted to rationality and realism, I’m forced to abandon that theory and seek a more plausible reality.

I now believe that while vengeance is still the issue, it’s not being caused by citizens from the planet Pluto. Instead our own citizenry are the ones to blame. While, according to the polls, over 90% of us disapprove of Congressional actions, who is Congress but us. Aren’t we the ones that put all those senators and representatives there in the first place. And now we condemn them? As Ricky Ricardo might have said on “I Love Lucy”-we have a lot of ‘splaining to do.

I believe that among the Republican base of right-wing diehards, are those seeking revenge against Barack Obama for beating the GOP in 2 presidential elections. What better way to wreck vengeance than to deny Obama the funding needed to make his signature health care act become a reality. I believe that they are willing to shut down the Government indefinitely if that what it takes to strike back at the President, who they despise with every fiber of their being. Then there are those that hate the Government’s existence to begin with. In other times they were known as anarchists or nihilists. In their world, it’s survival of the fittest and every man or woman for themselves. Who needs government in the first place.

Maybe some kind of accord will be reached in the wee hours tonight; but I wouldn’t bet the mortgage on it. Of course, the longer the government shuts down, the more it will adversely affect the most vulnerable in our society. Like the poor, the sick, and the elderly. But in the end, who really cares about them. It’s too much fun watching this panorama of dysfunction unfold before our eyes.

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CAPITOL FISCAL FOLLIES

Posted on September 23, 2013 by halviv

In 1907, a young man in Chicago named Florenz Ziegfeld decided that his career path would be that of a show business producer. He started with a light and inexpensive song and dance revue, for the summer season in Chicago, with emphasis on holding costs down, since he had little capital to begin with. But not even Ziegfeld could have imagined the the momentous impact his creation would experience. It was a huge hit from the beginning, and soon Ziegfeld would attach his name to what became as the “Ziegfeld Follies.” As he acquired more money the show became a more lavish and opulent spectacle. By the 1920s, this extravaganza was the smash hit of Broadway. But what really made the “Ziegfeld Follies” such a mammoth event were its showgirls, a collection of eager dancers and chorus-line singers all wearing dazzling costumes. Ziegfeld advertised them as the most beautiful girls in the world. Many huge show biz stars, such as Barbara Stanwyck, Paulette Goddard, Gypsy Rose Lee, Josephine Baker, and Marilyn Miller got their career-starts in the “Ziegfeld Follies.” The show finally had to shut down in 1931 as the icy tentacles of the Great Depression were beginning to wrap themselves around the American economy and start plunging it into the deep freeze.

This is sort of a long way around to observing that the fiscal follies currently going on in our nation’s capitol, far exceed the extravaganzas put on by Flo Ziegfeld. Especially as it pertains to the theater of the absurd. As good a showman as Ziegfeld was, he couldn’t match the looney-tunes, dysfunctional antics currently underway in the U.S. Congress, even as we speak, (or write, as the case may be.) Two events explain this fascinating kerfuffle. The first is that the Government’s fiscal year ends September 30, a week from now. The Constitution has words to the effect that the Government cannot spend a farthing (or a nickel if you prefer) unless the funds are appropriated by an act of Congress. So far, Congress has appropriated nothing for the new fiscal year, about to start on October 1. The primary hold-up is in the House, where Republicans have a majority and are refusing to pass fiscal 2014 appropriations  unless all funding for Obamacare, (the President’s signature universal healthcare legislation) is stripped from the appropriations bill. Of course, it’s pure fantasy that the Democratic majority in the Senate, or the President, will agree to such shenanigans and extortion. But House Republicans are adamant that no new funding will occur unless resources for Obamacare are deleted. Even if it means shutting down the Government with all its ensuing consequences. Like military and civilian Government personnel, contractors and debt-holders not getting paid. Like no new food stamps, or housing assistance or other benefits to the sick or poor being issued. You know, fun stuff like that.

Senate Republicans also refuse to miss out on these entertaining follies. Senators, led by the four horse of the tea-party apocalypse, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul, whom I’ve written about before, are also threatening to filibuster any appropriations bill that contains funding for Obamacare. Please do not disturb the ivory tower of self-delusion these four choose to dwell in. So here we are, one-week away from a total Government shutdown, with all its disastrous consequences, that could very well send our fragile economy into a devastating tailspin. But as these follies gather momentum, they do make for excellent theater of the absurd. It should be pointed out, however, that we are the only country in the world, from first to fourth rate, that is willing to shut their Government down over budgetary battles. Not even the weakest or poorest banana republic would entertain such thoughts.

If, by some miracle we can avoid a a Government-shutdown through lack of appropriations legislation; shortly thereafter comes the debt-ceiling fiasco, as Congress lurches from one phony crises to another. The debt-ceiling, unlike the appropriations process, is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution. Instead, in a fit of self-imposed masochism, Congress enacted legislation saying the Government cannot exceed an arbitrary debt-ceiling without Congressional approval. We are estimated to bump up against the current debt-ceiling around mid-October. Since we are borrowing about 40 cents out of every dollar we spend, it would seem rather imperative that Congress raise the debt-ceiling. If not, the Government once again shuts down. And once again, Congressional Republicans are holding the Government hostage, by refusing to raise the debt-ceiling unless all funding for Obamacare is erased. Since the Mafia has made blackmail and extortion so profitable, Republicans, I assume, figure, why not employ these same tactics.

Now we all know that Republican vitriol and hatred directed against Barack Obama, is almost legendary. To deprive the GOP out of 2 presidential election victories is unforgivable in most tea-party and Republican circles. To say nothing of the race issue that I won’t get into at this time. So what better way to seek revenge than depriving Obama of his signature legislated achievement. Plus they know that if Obamacare, flawed though it may be, is allowed to function for 2-3 years, it will become as popular as Medicare or Social Security. Then even the tea-party lunatics will not be able to advocate for its dissolution.

One other factor is in play. There is a whole group of far-far right-wing looney-tuners that would really like to see the Government shut down. The Rush Limbaugh/ Glen Beck/ Sean Hannity types with their millions of followers are practically frothing at the mouth, or drooling all over themselves, in anticipation of a Government shutdown. Instead of visions of sugar plums, such anarchists thrill at visions of such an event. Even Flo Ziegfeld, as good a showman as he was, would have hard time producing theater follies to match the current ongoing antics in our nation’s capitol.

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THE SYRIA FIASCO

Posted on September 16, 2013 by halviv

Fiasco is probably too-mild a word to describe the mess we’ve gotten into over the handling of the on-going tragedy occurring in Syria. So if any of you have more descriptive terminology, I’m open to suggestions. In any event, I thought it would be helpful in understanding the horror that is current-day Syria if we studied the four major players involved.

First, of course, at the top of the list, is Syria’s brutal dictator Bashar Assad. The Syrian civil war has now been going on for nearly 3 years, but Assad is determined to stay in power, even if has to kill every last person opposing his regime. So far, he’s slaughtered close to 120,000 of his fellow countrymen, and there seems to be no abatement in the on-going butchery.  As we all know, Assad recently decided to use some his vast arsenal of chemical weapons, and in the process, murdered 1400 of the Syrian opposition, which included an estimated 400 children. He has now taken his rightful place in the human hall-of-shame butchers over the past 100 years. These, of course, include Mussolini , Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and more recently, Saddam Hussein. Initially, the Syrian opposition appeared to to be getting the upper-hand in their rebellion against the Assad regime. But then, both Russia and Iran stepped in with heavy infusions of military hardware, which enabled Assad to turn the tide in his favor. Twisted minds think alike, as I wrote about in my recent posting on the bottomless pit of evil. Since the dictatorships in both Russia and Iran of the same mindset as Assad, why not help out a fellow tyrant in need.

Which brings to the second figure in this on-going debacle- Vladimir Putin, the Godfather of Russia. For those of you unfamiliar with the Godfather’s background, Putin used to be a mid-level thug in the old Soviet KGB, (Russia’s version  of the Nazi Gestapo.) After the fall of the Soviet’s communist empire, Putin, with deft skillfulness, managed to rise to the top of Russia’s new regime. He currently runs the Russian government with Mafia-style brutality. He’s considered the Godfather, or the boss-of-bosses, if you will, when it comes to governance. Anyone seriously opposing his regime will either wind up in an old Soviet gulag in Siberia for many years, or at the bottom of the sea wearing a cement overcoat. But Putin is no fool. So when he saw that the U.S. might use military force to punish Assad for the use of poison gas on his people, he stepped in with a proposal to protect his client state and partner in evil. Playing the U.S. like a fiddle, he suckered us into agreeing to hold off on the military option if Assad would agree to turn over his arsenal of chemical weaponry to an “international organization,” whoever that might be. Supposedly, these chemical weapons would then be destroyed.  This is such a bad idea, I hardly know where to begin.

It’s been estimated that Assad has now dispersed his poison gas inventory to over 50 locations, or more. To assume that an international force will be able to round up the entire lot of Syrian chemical weapons is ridiculous. Plus the fact that you don’t get rid of chemical weapons by just flushing them down the toilet or kitchen sink. The destruction of chemical weaponry is a very careful, rigid, taxing and time consuming endeavor. Strict safeguards have to be in place to prevent any possible mistake that could result in unimaginable devastation for miles around the destruction site. It would take years and years to destroy Assad’s chemical stockpile, under the best of conditions. Nevertheless, the Obama administration latched on to Putin’s delusional proposal, like a drowning swimmer grabbing for a life raft. Which brings to the third major player in this fiasco.

President Obama’s stated foreign policy thrust has been, in his words, “leading from behind.” I won’t get into all the gory details, but this position has led to a crippling weakness in foreign affairs, especially among the most evil and vilest leaders currently occupying the world stage. Obama drew a red line in the sand the first time Assad used chemical warfare on his people. But nobody was fearful or intimidated that Obama would actually do something. So, as I’ve said, Assad went ahead and blatantly gassed another 1400 of his populace. Obama then felt he had to undertake some kind of military retaliation, mostly because of that whole red line in the sand thingy. But his heart was not really into using military force, so he dumped the whole matter on Congresses lap, even though, as Commander-In-Chief, he had full authority to act on his own. Now asking our polarized and dysfunctional Congress to approve a sane and rational course of action, is like asking a starving lion to protect the lambs grazing in the adjoining field. Ain’t never going to happen. In Obama’s defense, it should be fairly noted that, a few days before in England, supposedly our closest ally, the British House of Commons voted down Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal to join the U.S. in military action against Syria. Obama could see the handwriting on the wall.

Which brings us to the fourth culprit in this tragedy, the American public. Polls show that the public is overwhelming against any sort of military involvement in Syria. Fed up with never-ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, (who wouldn’t be) the U.S. public has retreated to a position of isolationism. Which, of course, worked out so well for us up until the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and our ensuing involvement in WWII, for which we were totally unprepared. But because of public opposition, looney-tunes tea party Republicans have teamed up with left wing-Democrats, in an unholy alliance, opposing any possible military venture. Besides they point out, Al-Quida terrorists have become embedded with the Syrian rebels,  so its best left for the evil forces on both sides to go on killing each other.

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned over a lifetime, it’s that a policy of isolationism has dreadful consequences in the end. In this case, if Assad prevails, the real winners will be Russia and Iran. Yes, the same Iran that is rushing forward to develop nuclear weapons. And to dominate the oil-rich middle-east. Anyone out there happy about the prospect of the fanatical jihadist mullahs of Iran dictating world events.  You know, at one point in this planet’s history, the Roman Empire was the most powerful force on Earth. But the Huns and Vandals and other barbarians of that era kept chipping away at Rome’s defenses. Mostly through the use of terrorist tactics of that era. which was primarily to raid outlying villages and kill everyone in sight. Then plunder, and burn these villages to the ground. Eventually, Romans of that day became tired of all this constant warfare, and became isolationist, and then withdrew inside the confines of Rome itself. This only emboldened the barbarians, who were then able to break through the gates of Rome, and proceed to destroy the very existence of the Roman Empire. That was the beginning of what is referred to as “the dark ages.” It might be useful for people in this country to re-learn the lessons of history.

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WHAT I’VE LEARNED FROM JOEY THE CAT

Posted on September 10, 2013 by halviv

My wife and I have been married for a very long time; but, no, it’s not true, that our wedding took place right after Lincoln’s second inauguration. Anyway, the key to making  a relationship last as long as ours has, is compromise. Each partner has to be willing to give a little when there are differences of opinion in approaching or handling various situations. Compromise is the key to a successful relationship. For example, some years back my wife wanted to get a cat. I didn’t want a cat, mainly because of my allergies. So we compromised…….and got a cat.

During our younger years we had dogs for pets; but as we we aged, cats appeared to be the wiser choice. After all, cats didn’t need to be walked at 10 or 11 at night, especially in the freezing winters with snow and ice, that we experienced when living back East in our younger days. So as we grew older, we acquired a kitten while still living on the East Coast, and moved her with us, when we relocated to Las Vegas. This little kitten grew into a healthy, mature cat,  and gave us great pleasure and enjoyment for 18 and a quarter years until she died. We were naturally devastated at her loss, as if a member of the immediate family had died. (As a side note, any pet owner has to know ahead of time that when they decide to acquire that cute puppy or kitten, it’s all going to end badly. At some point, you will likely outlive your pet and experience a broken heart when it dies.) And so it was with us. We then went 3 years with no little furry creature running around the house; until my wife, one day decided that she could no longer take it- not having a pet in our household.

She had read in the local paper that Best Friends Animal Society was giving away free kittens at a local pet store, and that’s where we needed to proceed to. Immediately.  (As it turned out, these free cats were at best, semi-free, since we had to pay various fees associated with the cat’s inoculations, spaying, etc.) But this is where we found a 12-week-old, white and grey kitten with big blue eyes, that we decided to adopt. They told us that the kitten was a boy, and we were too oblivious to check further, so we named him Joey. Several days after bringing “him” home it finally dawned on us to more closely examine the cat’s gender. It was then that we became aware that “he” was really a girl; but we figured that the name Joey could also be considered female. So Joey it was. They had put the kitten in a small shoe box with handles and air vents, gave us a small bag of toys, and wished us good luck as we rode home with our new pet.

Right from the beginning, Joey made her presence known. I don’t think our previous cat had uttered more than half a dozen meows in the 18 plus years she lived with us. But this new cat started meowing, (or “kvetching” as my wife put it) right from the get-go.  The first morning after we brought her home, she wandered through the house crying her little head off. I finally figured out why. For all of her 12 weeks of existence, she had been surrounded by dozens, if not hundreds, of stray cats in the animal shelter where she lived. These included her mother and her siblings. Now, suddenly, there were no cats-only these 2 big,  strange, looming figures.  What had happened to all her little friends and family?But the thing about cats (and dogs too) is that they adjust very quickly to new circumstances. In no time, it seemed, she became very comfortable with us. Cats have been bred over many thousands of years to be simpatico with humans and it shows in their behavior. Since there are no other cats around it became incumbent upon us to be her playmates, such as chasing around the house, or throwing toy mice for her to run after. Sometimes I engage in roughhousing with her and she will take my fingers in her mouth as if to bite down in retaliation. But it’s only pretend and she never can bring herself to actually bite.

I have learned that if you treat these little animals with affection, they will unabashedly give you their hearts. The older I get, the more I seem to appreciate the company of animals and less of people. With people, and especially with guys, it’s all about appearances and pretenses. No matter how much turmoil, or despair, or anguish a guy might be suffering through, he will almost always put on this front that says-“Oh yeah, I’m swinging, man. If life was any better, my body couldn’t take it.” It’s always about facades and pretenses to present to the rest of the world. But with animals, what you get is what you see. Their very innocence precludes them from any sort of affectation.

Joey is 7 years old now, middle-age for cats. She never hesitates to kvetch about some displeasure, like forgetting to give her treats, or not taking her out for playtime. She is so attached to us, that it’s painful to leave her the few times a year we travel, even though we hire a cat-sitter. I think if I had it to do all over again, I would engage my life’s energies in working with animals. I have great admiration for those people who work to save endangered species,  especially from the butchery caused by the greed and selfishness of those that would kill elephants, for example, to obtain the ivory in their tusks. I also admire those whose daily job is simply to care for abused and homeless animals. ( I would hope that the ninth circle of Hell, as described in “Dante’s Inferno”, is reserved for animal abusers.) I believe there is great personal reward in devoting one’s life toward these ends.

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LIVING ON $7.25 AN HOUR

Posted on September 2, 2013 by halviv

Back almost a century ago, Henry Ford had established the assembly-line method of production for his Model T-Fords, which sold for $500 apiece. (He had famously quipped that the buyer could acquire his cars in any color they wanted….as long as it was black.) Then in1914, Ford decided that that it was a smart and profitable move to pay his assembly-line workers a “living wage,” which was all of $5 per day. Until then, his plant workers were earning slightly more than half that. (It also says reams about the erosion of the dollar’s buying power, if a century ago one could lead a lower middle class life-style by earning $5 a day.) Ford also reduced the normal work day from a 9 to 8 hour shift. Columnists speculated that that Ford’s motive was to put more money into his workers pockets so they could buy more of his cars. But there was much more to it than that. By nearly doubling his worker’s salaries, and creating better working conditions, Ford created a fierce loyalty among his assembly-line employees. This resulted in far less turn-over, which, in turn, resulted in far less recruiting, hiring and re-training costs. In the end Ford made a bundle by treating his employees with a greater degree of decency than other similar employers at the time.

All this came to mind because of recent discussions about paying low-end workers a living wage, which some estimate to be about $15 an hour in this day and age.  As we all know, the current federally mandated minimum-wage is $7.25 an hour. It was last raised in 2009, and don’t look for the current highly dysfunctional and polarized Congress to be increasing it anytime soon. So, at $7.25 an hour, if one is lucky enough to have obtained a 40 hour a-week job, one would thus earn the magnificent sum of $290 a week.  Before deductions, which would likely bring it down to about $250 a week. So, do you think you can live on about 1000 bucks a month. That would have to pay your rent and utilities, and maybe put some food on the table. You would also need money for transportation and an article or two of clothing, since garments tend not to last forever. And maybe even cable, and a cell phone. Of course, this assumes that a 40-hour a week job is obtainable, which is becoming less and less likely, since companies are turning more and more, with the speed of light, to part-time employment. This is so they can avoid paying their employees health care benefit costs, or heavens forbid, comply with Obamacare mandates.

So if you tend to be toward the low end of the totem pole, employment-wise, and are having trouble meeting you monthly bills, maybe you can turn to Robert Iger  for some financial assistance. Perhaps, if you ask nicely, he would help you out with some short-term loans. After all, he’s pretty well-off, financially. You see, Robert Iger is the CEO of Walt Disney-the company that produces all those cutesy cartoon movies. As head of Disney, he’s pulling down a mere $37 million a year. Think he can afford to throw a few shekels your way? If not, you can always turn to Mark Parker, who’s the CEO of Nike. He’s only making $35 million a year, so he may be more reluctant to fork over some cash to help out with your monthly bills. Of course, all this is small potatoes compared to the $96 million a year that Larry Ellison is compensated for as head of Oracle, the computer hardware and software giant.  I wouldn’t, however, factor into your monthly budget, any hope of obtaining financial assistance from any of these CEOs. Because the larger question is whether any corporate executive, no matter how productive they may be, is worth tens of millions a year in compensation. Especially when many of their workers are likely struggling financially because they’re in low-paying jobs.  Such are the inequities of our capitalist system, however. So when people talk about paying a “living wage” these days, of maybe $15 an hour, such actions could result in these multi-millionaire CEOs of having to shave a few million off their yearly compensations. Perish the thought.

Also on this Labor Day, one has to consider the job situation in this country, or to be more precise, the lack-of-jobs situation. Political foes of this Administration readily point out the high unemployment rate that currently exists, after nearly 5 years of Obama being in the presidency. And the rate is high, standing at 7.4% with about 11.5 million workers that are seeking jobs being unemployed. But there are other factors at play in our capitalistic society. Large American, multi-national corporations currently employ about 21 million workers in the U.S. but have shipped about 10.3 million jobs overseas, where, of course, labor is much cheaper.  Apple, for example, whose products like the IPhone are so enamored by so many people, has shipped thousands of jobs to China, where many of these IPhones are manufactured. After all, if a widget costs $5 to produce in this country, but only 75 cents in Bangladesh, why not set up a factory over there. If just half the jobs that American manufacturers shipped to foreign countries were brought back here, the unemployment rate would be so low that people would be dancing in the streets. Think such an event can occur, given the rules and mandates of our capitalist society?

So let’s raise a bottle of beer to all you minimum wage earners struggling to make ends meet. After all, some states mandate a minimum wage higher than $7.25 an hour. In California it’s $8, while Washington state has the highest minimum wage at $9.19. Of course, Georgia is still stuck in a 1950s time warp at $5.15 an hour. Perhaps, however, some capitalist along the way might come up with the idea that paying his employees a truly living wage is not only a matter of common decency, it can also be highly profitable. The way Henry Ford figured it out a century ago.

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THE BOTTOMLESS PIT OF EVIL

Posted on August 26, 2013 by halviv

I’m assuming you’re all familiar with the story last week about 3 teenagers in Oklahoma who randomly shot and killed a young man because they were “bored.” These 3, whose ages ranged from 15-17, murdered an exceptionally fine young Australian, who had come to the U.S. and gone to school here in hopes of playing professional baseball.  After all isn’t this what most people do when they’re bored. Go out and shoot an innocent victim, just to spice things up a little, and dispel the boredom. Laying aside the fact that their brains had not fully developed to the point of realizing the heinous nature of such an act; on some level these 3 teenagers had to understand that they were also flushing 60 or 70, or perhaps even 80 years of their own lives down the toilet. At this point, the best they can hope for is to spend the rest of their lives in prison. All to relieve a little afternoon boredom. Of course, none of the 3 had any parental guidance or supervision in their lives, so the end result was descent into the bottomless pit of evil. Where serial killers reside; who also kill just for pure pleasure without regard to civilized human decency. Unfortunately, from the beginning of time until present day, there have been and are figures on the world stage for these killers to draw inspiration from.

Also last week, the brutal dictator of Syria, Basher Assad, used poison gas to kill hundreds of his own people who have been rebelling against his despotism for over 2 years. Over 100,000 Syrians have been killed in this bloody civil war; but Assad refuses to relinquish power. Last week Assad’s evil hit a new low, even for him, with the use of poison gas on the opposition. Yes, one is just as dead with a bullet to the head as they are from inhaling poison gas. But the difference is, that with a bullet to the brain, death is usually instantaneous; while inhaling poison gas usually results in several minutes of the most the most agonizing and gruesome torture before death finally takes over. (Google the effects of poison gas on the human body if you’re interested in more gory detail.) Sometimes not enough gas is inhaled to result in death; but the victim is left with years of the most torturous and debilitating aftereffects. The heinous nature of this use of poison gas might have even motivated our President to undertake military action against Assad, even though he appears to be fond of having the weakest American foreign policy in history.

The use of poison gas first reared its ugly head in WWI. My father, as it turns out, who was drafted into the Army during that war, was wounded by mustard gas used by the Germans in the Argonne Forest in France. Fortunately for him, the wounds were minor and he was eventually sent home. (Fortunately for me too, I guess.) When both sides in that war saw the unbelievable horrors caused by poison gas, they both quickly agreed to outlaw its use. ( The war was then fought on a much more humane level of using just bullets and bombs to kill people.) The next use of poison gas was in 1935 by the ruthless dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini, who had decided to invade the largely defenseless African nation of Ethiopia. Although Ethiopia had virtually no military, it held out for 6 years before Italy could finally claim its conquest. It was Mussolini, by the way that inspired Adolf Hitler to install a similarly brutal fascist dictatorship in Nazi Germany. While Hitler refrained from using poison gas on the battlefields of WWII, he had no compunction about using it to kill 6 million innocent victims in Nazi concentration camps. The Holocaust stands out as probably the single most evil event in recorded history.  It’s also a monument to the bottomless pit nature of evil itself.

Fast forward to the 1990s  and a civil war going on in Iraq. Saddam Hussain, another legend in evil’s hall-of-fame, employed a despotic dictatorship not unlike Hitler’s in Nazi Germany. The Kurdish people, who occupied a large portion of Northern Iraq, were seeking to break away and form an autonomous state, mostly to free themselves from Hussain’s shackles. Thereupon Hussain ordered his air force to drop canisters of poison gas over heavily populated Kurdish areas. Thousands of people were murdered by this action, and the suffering and anguish of that event lives on, even to this day. Besides the thousands that were killed, hundreds survived, only to live out their lives in anguished debilitation. The world was outraged by this action but it didn’t seem to preclude good ole Saddam from getting a restful night’s sleep. Eventually, President Clinton established a no-fly zone over the Kurdish area of Iraq. This meant the the U.S. air force patrolled Northern Iraqi skies and would shoot down any of Saddam’s planes should they enter that space. As we all know, Saddam was eventually overthrown when President George W. Bush launched an all-out war on his regime in 2003. After several years on the run, he was eventually caught and tried for crimes against humanity, in an Iraqi court. Found guilty, he was hung by his fellow Iraqis, and the world was instantly better, because he was no longer breathing in the same oxygen as the rest of us.

Now we have Saddam’s offshoot, Basher Assad further illustrating both the banality and the bottomless pit nature of evil. Of course, I could have also discussed Stalin in Russia and Mao in China, who also butchered millions upon millions of people in those 2 countries during their reign’s of terror. All this, just within the last 100 years. If I wanted to go back further in history I’d have to write a book about evil. People who aren’t barbarians, or those with a conscience, have a very difficult time understanding the enormity of other people’s capacity to commit evil. It’s like they’re from another planet. But they continue to thrive among us, be they young boys who kill out of boredom; or serial killers looking the thrills they can only obtain from the kill; or tyrants on the world stage willing to kill as many people as it takes to impose their will.

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