ENTREY MARCH 19, 2011 1:00 a.m. EDT
An item on the AP wire: Bucking a national trend of raising cigarette taxes, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Rhode Island have considered reducing theirs, hoping to draw smokers from other states and increase revenue.
For years local governments have fought against smoking justifying themselves by saying it is a danger to nonsmokers, it is unhealthy for the smoker, it raises healthcare costs, etc. etc. But now economic times are tough and now collection of tax dollars from smokers is more important than the moral or health rationale they have used in the past. States moral high horse takes a fall when the pocket book is involved. New York's mayor Bloomberg is known for his anti-smoking stance, though he made exceptions for cigar bars where his wealthy compatriots often hang out. While he has made it difficult for smokers to find a place to light up he has yet to take the final step, outlawing cigarette sales. I wonder if the tax income from the sales is something he doesn't want to forfeit.
Bloomberg wants to eliminate the seniority rule for firing teachers under the pretext of not wanting to lose good young teachers and not being able to fire older teachers who are not as good. He omits mentioning they are also higher paid. It is a case of keep the cheap. A person puts in 20 years teaching and suddenly they discover he is not good enough? Teachers go through a probationary period. If these people were so bad why weren't they fired. Now when he is older and will find it more difficult to find a job (not to mention the trauma of the situation) they want to fire the person because he is making a higher salary. It is cruel, inhumane and unjust. They want to punish a person for the incompetence if the administrator, and for having a higher pay scale.
Bloomberg is proposing parks along the Brooklyn waterfront to improve the quality of life and increase the value of the area. This is a good thing. But it is not more important than the a person. What does it tell you about his priorities.
The U.N. is built on land donated by the Rockefeller family. They gave the land that became an independent state for an organization that professes to strive for international peace through negotiation. What people fail to notice is the Rockefellers also owned a great deal of land around the U.N. site. This land they owned skyrocketed in value. They made a killing on the real estate market. I wonder if they got a tax deduction for donating the land. I want to find out where Bloomberg owns land.
ENTRY MARCH 16, 2011 8:30 a.m. EDT
Sexual transgressions are as old as politics. Caesar, Marc Anthony and Cleopatra are a famous threesome. Samson and Delilah id a biblical story of a man being tempted by the wiles of a woman. King David sent a general to fight and die so he could get the man's wife. Politicians think that their past sins are forgotten ( an unfortunately this is true in some cases ) and they just have to make some lame excuse and all is forgiven. The Republicans like to say they are the party of family values. Newt Gingrich says he succumbed to the strains of his work and efforts to make a better America and that was why he started cheating on his wife and eventually dumped her. Of course he did this to her while in the hospital with cancer, but that was not a factor. At least it wasn't for him. Then there is the South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford who who said he went hiking the Appalachian trail, but took a wrong turn and ended up in Argentina ... in his lover's apartment. I wonder if it is a common mistake to head for the Appalachian trail and end tup in Argentina? Former Rep. Christopher Lee from upstate New York went out surfing for women on Craig's List and sent one a picture of himself without a shirt. Not just a bad move, but an outright stupid move. The Republicans may be for family values but the values these men practice makes me wonder what kind of family they mean. Of course the Democrats are not innocent of peccadillos. John F. Kennedy was legendary for his affairs. There was a time when it seemed a new woman each week was publishing a tell all about her affair with the assassinated President. Lyndon Johnson boasted he had more women than Kennedy and complained that Kennedy got credit for being a ladies man and not him. Bill Clinton was impeached over an affair. While the Democrats are no more moral than the Republican, and a lot of other men, at least they are not hypocrites.
ENTRY NOV. 27, 2010 5:15 a.m. EST
The TSA is a classic case of you get what you pay for. They are low-pay employees who follow the rules and go home at dthe end of their shift.They are not taking pleasure in frisking us or looking at dthe x-ray scans. They just want to do their jobs. What I think is inane is the fact they are not catching terrorists. They area song and dance , but put on so we think we are safe. Everything the 9-11 terrorists carried were within the guidelines at the time. The next hijackers will find a way to be withing the rules now. Remember you can make a lethal weapon from wet sand and a sock.
In all the years they have been checking luggage and having us go through metal detectors ( over 20 years) I can only think of two cases where a terror attack was thwarted by the airport searches. As for sky marshalls, I can think of only one case in which they shot and killed a wack-job who was running around saying he had a bomb. Of course he didn't have a bomb.
If you look at the stats for the number of people involved in a hijacking and the number of people who are on flights you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning.
You realize this whole thing could be solved by making everyone board the flight nude and then be given a robe to wear until they claimed their luggage. Other than the aesthetic objections you know it would work. ( I guess some groups might have moral objections).
I think the world is ready for Take A Chance Airlines. No scanning, no searches, no profiling, you just get on the plane and Take A Chance there are no terrorists aboard.
ENTRY SEPT. 2, 2010: 11:45 a.m. EDT
There have been Mosques in New York for over 100 years. People have barely noticed them. But when a Muslim center with a prayer room was proposed recently it became a controversy. People called it a Mosque at Ground Zero. Actually it is a couple of blocks from the old World Trade Center campus and almost six blocks from the site of the nearest tower.
A family member of one of the victims of 9-11 said she didn't want a Mosque looming over her when she visited Ground Zero. While the Muslim Center will be a 14 story building, there will be other taller buildings between the center and Ground Zero. It would be difficult if not impossible to see it. People are acting like the Muslim religion was responsible for the attack.
Many Nazis in World War II professed to be Christians, do we say Christians are responsible for the Holocaust? The Ku Klux Klan says they are Christians, does that make Christians responsible for lynchings, beatings and fire-bombings?
Newt Gingrich Has joined the ranks of the anti-Mosque mob and came up with a distortion of history to legitimize his opinion. He proclaims the original name of the proposed Muslim center was Cordoba. Then he went on to say when the Moors ruled the Spanish city they tore down a cathedral and built a great Mosque to symbolize their victory over Christians.
The truth is the Muslims had been ruling for almost 300 years when this happened. That would be very tardy for a victory celebration. In fact it was built a few years after one Muslim group defeated the previous Muslims who ruled. It would more likely be a celebration by the Muslims for defeating other Muslims.
Cordoba was noted at the time for being tolerant of all religions. The city had churches and synagogues where people worshipped openly. Cordoba was an intellectual center with scholars from all religions coming there to study.
Fanatics will use religion to justify their actions. They think they can't be wrong, because they are doing god's will. Religion can be manipulated and used to gather supporters who will blindly follow your commands. This is like using religion to convince people to do a suicide mission to fly planes into buildings. And it is not different than using hatred of a religion to incite people to oppose a mosque.
Politicians support the anti-mosquers say they support freedom of religion, but.... And that but negates the phrase before it. If you have freedom of religion that includes a religion you do not like.
Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press all mean the same thing. You will have a press that says things you don't like, people that say things you don't like and religions that build where you don't like.
People talk about being sensitive to the feelings of the families, but it is a bogus argument. The families have no more rights than anyone else. They can ask but have no authority or right to expect the mosque not be built.
It is time people realize they are religious bigots. The only reason they don't want the mosque is because the builders are Muslims. It has nothing to do with anything these people have done, said or endorsed.
They demand the mosque's finances be investigated. Why? Because they are Muslim. They have no reason to suspect there is anything wrong with their finances other than they are Muslim.
I wonder if they realize there are different groups of Muslims. There are Shiites. There are Sunni. Shiite and Sunni have fought each other in wars based on their religious beliefs. What were the attackers on 9-11 Shiite or Sunni? Do they know? Does it matter? Do we condemn all Anglicans for what a small group of Anglicans do?
It's time we call the people against the mosque face up to what they are --- bigots, boors and political scum.
ENTRY FEB. 5, 2010: 8:15 a.m. EST
The federal government proposed trying the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks in federal court in Manhattan. I thought this sounds fitting let him be judged in the jurisdiction where the most people were killed. Let him face the wraith of people whose loved ones were killed, whose lives where thrown into chaos. Let survivors and family of the slain confront him. But this is not to be groups have voiced objections: they don't want terrorists in the city (he is in federal custody and not roaming the streets). What if he is acquitted (that would be most unlikely but even so do you think they would let him walk out the door?) But political influence was put to bear and let's face it it doesn't matter to Washington where this felon is tried and so the trial will be moved. I am disappointed in the people of New York City. They acted like children fearing a boogie man. I can understand the mayor not wanting the trial he will have to pay police tons of overtime to do security and crowd control. I can understand businessmen not wanting the trial. The streets will be blocked, traffic jammed, the annoyance of increased security. But these points were not brought up. Instead they acted like some Sauron-like magical malevolent being would be brought to New York City. He is only a man. He will be tried. He will be executed. Don't bring up imaginary enemies that will jump out of the sewers and attack you...it won't happen. In fact things may be more dangerous since he isn't here since secuirty will not be increased. If you don't think New York is safe go move to middle of Alaska....terrorists have never been seen there.
ENTRY JAN. 6, 2010: 1p.m. EST
I start this first Rant of 2010 with an apology. When I came into work and discovered Rush Limbaugh had been hospitalized in Hawaii, I immediately checked his obit photos. I saw some things need to be added and did so. As is usual when an obit is prepared the individual immediately gets better. Sorry about that. As Clarence Darrow once said, "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. "
People are once again celebrating the start of a new decade. The mathematically impaired keep believing this fallacy. It is simple to figure out. There was no year zero. The first decade was year 1 to year 10, the next year 11 to 20 etc. etc. The last year of a decade is the year that ends in zero. The same holds true for centuries and the millennia. But as one pundit observed, you may be right but you'll miss all the good parties.
Actually the years, decades, centuries and millennia are all arbitrary. There are Chinese, Jewish, Mayan calendars and they are all as valid as the Gregorian calendar, which replaced the Julian Calendar introduced by Julius Caesar. The Gregorian Calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory, made adjustment that sent the calendar jumping forward 11 days. It took centuries for the world to accept this new calendar (and there are a few places that still use the Julian Calendar). The first countries changed to the Gregorian calendar in 1582. But there was resistance to the new calendar because some felt it was a Catholic plot to make them change religions. Sweden chose to effect the change gradually by moving forward a day each year for 11 years. England and her colonies didn't change until 1752(including the east coast of the current U.S). Alaska didn't change until 1867 when the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia, which was still on the Julian calendar. Russia changed to the Gregorian calendar in 1917 after the revolution. Greece didn't adopt use of the calendar until 1923.
So whatever calendar you choose to follow remember a decade is only a set of 10 years and it starts whenever you choose.
ENTRY DEC. 13, 2009: 2:00 a.m. EST
THE COST OF HEALTH
When we fire a cruise missile $2 million is spent. When the president makes a short flight on Air Force One the cost is about $250,000. Every time a prisoner is executed it costs millions of dollars. Political campaigns spend millions to get their candidates elected. Tiger Woods is reputed to have paid thousands of dollars for a night of sex.
That is why I find the argument about the costs of the Health Care Reform so bogus. Anyone espousing that issue is a phony. The government will spend cascades of money to kill people they don't like, yet argue costs when it comes to the health of their citizens.
In Britain, France, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Germany, New Zealand, the government can provide for the health care of their citizens (not to mention dozens of other countries), yet there are members of congress saying we have to worry about the costs.
The insurance companies and drug companies are worried that their profits will be reduced if they don't have us under their thumb. They realize most individuals don't have the lawyers, the money, the time to fight them. They also know the government does have the ability to fight them, to make them provide the coverage they promise. So they make generous contributions to senators and representatives who will fight against the good of the people.
Universal Health Care is not something to be debated, but is to be implemented. There will be better and worse ways to implement universal health care, but the opposition I have heard is cost, or funding abortion. The abortion argument is also bogus. Abortion is a legal medical procedure. That is fact. Until it is made illegal we have to live with the fact that doctors can perform abortions. Make it illegal and it will not be covered by any health care program. Abortion is not an issue to be debated under health care reform. It is being used as an excuse to block it.
We need universal health care. The only reason opponents are fighting it is for personal power. They do not care for the welfare of the people. They are blocking progress, not meeting the needs of the populace and only the act of a politician acting out of self-interest.
ENTRY Oct. 15, 4:18 a.m. EDT
A HEALTHY COUNTRY
President Barack Obama went to Denmark to help Chicago's bid for the Olympics. Critics complain about his leaving town while the health care reform is still ambling through the Senate. But what was there for Obama to do. Some say arm twisting and using his influence to promote the bill. But which bill there are five in the senate, and the House has yet to pass anything. There was nothing for him to do yet. When the Senate hashes out which of the bills they will ultimately pass and the House finally passes whatever they come up with....then the House and Senate work out a compromise to pass. This will be when Obama starts pressuring to keep what he wants and trade off what he doesn't.
Once the compromise is reached he will apply pressure to make sure it is passed in a form he will sign. But for now it's all in the hands of congress.
Will everyone whose health insurance rates have dropped raise their hands! Now the insurance companies are ranting about how the health care plan will make the rates for health insurance double. What they don't say is the rates will double anyway. What they have done is give an argument for why we need the so-called public option. We are at the mercy of insurance companies whose mandate is to make money not to keep us healthy. They don't want to lose this money tree.
Opponents of the health care reform keep whining it will cost too much. First of all the cost of an unhealthy populace will always be more than the cost of making people healthy. If providing for the health of the populace is so expensive why can France, England, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada and other countries afford to do it? We have a bigger GNP, we are considered one of the wealthiest countries in the world. This argument is totally bogus.
The argument that the plan will provide for illegal immigrants is another distraction. First of all every plan up for consideration excludes non-citizens. Second even if some people cheat the system and get medical help they don't have a right to receive so what. The same logic would say we shouldn't have laws since some people do not follow them and get away with it. I say now without fear of contradiction that there will always be people who abuse a system.
I have health insurance through work. I don't need the public option, but anyone who say it isn't needed is failing to confront reality.
Entry Aug. 28, 2009 15:00GMT
A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
There is a danger threatening the United States. It comes from within and wishes to create fear and dissent. They are obstructionists who disregard the good of the people to promote their own agenda. Their primary weapon is to spread lies and say them loud and often until the truth is buried under the mass of their lies and innuendos.
Of course I'm talking about the Republican and their efforts to block efforts to reform the health care system. They spread lies about Death Committees that would determine who would receive medical care, which don't exist and aren't planned. They talk about Death Books that are end of life counseling tomes. They say we have the best medical care in the world when in fact we rank 50th.Wallis and Fotuna, a poor island nation in the South Pacific that depends on aid from France to survive Bosnia-Herzogovina comes in at 43rdand they suffered through war crimes and genocide until 1995.
We did beat out Albania which ranks 51ston the list. Isn't it good to know our mecial system is better than Albania.
There is also cries that this will be socialized medicine. They say you can't get joint replacements if your over 58, even though the truth is the majority of replacements are done for people over 60.
One idiot even said Stephen Hawking would not have gotten aid in the British system. Of course the problem is Hawking is British and lives in England. When Hawking found out about the comment he praised the British system saying he has received excellent care.
But let's see where countries with socialized medicine ranks on the list of life expectancy. United Kingdom is 36. Canada is 8. Sweden is 10. New Zealand is 18.
I guess universal medical care has some advantages.
If you are curious where I get my numbers, they are from the CIA world fact book. A source that if anything is biased toward the U.S. You can check the figures at www.cia.gov.
Entry for Aug. 13, 2009
WHO NEEDS TRUTH
There is a vocal group who are going around the country ranting that President Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen. They ignore all proofs that he was born in Hawaii, copies of his birth certificate, records from newspapers, family statements. They produce forged documents to support their cause and ignore any evidence that debunks their position. They are like flat-earthers who come up with convoluted rationales full of holes, false assumptions and inaccurate statistics. What surprises me is members of congress have rallied to this cause. They refuse to use sense and logic. All they know is they don't want to accept reality and will use any half-truth, misconception or lies to support their claims. They operate on the premise if you say it loud enough and often enough some will believe them. They use lies and misinformation to appeal to prejudice and fear because they know truth and reason will only prove them wrong. These characters have names like Limbaugh, Palin, McCaughey and Rowe. They claim to be conservatives but are in actuality bigots and fools, motivated by money, ego and power. Whatever political affiliation they profess they are just modern incarnations of the Know Nothings.
Entry for June 1, 2009
RUSH LAMEBRAIN
How can anyone with an ounce of brains listen to Rush Limbaugh? He spewHe will say the economy is gettinghs misinformation, lies and half-truths and is constantly bleing caught at it. He says you can't do word searches on PDF files, except you can. He says the economy is getting worse when everything indicates it is getting better. He is a bully with a microphone who will hang up on a caller and then call them names. He doesn't even have the guts to do it on the phone. IHe would never take on someone face-to=face. If he had to prove everything he said there would be a lot of dead air-time on his show. His only skill is talking loud and blustering. Anyone who would use this neolithic cretin as a source of opinion and information must be very low on the food-chain, somewhere just above slug. Kind of like the Republican Party.
Entry for March 28, 2009
Obama has been president for less than three months, less than 100 days. Already the New York Post is attacking him. This is to be expected. The pundit complains about his foreign policy. He gives praise toPoland as our bravest ally in Europe. ignoring the commitment the british have made in Iraw and are doing in Afghanistan. Of course this also ignores that lthe president has been working on the economy. You know if Obama had concentrated on foreign policy this same person would be complaining about his lack of attention tgo the economy. IT's fair to criticize the president for action he has taken, but in 65 days don't expect all problems to be solved.
It seems the nattering nabobs of conservatism have not been able to find fault without manufacturing it. Meanwhile they are not able to come upwith any reasonable alternatives. The GOP's alternative budget was a joke, a budget without numbers. I find it rediculous that they actually called a news conference to present this fictionaly budget. Even conservative publications attacked this sorry excuse for a budget alternative. We need people in government to provide alternatives, but they have to be viable ones. The current batch of conservatives don't seeem capable of providing comic relief
Entry for February 20, 2009
New York Yankee fans are in an uproar. Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids early in his career.In those days baseball tested for steroids but there was no penalty for finding you did them. Shows you how serious they were then. Now they suspended you for a while and you can come back. Too many positive tests you are suspended for life which usually mean a couple of years. Get real if baseball wanted to stop steroids first positive test and you are suspended for a year, second positive test you are suspended for life, no reprieve, find a new job. Either get serious about it or just say hey we are not the drug police. An, but why should baseball players and other athletes be exempt don't test and let the police do it. That way when someone is caught they face criminal penalties. Let's face it steroids makes a person play better. Puts on a better show for you and me. Yeah it will probably kill them or give them a variety of medical problems, but if they are stupid enough to do the stuff they have to be responsible for themselves. They may end up sick or dead or in jail but why should athletes be exempt from the same consequences we would face for doing dangerous, illegal drugs.
Entry for January 25,
2009
HAPPY
NEW YEAR OF THE COW
The lunar new year is upon us. Buddhists flock to their temples at midnight and light incense sticks. Dragons dance through the streets in Hong Kong and other Chinese cities. Stores and malls in Kuala Lumpur are decked out with bovine decorations. The Oriental zodiac uses twelve symbols and each one is good for the entire year. It is as good a way as any to do a zodiac and I'm sure just as accurate. The year that just passed was my year, the year of the Rat. While it is not the most glorious of animals, it has good attributes associated with it. Still it is a rat. As with where you are born you can't pick when you are born. My traditional zodiac sign is Cancer. Rat and Cancer two great images. At least I was born in Chicago, and not some suburb.
It's been a week since Brack Obama was inaugurated, so where's the change? Actually there has been change, Guantanamo prison camp is closing, he 's allowing funds to countries that permit abortions, gifts from lobbyists are forbidden just to name a few. When you look at previous presidents this is a lot of steps in a week. We have to keep in mind that change on the big things, like the economy will take a lot more time. It is not turning it around in a week or two or three. It will take years. Bush had 8 years to fuck the economy and did a major job of ruining it. He came in with a surplus and managed to plunge us into the deepest deficit ever. Bush's policies have turned America from a name associated with freedom to one that is synonymous with oppression. Now Obama has to turn this around. I am hoping for the best. He has started and I hope he will be able get the country on the right track.
SEX AND POLITICS: September 2, 2008
Bristol Palin, daughter of John McCain's chosen running mate, has become the latest sex scandal on the political scene. She's pregnant. Professionally I realize the interest in the subject, but let's get honest about it. You could go to any high school in New York and find a dozen pregnant teens. This is a girl who made a mistake and now has to face the consequences. This shouldn't be page 1 news that leads television and radio news broadcasts. It's been too many years since I was 17, but I know I wouldn't want my mistakes being a top news story. This girl doesn't need that. She is going to have to face enough problems being pregnant and 17. She says she wants to marry the father. I understand why she feels that way and I hope she isn't rushing into something, but she's pregnant and her mom is running for v.p. and television is telling everyone and how can she make a rational decision? I hope everything works out for her. At least she has the advantage of a family that has decent finances and seems to be supportive. I imagine there are a number of pregnant teens in many cities who don't have a family to stand by them and they wonder if they'll have enought money to feed and clothe the child. But that's a whole different issue. Bristol, like any girl in her predicament needs and deserves help and support. I hope she gets it. Was her mother so naive she didn't realize the press would jump all over this? Or was she oblivious to her daughter's problems because of her agenda? While we might make a case for for Gov. Sarah Palin being unaware of the feeding frenzy of the national news media, what about John McCain? He's been in national politics long enough to know it is a cut-throat type of news coverage. Yes I am part of the national news media. I wonder where we lost the ability to see the difference between news and sensationalism. Give support to Bristol, but question what the adults around her are doing.
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