Alright, let me get this straight.
The United States government, as part of it's bailout program, gives the money of American taxpayers to General Motors, an American auto manufacturer. GM takes the money. In return, GM will produce more cars in China, which will then be exported to the United States, thereby putting more American workers on the unemployment line. All with the apparent blessing of President Obama. Thank you, Chosen One, may I have another?
My vote for Ralph Nader for president looks better every day.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Quadroon
Words fall into disuse. Sometimes the neglected item is missed and pined away for. Sometimes, no matter how interesting it sounds, the word is not missed.
I'm currently slogging through the single volume edition of Carl Sandburg's monumental biography of Abraham Lincoln. In it I came across the word quadroon, which I had never seen before nor did I know the meaning of. I checked my handy, dandy paperback sized American Heritage Dictionary, to no avail. I turned to the Internet, knowing full well the Internet would never steer me wrong, certainly not the "Internet" with a capital "I." The internet with a lower case "i" maybe, but not the Internet. But I digress.
The Free Dictionary (free is always good) states a quadroon is a "person having one-quarter Black ancestry." I had never come across quadroon before most likely because in this day and age we simply have no use for it. In this, the time of Obama, while we each can take pride in our ancestry, we are no longer so overly concerned about divvying up the percentages of the various races in a person. Which is a good thing.
I'm currently slogging through the single volume edition of Carl Sandburg's monumental biography of Abraham Lincoln. In it I came across the word quadroon, which I had never seen before nor did I know the meaning of. I checked my handy, dandy paperback sized American Heritage Dictionary, to no avail. I turned to the Internet, knowing full well the Internet would never steer me wrong, certainly not the "Internet" with a capital "I." The internet with a lower case "i" maybe, but not the Internet. But I digress.
The Free Dictionary (free is always good) states a quadroon is a "person having one-quarter Black ancestry." I had never come across quadroon before most likely because in this day and age we simply have no use for it. In this, the time of Obama, while we each can take pride in our ancestry, we are no longer so overly concerned about divvying up the percentages of the various races in a person. Which is a good thing.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The New Great Depression, or I'm So Broke I Can't Afford to Pay Attention, or The Real Me?
If you pay attention, you will be driven insane.
If you pay any amount of attention to politics, you will be driven insane.
If you give any serious thought to what politicians do or say, you will be driven insane.
If you pay attention to what politicians in you city or town or village, in your county, in your state, in our country, do you will have to look away, look away, because if you keep looking, if you keep paying attention, you will be driven insane.
And it’s not the good kind of crazy either, like the guys (other than McMurphy and the Chief) in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, who sit around all day in the nuthouse, smoking cigs, watching TV, taking meds and doing what they’re told. They like being nuts because it’s not a bad life for them.
No, the kind of crazy you get driven to by these politicians is not a happy kind of crazy, it’s an enraged, bitter type of daftness, marked by angry, red faced rants at the television, even if there’s no one around to view your spectacle. You know, kind of like Lou Dobbs, except your not getting paid to be pissed off.
If you pay attention to your local politicians and their excuses for raising your taxes even though they squandered the money they’ve already gotten from you, you will be driven insane. If you pay too much attention to weasels like Roland Burris, a petty little man who busies himself night and day with attempts to inflate his ego, you will be driven insane. If you pay attention to delusional frauds like Rod Blagojevich you will most assuredly be driven insane. If you pay close attention to the president, there are times when you may just be driven insane. If you look closely at the possibilities of where this country might be headed, you will...well, you get the idea.
But here’s the thing: I don’t want to be bats.
I don’t want to be insane. I don’t to be an Angry White Man. It’s so boring. And it’s exhausting. And it’s just not me.
But what to do?
Do I stop paying attention?
Cant’.
None of us can. No citizen of the United States should take his eyes off what's important.
But we can’t let ourselves be driven insane either, and that’s what I’m allowing to happen to me.
No longer.
I don’t know what I’m going to do, deep breathing yoga-type stuff perhaps, too old for drugs, my body can’t take too much alcohol. I could join a cult religion I suppose, but do I really want to be a snake handler? Snakes creep me out. Maybe I simply have got to get myself back to the garden. I just don’t know, I’m not sure what I’ll do, but the hate filled rants of the election cycle and the first 100 Days have got to go. I’m not a hater.
But who am I really? And just who are you?
If you pay any amount of attention to politics, you will be driven insane.
If you give any serious thought to what politicians do or say, you will be driven insane.
If you pay attention to what politicians in you city or town or village, in your county, in your state, in our country, do you will have to look away, look away, because if you keep looking, if you keep paying attention, you will be driven insane.
And it’s not the good kind of crazy either, like the guys (other than McMurphy and the Chief) in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, who sit around all day in the nuthouse, smoking cigs, watching TV, taking meds and doing what they’re told. They like being nuts because it’s not a bad life for them.
No, the kind of crazy you get driven to by these politicians is not a happy kind of crazy, it’s an enraged, bitter type of daftness, marked by angry, red faced rants at the television, even if there’s no one around to view your spectacle. You know, kind of like Lou Dobbs, except your not getting paid to be pissed off.
If you pay attention to your local politicians and their excuses for raising your taxes even though they squandered the money they’ve already gotten from you, you will be driven insane. If you pay too much attention to weasels like Roland Burris, a petty little man who busies himself night and day with attempts to inflate his ego, you will be driven insane. If you pay attention to delusional frauds like Rod Blagojevich you will most assuredly be driven insane. If you pay close attention to the president, there are times when you may just be driven insane. If you look closely at the possibilities of where this country might be headed, you will...well, you get the idea.
But here’s the thing: I don’t want to be bats.
I don’t want to be insane. I don’t to be an Angry White Man. It’s so boring. And it’s exhausting. And it’s just not me.
But what to do?
Do I stop paying attention?
Cant’.
None of us can. No citizen of the United States should take his eyes off what's important.
But we can’t let ourselves be driven insane either, and that’s what I’m allowing to happen to me.
No longer.
I don’t know what I’m going to do, deep breathing yoga-type stuff perhaps, too old for drugs, my body can’t take too much alcohol. I could join a cult religion I suppose, but do I really want to be a snake handler? Snakes creep me out. Maybe I simply have got to get myself back to the garden. I just don’t know, I’m not sure what I’ll do, but the hate filled rants of the election cycle and the first 100 Days have got to go. I’m not a hater.
But who am I really? And just who are you?
Really? A White Sox Fan?
Hey, I know I'm a day late (well, 40 days really) and at least a dollar short, but why didn't President Obama throw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals home opener? Granted, the Nationals stink, but still. Throwing out the first pitch is a great tradition in a game filled with great traditions. President Obama is, perhaps, not a traditionalist.
Obama Watch: Credit Carm Reform
Whoo-hoo!!! Now the credit card companies can't screw me over and I can carry a concealed weapon into a national park! Maybe this Obama feller is alright after all...
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Random Video: Green Day "Know Your Enemy"
There are no free lunches and, increasingly, no free videos. Sit through the brief commercial and then enjoy the video. Great song, great band.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Here's to George
The late George Carlin was born on this day in 1937. One of the most impressive (to me, at least) qualities Carlin exhibited was his great love of the English language. He put it to use better than most university educated, prize winning authors. Carlin particularly loved the way we Americans speak; the use of euphemisms amused/enraged him, and he found it interesting how we sometimes let words slip into disuse.
The following tidbits (I wonder how he felt about that word) are in his honor.
-Here we go again, softening the language with euphemisms. Acts of terrorism are no longer acts of terrorism, according to the Homeland Security chief. They are "man-caused disasters." Sounds much nicer, but it also sounds like it lets murderers off the hook by making what they've done sound like some kind of accident. If I'm cooking up a pot of instant mashed potatoes and I walk away, thereby allowing them to boil over and setting the kitchen on fire, that's a man-caused disaster. Men (and it's almost always men) in such a hurry to meet Allah that they fly a jet filled with people into a skyscraper, that's an act of terrorism, not an accident.
-I was watching The Sopranos one day and Carmella referred to Tony as being a "rapscallion" in his youth. A rapscallion? Really? I'm stunned that the writers and producers of The Sopranos would think that a character born and raised in New Jersey would refer to a fellow Jerseyite as a "rapscallion." Would someone from New Jersey even know what a rapscallion is? Maybe those eggheads down at Princeton, but no one at Princeton is actually from Jersey. I do like the word "rapscallion" though. Fun to say, probably fun to be one. I wish someone would call me a rapscallion.
-Fortnight. No one uses the word fortnight anymore. (A fortnight is two weeks, by the way.) When I was a kid, I came across that word in the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Liked it ever since. Granted it's a veddy British sounding sort of word, but still, we should use it more often. It would make us sound smarter. I'll use it for a fortnight and see where it gets me.
The following tidbits (I wonder how he felt about that word) are in his honor.
-Here we go again, softening the language with euphemisms. Acts of terrorism are no longer acts of terrorism, according to the Homeland Security chief. They are "man-caused disasters." Sounds much nicer, but it also sounds like it lets murderers off the hook by making what they've done sound like some kind of accident. If I'm cooking up a pot of instant mashed potatoes and I walk away, thereby allowing them to boil over and setting the kitchen on fire, that's a man-caused disaster. Men (and it's almost always men) in such a hurry to meet Allah that they fly a jet filled with people into a skyscraper, that's an act of terrorism, not an accident.
-I was watching The Sopranos one day and Carmella referred to Tony as being a "rapscallion" in his youth. A rapscallion? Really? I'm stunned that the writers and producers of The Sopranos would think that a character born and raised in New Jersey would refer to a fellow Jerseyite as a "rapscallion." Would someone from New Jersey even know what a rapscallion is? Maybe those eggheads down at Princeton, but no one at Princeton is actually from Jersey. I do like the word "rapscallion" though. Fun to say, probably fun to be one. I wish someone would call me a rapscallion.
-Fortnight. No one uses the word fortnight anymore. (A fortnight is two weeks, by the way.) When I was a kid, I came across that word in the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Liked it ever since. Granted it's a veddy British sounding sort of word, but still, we should use it more often. It would make us sound smarter. I'll use it for a fortnight and see where it gets me.
Quote From a Guy Who Gets It
“Banking should not be exciting,” said Clay W. Ewing, president of retail financial services at German American Bancorp, a community bank in Jasper, Indiana. “If banking gets exciting, there is something wrong with it.”
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
SWINE FLU HITS HOLLYWOOD! PORKY AND PETUNIA PIG ON DEATHBED!
MISS PIGGY HOSPITALIZED; KERMIT AT HER BEDSIDE
THREE LITTLE PIGS QUARANTINED
Hollywood (AP) - The swine flu epidemic has cast it's devastating shadow upon Hollywood and it's porcine stars.
The leading man of many Warner Brothers cartoons, Porky Pig, and his wife as well as occasional co-star, Petunia, were admitted to Hollywood Community Hospital one week ago with flu-like symptoms. Speaking on a condition of anonymity, a source close to the Pig family states that both Porky and Petunia are now "near death. Plans are already being made for a pig roast, uh, I mean, a memorial service and cremation". This source also said that Mr. Pig had lapsed into a coma after uttering the words, "That's all, folks."
At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Miss Piggy, star of many Muppets TV shows and films, has been admitted and is said to be in serious but feisty condition. Her long-time beau, Kermit the Frog, has been at her bedside continually. "He'd better be at my bedside," Miss Piggy reportedly said. "If I catch him hopping around with a pig other than moi, it'll be frog legs for dinner."
In other swine flu news, the Three Little Pigs have been quarantined by Los Angeles County health officials. The Big Bad Wolf has been warned by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Police to stay at least 100 feet away from the pigs at all times, and to not try to huff, nor puff, nor in any other way attempt to blow down the Three Little Pigs house.
A breaking news report from Washington, DC, says that Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has decreed that henceforth, so as not to offend "the Porcine-American community, that flu outbreak thingy will now be known as VH1. No, no, uhm, Hummer H3?...what, H1N1? Who the heck came up with that? Was there a committee? Why wasn't I notified? I guess if the pork industry doesn't want it called 'swine flu,' that's the way it will be." All these cute little piggys with flu jokes are now rendered obsolete and politically incorrect.
THREE LITTLE PIGS QUARANTINED
Hollywood (AP) - The swine flu epidemic has cast it's devastating shadow upon Hollywood and it's porcine stars.
The leading man of many Warner Brothers cartoons, Porky Pig, and his wife as well as occasional co-star, Petunia, were admitted to Hollywood Community Hospital one week ago with flu-like symptoms. Speaking on a condition of anonymity, a source close to the Pig family states that both Porky and Petunia are now "near death. Plans are already being made for a pig roast, uh, I mean, a memorial service and cremation". This source also said that Mr. Pig had lapsed into a coma after uttering the words, "That's all, folks."
At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Miss Piggy, star of many Muppets TV shows and films, has been admitted and is said to be in serious but feisty condition. Her long-time beau, Kermit the Frog, has been at her bedside continually. "He'd better be at my bedside," Miss Piggy reportedly said. "If I catch him hopping around with a pig other than moi, it'll be frog legs for dinner."
In other swine flu news, the Three Little Pigs have been quarantined by Los Angeles County health officials. The Big Bad Wolf has been warned by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Police to stay at least 100 feet away from the pigs at all times, and to not try to huff, nor puff, nor in any other way attempt to blow down the Three Little Pigs house.
A breaking news report from Washington, DC, says that Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has decreed that henceforth, so as not to offend "the Porcine-American community, that flu outbreak thingy will now be known as VH1. No, no, uhm, Hummer H3?...what, H1N1? Who the heck came up with that? Was there a committee? Why wasn't I notified? I guess if the pork industry doesn't want it called 'swine flu,' that's the way it will be." All these cute little piggys with flu jokes are now rendered obsolete and politically incorrect.
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