17 August 2012

Random thoughts on a hot summers day

Greeting to all again.
The old corner has been a bit lazy of late. Oh well, we have had more than a few days of heat and humidity of late. There have been many days where we have the heat index at or very near 110 this summer here in central Louisiana. It reminds me of my first summer here, in 2000. Back then the state was in the middle of a drought and the heat index was in the 100's for weeks on end.
OK, that is one explanation for the lack of posts here. Another is that I have been devoting time to reading for pure enjoyment recently. I dug out a few books that I had not read in many years. Just recently finished ""The Sirens of Titan" by the late Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Also, a certain blogger, yes Bill, you, has kept my interest with his excellent posting of original work at his wonderful blog. (Bill, you said to promote you, is this OK?) The link to his site is among the links I have listed, check out "Bill the Butcher" for some very thought provoking and entertaining writing. In the opinion of this old guy, Bill is a master story teller.

While I have allowed my following of the "news" to slip some recently, a few things did catch my attention, so, buckle up, here we go, into the deep end...........again.

Recently there have been a couple articles at another web site where the author said that voting for any third party candidate was a "vanity" vote. Yes, the author is an American. Of course, what else could he be? To call any persons' vote for the candidate of his/her choice as a "vanity" vote is beyond disgusting. It reeks of pure "party politics". Of course said author wants us all to vote for Gobomber. And it also seems(??) that this election is, once again, the "most important" election ever. How many times have we heard that load of pure horse manure? Take a minute and think it over. Ready? OK, we hear this very same "argument" EVERY election. In 1980, we had "the most important" election ever. Now that one I'll grant them. Dad was so set against "saint" Ronnie that it MAY have been the "most important" election up until then. Old Mr. "peanuts" Carter lost and Dad died the Saturday after "saint" Ronnie won the election. OK, that one was important then, maybe.

Think back to the first election of Billy Bob Bubba from Arkansas. Yep, another "most important" election ever. And then when he ran for re-election, same story. And who can forget the stolen mess of 2000? Yes, another :most important" election ever. Well, Gore lost, mostly due to his own damn fault and NOT because Ralph Nader was running. Hell, Mr. Nader didn't grab enough votes to move the tally one way or the other if we look at the entire country. Would that Mr. Nader HAD won. No doubt the real rulers of the country would not have allowed him to be sworn in. Bets that he would have met with an "accident"? Maybe an accident that involved an automobile, as a sort of "gottcha" with a bit of irony added for free?

Again in 2004, we had another in the long line of "most important" elections ever. W. Shrub "won" that one also. Yes, Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 did have some small input in those "wins" by Shrubbie. And we cannot forget the "nine supremes" who aided his "win" in 2000. Ah yes, the "nine", bloody damn fools who serve the corporate masters. How else does one "explain" the Citizens United decision? It would appear that the "nine" know where their pay comes from and it is not "we the people".

In 2008, again, we had the "most important" election ever. Now, I'll grant that one some credit. The nation DID elect a "person of color". That was a real first, but unfortunately, it didn't quite turn out as expected. Yes, old Gobomber is NOT any "savior" of the common folks after all. How many of us have read articles by leftists who moan about the abuses being heaped on the poor and working class by "dear leader" Gobomber? True, the "left" is very careful when it comes to being the least bit critical of Gobomber.

Now we are being told that we "must" vote for Gobomber and whoever he "decides" to pick as his number two. It is so bad that those of us who refuse to play along with the two wings of the war party (the elephant wing and the donkey wing) and vote for third party candidates, are just doing so because of our "vanity". Well, I call BULL SHIT on that! Total BULL SHIT even. My opinion for this attack on those who vote for candidates other than the "big two" is because the donkey wing and its hangers on fear that Gobomber just might be debated even though Mittens is a much worse candidate than even W. Shrub was. Wow, think on that one for  a minuet or so. Mittens is worse than Shrubbie. Mush worse as I think he would sell off every asset still remaining in this country. Shrub just started wars he never could win. Mittens would bow down to the zionist entity and has done so already, witness his recent trip to that poor fake excuse of a country. He went begging for bucks in foreign countries folks. Since when did candidates for president of the USA hold fund raisers in foreign countries? To me, that sounds down right un-American, but then who the hell am I?

In a way, electing old Mittens may actually be the best thing we could do. Hold on a second before you get the tar and feathers out for me. Think about it a second. Mittens as "commander-in-chief", as our CEO in fact. If he holds true to Bain Capital form, he'll sell off everything that is not tied down and mortgage the rest to the maximum. In short, he and his "best bud" Paul Ryan will turn the USA into something worse than a third world country.
How is that "good" you ask? Well, we ARE on that very road right now. Don't believe me? Just look around this country. See any decent paying jobs available? See any recent college graduates unemployed? See any highly skilled people out of work and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits? See any folks on food stamps?  I bet it didn't take much looking to find all that an much more. So, the way it looks, the USA is already on the road to third world status. So, why not just go all out and get there sooner? The sooner the country bottoms out, the sooner we the people can start to rebuild. During said rebuild, maybe this time we can set real limits on greed. Yes, I know, greed is a human thing and cannot ever be eliminated, but I do think we could limit the absolute greed as seen on Wall Street and among the "too big to JAIL" banksters and other war industry crooks. While greed and envy are very real human emotions/feelings, there needs to be some limits to such greed and society can impose decent limits on it. We might also demand that our civil rights be extended to ALL human beings in the nation and make that stick. No more "talk" of rights, but real rights that are respected by all, not separate "rights" for the rich and "other" rights for the rest of us.
One thing that I believe that we all have forgotten here in America is that with our rights comes certain responsibilities. For far too long, those responsibilities have been ignored. That is one of the reasons the country  is in the state it is today. Everybody goes on and on about their rights, but very, very few ever mention, let alone act on, their responsibilities. Go back and read what the founders said about rights and responsibilities. If you want your rights, they come with a set of responsibilities. You don't get the one without the other. 
I take responsibility for my actions. I am ready to take full responsibility for my vote also. I WILL vote for a candidate for president who is NOT a member of either wing of the war party. So, I supposed if Gobomber comes out on the short end of the coming election, all you "true believers" in Gobomber can lay the blame for his defeat on me. No problem, I have found that I am very capable of carrying more than my fair share of the burdens. Hell, I was a Marine so another bit of mess to carry is no real bother.

Another thing that has me riled today was an article that said that being cynical was a form of cowardice. What the hell is THAT about? Also, who the hell is Henry Rollins and why should I or anybody give a flying crap about what he says?  He is one of those who is  quoted as saying that cynics are cowards. Another load of total BULL SHIT! 
Being a cynic and being public about it is NOT cowardice. In fact, in some areas of this country, it is an act of real courage to be cynical. Don't think so? Come down here to the "bible belt" section of the USA and try to be cynical about religion, any religion. Or, politics here in Louisiana. Some say that in Louisiana, politics is a contact sport. And they mean it, for real.
Now, maybe I might allow that being cynical is not exactly an act of courage IF, and only IF, all one does is make cynical comments and does not act on what one says. To just sit back and make comments while not doing anything might be a bit chicken. Either way, being cynical is NOT, in any way at all, an act of cowardice. In some cases, being a cynic IS a true act of courage. Go ahead and be the least bit critical of those in power in your home city and see how many "friends" you win over. Yes, I do put being cynical along side being critical. True, they are NOT exactly the same, but I think they are close. 
To just make cynical statements and not give any possible solutions might be a bit chicken, I'll grant you that. However, I refuse to see being cynical as anything close to being a coward. And Henry Rollins, who ever the hell he is, can put that in his goddamn pipe and smoke it.
Until the next rant at the old corner.
 Thank you for your time.
semper fi

6 comments:

john francis lee said...

Hey, Charlie. I never heard of Henry Rollins either. According to wikipedia ...

"Henry Rollins is an American spoken word artist ... "

So there it is. With a straight face. Another Bozo on the Bus, just like you and me.

I'm certainly with you on the elephant/donkey walk ... donkeys are also called asses, right?

I'm interested in the weather back home, as you know (you know, right?) I live in Thailand now. Have for ten years this November. But I still vote in Corpus Christi TX, my last state of residence back home. I sure can't vote here.

NASA has a site with neat pictures, and I've book marked the rss feed and take a gander every once in a while. I'll be interested to see what Curiosity sees on Mars. That landing sounds amazing! Like Flash Gordon ... but with ropes!?

Anyway, there was a link there a couple of days ago that I followed and it showed two maps of the "lower 48" ... one with July 2012 average temperatures and one with the difference from average.

LA and TX are hot, hot, hot! ... but the Gulf regions are always hot, hot, hot ... according to NASA.

Potentially more disastrous ... really more disastrous in TX ... is dry, dry, dry. Big Food is getting ready to sock it to the world soon, cranking up food prices and attributing it to the drought. And there's gotta be something there. And a lot of the land in the US is growing corn for ... cars to eat, and in Thailand palm oil for ... cars to drink. Feed the cars and starve the people?

The NASA site also had an amazing picture of an iceberg twice the size of Manhattan Island calving off a glacier in Greenland. And of no ice in the arctic. And of a giant hurricane in the arctic where the ice used to be.

I think the weather has the potential to move to center-stage Real Soon Now.

How about this one .,. one of us Bozos stands up and says (since we don't have a president capable of saying anything at all anymore, and won't have after November either) "By the end of this decade, the US will no longer burn carbon fuels." Maybe we could get Henry Rollins to do it. He's a spoken word artist ... and then we organize to follow through on photobiological production of fuels and on the work of Maria Ghirardi at the National Renewable Energy Lab and of Shuguang Zhang at MIT on hydrogen from sunlight, from friendly critters living on our rooftops and in our backyards?

Even if it's 'too late' to stop the massive climate change already in the works we can shut down the engine pumping out more change for the future, and end fracking and mountian top removal and tar sand extraction and the ongoing wholesale destruction and sacriligeous desecration of our Holy Mother Earth.

And then each house would make it's own electricity, burning the hydrogen it's resident critters made back into water in fuel cells, and we could fill up our cars and motorscooters with hydrogen and they could do the same,

And we could have derigibles again. And quietly sail in the sky from Louisiana to Thailand and from Thailand to Louisiana for a visit. At a couple of hundred feet ... sitting at a table, enjoying good food and conversation, ... looking out the window enjoying the all the sights along the way. Whales spouting in the Pacific Ocean.

And, oh yeah ... we'd have to end all these bullshit wars in order to free up the resources to do so.

charlie ehlen said...

John,
OK, a "spoken word artist", whatever that is. Thanks for that, I was too lazy to check into who or what the person is.
Yes, it has been very hot and humid here in central Louisiana. We have had many days with a heat index close to or over 110.
Very dry in much of Texas and the mid-West as well. I figure food prices to rise very soon. The corn crops got hit very hard, no rain. The drought is bad in the middle of the country. We have had some thunderstorms in the last week, most every day there has been some small amounts of rain. Not enough to end the drought, but it does cool off some times after the rain. Not always unfortunately.
The climate IS changing for sure. How much of that change is man made I don't know. It seems very reasonable that we are partly at fault with all the carbon based fuels we burn every day.
Solar is an excellent option for much of us in the US and around the globe in fact. I went so far as to get an associates degree in solar technology in the early 80's. No real jobs for it then, and not many now. Must depend on where you live as to any jobs being available.
Oh, air ships! Yes, I'd like that. Sounds like a very civilized way to travel long distances.

john francis lee said...

I'm just trying to look at the positive side Charlie. As you say in your next post, the aim of 1% is to keep us off the real problems we have ... because they are the authors of most of 'em.

Certainly they cannot see a solution to their problems as profitable, as no-effort, as no-risk (! to their profits next week!), as no-brain as their 'problems' themselves are ... for themselves.

They are, literally, very much our problems, in their view.

But you know, problems have solutions,

And if you're the one affected by a problem you're also the one interested in the solution.

And the world without the problem looks better than the world with ... because unlike the problem's authors, it does not pay out to you.

None of our problems are impassable.

What seems impassable is the river of bad news and bad faith pouring forth from of the people with the levers of power in their hands, who are supposed to be leading us. And their bottomline refusal to act.

Wrest away the power, change the 'leadership', solve the problems.

Energy is a case in point : distribute production and with it control.

Distributed control seems common to a lot of solutions given our current problem set right now : democracy.

Anathema to the people in the nexus of where we are right now.

F**k 'em. They have to be replaced. We need to make some changes and to solve some problems.

charlie ehlen said...

John,
So very true, problems do have solutions. They may take real effort to get the solution to work though. That seems to be a sticking point for many in the USA. Easy answers are what they want. No muss, no fuss sort of thing. The universe doesn't work that way all the time.
As to individual power generation, YES. It is a workable solution. Solar and other non-fossil fuel alternatives exist now. Imagine being free of the grid for life. Oh boy, the "big energy" gang would scream bloody murder if the majority of us did this.
One of my long term dreams, unhooking from the grid.

john francis lee said...

Recognition that the solution is eminently possible and practical ... and that what's keeping us from effecting a solution is the interest of those invested in the problem ... is the problem.

I think it's in the air, Charlie. I was watching the reaction to the UKs assertion that it would assault the Ecuadorian embassy in London ... 'cuz their daddy told 'em to ... and was heartened by the ease with which Ecuador was able to get immediate, strong support against them.

As well the 16th meeting of the non-aligned movement is taking place in Tehran and everyone is showing up.

The whole world is getting very tired of the mob standing between themselves and the solutions they need to their problems.

I certainly notice the feeling here in Thailand, exasperation with the local and international "elites".

It's bound to catch on in hegemonist central, the USA, doncha think?

As in so many things these days, the USA has gone from first to last ... this time to know.

charlie ehlen said...

John,
So sad to see the once "great" Britain now the lap dog of the USA. One wonders how far they will go to get their target even though he is in an embassy. Just how much of an outlaw is the USA today? We'll see soon enough I imagine.
Yes, seeing the nations show up in Tehran is great. So many are finally saying enough to empire and the morons in D.C. Great news for sure. One hopes they keep it going. Yes, the old mob has run its course and many are sick of it all. How to get the sheep in the USA involved, that is the big question. So many seem brain dead and/or tuned in to Faux Noise. Same thing as brain dead in many ways.
Yes, I am very cynical.