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More of The Same
I'm sending this link to the White House and my representatives in Washington, along with other congressmen to whom it might apply. It's a concise summary of where we are now concerning financial reform. Excellent. (Video):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/#33586135
Mark,
I wonder if so much of the corruption and insanity that we see in our culture now is the result of the hands-off approach towards business and government put forth by Bush et al (or at least has been accelerated by them.) They have become part of the American ethos and seem very difficult to dispel (especially when the current administration has continued much of what the last administration began.) They have become the norm. The question is, how do we change that?
BTW, my late father, who made the living room (around the T.V.) a sacred and inviolable shrine while Lombardi and the Packers played, would wholeheartedly agree with you re: Favre.
I’m about to start on a little rant here. I’m sure most people are under the impression that public employees are very often arrogant, unhelpful and have peculiar ideas of what makes “sense”—not to mention forgetting where the money that pays their salaries comes from, and who they are supposed to be working for. That assumption, just as often, has considerable merit. Take, for instance, King County Metro, which supplies bus service for Seattle and the surrounding environs. I work at the airport, and like all large metropolitan airports, it is open 24/7. Some people have to report to work at 4 am; others at 5 am. People who are forced to begin work at such hours are generally on the lower-end of wage scale, more likely than others to lack auto transport, which is why regional bus service to the airport begins between 3 and 3:30 am.
But like other public entities, Metro will use the flimsiest reed to get out of its obligations to conduct the services a tax-payer-subsidized entity is expected to. For example, during a daylight savings time change. Everyone has to adjust to the time change—except, apparently, employees of Metro. I work on Sunday, so I changed my clock before I hit the hay to make sure I was on time for work. It’s tough waking up at 2 am, but somebody has to do it. I managed to drag my fundament to my usual bus stop at 3:20 am to catch a bus that was supposed to arrive at 3:30. And I waited. And waited some more. At 4:30 I called Metro customer service to find out what the problem was. I was informed that the red-eye buses were running on Saturday’s schedule, and I was asked if I thought it was fair to force drivers to stay on an extra hour because of the time change. I told this individual that what really didn’t seem fair was that people who work Sunday have to adjust to the time change, so I didn’t see her point. The conversation continued in the following manner:
“The drivers made their usual stops in Kent at 3:24 and 3:54. That’s all they are required to do”
“Yeah, but that’s 2:24 and 2:54 if they didn’t turn their clocks back. How come you would run on that schedule if there is no one to pick-up?”
“You’d be surprised how many people are out waiting for buses that time of night.”
The problem with her theory is that this particular route does not run between 6:15 pm and 3:24 am. Why would anyone—let alone the everyday riders—who can read a schedule stand out in the rain waiting for a bus they knew would not arrive for another hour? But for arguments’ sake, let’s say this is what I had been expecting her say. The conversation would then go something like this:
“I figured your drivers wouldn’t adjust their times, so arrived at my stop an hour early, and I haven’t seen any bus.”
“Did you look at the schedule? There are no buses at 2:24 or 2:54.”
The “customer service” rep insisted that the reasons why the buses had run on a schedule opposed to the one everyone else was expecting on was perfectly sensible. I told her the only reason she thought it made sense was because she didn’t make any sense. Metro is tax-payer subsidized, and tax-payers have a right to expect proper service, such as providing bus service to the airport, especially for people who depend on it for the purposes of work. It also turned out that she lied about the buses running on their “regular” schedule; one rider who waited with a similar amount of futility informed me that he had forgotten about the time change and arrived at another stop an hour early; he never saw any bus for four hours. My theory, and it is probably correct, is that the drivers of this particular route knew there would be no one to pick-up at the regular time, and being too indolent to hang-around for another hour, they simply called it a day and went home—with customer service providing an excuse to fit any occasion to irate bus riders.
Anyways, last Friday, a right-wing radio host was insisting that it was fair and reasonable to ticket people for driving in this country without speaking English. Apparently this was in reference to several dozen Latinos ticketed by Dallas police recently for this particular offense. The problem that there is no state or municipal ordinance that makes this a crime, although there is a federal statute that requires truck drivers to be conversant in English. The Dallas police chief apologized, and promised that the $204 tickets would be refunded.
But here once again is Latinos being specifically targeted for abuse; no one is complaining about Asian or Eastern Europeans who do not speak English (or pretend not to). One caller on this show, not to be cowed by the "outrage" of the host about people driving on our roads who do not speak English, pointed out that he had driven on European roads, and he didn't speak a word of any of the languages in the countries he had been in, and didn't understand the problem; stop and go signs were perfectly understandable everywhere you go in the world. And why then should Americans who don't speak a word of Spanish be allowed to drive on Mexican roads?
And one more thing: having grown-up in Wisconsin, I'm a Packer fan who remembers the 25 year ice age between the Lombardi years and the Favre era, when the "frozen tundra" was a perjorative, and a place no decent football player wanted to play. I remember, and that's why I I'll cut Favre every break he deserves for putting the Packers back on the football map.
Actually, I believe he is one tool among many that is being used to manipulate us progressives.
To understand where I am coming from, first listen to a web-exclusive interview Bill Moyers did with Glenn Greenwald yesterday. Greenwald recounted how Obama used Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham to write an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act! It allows the Defense Secretary to conceal the photos of torture, even though two courts ruled the photos had to be released.
Then read the November 2 Newsweek article, "Hope Springs Eternal," reflecting on the Obama presidency so far. It tells of an interview Henry Paulson did with Todd Purdum of Vanity Fair, in which Paulson said he was shocked by how, during the Bush administration, members of Congress, "would tell him privately that they supported policies that they would oppose, even vigorously trash, in public."
So, why should we believe anything they say or do at this point? It seems the right-wingers aren't the only ones being played.
I think the pizza costume makes a good food pyramid, and not just by shape. It has grains, vegetables, and meat, and you can put pineapple on it for fruit.
I would like to leave two comments.
First, Bernie knows that his introducing of a national single-payer health insurance plan will go no where but I give him credit for the introduction.
Second, here are some words that are away from the main theme of the article but I cannot resist sharing them with you. From Karen Kwiatkowski's most recent article, "Afghanistan a Success - Time to Come Home!" here are some very powerful words.
Thinking people everywhere see our Afghanistan experience as a crash of 20th-century American empire on the 21st-century rocks of reality. The contraction of our empire – happening today in monetary as well as military terms – is at least a full generation overdue. The false sustenance of a financial bubble corresponds with the failing sustenance of military empire. Our children are the first generation who are not citizens, but Caesar’s slaves, bound to a life of fear and labor, made bearable only by their inchoate dreams of freedom. The military-industrial complex, a benign tumor in the days of Eisenhower, has metastasized to the extent that generals run Washington and the fourth estate exists solely to serve the imperial machine.
Obama has a small window of opportunity to declare victory and take a step towards retroactively earning his Nobel peace prize. Afghanistan no longer threatens us, and they’d like their country back.
Hi everyone. Could you help me by writing to thank our Oregon Senator, Jeff Merkley, for helping to end Mountaintop Removal. Thank you soooo much. Here is the letter I received and he needs lots of praise for his brave support of this bill.
Dear Loretta,
Thank you for contacting me to share your support for the Appalachia Restoration Act (S. 696). It is an honor to serve as your Senator, and I appreciate hearing from you.
I, too, support this legislation because mountaintop removal mining is an irreversibly destructive practice. By using explosives to remove the tops of mountains to access coal, and then burying valleys and streams with the waste material, mountaintop removal mining destroys forests and watersheds, endangering communities' water quality and public health. I believe our country must move away from these mining practices and instead embrace a clean energy future built on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The Appalachia Restoration Act would amend the Clean Water Act to prevent the dumping of mining waste into streams, effectively ending the practice of mountaintop removal mining. This bill has been referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for future action. As a member of this Committee, please know that I look forward to working with my colleagues to protect the citizens and natural resources of the Appalachia region.
Thank you, again, for sharing your thoughts with me. I hope you will continue to keep me informed about the issues that matter most to you.
All my best,
Jeff Merkley
United States Senate
DDay,
I guess I was a little unimaginative. It's hard because I take this stuff so seriously...
Thanks for the ideas!
B Roll,
Thanks for the heads-up on today's Democracy Now broadcast. It makes the "sore thumbs" in our political system stick out more than ever.
Quark, darling.....Billionaires for Wealthcare???....with explanation...??? You need to loosen up gal. How about going as a windsock with Norm Colesman's face on the side? Or how about having your husband come as a hemorrhoid and you come as TPawlenty ...........with a "T" shirt, that says : "Perfect A--Hole"? (my personal favorite)
DDAy,
Sure, blame it on me! 'Just like my husband! LOL (Always teasing!)
Three pounds B Roll.....at the very least!..... Sending me off on a wild goose chase. It is probably all Quark's fault though. It began after she tried to tell about this great response to my long post being lost to the ether or some such crap. Control+F+search this! You lie'n loud mouthed , loquacious, slightly lascivious long legged liberal you! Sorry I was just trying to get in character for playing Michele at the party tonight and Fogghorn Legghorn invaded my body. I'm going to get my early Friday Afternoon libation now. Have a fun Halloween All!!!.... from the Capitol.
P.s. B Roll .....how the experimentin goin?
DDay,
If your wife didn't want to be Guy Noire, she could wear a George W. Bush mask and you could be hanging on her the whole time!
...and to follow up on my original comment: The pizza represents the slice of the pie that we are all forced to try to grab.
DDay,
These weird things have happened to me all my life...
I love the Michele Bachmann costume! (I also love Guy Noire, but in a different way! You know, when Mike and I were first married, we listened to Garrison Keillor's morning radio program --- with Jim Ed Poole --- every day. 'Miss that.
I think I'd dress like one of the "Billionaires for Wealthcare" actors and carry a corporate logo (with an explanation.)
Friends-
I have been off listening to Jonathan Tasini at Democracy Now as suggested by B Roll. I'm adding Tasini to my Legions of Lion Hearted Liberals List. Alan Grayson, Al Gore, Howard Dean, Russ Feingold, Denis Kucinich, Bernie Saunders, etc....Jonathan Tasini! Thanks B.
Quark- You were talking about pre-cognition and Gene Rodenberry. Holy Baffling Bat Sh-t Batman! I said hell and SD48 and you went to equating it with Halloween. Well Anoka MN. is officially recognized by the U.S. Congress as being the Halloween Capitol of the World. Fact. Guess where I live? That's right !.......Wholeheartedly MN. former childhood home of Garrison Keilor & Michele Bachmann. That is why I'll be going as Michele in a black dominatrix rubber outfit. My wife is going as Gary.... as Guy Noire........Private eye.
Quark
That may explain why no one responded to my post. It may be that no one can see it and the other posts I referred to. I have to do a few experiments to figure this out.
Jacob,
I think President Obama is looking more and more like your Burger King costume. I picture him handing me a Whopper with one hand and my change, one penny, with the other. I don't even get my two cents in before he feeds me his lies. This health care "reform" sure isn't the "change" the American people were looking for when we elected him !!!!!
What a disappointment !!!!!
B Roll,
I don't see that post. It must be out there in the ether with mine! LOL
Quark
Did or do you see a post from me on this page that starts with
DDay, Quark et al
DDay,
I meant that, if you were in hell, you could celebrate Halloween wholeheartedly!
BTW, EVERYONE, what would your Halloween costumes be?
DDay
Look at my post above that starts
DDay, Quark et al
Bob McDonnell's Christian vision for Virginia and America
http://www.examiner.com/x-23325-Tampa-Deism-Examiner~y2009m10d29-Bob-McD...
DDay
Did you include the quotation marks? You shouldn't have.
How can people say that they don't think that Republicans wouldn't attack the "public option" if it was changed to "public choice"? I've heard several people say that.
Not sure I agree with Thom when he says that it should be called Medicare Part E. Do people have to pay a monthly premium for medicare? Unless they do, I think it would be confusing.