Firemen watched a home burn in Obion County, Tennessee. Three dogs and a cat died in the burning house. Would those same assholes have watched it burn if children or slow-moving seniors had been in the house? If they were card carrying Libertarians they just might have.
Former homeowner Gene Cranick lives outside of the city limits and he admits that he forgot to pay a $75 service fee that would have provided him with fire protection.
In the wonderful world of Libertarians every home owner would purchase protection policies for private police, fire and ambulance service. There would be no building codes nor government regulations of any kind. And there would be NO TAXES.
There are so many marvelous opportunities to practice their Libertarian principles where it's already acceptable. Why do they insist on destroying this country when they could just go to Sudan or any number of counties with no government, just war lords or militias? Or maybe they could all move to Texas and I'll spend the rest of my life helping Texas secede from the union.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
If Congress can prosecute Roger Clemens for lying to Congress, why can't Senators and Congressman be prosecuted for lying during sessions of Congress?
Bush's former U.N. Ambassador won't rule out presidential run. John Bolton for president and Sharron Angle for the Senate. This country is reaching new limits of insanity.
Bush's former U.N. Ambassador won't rule out presidential run. John Bolton for president and Sharron Angle for the Senate. This country is reaching new limits of insanity.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Christopher Hitchens intimidates the hell out of me
I'm reading two Christopher Hitchens books right now: a slender volume titled "Thomas Jefferson" and his memoir, "Hitch 22."
I picked his “Jefferson” because it’s not very long and because I know I can trust him not to sugar coat anything.
I've been a fan of Hitchens for years. Gave up on him for awhile after he endorsed the invasion of Iraq and started hanging out with Paul Wolfowitz, then rejoined the fold when I read "god Is Not Great." He certainly makes a good case for non-believing, which I'm currently doing.
He is funny as hell and such a good writer. My reading list has grown by a couple of pages just jotting down some of what he's read in his lifetime. I won't read them all but do intend to tackle Wilfrid Owens poetry and George Orwell's lesser known novels.
One of the benefits of being 70 years old is that I know I don't have time to read all the books I missed. There are so many books being published every month I hardly have time to go back and pick up the many I missed.
Hitchens isn't afraid to tell his version of the truth and to honestly state his feelings about people, about what say say and write, about what they do.
His book "The Missionary Position," was an unflattering portrait of Mother Teresa pointing out, among other things, that she was much more concerned with pleasing her god than with helping the poor and suffering. In fact, according to him, she refused to allow the dying to have drugs to ease their suffering because she felt their suffering was pleasing to her god. I could be wrong but I suspect most of those she was helping would have been Hindu or Muslim.
Hitchens recently interrupted his book tour for "Hitch 22" in order to have chemo for esophageal cancer. I won’t pray for him but sure as hell want him to recover and keep on writing.
I picked his “Jefferson” because it’s not very long and because I know I can trust him not to sugar coat anything.
I've been a fan of Hitchens for years. Gave up on him for awhile after he endorsed the invasion of Iraq and started hanging out with Paul Wolfowitz, then rejoined the fold when I read "god Is Not Great." He certainly makes a good case for non-believing, which I'm currently doing.
He is funny as hell and such a good writer. My reading list has grown by a couple of pages just jotting down some of what he's read in his lifetime. I won't read them all but do intend to tackle Wilfrid Owens poetry and George Orwell's lesser known novels.
One of the benefits of being 70 years old is that I know I don't have time to read all the books I missed. There are so many books being published every month I hardly have time to go back and pick up the many I missed.
Hitchens isn't afraid to tell his version of the truth and to honestly state his feelings about people, about what say say and write, about what they do.
His book "The Missionary Position," was an unflattering portrait of Mother Teresa pointing out, among other things, that she was much more concerned with pleasing her god than with helping the poor and suffering. In fact, according to him, she refused to allow the dying to have drugs to ease their suffering because she felt their suffering was pleasing to her god. I could be wrong but I suspect most of those she was helping would have been Hindu or Muslim.
Hitchens recently interrupted his book tour for "Hitch 22" in order to have chemo for esophageal cancer. I won’t pray for him but sure as hell want him to recover and keep on writing.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sarah Palin, gone rogue
Sarah Palin, gone rogue
Just read the press release announcing the November release of Sarah Palin’s memoir, titled “Going Rogue: An American Life.”
I don’t care that she has written a memoir, won’t read her memoir, and am stunned that Harper has commissioned a first printing of 1.5 million copies.
However, what is really bothering me is the use of the word “rogue” in the title. Rogue is not a flattering word. Seeing it in the title drove me to the dictionary.
I opened my worn, thin-paper copy (“THIN PAPER” is actually printed above the title) of “Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary,” copyright 1959, by G. & C. Merriam Co., and looked up “rogue.” The definitions follow.
1. A vagrant; an idle sturdy beggar; a tramp.
2. A knave; cheat.
3. Scamp; rascal.
4. A rogue elephant.
5. Biol. A chance variation:--usually applied to inferior or nontypical plants.
Following this we find “rogue elephant” defined.
Rogue elephant: A vicious elephant which separates from the herd and roams alone.
Then we find “rogue’s gallery,” defined as “A collection of portraits of persons arrested as criminals, for the use of the police.” And “rogue’s march,” “Derisive music for a person driven away under popular indignation or official sentence, as when a soldier is drummed out of a regiment.
After reading the definitions I’m making the elitist assumption that neither Ms. Palin nor her collaborator, Lynn Vincent, have a feeling for the subtlety of language. Did they check a dictionary? Did they think “rogue” is a synonym for “maverick?”
Ms Palin supposedly spent several days in New York working around the clock with editors at Harper after she and Vincent finished their work. Didn’t any of those editors look up the word “rogue?”
Just read the press release announcing the November release of Sarah Palin’s memoir, titled “Going Rogue: An American Life.”
I don’t care that she has written a memoir, won’t read her memoir, and am stunned that Harper has commissioned a first printing of 1.5 million copies.
However, what is really bothering me is the use of the word “rogue” in the title. Rogue is not a flattering word. Seeing it in the title drove me to the dictionary.
I opened my worn, thin-paper copy (“THIN PAPER” is actually printed above the title) of “Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary,” copyright 1959, by G. & C. Merriam Co., and looked up “rogue.” The definitions follow.
1. A vagrant; an idle sturdy beggar; a tramp.
2. A knave; cheat.
3. Scamp; rascal.
4. A rogue elephant.
5. Biol. A chance variation:--usually applied to inferior or nontypical plants.
Following this we find “rogue elephant” defined.
Rogue elephant: A vicious elephant which separates from the herd and roams alone.
Then we find “rogue’s gallery,” defined as “A collection of portraits of persons arrested as criminals, for the use of the police.” And “rogue’s march,” “Derisive music for a person driven away under popular indignation or official sentence, as when a soldier is drummed out of a regiment.
After reading the definitions I’m making the elitist assumption that neither Ms. Palin nor her collaborator, Lynn Vincent, have a feeling for the subtlety of language. Did they check a dictionary? Did they think “rogue” is a synonym for “maverick?”
Ms Palin supposedly spent several days in New York working around the clock with editors at Harper after she and Vincent finished their work. Didn’t any of those editors look up the word “rogue?”
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Questions
If individuals or families cannot afford to buy health insurance, how can they afford to pay the fines that will be levied upon them if they don't buy insurance?
I ask this after reading an Associated Press article that states that the latest plan from Montana Sen. Max Baucus would levy fines for not having health insurance, starting at $750 for an individual and $1,500 for families.
Does this mean that more people will die because if they show up at ER without an insurance card they will be fined? And turned away? And how will anyone know if all 50 million or so of the currently uninsured individuals buy a health insurance policy? Won't this be a bureaucratic nightmare? A whole new police agency? Wouldn't it be cheaper to offer a government funded health insurance option?
I often wonder lately, is there is anyone in Congress besides Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders who has courage and sanity?
I ask this after reading an Associated Press article that states that the latest plan from Montana Sen. Max Baucus would levy fines for not having health insurance, starting at $750 for an individual and $1,500 for families.
Does this mean that more people will die because if they show up at ER without an insurance card they will be fined? And turned away? And how will anyone know if all 50 million or so of the currently uninsured individuals buy a health insurance policy? Won't this be a bureaucratic nightmare? A whole new police agency? Wouldn't it be cheaper to offer a government funded health insurance option?
I often wonder lately, is there is anyone in Congress besides Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders who has courage and sanity?
Sunday, August 16, 2009
I just read that the White House is ready to drop the "public option" in order to get a health care bill passed. Without a public option there is no health care reform. Why would the private insurance industry change if it isn't forced to? And how would health care become affordable or accountable if left to the private insurers discretion? Why would we expect sociopaths to become responsible human beings if not forced into that behavior?
Why are we giving in to Republican senators who have exhibited behavior verging on the criminal? Baucus, Grassley, the whole pack, are unethical, immoral and disgusting. You only have to look at their lists of big money donors to know how scummy they are.
So we shall continue to allow people to suffer and die so private insurers can enjoy huge profits. I call that murder by omission and in the case of the Congress people, murder by lies.
The only consolation in any of this is that all the leading Republican senators claim to be Christians (although they exhibit little of what I thought was Christian behavior) and that means that for all eternity these creeps will be roasting and broiling. And the Blue Dog Dems will be right there with them. And Sarah, too!
Why are we giving in to Republican senators who have exhibited behavior verging on the criminal? Baucus, Grassley, the whole pack, are unethical, immoral and disgusting. You only have to look at their lists of big money donors to know how scummy they are.
So we shall continue to allow people to suffer and die so private insurers can enjoy huge profits. I call that murder by omission and in the case of the Congress people, murder by lies.
The only consolation in any of this is that all the leading Republican senators claim to be Christians (although they exhibit little of what I thought was Christian behavior) and that means that for all eternity these creeps will be roasting and broiling. And the Blue Dog Dems will be right there with them. And Sarah, too!
Monday, August 10, 2009
The John Tree
Sunday morning I heard a toddler whooping in excitement somewhere in the neighborhood. Looking out a south-facing window I saw a child in a swing, being pushed by an adult.
The swing hangs in what my mother called "The John Tree." She and my stepfather, both dead now, once owned the house in front of my current house, as well as a very small house next door. Sadly, the small house has veen demolished and replaced by a modest starter mansion (only 2600 sf).
When I returned to Nevada in 1977 I moved into the small house and eventually acquired roommates. One of them, John, observed my mother digging up a small elm tree and volunteered to help.
He dug up the tree, then transplanted it in front of her east-facing bedroom window. Thirty some years later it stands 20 feet tall, shading that part of the house and holding a small child's swing.
Life is good.
The swing hangs in what my mother called "The John Tree." She and my stepfather, both dead now, once owned the house in front of my current house, as well as a very small house next door. Sadly, the small house has veen demolished and replaced by a modest starter mansion (only 2600 sf).
When I returned to Nevada in 1977 I moved into the small house and eventually acquired roommates. One of them, John, observed my mother digging up a small elm tree and volunteered to help.
He dug up the tree, then transplanted it in front of her east-facing bedroom window. Thirty some years later it stands 20 feet tall, shading that part of the house and holding a small child's swing.
Life is good.
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