3 days ago
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Great White Hope?!
Really?! Everybody knows you're thinking it, but this is the kind of thing you DO NOT want to say publicly...unless you're Sarah Palin. Then it wouldn't surprise anyone.
Advertisers are avoiding the Crazy Tree
Looks like an awful lot of advertisers want to avoid getting hit by the rotten fruit falling from the Crazy Tree. Somewhere between 20 and three dozen major advertisers (including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Travelocity) have insisted their ads not run during Glenn Beck's show on Fox News (here's one article on it). Why? Because he took his anti-Obama rants a touch too far and apparently really alienated some people. Seriously guys, cool off a bit and start making some intelligent, fact-based arguments and maybe you'll scrape up some semblance of credibility before 2012. Fail, and you're doomed to another four years of barking up a dead crazy tree.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Dying Party
Seriously, what is the deal with the frenzy that the health care issue has caused? I see on the news where people are screaming and yelling at congressmen in "town hall meetings" or whatever you want to call them. Then there are people out there claiming that the new legislation promotes euthanasia (or as Sarah Palin put it, "Obama's Death Panel") and takes away Medicare, and...you name it, someone has made the claim. I even heard that the new legislation has Nazi influences. Euthanasia? Nazis? Really?
Obviously, by sheer merit of there being so many conflicting claims of what the legislation actually posesses within its pages, there must be some misinformation out there. But why? Who makes up those faulty claims? And who perpetuates them? Why?
Who: Republicans mostly.
Why: 1) because they're pissed that, if this passes, and works, they won't get credit for dealing with a f***ed up system when they should have (i.e. sometime between 2000 and 2008)...and 2) because if this passes, and works, their already floundering party will be rendered completely irrelevant and they'll have next to zero chance of regaining any significant political power for at least a generation.
That's just my opinion - formed largely on the basis that with every new effort, the Republican party looks more and more desparate. Rush Limbaugh sunk so low (as if "lower" was possible) as to claim the Dems have Nazi ties; Fox News had some guy in a "Crazy Tree" with a whiteboard basically claiming Obama was a Communist; and Rep. Virginia Fox (R-NC) was shown on C-SPAN claiming the legislation promotes euthanasia. And to think some people buy this crap...and still vote for the people who make it up.
All the while, these same people are doing everything in their power to prevent the single most beneficial piece of legislation this country (and maybe world) has ever had the opportunity to put in place to solve an awful lot of our problems: The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Through this bill, we could create millions of jobs in the clean energy sector, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and actually make strides toward combating global climate change. That one bill has the potential to pull us out of the recession by creating jobs that cannot be outsourced, transition us to a clean energy economy, break our slavery to oil-producing nations (another benefit to the economy), and start addressing the single biggest threat to the human species we've ever faced. But the Republicans fight tooth and nail to prevent this bill from passing.
Even if the Republicans do get their way, and Obama fails...it will be too late for them to do anything about it and their party will collapse anyway...only it will bring the rest of the country with it.
Obviously, by sheer merit of there being so many conflicting claims of what the legislation actually posesses within its pages, there must be some misinformation out there. But why? Who makes up those faulty claims? And who perpetuates them? Why?
Who: Republicans mostly.
Why: 1) because they're pissed that, if this passes, and works, they won't get credit for dealing with a f***ed up system when they should have (i.e. sometime between 2000 and 2008)...and 2) because if this passes, and works, their already floundering party will be rendered completely irrelevant and they'll have next to zero chance of regaining any significant political power for at least a generation.
That's just my opinion - formed largely on the basis that with every new effort, the Republican party looks more and more desparate. Rush Limbaugh sunk so low (as if "lower" was possible) as to claim the Dems have Nazi ties; Fox News had some guy in a "Crazy Tree" with a whiteboard basically claiming Obama was a Communist; and Rep. Virginia Fox (R-NC) was shown on C-SPAN claiming the legislation promotes euthanasia. And to think some people buy this crap...and still vote for the people who make it up.
All the while, these same people are doing everything in their power to prevent the single most beneficial piece of legislation this country (and maybe world) has ever had the opportunity to put in place to solve an awful lot of our problems: The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Through this bill, we could create millions of jobs in the clean energy sector, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and actually make strides toward combating global climate change. That one bill has the potential to pull us out of the recession by creating jobs that cannot be outsourced, transition us to a clean energy economy, break our slavery to oil-producing nations (another benefit to the economy), and start addressing the single biggest threat to the human species we've ever faced. But the Republicans fight tooth and nail to prevent this bill from passing.
Even if the Republicans do get their way, and Obama fails...it will be too late for them to do anything about it and their party will collapse anyway...only it will bring the rest of the country with it.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The speed of time
"As you get older, time just goes by faster."
I've heard some variation of that very statement many, many times in my life. So has everyone else probably. But until late, I never put much thought into it; I just blew it off like every other snippet of profound prophecy my elders attempted to impart upon me. Because, really, the statement makes no sense. Time cannot go by faster. There will always be 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and sixty seconds in a minute. 86,400 seconds in a day. That doesn't change. Period.
But something, somewhere, somehow, does change with a person's age...or at least with my age anyway. Obviously it's not time that changes - it's a person's perception of that time that changes. Why that perception changes, I don't know. If did, I would maybe then be able to reverse the progression of that perception change. Then again, if I could do that, I'd probably not only win a Nobel Prize, but I'd take away that little aspect of clarvoyance which elders currenly posess.
It's cliche to say I know, but not that many years ago, the days seemed almost endless. I would do so much in one day that I'd eventually lack for things to do, at which time I would succumb to boredom or relaxation, much to my chagrin at the time. But what I wouldn't give now to have the ability to exclaim, "I'm bored" or to be able to feel at ease and accomplished enough to fully relax - to just sit back knowing full well that I don't need to do a damn thing.
Those not-so-distant days lent themselves to seasons that seemed to last for eons. Oh how many things I could do in one summer! Weekend tubing trips down the river were commonplace, as were long days on the island, or whatever else that suited my fancy at the time - I had time to do it. And if I couldn't do it one day, I could do it the next, or on any of the long days to come. If I felt social, two phone calls would rustle up any number of friends I felt like hanging out with. If I felt reclusive, I had more than plenty of time to find a secluded campsite somewhere and just escape everything.
But it's not that way now. I have to schedule tubing trips weeks and months in advance and build my busy schedule around that. I take time off work to work on something else. The days pass by faster and faster and before I know it, summer fades into fall, then winter, then spring and the cycle repeats itself with only the occasional realization that the weather has changed and the supposed season of "fun in the sun" has not only arrived but has snuck half past me without my even taking the plastic off the windows. And all of a sudden I'm struck with the harsh realization that I've spent more time on the toilet in the past year than I have on any floating apparatus, plastic or metal. "Fun" must now be planned, scheduled, prepared for, and had within a set timeframe that never seems long enough and all the while, the things that I "should be doing instead" are screaming at me from the back of my mind guilting me into not fully enjoying my time off. Impulsiveness is no longer genius, it's now irresponsible and cumbersome. And given the challenge, I would have to think long and hard about which two phone calls to make to round up a group of friends - and those calls would likely lead to one voicemail and one raincheck.
What happened? When did life get so hectic, so full of trivial crap that won't mean mean anything in five years, which will seemingly pass by in the time it took to tube down the river five summers ago. When did I choose to take on so many activities that I no longer have the luxury of saying, "let's float down the river today" and instantly have a dozen people in river garb holding rubber tubes and a case of beer standing in my driveway. And if this is just the natural progression of life, how do I buck the trend? Because in the back of my mind, the river calls for me, but I find it perpetually harder to hear over the screaming honey-do list.
I'd search for the answers to these questions myself, but I have to paint the kitchen cabinets tonight.
I've heard some variation of that very statement many, many times in my life. So has everyone else probably. But until late, I never put much thought into it; I just blew it off like every other snippet of profound prophecy my elders attempted to impart upon me. Because, really, the statement makes no sense. Time cannot go by faster. There will always be 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and sixty seconds in a minute. 86,400 seconds in a day. That doesn't change. Period.
But something, somewhere, somehow, does change with a person's age...or at least with my age anyway. Obviously it's not time that changes - it's a person's perception of that time that changes. Why that perception changes, I don't know. If did, I would maybe then be able to reverse the progression of that perception change. Then again, if I could do that, I'd probably not only win a Nobel Prize, but I'd take away that little aspect of clarvoyance which elders currenly posess.
It's cliche to say I know, but not that many years ago, the days seemed almost endless. I would do so much in one day that I'd eventually lack for things to do, at which time I would succumb to boredom or relaxation, much to my chagrin at the time. But what I wouldn't give now to have the ability to exclaim, "I'm bored" or to be able to feel at ease and accomplished enough to fully relax - to just sit back knowing full well that I don't need to do a damn thing.
Those not-so-distant days lent themselves to seasons that seemed to last for eons. Oh how many things I could do in one summer! Weekend tubing trips down the river were commonplace, as were long days on the island, or whatever else that suited my fancy at the time - I had time to do it. And if I couldn't do it one day, I could do it the next, or on any of the long days to come. If I felt social, two phone calls would rustle up any number of friends I felt like hanging out with. If I felt reclusive, I had more than plenty of time to find a secluded campsite somewhere and just escape everything.
But it's not that way now. I have to schedule tubing trips weeks and months in advance and build my busy schedule around that. I take time off work to work on something else. The days pass by faster and faster and before I know it, summer fades into fall, then winter, then spring and the cycle repeats itself with only the occasional realization that the weather has changed and the supposed season of "fun in the sun" has not only arrived but has snuck half past me without my even taking the plastic off the windows. And all of a sudden I'm struck with the harsh realization that I've spent more time on the toilet in the past year than I have on any floating apparatus, plastic or metal. "Fun" must now be planned, scheduled, prepared for, and had within a set timeframe that never seems long enough and all the while, the things that I "should be doing instead" are screaming at me from the back of my mind guilting me into not fully enjoying my time off. Impulsiveness is no longer genius, it's now irresponsible and cumbersome. And given the challenge, I would have to think long and hard about which two phone calls to make to round up a group of friends - and those calls would likely lead to one voicemail and one raincheck.
What happened? When did life get so hectic, so full of trivial crap that won't mean mean anything in five years, which will seemingly pass by in the time it took to tube down the river five summers ago. When did I choose to take on so many activities that I no longer have the luxury of saying, "let's float down the river today" and instantly have a dozen people in river garb holding rubber tubes and a case of beer standing in my driveway. And if this is just the natural progression of life, how do I buck the trend? Because in the back of my mind, the river calls for me, but I find it perpetually harder to hear over the screaming honey-do list.
I'd search for the answers to these questions myself, but I have to paint the kitchen cabinets tonight.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
There is no such thing as clean coal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdHuB7Ovl2o
No, really, there is no such thing as "Clean Coal." The technology, otherwise known as carbon capture and storage (CCS) has NEVER been done on an industrial scale and would take many years to develop and implement...assuming it's even possible. It's ridiculous to think clean coal technology is even a remotely feasible solution to our energy and global warming problems when we have far better choices available for implementation now such as wind, solar, geothermal, etc.
Get off the clean coal bandwagon for pete's sake. Give it up. Seriously.
/rant
No, really, there is no such thing as "Clean Coal." The technology, otherwise known as carbon capture and storage (CCS) has NEVER been done on an industrial scale and would take many years to develop and implement...assuming it's even possible. It's ridiculous to think clean coal technology is even a remotely feasible solution to our energy and global warming problems when we have far better choices available for implementation now such as wind, solar, geothermal, etc.
Get off the clean coal bandwagon for pete's sake. Give it up. Seriously.
/rant
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Aw, Crap! Not again!
Well it looks like Sarah Palin is getting smacked with ethics violation charges again.
What?! You mean charging the taxpayers to fly your kids around with you on "official business" to places they've not been invited or even have any business being at is wrong? Gee, I never would have guessed.
Seriously? If she can't keep from abusing her power as Governor, how does anyone expect her to not abuse her power at VP of the United States?
What?! You mean charging the taxpayers to fly your kids around with you on "official business" to places they've not been invited or even have any business being at is wrong? Gee, I never would have guessed.
Seriously? If she can't keep from abusing her power as Governor, how does anyone expect her to not abuse her power at VP of the United States?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
