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Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

When the Last Law was Down

Posted in Culture, Politics, tagged , , , , on 24 Apr 2013| Leave a Comment »

The Boston bombings brought out great emotions among my acquaintances, and understandably so. They brought out great emotions in me, as well. One thing I try to avoid, though, is letting my emotions cloud my judgment.

Occasionally, in regard to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, I hear people say, “We didn’t learn anything from him,” and “Great; now we have to pay for his room and board for the next 50 years,” and “We should have killed him on the spot.” Their rhetoric feeds their frenzy, bolstering their own anger. My calm and reasoned responses to these views are refuted by ad hominem attacks, calling me a hand-wringing bleeding-heart Liberal (and other, crispier descriptions, that I’m sure you can imagine). (more…)

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Herculean Misanthropy

Posted in Politics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 12 Mar 2013| 2 Comments »

Yesterday, over on Facebook, a friend “Liked” a post that Kevin Sorbo made (which is the only reason it came to my attention). Kevin Sorbo? Oh, yeah, that guy.

Curious, I read onward.

In the post, Mr. Sorbo complained of people who put words in his mouth, people who said he resents helping others. To his credit, Mr. Sorbo does much more than the average person—he funds an after-school program that helps thousands of at-risk kids, he speaks before Congress about expanding his program—and for it I applaud him.

Unfortunately, then he launched into a rant about high taxes and how he pays “way more” than his “fair share.” This was followed by a tirade against those in need, in which he painted welfare recipients as whining obese freeloaders who”just feel like being taken care of.”

I pick on Mr. Sorbo because his post came across my desk, but his attitude—that taxes are too high, and that everyone on a government program is a shiftless freeloader—is common on the right, and while I’ve repeatedly countered the “taxes are too high” argument here and elsewhere (they’re essentially as low as they’ve ever been) what really gets my hackles up is this demonization of people receiving government assistance. (more…)

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British Kings, American Cash

Posted in Culture, Movies, Politics, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 04 Feb 2013| Leave a Comment »

Two interesting articles out of the UK’s Guardian newspaper crossed my desk this morning. One was about bones, and one was about money.

First, a team of archaeologists and historians in Britain have uncovered the bones of Richard III. For real. The bones tell an amazing and horrifying story of the last moments of the last Plantagenet king, and the last British king to die in battle. And, for those who have been wondering just how much Shakespeare’s anti-Plantagenet propaganda was fiction regarding the king’s twisted form, we can now genuinely say that physically, at least, his depiction was accurate.

The team, working in a car park in Leicester, lifted the horribly severed skull, the arm and leg bones, and then the severely curved spine. The bones tell us something of his life, of his death, and of his treatment after death. Much of it was not pretty.

The second article I found of interest was an interview with Robert Reich and Jacob Kornbluth about the documentary that swept the Sundance Festival and will soon be in wide distribution. Inequality for All is being called the economy’s equivalent of An Inconvenient Truth.

(more…)

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Deficit Death Star

Posted in Hi Tech, Politics, tagged , , , on 14 Jan 2013| 3 Comments »

Proving that someone there has both a good sense of humor and a fair dollop of geeky sf-background, the White House officially responded to the petition that the government begin building a Death Star by the year 2016. Any petition having garnered more than 25,000 signatures requires an official response, no matter how silly they might be, and this petition was definitely silly. But, rules is rules, so despite it being a ludicrous idea, the White House gave it the same attention they gave the petitions from all those states that want to secede from the Union.

I encourage you to read the full, official response. From its title (“This Isn’t the Petition Response You’re Looking For”) to its final reminder that nothing can beat the power of the Force, it is chock full of little nods to Star Wars.

And it’s not just the White House that has a sense of humor. Did you know that NASA has a program called the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program, and that it carries the acronym of C3PO? Hehehe.

k

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E Pluribus…Unum

Posted in Culture, Politics, Seattle, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 07 Nov 2012| Leave a Comment »

Obey the Kitty!Regardless who you voted for, thank you for voting.

Washington State is now all mail-in ballots, so voting for me was easy. Not so for many people in other states who had to wait in line for hours just to exercise this essential civic right. Nor was it easy for those still caught in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and who, displaced or homeless or without even a polling place to go to, somehow managed to get in there and cast a ballot. Bless you for your efforts, for your perseverance, and for your example. (more…)

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So Long, Election Night

Posted in Culture, Low Tech, Politics, Seattle, tagged , , , , , , on 30 Oct 2012| 3 Comments »

Obey the Kitty!The world changes quickly, and as I get older, I start to feel the current move faster than I am. Slowly, inexorably, I’m being left behind. This is something I work hard against; I try to keep current, but I never was “edgy” or “cool” and I sure as hell don’t expect to start now. I suppose this makes me a member of the Curmudgeon Party. I’m pretty happy over here. I can rant and rave, piss and moan, and no one is surprised when I do it. So, don’t be surprised. I’m going to do it again.

Last night—on an October night—I voted in a general election. My wife and I sat in the living room, discussed each of the initiatives and reviewed the candidates, colored the little bubbles on our computer-ready form, and stuck them in envelopes to go out in the morning’s post. Washington State now has a wholly mail-in election system.

And I hated it.

(more…)

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Think About It

Posted in Culture, Politics, tagged , , , , , , on 11 Oct 2012| 6 Comments »

Obey the Kitty!An old friend once told me, “If you say something with enough conviction and sincerity, people will believe you.” He often put this adage into practical use. He kept a construction oversuit, a clipboard with forms, and an orange hard-hat in his trunk. With one or more of these items and a little chutzpah, he was able to go many places most of us wouldn’t try to enter. He saw the inside of the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, before it was opened to the public. He made his way onto movie location shoots. He could brass his way into a dozen places, just by sounding confident and authoritative.

It was an illustrative lesson on just how bovine we humans can be, placidly walking up the ramp to the abattoir.

I haven’t talked much about the upcoming election, on this blog, and if you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I’ve been on somewhat of a “news diet” for the couple of months. Don’t worry; I am not going to urge you to vote for Obama or Romney or Johnson (though I do urge you to vote).

I’m just going to urge you to think. Listen, and think. Throw away the demeanor. Discard all the fire and emotional claptrap.

Just listen to what they all say, and think about what is being said. It’s not easy—it’s much easier to be swayed by passion than it is to search for the logic—but it’s important, if you want to be an informed, thinking participant in our democracy. (more…)

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