Corrosive Virtues: Judge not!

To ensure future generations of schizophrenics, teach the kiddies Right from Wrong but not to be judgmental.

The mother of the suicide bomber proudly proclaimed that her son was heaven-bound, where he would enjoy the services of 72 virgin brides. And all he had to do to win the favor of his god was blow up a dozen or so innocent passersby. Multiculturalists preach toleration and nonjudgmental acceptance of alternate views and beliefs. I say we should be more judgmental and less tolerant of the atavistic fantasies and incendiary rantings of deranged fanatics of any ilk. Dangerous lunatics should be quarantined--ostracized and isolated from the human community.

And the winner is...

This year's Grumpy Old Man Award goes to Senator John McCain, whose promise of a "respectful" campaign burst like a pinata with his flurry of vacuous TV attack ads.

Possums and politicians are most dangerous when cornered.

Corrosive Virtues: Dreamland

Dreaming is to doing as "What might have been" is to "What is."

One is limited not by one's dreams but by one's abilities.

Motivational speaker: "People don't dream anymore." Maybe they're preoccupied with their nightmares.

Go ahead, pursue your dreams--but be sure to set the Snooze Alarm!

Corrosive Virtues: Which is worse, false hope or no hope?

Hoping is like wishing--a tranquilizer, a soporific. I'd rather experience life in all its cheekiness--awake, undeluded, and undrugged! But, if the game is lost, the struggle over, the end in sight, the pain or fear too great to bear, go ahead and hope (if you must)--what the hell--you may be able to escape/avoid reality until the shit hits the fan.

The rabbi comforted relatives of crash victims by assuring them that life is not hopeless. It was, at the end, for those who went down with that plane. What good is hope if it's gone when you need it most?

Hope would be most useful when the situation is hopeless.

The best-selling author instructs: "We need hope in order to cope." What a cynically misanthropic viewpoint! I wonder how many books I'd sell by advocating: "Forsake hope, embrace reality."

Corrosive Virtues (to be continued)

Vices uncritically embraced as virtues--often because of a Celebrity endorsement--can be corrosive, producing unintended and untoward consequences.
My (un)favorites include: hoping, dreaming, forgiveness, nonjudgmentalism, unconditional love. Can you think of others?

Who's the fairest of them all?

When looking in a mirror, some see more than they are, some see less than they are, but few see a true reflection of who they are.

If one confuses What One Does with Who One Is, when one stops doing one stops being.

You are as you are, you are as you see yourself, you are as others perceive you to be; there needs be little consonance among your various personae, and all are equally valid.

Describe yourself as you are at this moment. That description could be your epitaph. Want to make any changes?

Gutter Politics

In the latest invidious McCain TV commercial, a voice rhetorically asks, "So who do you have to thank for rising gas prices?"--juxtaposed with a full-screen smiling Barack Obama. Then, "I'm John McCain and I approve this message." Garbage!--shame on you, John McCain, for such blatant mendacity! If Barack Obama is as woefully inexperienced as you are constantly carping, how (and why) has the junior senator from Illinois managed to manipulate the international oil cartel and control global pricing?!
Where is the self-styled high-minded, straight-talking political maverick? Who is this disingenuous Faustian bottom-feeder? Will the real John McCain please stand up?!

When one resorts to ad hominem attacks, it usually means one is losing the argument.

Memo to: Barack Obama

Subject: No more Mister Nice Guy!

In a bare-knuckles brawl, one is well-advised to remove one's gloves.

If you are boxing for sport, keep your blows above the belt; if you are fighting for survival, go for the cajones!

Nothing but the Best?

Not everyone, regardless of academic ability, can attend Harvard or Princeton; because of finite space and financial constraints, some gifted students may even have to settle for a community college. As a consequence, their futures may be limited. The same real-world considerations apply to Cadillac health care for all--we can't afford it, and there aren't enough Cadillacs to go around; some patients may have to settle for Adequate instead of Best. As a consequence, their futures, too, may be limited.

Ubiquitous Defender

Al Sharpton wanted to know why nooses hanging from a tree were considered merely a "prank," while a schoolyard fight was "attempted murder." At the time, I wanted to ask Reverend Al why he considered 6-on-1 (in which the 1 was beaten senseless) merely a "schoolyard fight."

The Black preacher asked the White man to close his eyes, then clasped his hand: "See, what does a black hand feel like?" Fair enough. But the goal should be to be color-blind with one's eyes wide open.

Shop till you drop!

When John McCain's economic advisor Phil Gramm said that Americans need to quit whining, maybe he was thinking of Zimbabwe!? Zimbabwe has 2.2 million % inflation. 800 million Zimbabwe dollars = ONE U.S. dollar (the Zimbabwe Central Bank just issued a $100 BILLION-dollar bill!) Who wants to join me for a shopping spree in Zimbabwe?! (Wonder if they have anything worth buying.)

When Saudi Arabian oil reserves are depleted, Americans will be in a terrible bind; but imagine the pickle the Saudis will be in!

Love & Marriage

The Right-winger asserted that same-sex unions are "wreaking havoc all over the country." I try to stay reasonably well-informed--how did I miss all that havoc?!

Right-wingers want less-intrusive government--except when it comes to regulating other people's morality.

"I Like Ike"

President Eisenhower warned about the dangers of an unconstrained Military-Industrial Complex. We should have heeded Ike. The U.S., pre-Iraq, maintained about 730 foreign military bases in 63 countries (many of which had no need of on-site U.S. protection)---clearly more foreign bases than reasonably required for our own defense. In 2006, U.S. military expenditures were $530 billion, nearly half the military spending of all 192 countries in the world, combined. Is this the profile of a "peace-loving democracy"?

Come out, come out--wherever you are!

To counter Global Warming, a group of clerics went to pray at a remote glacier in Greenland. Did they think their god might be hiding under the receding ice?!

The letter-writer pondered whether the earthquake that killed 500 in Peru might have been divine retribution for the murders of three American college students by a Peruvian national. This acolyte actually worships a monster-god who might do such a thing!

Morituri Te Salutant

Warriors are taught, above all, to obey; and are rewarded with posthumous trinkets for their fatal acquiescence.

While bellicose leaders swagger and strut, young people on both sides prepare for the meatgrinder.

The young make ideal warriors because they still harbor illusions of immortality.

When a president says that "further sacrifice will be required," he means that more other-people's children are going to die.

Bushspeak

The Administration announced that they are receptive to a "time horizon" for withdrawal from Iraq--how does that differ from the timeline/timeframe/timetable they have for so long resolutely repudiated?

George Bush is hustling to "preserve his Legacy." Be careful what you wish for, Mr. President!

Serious Business (NOT!)

The errant senator confessed his sins and proclaimed that he had prayed for and received god's forgiveness. (So how dare mere mortals be less lenient?)

The Los Angeles archdiocese will pay $660 million in sex-abuse claims--did the archbishop rob a bank? (Yes, he did.)

During a near-death experience at age twelve, he encountered Jesus Christ. How did the pre-teen recognize the apparition? Did Jesus resemble Michelangelo's rendition or Mel Gibson's?

Jesus claimed to be god. Now a former Siberian taxi driver claims to be Jesus. I'd like to polygraph (and psychoanalyze) them both.

Religion is (deadly) serious business; antireligion needs not be.

god has an impressive arsenal of WMDs at his disposal (flood, famine, plague to name a few); he doesn't need Man's paltry killing machines to enforce his will or mete out his justice.

Justice for Some?

The NAACP spokesman insisted that Blacks and Hispanics don't "deserve" to be the majority of prison inmates when they constitute only one-third of the general population. Huh?! If Blacks and Hispanics commit a disproportionate amount of crime, that may be exactly what they deserve!

I'm offended by the assertion-become-assumption-become axiom that no all-White jury could be fair to a Black defendant.

Ties that Bind

At a seminar on multicultural issues, a contentious Latino PhD from the audience angrily asserted that a White female PhD on the panel had little in common with him. Both are human beings, with similar physiological and psychological needs. Both are middle-class American educators--perhaps struggling to care for aging parents, provide a better life for their children, or plan for their own retirements. Maybe they're concerned about overpopulation, the war, environmental degradation--or about the price of gas, paying off their credit cards, balancing their family budgets; clearly both are interested in the impact of race and ethnicity in our society. The distinctions that separate them are few and superficial; the commonalities that bind them are many and fundamental.

Election Reflection

Barack Obama was right about opposing Bush's War, right about establishing a tentative timeline for withdrawal, right about shifting military assets to Afghanistan, right about negotiating with antagonists in North Korea and Iran; John McCain, self-professed foreign-policy expert, seems stuck playing Follow the Leader.

Good night and good luck.

7/7/07 was considered by many "the luckiest day of the century." Man's staggering stupidity ill befits his station atop the Food Chain!

On the luckiest day of the century, the usual numbers were felled by wars, violent crimes, diseases, natural disasters, accidents. Tough luck.

Relax, the economy is in good hands.

The Fed Chairman instructed Congress that "Rising prices increase the risk of inflation." There--now don't you feel better already??

Where is Walter Cronkite when we need him?

On one supremely surreal day in the life of America, the Evening News was monopolized by American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, and The View!

One in four Americans hasn't read a book in a year--and it shows.

Honor the troops--bring them home.

Al Gore was taken to task for saying that the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq were "unnecessary." But if the war itself, as most now agree, was unnecessary, how could our casualties be anything but unnecessary?

"It was a rough week for American troops." Especially for the thirty who wouldn't be coming home.

By planting crosses to publicly honor our soldiers killed in Iraq, don't well-meaning citizens dishonor those of non-Christian (or no) faiths who are equally dead?

Mission Accomplished?

The limited success of the Surge served to prove the obvious: overwhelming force can temporarily suppress overt resistance; the goal of a stable, self-sufficient, democratic Iraq remains illusory.

Pro Person

At what point does a fetus become a person? Not, in my view, at the instant of conception as proclaimed by the pope and endorsed by some radical Pro Lifers. They base their assertion primarily on the fact that the conceptus contains the full complement of genetic material necessary to become an adult. But that simply makes the conceptus a potential person. Every somatic cell in our bodies also possesses that same genetic material and could, therefore, at least in theory, be cloned into a complete human being---a potential potential person! So, by extension of the Pro Life logic, am I guilty of murder (or suicide) every time I scratch an itch?!

I conclude, as have legion scientists and philosophers, that my distinguishing personness--who I am--emanates from, and resides within, my actively functioning brain.

Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Two questions must be answered regarding illegal aliens: Do we need them here? Do we want them here? If the answer to either question is affirmative, we should embrace them. If the answer to neither question is affirmative, we should send them home. Regardless, we must secure our borders against further uncontrolled incursions.

It is nonsensical to suggest that since the 12 million illegals are already here, they should be allowed to stay; they did, after all, break our laws to get here. If, on the other hand, we enticed them, whether actively or by benign neglect, in order to avail ourselves of cheap labor, it is equally nonsensical (and offensive) to argue that they all be forced to leave.

If there's a buck to be made, American capitalists will become bilingual; but our schools and other public institutions shouldn't have to.

Industrial Superpower?

Much of what passes for American manufacturing now consists merely of assembling components made abroad.

Before long, the only viable American industries may be Entertainment, Health Care, and Munitions.

Smog Alert

Apparently, Obama stategists thought it insufficient that their man denied being a Muslim. So now candidate Obama seems intent on pandering to evangelicals by demonstrating his bona fides as a (fervent) Christian.

I am disquieted watching idealism squelched by political expediency. The breath of fresh air that Obama represented to so many is being fouled (and some of us are starting to choke!)

Henry Clay said, "I would rather be right than president." The byword of more-recent candidates seems to be, "I'd rather be president than...anything!"

I will vote for any candidate with sufficient backbone to insist that his/her faith is his/her private business!

Scout-in-Chief

Boy Scouts are endearing as adolescents helping old ladies to cross the street--not so much when they are septuagenarians running for President of the United States.

Terrorism for Dummies

With every foiled terror plot, the media oblige the terrorists with a free tutorial, by detailing their remediable mistakes.

Discrimination? You bet!

Critics argue that "profiling" is discriminatory. I sure hope so!--the purpose and intent of profiling is to distinguish (discriminate) between high-risk and low-risk individuals.

The ACLU representative claimed that screening profiles are discriminatory if they disproportionately identify individuals from certain minority groups. Assuming the statistical validity of the criteria, the ACLU seems to be saying that profiling for terrorism is discriminatory if it disproportionately identifies terrorists!?

In my youth, I sought knowledge; in my latter years, I seek understanding.

Victory in debate is often decided not by the best-reasoned positions but by the most-flamboyant rhetorical flourishes.

Apologies should be unconditional, not contingent upon forgiveness.

With due respect, GOOD RIDDANCE!

I can imagine few circumstances that might have inflicted as much damage on the U.S. over the past eight years as a dim-witted Commander-in-Chief who believed himself divinely inspired.

When one--like President Bush (and the Muslim jihadists)--believes oneself divinely inspired, one is unlikely to be dissuaded from one's course by earthly critics.

George W. Bush's extravagant ordinariness was tragically ill-suited to our extraordinary times.

I don't try to explain or excuse George Bush, or those who inexplicably--twice!-- elected him; history will judge him, and them, harshly.

How could Iranians have been so stupid, to elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad--a man whose belligerent demeanor and pigheadedness have endangered their nation and severely diminished their stature within the world community? (Now substitute "Americans" for "Iranians" and "George W. Bush" for "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.")

Election Reflection

I was inspired by Obama the statesman; I am less enthused about Obama the politician.

John McCain continues to promise a Plan for every ill that besets us; promises (and Plans) are easy--solutions are tough.

Paradise Lost

We cannot rely on technology to save us; our perversity will always outstrip our ingenuity.

We possess the know-how to create an Eden; that we lack the will and are, instead, producing a cesspool is testament to Man's depravity.

If I Were King

Which among our most critical concerns--environmental degradation, fuel/food/water shortages--would not be solved by aggressive population management?

Incentives to procreate, whether cash payments by Japan or tax deductions in the U.S., are crimes against humanity.

If I were King, birth control naysayers who argue that their own DNA must be propogated to protect the integrity of the gene pool would be permanently restrained in Sanatoria for the Audaciously Deranged!

Necrophilia

Once again, an example of our morbid fascination with death, especially unexpected violent death. The gross spectacle of media hordes descending on the grief-stricken campus---intruding into students' most private and painful moments, digging and delving for every crumb of tangential minutiae, was an abomination---analysis become obsession. Journalists, leave the survivors alone
to grieve in their own ways; report the news---whatever, and as much, information as the public has a legitimate need to know, but stop pandering to our prurient interests and excesses.

Memo to TV producers: I do not want to see another interview with another set of parents of another dead child. Please stop.

One commentator on the college murders insisted that an armed citizenry would have reduced the body count. Perhaps. But what might be the unintended consequences of a campusful of pistol-packing, binge-drinking, testosterone-sodden frat boys?!

All the News That's Fit to Print

Our appetite for sensationalism and scandal may be the consequence of a humdrum existense--societal NO-DOZ.

Persistent sensory overload raises the threshold necessary for a stimulus to elicit a response.

Super-saturation TV coverage is like an electronic lobotomy--viewer reactions become blunted, emotions dulled.

"Routine" disasters now barely raise a blip on our emotional radar screens.

It was News when the killer alligator was caught. It was NOT News that bits of its human victim were found in its stomach!

"I Believe" (Sing-along)

"Every time I hear a newborn baby cry (because of a painful birth defect), or touch a leaf (realizing too late that it's poison ivy), or see the sky (spawning a deadly tornado or cyclone), then I know why I (don't) believe."

Paging Dr. Freud, STAT!

Omigod!---the lunatics have taken over the asylum! The U.S. secretly "encouraged" a radical group based in Pakistan to conduct raids into Iran, with the aim of destabilizing the Tehran government. (This production is brought to you by the geniuses who gave us Pinochet, Khomeini, Hussein, and bin Laden!)

Mary Shelley gained literary immortality with her gothic tale of a monster that turns on its creator. Perhaps we ought not be too surprised when our own monsters turn on us.

Ours is a pyrrhic victory when we depose the Gorgon and wind up with Godzilla.

One sign of psychosis is continually repeating the same behavior under similar circumstances, but each time expecting a different outcome.

The Amish children marched off to their new schoolhouse, each toting his lunch in a small Igloo cooler. So the Amish god approves of plastics but not the technologies that make them possible?

The Secret, the latest free lunch: Ask. Believe. Receive. Yup, that's all there is to it! But what if you ask and believe but don't receive? Get with the program!---obviously you didn't really believe!

No matter how extraordinary the circumstance, there is never a shortage of experts.

After five years in captivity, the freed hostage thanked god for her "miracle" rescue. Must've been an extraordinarily difficult extraction to take god five years to accomplish--or was the delay a divine directorial device to heighten the dramatic tension?

Of Thee I Sing IV

While Congress deliberates, young people (ours and theirs) continue to die in an ill-advised, ill-conceived, ill-executed war. Since the late 1800s, the U.S. has been involved fourteen times in the forceful overthrow of foreign regimes, often with a poor result. If America really wants to be the Leader of the Free World, we need to master the art of Diplomacy and reserve war as a last resort for instances of real, unavoidable, and imminent threat.

So, as Leader of the Free World, how are we doing? The U.S. is now the largest debtor nation on the planet. We consume, by far, the most precious natural resources and generate, by far, the most environmental toxins. We are a violent, crime-ridden society, with an incarceration rate three times that of Iran! We have the highest rate of teen pregnancy among industrialized nations and one of the highest infant mortality rates. UNICEF ranked the U.S. 18th (of 24) for effectiveness of educational systems. We are not even among the Top Ten longest-lived, and in a World Happiness Survey, we ranked 46th! Is this the model of democracy that we are so intent on spreading around the globe?

Free Lunch???

One thing puzzles me about blogging. I am a technophobe; yet even I was able to get my own blog up/running in less than five minutes. The "mechanics" are simple and efficient, and so far I have been completely satisfied (blown away) with the result. OK, here's the part I don't understand: This entire process has been FREE--hasn't cost me a nickel! There must be costs associated with operating and maintaining blogger.com and my individual blog site. Who pays? Why?

Ultimate Fighting Championships can be seen on Pay Per View for $44.99. If Joe Sixpack can afford that, he needs to quit bitching about the cost of fueling his pickup!

"Profit" is not a four-letter word!

Michael Moore questions whether health insurers should be allowed to profit from sickness. Should farmers be allowed to profit from hunger? Should munitions makers be allowed to profit from war? Should morticians be allowed to profit from death?

Rx

Health care costs, like the costs of other consumer goods, are determined by two factors; price and volume (price per unit x number of units = total cost). Addressing only one of these factors is like poking a soft balloon: push in on one spot and it bulges out at another. Both factors must be addressed simultaneously. This is not rocket science!

Let's stop pointing fingers at demanding patients, greedy lawyers, profligate juries, and bureaucratic/profit-driven insurers. There is plenty of blame to go around; but the lion's share of health care costs are generated, directly or indirectly, by physicians---for the most part, only physicians prescribe drugs, order diagnostic tests, determine revisit frequencies, admit patients to hospitals, and perform surgical procedures.

Any meaningful cost-containment effort must focus primarily on the activities of the practitioners. Yes, we need tort reform. Yes, we must streamline the entire health care delivery system to reduce the overall administrative burden and expense. But unless a cost-containment Plan seriously addresses practitioner behavior, it will merely mean more tinkering at the margins.