TWO RULES FOR SURVIVAL

This will probably be the most right wing sounding post I will ever make.

I'm reading a book titled Empire of the Summer Moon, by S W Gynne, about the protracted eighteen hundreds conflict with the Comanche Indians in the American South West. The book chronicles the brutal, random attacks by the Indians against the white settlers encroaching on the traditional plains Indians hunting grounds of the south west. It includes details of captives taken and the horrible torture and mutilation of the victims. Of course, it also details the cruel treatment and massacres of the Indians by the white settlers, the Texas Rangers, their Indian scouts and the Army.

From the day that Columbus set foot on Hispaniola, the native Americans fought an existential  battle with the European invaders, and one by one the tribes were defeated by disease and force until, ultimately, each tribe was banished from its homeland. The Comanches put up a much better fight. With the aid of their modern technology, the horse, they were able to fend of the the Spanish, achieve dominance over all the other South Western tribes, and hold off American settlers for nearly 100 years. Ultimately they were defeated by overwhelming force, modern weapons, and, most importantly, a change in American attitude that put all options on the table. This meant that we abandoned the notion that we could convert hostile natives into gentle farmers through the use of treaties that neither side kept, and we offered enticements to encourage the Indians to sign these treaties. It also meant that we took the fight to them, destroyed their encampments, killed the buffalo that fed them, drove off  or killed their horses, and murdered their women and children. A disclaimer here: I, like most Americans whose great-great grandparents were not from native stock, am glad that the Caribs did not shoot arrows and chuck spears at Columbus until he fled to his ship, and that the Indians fed and helped the pilgrims through the rough winter. Glad but somewhat ashamed.

So, I'm reading this book, and it sounds so sadly familiar. History is full of stories about invading hordes conquering native populations too weak or to unwilling to fight back. It reeks of atrocities heaped upon the native populations. It resounds with existential conflicts like that of the Palestinians and Jews, claiming the right to the same territory and locked in a battle to drive out or destroy each other. It repeats itself with the modern day Comanches, ISIS, the result of the marginalization of Sunni Muslims after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein coupled with the Wahhabi inspired terrorism of al qaeda. After reading this book, a couple of fundamental rules come to mind.

First of all, if you are in a fight for your very survival, there can be no rules. This is a concept that most liberals, including myself, find hard to swallow. This is true in American politics, where, at least from my point of view, Republicans have adapted to this policy through the use of gerrymandering, unlimited campaign contributions, and outright lying and distortion from the right wing pols and their mouth pieces such as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc. This is also true in the case of our enemies, Again, I refer to ISIS. I have heard several of my otherwise reasonable friends claim that we are at war with the entire Muslim world. I don't believe this to be true, although we are certainly at war with the most radical elements of that world. However, I am afraid that as we justifiably battle these radical elements, we are at the same time creating a situation in which we will be forced into a war with most of the Muslim world. If that day comes, I hope we can remember this first rule.

Secondly, when Quanah Parker was asked by a visitor how the Indians allowed the white men to take over their land, he invited the visitor to sit with him on a cottonwood log. As he and the visitor talked, Quanah would occasionally scooch over until eventually the visitor fell off the end of the  log. This seems to me to be the biggest driving force behind American politics today, "falling of the log". White Americans, and most especially white male Americans are increasingly afraid of being pushed of the log by dark skinned invaders from the south and by the darker skinned tribes we imported. From a demographic stand point, this fear has some merit. Low birthrate among whites coupled with the desire of millions of Hispanics for a better life in "el norte" signal a dramatic shift in the balance of power in this country. For the right wing of this country, the answer seems to be the consolidation of power by the soon to be white minority, and for the left wing, let the doors swing wide, we might get a few more votes. I suspect that a middle course of tough but not draconian enforcement of immigration laws coupled with even tougher enforcement of labor laws and absolute strict border control, including the force of arms, be used to slow the tide of immigration to the point that future immigrants can be successfully integrated into the American way of life. This would be the ideal resolution, but most importantly, we must follow rule number two. Don't get pushed off the log.

I encourage my few readers to comment on this post and to forward the posts to you friends.

Help for the Homeless

Our coffee klatch still meets at Ellie's each morning at 7:00. We've got a group of about 8 regulars, and we sometimes have some pretty good discussions, although we can also sink to some course and vulgar language upon occasion. I guess we are lucky that Phillipe has not thrown us out, although I suspect he actually enjoys our company early in the morning.

Not so with the homeless people, on Friday, Phillipe had to throw out a group of homeless that had been coming in for the last couple of weeks. I had been watching this unfold, as the crowd became more numerous, bought little, used the bathroom as a bathhouse, and generally out stayed its welcome. I observed Phillipe steel himself for the unpleasant task, and sure enough he did the dirty deed. Now, don't get me wrong, Phillipe is a nice guy, and I know he did not want to do what he had to do, but he had had complaints, and he does have a business to run. I just hope no one is complaining about us.

One of the things we occasionally talk about in the morning, is what each of us would do if one of us won the lottery. I know that most of us has revealed our hearts desires, if we suddenly became richer than God. Of course, I would want some luxuries, such as being able to quit working, buy a big sail boat, be able to travel, and eat and drink in nice restaurants whenever I choose. But, I like to believe that I would be generous, and wise in my generosity. I like to ride a bike, and one thing I have mentioned is a large donation to the city for the extension of the Branch View Green way, and the building of a green way that would allow cyclists to safely get out to the country roads on the east side of town. This is not a totally selfless wish, but I've read that true selflessness does not exist.

On Saturday, my friends Tim and Steve and myself went for a long bicycle ride, and on some of the long uphills, of which there were many, we talked about Phillipe having to kick out the homeless people in his restaurant. We all agreed that they need a place to hang out during the day. It's sad to see them around the library or across the street on the low wall at Central Methodist Church, when the wind is blowing and it's bitter cold. There is the night shelter, but they have to be out, I believe, by 7:00 AM. So, in a moment of false largess, I commented that if I ever win the lottery, I would try to set up a day shelter for the homeless, and establish a fund to sustain it. Now, I've never so much as caught a free tee shirt at a basketball game, so I know I'm never going to win the lottery, that's something that happens to someone else whom I'm not even sure really exists. So, my intentions to help the homeless sometime in the future with lottery winnings I will never receive is complete bull shit.

But tonight, in a moment of inspiration and good intentions, I realized that I can do this thing if I am willing. I can look into setting up a charity to help fund the project, look for a modest site for the project, seek volunteers to give me guidance and support, and seek donations of furniture and supplies and of course money.

I'll grant you that I have not always followed through on my big ideas, there is no golf course/memorial park (Fair Way to Heaven), Wiki Local news, income tax lottery for campaign financing, or Sin of Onan Masturbatory Baptist Church, but maybe I'll hit my stride on this one.  If I do, I hope I can count on your support. And, if I win the lottery, look for some new green ways.

The New Reality Update

 Here's an update to a post I wrote back in December of 2009.  I read this story in the Huffington Post this morning, so I copied the image and posted the link below. This is a picture and story about a new women's personal pleasure product, the "Vibrator/Alarm Clock". I think it does a nice job of reinforcing the slightly tongue in cheek point I tried to make.  Men, we best watch out, we can be replaced. And by the way, when it comes to sex toys, we seem to be getting the short end of the stick.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            A while back, I fell asleep on the sofa, and woke up about three in the morning. I'm not sure why my wife didn't wake me up and tell me to come to bed, but I have my suspicions. Anyway, the TV was still on, and here were these four women, setting around a coffee table extolling the virtues of various sex toys. "This one comes in four exciting colors and three sizes." " This one vibrates, pulsates, and ........... rotates. " "You can keep this discrete miniature model in your purse." I'm thinking, it rotates? That's going to be a hard act to follow. Discrete miniature model? Judging from most infomercials, I always assumed that women just have smaller bladders than men, and sometimes need to repair their makeup. Who knew they talk about stuff like this in the middle of the night. This show was on regular cable, not CBS, but not the Girls Gone Wild pay for view either. I think it might have been the Lifetime Network.

Now, before I go on with my next observation, let me say that this may offend some people. Don't worry, I'm an equal opportunity offender, and I promise that if you are not offended now, you will certainly get your chance in some later posting.

I've long had a theory about homosexuality. I have no data or personal experience to back this theory, but here it is anyway. I don't think that men choose to be homosexuals any more than people choose to be left handed or redheaded. However, I'm not so sure that the same can be said for all lesbians. I think that some women, like their male counterparts, don't have any choice in the matter, but, I think that some women consider it a matter of personal choice. I suspect that in general, women tend to be less inhibited than men, so the actual act doesn't seem so unacceptable to them. Plus, it seems that women are more able and willing to form close relationships with other women, where as men tend to be a lot more reserved in their friendships with other men.

The point I'm trying to make is that we men may be about to become redundant. Between the availability of sex toys, and the abundance of other women, we may be becoming a poor third choice. Look at the line up on any TV network. It's one show after another showing men behaving badly, or portrayed as hapless buffoons. Let's face it, we don't have a good record either. We've done everything possible to insure women's subservience to men for thousands of years. We've restricted their dress, their ability to vote, the practice of religion, you name it, we've held them back. But now, at least in this country, women have gained a lot of independence, and they are beginning to exercise their independence. So, watch out, if we don't do a better job, we can be replaced. Here's the link to the new vibrator/alarm clock.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/11/wake-up-vibe-alarm-clock_n_4764599.html?utm_hp_ref=technology&ir=Technology

Omission/Commission

 So, I went to visit my mom at the nursing home this afternoon, and, in order to escape the crowded little closet they call a room for two, I wheeled her across the hall to the lounge.  As near as I can tell, the only thing worse than being in a nursing home is having to visit one on a regular basis.  Actually, my boredom while visiting brings on a heightened sense of awareness of the goings on around me.  I'm getting quite friendly with some of the inmates, although I have to renew their friendship each time I come by.  Just today, I met a man wheeling his guitar down the hall in his wheelchair.  I asked if I could play it, and when I strummed a chord, I realized that not only was it out of tune, it was missing one string, and the other strings were not in the right order.  I told him I would bring him some new strings the next time I visit, and I'm looking forward to finally playing in front of  people who can appreciate my talent.

I expect that the home will provide a lot of fodder for my sick sense of humor, so I will keep you, my dear reader, posted as anecdotes present themselves.  Back to the lounge.  There are only two distractions in the lounge.  One is that it is the direct pathway from the hall to the interior courtyard where the inmates go to wheeze and smoke.  Often they will stop in front of the fake fireplace under the TV to warm themselves  after their latest disappointing attempt at suicide by cigarette.  I'm pretty sure the fireplace does not put out any actual heat, but it looks warm.  The other distraction is the TV itself, which is a nice big flat screen with a remote that both does not have batteries, and is not a TV remote.  I figured this out almost right away.  Since 95% of the inmates are wheel chair bound, and the TV is mounted on the wall, it tends to be tuned to the same station almost all of the time.  I'll give you two guesses as to the station, and a hint.  It is not tuned to MSNBC.

Now,  to paraphrase the "most interesting man in the world" I don't always watch TV, but when I do, it is not Fox News.  But, when in Rome....  First up is Sheppard Smith, a man surrounded by the latest high tech video equipment who I suspect is not smart enough to dial out on a land line.  But enough about him.  I'm not sure who the next host was, although it might have been Neil Cavuto, at least according to the program guide I've consulted in researching this piece of petty journalism.

Once again, I have rambled around to the point I am trying to make, and I hope that my smarter readers will catch the ironic Segue  from  nursing home to Fox News.  Neil is outraged about the poor treatment by the liberal media of  Governor Christie concerning his involvement in a mere traffic jamb, while that same media have given a pass to Hilary Clinton on the Benghazi attack.  One has about as much to do with the other as landing men on the moon is related to Obama care.

Benghazi was a tragedy that might have been avoided if our attention had been focused there, much like the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut might have been avoided during the presidency of  Republican God Ronald Reagan, the bombing of Pearl harbor on Roosevelt's watch, or the 9/11 attack under George Bush. In each case, the most that can be said was that the parties involved were guilty of a crime of omission.

Here's the difference though.  If it turns out to be true that Governor Christie ordered or suggested to someone that the bridge be closed in retribution for some perceived slight by the mayor of Fort Lee, or he had it closed for any of the other theories going around., he is guilty of plotting to close the bridge.  This closing may have resulted in only a traffic jamb, or it may have actually cost lives and or money, but if he ordered or suggested it be done, he is guilty of a crime of commission.

I don't think that most people really appreciate the difference.  If a worker throws a wrench into the gears of a machine to sabotage it, he is guilty of a sin of commission.  If that same worker accidentally drops a wrench into a machine, and the machine is damaged, regardless of the extent of damage, he is only guilty of a sin of omission.  He may have been careless or clumsy, but he did not intend to be so.  In the case of commission, the worker should at least be fired if not prosecuted, but in the case of omission, the worker may or may not be fired, depending on his work record, his value to the company, and his likelihood to continue to drop wrenches into the machinery.  Even most of the inmates should be able to understand this.

Intellectual Apartheid Part Two

In 2010 I wrote a blog post titled  "Intellectual Apartheid" in which I lamented the devaluation off the less mentally endowed workers of America.  I think it was a good post and is worth a read, especially in conjunction with this post.  The original post can be found in my blog Archive's.

So, at the coffee shop on Friday, (Yes, we still meet for coffee every day)  I mentioned that I had been reading about the bell curve for intelligence.  The spread of intelligence works out like this:  About 50% of the population has an IQ of between 90 and 110, 25 percent has an IQ of less than 90, and 25% has an IQ of above 110.  If you use a population figure of about three hundred million souls in America, that means that seventy five million of us have a below average IQ, and of this population, fifteen million have an IQ of less than 70.

I've tried to imagine what it would be like to have an IQ of less than 90.  I estimate that it would, for me, be about the equivalent of walking around all day with a four beer buzz.  I would still be functional, but would be prone to making bad decisions and my math skills would be diminished.  I figure it would be around a two beer buzz for the rest of my coffee klatch.

The big question is, what is to become of these people, what should we expect of them and what should they expect of us.  I grew up and lived most of my life in a time where anyone could get a job in a factory or in some other low skill profession, work forty hours a week, and earn a living wage.  Today, there are not enough low skill jobs to go around, and the existing low skill jobs are low pay and often part time.  Welfare has been converted to workfare, unemployment benefits are running out, and food stamps are under assault.

The drum beat from the right is constant and consistent.  Cut the bums off, they are gaming the system, they are the takers, not makers, they need to retrain and find high tech jobs, health care is not a right, we need less government, we can't afford to support these people. We can't euthanize these somewhat challenged people, although someone I know made a vague hint to the contrary.  They will always be with us, they are our brothers, sisters, cousins, they deserve better.

What to do?  The first and most logical step is to raise the minimum wage to a living wage.  A living wage for all may reduce the profits of corporations, businesses and stockholders, but it will put billions of dollars back into the economy to further fuel growth and provide more jobs.  Second, we have to figure out how to bring back jobs to America that have been outsourced to other countries.  We don't need to produce everything for ourselves, we don't have the manpower to do it, but we need to pick and choose some industries to focus on.  Practically every country in the world practices some form of government managed economy, and so should we.  The practical solution is to apply tariffs to specific products to give America a level playing field on these items.  Third, we should enforce and reinforce existing labor laws that would prevent illegal aliens from finding employment in this country.  If this happens, employers will be forced to use American workers, and as the unemployment rate falls, wages will increase.  This last item is disturbing to me and I'm sure, worrisome to some of you, but we cannot afford to address the rest of the world problems if we cannot address our own.

Granted, these measures are somewhat inflationary, but it would not be the end of the world if the cheap consumer products and services we take for granted cost a bit more.  I'm not advocating a handout, I'm calling for a hand up.

"Corporations are people my friend."

In August of 2011 Mitt Romney, on the first leg of his march to ultimate defeat, blurted out the title quote above, as his unfortunate (at least for him) rebuttal to hecklers at the Iowa state fair.  He got tons of bad press over this and it probably cost him some  votes.  Sadly, he is correct, although not in the context he intended.

How many permutations of the following scenario have each us heard in our lives.  Mr X is caught Diddling Mrs. Y and one or both of them proceeds to deny and lie until their position becomes completely untenable.  Of course the story doesn't always have to be about sex, it can be about drugs, stealing, drinking, beating the dog, child abuse, cheating, the list goes on.   It seems to be a innate part of the human condition, that the first response to any adversity is to protect ones own self interest by denying any wrong doing, even to the point of self denial.  

In April of 1994, Congressman Henry Waxman held a hearing on the regulation of  tobacco products use, where the seven major tobacco company CE Os were asked , under oath, if nicotine is addictive.  Each executive stood up before the congressional committee and denied that nicotine was additive.  The tobacco companies were simply behaving like people, protecting their self-interest regardless of the cost or effects on others.

The greatest and worst example of corporations being people, centers around global warming.  It seems that every company in the country that might lose the least bit of profit by acknowledging the writing on the wall about climate change is hell bent on denying the phenomenon.  Of Course, the oil and gas companies, coal companies, and utilities are the biggest deniers, but they are not the only culprits.

It's really difficult  to understand how a potential long term global disaster of this magnitude can be denied in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  I suspect that it is as if a ship were sinking without enough life boats for everyone, but the captain has offered seats to the highest bidders, the wealthy simply think they can buy their way out of the rising oceans, and sweltering sky.  They may actually be able to survive for a while as we perish, but ultimately, there is no ark.