Barack Obama’s delegate was castigated and nearly replaced because she referred to the kids next door as ‘monkeys’. (See Fox News) Did I say ‘kids’? Wait a minute, that is the word for young goats and other animals. Why would that not be a reason for dismissal of delegate duty? Oh, yes, that one has been blessed by time. Whereas the word ‘monkeys’ cannot be used for children. Unless . . . . Hmm. Suppose that the next door kids were white? Would Obama’s campaign people be equally offended. After all, the woman who made the faux pas said she called her grandchildren monkeys. And, come to think of it, my mother called us kids (there’s that word again) monkeys. So what is the big deal? Will anyone say?

The bigger picture is about what would Obama say, supposing he were elected, if someone, say the venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, were to call him a monkey? Chavez has, after all, called G. Bush “El Diablo” remember? He just might of a mind to call a new U.S. President anything. Would Obama go ballistic? Would he send a few fighter planes to strafe the dictator’s mansion in retaliation? Would he make equally disparaging remarks? Would he get on TV with his wife at his side and cry?

It seems that now is the time for everyone to stop with the thin skin, already. A word is said, and someone must “step down” and someone else must apologize. And the supposed offended party(ies) need some therapy (or at least aroma therapy) to get their lives back in order.

Let’s get serious folks. I.e: cut the crap!

J

It has been said many times over that the government is hopelessly unable to keep up with technological advances. From ‘hanging chads’ to shoes with accelerometers this goes for agencies of every stripe as well as the Armed Forces. Here are some examples of the way that the TSA is attempting to cope. And Failing miserably:

TSA can’t believe MacBook Air is a real laptop, causes owner to miss flight Read all about it!

As computer technology keeps getting smaller, the places they can be hidden approaches the point where you can literally “shove up your nose” AND there might even be a purpose for that before long. This situation provides no end of confusion, doubt and consternation among the poorly paid TSA workers at airports all over the country. As in the stories above.

A bomb the size of a wallet gets past TSA at Tampa International Read all about it!

With CNN in tow a TSA tester slips one past the guardians of our safety. While knowledge is power, which CNN would like say is their reason for publishing this, that power is double-edged. If I knew of a way past the guards I would not even tell you much less broadcast it to the world. With all the idiots like Richard Reid out there who are a little short on the grey cells to com up with their own plot I would take no chances. But that’s just me.

TSA Cannot control its own computers Read all about it!

On May 4, 2007 The Associated Press reported that the TSA lost a computer hard drive with 100,000 employees’ SS numbers on it. They apologized profoundly for any inconvenience or concern the incident caused. I guess that sort of apology renders a plenary absolution and no one at the agency need worry any further.

Agents of the TSA have been portrayed relentlessly as either jack-booted thugs who take away your children’s water bottle or bumbling buffoons who concentrate on the irrelevant, or both! I confess, I have felt that way myself.  But having traveled quite a number of times since 9/11 I must point out that the vast majority of them are courteous, dedicated and, especially, patient people doing a tough job in a hectic atmosphere where people often tend to be very self-important pains in the A$$. It is not always the individual agents fault for an incident. The Government just cannot do anything right! The fish rots from the head. And Management everywhere is ‘out to lunch’.

I will be traveling again soon. I might have to amend this. Tune in again.
J

That line was ‘rotflmao’ funny when used over the phone in an old movie whose title escapes me now.

But here is a transcript of a recent call at two-thirty PM on a Thursday:

Hello, thank you for calling
Para Espa~nol marque dos.

For English Press 1< BEEP 1>
Please listen carefully to these options as our menu has changed (LIE 1)
For Administration Press 1
For Warehouse; including Shipping, Receiving, Inventory, and Order Information Press 2
For Pharmacy Press 3
For Member Services Press 4
For All Other issues Press 5< BEEP 5>

Thank you for calling Your call is very important to us. (LIE 2) Please remain on the line and your call will be answered in the order it was received.
< 2 Minutes>
Thank you for patience. Please Continue Holding. Your call will be answered in the order it was received.
< 2 Minutes>
Thank you for patience. Please Continue Holding. Your call will be answered in the order it was received.
< 2 Minutes>
Thank you for patience. If you would like to leave a message Press 2 Now. For faster service you can go to our website at W-W-W Dot < Bullcrap> Dot Com forward slash Service and click on locations.
< HANG UP>
< Redial>
Hello, thank you for calling
Para– < BEEP 1>
For Administ — < BEEP 1>
For Employment Press 1
For All other issues Press 2
< BEEP 1>
Thank you for your call. Our office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern time. Please call back during those hours.
Call ending, Goodbye.

Are you tired of this kind of treatment? Of course. Is there anything you can do about it? I am afraid not.

It is part of a sociological progression. Up until the middle of the last century economies were based on goods. Goods were expensive, service was cheap. If you needed service you asked your local merchant and he gave you service. It didn’t always work out that way but, by and large, that was it. Then came the rise of the ‘Service Economy’. Slowly the changes began to obtain. Not really slowly since the ‘Goods Economy’ had lasted throughout history and now in a few decades a whole new paradigm was wrought. Even the word ‘paradigm’ was given new meaning. From the 15th century the word had meant “example”. By the 1960’s it was being used to represent a set of assumptions and viewpoints about things rather than and example of the things themselves. Even The American Heritage Dictionary of The English Language did not list it in that new manner in 1975.

But I digress. In the ‘Service Economy’ Service became sought after and therefore expensive. Economics 101: Increase demand against unchanging supply and the price goes up. To offset that rising cost goods became the target of cost reduction. And so quality suffered as means were employed to cheapen the goods. In just a few decades it became obvious that peoples’ time was worth more than material goods and so it was not worth it to get service on a shoddy good that was easily and cheaply replaced, so the “Throw-away Society” was born. This situation morphed (Another new word unknown as such up to the middle of the 1900’s) into the newest twist on service, the ‘Information Economy’. This also means that Service is becoming shoddy as providers are looking for ever more inexpensive ways to use Information Technolgy to fill in for real service!

If you are guessing that that means that information is becoming expensive, you are correct. How much have you paid lately to get someone’s telephone number? And that process might not have even taken anyone’s time. All automation.

Ergo, try as you may, there is nothing you can do about the worsening of the state of things. In fact, we are already, only about a decade after the discovery of the ‘Information Super Highway’ AKA “The World Wide Web”, involved in a new situation where information is becoming untrustworthy as the WWW is filled with literally billions of pages most of which present opinions and lies as fact.

What has all this to do with Personal Responsibility?

Just this: No one wants to do their job anymore. Not the average worker, not the boss, and certainly not the Über boss. ‘Delegate it to whomever or whatever that you can and get it off my plate’ is the prevailing attitude. Even if my job is to check the facts and report the truth. Because my time is worth more than anything.
So leave a comment. Your call is very important to us.

J

The campaign is proceeding as I have predicted (at least privately) for months now.

Hillary’s smile is genuine again (not the Chimpanzee grin she has had lately).
The Democratic race has gone as I thought it would except that I did not figure on Rush Limbaugh stumping for Hillary. Oh sure, it’s easy to see that now. And I thought that Obama would be big in Texas. Actually he is! Without the Rush Factor, Hillary would be trying to decide whether Ohio would be enough to keep her in the race. And she probably would stay anyway, even if the percentages were reversed. Or maybe it was the ‘old woman’ factor. Women have an important issue in health care because many of them are either without it or they are paying through the nose to get it. When the old man retires and goes on Medicare, there is nothing there for the wife unless she works (at a good job, no less), or they have a lot of money. Most wives are a few years younger than their husbands and, it is important to note, they use Medical Services more often than men do. This would seem to be an issue any politician ignores to his or her peril. Not that Obama is ignoring it. But she has history on her side here.
I am certain that someone, (I wonder who that could be) is working the channels in the Party to get to Howard Dean about all those Florida and Michigan delegates that will be needed if she is going to get to the TOP of the ticket. In fact they are not really being secretive about it. They must believe that the people are not any more important than the party rules. But the bottom of the ticket is not at all the “Dream Ticket” she has in mind. The Clinton machine will be running full blast from now on.
Now that the Clintons are doing the ‘Limbaugh Rock’ I am sure that we will be seeing “How LOW she can GO!” soon.

It is an unfortunate circumstance of history that Kool-Aid, a drink that I enjoyed so many time as I was growing up has gotten itself associated with blind ignorance and foolish behavior. It does not deserve such linkage. But, be that as it may, and may Jim Jones be switched in hell for each such reference; it does make nice shorthand for the blind obedience to extreme and ignorant beliefs based mostly on emotional responses to unrealistic ideas.
And, as such cases seem to be proliferating with the advent of yet another political farce that is called an election in the USA, some of those who stump for their candidate exhibit signs of ‘drinking of the elixir’ if I may put i that way.
So the questions to be answered here are:
1. What do I mean by ‘political farce‘?
and
2. So, how do you tell, anyway?
So for the first:
The forthcoming election between the likely candidates include a dyed-in-the-wool Sociallist who wants to get the government in charge of your life in as many ways as possible; a complete wild card with a very similar stance on most issues; and a Democrat who has registered as a Republican for some unknown reason or reasons; possibly because you can fool some of the people all of the time. If you don’t know which is which, perhaps you need to check out your favorite beverage.
All of this is dressed up in the usual kind of bombast, exaggerations, back-biting, specious comparisons, and outright lies that a political campaign is composed of. The political class is gaining momentum in its inexorable gravitation to the left over that last fifty years. Proof: JFK, who was the darling of the leftists during the 50’s and 60’s, was far more conservative than most of the Republicrats of today. Anyone who cannot see that is simply sliding along with them.
So what choice do we have, I ask. A third party? As refreshing as that sounds, someone better get that rolling before too long or the moment will be gone. And I mean GONE, possibly for many generations. How many generations sufferred under the Socialist/Communist governments of Europe? How low can this country’s standard of living go before a recovery is even attempted, let alone made? There is no telling.
For the second:
Watch the faces of those who try to tell you about their ideas when someone opposes them. The smarmy knowing smile, the rolling eyes will give them away. Some can almost hide it. They are professionals. At some point they will slip, though. I give no names here. The K-A drinkers and their defenders would rail: “How can you say that about X?” Be wary. Be observant. Be open-minded. Above all, be informed. They are out there on all sides.
Sounds like we are surrounded, doesn’t it?

J