There are some things which just have to be challenged...

There is a column in the Christian Science Monitor which has as its premise that "Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history". And then it goes off about how most of the religious based killing in the past has been minor compared to the damage done by modern "atheists". And some of what the columnist says is pertinent. However, towards the end of the column, he shoots himself in the foot with this statement: "...cannot explain why, if Nazism was directly descended from medieval Christianity, medieval Christianity did not produce a Hitler."

Well, the short answer is that the rise of Hitler required the technology of the 20th Century. Also, while Hitler's motives were complex, his antisemitism was, in fact, a direct result of centuries of religious persecution. The deaths of over six million Jews can be laid directly at the feet of religious intolerance. Nope, sorry...Harris, Dawkins et al have a point which needs to be considered.

Bush lies to us once more...

The son-of-a-bitch lies, then smirks because he knows he's lying and he also knows that "you can fool some of the people all of the time". How does he lie? Well, the man who, in living memory, has done the most to wreck the American economy is trying to accuse the Democrats of being the people who "will raise taxes and hurt economic growth". This is the man who has took one of the most vibrant US economies of the past 100 years, and, basically, drove it into the ground. Under Clinton, the economy was growing (and growing with good paying jobs rather than the minimum wage jobs more and more Americans are ending up with), the federal deficit was shrinking and we, as a nation, were starting to believe in ourselves again after the long, long recovery from the Vietnam debacle.

So, in less than six years, Bush has managed to throw all that away, and a great deal of what he has tossed away was the foundations laid by Ronald Reagan (who, while I may not have been a supporter, I do grudgingly admire for his optimism about our future.) When we were attacked by the Islamic fundamentalists, rather than give us a shining vision of the mountaintop, George encouraged us to hide in caves and to shun the light.

But even more than the psychological damage he has done, there is the disasterous fiscal legacy he is going to leave. People, sooner or later somebody is going to have to pay for the huge deficit this man and his Republican administration has run up, and that "somebody" is going to be us, our children and their children. If I were a Democrat, I would run on the Bush legacy for the foreseeable future (or at least until the national debt gets back to the level Clinton had it in 2000.) Yep, I would tar and feather the Republican Party with George Bush for many years. Lying Son-of-a-Bitch!!

A couple of comments and predictions about the upcoming elections

First I have a question: Isn't it great how the price of gasoline has dropped almost a buck from what it was a month ago? And then I have an answer: No, it isn't great, it is, I think, a premeditated move on the part of Big Oil to influence the upcoming elections. It has been well publicized that the American public was not at all happy about paying $3.00/gallon to fill up the tank of the family SUV. Since there has been nothing on the world stage to account for the rapid drop in oil prices, I have to assume that said drop is the result of decisions made in the executive suites and boardrooms of the Big Oil companies. I have a sneaking suspicion that the thinking goes, "If we drop oil prices, people will be happier with the Republicans." While philosophically I can't complain about gasoline costing more (because it is a non-renewable resource which needs to start funding its replacement(s)), I think that the recent price hikes have been more about lining the pockets of Capital and not about funding alternative energy research, and I think that the oil companies are a little worried about what the Democrats will do to those obscenely huge profits they have been amassing during the Bush years.

My second prediction is that I think that the owners of this country will do their level bests to trash the economy over the next two years should the Dems recapture the national legislature. This is especially true in that the Democrats seem to have a very dangerous potential candidate for the presidency in Barack Obama. Mr. Obama has the power, I believe, to bring a real vision back to this country, but that vision is not the one the owners want to see. Accordingly, it would be in the owners best interest to trash the economy and blame it all on the Democrats in Congress. That way, in two years, they could advance their neo-conservative successor to Bush, and his crowded coattails as the panacea most needed by the nation to get out of the "economic slump those Congressional Democrats have gotten us into...". What will be interesting is seeing if the Democrats have learned who their actual opponents are, and then how to campaign successfully against them.

"We Can't Make It Here Anymore" Part 2

A couple (two) posts ago I wrote about James McMurtry's song "We Can't Make It Here Anymore". I would like to dig a little deeper into that song because every time I listen to it, it digs a little deeper into me. I mean, it starts out with:

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign Sitting there by the left turn line Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze One leg missing, both hands free

which tells us something about the men and women who are currently in charge. The fact that we treat citizens who pretty much gave their all for their country like disposable diapers is bad enough; that we make them beg for their food and shelter is even worse. Nevertheless, this is our reality, and it is how the self-centered neo-cons running things think.

Shit, I was going to go through this, cherry picking lyrics, but I can't do that. Instead, let me send you to the lyrics and then urge you to go out and get this song any way you can (I've gone and actually purchased one of Mr. McMurtry's cd's because I feel honor bound to pay the artist for his work. I know that most of what I paid is going to some suit who had nothing to do with the creative work that went into this, but at least something goes to the artist and that is the important thing) and listen to it while reading along with the lyrics. It is just powerful stuff...then go out and send the Bushites back to clipping coupons--or whatever other unproductive work they did before going to Washington--on November 7th.

China Drafts Law to Boost Unions and End Abuse - New York Times

It's about fucking time! One of the things that is killing this country is the nonstop exportation of our jobs. Let's face it, we all can't be rock stars, CEOs, or stock market gunslingers. Some of us won't ever make it into the jobs that pay huge salaries: the rest of us (who make up about 95% of the population) work at the millions of jobs that are both necessary and non-glamorous. So, the news that China Drafts Law to Boost Unions and End Abuse (New York Times 10/13/06) is a step in the right direction. Maybe if the manufacturing jobs start getting close in pay around the world, there will be less incentive to export them from home.

In fact, maybe it will begin to heal our huge balance of payments deficit. If we begin building the "stuff" of our lives here at home rather than in Shanghai or Chengdu, we will create jobs for our own citizens and keep some of the dollars that now flow overseas in our own communities. Also, it may chop some of the obscene profits that have been flowing into the pockets of the owners of capital and redirect those dollars into the pockets of middle class Americans. More money to the middle class means more tax revenues for the government (middle class taxpayers don't have as many tax accounts and tax lawyers sniffing out every possible loophole in the tax code like the super rich have.)

So, I applaud any move by China to improve the lot of their workers, and I would urge every other country in the world to do the same. Even if America stops importing as much stuff from abroad, the workers with their higher pay will take up some of the slack, and the fact that there will be more money in the local economies will mean that the shop owners and farmers and all the rest of the citizens in those countries will also have more money available to buy the output from those factories. Again, for our country, the best possible foreign policy is to raise the economic levels of the rest of the world to bring them closer to our own.

Yeah! Go China!!

Sometimes things surprise you...

So, my daughter sent me a link to Pandora, a "trainable" streaming music site. Basically, you tell them what kind of music you like by giving them artists and songs that you like, then they start playing stuff that is similar...and you tell them whether you like or dislike what they offer you. After a while, Pandora is pretty much playing only stuff that you like...whether it is by artists you know or new artists.

Well, a while ago, one of the other streaming music sites (Radio Paradise) played a song by James McMurtry which struck a chord with me. Now, James is the son of genre writer Larry McMurtry of Lonesome Dove fame. James is, as you might suspect, classified as a country singer, and I normally don't listen to that genre of music...but, shit, this guy writes stuff that really resonates. The latest song of his that I have discovered, courtesy of Pandora, is a little ditty titles "We Can't Make it Here" (which I have learned is my bad...the damn song has won all sorts of awards). This guy comes out of the heartland, for God's sake, and he is trashing both the conservative right and the Harvard MBA-types who have spent the last 20+ years exporting American jobs overseas. This cannot bode well for the Republicans in next month's elections. At least I hope it doesn't!

Muslims demand Pope's apology

I see where the Pope has gone out on a limb and called a spade "a spade" as far as Islam is concerned Basically, he quoted a 14th Century Christian Emperor (the only Christian emperors around at that time were the Hapsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire) who were engaged in a tooth and nail struggle with the Islamic states on their southern borders. There is reason for the Hapsburgs to think that Islam had only brought "evil and inhuman" things. (Of course, those on the other side of this string of wars had ample reason to feel the same about Christianity; these were not very pretty wars. In enemy territory, pretty much every living soul was considered a combatant and put to the sword ASAP. But, I digress...)

Bringing things up to date, though, I do notice how these peace loving, gentle Muslims are reacting to the Popes gaffe: namely with increasing violence. Personally, I think there is some truth to the allegation that Islam is a religion based in violence. No matter how badly we Christians have warped and twisted the Christian Gospels, we are taught that Christ told us that, "..all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword" and "Blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth" and "...do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." We may not practice what we preach, but at least we preach the right (IMHO) things. Islam, as far as I can tell, preaches that the way to get things done is to use violence when it furthers the objective at hand.

Violence: Islam and the Islamic cultures are steeped in it. Well, I have some news for them. While they may see the west as being Christian, we are actually not...at least not really. We are some unholy mix of Christian, Pagan and atheistic religions and philosophies. And we can be the most ruthless killers in the world. You people fuck with us, and, sooner or later, we will pretty much hand you your heads...if we don't just stuff 'em up your asses first.

On the other hand, when we are left alone, we pretty much leave everybody else alone (except for the jerk currently residing in the White House, but we (and you) only have two more years of putting up with his churlish stupidity.) Oh sure, you'll have our religious fanatics spouting off against you, but, then, we'll have your religious fanatics spouting off against us. I figure if the majorities in both cultures can assume a "live and let live" modus vivendi, we can, in fact, coexist in peace. However, to do this we both must agree that violence is not an acceptable alternative in any situation.

Let's just start over, again

OK, I haven't posted anything for almost two months. For that period of time I have been mainly working on a business plan, dealing with "home renovations" and the crush of life in the summer time. To wit, as I type this, I am also shepherding a bevy of burgers on the grill. Also, I find that I now have blog space scattered all over cyberspace. In addition to this (my preferred journal), I have space on Livejournal, MySpace, Vox, Google, Yahoo and two or three other places. It is a case of too many riches. I get an idea for an entry (oops...hold the thought: I have to go slice cheese to make the burgers cheeseburgers. BRB)

And I'm back...some 2+ hours later..., so, where was I? Ah yes, too many blogs. Actually, I haven't really used any of the newer blogs, in fact...DAMN!!... Mosquitoes!! (Another confession: I'm actually typing this on the laptop which is set up on the patio primarily as a music source. It was warm today, so the bloodsuckers are out and about this evening. I'm going to have to close things down out here and move back to the office machine to finish what I plan to cover tonight. Hmmm...I dunno, maybe the triple vodka-on-the-rocks and two Pale Ales are beginning to affect my balance or something. This might never get back out of the draft stage...but, here goes anyhow...see you in a few...ha!)

Well, it didn't make it out of the draft stage that night...in fact it is now a few (like 6) days later, and I have actually put up a real post (see below). Now I'm trying to figure out just what a meme is and why I was chosen to receive it and what to do with it now that I have it. Now, it could be that what I am playing with is not the meme, and is only the result of bad coding or something. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that the meme is actually how to get into this particular site...and then how to make the appropriate changes and pass it along...I think I'll go play for a bit...

Anyhow, I think I'll have time to do some more regular posting to the blog for the next couple of weeks...at least. That is the current plan, but we'll see if this latest plan actually gets past the "plan" stage to the "action" part.

This is getting to be too much...

Today I was trying to remember a password to one of my email accounts (I have [cringe] 4 POP accounts and 4 web-based addresses), so I decided to print out my database of usernames and passwords. It came to 5 landscape formatted pages. OK, there is more than just address, user name, password info here, but...still, 5 pages.

Now, there are actually only a few passwords and usernames (I have like 4 of each that I normally use, but there are those sites which provide one or both that I never got around to changing and there are sites where I was being "innovative" by using something totally different) in general use, but the question is which combination did I use for that particular site. The result is a five page compendium of user names and passwords. There is no way I am ever going be able to remember more than a few of these, those for sites I use most regularly, and even for those sites I have most stored in my browsers for automatic recall...which means I don't have to remember them so I promptly don't.

There is no easy answer to this modern dilemma. The need for security measures such as passwords is the cyber equivalent of needing keys here in real space. The same people, or types of people, who force us to lock things here also mandate the existence of cyber locks and keys (usernames and passwords respectively). However, there needs to be an easier way to do this...without using Microsoft's Passport. The last thing I want to do is give Microsoft access to my personal information. I trust them less than I trust the kid hacking into the Pentagon. I need a single "lock and key" that will work for 90+% of my security needs. Actually, I'm pretty sure something like this actually exists, my problem is that I'm not aware of it. *sigh*

So, here I am...

Now, for somebody who has spent most of his computing life tied to a desktop machine, this is, without a doubt, pretty cool. I am finally the sole user of a reasonable laptop. Well, ok, so it is about 5 years old and at least two generations removed from the great big honking Dell sitting upstairs on my wife's desk, the good news is that it is strong enough to do this while streaming music to the patio. That last is so cool I can hardly contain myself. No longer am I consrained by power cords and other such antediluvian accouterments. Well, that's not entirely true...this thing only has a two hour battery, so, if I want to play outside longer than that, I have to have some connection to a wall outlet. And the speakers do need that luxury also (ok, I do have a battery powered set of speakers, but these have much better sound...). All that being said, it is still so cool to have streaming music available on the patio.

Now all I have to do is get used to this laptop keyboard so I stop making about one typo per 10 strokes and things will be even better. (Of course, most of the typos could be due to the large amount of alcohol I have consumed tonight and have little or nothing to do with the layout and size of the keyboard. *sigh*