TV

Welcome friends!

So I was watching the TV the other day and I ran across some schlock called the X Factor.  I have to say I found it pretty nauseating, so I thought I might as well sit down and try to figure it all out.  I mean, it’s just a TV show, right?  Well, guess what.  I eventually decided that my reaction to the show had something to do with the conservative ethos.  Am I losing it or is conservatism is some shape or form really behind everything that’s ugly in the world?  Well, I don’t know.  I’ll let you be the judge of that.

OK, so what set me off this time?  Well, this particular network masterpiece is one of those talent shows in which young people (mostly), many of them unemployed or underemployed or just down on their luck in some way (thanks mostly to the Republican Party, Wall Street, real estate tycoons, and their legions of conservative enablers), try to impress a panel of random performers and assorted industry c__pmeisters to win some money or a recording contract or whatever the hell it is.  It’s quite a spectacle.  Unfortunately, it’s not a very pleasant one... Sorry but only selected archived (previous year) posts are currently available full text on this website.  All posts including this one are available in my annual anthology ebook series available at the Amazon Kindle Bookstore for a nominal fee.  Hey, we all need to make a buck somehow, right?  If you find my timeless jewels of wisdom amusing or perhaps even amusingly irritating throw me a bone now and then.  Thank you my friends!

The Supreme Court v Common Sense

Welcome friends!

Did you notice the Supreme Court’s somewhat recent decision that the US Constitution ensures the right of underaged kids to buy violent and sadistic video games?  Who knew?  Well, yes, it is a little comical when you think about it, but it does fit right in with some of their other recent rulings, for example, the one about how people have a constitutional right to parade around with hate signs and loudspeakers at other people’s funerals.  Oh, and then we had the one about campaign financing.  Apparently, the state of Arizona came up with some type of innovative approach to leveling the campaign financing playing field with respect to candidates who don’t want to play up to big money donors but who do manage to get a certain amount of small donations from the little people.  (No, not hobbits.  I’m talking about you and me, buddy.)  Turns out that is definitely against the Constitution.  And wasn’t there another one?  Something about the Constitution supposedly saying that no one may restrict political donations from big corporations because, hey, they’re just people ... like you and me, just with a heck of a lot more money? ... Sorry but only selected archived (previous year) posts are currently available full text on this website.  All posts including this one are available in my annual anthology ebook series available at the Amazon Kindle Bookstore for a nominal fee.  Hey, we all need to make a buck somehow, right?  If you find my timeless jewels of wisdom amusing or perhaps even amusingly irritating throw me a bone now and then.  Thank you my friends!

War

Welcome friends!

I thought I’d go ahead and do a post on war this time.  I’ve been putting it off because I suppose my thoughts on the subject are actually pretty limited.  (What?  It’s never stopped me before?  Thanks a lot, smarty.)  OK, well, to get the ball rolling let me just say at the outset that like most Americans I really don’t like war.  From what I know, I think General Sherman pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said, “War is hell.”  It seems to me to be an ugly business that ends up brutalizing everyone involved.  Basically, it represents the failure of everything that is good about humanity and as such it’s something that one should only do when one has exhausted every other possible means to solve a problem that absolutely must be solved.  So it should come as no surprise when I say that I think the legitimate reasons for going to war are very limited indeed.  (OK, I haven’t actually thought that part out; but, anyway, they’re very limited, I’m sure about that.)  I think most debates about war in this country come down to cases in which some people feel that some situation or other is one of those dire cases in which war is absolutely necessary and other people disagree.  The debate may at times be carried out in more general terms involving war as an abstract concept, but I think that is more of a rhetorical flourish than anything else.  In our hearts, I think pretty much everyone realizes that we cannot always avoid war, no matter how much we would like to... Sorry but only selected archived (previous year) posts are currently available full text on this website.  All posts including this one are available in my annual anthology ebook series available at the Amazon Kindle Bookstore for a nominal fee.  Hey, we all need to make a buck somehow, right?  If you find my timeless jewels of wisdom amusing or perhaps even amusingly irritating throw me a bone now and then.  Thank you my friends!