Filed under: Politics
This is the text of an email I recently sent to the Congressman who represents my district (Steve Southerland.)
In this age of economic and digital warfare it is unlikely that New York will be physically sacked as was Rome in 410, yet I feel a strong sense of déja vu watching the 20th Century’s last Superpower, in which I live, devolve into a nation of debtors, criminals and extremists.
Need I say more?
One need only look at the state leading the race to our decline to realize that imperial America is rapidly becoming an important, but not supreme power.
The newly elected (by about 25% of the electorate) of Florida is so blindly anti-everthing (except his own power and wealth) that he refuses $2.4 billion of federal money for a project that will create jobs and invigorate a large section of “his” state’s economy.
This is the state leading the country in a charge to the bottom of the world’s lists of infant mortality, broadband penetration, knowledge and competence of its citizenry, to name just a few of the areas in which we compare poorly to even so called “third world” countries.
Spend a few weeks in and around the state capitol, Tallahassee, and you’ll realize that we have our own third-world nation within our borders.
At the same time we smugly violate international laws governing the treatment of prisoners.We incarcerate a higher percentage of our people than any of our peer nations and many nations we consider backwards or repressive. We routinely sell elections to the highest bidder, now allowing those bidders to be corporations. We refuse to regulate the distribution of highly addictive and abused pain killers on the grounds that it would be an “invasion of privacy.” And soon, while stripping the rights of public employees to organize and negotiate their working conditions we’ll allow guns to be openly carried on college campuses.
Doesn’t anyone see the connection between a Governor who was the co-founder and head of the company (Columbia/HCA) which paid the highest Medicare fine in the history of the US after pleading guilty to massive fraud charges and his refusal to regulate prescription pain killers? Florida is the nation’s, if not the world’s, epicenter of the illegal prescription drug trade. It affects not only Floridians but the people of countless towns and cities along the pipeline connecting south Florida to the Appalachians. One has to wonder how much of the profits of this deadly trade make their way into the personal wealth of prominent Floridians.
If we don’t wake up soon and recognize the folly of “sustained economic growth”, the recklessness of denial of global climate change and our contribution to it, the absurdity of our insatiable addiction to fossil fuels and the illusion that we are all powerful and unconquerable we may well end up like poor Honorius of Rome, more relieved that his favorite hen was still alive than worried about the empire crashing down around him.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’m getting pretty tired of hearing politicians and even newscasters on sources I generally trust like NPR refer to countries as “religious states” while others, including our own, are called “secular states.” One definition of secular is ” not connected with religious or spiritual matters.” So is the United States of America a secular state? If so, why is “In God We Trust” on our currency? If so why are the President and most elected officials sworn in with their hand on the Christian bible? Why does every major speech by presidents end in some like “God bless America and the American people.” Looking at the religious affiliation of members of Congress we see an overwhelming majority are Christian. You might argue that is simply reflects the makeup of our population. OK, so what is wrong with a government comprised primarily of Muslims in a country whose population is overwhelmingly Muslim? Why is that government religious and ours secular?
Looking at our heads of state, we have never had a President of a faith other than Christian. We have had six who claimed “no denomiational affiliation.” But they were certainly not Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or any other religion. They just didn’t claim affiliation with any particular Christian faith.
Try arguing that the United States is not a Christian nation. You will be met with a violently hostile attack on your patriotism, your sanity, even the veracity of your own faith (as a Christian.) If you’re not Christian and make this claim then even strong attacks await you.
The founding patriots of our country did not intend, in fact attempted not to create a Christian nation. One need only look at their statements and an examination of the original founding documents. Yet Christian fanaticism has turned our country into a religious state in complete disregard for the founding principles.
President Obama recently stated in a speech in Turkey that the US is neither a Christian nor a Jewish nor a Muslim country. Though his remarks were definitely a step in the right direction, I’m afraid he jumped the gun. I regret that we still are a Christian nation and I look forward to the day when we truly are not.
There is a lot of coverage these day of acts of violence against Muslim American, and this coverage is good. We need to become more aware as a society of acts of hatred and bigotry both here and abroad. Unfortunately, Muslim Americans are not the only group that is suffering these attacks. As the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) documents on its web site and in its monthly publication, Intelligence Report, hate crimes against a variety of groups is on the increase. Most Americans might be surprised to know that the Ku Klux Klan is not only active but growing. But the KKK is by no means the only organization targeting groups based on their racial, social, or ethnic identities. The SPLC reports that since 2000 the number of hate groups has increased by 54%. These groups include neo-Nazis, White Nationalists, neo-Confederates, racist skinheads, black separatists and other. According to the SPLC there are 932 known hate groups operating in America today. Some of these groups target ethnic minorities, especially Blacks and Latinos. Others target Gays, Jews, and even the federal government. Although a few do not condone violent tactics, the majority of these groups have been engaged in or condone violence against the targets of their hatred.
It’s time mainstream America woke up to the fact that extreme rhetoric, a failing economy (based on unrealistic “sustained growth”) and our loose gun laws are making America a much more dangerous place for all of us.
Filed under: Politics
One of the biggest objections conservatives have to the Health Care Reform Act is the provision that would require people to have health insurance or pay a fine. Most of us live in one of the 48 states that require auto insurance. The two that don’t, by the way, haven’t joined in the suit filed in Florida to have the law declared unconstitutional. I’d like someone to explain to me why I can be obliged to purchase auto insurance but not obliged to purchase health insurance. I guess we value our cars more than our health.
Filed under: Politics
You may have heard of the effort by the Republicans to let the public decide what is wasteful research spending and what is worthwhile. This would be a big mistake. If you are not familiar with the development of the LASER, which enables CDs, bar code readers, checkout systems, super accurate surveying, laser eye surgery, and too many other technologies now taken for granted, you should read the excellent article in Science News published on the 50th anniversary of the demonstration of lasing. Even the scientists who developed the first lasers were not thinking of practical uses. They were just interested in testing one of Einstein’s ideas. Had the public been asked whether to fund research into Einstein’s theories I’m sure we wouldn’t have the laser today.
I suggest you look for “wasteful” grants related to weapons development, combat, and other areas of “defense”, especially those granted to institutions in Virginia, and vote for them.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’ve recently added a listing for my services as Macintosh trainer and consultant to a service called Thumbtack. The Thumbtack website provides a place for independent consultants to list their services for free. We’ll see if I get any referrals from them.
I’ve had my iPad now for just about 24 hours. My first impression is somewhat mixed. I’m very disappointed that I can’t install certain apps that I have on my iPhone. This is because these apps require that the iPad be jail broken. My iPad came with the iOS version that the Dev-Team says they are not going to create a jail breaker for. You can read their rationale on their Blog. The only real disappointment in this regard is not being able to get xGPS — a really wonderful open source GPS navigation program.
I am very pleased to discover that the iPad bonds nicely with my BlueTooth Freedom Universal Keyboard. Besides the keyboard working, the predictive typing and correction seems to work better than on the iPhone.
I’m not so please to discover that Documents 2, which works fine on my iPhone, doesn’t sync with GoogleDocs on the iPad.
I haven’t have time to try watching a movie or doing some of the other fun things (like GoogleEarth) yet, but in the next few days I expect to and will let you know what I think.
I’m not quite ready to give up my MacBook Pro, but this will certainly be my note taking system in meetings.
Filed under: Uncategorized
All of the cup holders must be full.
You supply the clever text… too many choices for me!
