I want to propose a word that almost perfectly describes the actions of government bureaus and most government officials and an increasing percentage of so-called professionals: Specious Apparently good or right though lacking any real merit. Superficially pleasing only; no true content. A marvelous word, really, though a shame that Read more…
Why is there no psychological screening for folks hired, appointed (self, or otherwise) or elected to public or celebrity offices? From the DMV counter clerk, all the way up to the President of a nation or the hottest radio personality (who may have more actual power(1), over all, than any Read more…
An utterly fabulous quote from Colonel Sherman Potter (MASH, 4077th): “There’s a Right Way and a Wrong Way to do everything, and the Wrong Way is to keep trying to make everybody else do it the Right Way.” You know what? It just doesn’t get any clearer than that. [30] Read more…
I’m going to mention a moment in History, and you can draw your own inferences as to whether I’m also discussing something current or not. The problem with history is that people think it’s Old, Dead, and Irrelevant to the present moment. I can tell you, however, that history always Read more…
Be the Enemy of Totalitarianism, Totalitarian Governments, bloated bureaucracy, rule-bound work places… any where run-away Authoritarianism rears its head. For that way lies madness, destruction, annihilation. Just ask all such regimes of the past, all the dictatorships, fascisms, communisms, empires, corrupted republics and such in history. They failed, and they Read more…
There is so much that could be said on this topic: an honest [American] election. However, I’m going to keep it simple. Jimmy Carter, former American president, Nobel Peace Prize winner, etc, among other things has an outfit whose service (to nations) is to guarantee honest and accurate election results. Read more…
Early results that the media has become so very, very fond of influence the final results of the election. This practice must be stopped. Point: too many people like to vote for “the winning side” and will wait for the news to predict the winner before voting (that might not Read more…
Why is it that all the movies [that I know of] that deal with the evils of a totalitarian government (local or global) are considered Science Fiction? Roller Ball (James Caan original, not the pointless remake) Atlas Shrugged 1984 Brave New World Fahrenheit 451 (either version, though original was much Read more…
I am able to use either hand for almost everything I do(1). Certainly I favor one hand or the other for some things, but even then I can usually switch at need. Handy… uh, so to speak. I bat left handed, bowl left handed, golf right handed, shoot pool either Read more…
There are 58 political parties in America, believe it or not (at this time — it varies). Never heard of all those others? Not surprising. For one thing, the news media helps to keep the other 56 unknown, by rarely or even never reporting on them, certainly not during an Read more…
“Don’t just teach your children to read… teach them to question everything that they read… teach them to question everything.” – George Carlin (Great American Philosopher, aka, Successful Comedian) In Germany of the 1930’s, the intellectuals and Read more…
Just a quick thought: if, after a political debate, the pundits have to debate who won, then no one won. Possibly it means that none of them are fit for office. More likely it just means none of them are any good at debate. The less quick thought: I Read more…
This is the other half of what is really a two-part posting, first questioning the modern “conservative” movement, now performing similar surgery on the so-called “liberals.” First, a definition: liberal: per the Oxford English Dictionary(1) 1. open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. “they have Read more…
The last few years (ok, the last 30) it’s become increasingly hard for me to put the traditional definition of “conservative” together with the actions of those who now call themselves conservatives. The American Republican party (which is generally considered the conservative party — though in reality it is only Read more…
I was one of those weird kids who was disappointed that Latin was no longer available when I got to high school. The forebear of all Western Languages (more or less, not a completely true statement) and it’s not being taught any more? Sheesh… Well, I have had lots of time Read more…
Back in the Cold War(1) days , a friend of mine in the Navy related a story to me about one of those “this never happened” encounters between American vessels and Soviet ones. The “enemy” vessel was being annoying at the American one, knowing that no one would actually shoot, Read more…
This posting is more about America than any one else, though most everyone else gets mentioned, en passant, at least. It has come to my attention (as a computer professional) that America has the most expensive internet service on the planet, and that (in general) Americans enjoy the least amount Read more…
(This turned into an unexpectedly long posting; my perfunctory apologies.) There is no election happening this year. What do I mean? I mean that it’s not a campaign to select the best qualified with the best agenda to move the country forward in the best way. Nope… it’s a campaign Read more…
Under our system of government, as it sits today, Party-based Politics is a conflict of interest. You can not serve both the People and the Party. Not even your Nation and the Party. You may think the Party serves the People, but the truth is that a Political Party only Read more…
We the People, in order to create a more perfect union… First two lines from the United States of America’s Constitution — the law of the land. Note: it says more perfect, acknowledging right there, right at the start, that a perfect form of government may be impossible, but can be striven Read more…