When I decided, during my college days, that I would like to be a lawyer, I naturally chose political science as my major because that was considered to be the accepted path of pre-law. At the time, you couldn't have found a more politically naive, unpolitically aware, young man in all of New York. I grew to like the subject immensely and although I never did become a lawyer, I have a lifelong, keen, interest in all phases of politics, from grassroots movements to international relations. Paradoxically, I intensely dislike the strategic maneuvering that is the politicians' chief emphasis and I am nauseated when forced to be in the company of professional politicians. It takes me a week to get the odor of their mendacity, their selfishness and their pure evil out of my system.
The structure, the nuts and bolts, of politics is what intrigues me. The why and the how. Maybe that's why I took so many history courses as part of my major. The nature of power, how one person or group achieves power over another person or group was a subject I was saving for a doctoral dissertation if it ever came to that (it never did).
While listening to NPR and reading Newsweek (dare I mention those names on this blog?) it occurred to me that all I have to do in today's environment to understand the nature of consolidation of power is to sit back and relax and experience it as it happens before my eyes.
Obama's appointees, people like Rahm Emanuel, Lisa Jackson, Carol Browner, whose zeal and religious fervor entails sacrificing our freedom and economy to the great god climate change, are beginning to drop into place; and you stand by helplessly as their grip on the levers of power squeezes the life out of our liberty and businesses. All the while the victim cannot even mount a feeble protest.
How have the american people, known for their sagacity and innovativeness, become such imbeciles, convinced into thinking that it is worth spending $4 billion of our money
for something like smart electric meters, a pie-in-the-sky pet project of Obama's, that will benefit no one but their manufacturer. It's like a scene from Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." And it is happening before our complicit eyes.
The incompetence of this administration will make even Henny Penny cackle.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Uncle Him
Over the Holidays, I had the opportunity to spend it with lots of family. Especially of note is that it is one of the few times a year that I see my sibling from the middle of the country. She has a little girl who really does not see much of me, and seems to share the same sentiment that all my nieces do towards me, someone to be tolerated because we are related.
Well, I was sure that she did not have any idea who I was, since I rarely see her even when she is here ( she is either sleeping or busy doing toddler type things, that do not include me). Her mother vociferously disputed that, so we put her to the test. While she was visiting, we asked her whose house she was in. She answered Aunt Lovey's, which was correct. We then further inquired who else's house. She looked at me and said
"Uncle Him's"
Well, she WAS correct, but that is all I need, ANOTHER identity.
Upon further bothering, she did get it right, though, but I think the idea of Uncle Him has some merit. Maybe I will start a blog.....
Well, I was sure that she did not have any idea who I was, since I rarely see her even when she is here ( she is either sleeping or busy doing toddler type things, that do not include me). Her mother vociferously disputed that, so we put her to the test. While she was visiting, we asked her whose house she was in. She answered Aunt Lovey's, which was correct. We then further inquired who else's house. She looked at me and said
"Uncle Him's"
Well, she WAS correct, but that is all I need, ANOTHER identity.
Upon further bothering, she did get it right, though, but I think the idea of Uncle Him has some merit. Maybe I will start a blog.....
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Out, Out Darned New****k
I am having a problem with the mind set of some of the people that comment here at the good Doctor (what else is new?) First of all, in a slightly related matter, I would like to welcome back Dr. Uhberschnitzel as a follower, we missed you!
Now on to the issue at hand. Why is it considered censorship and fascism when one exercises his right of free speech if it isn't condoning a liberal position? No one is more slanted than the left wing press, yet they are the first to scream censorship, even as they practice it every day, in how they release sound bites, who they allow to write in their op-ed pieces, and who they choose to feature. These last two come to mind with the New York Times not allowing McCain to write a piece, and one of the two ( I don't remember which) national weekly rags ran a puff lovefest piece on the pre-burka wearing creature that lives with the President, but nothing on Cindy McCain. I waited in vain for the piece on her, and it never came.
I posted a comment and was attacked for suggesting that a euphemism be agreed upon for one of the National Weekly Rags ( or both, for that matter). This was done to protect people. I have not disallowed discussion, I merely requested that it be euphemismed to protect the sensibilities of the readers who might be offended by what they stand for, or their very mention. Also the children, who should not be intrigued to go read that garbage that passes for journalism.
( I know, I know, they throw the token bone to the Conservative in the back, but then they force him to write every third column about baseball, and wear the bowtie)
So how about us all getting along, and working for change, and changing the name of that aforementioned rag to something we can all agree upon.
I shall start. Newsbleak ( Oh wait, now that Bush is gone, that should be Newsgreat)
All the News we decided you must see, slanted our very own way ( too long?)
Obama's Voice
Pelosi's Panderer
The Rag ( i like that one) .
OK , now its your turn, and remember, its important to have dialogue to create change, its what the President's teleprompter would want.
Now on to the issue at hand. Why is it considered censorship and fascism when one exercises his right of free speech if it isn't condoning a liberal position? No one is more slanted than the left wing press, yet they are the first to scream censorship, even as they practice it every day, in how they release sound bites, who they allow to write in their op-ed pieces, and who they choose to feature. These last two come to mind with the New York Times not allowing McCain to write a piece, and one of the two ( I don't remember which) national weekly rags ran a puff lovefest piece on the pre-burka wearing creature that lives with the President, but nothing on Cindy McCain. I waited in vain for the piece on her, and it never came.
I posted a comment and was attacked for suggesting that a euphemism be agreed upon for one of the National Weekly Rags ( or both, for that matter). This was done to protect people. I have not disallowed discussion, I merely requested that it be euphemismed to protect the sensibilities of the readers who might be offended by what they stand for, or their very mention. Also the children, who should not be intrigued to go read that garbage that passes for journalism.
( I know, I know, they throw the token bone to the Conservative in the back, but then they force him to write every third column about baseball, and wear the bowtie)
So how about us all getting along, and working for change, and changing the name of that aforementioned rag to something we can all agree upon.
I shall start. Newsbleak ( Oh wait, now that Bush is gone, that should be Newsgreat)
All the News we decided you must see, slanted our very own way ( too long?)
Obama's Voice
Pelosi's Panderer
The Rag ( i like that one) .
OK , now its your turn, and remember, its important to have dialogue to create change, its what the President's teleprompter would want.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Quick Takes
Today Obama told CIA staffers, "I will be vigorous in protecting you," but who is protecting the United States?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Henny Penny
Since Dr G was shutdown for the passover holiday (we couldn't sell it) there have been no posts since April 7.
Green being all the rage in the Obama administration, publications like Newsweek get on the bandwagon and everything they report is flavored by the new ideology. One such article in the last issue is an interview with the new energy secretary, Steven Chu. He comes with good credentials being a nobel prize winner for physics. The first thing that caught my attention was that he and his fellow scientists bemoan the fact that they can't control climate change. His underlying motivation is to somehow poke G-d in the eye and get control of the weather. Lacking that, he hopes to at least slow the inevitable (according to the science community) progress of global warming.
If there is one thing that has always gone without saying it was that humans are incapable of influencing the weather and even the greatest atheist agrees that it is out of our hands. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century we experience the ultimate "kefira."
One of the arguments emphasizing the danger of climate change is that dead vegetation in the polar regions, should world temperatures rise, would release untold billions of microbes which would eat the vegetation thereby releasing an overwhelming amount of carbon dioxide into the air. I can't believe that a nobel laureate could believe such poppycock. If the microbes that were alive when the polar reqions were verdant couldn't prevent the arctic climate from becoming colder why would their reawakening cause increased warming?
In the same issue, Fareed Zakaria characterizes senator Inhofe (Oklahoma) as someone "who has compared the EPA to the Gestapo, , Carol Browner to Tokyo Rose and environmentalists to the Third Reich."
I like this guy, Inhofe. He sings my song. Many of my friends can tell you that I have been saying for decades that if the greens ever get in people will go up the smokestacks in the name of environmentalism.
I think the time has come...
Green being all the rage in the Obama administration, publications like Newsweek get on the bandwagon and everything they report is flavored by the new ideology. One such article in the last issue is an interview with the new energy secretary, Steven Chu. He comes with good credentials being a nobel prize winner for physics. The first thing that caught my attention was that he and his fellow scientists bemoan the fact that they can't control climate change. His underlying motivation is to somehow poke G-d in the eye and get control of the weather. Lacking that, he hopes to at least slow the inevitable (according to the science community) progress of global warming.
If there is one thing that has always gone without saying it was that humans are incapable of influencing the weather and even the greatest atheist agrees that it is out of our hands. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century we experience the ultimate "kefira."
One of the arguments emphasizing the danger of climate change is that dead vegetation in the polar regions, should world temperatures rise, would release untold billions of microbes which would eat the vegetation thereby releasing an overwhelming amount of carbon dioxide into the air. I can't believe that a nobel laureate could believe such poppycock. If the microbes that were alive when the polar reqions were verdant couldn't prevent the arctic climate from becoming colder why would their reawakening cause increased warming?
In the same issue, Fareed Zakaria characterizes senator Inhofe (Oklahoma) as someone "who has compared the EPA to the Gestapo, , Carol Browner to Tokyo Rose and environmentalists to the Third Reich."
I like this guy, Inhofe. He sings my song. Many of my friends can tell you that I have been saying for decades that if the greens ever get in people will go up the smokestacks in the name of environmentalism.
I think the time has come...
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Brooklyn Postscript
So I was shopping for the holidays, and wouldn't you know it, my travels brought me back to the same store as last time.
So I finish running around like a chicken without a head, and mosey on to the checkout line. I see a nice looking line, a couple with a big order checking out, and a gentleman behind them with not too many items in his wagon.
This time, I'm smarter. I ask him if he has any minions floating around the store still collecting items. He informs me that he is alone, and there will be no surprise wagons showing up. i get in line behind him and relate the story of my prior visit. We chuckle about it.
Meanwhile, the people in front of him bought half the store, and they are having it boxed. Based on the amount of time it is taking, they are either having it packed like fine china, or they are packing it for a trip to China. Either way, I stayed in a strategic position so that no one could escape from the chute at the counter, and I kept an eye on them as they worked, so there would be no sneaking off through the exit. But they behaved.
By now, I had exhausted my conversation with the guy in front of me, so I turned around and saw a gentleman there with a wagon of basically Matza, just alot of it. Figuring that the Pesach season could use some leavening, I looked at him with the straightest face I could muster and said ...
" I have eight more wagons coming."
Shopping for Passover ( this trip) $200.00
Parking at a meter $.25
The look on this guy's face. PRICELESS
and I paid with a Visa
So I finish running around like a chicken without a head, and mosey on to the checkout line. I see a nice looking line, a couple with a big order checking out, and a gentleman behind them with not too many items in his wagon.
This time, I'm smarter. I ask him if he has any minions floating around the store still collecting items. He informs me that he is alone, and there will be no surprise wagons showing up. i get in line behind him and relate the story of my prior visit. We chuckle about it.
Meanwhile, the people in front of him bought half the store, and they are having it boxed. Based on the amount of time it is taking, they are either having it packed like fine china, or they are packing it for a trip to China. Either way, I stayed in a strategic position so that no one could escape from the chute at the counter, and I kept an eye on them as they worked, so there would be no sneaking off through the exit. But they behaved.
By now, I had exhausted my conversation with the guy in front of me, so I turned around and saw a gentleman there with a wagon of basically Matza, just alot of it. Figuring that the Pesach season could use some leavening, I looked at him with the straightest face I could muster and said ...
" I have eight more wagons coming."
Shopping for Passover ( this trip) $200.00
Parking at a meter $.25
The look on this guy's face. PRICELESS
and I paid with a Visa
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Clowns can be the Saddest People
I have been insulted, in the guise of a compliment.
I have been informed that I am funnier in person. Now this may sound like a compliment, and I do appreciate the sentiment, however, I like to think that I am a well rounded ( not as well rounded as I used to be, but that's another story) individual when it comes to humor. I try to entertain the masses in person, as a blogger, a commenter, and when I write in general ( except court papers, judges tend to take themselves VERY seriously, and don't appreciate humor).
Here's what happened. I met someone who recently started to follow the blog. That person informed me, as I stated, that I am funnier in person. That person's family helps, in that the conversations tend to allow me to go off on some riff that we all find humorous. However, I was feeling a bit down, so I mentioned it to my reality check, a very old friend who is beyond brutal in his honest assessment of me and all my faults. He agreed with the assessment, and added that he doesn't find me all that funny altogether.
Now I realize that I can't compete with fellow bloggers linked to this site ( MBB of Icebergcarwash , for instance), or to some of the humor columnists and comedians that I listen to. I also realize that not all topics lend themselves to humor, but I always try to inject a least a little tickle of the funny bone of my followers.
Alas, I think perhaps by humor is a bit too subtle when I write, so I am toying with certain comedic devices to have you all rolling on the floor...... ( you know the rest). I think I shall either go for the absurd exaggeration, or perhaps write everything in caps, so you people will laugh so hard YOUR INSIDES WILL COME OUT YOUR NOSES!! AND THEN CAN BE CLEANED OF CHOMETZ FOR PESACH!!! ( add the gross factor as well, that can work). Maybe I shall just continue with the subtle humor that gets a grin, and perhaps invokes thought and conversation.
Or just sit in a corner and cry.
I have been informed that I am funnier in person. Now this may sound like a compliment, and I do appreciate the sentiment, however, I like to think that I am a well rounded ( not as well rounded as I used to be, but that's another story) individual when it comes to humor. I try to entertain the masses in person, as a blogger, a commenter, and when I write in general ( except court papers, judges tend to take themselves VERY seriously, and don't appreciate humor).
Here's what happened. I met someone who recently started to follow the blog. That person informed me, as I stated, that I am funnier in person. That person's family helps, in that the conversations tend to allow me to go off on some riff that we all find humorous. However, I was feeling a bit down, so I mentioned it to my reality check, a very old friend who is beyond brutal in his honest assessment of me and all my faults. He agreed with the assessment, and added that he doesn't find me all that funny altogether.
Now I realize that I can't compete with fellow bloggers linked to this site ( MBB of Icebergcarwash , for instance), or to some of the humor columnists and comedians that I listen to. I also realize that not all topics lend themselves to humor, but I always try to inject a least a little tickle of the funny bone of my followers.
Alas, I think perhaps by humor is a bit too subtle when I write, so I am toying with certain comedic devices to have you all rolling on the floor...... ( you know the rest). I think I shall either go for the absurd exaggeration, or perhaps write everything in caps, so you people will laugh so hard YOUR INSIDES WILL COME OUT YOUR NOSES!! AND THEN CAN BE CLEANED OF CHOMETZ FOR PESACH!!! ( add the gross factor as well, that can work). Maybe I shall just continue with the subtle humor that gets a grin, and perhaps invokes thought and conversation.
Or just sit in a corner and cry.
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