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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Grover Norquist Wins State Senate Seat!

Good old “get government small enough to drown in the bathtub” Grover Norquist won Tuesday’s election for state Senator for our district. So, unless there’re other changes in the Assembly or Senate, we’ll see more gridlock as the state slowly sinks in the west. But that’ll be o.k. Last year, Grover, when facing a choice of compromising on some budget issues or seeing California crash and burn, chose crash and burn. I’m sure the same thing will happen again. But, that’s what the voters wanted, so that’s what they’ll get.

Oh, wait, did I say Grover Norquist? I meant Sam Blakeslee, but same difference.

The Russians are Coming!

Great photo on the front page of today’s Tribune. A “yacht” looking like a battleship parked outside the Morro Bay breakwater while the owner, a 38-year-old Russian tycoon billionaire visits the central coast and has a private tour of Hearst Castle.

Looking at the photo I could only think of Tolstoy’s observation that behind every great fortune is a great crime. And “business tycoon” involved with Russia’s recent “experiment” in “capitalism,” involving oil pipelines and coal and gas producers & etc. are no exception. That gang of enterprising cronies that rose after the fall of communism made our own historical robber barons look like pikers. Ah, God bless the child .

Annie Time Again

The saga of Annie, the dog that was lost, got adopted, original owner arrives, new owner refuses to give her back, continues anew with a new column by the Tribune’s Bill Morem and another spate of letters-to-the editor. The consensus seems to be that maybe Animal Services screwed up, [previous] owner Chuck Hoage and the [new] owners did everything by the book but things still got messed up and now it’s up to the new owners to “do the right thing” and give Annie back to her “real” owner.

That his hasn’t happened and instead there has been absolute silence as to WHY this hasn’t happened, is likely what keeps this story going. A mystery into which, Rorschach-like we can pour our own concerns and values. But there also seems to be a overlying larger issue best expressed by Carol Tell of Santa Maria’s letter to the editor asking “Why is it so hard for people these days to do the right thing?”

That simple question is certainly reflective of our zeitgeist – all around us we see evidence of People Behaving Badly, from sleazy, greedy, selfish Wall Street thieves, to sleazy, selfish demagogues flogging phony issues just for their political gain, and ugly Nativist Know-Nothing bigotry spilling all over the body politic, sleazy cost-cutting corporate greed whose results have oozed all over the gulf coast, while good people who have always tried to do the right thing lose their homes, lose their jobs and go broke. Our present reality is a vision filled with fear and greed and lust for power, none of which can even vaguely be described as “doing the right thing,” or even behavior that speaks to our better natures.

And then there’s Annie. A small four-footed symbol of so much that has gone so wrong in our world. With so many people asking, How can we make this right?

And only one family can answer that question. And, to date, their response is . . . silence.

12 comments:

Alon Perlman said...

Just one article on Annie surpassed 601 comments.
When 666 comments are surpassed the world will not end.
Because it has already ended.
We cant make it right because too many people are caught up in symbolisem.


Slogo wrote on 08/16/2010 09:04:36 AM:
You people do realize the comments you make here will have absolutely no impact on the outcome of this story? It only exemplifies the many things that are wrong with our society these days - on so many levels.

Recommend (4) Report


Read more: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/08/13/1250163/new-owners-of-annie-the-dog-adamantly.html?storylink=pluck_commented&pageNum=20&&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container#ixzz0wzKKjnVE

Watershed Mark said...

To your point:
That simple question is certainly reflective of our zeitgeist – all around us we see evidence of People Behaving Badly, from sleazy, greedy, selfish Wall Street thieves, to sleazy, selfish demagogues flogging phony issues just for their political gain, and ugly Nativist Know-Nothing bigotry spilling all over the body politic, sleazy cost-cutting corporate greed whose results have oozed all over the gulf coast, while good people who have always tried to do the right thing lose their homes, lose their jobs and go broke. Our present reality is a vision filled with fear and greed and lust for power, none of which can even vaguely be described as “doing the right thing,” or even behavior that speaks to our better natures.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-17/china-drains-obama-stimulus-meant-for-u-s-economy-commentary-by-andy-xie.html

Rude Awakening

Deflation prophets in the West are in for a rude awakening. Eastern fire will turn Western ice into a mess, and 2012 looks like it will be the year of melting. The fuel for the fire is coming from deflation-fighting stimulus programs, such as that of U.S. President Barack Obama.

Stimulus is prescribed as a panacea for recession. In today’s global economy, it isn’t effective in the best of circumstances and is outright wrong for what ails the West now.

Trade and foreign direct investment total half of global gross domestic product. Multinational corporations drive both. They shop around the world for the lowest-cost production centers and ship goods to wherever the demand is. Demand and supply are dislocated. So when a government introduces stimulus, the initial increase in demand doesn’t necessarily boost local supply. More importantly, if multinationals decide to invest somewhere else, there wouldn’t be an increase in jobs to sustain the growth in demand beyond the stimulus.

The government is both broke and broke.
Time for every politician to honor their oath of office.

Watershed Mark said...

Broke and BROKEN

Watershed Mark said...

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am10

Watershed Mark said...

Happy Birthday!
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am19

Watershed Mark said...

Your Wednesday prose:
What is true, changes with time according to circumstances.

The truth – love, beauty, peace – never changes.

It is true that man has two legs.

But that is not the truth.

Because not all men have legs.

Some lose their legs in time.

And the contradiction or qualification is then true:

Man has legs, but, that ‘particular’ man does not have legs.

In the truth there is no contradiction.

Science, business, industry, technology, and the information media,

Which publicise these activities, deal in the ‘particular’,

And, what is true keeps changing according to a particular pursuit or liking.

The truth of science business, industry, technology and the media is:

That everything worthwhile in life, is in the future

(or in the past)

And does not exist now!

So it has to be pursued.

Each pursuit is a movement,

Never an achievement,

Never an end in itself,

As the truth is.

-----------------------
Source: Excerpt form a book by Barry Long: "Only Fear Dies"

Mike Green said...

New boss same as the old boss.
Remember tea is a very traditional drink.
California votes to do nothing.

Churadogs said...

California votes to do nothing. Yup. Then whine.

Watershed Mark said...

Mike: The Legislature, ya’ll keep stupidly voting in, which supports the budget busting bureaucratic behaviors needs to be soundly dealt with. The people get the government they deserve.

Democracy... is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.
Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.
Plato

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.
Thomas Jefferson

Anonymous said...

About Grover Norquist:

I am very glad that Blakeslee defeated his progressive socialist opposition. I am also glad that the republicans in congress have stood fast against hair brained laws designed to push the nation into communistic socialism. They are heroes, although defeated heroes.

The only reason why communist China is doing well economically is because of capitalism, and Russia is far better because of capitalism than before.

Many countries do poorly because of governmental control. In my estimation, excessive government is the bane of freedom and prosperity.

Yet there are fools among us who would vote for those who wish to seize power for their own benefit. They expect the government to be efficient and improve their welfare. They better get off their duff and help themselves. If they wait for government they will be broke and starving. Many lost their homes because of hair brained government supporting loans that could never be repaid. Look to Chris Dodd and Barney Frank.

Watershed Mark said...

Norquist is best known as the founder of Americans for Tax Reform in 1985, at the request of President Ronald Reagan, and has headed the organization ever since.[12] The primary policy goal of Americans for Tax Reform is to reduce the percentage of the GDP consumed by the government.[7][13] ATR states that it "opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle."[14] Americans for Tax Reform seeks to curtail government spending by supporting Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) legislation[15] and transparency initiatives,[16] and opposing cap-and-trade legislation[17] and Democratic efforts to overhaul health care.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist#Americans_for_Tax_Reform

What's wrong with THAT?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l2_AuipdNE

Unknown said...

...so if one is a Democrat, would one want more government and more welfare...???

...listening to the current Taxifornia "budget" battle, one could easily draw that conclusion... there is not one thought to reducing welfare programs, only the reduction of state worker benefits and wages...

If I were King of California, I would fire EVERY elected state representative and senator, no matter how good/fair/honest (not sure there are any!!!)... They have abandoned the tax payers in their own greed to be re-elected... it is time to send a message that we expect them, as elected representatives to solve the budget fiasco once and for all...!!! They should not have wages or benefits while this idocy continues and there should be no retro-active payback once the problem is resolved... Ok, enough of my soap box for awhile... except maybe it out to happen at the Fereal level also....