In the wake of the death of Kim Jong Il in North Korea—and faced with the
real anguish being experienced by many of the people who have been subject to
his weird, arbitrary rule—I heard a quote:
'Facts don't come with their meaning attached to them.'
North Koreans are surrounded by a distortion machine that interpretes
everything for them, so their responses are idiosyncratic by outside
standards. The death of Kim Jong Il can only be interpreted within that reference frame.
I wonder who, in our society, is also enmeshed within a cocoon of
misinformation – impervious to realistic interpretations of national and world events
and policies.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Developing World Transition
One thing which will not be spoken of by politicians of
either party during the coming elections is this:
The most frightening and disruptive changes to the Western economies—including the US—are inevitable, irrespective of which parties govern. The migration of jobs to the developing countries of the Third World will continue, and cannot be reversed.
No politicians dare acknowlege this publicly for fear of the talking-point it would provide to the opposition, but those who drive policy have known it for years.
It’s not just low wages that draw the jobs; over time, these countries have have built the physical, technological, and educational infrastructure—much of it with help from advanced economies— to compete at advantage against the west for the foreseeable future.
Competing political parties in advanced industrial world will spin this trend so as to blame their opposition – and to promise to stem the tide if their party is returned to power (or kept in power, as the case may be). But, while an individual nation’s policy may cause a temporary inflection in the trendline, the general trajectory cannot be changed. It is the future, and it should be faced with knowledge that it exists.
The central question on the table in the US is whether those who continue to thrive during and after this epochal transition—including those who have driven and guided the transition for their own gain—have any obligation to those who are left behind.
Watching the terms of debate in the US, it seems that the answer here is an emphatic ‘No’. Those who either deny the inevitability of this transition, or who simply don’t care about those left behind seem to control the outcome. This will result in a great deal of suffering.
The most frightening and disruptive changes to the Western economies—including the US—are inevitable, irrespective of which parties govern. The migration of jobs to the developing countries of the Third World will continue, and cannot be reversed.
No politicians dare acknowlege this publicly for fear of the talking-point it would provide to the opposition, but those who drive policy have known it for years.
It’s not just low wages that draw the jobs; over time, these countries have have built the physical, technological, and educational infrastructure—much of it with help from advanced economies— to compete at advantage against the west for the foreseeable future.
Competing political parties in advanced industrial world will spin this trend so as to blame their opposition – and to promise to stem the tide if their party is returned to power (or kept in power, as the case may be). But, while an individual nation’s policy may cause a temporary inflection in the trendline, the general trajectory cannot be changed. It is the future, and it should be faced with knowledge that it exists.
The central question on the table in the US is whether those who continue to thrive during and after this epochal transition—including those who have driven and guided the transition for their own gain—have any obligation to those who are left behind.
Watching the terms of debate in the US, it seems that the answer here is an emphatic ‘No’. Those who either deny the inevitability of this transition, or who simply don’t care about those left behind seem to control the outcome. This will result in a great deal of suffering.
My Entitlement is not an Entitlement, because I'm Entitled to it!
A seed is being planted that ‘entitlement’ is a bad word,
and that entitlement programs are wasteful.
We’ve all seen the FB posts, “My [insert program name; Social Security, Medicare, Veteran’s benefits] is NOT an entitlement. I EARNED this by [insert what you’ve paid, earned, endured, or otherwise done to become entitled]! I’m all for ‘entitlement reform’, but leave my [repeat entitlement program name] alone!”
The intention is more than obvious. It’s a ‘divide and conquer’ campaign. By convincing each interest group that their program isn’t really an entitlement, they can gain support for cutting all the rest. It’s actually rather elegant, if you can overlook its immorality.
‘Entitlement’ is merely a budgetary term for programs whose outlay is dependent upon the number of people who qualify—for whatever reason—and are guarantee the benefit. There is no judgment or connotation associated with it – except that which is being implanted in people’s little brains by the spin-meisters.
No doubt if you lift of the dirty carpet corners of this nasty misinformation campaign, you’ll find Frank Lunz’s droppings.
We’ve all seen the FB posts, “My [insert program name; Social Security, Medicare, Veteran’s benefits] is NOT an entitlement. I EARNED this by [insert what you’ve paid, earned, endured, or otherwise done to become entitled]! I’m all for ‘entitlement reform’, but leave my [repeat entitlement program name] alone!”
The intention is more than obvious. It’s a ‘divide and conquer’ campaign. By convincing each interest group that their program isn’t really an entitlement, they can gain support for cutting all the rest. It’s actually rather elegant, if you can overlook its immorality.
‘Entitlement’ is merely a budgetary term for programs whose outlay is dependent upon the number of people who qualify—for whatever reason—and are guarantee the benefit. There is no judgment or connotation associated with it – except that which is being implanted in people’s little brains by the spin-meisters.
No doubt if you lift of the dirty carpet corners of this nasty misinformation campaign, you’ll find Frank Lunz’s droppings.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Orthodoxy and Society
True orthodox communists believe that if we restructure society properly, human greed will fade away, and we'll all live together, sharing everything equally.
True believers in laissez-faire capitalism know that's a crock; they believe not only that greed won't disappear from our character, but that it's actually a virtue, which—applied in aggregate over an entire population—will deliver the best possible societal outcomes.
This latter belief is as full of shit as the former; each has more in common with a religious cult than a serious, practical economic system. In their unalloyed form, each overlooks human nature, and its consequences - to the severe detriment of society.
Real problems don't yield to rigidly orthodox solutions. Those societies which progressed the most in the twentieth century are those which have thrown out the tomes, and have employed pragmatic contributions from all the various systems.
True believers in laissez-faire capitalism know that's a crock; they believe not only that greed won't disappear from our character, but that it's actually a virtue, which—applied in aggregate over an entire population—will deliver the best possible societal outcomes.
This latter belief is as full of shit as the former; each has more in common with a religious cult than a serious, practical economic system. In their unalloyed form, each overlooks human nature, and its consequences - to the severe detriment of society.
Real problems don't yield to rigidly orthodox solutions. Those societies which progressed the most in the twentieth century are those which have thrown out the tomes, and have employed pragmatic contributions from all the various systems.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Education vs. Misinfotainment
If people had focused as intensely when they were in school as they do now to the right-wing misinfotainment outlets—like Fox and the Glen Bimbaugh clones—those outlets could never have built an audience, and would exist only for the fringe audience that they merit.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The 999 Plan
The Beauty of Herman Cain's '999' Plan is in its simplicity.
In fact it's designed specifically for simplicity above all else. Because all three of the numbers are the same, potential Cain voters can get all the way to the end without forgetting any of them.
When asked about the plan, Texas Governor Rick Perry looked around for his Teleprompter, and--not finding it--responded that he'd have to get back to that question later.
In fact it's designed specifically for simplicity above all else. Because all three of the numbers are the same, potential Cain voters can get all the way to the end without forgetting any of them.
When asked about the plan, Texas Governor Rick Perry looked around for his Teleprompter, and--not finding it--responded that he'd have to get back to that question later.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Free Trade and Jobs
On consecutive days this week, the Senate voted to refuse to even debate President Obama’s jobs bill, then passed free-trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Columbia.
Hmm … Panama and Columbia. Ha!! When people say Congress isn’t interested in encouraging growth in American jobs, it just show how little they know about geography.
Hmm … Panama and Columbia. Ha!! When people say Congress isn’t interested in encouraging growth in American jobs, it just show how little they know about geography.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Shrinkage
Note to GOP: We're not going to shrink our way out of this!
But I guess you knew that already, eh?
I know there are higher priorities right now than fixing our country's economic ills – the most important being blaming them on Obama. And that all goes out the window if the economy gets fixed.
But I guess you knew that already, eh?
I know there are higher priorities right now than fixing our country's economic ills – the most important being blaming them on Obama. And that all goes out the window if the economy gets fixed.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Class Warfare
All the talk about ‘Class Warfare’ has gotten me thinking. I know all about class warfare, and the devastating effects it can have on people’s lives. On reflection, it seems clear that there’s nothing new going on. The Class War has been raging for quite some time now, and for all intents and purposes it is over. What seems just as clear is that the poor have won a decisive victory.
Just look around any of our major city streets – their patrols are everywhere! Holding signs on street corners, in food kitchens, crowding our emergency rooms, or under freeway overpasses – everywhere taxing passers-by for their hand-outs.
Free from the constraints of home ownership, or the scheduling restrictions of jobs, the poor quarter themselves overnight in the doorways of downtown stores, in alleys, or any other warm place– arrogantly relieving themselves wherever they choose.
Meanwhile the defeated rich desperately seek what shelter they can find in gated refugee communities, peeking furtively out from behind well-appointed window treatments. They live in fear of the weekly inspections by the special forces of the victorious poor known as ‘housekeepers’. Some must even submit to having their children indoctrinated by the elite Corps d’Au Pair.
When the rich dare to timidly emerge from these camps at all, They assemble as quickly as possible into protective groups known as ‘foursomes’ and rush headlong to the few places which offer them sanctuary – country clubs, exclusive restaurants, or even private islands. Even there, they are under the constant surveillance of the victors – never far from the prying eyes of caddies, waiters, and busboys.
It’s not clear how much more of this the rich can take, and it’s easy to see why these wretched souls fear another outbreak of class warfare. It can only make their current precarious situation even more hazardous.
Please, we must call a halt to this!
Haven’t the rich suffered enough?
Just look around any of our major city streets – their patrols are everywhere! Holding signs on street corners, in food kitchens, crowding our emergency rooms, or under freeway overpasses – everywhere taxing passers-by for their hand-outs.
Free from the constraints of home ownership, or the scheduling restrictions of jobs, the poor quarter themselves overnight in the doorways of downtown stores, in alleys, or any other warm place– arrogantly relieving themselves wherever they choose.
Meanwhile the defeated rich desperately seek what shelter they can find in gated refugee communities, peeking furtively out from behind well-appointed window treatments. They live in fear of the weekly inspections by the special forces of the victorious poor known as ‘housekeepers’. Some must even submit to having their children indoctrinated by the elite Corps d’Au Pair.
When the rich dare to timidly emerge from these camps at all, They assemble as quickly as possible into protective groups known as ‘foursomes’ and rush headlong to the few places which offer them sanctuary – country clubs, exclusive restaurants, or even private islands. Even there, they are under the constant surveillance of the victors – never far from the prying eyes of caddies, waiters, and busboys.
It’s not clear how much more of this the rich can take, and it’s easy to see why these wretched souls fear another outbreak of class warfare. It can only make their current precarious situation even more hazardous.
Please, we must call a halt to this!
Haven’t the rich suffered enough?
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Fair Taxation
In general, the greater one’s income, the greater the percentage of that income is derived from investments (dividends and capital gains)—which are taxed at less than half the rate as ordinary wages and salary—and the greater one’s ability to free up some of that income to help finance interest groups and lobbyists to maintain that differential.
It’s an obscenity that sitting-on-your-ass earnings are treated as more worthy than that earned by ‘sweat of the brow’.
And it’s an expression of idiocy when people parrot the spoon-fed line about ‘Class Warfare’ any time somebody suggests that this injustice be corrected.
It’s an obscenity that sitting-on-your-ass earnings are treated as more worthy than that earned by ‘sweat of the brow’.
And it’s an expression of idiocy when people parrot the spoon-fed line about ‘Class Warfare’ any time somebody suggests that this injustice be corrected.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Republican Electorate
I know some intelligent Republicans – in some cases very intelligent. Some of them are decent, caring human beings, who simply have reached different conclusions than I have, as to the best way to make life better for everybody in this country.
Some people like this even run for office. Unfortunately, they form a minority within their party – and to secure a nomination, candidates need to appeal to the broader Republican caucus.
In order to gain the nomination, a Republican candidate must reach out to, pander to, or at the very least not alienate a coalition of some of the most ignorant, narrow-minded, backward people who have ever sucked air on this continent.
For some, this comes naturally; I actually enjoy watching Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and the Ricks (Perry and Santorum) hold court, and sing with the choir. Others try, but don’t pull it off; it’s just painful to watch Mitt Romney, for example, try to cloak his intelligence and regality in order to relate to the gomers. And while it’s refreshing to see those who simply refuse to compromise their principles to fit in, these folks—Hunstman and Paul, for example—aren’t serious contenders for the prize.
As tempting as it would be to simply turn our backs on this entire convocation of fools, I am not able to. Given the limitless supply of corporate money available to whoever prevails in this exercise, it’s … I don’t know how to characterize it, but we ignore it at our peril.
Some people like this even run for office. Unfortunately, they form a minority within their party – and to secure a nomination, candidates need to appeal to the broader Republican caucus.
In order to gain the nomination, a Republican candidate must reach out to, pander to, or at the very least not alienate a coalition of some of the most ignorant, narrow-minded, backward people who have ever sucked air on this continent.
For some, this comes naturally; I actually enjoy watching Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and the Ricks (Perry and Santorum) hold court, and sing with the choir. Others try, but don’t pull it off; it’s just painful to watch Mitt Romney, for example, try to cloak his intelligence and regality in order to relate to the gomers. And while it’s refreshing to see those who simply refuse to compromise their principles to fit in, these folks—Hunstman and Paul, for example—aren’t serious contenders for the prize.
As tempting as it would be to simply turn our backs on this entire convocation of fools, I am not able to. Given the limitless supply of corporate money available to whoever prevails in this exercise, it’s … I don’t know how to characterize it, but we ignore it at our peril.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Chosen People
I’m trying to think of any religion anywhere on Earth where God declares that somebody else is his chosen people.
I'm not coming up with anything.
The one 'sort of' exception is of Rastafarianism, the Jamaican religion which reveres Hailie Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia.
The one 'sort of' exception is of Rastafarianism, the Jamaican religion which reveres Hailie Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Cheney's Book
Snarlin’ Dick Cheney has written a memoir of his White House years.
To refresh your memory, Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton, and was embedded with the Bush Jr Administration from 2001-2009.
During this time, Cheney served first as acting President for six years, before being demoted to acting Vice-President.
While it is unclear what value, if any, he contributed to the United States; his service to Halliburton was constant and exemplary throughout this assignment.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Cognitive Dissonance
The thing about ‘cognitive dissonance’ is that once you believe something—I mean REALLY believe it—you tend to modify your perception of reality to fit the belief, rather than the other way around.
Properly managed, it’s a great tool for shaping and locking in beliefs within a cult. Start with a small lie, then build up to the whoppers.
Another thing about cognitive dissonance is that it’s easy to detect in people with whom you disagree – just hard to tell whether it’s their dissonance or your own.
Properly managed, it’s a great tool for shaping and locking in beliefs within a cult. Start with a small lie, then build up to the whoppers.
Another thing about cognitive dissonance is that it’s easy to detect in people with whom you disagree – just hard to tell whether it’s their dissonance or your own.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Deficit Spending
There’s a viral FB post that compares our government’s deficit to a family which keeps outspending it income – going deeper into debt each year.
This is a choir-pleasing, but flawed analogy. While fiscal discipline over time is important, the Federal Government of the largest economy on Earth does not, and should not, behave economically like an individual household.
During times of economic crisis, deficit spending by the government is precisely the right thing to do. Domestic spending—particularly aid to low-income citizens—doesn’t leave the economy, but is recycled, and can increase overall income as the money is recycled through the economy. This is not a controversial assertion; it’s basic macroeconomics.
But for the sake of argument, let’s run with the household analogy. A more helpful example would be a family which makes plenty of money overall, but where the primary breadwinner holds back much of his income, leaving the family to rely heavily on Mom’s ‘Pampered Chef’ money, and the proceeds from the kid’s paper route.
And as a kicker, Dad’s a gun nut. He’s got the best collection in the neighborhood – more, in fact than all the neighbors combined. And he keeps buying more – not with his own money, but by tapping into (and borrowing against) the family’s butter-n-egg money.
This is a choir-pleasing, but flawed analogy. While fiscal discipline over time is important, the Federal Government of the largest economy on Earth does not, and should not, behave economically like an individual household.
During times of economic crisis, deficit spending by the government is precisely the right thing to do. Domestic spending—particularly aid to low-income citizens—doesn’t leave the economy, but is recycled, and can increase overall income as the money is recycled through the economy. This is not a controversial assertion; it’s basic macroeconomics.
But for the sake of argument, let’s run with the household analogy. A more helpful example would be a family which makes plenty of money overall, but where the primary breadwinner holds back much of his income, leaving the family to rely heavily on Mom’s ‘Pampered Chef’ money, and the proceeds from the kid’s paper route.
And as a kicker, Dad’s a gun nut. He’s got the best collection in the neighborhood – more, in fact than all the neighbors combined. And he keeps buying more – not with his own money, but by tapping into (and borrowing against) the family’s butter-n-egg money.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Talking Heads and Smart-Asses
I tried to watch some of the Sunday morning Talking Head programs, but got nauseated and had to switch off the tee-vee.
Grover Norquist was sitting at the table with Paul Krugman, Christiane Amanpour, and George Will. He seemed to assume that since ABC had seated him there, he was Krugman’s equal.
He’s not.
Norquist was just squirming in his seat with delight at the mockery they had made of the Democrats and the legislative process, with the debt-extension 'compromise'; while Krugman was trying to explain the human and economic price we will all pay for this travesty.
Norquist is a nasty, squatty, smart-ass, smarmy little troll! When I was a kid, I used to thump on people like him for practice – just to stay loose for the people I really wanted to fight. You really don’t even get a ‘W’ for beating up somebody like him – just the gratitude of the other kids on the playground, and a trip to the principal’s office.
I’m not proud of that. It was just something I did because somebody needed to.
Grover Norquist was sitting at the table with Paul Krugman, Christiane Amanpour, and George Will. He seemed to assume that since ABC had seated him there, he was Krugman’s equal.
He’s not.
Norquist was just squirming in his seat with delight at the mockery they had made of the Democrats and the legislative process, with the debt-extension 'compromise'; while Krugman was trying to explain the human and economic price we will all pay for this travesty.
Norquist is a nasty, squatty, smart-ass, smarmy little troll! When I was a kid, I used to thump on people like him for practice – just to stay loose for the people I really wanted to fight. You really don’t even get a ‘W’ for beating up somebody like him – just the gratitude of the other kids on the playground, and a trip to the principal’s office.
I’m not proud of that. It was just something I did because somebody needed to.
Class Warfare
The ‘class war’ is over; that’s been obvious for some time now. What is increasingly clear is that the so-called ‘leaders’ of the Democratic Party are unwilling or unable to even sue for decent terms of surrender.
The Late, Great Democratic Party
I miss the Democratic Party … by which I mean the party who stared down the ‘malefactors of great wealth’, and called them out—by name if necessary—and asserted that, ‘They hate me ... and I welcome their hatred.’
It’s embarrassing to be part of the ‘Would you like fries with that?’ Democratic Party of Barack Obama and Harry Reid. The biggest selling point for their ‘compromise’ on extending the debt limit is that it was just like the Republican Plan. Other than the demand that Obama dress up in a tutu, and dance in front of the news cameras, they’re absolutely right on that point.
Harry Truman once famously said of Richard Nixon, "Richard Nixon is a no-good lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he`d lie just to keep his hand in."
This could today apply to the entire Republican Congressional leadership - along with many of the Democrats.
It’s embarrassing to be part of the ‘Would you like fries with that?’ Democratic Party of Barack Obama and Harry Reid. The biggest selling point for their ‘compromise’ on extending the debt limit is that it was just like the Republican Plan. Other than the demand that Obama dress up in a tutu, and dance in front of the news cameras, they’re absolutely right on that point.
Harry Truman once famously said of Richard Nixon, "Richard Nixon is a no-good lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he`d lie just to keep his hand in."
This could today apply to the entire Republican Congressional leadership - along with many of the Democrats.
SHAME!
“You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war."
– Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain, upon the signing of the Munich Pact,
which ceded much of Czechoslovakia to Germany, in return for 'Peace in our Day'.
History lesson for Barak Obama, and Harry Reid:
When somebody is hell-bent on your destruction, principled compromise will not be reciprocated; abject appeasement yields only contempt – along with the certainty that they will soon return with even more outrageous demands.
– Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain, upon the signing of the Munich Pact,
which ceded much of Czechoslovakia to Germany, in return for 'Peace in our Day'.
History lesson for Barak Obama, and Harry Reid:
When somebody is hell-bent on your destruction, principled compromise will not be reciprocated; abject appeasement yields only contempt – along with the certainty that they will soon return with even more outrageous demands.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Tolerance of the Intolerant
The real test for those of us who preach tolerance is this; what tolerance to we show those who are intolerant of us – our ethnicity, religion, personal practices, or political beliefs?
As much as any other human characteristic, tolerance is not imparted by preaching; but can be taught only by example.
As much as any other human characteristic, tolerance is not imparted by preaching; but can be taught only by example.
Fire Fighting
Imagine how much more difficult it would be to put out a fire if every aspect of the effort—hose size, water pressure, tactics, etc.—had to be negotiated with a committee of arsonists.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Concentrated Wealth and Democracy
Among the most pernicious illusions in our society is the idea that the grotesque distortion of wealth and income distribution in our country can coexist with any resemblance of a real democracy.
On the other hand—since we are utterly powerless to change this reality—perhaps this illusion has a positive aspect. One might maintain that false hope is better than no hope at all.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
This is going to sound like I'm some kind of ...
It's funny how every time somebody starts a statement with the preamble, “You’ll probably think I sound like some racist (add or substitute ‘sexist’, ‘xenophobic’, ‘homophobic’, etc.) jerk, but I’ve got to say …”, they invariably finish their statement with something which could lead to no other conclusion.
They seem to think that this preamble immunizes them from the any implications of the statements that follow.
It doesn’t.
They seem to think that this preamble immunizes them from the any implications of the statements that follow.
It doesn’t.
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Holy Invisible Hand
From time to time a religious zealot will see the image of Jesus, the BVM, or Ganesh in a loaf of bread or a desiccated gourd. Word quickly passes, and soon there is a pilgrimage of zealots to see this holy item. They get all excited about it, but most people just keep on walking – and try to avoid eye contact.
Zealots of another variety see an ‘invisible hand’ in places where it could not possibly be present—in the banking, insurance, energy and pharmaceutical industries—places where the concentrated market power would crush any such hand beneath its steel boot. Still, the zealots gather to protect this holy industry from anything which would interfere with the workings of this phantom deity.
Zealots of another variety see an ‘invisible hand’ in places where it could not possibly be present—in the banking, insurance, energy and pharmaceutical industries—places where the concentrated market power would crush any such hand beneath its steel boot. Still, the zealots gather to protect this holy industry from anything which would interfere with the workings of this phantom deity.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Paradox of Thrift
The paradox of thrift is a perfect example of a fallacy of composition (‘what’s good for one is good for all’). One family responding to economic uncertainty by squirreling away money makes sense … for that family. But if everybody does it, the result is that people spend less overall, causing a deeper and longer-lasting downturn.
Government expenditures comprise a huge portion of our economic activity. While it may seem prudent to do a little ‘belt-tightening’ there, the belt is already snug – around the neck of our already-fragile economic recovery. It’s not just state and Federal workers, and aid recipients who would lose out; so would grocers, landlords, car dealers, and on up the line. The deepening and lengthening of a second dip would be a foregone conclusion.
Government expenditures comprise a huge portion of our economic activity. While it may seem prudent to do a little ‘belt-tightening’ there, the belt is already snug – around the neck of our already-fragile economic recovery. It’s not just state and Federal workers, and aid recipients who would lose out; so would grocers, landlords, car dealers, and on up the line. The deepening and lengthening of a second dip would be a foregone conclusion.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
FUD
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.”
- Upton Sinclair
This gap is reinforced when legions of corporate execs have virtually unlimited resources at their disposal to orchestrate a campaign of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).
- Upton Sinclair
This gap is reinforced when legions of corporate execs have virtually unlimited resources at their disposal to orchestrate a campaign of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Freedom to Listen
As a corollary to the First Amendment’s freedom of speech, could we at least have a strong suggestion to listen?
I don’t mean to just zip it, and fidget until it’s our turn to parrot our side’s bumper-sticker; but to really listen.
That might be the most revolutionary change in this country since 1776.
I don’t mean to just zip it, and fidget until it’s our turn to parrot our side’s bumper-sticker; but to really listen.
That might be the most revolutionary change in this country since 1776.
Tomatoes: Vegetable or Fruit?
Those who consider tomatoes a vegetable can cite support from an unexpected source. It was legally declared such by the US Supreme Court in 1893 (Nix v. Hedden).
During the Civil War, when Union markets were cut off from Confederate produce, this need was backfilled by growers in the Caribbean. After the end of Reconstruction, a tariff was placed on imported vegetables, to help southern growers recover. The application of tariff to tomatoes was challenged, on the basis that tomatoes are a fruit (indisputable from a botanical perspective, less so in culinary practice).
In 1893, the Supreme Court put culinary usage (and powerful agricultural interests) ahead of science, and declared that, legally at least, tomatoes are vegetables.
This is the same court which had ruled seven years earlier that corporations are people (Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad), so their tendency to weigh commercial interests over reality was already established.
During the Civil War, when Union markets were cut off from Confederate produce, this need was backfilled by growers in the Caribbean. After the end of Reconstruction, a tariff was placed on imported vegetables, to help southern growers recover. The application of tariff to tomatoes was challenged, on the basis that tomatoes are a fruit (indisputable from a botanical perspective, less so in culinary practice).
In 1893, the Supreme Court put culinary usage (and powerful agricultural interests) ahead of science, and declared that, legally at least, tomatoes are vegetables.
This is the same court which had ruled seven years earlier that corporations are people (Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad), so their tendency to weigh commercial interests over reality was already established.
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