It's today, Presidents' Day. I still don't like it, not at all. Once upon a time, February 12th was celebrated as Lincoln's Birthday (1809) and February 22nd (originally the 11th) as Washington's Birthday (1732). Although both dates are recognized, Presidents' Day is the day off. Are we really celebrating the Presidencies of some of these guys?????? Why would we want to and, in effect, diminish the accomplishments of those who made major positive contributions? Is this the result of the modern garbage called "inclusion?" Let's go back to Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday. I know, I know...... "But Washington owned slaves." Perhaps that's fodder for a future post.
In the same vein, a fellow alumnus from Amherst, a black man, suggested renaming Martin Luther King Day. He thought "Black Heroes/Heroines Day" or some such designation would be more fitting. As much as I've admired the work, words, and courage of MLK, I think I like the idea of a more "inclusive" (ha ha ha!) day.
I've written about his before, but while I'm at it...... Why don't we name more schools, public buildings, etc. after people? Instead of flowers or shrubs or trees or rivers, schools should bear the names of folks who made a difference. Court houses and city halls should be dedicated to people who contributed to society. They could be local people or those who played even larger roles. This would help to explain some history--regional, state, or national. And it would also tell people that we value and appreciate contributions from others. Of course, in a local district the three (one former) junior high schools and two high schools are so-named. But the overwhelming number of students I've encountered from them have no ideas who Isaac Crary, John Pierce, Stevens T. Mason, Charles Kettering, and Charles Mott are. Oh well......
I think ignorance has become an industry. I don't claim to be the smartest guy around and, in fact, shake my head at how little I sometimes know or how gullible I am to modern methods of spreading information (or misinformation). I know I fall victim to it, too. But it seems there is a growing peril of ignorance for profit. I hear some of the callers to radio shows (and sometimes the hosts!) and this supports my belief. And note the proliferation of judge shows, reality shows (which have little to do with "reality" as I know it), and tabloid talk shows on the boob tube. A profitable industry, indeed, ignorance must be.
A recent Detroit newspaper editorial called for a state constitutional amendment. Instead of voters electing members of the state board of education and the trustees/regents/governors of our three major universities, the board members should be appointed. That would require an amendment. The appointments would be made, if the newspaper has its way, by the governor and confirmed by the state senate. I had to chuckle. We elect our governor and state senators and haven't done such a good job with that recently, either. Maybe they, too, should be appointed. Or, maybe, Hamilton was right and we are proving that people can't rule themselves with representative government. Maybe......
Monday, February 19, 2018
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Brrr......
This AM, I went out to the state park for my exercises and the temperature was 2 degrees--it was 5 degrees, two miles away at home. Regardless, that's cold! But there was no new snow. I'm guessing we had a snowfall of nearly 10" from Fri through Sun afternoon. Most of it came Fri. Karen thought I'd shoveled the driveway/sidewalk "about 7 times," hence my sore back the past few days. Fortunately, Michael helped on several of the shovelings and my neighbor, for whom Michael and I have been shoveling since his heart attack around Thanksgiving, purchased a snow blower. I just went over there one time, on Fri, when his wife told me about the snow blower. I didn't mind--nor did Michael--but this weekend would have been taxing.
Speaking of "taxing" or at least the federal government budget, I think it's a rotten deal. In light of massive BIG government spending, expenditures and the debt limit were increased. So, now the federal debt will be well over $20 trillion! I can't see how that can be repaid--ever. There is no longer any party of fiscal responsibility. The President should have had his veto pen handy, yet he signed the "swamp thing," increased spending that had both Republicans and Democrats smiling. A great line appeared in the newspaper this weekend. Calling Trump "the candidate who promised to drain the swamp, he is now swimming in it with both arms." Yep......
And I'm not sure the incredible debt and all of its financial/economic problems is the worst aspect of such fiscal irresponsibility. It's not just the extravagant spending. It's the power of the purse that gives even more authority of BIG government to control state and local governments (through legal extortion) and our lives (through laws and regulations and threats regarding them).
If Trump has hired "the best people" to run the government, why are so many of them not "the best?" I realize the bias against Trump and his appointees and take much of the media claims with a grain of salt. But, still, it sure seems like a nest of vipers not inhabits the White House/Executive Dept. A reasonable question would be why these not-the-best people weren't "vetted," esp by the FBI or whoever is responsible for it. And, if they were, why weren't so many of these problems uncovered then? Or, if they were, why weren't they publicized? Was that intentional? Or was it merely incompetence? I can't believe the latter, but can the former.
I heard this afternoon that the faculty at Michigan State is prepared to vote on a statement demanding the resignation(s) of the MSU board of trustees. OK, maybe...... I don't know what the trustees knew or when they knew it. Maybe the board should resign; again I don't know. But, since Nassar was a faculty member at MSU, shouldn't the rest of the faculty there, in he same spirit, also resign? After all, he was one of theirs......
I haven't really watched the Olympics. They hold little interest for me. But I have noticed in the local newspaper and on the radio all the gushing about North Korea, not the athletes, but North Korea and, esp, the ruler's sister who is in attendance. Why aren't the media questioning her about NK's starving people, deliberately starved, about its hundreds of thousands of political prisoners, about her brother's nuclear saber-rattling? Aren't those questions that should be asked instead of favorable comparisons between her (favorable to her) and Vice President Pence? (And I'm not necessarily a fan of Pence.) But what are starving people and hundreds of thousands of political prisoners among friends? I wonder how many members of the US media realize that, if they tried to ply their trade in North Korea, it wouldn't be long before they'd likely be residents of one of the gulags there.
I've heard and read about the federal budget a lot the past week or more. I am tired of the constant reference to Social Security and Medicare as "entitlements." They are not! Payments for 50 years were taken from my paychecks in the name of Medicare and Social Security. "Voluntary?" as one government spending critic claimed. Yeah right...... Go ahead and try to withhold the "voluntary" deductions from your paycheck. Like I've said to people who gripe about teachers' pensions. "Not a problem. I won't take a pension or Social Security if you'll return to me the money I contributed--plus the interest, compounded, on my personal investments." Again, yeah right......
Speaking of "taxing" or at least the federal government budget, I think it's a rotten deal. In light of massive BIG government spending, expenditures and the debt limit were increased. So, now the federal debt will be well over $20 trillion! I can't see how that can be repaid--ever. There is no longer any party of fiscal responsibility. The President should have had his veto pen handy, yet he signed the "swamp thing," increased spending that had both Republicans and Democrats smiling. A great line appeared in the newspaper this weekend. Calling Trump "the candidate who promised to drain the swamp, he is now swimming in it with both arms." Yep......
And I'm not sure the incredible debt and all of its financial/economic problems is the worst aspect of such fiscal irresponsibility. It's not just the extravagant spending. It's the power of the purse that gives even more authority of BIG government to control state and local governments (through legal extortion) and our lives (through laws and regulations and threats regarding them).
If Trump has hired "the best people" to run the government, why are so many of them not "the best?" I realize the bias against Trump and his appointees and take much of the media claims with a grain of salt. But, still, it sure seems like a nest of vipers not inhabits the White House/Executive Dept. A reasonable question would be why these not-the-best people weren't "vetted," esp by the FBI or whoever is responsible for it. And, if they were, why weren't so many of these problems uncovered then? Or, if they were, why weren't they publicized? Was that intentional? Or was it merely incompetence? I can't believe the latter, but can the former.
I heard this afternoon that the faculty at Michigan State is prepared to vote on a statement demanding the resignation(s) of the MSU board of trustees. OK, maybe...... I don't know what the trustees knew or when they knew it. Maybe the board should resign; again I don't know. But, since Nassar was a faculty member at MSU, shouldn't the rest of the faculty there, in he same spirit, also resign? After all, he was one of theirs......
I haven't really watched the Olympics. They hold little interest for me. But I have noticed in the local newspaper and on the radio all the gushing about North Korea, not the athletes, but North Korea and, esp, the ruler's sister who is in attendance. Why aren't the media questioning her about NK's starving people, deliberately starved, about its hundreds of thousands of political prisoners, about her brother's nuclear saber-rattling? Aren't those questions that should be asked instead of favorable comparisons between her (favorable to her) and Vice President Pence? (And I'm not necessarily a fan of Pence.) But what are starving people and hundreds of thousands of political prisoners among friends? I wonder how many members of the US media realize that, if they tried to ply their trade in North Korea, it wouldn't be long before they'd likely be residents of one of the gulags there.
I've heard and read about the federal budget a lot the past week or more. I am tired of the constant reference to Social Security and Medicare as "entitlements." They are not! Payments for 50 years were taken from my paychecks in the name of Medicare and Social Security. "Voluntary?" as one government spending critic claimed. Yeah right...... Go ahead and try to withhold the "voluntary" deductions from your paycheck. Like I've said to people who gripe about teachers' pensions. "Not a problem. I won't take a pension or Social Security if you'll return to me the money I contributed--plus the interest, compounded, on my personal investments." Again, yeah right......
Sunday, February 4, 2018
Pick Your Poison!
It's snowing again and, usually, it's my favorite time to run. This winter, though, has been a bear with the single-digit and sub-zero temperatures. As I've noted, it's not the cold per se, but dressing with all of those layers. Ugh. But today was tough. Running on the shoulders of the road, to avoid the crazy drivers at all costs (or at least most costs), is dangerous with the ruts from the cold, thaw, cold, thaw pattern. (Why do so many people drive on the shoulders of the roads?) But, with the seemingly infinite number of potholes on the roads, moving out to them is also treacherous. I did do some walking this AM, esp on the shoulders to try to avoid turning an ankle. Of course, as one woman said to me a short while ago, "You know, you don't have to run." I smiled and said to myself, "You don't really know me. Yes, I do."
The editorial's lead reads, "Who pays when the government screws up?" (My emphasis.) Really? "...screws up?" Is that the depths to which even our supposed smarter media have stooped? I am pretty sure by using the word, the editor didn't mean "turning an object having a thread?" The context is lost, of course. The word is a euphemism or, perhaps, slang term for the "f-word." Of course it is. So, is that now how far we've stooped? The editor of a major US newspaper can't think of another appropriate word?
I've also been wondering about the dislike for President Trump compared to the dislike for President Obama. The two are a world apart. The media, the public demonstrations, the letters-to-the-editors, and even casual conversations today, about Trump, are so vehement, frequently lacking any sense of civility. But I can't help but think that Obama elicited the same, likely equally strong, feelings of dislike. Why were there such outpourings of protest against him? I'm certainly no fan of Trump and never will be; I make no apologies for that. But, at the same time, do I dislike him any more than the Clintons or Obama? I don't think so. (Gee, am I the only one in the US who is an equal opportunity disliker?) I suppose there are some reasons for that, reasons to go into at a later time.
Now, it's time for some yoga exercises and then off to take Michael to an Oakland U basketball game.
The editorial's lead reads, "Who pays when the government screws up?" (My emphasis.) Really? "...screws up?" Is that the depths to which even our supposed smarter media have stooped? I am pretty sure by using the word, the editor didn't mean "turning an object having a thread?" The context is lost, of course. The word is a euphemism or, perhaps, slang term for the "f-word." Of course it is. So, is that now how far we've stooped? The editor of a major US newspaper can't think of another appropriate word?
I've also been wondering about the dislike for President Trump compared to the dislike for President Obama. The two are a world apart. The media, the public demonstrations, the letters-to-the-editors, and even casual conversations today, about Trump, are so vehement, frequently lacking any sense of civility. But I can't help but think that Obama elicited the same, likely equally strong, feelings of dislike. Why were there such outpourings of protest against him? I'm certainly no fan of Trump and never will be; I make no apologies for that. But, at the same time, do I dislike him any more than the Clintons or Obama? I don't think so. (Gee, am I the only one in the US who is an equal opportunity disliker?) I suppose there are some reasons for that, reasons to go into at a later time.
Now, it's time for some yoga exercises and then off to take Michael to an Oakland U basketball game.
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Too Easy?
In a recent exchange with some of my college classmates, one asked when it was that we "lost respect for the truth." I think I would add "honesty" to that. As part of the exchange another suggested that truth is too hard, that "facts are too messy and confusing. One would have to stop and consider implications as well ambiguities before drawing conclusion[s] or taking action. [It's] so much easier to go with feelings."
In a large sense I think he's right. We've created a society in which "easier" is better. I'm not particularly a Luddite or a technophobe. OK, I don't own a cell phone and don't have or use all those gadgets on my car. But I use my computer, shop online, employ my GPS watch(es) while running, etc. Look what we've done, though.
We can start our cars in the AM from the kitchen, while I machine programmed overnight makes the coffee for us. (No, I don't drink coffee.) We have snow- and leaf-blowers and huge tractors to mow our lawns. Students don't have to go to the library any longer; they can "look it up" on their phones. They can take classes while at home and still in their pajamas. In fact, the radio commercials urge students to come to this or to that college and earn their four-year degrees in "half the time" or even a year. Clerks and cashiers don't need to count money; the machines do that for them. (I actually favor this as sometime the change I receive is more than what my fast food meal cost--and don't try arguing with the cashier. They won't accept that a mistake has been made and the drive-through line must not be kept waiting.) Not only don't we have to get up to change the channels on our boob tubes, now we don't even have to push buttons on the remotes. We just talk......and poof magic!, the channels change. I could go on and on, but......
I'm not opposed to all of this. As I noted, some of it is good. Surely I prefer modern washing machines to the types we had "back when I was a kid." Yes, lots is good.
But I wonder if we've made life far too easy. People don't realize the good feelings, the satisfaction of actually achieving something, of doing things, of living life. If something gets too hard, do we just quit? Are the mundane trials and tribulations of daily life now so easy we find other far more trivial things about which to worry?
Thinking is not easy; it's hard work. And, no, feelings are not thinking/thoughts. It's somewhat easy to feel something. It's much harder to think about things, to "consider implications and ambiguities." And I must confess, I fall victim to this, too.
A recent radio host played some late night TV show host who said, "I grew up in a cult, too. It's called the Catholic Church." It drew lots of laughs. The radio host then asked the obviously rhetorical question, "What if the television host had said, 'I grew up in a cult, too. It's called Islam.'" I doubt there would have been any laughs. But the radio show host surmised that would have been the end of the television host. "He'd have been fired. He'd have been an outcast in Hollywood." I have no reason to believe otherwise. So, why is it OK to joke about the Catholic Church in such a manner, but not to similarly pillory Islam? Such is our times.
Speaking of "civility," I saw a photo in the newspaper of an MSU student who was protesting the MSU board of trustees over the heinous sexual abuse scandal--and it is a scandal, from the perverted monster to those who covered it up. Resignations are not enough. But, this student, in protesting, sat himself down in the middle of the table in the conference room, the table around which the trustees were sitting. Was this student making a statement, maybe showing how "cool" he was? Did being so uncivil, so rude show how much this student cared? Perhaps in light of the overall affair this was trivial, but the student should have been escorted out until he could behave like an adult, a responsible adult. Is this what students today are taught?
I really believe Bill Clinton's Presidency was a turning point in our society/culture. Lying and other reprehensible behavior became almost de rigueur, acceptable if not even fashionable. I know it makes me sound like an old fogy, but...... I think morals matter. I never bought the excuses made for Clinton. That "the economy is good" was one of them. And it was good, having improved a great deal. So then, did we make a pact with the devil? We sold decency and morality down the drain for a good economy. I think we did and I also think much of the incivilty we experience today stems from that. Oh, we were on that road, no doubt, and had been for a while. But Clinton make it OK to do rotten things.
I wonder if we are doing the same with Don Trump. Are we selling our moral souls to the devil in return for more jobs, a high Dow Jones, lower taxes, etc.? (I'm not saying that we can't have lower taxes without selling our souls.) But many people seem to excuse Trump (and I am not a supporter of his, not at all; I think character matters and he has none) because of the turn-around of the economy. I perhaps thought we couldn't get any less civil than we'd become, but I was wrong. We are becoming more so, far more so.
As I asked, by accepting the Clintons, Trump, and others, are we selling our souls to the devil in return for material happiness/success? Maybe that's a question our religious leaders should be addressing......
In a large sense I think he's right. We've created a society in which "easier" is better. I'm not particularly a Luddite or a technophobe. OK, I don't own a cell phone and don't have or use all those gadgets on my car. But I use my computer, shop online, employ my GPS watch(es) while running, etc. Look what we've done, though.
We can start our cars in the AM from the kitchen, while I machine programmed overnight makes the coffee for us. (No, I don't drink coffee.) We have snow- and leaf-blowers and huge tractors to mow our lawns. Students don't have to go to the library any longer; they can "look it up" on their phones. They can take classes while at home and still in their pajamas. In fact, the radio commercials urge students to come to this or to that college and earn their four-year degrees in "half the time" or even a year. Clerks and cashiers don't need to count money; the machines do that for them. (I actually favor this as sometime the change I receive is more than what my fast food meal cost--and don't try arguing with the cashier. They won't accept that a mistake has been made and the drive-through line must not be kept waiting.) Not only don't we have to get up to change the channels on our boob tubes, now we don't even have to push buttons on the remotes. We just talk......and poof magic!, the channels change. I could go on and on, but......
I'm not opposed to all of this. As I noted, some of it is good. Surely I prefer modern washing machines to the types we had "back when I was a kid." Yes, lots is good.
But I wonder if we've made life far too easy. People don't realize the good feelings, the satisfaction of actually achieving something, of doing things, of living life. If something gets too hard, do we just quit? Are the mundane trials and tribulations of daily life now so easy we find other far more trivial things about which to worry?
Thinking is not easy; it's hard work. And, no, feelings are not thinking/thoughts. It's somewhat easy to feel something. It's much harder to think about things, to "consider implications and ambiguities." And I must confess, I fall victim to this, too.
A recent radio host played some late night TV show host who said, "I grew up in a cult, too. It's called the Catholic Church." It drew lots of laughs. The radio host then asked the obviously rhetorical question, "What if the television host had said, 'I grew up in a cult, too. It's called Islam.'" I doubt there would have been any laughs. But the radio show host surmised that would have been the end of the television host. "He'd have been fired. He'd have been an outcast in Hollywood." I have no reason to believe otherwise. So, why is it OK to joke about the Catholic Church in such a manner, but not to similarly pillory Islam? Such is our times.
Speaking of "civility," I saw a photo in the newspaper of an MSU student who was protesting the MSU board of trustees over the heinous sexual abuse scandal--and it is a scandal, from the perverted monster to those who covered it up. Resignations are not enough. But, this student, in protesting, sat himself down in the middle of the table in the conference room, the table around which the trustees were sitting. Was this student making a statement, maybe showing how "cool" he was? Did being so uncivil, so rude show how much this student cared? Perhaps in light of the overall affair this was trivial, but the student should have been escorted out until he could behave like an adult, a responsible adult. Is this what students today are taught?
I really believe Bill Clinton's Presidency was a turning point in our society/culture. Lying and other reprehensible behavior became almost de rigueur, acceptable if not even fashionable. I know it makes me sound like an old fogy, but...... I think morals matter. I never bought the excuses made for Clinton. That "the economy is good" was one of them. And it was good, having improved a great deal. So then, did we make a pact with the devil? We sold decency and morality down the drain for a good economy. I think we did and I also think much of the incivilty we experience today stems from that. Oh, we were on that road, no doubt, and had been for a while. But Clinton make it OK to do rotten things.
I wonder if we are doing the same with Don Trump. Are we selling our moral souls to the devil in return for more jobs, a high Dow Jones, lower taxes, etc.? (I'm not saying that we can't have lower taxes without selling our souls.) But many people seem to excuse Trump (and I am not a supporter of his, not at all; I think character matters and he has none) because of the turn-around of the economy. I perhaps thought we couldn't get any less civil than we'd become, but I was wrong. We are becoming more so, far more so.
As I asked, by accepting the Clintons, Trump, and others, are we selling our souls to the devil in return for material happiness/success? Maybe that's a question our religious leaders should be addressing......
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