Saturday, March 30, 2013
Breaking News: Hell Freezes Over!
We have breaking news from our friends over at The Weather Channel. Here's Jim Cantore live from...Hell...with news of a never-before-seen weather phenomenon there ! Go ahead, Jim!
Thanks, Brian. As you can see, I'm up to my little elf ass in ice and snow...
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Tomatoes, of all things! EZ as π
A thread on Google+ today got me thinking about tomatoes and I wanted to share my tomato growing technique.
I've tested this with everything from a 10-cent pack of hybrid wilt-free tomato seeds from the dollar store to several varieties of heirloom tomatoes and it never fails to make both a better plant and a better tomato flavor.
Start with good potting soil. I use generic stuff that costs $2.77 at Walmart or about the same price at Lowe's. "Wait", you're probably thinking, "I thought you said 'good potting soil'". I did.
I add hay which my 2 pet pigs, Shadow and Spig, have used as bedding and have broken down to short pieces. You can use grass clippings or even your own compost. Make sure to put some egg shells in the mix. Tomatoes need calcium and the tomato shells break down and help. It works. Try it. (If you don't have a compost bin, take a bucket or pail and put your veggie peels, egg shells, coffee and tea grounds - anything but animal products - into it and stir it every few days. You'll probably want to keep it outside. Even if it's not composted, feel free to put a cupful or two around your plants and gently mix it with the soil. It'll compost to some degree right there and it's increases the tilth of your soil so much.)
Next is variety. Yep, I said that it makes even cheap dollar store seeds produce better tomatoes, and that's true. They're better than grocery store tomatoes, but what isn't? OK, they're even better than that, but still not like a good heirloom tomato. Find a seed saver online who has a good reputation and buy a selection of tomato seeds. There are hundreds of varieties available, and these are a few I like: Black Krym (the spelling varies), Black Brandywine, Pink Brandywine, Yellow Brandywine, and I like to experiment with others. I've never had a bad heirloom tomato, either. Also, since they're not hybrids, you can save the seeds from your very best, biggest, most flavorful tomato by simply spreading some of the seed-containing tomato ectoplasm (snicker), the goo in the tomato that has the seeds, onto a paper towel, letting it dry for a week or so. Make sure to space the seeds so that you can separate them come planting time, then when they're fully dry (OK, it might take 2 weeks, or even longer - you be the judge), putting them into a sealed plastic ziplock bag in the freezer. Come planting time, take them out a day or two before you wish to plant, put them in the butter compartment or a drawer in the fridge and let them warm slowly before placing them in a cool dark spot for a day or two, and then plant them. Basically you're letting them warm up slowly like they would outside in the soil.
Heirloom tomatoes have always been selected for flavor first and foremost. They range in color from white to yellow to orange to pink to red to brick red to purple to black (although they're called black, I'd call them dark brown). Most websites will describe the flavor along with the fruit description. Buy several types, but plant them apart else they will crossbreed and you'll end up with a hybrid - which might be great!
Here are a couple things I've learned about terminology.
Determinate: This means that you can determine almost exactly when the tomatoes will all be ripe. This characteristic of tomatoes is important commercially for things like tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, catsup, et cetera, so that they know when to have a crew ready to harvest the tomatoes, they can go to the field, almost all of the tomatoes will be at the same stage of ripeness so they don't have to go back over and over to pick them; they pick once and done. That's not what I look for in a tomato. I want one that will give me tomatoes all season long. Obviously, indeterminate means the exact opposite, or what I just described, and that's what I want.
Potato-leaf: This means that the plants leaves are shaped like a potato plant's leaves rather than a tomato plant's leaves. Potatoes, tomatoes, chilies, tomatillos, eggplants, tobacco, petunias, are all in the same family of plants, as are deadly nightshade and black nightshade. It's the Solanaceae family with over 3000 species. Being in the same family as tobacco, deadly nightshade and black nightshade, are probably why all parts of the tomato and potato plants are poison, as are green spots on potatoes. Yep! You can find more terms here.
The real secret is what to fertilize them with. I use Miracle Gro. I put 1 tablespoon of Miracle Gro per gallon of water and I add 1 rounded tablespoon of Epsom salt plus 1 tablespoon of demerara sugar. Miracle-Gro and its imitators are designed to be poured over the leaves of the plant. Try not to get it into the blossoms, but it's OK if you get it on the tomatoes themselves, just wash them well before eating (*see my note at the bottom). The Epsom salt gives them a nice rounded acid flavor, and helps build the root system. The demerara sugar helps them have a nice sweet flavor, in balance with the acid and "tomato" flavor. It also seems to increase blossoms, which in turn produce more tomatoes. The result is wonderful. Don't store the mix as the sugar seems to make the sulphur in the Epsom salt come out of solution and your mix will not work and it will stink like rotten eggs! Mix what you need and don't save any. The Miracle-Gro package will have a scoop (so do generics) for you to measure with. The tablespoon side is the big end, obviously, but there's a small scoop on the other end that's good for making fertilizer for other plants.
I've used generic Miracle Gro and it works just as well. The demerara sugar I buy is a brand called Zulka and it's wonderful for anything you already use white sugar for. It's not refined like white sugar; it's simply dried cane juice and smells and tastes like fresh sugar cane. Walmart sells a 4-pound bag at my local store for $2.58. That's close to the price for regular white sugar and there's no comparison when it comes to taste. Look for it on the sugar aisle in a clear plastic bag with green logo. The sugar is a light tan color. If you can't find it on the sugar aisle, check the Hispanic food aisle. I use it in place of white sugar for everything. You'll love it! I use it for baking, coffee, and to make jellies and jams. It gives them such a wonderful flavor, too!!!
Good luck and happy tomato-ing! :)
*Note: I make a general cleaner, veggie wash, shower spray, (and everything else) out of white vinegar and lemon juice. I buy generic white vinegar (it's exactly the same as the branded stuff) for about $3/gallon at Walmart or Kroger, and I use lemon juice that you'll find on the juice aisle in the grocery or dollar store for about $2/quart. I take a spray bottle (don't use one that's had harsh chemicals or poisons in it, obviously), clean it well with soap and water and rinse it well. Don't forget to pump some soap and water through the sprayer itself and be sure to rinse the whole thing well. I add 2 ounces, more or less, of lemon juice (shake the juice well before you pour) and 30 ounces of white vinegar to make a quart. It cleans counters, glass, floors, veggies, I spray it on the shower curtain to inhibit mold and mildew...all sorts of things. I even use it on my hands after I've been in the garden or playing with the animals. Ditto if you've handled onions, garlic or fish. I wash my hands well first, then spray my lemon juice-vinegar spray on them, rub well, and let air dry. Just remember to shake it each time before use; the lemon juice solids will settle to the bottom, otherwise.) The great thing about it is that it's 2 acids together - acetic acid in the vinegar (about 5% acetic acid) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the lemon juice. It even has mild bleaching power. It kills 99.9% of household germs, it isn't toxic, and if you accidentally spray it on yourself or the dog or your dishes...so what? On top of all that, it's completely environmentally safe, it's cheap and it works!
I've tested this with everything from a 10-cent pack of hybrid wilt-free tomato seeds from the dollar store to several varieties of heirloom tomatoes and it never fails to make both a better plant and a better tomato flavor.
Start with good potting soil. I use generic stuff that costs $2.77 at Walmart or about the same price at Lowe's. "Wait", you're probably thinking, "I thought you said 'good potting soil'". I did.
I add hay which my 2 pet pigs, Shadow and Spig, have used as bedding and have broken down to short pieces. You can use grass clippings or even your own compost. Make sure to put some egg shells in the mix. Tomatoes need calcium and the tomato shells break down and help. It works. Try it. (If you don't have a compost bin, take a bucket or pail and put your veggie peels, egg shells, coffee and tea grounds - anything but animal products - into it and stir it every few days. You'll probably want to keep it outside. Even if it's not composted, feel free to put a cupful or two around your plants and gently mix it with the soil. It'll compost to some degree right there and it's increases the tilth of your soil so much.)
Next is variety. Yep, I said that it makes even cheap dollar store seeds produce better tomatoes, and that's true. They're better than grocery store tomatoes, but what isn't? OK, they're even better than that, but still not like a good heirloom tomato. Find a seed saver online who has a good reputation and buy a selection of tomato seeds. There are hundreds of varieties available, and these are a few I like: Black Krym (the spelling varies), Black Brandywine, Pink Brandywine, Yellow Brandywine, and I like to experiment with others. I've never had a bad heirloom tomato, either. Also, since they're not hybrids, you can save the seeds from your very best, biggest, most flavorful tomato by simply spreading some of the seed-containing tomato ectoplasm (snicker), the goo in the tomato that has the seeds, onto a paper towel, letting it dry for a week or so. Make sure to space the seeds so that you can separate them come planting time, then when they're fully dry (OK, it might take 2 weeks, or even longer - you be the judge), putting them into a sealed plastic ziplock bag in the freezer. Come planting time, take them out a day or two before you wish to plant, put them in the butter compartment or a drawer in the fridge and let them warm slowly before placing them in a cool dark spot for a day or two, and then plant them. Basically you're letting them warm up slowly like they would outside in the soil.
Heirloom tomatoes have always been selected for flavor first and foremost. They range in color from white to yellow to orange to pink to red to brick red to purple to black (although they're called black, I'd call them dark brown). Most websites will describe the flavor along with the fruit description. Buy several types, but plant them apart else they will crossbreed and you'll end up with a hybrid - which might be great!
Here are a couple things I've learned about terminology.
Determinate: This means that you can determine almost exactly when the tomatoes will all be ripe. This characteristic of tomatoes is important commercially for things like tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, catsup, et cetera, so that they know when to have a crew ready to harvest the tomatoes, they can go to the field, almost all of the tomatoes will be at the same stage of ripeness so they don't have to go back over and over to pick them; they pick once and done. That's not what I look for in a tomato. I want one that will give me tomatoes all season long. Obviously, indeterminate means the exact opposite, or what I just described, and that's what I want.
Potato-leaf: This means that the plants leaves are shaped like a potato plant's leaves rather than a tomato plant's leaves. Potatoes, tomatoes, chilies, tomatillos, eggplants, tobacco, petunias, are all in the same family of plants, as are deadly nightshade and black nightshade. It's the Solanaceae family with over 3000 species. Being in the same family as tobacco, deadly nightshade and black nightshade, are probably why all parts of the tomato and potato plants are poison, as are green spots on potatoes. Yep! You can find more terms here.
The real secret is what to fertilize them with. I use Miracle Gro. I put 1 tablespoon of Miracle Gro per gallon of water and I add 1 rounded tablespoon of Epsom salt plus 1 tablespoon of demerara sugar. Miracle-Gro and its imitators are designed to be poured over the leaves of the plant. Try not to get it into the blossoms, but it's OK if you get it on the tomatoes themselves, just wash them well before eating (*see my note at the bottom). The Epsom salt gives them a nice rounded acid flavor, and helps build the root system. The demerara sugar helps them have a nice sweet flavor, in balance with the acid and "tomato" flavor. It also seems to increase blossoms, which in turn produce more tomatoes. The result is wonderful. Don't store the mix as the sugar seems to make the sulphur in the Epsom salt come out of solution and your mix will not work and it will stink like rotten eggs! Mix what you need and don't save any. The Miracle-Gro package will have a scoop (so do generics) for you to measure with. The tablespoon side is the big end, obviously, but there's a small scoop on the other end that's good for making fertilizer for other plants.
I've used generic Miracle Gro and it works just as well. The demerara sugar I buy is a brand called Zulka and it's wonderful for anything you already use white sugar for. It's not refined like white sugar; it's simply dried cane juice and smells and tastes like fresh sugar cane. Walmart sells a 4-pound bag at my local store for $2.58. That's close to the price for regular white sugar and there's no comparison when it comes to taste. Look for it on the sugar aisle in a clear plastic bag with green logo. The sugar is a light tan color. If you can't find it on the sugar aisle, check the Hispanic food aisle. I use it in place of white sugar for everything. You'll love it! I use it for baking, coffee, and to make jellies and jams. It gives them such a wonderful flavor, too!!!
Good luck and happy tomato-ing! :)
*Note: I make a general cleaner, veggie wash, shower spray, (and everything else) out of white vinegar and lemon juice. I buy generic white vinegar (it's exactly the same as the branded stuff) for about $3/gallon at Walmart or Kroger, and I use lemon juice that you'll find on the juice aisle in the grocery or dollar store for about $2/quart. I take a spray bottle (don't use one that's had harsh chemicals or poisons in it, obviously), clean it well with soap and water and rinse it well. Don't forget to pump some soap and water through the sprayer itself and be sure to rinse the whole thing well. I add 2 ounces, more or less, of lemon juice (shake the juice well before you pour) and 30 ounces of white vinegar to make a quart. It cleans counters, glass, floors, veggies, I spray it on the shower curtain to inhibit mold and mildew...all sorts of things. I even use it on my hands after I've been in the garden or playing with the animals. Ditto if you've handled onions, garlic or fish. I wash my hands well first, then spray my lemon juice-vinegar spray on them, rub well, and let air dry. Just remember to shake it each time before use; the lemon juice solids will settle to the bottom, otherwise.) The great thing about it is that it's 2 acids together - acetic acid in the vinegar (about 5% acetic acid) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the lemon juice. It even has mild bleaching power. It kills 99.9% of household germs, it isn't toxic, and if you accidentally spray it on yourself or the dog or your dishes...so what? On top of all that, it's completely environmentally safe, it's cheap and it works!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Meteors, asteroids, and meteorites - Oh my!
"Any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C Clarke
So, you're sitting way out in the solar system beyond our ability to see and you have this massive launcher capable of throwing rocks the size of a city. Just like a bowler, a skeet shooter, or even a baseball batter - but with much better technology, you toss one rock one way at one speed - you have to get it going first because it has a longer path to the target - then you toss another rock from a different direction at a different speed, and a third with a different trajectory, all designed to coincide at one point at the same time.
Hey, guess what, sports fans, the US Army already does this! It's called a Time On Target. It's a Field Artillery fire mission where every available gun shoots the same grid location so that the rounds hit at precisely the same time. The farthest guns have to shoot at one time and the closer ones a few seconds later, all so that the splash - the artillery rounds hitting the target and detonating - occurs simultaneously. Baaaad day for anyone in that grid square; your world just blows the f*ck up.
Extrapolating our ability to do that to a larger, galactic-energy, or possibly just a solar system-energy scale, even we could do it. Any civilization capable of traversing space to get to us likely also would have mastered the ability to control energies on a massive scale, far bigger than where we are, or even where we'll be much further down the road when we can control our planetary energy and make it do what we want it to.
On top of the mastery of enormous energy, one would have to have the patience to set these bodies in motion years before their scheduled rendezvous with their intended target, with attention to their trajectories that defies our ability to muster, currently.
Likely? I have no idea. Possible? Yep!
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" - Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
So, you're sitting way out in the solar system beyond our ability to see and you have this massive launcher capable of throwing rocks the size of a city. Just like a bowler, a skeet shooter, or even a baseball batter - but with much better technology, you toss one rock one way at one speed - you have to get it going first because it has a longer path to the target - then you toss another rock from a different direction at a different speed, and a third with a different trajectory, all designed to coincide at one point at the same time.
Hey, guess what, sports fans, the US Army already does this! It's called a Time On Target. It's a Field Artillery fire mission where every available gun shoots the same grid location so that the rounds hit at precisely the same time. The farthest guns have to shoot at one time and the closer ones a few seconds later, all so that the splash - the artillery rounds hitting the target and detonating - occurs simultaneously. Baaaad day for anyone in that grid square; your world just blows the f*ck up.
Extrapolating our ability to do that to a larger, galactic-energy, or possibly just a solar system-energy scale, even we could do it. Any civilization capable of traversing space to get to us likely also would have mastered the ability to control energies on a massive scale, far bigger than where we are, or even where we'll be much further down the road when we can control our planetary energy and make it do what we want it to.
On top of the mastery of enormous energy, one would have to have the patience to set these bodies in motion years before their scheduled rendezvous with their intended target, with attention to their trajectories that defies our ability to muster, currently.
Likely? I have no idea. Possible? Yep!
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" - Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Anti-social Media
It occurs to me that with computers, and tablets, and smartphones, people interact more, but not in a helpful or social sense. At least not the sense of 'social' that I think of.
That's one reason why I resist the term 'social media'. To me, social media is sitting in a coffee shop on Sunday morning reading the New York Times, with your good Conservative acquaintance across from you with the Wall Street Journal and the two of you debating the merits of each side's positions over good coffee and the promise to do it again next Sunday, just as you have for years. And to keep it social, and civil, when the coffee's done and newspapers folded under arms, you shake hands or swap hugs and off you go, each having taken a little and given a little, compromising and trying to understand, and becoming the better for it, social-izing.
I think I have a new term for this medium on which I'm hypocritically communicating: Anti-Social Media.
That's one reason why I resist the term 'social media'. To me, social media is sitting in a coffee shop on Sunday morning reading the New York Times, with your good Conservative acquaintance across from you with the Wall Street Journal and the two of you debating the merits of each side's positions over good coffee and the promise to do it again next Sunday, just as you have for years. And to keep it social, and civil, when the coffee's done and newspapers folded under arms, you shake hands or swap hugs and off you go, each having taken a little and given a little, compromising and trying to understand, and becoming the better for it, social-izing.
I think I have a new term for this medium on which I'm hypocritically communicating: Anti-Social Media.
Friday, December 28, 2012
These are my emoticons dammit and screw you if you don't like 'em...
/. - skeptical "I don't think we should drive."
). - watchful "Keep your eyes on the road!"
(. -wistful "I wish we could find a restroom!"
°!* - drunk "I peed in your flowers? Heh heh. I mean...sorry"
). - watchful "Keep your eyes on the road!"
(. -wistful "I wish we could find a restroom!"
°!* - drunk "I peed in your flowers? Heh heh. I mean...sorry"
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Is our future paved with the gravestones of our children?
Yesterday, 14 December 2012, twenty of our republic's children and seven of our adults lay down their lives while innocently pursuing their dreams. Days after a shooting spree in my former hometown of Portland, Oregon, we have yet another tragedy, made worse by the fact that it took lives so young and precious. Occurring only eleven days from our highest holiday, this event will likely darken the season's skies for their loved ones eternally.
No sense can be made of this or the other heinous crimes committed by deranged gunmen, but the overarching cause behind them is like a flare warning us that it will be repeated until guns are out of reach of those who would use them for such as these.
What possesses a group of so-called responsible adults to claim after these tragedies that guns are not responsible for them? What illogic manifests that says no to reform of our gun laws? What would happen if this crowd lost children of their own in this manner? One could safely wager that they would want to find the guilty, but less certain is that they would search the one place they might find them: The mirror.
I wish this crime on no one, not even them. Yet, I hold them at least in part responsible. It's one thing to claim that only the deranged commit these murders, but it's yet another altogether to leave the weapons used available to the killers.
I fear that failure to pursue gun law reform leaves us little hope of a future not paved with the gravestones of our children.
No sense can be made of this or the other heinous crimes committed by deranged gunmen, but the overarching cause behind them is like a flare warning us that it will be repeated until guns are out of reach of those who would use them for such as these.
What possesses a group of so-called responsible adults to claim after these tragedies that guns are not responsible for them? What illogic manifests that says no to reform of our gun laws? What would happen if this crowd lost children of their own in this manner? One could safely wager that they would want to find the guilty, but less certain is that they would search the one place they might find them: The mirror.
I wish this crime on no one, not even them. Yet, I hold them at least in part responsible. It's one thing to claim that only the deranged commit these murders, but it's yet another altogether to leave the weapons used available to the killers.
I fear that failure to pursue gun law reform leaves us little hope of a future not paved with the gravestones of our children.
If Not Now, When?
In the 1980s, Mothers Against Drunk Driving took on the establishment, and entrenched established ideas, to make our highways safer. They fought an uphill battle which they ultimately won.
We're faced with a dilemma: Do we allow an outdated constitutional right to trump public safety? The Founding Fathers could not foresee how our republic's education system has evolved into schools with hundreds or thousands of students, the rise of weaponry that will hold and fire hundreds of rounds per minute, or the foundation and continuance of an organization whose existence triumphs violence through its cryptic mission.
The NRA purports to uphold the Second Amendment in its honest intent, but the Founding Fathers would have come down on the side of What's Best for the Republic rather than an anachronistic idealism, it seems clear.
Yes, it will require vigorous debate. Yes, honest citizens should be allowed to keep and bear arms. But no, assault weapons have no place in the hands of teens, the deranged, pure criminals, or anyone whose right and role in our society doesn't demand their mindful ownership.
Haven't we learned our lesson just in this one year alone? I fear that if we haven't, we deserve what we've wrought.
We're faced with a dilemma: Do we allow an outdated constitutional right to trump public safety? The Founding Fathers could not foresee how our republic's education system has evolved into schools with hundreds or thousands of students, the rise of weaponry that will hold and fire hundreds of rounds per minute, or the foundation and continuance of an organization whose existence triumphs violence through its cryptic mission.
The NRA purports to uphold the Second Amendment in its honest intent, but the Founding Fathers would have come down on the side of What's Best for the Republic rather than an anachronistic idealism, it seems clear.
Yes, it will require vigorous debate. Yes, honest citizens should be allowed to keep and bear arms. But no, assault weapons have no place in the hands of teens, the deranged, pure criminals, or anyone whose right and role in our society doesn't demand their mindful ownership.
Haven't we learned our lesson just in this one year alone? I fear that if we haven't, we deserve what we've wrought.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Further proof why we need an 'Initiative, Referendum, and Recall' process nationally
The media has taken to making this seem like it's both sides who can't agree on a budget deal. Let's be clear - it's not. It's one side that won't budge or compromise. It's the Republicans. And the real reason most of them won't is because of the traitor Grover Norquist's treasonous anti-tax pledge.
Senior, old-line conservatives have come forward and called the pledge foul, yet the GOP leadership, too far mired in this morass of their own making, refuse to compromise. Lump Boehner, Cantor and McConnell in with Norquist as traitors.
These people give us a perfect reason to consider the 'Initiative, Referendum and Recall' process so that, in the future, when they try to do something as puerile and pointless as cause the nation to lose its credit rating status or default on debt payments, or simply hijack the political process, they'll find themselves being UN-ELECTED pretty damned fast.
Senior, old-line conservatives have come forward and called the pledge foul, yet the GOP leadership, too far mired in this morass of their own making, refuse to compromise. Lump Boehner, Cantor and McConnell in with Norquist as traitors.
These people give us a perfect reason to consider the 'Initiative, Referendum and Recall' process so that, in the future, when they try to do something as puerile and pointless as cause the nation to lose its credit rating status or default on debt payments, or simply hijack the political process, they'll find themselves being UN-ELECTED pretty damned fast.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
One Day...
One day, we will look back on the lies told by Big Sugar, Big Tobacco, Big Polluters, Climate Science Deniers, and others, and we will remember when we held them all accountable. We will remember as they laughed while we found them guilty, assuming that The Public was a toothless tiger, and we will remember how they laughed as we held them responsible for the suffering and death of millions. We will remember as they chuckled and winked amongst themselves as we passed judgement, and we will remember as their laughter turned to silence as they noticed the stony glances of those whom they deluded and the families of others who suffered or perished because of The Lies.
One day, we will remember them as they were trundled off to prisons where they were forced to atone for their crimes and misdemeanors and we will remember them as they weakly mumbled their apologies for the manslaughter, perhaps even murder, that they committed in the name of their god, Profit.
We are a trusting lot, although we generally find untrustworthy the cynics who are incapable of the belief in trust. But we're also a lot who demand justice, especially for lies which endanger our families and our fellows. And in our demands for justice, we can be wrathful, accepting nothing short of the full measure dealt to those we love or loved by those guilty of this malice.
One day, we will remember that we could, no, we will remember that we SHOULD, see justice done so that others need not suffer; so those who have suffered will be avenged; so those who conspire against us will have their days of remembrance, also.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Resetting the center for a prosperous middle class
We've allowed the national agenda, and the political center as well, to be pushed so far to the right that an adjustment is overdue. Pursuing pragmatical Progressivism is our only chance to build a middle class sustainably. The lessons of Conservatism are clear for anyone to see and parse and they're lessons of failure. The very nature of Conservatism deals a self-inflicted deathblow, and that's Nature's way of telling us that it's wrongheaded: You can't stop the Arrow of Time from progressing at the rate of 1 second per second. Conserve all you wish, time marches on.
Frankly, we need to ignore the Conservatives as the failures they are. We need a laser-like focus on the future and on a sound path to it. We need to present ideas for debt and deficit reduction that won't crush the weakest among us, but which simultaneously won't hinder the entrepreneurs. President Clinton would make a wonderful budget ally if he could be persuaded to assist since he was able to journey us along that fine line once before.
If our President and his administration can continue the momentum we have, we will break free from this recession, but it also requires Congress to act in concert with him, something Conservatives there have shown a puerile contempt to do.
Four more years, then Hillary. We can do this.
Frankly, we need to ignore the Conservatives as the failures they are. We need a laser-like focus on the future and on a sound path to it. We need to present ideas for debt and deficit reduction that won't crush the weakest among us, but which simultaneously won't hinder the entrepreneurs. President Clinton would make a wonderful budget ally if he could be persuaded to assist since he was able to journey us along that fine line once before.
If our President and his administration can continue the momentum we have, we will break free from this recession, but it also requires Congress to act in concert with him, something Conservatives there have shown a puerile contempt to do.
Four more years, then Hillary. We can do this.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Religions are so cute!
Religions are so cute! They're like unicorns and Hitler, all rolled into one.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Karl Rove and class warfare
Ever since Karl Rove's involvement with the GOP began, there's a trend in campaigns he touches where the candidates deny or denigrate a negative issue within their own policies or ranks by projecting it onto their opponents.
So when Romney/Ryan/Republicans talk about class warfare, they're merely attempting to move that failure from their brand and rebrand it Democratic. Sadly, it works when you also own a media outlet watched by the vast majority of your party's supporters. But to those not so close to the trees that they can still see the forest, it's a puerile tactic.
The same goes for wealth redistribution. While it's a conservative ideal to move wealth upward, they fear any downward redistribution, even when that redistribution is simply paying the middle and working classes living wages.
Their belief is that by being proactive rather than reactive, they control the ball and hence the game. But telling a lie before the fact doesn't exonerate the liar, it merely doubles down the offense by virtue of premeditation.
So when Romney/Ryan/Republicans talk about class warfare, they're merely attempting to move that failure from their brand and rebrand it Democratic. Sadly, it works when you also own a media outlet watched by the vast majority of your party's supporters. But to those not so close to the trees that they can still see the forest, it's a puerile tactic.
The same goes for wealth redistribution. While it's a conservative ideal to move wealth upward, they fear any downward redistribution, even when that redistribution is simply paying the middle and working classes living wages.
Their belief is that by being proactive rather than reactive, they control the ball and hence the game. But telling a lie before the fact doesn't exonerate the liar, it merely doubles down the offense by virtue of premeditation.
Exactly who IS the 47%?
Mr President, please remember that there are other candidates running for the Senate and the House and you could give them a boost by pointing out that the 47% myth is one held by most Republican politicians. It's true, which is why they're always harping on ending entitlements. They forget that a large part, possibly the LARGER percentage of the 47% belongs to THEIR party. But I'm pretty sure that they're going to be reminded of that fact come November.
How Romney views most Americans
What Romney has demonstrated is that the people of his socioeconomic group want to keep the middle and working classes poor and owing so that the wealthy will have sufficient labor to do their housework, grow their crops, fetch their drinks and food, and fill their factories and call centers with cheap labor. Failing that, they at least want to teach the rank and file their place in society with Romney and his cronies on top, and everyone else underneath them. Bain Capital was just the prelude. In a sense, it was Romney's graduate school where he learned exactly how to send American jobs overseas without remorse, chop up American companies into bits too small to handle the debt that he and his cronies saddled them with, and then leave the plebes in the lurch while his investors made millions.
Know your place, peons! You're here for this reason only: To vote Mitt Romney President, then go home, shut your mouth, do your minimum wage job, and repeat the process in 4 years. Minus the job, of course.
Know your place, peons! You're here for this reason only: To vote Mitt Romney President, then go home, shut your mouth, do your minimum wage job, and repeat the process in 4 years. Minus the job, of course.
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