Rewarding Seattle, and Denver, For Wisdom

IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN. Its yet another of those magical circumstances which inspire the phrase "only in America". How many times have we heard that? Its always true, only in America. This time its a coincidence nearly beyond belief. Sheer, utter, serendipity. True justice, in its highest, most totally cosmic form, dude. The two teams in Sunday's Super Bowl are from the two states, the only two states thus far, which have legalized marijuana. There are thirty two teams in American Professional football, the NFL, (violent American football, not real football), and there are fifty American states. Go figure. What are the odds? Obviously, what we are dealing with is either divine intervention, or alien intervention, which, from our point of view, amount to the same thing. Any sufficiently advanced technology seems like magic. Colorado and Washington state are the two states in these United States which had the guts to face reality, and legalize marijuana. And for that, they are both rewarded with a Super Bowl berth. Will they be lighting joints at their tables in the sports bar, while the buxom babes bring more hot wings? Or, will they simply step outside, or even out behind? Will there be folks strolling down Pearl Street in Boulder bogarting doobies? Only time will tell. Some things one must learn for one's self. Hope to see ya in Denver, Boulder, or Seattle, or Olympia, or... and waht about thelayers themselves? A post game reefer to celebrate the ring? Well, maybe, it just depends. Hallelujah! Well done, Denver and Seattle. Well done. What wouldn't you give to be in either place Sunday, February 2, or both places, simultaneously. You just have to know that folks in those two bastions of progressive thought are going to have an absolute, total blast. Sunday, and beyond. Divine providence, call it. The wise being rewarded for their wisdom. You almost wish that both teams could win.

Sending Kids to Congress

JUST THE OTHER DAY it happened yet again. Some fresh faced member of the United States House of Representatives lashed out, verbally, at a member of the mainstream American news media. Lit into him pretty good, like a wrathy panther. Ho Hum. Happens every day, or so it seems. If memory serves, this Congressperson was another one of those young republican guns, a latter day jesus guns and money type, all tea party, all hype, full of vim, vigor, and vinegar. And, if memory serves, this kid wasn't a day over thirty, from a bright red state. Hell, he'll be in Congress if and when the grand old plutocracy (America) celebrates its tricentennial. Another Strom Thurmond, tottering up Capitol Hill, a near centenarian, rasping laissez faire nigh unto the twenty first century. Oh, joy. The problem is, they just get started way too young, and they stay way too long. In the early years of their careers, they are brash, unthinking ideologues, all full of themselves, volcanically spewing fire and brimstone. Walking sound bytes. Then, they mellow into middle aged, tacitly reasonable legislators. But that stage doesn't last long, because before you know it they are settling into sedantary seniority, while assistants pocket corporate money like clock work, ho hum, and do all the mail outs, phone calls, and ritualistic reelection ad campaigns. By then, the electorate, benumbed, is nothing resembling an effective watchdog. Why should anybody bother? The die are cast, we all know where we stand, and further discussion seems pointless. According to the U.S. Constitution, that inconc if outdated document which came from Mt. Sanai, in ancient times, any American citizen over the age of twenty five without a felony conviction can seek election to and serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Well, and well, at least you have to be thirty years old or older to be a U.S. Senator, and thirty five to be President. Otherwise we might be electing Justin Beiber and Lady Gaga to govern us.

Riding Waxman Out of Town, On a Rail

WHEN A WORTHY OPPONENT lays down his weapons, and walks away quietly and proudly, the proper response involves the extension of the right hand, and a hale and hearty farewell, well done, you were a worthy opponent. But that aint likely to happen with Congressperson Henry Waxman of California, who rode in on the anti-Nixon tidal wave in 1974. Most of those people, the liberal class of '74, like our World War Two veterans, are gone now. Waxman ranks right along with Hubert Humphrey, Ted Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson in the lexicon of loquacious liberal lawmakers. One of the reasons he's retiring, at the tender age of seventy four, is that he is unwilling to continue the fight in an organization whose current members regard all opposition as a bitter enemy, rather than a potential partner in compromise. Graciousness, reason, and magnanimity be damned. Its never been worse in Congress, Waxman says. There'll be no gold watches and handshakes from the conservative side of the isle. Only jeering insults. And that's a shame. When Waxman was elected, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were in diapers. They often behave as if they still were. In all honesty, the United States Congress has never been a place of kumbaya conciation, but up until about thirty years ago, it was at least civilized. How we miss the halcyon days of Tip O'Neil and Ronald Reagan, having a green beer together at the pub. Ironic that Reagan is the patron saint of the current crop of conservative republicans. Hell, these guys are no more like Reagan, they no more belong in Reagan's category, than a heifer in a horse pond. The Gipper, albeit lacking overt compassion, was a man who was willing to listen to his opponent's point of view, and to factor it into his own thinking. Reagan was a man of honor, and a man of peace, fundamentally. We can hope that the tea party doesn't entirely forget the civility of their chosen icon, as they ride Henry Waxman out of town, on a rail.

Dealing With Snowden

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, it was bound to happen. Still, its hilarious. American traitor, or hero, depending on your take, Edward Snowden is being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The nominators are a couple of Norwegian socialists, so, surprise sprprise. It does go to show, however, that there are people beyond our American borders who do not necessarily consider the American global empire-surveillance police state to be the greatest thing sinced sliced bread. Surprise surprise. And, whatd'ya think the odds are that the little bastard will not only be nominated, but will win teh damned thing, to boot? I wouldn't bet against him, and I wouldn't put it past 'em. For verily, far more controversial folk have won teh coveted prize, such trouble makers as Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, and Albert Einstein, all of whom were a definite thrat to the American military industrial complex. According to physicist Richard Feynman, Alfred Nobel invented too bad things: dynamite, and the Nobel prizes. The Norwegian politicians who nominated Snowden explained that they think the young ex patriot has rendered an enormous service to humanity, by promoting stability, transparency, openness, or some such malarky. All true enough, but the real service that Snowden has rendered might be in saving the world from a nightmarish potential combination of NAZI Germany and George Orwell. The United States of America attacks more coutnries before nine A. M. than any other country attacks in any given century. We already knew that. Pretty hard to hide that. And now we know that its government watches every move its sheeple make, thus effectively owning them. To understand the reality of that, most people might agree, is a good thing, and this understanding has been (is being) given us all by Mr. Snowden. Humorously, its the gift that keeps on giving. Snowden is cagey, crafty. He didn't just blurt out the horrible truth all at once. No sirree. He parcels it out to us piecemeal, one tantalizing bite at a time, and he isn't finishded yet. Not by a long shot. Too funny. Who knows? Maybe he same Snowden gives his acceptance speech in Oslo, he will reveal in the speech that the United States is planning to attack somebody, and American special forces will swoop down, whisk him off stage, kidnap him back to D.C, try him, and stick him in Git Mo. All under the proud gaze of Barrack Hussein Obama, our imperial care taker and corporate master pro tem. Far stranger tings have happened, here in the American fun house and land of the free.

Deporting Justin Beiber

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND, THAT in the United States of America, our religion is celebrity, and celebrities are our gods. We build monuments to them. We follow their every move. They headline our television, print media, and internet news providers. Americans spend more time studying celebrities and their glittery lives than they spend studying themselves, or anything else. At the top of the celebrity heap resides nineteen year old Justin Beiber, a Canadian. He has the U. S. of A., the younger female part of it, enraptured and enthralled. But Beibs appears to be following the same trajectory traced out by other young shooting stars entering early adulthood. The pattern is this; establish yourself firmly as a child star, either by precocious artistic output plus savvy marketing, or consistent face time on the Disney channel or Nickelodeon, unblemished. Behave well, because there are few other ways to behave, at eleven or twelve yeaars of closely monotoried age. Then take it one step at a time; first date, first kiss, first driver's license, boom boom boom, like clockwork, every step duly monitored and video recorded for the adoring masses. Then, run for cover, because its time for the monster, aka grownup, to emerge from the protective cocoon. Steady dating, serious romance, breakups, allegations, drinking, fighting, jail time, rehab, the whole bundle. The "Spears-Cyrus syndrome", let's call it. But this time, the American people may have had enough. After all, this one is a foreigner. A petition bearing more than one hundred thousand signatures has reached the Oval Office, demanding the deportation of the young godling, and by law, President Obama is requred to address it. Up or down, Mr. President. Another pickle for the Prez. How would you like to be in Obama's place? He will determine the fate of America's most popular person. Either the moral majority (are they still around?) or every teen aged girl in freedom's land will rise up, camp out in Roosevelt Park, and prepare for an assault on the black, wrought iron gates of the White House. By law, non citizens are welcome to stay in the U.S. as long as they please, provided they behave well. Beibsie hasn't been behaving well. Assault charges, DUIs, the whole nine yards. And it looks to be accelerating, both in terms of frequency and severity of violation. Thus, J. B. might be headed up north, by force, eh? In the event of that, there will be a migration of young folk to Canada the likes of which we have not seen since Viet Nam. If we're lucky, they'll take mainstream American culture with them. Then, our neighbors to the north would surely love us all the more, eh?

Ancient But Beautiful People Galore

CHRISTIE BRINKLEY IS TURNING SIXTY, and she looks not only like a twenty year old, but a gorgeous tweny year old to boot. Chalk it up to a combination of modern high tech facial repair technology, involving computers and lasers and so forth, excessive wealth, and a culture worshipfully devoted to eternal youth, sex, and celebritydom. Heaven only knows what she's had done; how many face lifts, facial massages, hair, mole and wrinkle removals, and so forth. You'll recall that Christie Brinkley is a true blue American celebrity, a model, multiple magazine covers and commercials to her credit, formerly married to pop music icon Billy Joel. So Christie will die at the usual age, eighty, ninety or so, knowing that she did all she could to look young and beautiful forever, right up until the end. She'll know much more than that, and will have accomplished much more than that, but she'll also have the youth and beauty as icing on the cake, which most of us don't and won't. For what its worth. As if most people would even care to go through all that to have it. Exactly what is it worth? We might venture to ask: what's the point, Christie? All that work, effort, energy, time, and money, just to look good, as good as possible, as long as possible? What do you gain by that, that you don't already have? What was the opportunity cost? What else, in other words, could you have been doing during all this, other than reading a good book, or making and sharing memories with good friends, or making love, or getting outside into the natural world, unaltered by humanity? Or maybe nano technology will eventually extend your life span to incredible lengths, thus amking all this worthwhile. But if that happesn, we're all in trouble. Do we really want to live in a world with billions and billions of ancient but beautiful people?

A Dangerous Type of American

THE GOOD NEWS IS, the republican party has a plan to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor in America. That's what the lady Senator said in response to Obama. The Republicans have their own plan, a better plan. It consists mainly, as always, of getting government out of the way, reducing government interference, and allowing the economy to prosper on its own, naturally, without any government involvement. Government involvement in the economy, things like minimum wage, corporate regulation, and unemployment insurance, is a bad thing, and only stifles growth. Get government out of the way, get rid of Obama, and America prospers. And believe it or not, that's what they believe, or seem to believe. But you have to give these right wing crazies a little bit of credit. For the longest time they refused to admit that there was any income gap at all in America. Then, confronted with it, they acknowledged it, but said it didn't matter, that it was normal, natural, and appropiate. Now, finally, at long last, right wingers are starting to admit that this huge traditional American inequality might not be such a good thing after all. They now admit, for the first time ever, that maybe it needs to be addressed, dealt with, changed, fixed. And for them, for the right wing nut cases, that's progress. As if a minimum wage law is bad for the economy. As if huge corporations should be left alone to do as they please. As if helping people who need help, through government programs, is automatically a bad thing, even if its done efficiently and efffectively. Let the corporations do whatever they want to the environment, including dumping massive amounts of poison into it, as long as they profit, financically. After all, corporate profit is everybody's profit, in our trickle down economy. Nobody can really believe all that garbage, can they? These right wing tea party jesus guns and money types are dangerous, very dangerous, Hitlerianly dangerous, and its damned fortunate that most reasonable American consrvatives, mainstream Republicans, are afraid of them. The Republican party does not like the Tea party, thank the dear lord. We need another Boston tea party; into the drink with 'em, at least for a short swim. It might clear their heads.

Taking Off Our Kid Gloves In America

LET THE WORLD BEWARE: President Barack Hussein Obama has formally, officially removed his kid gloves. He told us that. His policies have become just a shade less antithetical to conservative values, maybe, and his style of delivery has waned confrontational. But the message is clear; he will do what he can, what he thinks he has to, by executive order, using the power of the Presidency in any way, shape or form necessary to implement his programs, congress, or no Congress, and the devil take the hindmost. Immediately, Mouther of the House John "boom boom" Boehner reminds Obama that the constitutional options allowing him to bypass Congress are strictly lmited, and that therefore he'd better be damned careful about what he tries to pull, becuase he's headed for a brick wall. Obama, ever grateful for Congressional oversight, profusely thanks Boehner for the lesson in U.S. constitutional law, a field in which Obama is well educated,, and Boehner aint. Is true, of course. The President can do a fair amount, but only so much, without Congresional approval. Everybody knows that. But B. O. will by god do what he can. The dirty little secret is that Barrack Hussein Obama, far from being the crusading bleeding heart radical socialist conservatives make him out as, is actually no less a pandering corporate puppet than his detractors. When have you heard our President use the term "redistribution of wealth", and "conversion of military assets into programs for people", like Martin Luther King and President Eisenhower did? (never) So the great American schism is finally out in the open, and everybody has their kid gloves off, and boxing gloves on. Aristotle and James Madison both pointed out that real, direct democracy is not possible, becaue th epoor greatly outnumber teh rich, and would if they could gang up and redistrubute teh wealth, aka socialism. All poor people, working or otherwise, want socialism, whether they know it or not. So, a few thousand Americas will be uplited from seven twenty five an hour poverty, and Congress will try to kill Obamacare a few dozen more times, without success. Everybody with an opinion will distort the facts, as usual, and the great America fun house of deception, appearances, and wildy distorted images remains intact, as ever. Heaven help us all.

The Grumbling American Non Alpha Minions

DON'T CALL ME, I'll call you. Or, we could do this. I have a plan. You come by my place at such and such a time, and then, we'll go from there. I'll let you know more when I have a plan mapped out, one that is convenient for me. The ideas you suggested simply won't work, for me. But thanks, anyway. I'll get back to ya...... And thus it ever goes, ad nauseam, as the saying goes. Its all done so subtle-like, so gently, but it means so much, in terms of inter personal power dynammics. We the people simply cannot find a way to work together, to coordiante, to cooperate in a mutually agreed upon activity, such as having a cup of coffee. Oh no, not in the United States of Autonomy, where everyone is king of her castle, and compromise and cooperation are four letter words, and the national mantra is a haughty, leering "my way or the highway". That's because most of us want to be in control, of nearly everything, and we simply can't all be - in control. Good heavens, even saying good morning to the neighbor is like pulling teeth. The neighbor is on her cell phone, her car is warming up, and there will be no lag time between the two. none at all. Do I stand here and wait, or let this opportunity lapse, and hope for better next month? The truth is, we all think that we must interrupt the conversation face to face because the cell phone is singing a cute melody, and, after all, its an incoming call - for me. Your incoming calls can go to voicemail, thank you. Those of us non alpha types who have been bending over backwards breaking our own plans and schedules for the purpose of complyig with those of a higher power, an alpha male type, are starting, after centuries of abject social subjugation, to become a bit restless. The meek are rumbling, albiet softly. Maybe more of a purr of vague discontent. The ultimate embodiment of the culture of the almighty individual American! Being an alpha male is no sin, even if you happen to be female. The fly in the ointment being that in a culture where damnded near everyone is an alpah male, with but a low percentage of low lifes, heads butt heads, brick walls are approached. And just think of the carnage and isolation we will all face when the meek have risen among the mighty! I'll take the highway, thank you.

Moving Up in America

THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY is a term which is often used to describe the United States of America. And so it is. One can move from low to high in America with relative dexterity. Which is good, because in America, there's a whole lot of moving to do, a lot of distance to cover, whether one is talking low to middle, middle to high, or high to celebrity. The gap between rich and poor has always been enormous during the recent history of north america, the european domination phase, which commenced in the early seventeenth century. In colonial America the Dutch aristocrats ruled and owned New York state, all of it, from their gigantic mansions along the Hudson, and everyone living in that future state, everyone else, was a squatter. In virginia, from 1650 on, the one percent owned the ninety nine percent, lock, stock, barrel, slave, and indentured servant. Bear in mind that before the American Civil War, over half the population of white free folk were "indentured servants", otherwise known as "slave laborers". They came from the ghettos of Europe in the shit filled bottoms of wooden ships, and, if they survived teh transit, spent seven years as property of some American aristocrat before being freed to fight personal poverty freely. Currently the gap between the rich and the poor is greater in the United States than just about anywhere else in the world, and this fact is being much publicized of late by Obama himself, among others. But really, its no different than its ever been. Enter the big boys from post doctoral Harvard. With great frequency they tell us the most fascinating things. They tell us now, after due research and study, it turns out that social and economic upward mobility is more difficult to manifest in the U.S. than in every other industrialized country in the world, including all of Europe. In other words, its quite possible in America to pull one's self up by one's boot straps, but harder than nearly everywhere else. The funny thing is, the Unites States is the only country in the world which incessantly boasts of its opportunity laden society. Upon further reflection, that's hardly surprising.

Seeing and Assuming Whatever We Want

YOU CAN ALREADY HEAR our conservative global warming denying friends across the fruited plain. They are ridiculing the very idea of global warming, as one hideously brutal cold wave after another sweeps across America, one after another, all winter long. But the tuth is, of course, that in the coming era of climate change,in which accumulated carbon in the earth's atmosphere causes increasing quantities of heat to be retained in the atmosphere, and in the oceans, brutal hot will be accompanied by brutal cold, alternately, in a world of extreme weather. According to current climate change projections, Europe, during global warming, will in fact enter a prolonged ice age, as artic ice melts and cools the ocean currents which traditionally carry warmth across the European continent. Any excuse to deny climate change. Just assume that cold winter weather disproves climate change, because you want it to. How brilliant. Of course, such is the nature of the human animal. To deny, and to presume. During a recent discussion on the Bible with someone with whose opinion I differed, the person had the audacity to esclaim "you haven't read the Bible!" I assured her that I had, wondering how she ever got the information that I hadn't, other than making it up. We see what we want to see, and assume what we want to assume. Have you ever had anyone tell you what you're thinking, or what you think, or claim to? Sure you have. We all have. How many times have you heard a sentence which begins "you think". What? You think? How can any sentence possibly begin with those two words, and be called logical? In reality, it can't. But that doesn't stop us.

Abolishing Rape, Perishing Culture

IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE one of the twenty or thirty million American women who have been sexually assaulted, abused, raped, there is good news. Barrack Hussein Obama has your back! Your/our troubles are therefore over! One can sense the national feminine sigh of relief. Now, for the first time since the seventeenth century, America womyn (spelling intentional, seventeenth century style) are free to walk the streets dawning gay, and or revealing apparel, as is their current wont. Floor length baggy clothing tends to deter sexual activity of any sort, but who cares? Break out the halters & mini skirts, Obama is on his way! On his way..with what? More cops and cameras? Just what the doctor, the doctor of deception, ordered. Welcome to the never ending, ever titillating fun house that is modern America. All of us, including Barrack Hussein, know damned good and well there is absolutely nothing he nore anyone else can do to eliminate this scourge, without eliminating its firm foundation in American culture, by ripping out said culture by the roots, killing it, and starting over. Our corporate overlords spoon feed us a steady stream of women are for sex messages, and its off to the races. Oh, but we easily forget: here in the fun house, the expression of good intentions is sufficient. Sufficient to alleviate any necessity for real and immediate action. In our culutre of smoke, mirrors, and fantasy, the way to reduce violence is to arm all the good people, put everything on camera, keep track of all the bad people, and hire more cops. Throw some money at a problem, maybe it'll go away. Either that, or we'll get lucky and our much admired culture of escape through art will perish from the earth, as Lincoln might put it.

Smelling A Trap, Again

THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT is up to its old tricks, so, all is well, or rather, normal.Nothing on the scale of the fabricated Mexican War of 1846, which commenced by feigned indignation, or the Spanish War, another action based on pretext. Still, not bad. Viet Nam shouldn't be ommitted. That was a neat trick! Fabricate an attack against an American naval vessel, and the invasion is on. The current American federal smoke and mirrors concerns two big names, if not big countries. Reenter Edward Snowden, and the ever effusive Dennis Rodman. You'll recall that Mr. Snowden had the temerity to reveal ourselves to us, and the good sense to flee far soon thereafter. Rodman is the one who used to make his hair look like a rainbow, and rebound everything in the gym for colleague Michael Jordan. These days he is friendly with that young and often brash dictator of North Korea, and he expresses that friendship by flitting back and forth between the two countries; his, and the dictator's. How he manages to get permission from either country is unclear. Everywhere he goes, he brings basketballs, and fun. That's where the American government comes in. Word is, must've leaked out, that the United States of Alternative Morality would be amenable to discussions with Snowden, whatever that means. What it measn is; lure the little snot into a trap, and nab him, lock him up, and utilize "enhanced interrogation methods" to extract answers to who knows what questions. were I Snowden, I'd decline, but politely. Rodman might be in even direr straits. Uncle Big Brother is starting to insinuate that his travels might be illegal, and that he might face prosecution, and even prison time. None of that is surprising; we all hate North Korea, not without cause, and Dennis the rebounders is sort of rubbing our noses in it. Our masters do not like that. That he was ever allowed to go to North Koreas at all is the mystery; it smells of a trap. Viet Nam and Mexico are probably thinking "I told you ".

Our Global Cellular Cime Wave

IN RETROSPECT, it was bound to happen. The world becomes inundated in cell phones and other assorted mobile electronic communications devices. A global crime wave erupts, thousands of these expensive toys being stolen all over the world each and every day, with the attendant muggings and murders. Oftentimes, people willing to deprive others of property are somewhat less willing, but still willing, to deprive the victims of life as well. Everyone who owns a mobile gadget is constantly glued to it. Staring at the tiny screen, making faces, tapping on a tiny keyboard. All the time, everywhere. The little suckers are downright addictive. People walking down streets looking at their cell phones run into lamp posts, drop off into reflecting pools, spraining ankles, ruining perfectly good formal business attire. And the criminals and potential criminals, who are everywhere, think, "what the heck?". That poor sucker in the five hundred dollar business suit is paying no attention to his surroundings, and will never know what hit him. Nothing could be easier. Every country on earth is aware of the problem, from Latin America to the U.S. to Europe to Russia, and is searching for strategies for coping with the problem. So far, there are none. In Moscow they want to trace all phones which vanish. Other countries have other dieas. In truth, this problem will never go away without close international cooperation, because its often an international crime. Imagine that, all the nations of the world, working together. Its difficult. But it must happen, because hundreds of millions of people, all over the world, are walking down the street staring at their precious tiny screens.

Sexual Assaults, Pointing At Us All

SURVEYS INDICATE THAT ONE IN FIVE female American college students has been sexually assaulted. That's right, one in five. Is that insane, or what? Rather hard to believe. Almost as if some people are making up stories. On the ohter hand, we can assume that many sexual assaults go unreported, particualrly those at the hands of boyfriends. Out in the general population, the percentages are evidently similar. So, it turns out that as you walk down the street, there is a good chance that each and every woman you see has been sexaully assaulted. That is beyond incredible. Now I think I begin to understand why American women don't seem very friendly. They seem apprehensive, reluctant to communicate with strange men, like me. Need I wonder why? Now, to the rescue comes President Barack Hussein Obama, proud husband and father, according to him. Our leader is forming a task force, which he will assign the duty of developing a list of suggestions concerning how to deal with this pervasive societal tragedy, emphasis on pervasive, societal, and tragedy. Never doubt the willingness of American politicians to appoint task committees to address concerns! And then to hold press conferences during which they proclaim their undying love of their onw wives and daughters, and determination to protect at all costs. As if there is a damned thing obama, or any task committee on earth can possibly do to rid America of any of its deeply embedded scourges, scourges such as violence, lust for fame, wealth, and power, lust for domination, for controlling. As if there is a damned thing Obama or anyone else can do, other than waving a magic wand in all four directions, and magically transforming the United States of America into a civilized country. IN America, results get lost in the shuffle, and the expresson of good intentions is sufficient to win favor with a sedated public. Five'll get you ten Obama's taks force will recommend more laws, more law inforcement, and more surveillance cameras, pointing at us all.

The Oracle, Having fun

WHAT A GREAT PERSON, what a great hero Warren Buffett is! First, he gives, free of charge, excellent investment advice, advice good enough to command a pretty fee. If you do things, financially, the Warren Buffett way, you'll be a lot better off, and he isn't shy about helping. Then too, he has given away about fifty billion dollars, which is at least half his fortune. Yes, he is still keeping half his fortune, billions of dollars, so, no, he isn't doing any damage to himself, or making any real sacrifice, by forming a huge charitable trust with Bill Gates. But he still did it. And he knows better than to kill the goose which lays the golden egg; the charitable turst will eventually get the rest of his money, in all probability. So you have to figure he's earned the right to have a little fun. The headline said" Oracle of Omaha offering one billion dollar reward for anyone accomplishing a certain feat." All across fruited plain, we were thinking "I'll give it a try"! But, alas, Mr. Buffett is no fool. You don't get to where he is.....in short, in order to win the cool bil, somebody's gonna have to do what nobody has ever done before, and most likely nobody ever will; predict the entire NCAA Division One men's basketball tournament, the "Big Dance", as they call it, without missing a single winner of a single game. Seeminlgy, an impossible feat, if not in theory, at least in practice. You could make billions of guesses, and never get it ENTIRELY correct, as the Oracle of Omaha knows quite well. So, his billion dollars is safe, or seems safe. But not to worry. Mr Buffett is in his eighties; that one billion dollars burning a hole in his oracular pocket is, unfortunately, likely to end up in our hands, in all our hands, all too soon. Therefore, he's entitled to have a little fun now.

Being Wealthy, Becoming wealthy

THE EIGHTY FIVE WEALTHIEST people in the world have a combined wealth of somewhat more than one trillion American dollars. Their combined wealth is equal to the combined wealth of half the world; the poorer half. Eighty five people whose wealth is equal to three and a half billion people. Meanwhile, the world's top one percent, in terms of wealth, control roughly one half of the world's total wealth. One per cent of the population, in control of fifty per cent of the world's wealth. To top it all off, sudies indicate that taxes on the world's wealthiest people have been steadily declining for several decades. It would seem that Ronald Reagan's (U.S. President, 1981-1989) dream of a globle trickle down economy, with the wealthy "producers" allowed to "produce", unhindered by such annoying inconveniences as national governments or their burdensome taxes, has come to fruition. We, as a global civilization, have accepted, so it seems, the concept that anybody who is extremely wealthy deserves to be, and deserves to be unhindered in producing wealth, which, according to "Reagonomics" will, eventually, somehow, "trickle down" to the rest of us. (We're still waiting). No trickle down phenomenon is yet observable. But stay tuned. You never know. It could still happen. As for the world's billions of impoverished? They, according to Ronald Reagan, are precisely where they deserve to be, in poverty, by virtue of their own lack of intelligence, or lack of hard work. Or something like that. Maybe the wealth will begin to trickle down, at long last. Or better yet, maybe the world's poor people will suddenly become intelligent, and hard working, and thus extremely wealthy. Seven billion mansions, all in heavily guarded, gated communities! (One must protect one's wealth.)

MLK: Advancing the World by Opposing It

EVERY YEAR,ON MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY, at least one conservative republican tries to make a conservative republican out of Martin Luther King, posthumously. Tries to associate the iconic King with good, solid, traditional, conservative American values. Somehow, it never seems to work out. Martin ther King no matter how hard you try, simply cannot be turned into a conservative republican. But, because of his populairity, they try. They start by pointing out that King was a registered Republican when he was young, and that he often proclaimed his belief in hard work. They neglect to point out that King turned democrat early, that he was a liberal, and that during the last few years of his life he was in fact a socialist revolutionary. On the day he was murdered, he was in Memphis to support a strike by the city sanitation workers. ing had decided taht attacking racism wasn't enough; you have to attack poverty and economic inequality in general, in order to change the fundamental nature of society. Late in his life, Martin Luther King waas advocating redistribution of wealth, straight out. "The world advances only because of those who oppose it". said Goethe. MLK sought to advance the world, and he did so in the only way possible; by opposing it.

Texting All the Time

IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN, if you think about it. And if you think about it, its bound to happen again, and again. Somebody in a movie theatre was killed in a dispute involving texting. You can almost write the script. During an expensive, crowded movie, in an important, quiet part, somebody starts texting, somebody else gets mad about it, and somebody has a gun, or deadly weapon. In a country filled to overflowing with cell phones, guns, and angry people, what else would you expect? Will we soon have a another new class of psychotic behavior to add to our thickening texts books: texting rage? Will it be a uniquely American phenomenon, or will it manifest globally, like road rage? Road rage is highly concentrated in these United States, but not unknown anywhere where cars are driven. But, somehow, road rage just seems, so...."American". You literally cannot drive down any street in America without seeing somebody's car within inches of your rear bumper. Nor can you, in these United States, engage in a face to face conversation of any length, on any topic, with anyone, without being interrupted by a damnable cell phone. And we almost always choose to take our calls, don't we? Or rather, we expect other people to take our calls, but we reserve for ourselves the sacred right to screen. We never really finish our conversations in this country. Maybe if enough of us walk into walls while texting, we'll rediscover the beauty of the world around us.

Arousing the Ire of the Wolves

PRESIDENT OBAMA is doing a magnificent job of apologizing to us all for presiding over the most missive surveillance police state in world history, and subjecting us to it. The President is doing an equally masterful job of assuring us that no, indeed, we are not being spied on, and there is nothing to worry about. The United States of America isn't spying on anyone, foreign or domestic, really. Just a few phone and email lists here and there. Nothing to get all upset about. So first Obama apologizes, then reminds us that he is apologizing about nothing. Barack Hussein Obama is as good and true a apokesperson for the military industrial surveillance complex as ever America has had, in the land of the free. Whatever it takes to keep the masses in their places, harmlessly seduced and sedated, innocuously surveilled. In the end, it really doesn't matter what our overlords know about us; it only matters what they do to us. Two hundred emails and phone calls to the Pesident and every member of Congress should be enough to get somebody's attention. If the people become inattentive, said Jefferson, to the affairs of government, the legislators and magistrates will divide society into two classes: wolves and sheep. That already happened, a long time ago. The most that we the sheep can hope to do now is to bleat with such unamimity, intensity, and consistency that the wolves become fearful, and lash out too fiercely at us, and inspire a strong response.

For Not Giving Lincoln a Chance

OF THE TWO GREAT UPHEAVALS IN AMERICAN HISTORY, neither was necessary. The English surely would eventually have released the colonies, because they (the colonies) would have grown so large, population and economically, that independence was unavoidable. And the Civil War could have been avoided, if the southern states which made up the Confederacy had only given Abraham Lincoln a chance. They left the country when and because Lincoln was elected; they didn't even wait for him to become president, let alone give him a chance to announce his policy on slavery and state's rights. Ironically, his views on both would have been very acceptable to the south. He was opposed to neither. True, Lincoln did not like slavery, but he had no intention of abolishing it when he became president, and he accepted the principle that in the United States, the States control their own destinies. But breaking up the country through secession led to war, which led to the abolition of slavery and states rights. Similarly, at the end of the war, a southerner murdered Lincoln, out of anger and bitterness which many southerners felt towards Lincoln. But in so doing the south brought down upon itself the wrath of Andrew Johnson, the vindictive President from Tennessee, long twelve long years of "reconstruction", aka oppression. Lincoln would have been far more lenitent towards the south than Johnson. The loss of Lincoln set the tone for a hundred years of sectional and racial bitterness and hatred, tragically. Great leaders must be given a chance to lead. But its hard to know who the great leaders are, until they are gone.

Raising Pay, Conservatively

THERE IS A GOOD CONSERVATIVE ARGUMENT for raising the minimum wage. A good, solid, common sense conservative based argument, and you wouldn't expect that. Seems like arguments for raising the minimum wage always come from liberals, and arguments against it come from conservatives. But yes, there is a good conservative reason for raising federal and state minimum wages. It is as follows; the working poor receive a great deal of government assistance, overall, to compensate for their lack of income, and subsequent inability to pay the costs of food, clothing, and shelter for their children and families. By raising the mimimum wage, workers with children will once again be able to afford their children, and the government can step out of the picture. All of the poverty in America, and there is a considerable amount of it, has inspired government growth, in terms of spending and bureacracy, in the social spending sector. Traditional free enterprise theory says that it is natural and normal for businesses to seek to maximize profit by keeping labor costs as low as possible. Its that simple. As long as society is willing to refrain from using government to aid the impovished workers, free enterprise flourishes. But when society insists on government intervention in poverty, then the creation of poverty through low wages is counterproductive to business interests. It becomes burdensome for business, in the long run, to thrive in an environment in which the middle class is burdened with big government. Better to have an economic system in which all jobs are good jobs, with reasonable remuneration, and economic growth is sufficient to keep full employment. There is no economic theory which says this is impossible.

Seeing Gender Equality

ACCORDING TO BEYONCE, gender equality is a "myth". Technically, a "myth" is a widely told story or fact which may or may not be true. Usually myths are untrue. That was Beyonce's meaning. All you had to do was read of couple of sentences written by Beyonce, and her meaning was perfectly clear. Men must step up and insist on equal pay for their female co workers. Fathers and husbands must advocate for the women in their lives to get equal pay and equal respect and treatment from society. No argument there. Case closed. Its easy to look at gender equality, or the lack of it, in terms of men's pay and women's pay across the board nationwide. The facts are there, available to all. Inequality adheres, flat out. And the reason gender equality is a myth, is that there are many people, incredibly, who claim that we have achieved it, even now. There are those who seem to believe that men and women are equal in modern society, modern America. And that's the myth, the untrue myth. There are those who would insist that gender equality is not only a myth, it is an impossibility, and undesirable at that. Men and women are simply different, and unequal, and no man- made law or social custom can overturn the law of nature. Besides, how can you put a price tag, how can you assign value, accurately, to child raising, to motherhood itself? Housewives, raising kids, and doing it well for, say, eighteen years, should probably be the highest paid people on the planet, shouldn't they? Well, maybe women can never be paid what they are worth, which is priceless, but surely we can see our way to pay female cops the same as male cops, and elect female leaders as often as we elect males. Equality and inequality, sometimes, is easy to see.

Knowing What Matters

SCIENCE FICTION WRITERS are the coolest, most interesting people on the planet. They usually have a solid scientific background, are well educated in general, and have the creativity and imagination of any good writer. SF writers are perhaps the best people to listen to in terms of talking about the current state of planet earth, homo sapiens, and their mutual probable futures. Usually, its neither all gloom and doom nor all utopia. Its a combination. It was a science fiction writer who pointed out that it really doesn't matter what the U.S. government, and its police state surveillance security monstrosity knows about us; what matters is what they do to us, how they use the info. And the solution to that, as one writer quaintly put it, is to "strip 'em down". Enforce complete and utter transparency on all government activities, national securuty be damned. But of course, we all know, do we not, that this lame alibi of "national interests" and "national security " is all bogus, nothing but a lame alibi for greed, power, and control. That's the line they trot out every damned time: we regretabbly had to do this (drop atom bomb, kill citizens, lie, cheat, steal, etc) because it was in the best interets of, it was vital to the security of, it was absolutely necessary for the prosperity, happiness, and welfare of; our beloved U. S. of A. Like, yeah, right. I am so totally sure. One other thing most science fictoin writers agree on; humanity has achieved remarkable success and progress, and yet stands on the verge of total extinction, which can either be brought about, or avoided, by our own actions.

Quitting Smoking

SEEMS LIKE WE HAVE HAD a lot of fifty year anniversaries lately. Today's fiftieth anniversary is of the announcement by the U.S. Surgeon General that smoking tobacco is hazardous to your health. That changed everything. Prior to this announcement, in nineteen sixty four, cigarettes had been seriously glamorized in American culture, and everybody smoked, and the death rate from lung cancer was astronomical. How long could society not notice that? Cigarettes were marketed in the nineteen twenties as health supplements, incredibly. I remember how cigarette commercials on television used to make smoking cigarettes seem like the coolest, sexiest activity available. I honestly think that if television advertising for cigarettes hadn't been banned in 1970, nobody would smoke cigarettes today. Who would dare advertise cigarettes today? People know how fake, dishonest, and deadly it is. Still, some people still smoke cigarettes, incredibly. They would be, like, infinitely better off smoking marijuana; nobody has ever been killed by it. My dad started smoking when he was fourteen, and died from lung cancer at sixty eight. Not bad, considering. When he realized it was killing him, he didn't care, he just kept on smoking. My mother started smoking cigarettes at eighteen, and quit when she was seventy eight. She live to be ninety three. Not bad either, all things considered. The war on smoking which began fifty years ago coincided with the growth of the whole health industry; health food, vegetarianism, vitamins, etc. Here's to your health.

Correcting the Free Market

THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT of 1938 was the first minimum wage law enacted by the government in the United States. Economists will tell you that even without government intervention, a minimum wage tends to establish itself, through market forces. Economists will tell you a lot of stuff. And market forces? Well, depending on what "arket forces" happen to be unleashed and in play, people, jobs, and productivity have all kinds of interesting differences in value. For instance, if you play for the Yankees, and hit three hundred, with forty homers and over a hundred runs batted in, you're gonna make about twenty million a year for several years, and you will be worth every penny of it, from the viewpoint of the person paying your salary. But try teaching first grade, and see how long it takes to make twenty million dollars. The free market is a reflection of what people freely buy and sell, and directly reflects the relative importance, value, of those things being bought and sold. So, in America, baseball is considerably more important than first grade. And don't try to tell me that in a true free market, with private shcols instead of publc socialistic schools, the value of teachers would surpass that of ball players. In America, Entertainment is way more important than education. So much for the free market. Are we sure we really want to trust and rely on the free market to make our decisions for us, every time? Do we really want to eliminate government minimum wage, and watch fast food restaurants all across America's frutied plain start to pay desperate jobless people five dollars an hour? Or, do we want to maybe use reason to correct the abuses in free market economics brought about by insane cultural values? Because one thing for damned sure; we sure aint gonna correct our insane cultural values.

Fighting Poverty, Growing Business

THE WAR ON POVERTY began fifty yeas ago today, and we still haven't won it. We still haven't lost it either; not as long as we keep fighting. President Lyndon Johnso hated poverty because he had been born into it. He had been a powerful figure among his younger brothers and sisters, and he wanted to be a powerful president, wanted to be all things to all Americans. So, he gave the war mongers their war, and he gave the bleeding heart liberals his bleeding heart. When Jesus said "the poor will always be among you", fifty years of evidence would seem to indicate that what he said is true; but we don't have to accept poverty as some mysterious but irrevocable law of nature. One of the problems with the war on poverty might have been its timing. When Johnson gave his war on poverty speech, the coundty was still in shock and mourning over the loss of President Kennedy. Another problem with it is that it might've been, so far, more of a skirmish than a war. A war is an all out effort. Unemployment insurance and food stamps are great ideas, but, like our conservative brethren and sistern like to point out, vulnerable to abuse. What America needs is a steady storm of new small businesses! Let the government provide micro business loans to any person or group with a viable small business plan. And heres'a quick thought for anyone wanting a jump start on a small business; Colorado, marijuana. Let the economic growth begin!

Lamenting the Loss of Lincoln

THE MOST TRAUMATIC EVENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY, the civil War, and the second most traumatic event, the history of the United States after the Civil War, can be traced to a single cause; the unwillingness on the part of the American south to give Abraham Lincoln a chance. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President, in 1860, the southern states seceded because, and only because, of his election, not because of anything he did after being elected. Hell, he never had a chance to do anything. The minute he was sworn in, out walks the south. Which is ironic, because if South Carolina @ the others had stayed in the Union, and not seceded, they could have kept slavery; Lincoln had no intnetion of abolishing it. But they chose a war instead, which they lost, which ended their precious states rights independence, forever. When the war was over, Lincoln planned to treat the defeated Confederacy compassionately, with dignity; but he was murdered by a southerner who assumed, as did most southerners, incorrectly, that Lincoln would exact revenge on the south. With Lincoln dead, the south got Andrew Johnson instead; a southerner, who hated the confederacy, and inflicetd "reconstruction" upon the vanquished south, which lasted for tewlve miserable years. In a sense, all the racism, all the resentment, all the negative struggle which has happened in America since the civil war can, in theory, be traced to the life, and death of Lincoln. If only we'd just let him do his thing, and not gotten in the way.

Fighting Paranoia, and Losing

WHEN I WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD, people started telling me that I should spend more time hiding beneath my desk at school, or other furniture at home, because some bad people called "Russians" were going to start droping bombs, big powerful bombs, on us, very soon. Scared the shit outta me. And, as it turns out, it almost happened for real. The story now is that a Russian naval commander refused to obey an order to fire upon an American warship during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I already knew what death was. I found out about that when I was four years old, seeing my grandfather in his open casket. I can only guess that my mother took me with her either because she couldn't find a baby sitter, or she thought it was a good idea to learn about life, and death, early. One of the two, I honestly do not know which. But there he was, and I retained my outward composure, while freaking out inside myself. Hint; never take a four year old child to a mortuary. The Kennedy assassination, Viet Nam, and the burning of American cities in the nineteen sixties, all on television, might have played a role in tirggering my paranoia. Of couse, it also could have been "The Twilight Zone", with Rod Serling. Helluva television show. Maybe a bit intense for little kids. then too, the Flying Monkeys and the wicked witch scared me just like every other American child. Why do we continue to subject our children to that nightmare? Would the last one out please shut and lock the door? Oh! And when anybody firgures out whether we're doomed, or global warming is a hoax, could you maybe come and help me out, from under my bed?

Freezing In America, For Now

BY NOW, THE REST OF THE WORLD is probably getting a bit tired of listening to Americans complaining about their cold weather. We Americans are certainly getting tired of complaining about it. But honestly, we truly have something to complain about this time. Are we experiencing global warming, or global freezing? It makes sense to assume that the more energy you put into the atmosphere, the more energetic your weather will be. The problem with the climate change "debate" is that it is always expressed in terms of extremes. It seems that we are either headed directly towards complete disaster, or, that we have absolutely nothing to worry about, and any climate crises is purely imaginary. The idea that climate change is a hoax is particularly interesting, because it calls into question how millions of people can conspire to perpetrate a hoax of any sort. Over the past few summers, I have started to wonder what it would be like if the temperature hit one hundred degrees fahrenheit in early June; and stayed there for the entire summer, in normally moderate middle America; weeks at a time. You know its possible. Wasn't it in eighteen seventeen when there was no summer whatsoever in the American Northeast? The summer months were mostly rain and snow that year, with only a tiny amount of plant growth, near the end of the "Little Ice Age", which happened from about thirteen hundred to eighteen fifty. So, you never know. No single weather pattern can be used to substantiate climate change. But we certainly seem to have a great deal of unusual, extreme, and energetic weather these days.

Managing Anger

THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA did battle in junior ice hockey the other day, with the Russian team emerging victorious. Either during the latter part of the game, after the game, or both, the Russians taunted the Americans, it was reported in the American media. For all we know the Russian media reported something else. Fortunately, no fighting ensued. These kids are big strong teenagers, who don't need to be fighting. A few days later, Russia played Sweden, and Sweden won. ON this occasion a post game brawl did in fact break out, and the fact that the common denominator was the Russian team stands out rather plainly. You all got an anger management problem over there? It would've been less surprising had it been the Americans involved, both no, it was the cerebral, civilized, intellectual Russians. Or perhaps our perception of civilized Europeans omits a few other qualities, such as aggression and violence. Anger management must be a global concern. It certainly is in the United States, where there seems to be an unusually large number of angry people, an unusually large amount of anger rippling through society. Maybe as the economy improves so will the anger level decrease. but you have to believe that the Russian junior hockey players are not being coached to taunt and fight with opponents in international competition. What would they have to gain by doing that? Feel the anger, draining away. OM

Determining the Price of Pot

THE PRICE OF MARUJUANA in Colorado is skyrocketing. Its even higher than the people purchasing it, and that's saying quite a lot. But of course, there are only about twenty four marijuana stores in the entire state, and you can assume that many smokers are coming from other states and standing in line with the Coloradans. The demand is simply way too high for the supply. The eventual number of pot stores in colorado, or anywhere else in the United States, should properly be similar to the number of liquor stores or even convenience store/gas stations. This is one area with great potential for economic growth. And that's exactly what we need in America; jobs and economic growth. Accoridng to former labor Secretary Robert Reich, there is one job available for every three unemployed Americans. A labor surplus, just the way the corporations and business community want it. Doesn't everyone agree that big corporations have a large enough share of wealth and powr in America, and that the more small businesses we have, the better? Marijuana can be grown in anyone's home, and sold in a small business. The whole industry has the potential to be small business oriented. Our corporate masters will find it tough going if they attempt to sieze control of an monopolize tha marihuana industry. For once, the little people have a way to fight about, to compete. The pioneering Colorado pot shop owneres are reaping the benefits of getting in early on a business with great future potential. It will be interesting to note future prices and profit margins. Competition will increase, and prices will come way down. It will be interesting to see how well paid future employees of pot shop owners are. Probably about like other low wage workers. May the free market, in its infinite wisdom, determine the price of marijuana!

Straying From the Herd

MOST AMERICANS LIKE TO think of themselves as nonconformists. So deeply rooted is the value of rugged individualism in our culture that we all claim to be independent thinkers and doers. It isn't always true, but there's a lot of truth in it. When I was in first grade, six years old, I found out about something called the "World Series". Everybody seemed interested in it, so I asked questions, and learned a lot. I learned that everybody hated one of the teams, the one called the Yankees. I had no idea why. I assumed that since everybody hated them, they had little or no chance of winning, so I felt sorry for them. I started rooting for them, and, lo and behold, they won. By the time I found out why everybody hated the Yankees it was too late; I was a Yankee fan. A nonconformmist. Just a few years later I was learning about religion, and church. Once again, the fact that everybody in my life seemed to have about the same attitude towards it, a pro Christian bias, I decided to go in another direction, a less traveled religious path, a journey of my own. I just plain did not want to be like everybody else, period. Still don't. During the time, oh, about twenty years ago or so, when everybody wore all black clothing, every day, I couldn't do it. I tried it for just one day, and kinda liked it, but, still, it felt strange. Another teacher walked up to me and said "now you are one of us." Yes, but only for a day. And so now here we are in the age of texting and tweeting, and Facebook, and once again, I just can't seem to get into it. E mail and a portable phone are enough for me; don't need no fancy smart phone, and all that. Maybe someday.

Imploring the Wealthy to Share, Or Spend

SEVERAL NEW STATISTICAL revelations about the overall economy should be sufficient to raise our collective eyebrow. There's been a lot of discussion about the federal minimum wage lately, and studies are now showing that if it were raised from the current seven twenty five to ten an hour, as many as five million Americans would be lifted out of poverty. Amazing what a little thirty percent increase in income can do. Those opposed to this argue that it would reduce the number of jobs. Maybe. Or maybe it would reduce profit margin, or the salaries of executives, or dividends for share holders. But it would definitely help the minimum wage workers. Another recent study is a bit mysterious, but still illuminating. Roughly one out of five children in America has regular episodes of unfed hunger, amazingly, in a nation so wealthy. Worldwide, millions of children go hungry, many starve. Calculations indicate, and this is all abstract math, that a rather small part of the profits of the super wealthy, the upper one percent, would be enough to feed all these hungry children. Incredible, if you think about it. The world's hungry greatly outnumber the world's ultra wealthy. Nonetheless, they'll need help convincing the world to redesign its economic system to let the trickle down begin. Also among the super rich, the savings rate has increased drastically, to about thirty seven per cent, which is incredibly high. The average American savings rate, including all the poor people and everybody else, is about, what, one percent, or negative one percent? It used to be negative, I recall. So, the rich people are hoarding their money, sitting on huge unused piles of cash. Must be a lingering fear from the recession, or something. The corporations are doing the same thing. In a healthy economy, the poor save their money, and the wealthy spend and invest theirs. The next time the Occupy Wall Street movement emerges, maybe it should have as its message " if you won't share it, will you at least use it?"

High Times In Colorado

THE FIRST DAY OF MARIJUANA sales in Colorado was a rip roaring, smashing success, with millions of dollars of pot being sold to thousands of happy high flying customers. Nobody died, nobody got arrested, nobody got hooked on harder durgs, society didn't fall apart. All this good news, even though the price of marijuana in these new stores is about twice as high as it should be, twice as high as it is on the illegal "black" market, in most parts of the country. Obviously, there isn't enough competition, there aren't enough marijuana stores. The market demands more, so, for some fortunate future entrepeneurs, the opportunity is there. The legal price of pot should decline to less than the pre legalization price, and it undoubtedly will, over time. Incredibly, money made in marijuana sales is not accepted at banks chartered by the federal government, which is most banks. This will have to be changed. Far off Washington has its laws; the good people of Colorado just don't care. A classic expression of American freedom, freedom from the federal government. When tne tax revenue from pot sales starts rolling in, and Colorado starts having budget surpluses, the other states will finally get the idea, and legalize marijuana. Or maybe half the states will legalize pot, the other half won't, and we'll have another huge civil war. Or not. In fact, nationally legal marijuana could provide a great source of revenue for the government, and reduce the unemployment rate, and stimulate the economy. But the corporations would have a hard time controlling the industry, since pot can be grown in anybody's house. America's corporate community will continue to vigorously oppose marijuana legalization, because it would be beyond their control. The marijuana stores, in most cases, will be small single owner business, rather then corporate entities. We hope that the employees are being paid fifteen an hour, at least. Marijuana advocates tend to be liberal lefties, and lefty liberals believe in sharing the wealth.

Protecting the Wealthy, Avoiding Democracy

MY FATHER, A WORLD WAR TWO veteran, lawyer, and patriotic American, once said that, if you think about it,the best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship. Key word "benevolent". The problem with democracy, is that the poor people always greatly outnumber the wealthy, and if you have a political system in which everybody has equal power, then the poor will gang up on the wealthy, and since they outnumber them, will take their wealth away from them. People in general think this would be unfair, understandably. In other words, in any country with a big gap between the rich and the poor, like the United States, democracy is impossible. There are two possible solutions to this. One is to reduce or eliminate economic inequality. Aristotle thought this was the best idea. The other solution is to avoid having a democracy, and instead have a republic of the wealthy, and this was the solution James Madison, and the founders of the United States, chose. The American system was designed to give everyone as much freedom as possible, and to protect the property of the property owners, by keeping real political power away from the poor teeming masses. Madison called it "mob rule", meaning, poor people ganging up on the wealthy, like himself. So, the poor in America are "represented" by the wealthy, if "represented" is what you want to call it. It could also, in past times, and in our modern times, be called "ignored". The Senate was designed to be the domain of the wealthy powerful, and so it remains to this day. The less powerful House of Reps was designed to be closer to the people, but less powerful. In the beginning, America's wealthy powerful were land owning, educated men, and they are the ones who worte the rules. Today the American wealthy powerful are the corporations, and they are the ones who pay for the politicians, who write the rules, which, unsurprisingly, favor their corporate patrons.

America, Suing Obama

OK, SO NOW SENATOR Rand Paul is going to file a class action lawsuit agaisnt President Barack Hussein Obama. The complaint will be that the President has presided over a massive and illegal surveillance operation which has penetrated the privacy of essentially every American. Accordig to Paul, or his spokespeople, potential parties to the lawsuit include every American who has a cell phone. Sounds pretty exciting, eh? I personally would consider being a party to the filing on two conditions: one, that the decision to participate be mine, not someone elses, and, two: that I don't have to testify in open court. I would consider doing a deposition, but I really don't feel like traveling, or dressing properly for court. Now I'm confused about who can sue whom. I always thought "the king can do no wrong", and that the President of the United States is immune from prosecution. Shows how much I know... Rand Paul certainly wouldn't file a lawsuit illegally against our Presidednt, would he? Well...if The People vs the President results in a verdict for we the people, what will the compensatory phase consist of? Its a civil suit, right? In that case, we would all be entitled to reasonable compensation, a monetary settlement for damages. What, a few thousand bucks per person, times three hundred million? (only infants fail to have cell phones in AMerica, and they never have long to wait). Another question: didn't all this government surveillance stuff all start long before Obama was president, or even born? He inherited all this, right? Well, maybe that's not allowed as an extenuating circumstance.

Getting Excited About Life, Elsewhere

THE NEWS JUST KEEPS GETTING better and better, astronomically. The search for intellignet life. More than ever, we are absolutely convinced that the galaxy is full of life, and intelligent life, like us. The discovery of new planets is like an avalanche now, as our equipment and methods become better and better, finding thousands of planets, and soon, tens of thousands. Its time to get excited. What'll eventually happen is that we the human race will make better and better telescopes, and eventually be able to look right down on top of planets all over the galaxy, and observe the life on them. That's probably what's happening to us right now; we're probably being observed, from a distance. The aliens can probably see through your bathroom walls. Be careful how long you stay naked, if you don't wanna be observed by aliens. We tend to think that aliens will come to this planet, and show themselves to us. But what may happen is that we end up being the ones who reach out to them, and make contact. The latest discovery is that many of these alien planets we have recently discovered have clouds, skies filled with clouds. That's incredibly exciting. Atmospheres, on earth sized earh like planets. How long can it be before we are looking through our telescopes, and through the clouds of other planets, and watching intelligent life function, in all its glory, just like they're doing to us now? (you just know we're being watched). Discovering clouds on planets orbiting other stars is the first step in observing life, intelligent life, elsewhere in the galaxy. And, perhaps, interacting with it, communicating with it. Its time to get excited.

Acceding to Ghosts

WHEN I HEARD THAT THE SCHOOL WHERE all those kids and adults were murdered a little over a year ago was being torn down, I immediately understood why, and anyone would. And let's all agree that it has much more to do with human primal fear and irrational superstition than pragmatic common sense. And that's not a put down of us, its simply the truth. On a purely pragmatic level, there was/is no reason whatever to tear down a perfectly good school building. Heaven knows its expensive enough to build a new even when its really needed. Its not like we can afford to tear down buildings every time something really bad happens inside them. If ghoests of the murdered are going to linger, is ther less chance that they will linger in a replacement bilding than the original? somehow must know the answer to that, but I don't. Obviously, we as a people believe in ghosts enough to tear down a perfectly good building, and spend millions of dollars replacing it. O(ld bildings are haunted at a high rate, but the one in which the shootings took place wasn't very old. The ghosts of children come forth often; they did not know they were gong to die, and are confused, and upset, so the theory goes. when the new schooo bilding inNewtown gets up and running, I hope they have some sort of monument to the victims, like a wall with names, or something. NOt just to appease ghosts or honor the fallen, but as a reminded that we must all strive ceaselessly to sliminate cush violence from our world.

Creating Joy, Under All Conditions

EVERYBODY WHO LIKES CLASSICAL MUSIC has a favorite Beethoven symphony. As he wrote them, they tended to become longer, and, most people believe, better, culminating with the magnificent ninth symphony, his final and perhaps greatest achievement. When I listen to the ninth, I turn up the fourth movement loud, real loud, after the fashion of a teenager from 1973, big engine growling, windows rolled down, Deep Purple blaring out the window on eight track, and down the street. Give it a try sometime. (Beethoven's ninth, not Deep Purple) Its a magnificent experience, one you'll never forget. Particularly the voices in the latter part of the movement. Particularly the female voices. Like goddesses, serenading us from heaven. Incredibly, Beethoven, who took about four years to write the ninth, the "Ode to Joy" symphony, was almost totally deaf during its composition. He never heard it, except in his imagination. But he put every note in place, perfectly. There is a lesson for all of us in Beethoven. First, be careful what you wish for. Beethoven's Third symphony, the "Eroica", or "Hero" symphony, was Beethoven's tribute to Napoleon Bonaparte, the new liberator of Europe. About a decade later, after a decade of Napoleon, Beethoven wrote the ninth, the "Ode to Joy', because of ths great joy he, and millions of other Europenas felt, at the defeat and departure of the Emporer Napoleon. During Beethoven's time, European culture was full of great music, but questionable political processes, let us say. The greatest lesson from Beethoven, however, is: follow your passion, and conquer that mountain, even if you never get to completely experience the joy of it yourself.

America, Accepting Gay Marriage, Finally

I CUT OFF CALBE TWO YEARS AGO, with no regrets, but I almost wish I had seen the Tournament of Roses parade, from Pasadena, CA, yesterday, on TV. Two gay dudes got married, front and center, right? They were part of the parade, true? (see how culturally illiterate I am) Evidently it was quite the event, but one wonders what the repurcussions will be. Will the Christian community refuse to have anything to do with the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl football game henceforth? One must marvel, if nothing else, at the changes our society is undergoing. Thirty years ago an aspiring Ph.D candidate proposed writing his dissertation on the subject of gay marriage, and was turned down, by several professors at several universities, for various reasons. One group thought it was perverted, and another department thought it was utterly irrelevant, since it would never happen in real life. Within a few years every state in the United Stes, except perhaps Oklahoma, Texas, and a few ultra conservative western states, will've legalized gay marriage, thank goodness. Now maybe we can begin to get that issue out of the way, and work on others, such as, um, saving the planet! All religions and all chosen forms of marriage are acceptable, and we are free to ignore, as individuals, any we don't happen to like. Nobody is forcing anybody else to like gay marriage, only to allow it, as a civic institution, since straight marriage is a civic institution, and in America we believe that government should not discrimminate. In America, we believe in fair play, and fair rules, for all. Right?

Correcting Our Work

MY NINTH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER held up a small paperback book, and read from the back cover: "during the time it takes you to read these words, four people will die of hunger." Some smart ass kid in the back shouted out "then stop reading those words!" We laughed, but I knew the teacher wouldn't like it, and he didn't. The book was "The Population Bomb" by Paul Ehrlich, published in about 1968, a best seller. Ehrlich predicted that by the nineteen nineties there would be starvation all over the world, because the population was growing so fast, and the increase in food supplies would never be able to keep up. And it is a very persuasive book. Even today, when we know how wrong the book was, it is persuasive. You almost feel as if it still could happen, just not as soon as Ehrlich predicted. The population bomb is still ticking, unless I'm mistaken. Yeah, the birth rate is down, and all that, but...still, the world's population continues to go up, fast, and is closing on seven and a half billion now. Soon it will be eight billion. Then what? How far will it go? How far CAN it go? What Paul Ehrlich didn't take into account was the enormous increase in agricultural production during the past forty years, due mainly to science and technology. And we can continue to increase the food supply, to a point. In Ehrlich's time we didn't know about global warming, which is now, obviously, our biggest problem. So mass hunger might not be our downfall after all. Ehrlich is still a professor at Berkely, and well respected. It is no sin to be wrong in science; the only sin is in not admitting it, and correcting your work. Ehrlich has done this. Now we humans need to do it, collectively, and immediately.

Predicting Future, Checking Results

ISAAC ASIMOV WROTE ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED books, maybe more than anybody in history. Definitely, Asimov wrote more intelligent books than anyone else. He was a certified genius. He hated travel, and in fact hated leaving his New York apartment. He spent all day, every day, writing. Whatever works. His 1964 essay, which appeared in the New York Times, is drawing interest now, because Asimov made predictions about what the world would be like in the year 2014, fifty years in his future. At about the same time, I was a child, and spent much of my own time reading science fiction, dreaming about the distant future. Asimov and I made the same mistake: we both thought that by 2014 a bunch of people would be living on the moon, and we both thought that by now everybody would be driving a flying car. Back then, everybody thought that. But Asimov did predict flat screen wall TVs and video cell phones. Asimov himself didn't much like being out in nature, didn't like getting out much, and this biased his predictions. He predicted that by the year 2014 we would, for the most part, be living apart from nature, in sealed off, underground communities, with our high tech lifestyle. Well, here we are, in the year 2014, and we seem to be more in love with nature than ever, more determined to embrace it, experience it, preserve it. In 1964, people didn't have any idea about global warming or the threat of environmental catatastrophe, and Asimov said nothing about that. He was worried about atomic bombs. So were we all. In 1964, fifty years ago, I often hid beneath my desk at school, with everyone else, practicing hiding from an atom bomb. It worked like a charm.

Having Fun In Colorado

WHY WOULDN'T SOMEBODY move to Colorado, or visit Colorado? Why wouldn't everybody? Someone asked that question on the internet, and it is a good one. Oh, what a party it could be, all seven billion of us, lined up patiently down the streets and around the corners of the various newly opened marijuana stores in Colorado! The one negative report I heard is that as the day (yesterday, Jan, 1) went along, the price of pot steadily, greatly increased. Is this true? Well, if so, welcome to the world of free enterprise capitalism. What can I say. A real bummer for those in the back of the line. Yes, recreational and/or self medicating drugs should be allowed to float on the free and open market, no? If the marijuana stores in Colorado aren't careful, people'll go home and grow their own. Likely as not that'll happen anyway, and the prices, in the free market, will saty low. Marijuana is probably the perfect commodity upon which to observe and marvel at the natural beauty of capitalism. Always in high demand, always plenty of supply, with no hope for monopolization, non essential commodity. Marijuana, dear reader, is far, far less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, and really, all things considered, we do pretty well with legalized alcohol and tobacco, compared to any alternative, and we probably should and will keep them legal, and heavily taxed. All true consrvatives want legalized marijuana. William F. Buckley did. How about you, Rush Limbaugh? The liberals want government regulation and taxation of pot. We the American people can raise a boatload of money for our national treasury from marijuana taxes. Enough to pay for Obamacare, and a lot of other things. Just look at 'em go in Colorado! Massive economic activity on the first day of pot, happy people, no problems, and it'll only get better. Many many Americans love marijuana. And freedom.

An American Four Party System

YOU CAN COUNT ON ONE THING IN 2014: it'll be a lot like 2013; nothing will get done. Nothing will get done to deal with any of America's main issues: what to do with twelve million illegal residents, what do do about the seventeen trillion dollar national debt, what to do with Obamacare to make it work, things like that, things that need to get done, but won't. The liberal democrats and the conservative republicans will cancel eath other out, as usual, in gridlock. We seem to have forgotton how to compromise in America. A culture of stubborn arrogant leaders who think in terms of winning and losing, not in terms of problem solving. Maybe what America needs is more political parites. The two that we have don't seem to be adequate. Its already happening on the republican side, with the emergence of the tea party. Two kinds of republicans: conservatives, and ultra conservatives. The left wing of the democratic party, such as it is, might be better off to do the same thing on the left. To separate, like the tea party has done on the right. A socialist labor party, like every other western country has, would meet the needs of the American electorate; a four party system. Then, at long last, the working class would have real political participation, which it has never really had before in American history. A poor people's political party, to at least somewhat counter balance the three wealthy people's parties: republican, democrat, and tea. Issue by issue, in a four party system, temporary coalitions would form and reform, as each issue has its own solution. In most cases, the socialist labor party would probably get left out, until such time as it ever grew large enough to win elections. Otherwise, workers would be left out, as usual.

The Pope's Speech

EACH YEAR THE POPE give a speech to tens of thousands of people on New Years. It would be quite an adventure to be there, but how would you hear it, if you weren't right up front? Does he speak into an enormous speaker system? The Pope did two things that are vital, and admirable: he told the truth about the state of the world, without trying to make it sound better or worse than it is, and, he expressed hope for the future. Without hope for the future, there is no reason for the present. Pope Francis is obviously extermely frustrated and angry about the high level of violence in the world, like most of us are. Anger and frustration are two sources of violence. It was almost as if he was saying "good grief, people, Can't we all just get along"? Amen. Another overwhelming impression that its tempting to come away with is that the Pope is an extremely good person, down deep, where it matters. And that, of course, seems logical. Every pope in my lifetime, starting with John 23 and Paul 6, and on to Francis, has seems like such a person; caring, compassionate. there is a bittersweet memory of the gentle Pope John Paul 1, who never really had a chance to work his goodness upon us. You suspect heaven is where we'll see him again. The pope believes that folks should pretty much have the freedom to do with their money as they please, but also that there should not be two economic classes, rich, poor, wolves, sheep. With good role models like Pope Franics and Jesus, we should be able to do the one, and to avoid the other.

Governing the Self, in America

TODAY IS A GREAT DAY for America, because its the beginning of a new year, which is bound to be better than the old year, and because its the first day of Obamacare, and legal marijuana sales in Colorado. Here's why those two events are so great. At some point, one way or another, the human race is going to have to cooperate, going to have to work together, for our survival, and for the far more ambitious goal of happiness, health, and prosperity for all. Obamacare, if nothing else, is a step in that direction. You prefer free enterprise capitalistic health care? That's dead, or didn't you know? Even the two dollar stores, side by side in my tiny American town don't compete. They don't have to. The competition between Wal Mart and Target is about as competitive as it gets in America these days, business-wise, and that seems pretty tame. Either we the people the government will handle health care, or the corporations will handle it. And the corporations won't be competing against each other, they will be working in happy harmony, just like the pharmaceutical corporations do now, as well as the oil corporations, and the health care insurance providers, to name but a few. Either way, we the people are screwed. (just kidding) As for legalized marijuana, starting in Colorado today, the marijuana stores will be doing a booming business, and people can walk in and buy pot with which to get stoned, not to fight cancer. And that's a good thing. Let's let all the self medicators, and the recreatinal drug dealers out of prison, and regulate their industry, deriving the public revenue therefrom. We're going to have government in our lives, one way or another. Let us make it self government.

Contemplating the Remote Future

HOW DELIGHTFUL, to awaken on New Year's Day, alive. Its as if you've been put in a time machine, and shunted into the future. I was a "patrol boy" in sixth grade, 1966-67. Got to wear an orange belt over the shoulder around the waist, and direct fellow children across the street on their way to and from school. It was a great honor to be a patrol boy. All the boys in the class got to do it, from time to time, and when it was your turn, you went for it. You got to serve as a patrol boy for one week. We even wore badges. Every boy got to be captain of the squad, for one glorious week. My turn came way at the end of the school year, in May, but I got to be captain for a month, not a week. Long story. (everyone else had already had the job) No girls allowed. I have no idea whether there are still "patrol boys" anywhere in the U.S. A. and its elementary schools, but if there are, I can guarantee you that girls are now inclluded. Back in the day, I didn't think a thing about it. No girls allowd was just the way it was, no questions. One day, on patril, I was standing there, daydreaming. Must've been slow traffic. I started thinking about the future, and the far off year, 1968. It seemed to me that the year 1968 would never ever arrive, so remote was it to even contemplate. Boy, was I ever wrong. In 1966, I was interested in science, and science fiction. The year 2014 sounded like a voyage into the far distant future, and indeed it was. It seemed like that yesterdy. And today, on New Year's Day, I'll be damned it if still doesn't seem that way.