Serious Stuff: Politics, Religion, Race, Poverty, Education, and War.
A friend of mine suggested that I was politically a “liberal”. Truly I have not thought of myself as political. In my college days, a fine professor, Dan McFarland, said there were really four political parties in America: Liberal Democrats, Conservative Democrats, Liberal Republicans, and Conservative Republicans. My guess is like most Americans, I am a “blend”. If liberal means free, or open, or excepting of individual differences, or generous, then that seems acceptable to me. I do not think one can be “… so open-minded that your brain falls out”. Therefore, caution, respect for tradition, and many conservative approaches are often ideas that appeal to me also. Haste and waste are not conservative in my thinking. .
So, probably I am a” Conservative Democrat”. Okay with me!
It appears to me that politics and religion are a lot alike in that they often “splinter” into different
groups. The current tea party Republicans are certainly different from blueblood Republicans. And it seems each threatens the other more than the opposition. My guess is the tea party will do more damage to Gov. Chris Christie than the Democrats.
I know the North Carolina people and politicians I was proud of were considered either liberal or Progressive (Bill Friday, Terry Sanford, Jim Hunt, and then like). But I also revered Sam Ervin. Jesse Helms was one I felt represented the mean-spirited segment of our state’s people who were frightening and all too real. And often race was the issue.
I know that the” other side” feels just as strongly that I am wrong. Perhaps only the Civil War represented a more divisive time in America.
It appears that the 2000–2008 (Bush 2 administrative years) caused us to “choose sides”. And it seems that feelings were so deep that once committed to their view, very few were willing to listen, much less alter their stance. Winning the argument seems more important than learning the truth of the matter.
•“…you are right from your side and I’m right from mine”. ONE TOO MANY MORNINGS — Dylan.

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.“
– Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, and former General of the Army.

“Who more than self, their country loved” ???

Someone just mailed me a rough e-mail post that seemed over the top by any standard. To classify Al Gore and everyone who believes in climate change as a “bunch of turds” seems wrong to even type.
I read AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH when it came out in 2006. Saw the film. The one stunning fact that most impressed me was the graph that showed the abrupt spike in the earth’s warming years 1980–2006. The spike was almost straight up, while the combined years before cars were almost dead even. Today the Raleigh News and Observer stated this year was the warmest ever in North Carolina.
Someone has suggested cow farts as the cause of the earth’s warming. I was reminded in last night’s poker game that that the earth itself has been here billions of years. Humans a lot less.
If cow farts are the villains, and many fear mankind’s extinction without change,–does that mean farmer Jones has got to gun down Daisy?
Gore’s book and realization are worth revisiting. The whole book lays it out. I cite one paragraph:
“The truth about global warming is especially inconvenient and unwelcome to some powerful people and companies making enormous sums of money from activities they know full well will have to change dramatically in order to ensure the planet’s viability.”
Viability? (“the ability to live or survive successfully”). Would you give up hamburger, milk, dairy products if cow farts will kill us all?
Here it is: And it ain’t cow farts. Candidate Gore couldn’t come right out in 2006. Now we know. It is gas. Petroleum, Petrol. The oil industry.
Why would anyone argue against the evidence? To save their industry? I don’t know. Other than money.
In the south cars are sacred. Give up my mustang? “Out of my cold dead hands” again. Without change it’ll be dead hands for everybody.
What would be the price of changing all gas driven machines to another harmless source. Think back, would you give up those two old cars you traded in 15 years ago to save your family, mankind, that grandchild?
Think Americans can’t build you an electric car or such as good as Old Betsy? They are here now. Price to change what we drive? Turn in Betsy? What in the world will that cost?
It doesn’t matter.

 

Eastern North Carolina has spawned a new party, The SHIT-HEELS.   These  are a group that believe we are going to transform hog shit to gasoline, yet deny climate change.

From my friend, Alan:  The head football coach was about to send a rookie college football coach on his first recruiting trip.  The prior season had yielded  no wins, eight losses, and two ties.

Old coach’s instructions.  1.  If  they ask you what our team record was last year, pretend you didn’t understand them.  2. They will likely respond, “…what was your record last season?” 3.  You can then say “Oh! EIGHT AND TWO”.

(It is not whether you win or lose, but how you place the blame. Or CLAIM THE FAME!)

(“It’s the economy, Stupid”!)

Here is a quote of my own.  Almost always the coach being fired is a better person than those firing him/her.

I hated  to fire a coach.  Like shooting your dog.

Historically team wins dictate employment.   2-8, 1-9, 2-8, adios.  Most  recoveries look hopefully like this—first year (3/5) , second year -5/5, third–7/3 and  almost everybody is happy.  Can’t please em all no matter what.

There are a lot of different things going on now.  Historically judgement on football coaches was about four years.  A lot like politics. “Give him four years to build his program” to “he better win next year or he’s gone.” Like politics?   Similarly “…if he gets it done in four years, we’ll give him four more!”

The previous Presidents, Clinton, W, Obama had eight years.

There is currently a lot of chest thumping over the economy.  And, in fact, the current crowd began to brag about this being totally to their credit  very early on.  A little quick for football.

CLINTON from 1992-2000  ended with a surplus budget.  (“It happened during my administration!”–POGO, AND BILL.)  Economy record?  9/1.

2000-2008:  The “W” (give cheney  and rusmfeld plenty of credit).  Iraq and hedge funds.  The term “trillions” at the end of this eight.  Economy record, 0-10.

Obama (2008 – 2016) .  The good news on the street is that we have been in the longest bull stock bull market ever.  About 8/9 years.  Hmm, that puts its beginning about 2008.

JET JOB (definition).  In the sports world when a team improves rapidly, skeptics arise.  Why?  Because to do it right takes time.  When a team goes from 2/8 to 8/2 in the first year of a coach’s tenure, eyes roll.  Pundits ponder.

It can happen quickly.  One team we had pulled 2/8 to 8/2.  I’ve got to say that coach was a really good one and we brought in two all time players at QB and wide  receiver.  After another 2/8 was about to be terminated, one staffer seemed concerned:  “I’m not sure.  This guy has recruited a great group for next year, plus he had the courage to properly red shirt some that will really help.”  Still he was replaced and the new coach went 8/2.

“You can’t make chicken salad until you have the chicken.”  (Buddy Bedgood).

MAYBE JUDGEMENT (CREDIT) ON THIS POLITICAL GROUP SHOULD WAIT UNTIL 2024.  OR 2020?

PBS featured a show on the Blue Ridge Parkway last night.  The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) film showed a remarkable performance of men who needed a job.  And I was unaware of the nifty bargain between a North Carolina politician and FDR  that wound with Tar Heels gaining both the lions share of the tourism yielded, and social security.

We have a current similar situation.  Illegal Immigration.  And a wall that won’t happen is all that we have as a solution.    And a common knowledge that something has to be done that honors the law of the land.

The CCC was all about labor.  Is there labor now capable of solving the border problem?

Sources?  How about the military, both active and retired.  Are there not those who could provide the skills needed such as helicopter pilots, officers who need arms and policing skills, those who have injuries yet can  and want to help.  Are we not already paying many of these heroes.   How about a certain kind of prisoner, a trustee-like person who would serve rather than sit.   How about a program for illegals  themselves.  We may be able have them serve a time period of volunteer aid  that creates a legal pathway for them.

Is there data that could make this prediction:   Surely significantly trained personnel would be more mobil than a wall.  Technology and personnel could surely cut the number crossing illegally.   What would a cost analogy of using the above sources (and others) predict, compared to the cost of construction and management of the wall and what it would accomplish.

“…all a fourteen foot wall does is create a market for an eighteen foot ladder.”

PS—Various forms of the legalization of marijuana are growing.  Will this be worse that the ungodly number of young people who are in jail for minor pot offenses.  Or those who have been branded evil for a little weed?   And even more to the above issue,  wouldn’t this shift the tons of money from the drug cartels who force their citizens to risk flight, to taxation accrued in our own country?

We are going to have drugs.  What could be worse than what we have?

Anyone?  Bueller?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The CNN ALL STARS VS “FAIR AND BALANCED” FOX

Anyone else fed up with panels of all the same ilk trashing  the absent opponents?

How  about the admonishments of “…don’t anyone say anything about politics!”

NO CONVERSATION OR DISCUSSION, EQUALS NO COMPROMISE, EQUALS STAGNATION,  EQUALS “DO NOTHING” POLITICIANS DO NOTHING.

Our 17 year “longest war”seems to have no ending?  It had a beginning!  It got vitriolic

when ‘W”and his gang burned up a budget surplus by writing their war “off the books”.

Speaking of admonishments, how about “…don’t go in there (the mid-east.)  You will own it!”  —PoppaBush and Scocroft.

Six trillion in deficit spending jump started the hemorrhaging of cash that is now 22 trillion of national debt.  (no blood mentioned).

Soon the lines were drawn.

Being from the sports world, we settled it head on.  Coaching tennis for forty years, the format we used  was 6-3.  Six singles matches, three doubles matches. Match wins count one point. Lineups in order of ability.

Example:  One head to head would look something like this:

Singles:

FOX TEAM           VS                CNN

#1 male player from Fox  vs  #1male  player from CNN

#1 woman player from Fox vs   #1woman player from  CNN

#2 Male  Fox VS # 2 male player from CNN

#2 WOMAN  VS #2 WOMAN

#3 Males

#3 Women

These are your six singles matches or points. now

DOUBLES–

#1 twosome men from fox  vs  #1  twosome men from CNN.

#1 or best women’s doubles from fox, vs same from CNN

Note the next match often determines the winner in tight matches.

This match then will be a mixed doubles match (one man plays with one woman).

This could get messy.  Mixed doubles is a lot like warfare.  So be it.

George Carlin on changing the rules of football:  LEAVE  THE WOUNDED ON THE FIELD.

 

 

 

 

Emerald Isle, end of April, 2020.

My bride, Margaret, and I have stayed  “at home” six weeks as required.

This time period,  basically all of April, is surely different from the other fourteen Aprils we have spent here.   Most notable is the absence of people.  And the presence of great weather.   Combined I have spent more time realizing how beautiful this place is.  Nature is heavy duty.   Lot of critters.  No people sounds. I think I can hypnotize carpenter bees.

There is a price.  First bump was W Bush and  property value down like a ZION DUNK.  Stoopid war  (still going).  Blood, treasure, deficit of a trillion?  Don’t need wall street regs?  Picnic day for teddy bears.  Write the wars off the books.

Next:  Florence.  (“We’ll  be fine if there is not a bad hurricane”).

I remember Hazy.  1954.  The other names meant more to those they hit.  We will remember  Florence and the flooding.  And property damage.   We were all worried about “deductibles” and labor shortage.

The poor were and still are trying just to stay alive.

What the new virus exposes is how the poor in this country get the short end of the stick.  No one was to blame for the virus.   But do we not have a feeling for those whom the boot heels have crushed so often.

May comes tomorrow.  People can ease back in.  Have we learned  anything?  Winning a political argument,  and/or keeping your lifetime congressional seat have become lesser concerns.

“Tom—God could make a more beautiful day, but doubtless he never did”  (Dr. Lacy G. Hall)

http://datagenetics.com/blog/april12019/index.html

The link above states that a trillion is this big:  If you could start counting dollar bills, one per second, non stop 24 hours a day it  would take approximately 32, 000 years to get to a trillion.

A trillion times 6 or 7.  That a lot of money.

Those who contend that the current economic changes will fry the President’s reelection chances, may won’t to consider some very grim thoughts:

1.  Money vs Death.   One treasured confidant contends that in the final analysis humankind would  pick money.  Hmm.
2. While the deficit trillions are horrendous, they are controlled by the current administration.  Who is “the decider”?
3.  “…we will make him an offer he can’t refuse”.   Fear is a powerful tool.  Money too. The Mafia isn’t the only one who knows how they work.
4. North Carolinians contend (now) that the civil rights  movement began in a Greensboro  Woolworth’s food counter with the “sit-ins”.  The late David Halberstam wrote THE RECKONING about those times.  He contended that a group from Nashville actually led the way.  Diane Nash, Marion Barry,  James Bevel,  among others, were students at Atlanta Baptist.  They had seen enough and made the supreme decision.  They will not frighten us, no matter what.  They wisely realized they were single, a significant factor:  They could not be manipulated by fear for their children’s lives.
5.  Money can be used for good or bad.  Those  in control will choose.  If “the Decider” is a tyrant  who  considers their own wishes only, well?  If  reelection is the goal  and six trillion of “campaign aid” is accessible to one with no scruples, well—?Would one use a race horse head? unlimited pay off for any obstacle?   Use fear (terror if needed),  find ways to hide any amount.  Would one who won’t release their tax forms seem a little suspicious?  One with a past of greed, bankruptcy, draft dodging be the patriot above reproach?

 

“…now is the time for your tears.” (THE LONELY DEATH OF HATTIE CARROLL) by Bob Dylan