Thursday, October 15, 2009
A Follow up to Republican Schisms
I feel as if I should say which of the three factions is the most dangerous, and that would have to be, without a doubt, the economic conservatives. I feel as though the neoconservatives are war-mongers to be sure, but there aren't that many of them, and they don't have a ton of money behind them. The social conservatives are adorably harmless, but function as the massive voting block and foot soldiers of the GOP. When this faction schisms off, the Republican party is done. However, by far the most dangerous faction is the economic conservatives. I've stipulated in a previous post that I sort of like government, and you should too. I've stated openly before that Ronald Regan was likely the worst thing to happen to this country in a century. He set back the middle class in this country by a hundred years, and spent us into as a hole we've yet to recover from. Like your roads? Fire department? School? How about the entire middle class? All of those are threatened by small government conservatives.
I use a B-Horror Movie Reference
You know that part in all the monster movies, when the monster turns on the scientist, and the scientist goes "No! You can't kill me! I MADE YOU!" Well, that's begun to happen to Republicans. Here is Lindsey Ghrahm (R-SC) being attacked by the very teabaggers/nutjobs he helped create.
Its a bittersweet moment for me. Realisitcally, this isn't the first time this has happened. There was a point around this time last year when the nuts in the audience at a McCain rally started screaming the N-Word about Obama, and the senator had a look of crushed despair on his face as he realized what he had created. These nuts are answerable to no one and are dangerous and unhinged. They are increasingly radical and focusing more and more on forcing the Republican party farther to the right.
Bill Maher said it best when he stated that the democrats had moved to the right, while the republicans had moved into the nuthouse.
The people most to blame for this, to be honest, would have to be Fox News. I think, (hope?) that America has stopped asking if Fox is a balanced news network, and has started asking if they're even a legitimate news organization, or if they've become, as the White House said "The propoganda arm of the GOP".
The worst part is that the froth-at-the-mouth members of the news team there (Beck, Hannity, Doocy, et al) are either legitimately insane; or are faking it for ratings, disingeiously poking ann unhinged and unmedicated bear with a very sharp stick, knowing that if one of these people does snap, they can safely wash their hands of it.
Its a bittersweet moment for me. Realisitcally, this isn't the first time this has happened. There was a point around this time last year when the nuts in the audience at a McCain rally started screaming the N-Word about Obama, and the senator had a look of crushed despair on his face as he realized what he had created. These nuts are answerable to no one and are dangerous and unhinged. They are increasingly radical and focusing more and more on forcing the Republican party farther to the right.
Bill Maher said it best when he stated that the democrats had moved to the right, while the republicans had moved into the nuthouse.
The people most to blame for this, to be honest, would have to be Fox News. I think, (hope?) that America has stopped asking if Fox is a balanced news network, and has started asking if they're even a legitimate news organization, or if they've become, as the White House said "The propoganda arm of the GOP".
The worst part is that the froth-at-the-mouth members of the news team there (Beck, Hannity, Doocy, et al) are either legitimately insane; or are faking it for ratings, disingeiously poking ann unhinged and unmedicated bear with a very sharp stick, knowing that if one of these people does snap, they can safely wash their hands of it.
Water.
Recently, while looking over a grad school course-book, I was astonished at how many of my fellow colleagues were surprised that I was to be taking an entire class about water. One particular girl stated that she wasn’t even sure there was an entire books worth of material to say about water. Now, while I don’t consider myself astonishingly informed, I do like to think I’m better than most. I asked the rhetorical question of whether she would be surprised if the school offered an entire class on oil. Of course not, no one would give it a second glance. It is my belief that the finite nature of oil is well known and affects us all.
It is my theory that people are astonished at the scarcity of water, on the other hand, because its true cost is just now becoming apparent. For the last century or more, our natural resource policy had been one of exploitation and use with no thought to the consequences. Water had been so plentiful that the overarching obsession was to keep it as cheap as possible. Cheap, plentiful water became the name of the game in the United States, particularly in the west and southwest, where the mighty Colorado river flowed seemingly endlessly.
It was this attitude and that river in particular that has led to the mass development of the western United States and an agriculture plan that can be described as schizophrenic at best and pure insanity at worst. The Homestead Act, in combination with open spaces meant land was dirt cheap, and cooperative weather meant farming was easy. As such, it became acceptable to grow cotton in New Mexico, citrus in Southern Arizona, rice in Southern California and to place massive fish farms in the areas around Flagstaff, Airzona.
It wasn’t just a bizarre agriculture that took place, though. Cities were erected seemingly overnight, with little thought given to sustainability. Los Angles in particular, came to symbolize urban and suburban sprawl, with LA county being larger than Connecticut. Las Vegas, as well, a city in the middle of the desert, became known for its luscious golf courses and massive fountains. Phoenix, previously a minor town along the famous Route 66, has become a megalopolis, but with no natural water supply and no industry to sustain itself.
All of these cities and agricultural systems were built on the premise that the water would last forever. Unfortunately, the house of cards they had built is beginning to collapse. Chronic water shortages plague Los Angeles and Phoenix. Las Vegas has been forced to institute draconian water restrictions on its citizens and even the famous fountains are being turned way down.
It is, perhaps, too early to say what will become of these massive cities in the desert, but unless revolutionary changes are made, they will be unable to continue to exist.
The same cannot be said for the bizarrely out of place agriculture. Already, the USDA has been forced to reevaluate water permits and many of them have begun to fold and move their operations elsewhere.
One thing that can be said with relative certainty, however, is that the era of ignoring nature for the sake of brute technological force is over, never to return.
It is my theory that people are astonished at the scarcity of water, on the other hand, because its true cost is just now becoming apparent. For the last century or more, our natural resource policy had been one of exploitation and use with no thought to the consequences. Water had been so plentiful that the overarching obsession was to keep it as cheap as possible. Cheap, plentiful water became the name of the game in the United States, particularly in the west and southwest, where the mighty Colorado river flowed seemingly endlessly.
It was this attitude and that river in particular that has led to the mass development of the western United States and an agriculture plan that can be described as schizophrenic at best and pure insanity at worst. The Homestead Act, in combination with open spaces meant land was dirt cheap, and cooperative weather meant farming was easy. As such, it became acceptable to grow cotton in New Mexico, citrus in Southern Arizona, rice in Southern California and to place massive fish farms in the areas around Flagstaff, Airzona.
It wasn’t just a bizarre agriculture that took place, though. Cities were erected seemingly overnight, with little thought given to sustainability. Los Angles in particular, came to symbolize urban and suburban sprawl, with LA county being larger than Connecticut. Las Vegas, as well, a city in the middle of the desert, became known for its luscious golf courses and massive fountains. Phoenix, previously a minor town along the famous Route 66, has become a megalopolis, but with no natural water supply and no industry to sustain itself.
All of these cities and agricultural systems were built on the premise that the water would last forever. Unfortunately, the house of cards they had built is beginning to collapse. Chronic water shortages plague Los Angeles and Phoenix. Las Vegas has been forced to institute draconian water restrictions on its citizens and even the famous fountains are being turned way down.
It is, perhaps, too early to say what will become of these massive cities in the desert, but unless revolutionary changes are made, they will be unable to continue to exist.
The same cannot be said for the bizarrely out of place agriculture. Already, the USDA has been forced to reevaluate water permits and many of them have begun to fold and move their operations elsewhere.
One thing that can be said with relative certainty, however, is that the era of ignoring nature for the sake of brute technological force is over, never to return.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
What's the deal with Airline pay?
Michael Moore raises an interesting question. Do You Want Your Airline Pilots Working Two Jobs? For those of you that don't wish to read the article, here's a summary: Pilots have had their unions and pensions gutted by airline bankruptcy, and pilots at small regional airlines are making pitiful money. I'm not talking sixty grand, (half of what the average long haul pilot used to make). I'm talking seventeen grand. That's food stamp money. Thats less than a pizza delivery guy makes. In his film, he talks to some of these pilots, all of whom agreed to talk only on condition of anonymity. One of them walks dogs to pay rent, one is ten grand in credit card debt from buying groceries. One works at a local coffee shop, and wakes up at four AM to open the store. I don't want this post to be a missive on capitalism. If you want that, you should see his movie. Instead, I just want you to dwell on the type of system that rewards the type of person who put themselves through pilot training by paying them barely above minimum wage.
UPDATE: I was actually highballing the pay. Apparently a first year pilot makes less than a full time fast food worker.
UPDATE: I was actually highballing the pay. Apparently a first year pilot makes less than a full time fast food worker.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Republican splits
I've written before about the republican parties lack of a mission, and it has become extremely evident as of very recently. For starters, the right's gloating at Chicago's (and, in their eyes, Obama's), failure to land the Olympics. [Never-mind that the primary reason the US lost the olympics was because of the draconian immigration laws instituted by the Bush Administration.] As the always lovely Rachel Maddow pointed out, this celebration at the right wing AFP confrence, caught on video, is something that will hang as an albatross around the neck of the Republican party for a long time.
So where does the Republican party go from here? Well, I am postulating here and now that I really don't see the modern Republican party existing past the next ten years. I'm not saying they'll all move to Vancouver or anything, but that the schisms that are forming won't be healed.
A bit of background on the roots of the Republican party is in order. There are three distinct factions within the party, and success in winning Republican elections depends entirely on ones ability to placate all three. They are:
A)The Neoconservatives: These are folks like Bill Kristol. Primarily foreign policy oriented, these are the folks you see on the news who advocate solving every problem with military means. Iran? Bomb them. Pakistan? Invade them. Iraq? Conquer them. Again. They don't care if your cousin is gay, or if the punitive tax rate is 100%, just as long as that tax money is used to send your cousin to invade Iran.
B) The Social Conservatives: These are folks like Bill Donahue. Primarily the evangelical arm of the Republican party, these are the folks you see on the news proclaiming gay marriage and access to family planning services to be the biggest threat to democracy in history. They want the government in the bedroom and the church pew. Famous for, despite being the staggering majority, constantly claiming to be oppressed and victimized. Cares about foreign policy only insofar as they believe the purpose of the military is to spread Christianity at the barrel of a gun. Usually utterly indifferent to tax policy.
C) The Economic Conservatives: These are folks like Ron Paul. Primarily the business arm of the Republican party. This is the traditional, tax-less, libertarian arm of the party. Not even remotely concerned with what you do in your own bedroom, or anywhere else for that matter. Views foreign policy from the opposite end of the spectrum from the neo-cons. Don't believe the military should be used for anything but continental defense. Favor total military withdrawal from every base and conflict around the world.
Now that we're familiar with the factions, the problems with the republican party should come into focus. The recent 2008 Republican primary had representatives of all three factions, and they split the vote three ways. The Republican primaries are winner take all, but had they been proportional, like the democrats, they probably would have gone even longer than the democratic primaries did. Mitt Rommney represented the economics, McCain the neoconservatives, and Mike Huckabee the social conservatives.
Success in Republican politics is the ability to juggle and placate all the factions, and there have really only been two politicians that have ever been able to do it: Regan and GW. Bush. But even these men, were, at heart, traditional economic conservatives that were able to put on a really good face for the other two factions.
So what now for the party? Well, it looks to be that Sarah Palin, of all people, represents the source of the original schism. This extreme social conservative is viewed by many serious people in the beltway as the reason for the Republican loss in 2008, and her self obsession and egomania are only serving to drive the party farther apart. Its a dark secret in the world of politics that many serious Republicans have nothing but utter contempt for her.
2010 should really be the bell weather for where they go now, to be sure. It'll be fun to watch.
So where does the Republican party go from here? Well, I am postulating here and now that I really don't see the modern Republican party existing past the next ten years. I'm not saying they'll all move to Vancouver or anything, but that the schisms that are forming won't be healed.
A bit of background on the roots of the Republican party is in order. There are three distinct factions within the party, and success in winning Republican elections depends entirely on ones ability to placate all three. They are:
A)The Neoconservatives: These are folks like Bill Kristol. Primarily foreign policy oriented, these are the folks you see on the news who advocate solving every problem with military means. Iran? Bomb them. Pakistan? Invade them. Iraq? Conquer them. Again. They don't care if your cousin is gay, or if the punitive tax rate is 100%, just as long as that tax money is used to send your cousin to invade Iran.
B) The Social Conservatives: These are folks like Bill Donahue. Primarily the evangelical arm of the Republican party, these are the folks you see on the news proclaiming gay marriage and access to family planning services to be the biggest threat to democracy in history. They want the government in the bedroom and the church pew. Famous for, despite being the staggering majority, constantly claiming to be oppressed and victimized. Cares about foreign policy only insofar as they believe the purpose of the military is to spread Christianity at the barrel of a gun. Usually utterly indifferent to tax policy.
C) The Economic Conservatives: These are folks like Ron Paul. Primarily the business arm of the Republican party. This is the traditional, tax-less, libertarian arm of the party. Not even remotely concerned with what you do in your own bedroom, or anywhere else for that matter. Views foreign policy from the opposite end of the spectrum from the neo-cons. Don't believe the military should be used for anything but continental defense. Favor total military withdrawal from every base and conflict around the world.
Now that we're familiar with the factions, the problems with the republican party should come into focus. The recent 2008 Republican primary had representatives of all three factions, and they split the vote three ways. The Republican primaries are winner take all, but had they been proportional, like the democrats, they probably would have gone even longer than the democratic primaries did. Mitt Rommney represented the economics, McCain the neoconservatives, and Mike Huckabee the social conservatives.
Success in Republican politics is the ability to juggle and placate all the factions, and there have really only been two politicians that have ever been able to do it: Regan and GW. Bush. But even these men, were, at heart, traditional economic conservatives that were able to put on a really good face for the other two factions.
So what now for the party? Well, it looks to be that Sarah Palin, of all people, represents the source of the original schism. This extreme social conservative is viewed by many serious people in the beltway as the reason for the Republican loss in 2008, and her self obsession and egomania are only serving to drive the party farther apart. Its a dark secret in the world of politics that many serious Republicans have nothing but utter contempt for her.
2010 should really be the bell weather for where they go now, to be sure. It'll be fun to watch.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Maybe perhaps?
I'm thinking about bringing this thing back from the dead. Perhaps I'll write about healthcare. We shall see.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Thoughts on an Accident, one year later
Its been exactly one year since I was totaled by a semi and left severely injured for life, so I'd like to just share some thoughts as they come into my head. I've been collecting these for the last year, and waited for today to post them.
1. I've replaced my Focus with another car, but I'll never replace my Focus in my heart. It may have been a tiny little car with crappy seats and tiny wheels, but it was mine. In a few year span with few friends, it was with me for so many happy memories. It was like a faithful dog, always by my side. I still miss it terribly.
1.5. I am warmed by the thought that the ONLY reason I was able to walk (hobble) away from that accident was because the car took so much damage. I mean, simple physics. F=MA. Something that big, going that fast is going to either kill me or the car. She sacrificed herself for me.
2. I've gotten used to having to walk with a cane. I instinctively go for the elevators now, and using the handicap ramps instead of the stairs took some time. I've also gotten used to the stares from people. I used to wonder what people thought when they look at me. Do they think, "my, that's terrible, how does someone so young end up on a cane", or do they simply think its decorative? Some version of a pimp cane? I hypothesize most don't care or notice. I don't think I'll ever get used to people pointing.
3. The lifetime vicodin prescription is a definite double edged sword. Yes, having suburbanite heroin around on demand is nice, but the fear of addiction haunts me constantly. Moreover, the vicodin comes at a legitimate price, namely, being in constant and real life pain.
4. Its hard to imagine what being handicapped is like until you're here. To look at a fire escape like its a Himalayan peak. To think of all those careers you might have one day wanted to do and know they are now infinitely far out of reach. I'm always looking around for something to lean on, or someplace to sit, because I never know when my back will simply give out without warning.
5. I really don't know how I would have been able to make it without my amazing wife. She's been staggeringly understanding and supportive. Believe me, having to have your wife carry you to your car at SeaWorld because your spine has collapsed tests your marriage. She's never even blinked. I love her so much.
6. Someone asked me an interesting question. If I had a time machine, would I go back? Take a different way home that day? Leave five minutes earlier? Five minutes later? To be honest, I don't know. I've begun the process of redefining my identity around this idea of being a handicap so its hard to extricate myself from it. Again, its impossible to understand until you're here. Moreover, I believe firmly that everything happens according to a divine will, so to question it is just to invite more questions than answers.
7. I think the worst part is that in the back window of my car was my signed, personalized copy of the presidents book, "Audacity of Hope". I've looked for it. It vanished. Probably still buried in the grill of that fucking semi.
1. I've replaced my Focus with another car, but I'll never replace my Focus in my heart. It may have been a tiny little car with crappy seats and tiny wheels, but it was mine. In a few year span with few friends, it was with me for so many happy memories. It was like a faithful dog, always by my side. I still miss it terribly.
1.5. I am warmed by the thought that the ONLY reason I was able to walk (hobble) away from that accident was because the car took so much damage. I mean, simple physics. F=MA. Something that big, going that fast is going to either kill me or the car. She sacrificed herself for me.
2. I've gotten used to having to walk with a cane. I instinctively go for the elevators now, and using the handicap ramps instead of the stairs took some time. I've also gotten used to the stares from people. I used to wonder what people thought when they look at me. Do they think, "my, that's terrible, how does someone so young end up on a cane", or do they simply think its decorative? Some version of a pimp cane? I hypothesize most don't care or notice. I don't think I'll ever get used to people pointing.
3. The lifetime vicodin prescription is a definite double edged sword. Yes, having suburbanite heroin around on demand is nice, but the fear of addiction haunts me constantly. Moreover, the vicodin comes at a legitimate price, namely, being in constant and real life pain.
4. Its hard to imagine what being handicapped is like until you're here. To look at a fire escape like its a Himalayan peak. To think of all those careers you might have one day wanted to do and know they are now infinitely far out of reach. I'm always looking around for something to lean on, or someplace to sit, because I never know when my back will simply give out without warning.
5. I really don't know how I would have been able to make it without my amazing wife. She's been staggeringly understanding and supportive. Believe me, having to have your wife carry you to your car at SeaWorld because your spine has collapsed tests your marriage. She's never even blinked. I love her so much.
6. Someone asked me an interesting question. If I had a time machine, would I go back? Take a different way home that day? Leave five minutes earlier? Five minutes later? To be honest, I don't know. I've begun the process of redefining my identity around this idea of being a handicap so its hard to extricate myself from it. Again, its impossible to understand until you're here. Moreover, I believe firmly that everything happens according to a divine will, so to question it is just to invite more questions than answers.
7. I think the worst part is that in the back window of my car was my signed, personalized copy of the presidents book, "Audacity of Hope". I've looked for it. It vanished. Probably still buried in the grill of that fucking semi.
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