Random Thoughts on a Tragic Day

I have many friends and work acquaintances in Texas and inevitably after a few rounds of whatever we are drinking the talk come back to my openly far left stance of gun control. The discussions almost always start off by someone stating that if we all had guns and knew how to use them there would be a level playing field.

Let's look at the details that we know from last night in Aurora. The gunman entered and had on a bulletproof vest and gas mask and was fairly heavily armed. Using the logic stated in the first paragraph, we would all need that type of protection and armament, as well as shooting lessons in order to protect ourselves on a level playing field. The killer could have been taken out by a head shot, which we all could have done in a crowded theater where everyone was panicking. And we can all get gas masks for when we go out in public, along with bulletproof vests.

Somehow this is not the world I wanted to leave for my children and grandchildren--a dystopian world racked with violence, weird weather patterns, scarcity of water, food and clean air. A world where the government of one of the leading nations in the free world can be bought by unlimited funding of advertizing, where greed and power games are not only accepted, but are the fuel for dreams (thanks, Ayn Rand for your socially responsible vision that has inspired many).

There is deep sickness in the soul of America right now and it is growing like a cancer and I am distraught. I know all the spiritual principles--let love radiate, blah, blah, blah. I can even enjoy a good meditation and chant session. I can bless things. But my heart is heavy with the violence and disregard for others that seems to be in the hearts of the American public. I wish I knew a fast solution because every now and then I feel like a little bit of my heart is stolen, crushed and eaten.

 rojo

Senate to take up outsourcing bill after Disclose Act fails - The Hill's Floor Action

Senate to take up outsourcing bill after Disclose Act fails - The Hill's Floor Action

Souns like a no-brainer. Let's see if there are any real job creators in the Congress.

rojo

When Is Thievery Illegal?

Yikes! I read this and get sickened by Bain's ability to pay $60,000,000 in dividends on a firm that has a cash flow of $4.7M. Even if the profit margin were 30%, that means they only made $1.4M. So your investment dividend is 40 times higher than your profit. That would be like me bringing home after taxes 25 cents and getting a bonus of $10. Who would pay that? You don't have the money. Bonuses are paid on PROFIT. In the case of Dade, Bain (Romney's firm) made $100,000,000 in management fees annually and the debt increased to over $1,000,000,000. Who the hell takes that much money when there is no profit--no real substance there??!!

And even worse, who loans them money that many times over the actual cash flow and asset level. Homeowners did not even do things this bad, as a general rule when they refinanced homes in the 1990s to make improvements or even just take vacations, because in many cases the value of the property (the asset) appreciated. What Bain was doing was the same scheme, but then they left and in many cases the taxpayers had to bail out workers and pensions because they took the money.

an honest question--just because they got out before bankruptcy, probably because they could see it coming, doesn't that still make it thievery?

rojo

At Least They Admit It

From Texas GOP 2012 platform--

Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.

So now they admit they are opposing critical thinking? huh? It explains a lot, doesn't it?

 rojo

Again, Get Off My Lawn!

Yes, there will never be jobs created if we go to Green Standards. We all know this. Think of all the cancer surgeons that might be put out of work.

Same old crap we always get about how changing the world will absolutely destroy things as we know them. Go to alternative energy, ruin the coal industry, blah, blah, blah.

What they really mean is that this will challenge our wealth.

 And nothing ever good happens when you challenge the coal industry.

 rojo

Enjoy!



rojo

Move Along, Nothing to See Here

What could go wrong with this? People never make mistakes.

Please notice that this practice has caused earthquakes in the past. How much different is this from fracking, where the goal is to break shale layers to free the gas. It is done by a liquid, which actually can lubricate broken rock. I mean what could go wrong?

Move along, nothing to see here.

 rojo

All Hail Scientific Detachment!

You have to love the detachment of scientists. There is a huge disparity in their models that propose to show the size of the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. One will end being more accurate, adjustments , made, blah, blah, blah.

How about all the dead animals? I am guessing they are not too detached about this. We know the cause and solutions--too much fertilizer, bad agribusiness practices, leaking septic systems and discharge limitations on wastewater plants that are too lenient. Rather than have the will to deal with that, we argue over who is more accurate. Kind of like fiddling while Rome burns.

 rojo

Today in Water News

who would have ever thought that all the water rights could be sold and claimed, forgetting about aquatic habitat in Somalia, err, Texas. Yes, Libertarian paradise.

and in this article, the cover photo sez enough. Nothing like having a trash playground IN THE OCEAN!

This one is not surprising. Wells are a source of water in many communities, especially rural communities. and as everyone who had ever worked at lake Rest knows, septic systems never fail and leak into source waters. Actually, this problem is prevalent everywhere. In CO, you cannot build even a well water system now without a 4 log removal of pathogens, normally meaning chlorination. Europe uses other chemicals then chlorine. Yet, when I moved to CA, I was amazed that so many communities with rivers and abundant water sources used wells with out any disinfectant. Nebraska too. Cheaper is not always better and while I dislike chlorine, it sure beats Norwalk virus or cholera. What is surprising is governments stating proper public health preventative care is too expensive. Really.

and for X File fans. or this.

Sleep tight and dream of superbugs and invasive species.

rojo

An Election Cycle and an Apology to my Children!

So here we go--

into the election cycle where we will hear all about debt and the failing economy and why you need to ruin the country like a business. I wonder how much stuff like this will be covered in the media--

"Honeywell used offshore subsidiaries and tax loopholes to pay a negative tax rate between 2008 and 2010, according to the report.

The company reported $5 billion in domestic profits and received $1.75 billion in federal tax subsidies, making its effective tax rate negative 0.7 percent the group reported, citing 2010 10-K reports for the company."

With the advent of "Corporations are people" why wouldn't Honeywell invest $1B (yes, billion with a B) to get their guy elected in one election knowing he will be beholden to them, increase the tax loopholes, so they can make more than $2B annually in loopholes. What part of how wrong Citizens United is don't we understand at this point. I was recently in Ohio and there are so many anti-Sherrod Brown ads running already you would think it was the last week of the election. Unless everyone gets the same say, rights are not equal. Can I run the same amount of ads asking Dick Cheney be tried as a war criminal or that BP executives be tried for the deaths of the men on the platform in the gulf? No.

What part of level playing field (in theory) is really part of the American Dream, or are we all supposed to be cynical, selfish and amoral in our pursuit of happiness.

I was going to write today apologizing to my children that we have not left the country in better shape for them. Yes, rivers don't burn anymore and water is safe to drink. There are some endangered species actually making comebacks. Sexual orientation is less of a issue in some geographical areas. You can actually date and marry people outside of your racial and ethnic backgrounds now in most areas of the country. The N word is not used in polite conversation. But, the country has moved so far to the right that Reagan and Nixon would be Democrats now. If the next election goes to Romney, the Supreme Court will be stacked and can overturn laws, making any gains of the past 50 years immaterial. As it is, education and the chance to further yourself are barely affordable. An example, $10,000 in student loans gets my daughter a $10-12/hour job with no benefits. What's the benefit here?

And people don't think their votes count. sad. It is the dearest right we have as American citizens, followed by paying taxes to pay for roads, education, etc. No one likes to pay money, but I would rather pay more and know that there is a social safety net and that anyone's children will not have to mortgage their future to pay for an education. I can sleep at night them knowing I did my part as a CITIZEN of this country.

 rojo

Different Ways to Feel Sacred


How do you mount your deities? How do you give proper reverence? With what sort of wild astonishment do you bow and breathe? I don't really believe in churches, in guilt and shame and forsaking your identity to some scowling judge, in staring up at a horrific image of a bloody body nailed to a stick, full of sin and shame, taught that I can never actually attain sacredness. Why such horror and fear? Why not just dance? 

But to attempt a wild, drunken, conscious, devout seeking-out of the sacred in all things in all moments? To destroy illusion and defeat ignorance? Full of consciousness in every breath, smile, song, handshake, lick, suck, touch, word, column, eyeblink, cocktail, dreamstate, marriage, divorce, wound, ecstasy, trauma, death? That I can do. Or rather, that I can strive for, breathe toward, wink at. After all, the gods, they just love to wink back.

from Mark Morford, SF Gate

 

Dinner With No Lights

Glow in the dark sushi!!!!! what fun.

rojo

How to Make a Desert

Here is one you won't find on many newstands. and here is how it works. The earth has little pockets where underground lakes and rivers exist, or there are large sections of porous sand that are filled with water. It gets there from rainfall and is gently filtered by the many layers of dirt, topsoil, sang, gravel and minerals. It produces fresh water. When you deplete an aquifer, often the weight of the earth collapses causing a sinkhole to where the water should be or subsidence, where the layers of gravel, etc. compressed and the water will never fill those regions again--forever limiting the water there. When you dry out farmland it is game over! welcome dust bowl.

rojo

Meg Whitman, Job Creator

Gotta love when she sez she was a proven job creator. Once again, the way to balance the bottom line is to cut payroll. Her excuse was they have no new products and are losing market share. One of the previous CEOs cut R&D so they had no new products.make crappy stuff and your market share drops, so fire people. However, I notice execs NEVER give back their salaries, but get "Golden Parachutes" that ALWAYS equal many hourly workers. 

rojo

3489

A good read, but speaks to the frustration of the 99%.

 rojo

Jazz Saturday rojo

Job Creators, You and me

A simple lesson on economics from a successful businessman.

rojo

It's Almost Memorial Day

I see today that gas prices are going up again. It happens every year at this time. It must be that the viscosity of oil under the earth gets thicker around now causing higher pumping prices. Otherwise you might think there is price-setting and collusion. markets regulate themselves so that couldn't be.

rojo

They Can't Be Serious

Yes, it is time for my normal morning cheeriness. okay, it is Friday and I enjoy sarcasm. The attached article is a longer read, but outlines the attempt by conservative think tanks to smear wind energy as dirty energy. Certainly not as effective as petrochemicals. Oh yes, this program is being paid for by oil companies (imagine that) and includes the normal suspects (ALEC, to change zoning and clean energy bills). and then you have the head of NASA stating if the tar sands project gets off the ground in full (remember that pipeline to Houston over the Ogalala aquifer) it is end game for climate change. Hmmm, science sez one thing, the oil industry another. Who to believe? Kind of reminds me of the tobacco industry stating that cigarettes weren't harmful.

rojo

Living Wage

Just a quick one as I on my way to work. Saw in the paper yesterday that someone had the audacity to think of raising the State minimum wage wage from $8.00 per hour to $8.14 and make it rise with inflation. Of course, the response to this was JOB KILLER!!!!!!! My gosh, if a lower paid worker gets $0.14/hour, then those higher up will demand it too. Huh? The example given was wait staff and cooks. Why, according to the critic, with minimum wage and tips, waiter staff make over $30/hour. That extra $300 annually (2080 work hours annually times $0.14/hour), will break every struggling small business. What a crock of crap!!! No benefits, no sick days and no vacations for service industry as a general rule (I am sure wait staff are all in hedge funds). And if paying your employees the extra $300 annually kills your business, your business plan sucks. Its okay for gas to go from $2.50/gallon to over $4.00/gallon and not raise employee wages.

The argument really needs to be a LIVING WAGE, not what is a minimum wage. A living wage with benefits. Have people forgotten what it is like to work for less than $10/hour and try to hold your life and soul together. In the book "Nickel and Dimed", the author could not even complete that task. What ever happened to compassion in this country? Sorry to break this to you Randians, greed is not good. and profits are necessary, we know that. But how often does business school ask how much needs to be made and how much goes to the common good?

rojo