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About perspective:
ABC news, September 15, 2000. The military is refusing to apologize
and, in fact, claiming nobleness because only ten of 6000 soldiers
in Bosnia committed rape, intimidation, and assault against the
people they were supposed to protect. They say, look at the statistics.
That's really very good. At the same time on the same news program
we find that a tire company has been shown to have manufactured
about 200 faulty tires worldwide out of several million. The government
considers that to be so reprehensible that it is in the process
of systematically destroying that company. They are, no doubt,
averting a national disaster. Ralph is in ecstacy.
Magic:
Kids need magic because they are defenseless. They are powerless.
Magic does appear to happen. It's like crap. It would be nice
if somehow we could control how and when it happens. There has
always been a fascination with the possibility that we might control
magic. In states of elevated consciousness, some of us can do
things which appear to be magic. They are not, of course. There
really is no such thing as magic. There are only things which
we don't understand. Still, there is the ongoing wish to be magical
in some way. Even I have it. Thank you Ms. Rowling. It's been
a long time since Bilbo.
Polls:
Depending on how you conduct a poll, you can get any results you
want. Always remember back to Tom and Harry. Tom went to bed thinking
he had won the election. In the morning, he was sure he had won,
because the morning paper told him so. The only problem was that
the voters had disagreed.
About Lieberman:
Gore did not risk anything by picking Joe Lieberman as a running
mate. He wanted it to look bold, but it was simply realistic.
What did he lose? The fascist vote belongs to Bush. It's stupid
of Bush to court it, because it has nowhere else to go. It will
never go to the Democrats. The Flag waving, Bible thumping, khaki
clad fascists will go to Bush no matter what he or Gore does.
Still I'm glad Gore chose a thoughtful intellect for a running
mate. If Gore gets in, we'll have at least one rational person
in the White House.
Litigation:
Here is one thing everyone should realize. If you have to take
an issue to litigation, the only winners will be the attorneys.
Everyone else will lose. Attorneys, of course, will encourage
you to go to litigation.
Gifts:
Congress is remarkably stupid. They can't see the forest for the
trees. They have a idiotic, short term greed problem. They are
making marginal increases on the non-taxable estate inheritance
limits. If they had any sense at all, they would pass a law to
allow us old farts to give nontaxable unconditional cash gifts
to our offsprings and grandchildren, who would spend it. They
would increase cash flow and thus tax revenue. Instead, they make
us sit on the money until we die. Then they leap in and steal
it. Meanwhile we sit on the money and keep the cash flow at a
trickle. That's congress. Republican thugs. Democratic waffling
nincompoops.
Advertising:
We watched Peter Jennings' special about The Search for Jesus
on ABC. It was a good show, but it was presented in a completely
dishonest way. There was not more than 40 minutes of substance
which took 2 hours to show because of advertising. They did the
standard dishonest trick of back loading the end of the show with
continuous commercials, interjected with substance of a few seconds
every few minutes. They are defeating themselves. Next time Pete
does a special, I will tape it and fast-forward though the commercial
parts. I'd be honest and watch the commercials if they would be
honest, but they won't. So, I'll tape the shows. Their dishonesty
went beyond reason. When I tape the next one, I'll time the content
parts to confirm what I believe.
Funny Money:
I remember Invasion money. It was funny, monopoly-like money paid
to GI's in place of real money when we occupied foreign countries.
It's real purpose was to keep ordinary GI's from profiting from
the war. Everyone should know that war profiteering is the prerogative
of the generals. Invasion money was not spendable in the United
States. It was only spendable in the invaded country. It had to
be exchanged when the GI's returned. That's when they got caught.
As always, however, there was a black market.
Government:
Everyone has the government they want. They also have the government
they deserve. Let's cut out pretending to be so self righteously
indignant, We have dishonest government because we are dishonest.
If more than half of the people were honest, it would be impossible
to have a dishonest government.
The Church in Rome:
This is a bunch of very dried up, very old men with a bunch of
ancillary dried up women trying to establish a moral standard
for a world in which they are not involved. It's a world in which
they have elected to not participate. That is crap on the face
of it. They have nothing to do with the world of loving, living,
hurting, fighting, cursing, scrapping, beautiful people of the
earth. God's people. We are not the churches people, but God's
people.
Murder:
If Purina, or Miller, or any other consumer product company marketed
a product which they knew would kill 1 out of every 5,000 users,
the Feds would shut them down right now. The FDA would stop them.
There is no doubt of that. So, why are plastic surgeons allowed
to market a product outside of a hospital, liposuction, which
they know will kill 1 out of every 5000 people who get it. One
death in 5000 procedures. That's murder! Shouldn't they at least
be compelled to warn their victims?
Teachers:
The way you can tell a true teacher is that he will teach you
and then push you away. If one tries to keep you bound to him,
he is not a teacher, but a cultist. A true teacher has much to
do. He does not have time to bask in the alleged glow of hordes
of grinning admiring neophytes and disciples. A true teacher will
teach you what he can and then push you away or ahead. He may
be interested in what you are doing and even encourage you, but
he will not take credit for any success you have. Neither will
he take credit for your failures. If you see one swelling up with
pride and saying, "She was my student." It's more than
likely that he didn't teach her crap.
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