Money or Happiness is There Really a Difference?

Should one work for money or should one find a career that assures happiness?  Actually that question is not a choice, if acted upon correctly prosperity and happiness are inevitable.  Here is why this is true.  We all know that we live in an imperfect world, right?  Let’s think about that for a minute.  In my mind the world is perfect; it is in the lives of its inhabitants that the imperfection occurs.

I have engaged in activities simply because I thought they would provide wealth, and I did acquire a lot of money.  I then behaved in ways I thought would provide happiness, they didn’t.  Here is the solution, it is simple but difficult.  Look around and try to find examples of excellence.  I don’t mean simply something that is just good, I mean really excellent.  After searching for awhile you will find some examples, some that will surprise you.  As you look deeper you will find two more things: prosperity and happiness.  Why?

The simplicity is this; the world seeks perfection or tends towards perfection.  It is the most desirable quality because it cannot be attained in an absolute sense.  The simple act of trying is in itself so rare that it too is valuable.  Couple the striving for perfection with an activity that brings personal satisfaction to the striver and without a doubt prosperity and happiness will follow.  This is not an overnight situation, it takes time.  It might take a few or many years to achieve this state, but with belief and effort success is unavoidable.

The reason most people never arrive is due to the difficulty of continuing against what seem to be setbacks, poor initial choice of activity and subsequent discouragement, laziness (another name for fear) and finally most people don’t believe my theory is true.

Dreams can’t come true if they are never dreamt.  When planning or imagining anything about what you want to achieve always make your fantasy the most extreme example of the success you think you want.  In a fantasy you are in charge and it always works out the way you want.  Do you want to be the most knowledgeable archaeologist on earth?  Dream it, it will happen.  You’ll have to work on it, but without the dream your subconscious has nothing to work on.

All personal success and happiness comes from satisfying an internal urge.  That urge must be stimulated.  For some this stimulation is easy but most of us have to search for what is best.  This search can be made simpler this way.  By remembering that success and happiness are the two most powerful stimulants and thinking about the wonderful euphoric feeling you got when something you did was most satisfying, you then know what you want to repeat and are on the right track.  If you look at your life as a quest for dollars at the end you will fail.

If you do something, anything, productive and you are among the best to ever do that thing, money will chase you around.  People want to be around excellence, they love basking in its reflection because they don’t understand it.  The wealthiest people are those who respect themselves and enjoy helping others.  Money should never be an objective it should and will always be a by-product of excellence.

New Life

This is Makena Grace Curley, born March 6, 2006 to Kevin and Beth Curley. This is my wife's and my third grandchild and we are happy to have her. I certainly hope her life turns out to be a happy and productive one. She has a great start as she is surrounded by a loving extended family. This is something every child needs but fewer and fewer in today's world are lucky enough to have. I chose this picture because it appears that she is looking out at the world with a skeptical gaze. I know the feeling.

She is named after a village in Hawaii, on Maui, so perhaps she will have a sunny and mild dispostion with only the occasional blustery storm.

I wonder what changes will occur during her lifetime? Space colonies, cancer cure, endless religious warfare, decline of US influence in the world, all of these are possible perhaps probable. The advances in technology are really unimaginable because truth is certainly stranger than fiction. As Tom Clancy wrote "Fiction has to make sense, the truth doesn't" The interesting part of the changes she will see is that such changes will be amazing to those already of age, while to her and her contemporaries it seem like a natural progression. Which of course it will be.

Anyway, Welcome Makena. 

Sainthood for All

I was educated by the Roman Catholic Church in a series of what was known at the time at parochial schools.  I guess the term was used to illustrate the narrow focus of the curriculum.  A Catholic education, during the 1950s and 60s was an experience that I liken to a military experience.  It wasn’t that much fun at the time but as a survivor it’s an experience that cannot replaced or truly explained to anyone who hasn’t been there.  There was a certain ineffable quality of love and brutality that kept one alert, wary, with a strong longing for escape.

The education was first class.  Even I, a poor student at best, managed to absorb knowledge and life skills at a survival level far above my public school counterparts.  I haven’t kept up with my schoolmates but it wouldn’t surprise me to find most of them as successful citizens contributing to the community.  The emphasis in the program was learning not financial gain, which is a little unfortunate for those who don’t get to live in a convent or rectory.  Nonetheless the intellectual life was, as I now realize, quite amazing.  The assumptions of the plan included the idea that the students were capable of being stretched to the limit and so they were.  You could fail; you could be as many grades behind as necessary to get you to the level required by the Church’s idea of an educated person.  We had students that were two and sometimes three years older than the grade level.

So with all this brain power cooking away in a world that was and is rapidly changing, how did and does the church think people will continue to believe in the spiritual agenda?  I come to this question because as I was watching the newscrawler at the bottom of my television picture I noticed a tag about some priest investigating a possible miracle cure by the late Pope John Paul II.  I got to wondering about this.  In Christian life death is the beginning not the end of existence.  I began to imagine John Paul getting to the pearly gates and being told to head on back down to earth if he wanted a better seat in the room God reserves for His closest friends.  It must be crowded in there. So, do these dead holy people have to circle the planet looking for a worthy cause in an effort to earn Sainthood?  I noticed that there were actually two potential miracles to investigate to establish the rationale of Sainthood status.  Let’ suppose this is something that is real.  What happens after the confirmation is made, do the miracles stop?  I can’t remember hearing of recent miracle investigations of the actions of, oh, let’s say St. Joseph.  Is it the case that once a dead person shows enough life to cause a miraculous action that they can accept a certain status; something like class 1 saint and relax around heaven?

I have long ago left organized religion to those who enjoy living with ghosts and who earn a living scaring the hell out of people instead of nurturing the heaven in them.  All of us have a certain spiritual longing that is difficult to cope with and to pin down effectively. For that reason I never disparage anyone’s beliefs but I do wonder why they believe it.

Our Similarities are Killing Us

In the long view, a view that is very difficult for humans to adopt due to our short life span, there a great many more cultural similarities than there are differences.  This is true especially when considering the Western Civilization vs. Eastern Civilization.  Consideration of these two cultures ignores others in sub-Saharan Africa and pre-Columbian South America.  Let that be the case for this discussion.

As I type and you read we are still feeling the aftershocks of the Roman Empire, it is likely that this will always be the case barring the extinction of peoples wanting democracy, a certain appreciation of life and its gifts.  Admittedly Roman civilization was derived from earlier Greek, Etruscan, and most likely other not so well known cultures.  Rome refined the classical Greek thinking and lifestyle and added a mechanical logic to previous philosophies that is felt today.

The effects in Europe are obvious from the various languages and customs, nearly all of which are Latin based. The Germanic and Celtic languages are survivors of so-called barbarian tribes that did not fully assimilate the Roman ways, the same goes for Scandinavian, and even more remote peoples like the Basques.  In every other way Roman influence is obvious in architecture, legal systems, political life, commerce, and even social customs. The United States of America is, at its roots, a Greco-Roman society.

The Middle East, or Asia Minor as it was once known, is susceptible to the same analysis.  The Greeks got there before the Romans and had a tremendous impact on the area.  A Greek family, the Ptolemy’s, actually became Pharaohs, and ruled Egypt for centuries; Cleopatra being one the family’s more notorious members.  Hellenic culture prepared the way for Roman conquest and in fact Jesus Christ was undoubtedly a Hellenistic Jew whose followers longed to overthrow the Roman rule in Judea.  As Christianity blossomed it moved to the City of Rome and ultimately its liturgy, hierarchy, and laws found their basis in Roman traditions.

As Rome disintegrated slowly over hundreds of years Christianity was used as a unifying tool by Constantine in his bid to takeover the empire, he was by the way a native of Trier in what is now Germany.  He moved the empire east to Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople in his own honor.  This beginning grew into the Ottoman Empire at a much later date.  It was here that the amalgam of Christian and Jewish thought was coupled with a desert peoples need for a creed.  Thus was born Islam.  The essential tragedy of modern life is that the combatants all the same basic belief system.  It’s the bells and whistles that make the difference.

The Arabs, Chaldeans, Persians, Jews, and Christians are doomed to a death struggle if they fail to recognize the similarities that are currently driving them apart.  All are descendants of the influence of Greco-Roman thought and lifestyle; either in acceptance or denial.

The European system of monarchies and feudal lords was based on Roman governors and nobles left isolated throughout Europe by the fall of Rome.  The Caliphate, though much more centrally organized, is a direct offspring of the methods employed by the rulers of Byzantium.  The heirs saw no need to reinvent the wheel.  Modern problems are caused by a system of political and religious development that was not parallel, or to the extent it was there has been a significant lagging behind in the Islamic nations.

This is not the only explanation but it is one and it is one that should be considered and examined more closely.

Democrats Win The 2006 Elections

The Republican Party has committed suicide.  It’s hard to believe but it’s true.  A group of politicians that once espoused excellence, decent behavior, and the idea that the best interests of the public should be served, have become pseudo-Democrats.  As a group they were always a bit cowardly, refusing to stand up to the outrageous specious attacks of Tom Daschle, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Charles Rangel, Ted Kennedy and the other luminaries of the dreck filled Democrat universe.  The Republicans have outspent the Democrats, something I never thought possible.

As a citizen of the US who has voted in every election since I came of age, mostly as a Democrat and recently as a Republican, I am disgusted.  I realize this feeling is not new; Mark Twain more than 100 years ago called the congress of the United States the largest, most public aggregation of crooks on the earth.  While nothing has changed on that front the country and the world have become much more dangerous.  We need leaders not place holders.  Representative Cunningham, a war hero, a brave person, is going to prison for eight years for taking bribes.  What would be the population of the congress if all were known about the rest of them?  They are the most disingenuous, lying group of individuals elected by a public that is so poorly educated that the cheapest advertising and media manipulations are effective.

The Democrat party will be returned to power in the year end elections.  It will have nothing to do with their plan, as they have none, but because the Republicans have abdicated their advantage.

We Are Who We Elect

Do our elected representatives really represent the average American?  Alas, I am afraid so.  It is difficult for many to believe but George Bush appears to be head and shoulders above the members of the legislative branch in terms of character, intelligence, and world awareness.  Bush has only a mild record of pandering to public opinion which is why his poll numbers are so low at the moment.  It is my prediction that history will be very kind to him and his presidency; this despite the fact that most historians today have a severe Marxist, left wing bent.  The truth will out no matter how long it takes.

In the case of the Ports and foreign operation of terminals, this is an example of how the congress is really an image of the American people.  There are a few voices of reason among a large group of venal, uninformed, mercurial, fearful, and complacent individuals.  When visiting the Capitol one may look up to see the flags blowing with the wind, the same scene may be found within the offices of the representatives of the people.  These congressmen and senators are job holders plain and simple.

They worry more about their perks than they do about our safety.  They protect their benefactors more than their constituents.  For example it is now coming out that the asbestos and silicosis class action suits are rife with fraud; that law firms apparently paid for false medical diagnoses (in a least 68,000 cases) resulting in immeasurable damage to our legal and business system.  Will the Democrats demand an investigation?  I don’t think so as one Democrat congressman moved to end hearings with the comment that “Trial lawyers get blamed for everything from 9/11 to global warming.”  Decide for yourself what would be happening if this was a Republican issue.  The reverse is also true.

The unbelievably inept system of education in our country is one the great tools that enemies can use against us.  Militarily we can not be defeated.  We have, and are developing more, weapons that can be operated remotely.  We can, and this will most likely be the case, bomb Iran without the loss of a single US military life by using UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles).  These weapons can target and bomb places that are many hours from our shores, accurately and with devastating results, but we can’t get out of our own way in world affairs.  Neither right nor left really understand or care about the rest of the world.

In the United States if it’s not about us we are not interested.

Just a Picture in a Photo Album

I met my new granddaughter yesterday.  She is beautiful and appears to be fully equipped to start her journey through life.  I am already grandfather to two boys, who are also wonderful, but it got me thinking a little.  By the time I became cognizant of life both of my grandfather’s were already dead.  My fraternal grandfather died just weeks before my birth and my maternal grandfather died about a year and a half later.  To me they have always been just pictures in a photo album.  There is no way to know or appreciate dead people, and when they are part of the genetic mix that is you it’s an irreplaceable loss.

Because of distance, and family discord it was impossible for me and my siblings to know our grandmothers very well either.  As I look around and think back it occurs to me that nothing is or can be as valuable to a human being as a stable extended family.  This includes the crazy uncles and aunts, the wacky granddads, and loving grannys.  The ability to see where one’s origins lie, in person, must be a great experience.

My wife and I see our role as grandparents being stress relieve valves for the parents of our grandchildren, and the grandchildren themselves.  I doubt very seriously that, if we can maintain our relationship with these children, that they will turn out to be problem adults; it’s possible but not likely.  Our children still have one set of grandparents living; they lost completely the chance to have a relationship with their maternal grandfather, but did know their grandmother.  These experiences, both happy and sad, have shaped their perspective on life in positive ways.  They are really fine people, and so will their children be.

Society needs families as much or more than families need families.  Children and adults need a safe haven for tough times. It is not easy to maintain healthy family relationships; the slightest blow can disturb the balance for years.  Any family that has weathered the storms of life is to be admired.

I am very happy that for my grandchildren I won’t be just a picture in a photo album.

Its Back

I see from the paper today that AT&T is re-forming despite its breakup in 1981.  At the time I was in the telecom industry at the time and thought that this state of affairs would be the ultimate result.  The rationale for breaking up the Bell System was flawed.  The underlying reason was a good one.  The public reason was to encourage competition and to break up monopoly power.  The real reason was to accelerate technology development and introduction..

In 1981 the Bell System dominated telecommunications in the United States; similar situations existed around the world, the difference being that the Bell System was publicly owned while most others were government owned.  Because of their dominance the Bell Companies preferred to amortize their multi-billion dollar investments over a long period and so were not inclined to rapidly introduce technology that would make their investments obsolete.  MCI changed all that.

The prosperity of the 1990s can not be ascribed to any politician (Bill Clinton) or party (Democrats); the 1990s were a technology boom started by  of all people Richard M. Nixon, or at least his justice department which filed suit in 1974.  Today anyone can start a telephone company; and many are.

The latest refinement of voice over IP is just that; the latest not the last.  Already it is possible to do almost everything over a wireless phone, and with WiFi work can be done almost anywhere.  These things would not be happening at this juncture were it not for the 1981 breakup of the Bell System.  AT&T still owns Bell Laboratories but has little interest in regaining Lucent Technologies, at the time known as Western Electric.  AT&T was, and I emphasize was, the world’s greatest technology company, even now it is hard to miss senior engineers and executives who at one time or other worked for the Bell System.  They are going away to be sure, but they’re still around.

The new AT&T will never again be the force it was and that’s a good thing.

Is There a Culture in the US?

Does the United States have a culture, or in fact any culture?  If you ask our sophisticated European friends the answer is yes the US has a culture but it more like a bacterial one found in sewage.  They would know of course as their various histories and cultural achievements are well known and obvious.  If you ask our unsophisticated enemies who hate us passionately the answer is also yes, the US has a culture that is Satanic, decadent, and one that must be destroyed.  Ironically this latter view of the United States is almost exactly that of our far left leaning fellow citizens.

Actually the United States does have culture, not a culture, but many.  This is why we are loved, hated, envied, emulated, admired, and discounted.  I know this to be true because in my life I have been fortunate in having been able to travel the world and have been exposed to many peoples, cultures, and ideas.  In the United States one can do this almost every day without much trouble.  We are of course a nation of immigrants and as such we have imported everything from everywhere.

The main cultural aspect of the United States is capitalism which is the prism through which we must be viewed.  Capitalism makes success possible as it encourages personal development while socialism breeds self-contempt and ingratitude.  It is human nature to want to do it yourself.  The greatest gift any government can give is the chance to succeed.  All the rhetoric notwithstanding we are a very peaceful people and we hate any endeavor that keeps us from succeeding in our personal lives.  We will fight if forced to but we are not warlike.  Our defense is strong but its use is preferably dissuasive in nature.  We are currently in a situation which feel we have been forced to fight.  We are selfish.

In the United States there is a strong anti-intellectual bias.  My guess is that this is a result of experience with intellectuals in the “Old Country,” whichever old country that might be.  Cuba, for example, is still reeling from Castro’s intellectual takeover.  Our own political left would behave the same way if given a real chance to take over; which is why they won’t get it.  Our citizens have a healthy disrespect for authority and this makes us strong.  We also have, in general, a low level of interest in academic pursuits for their own sake.  College and University are simply for getting ahead and making connections for later life, this is probably true elsewhere but there is a pretence not found in the United States.  This is the reason high school and college graduates to a large degree can not read or write effectively.

We are a shrewd people; a native cunning has evolved from our immigrant natures.  We know how to survive and are not afraid to do so.  We come from everywhere and are disdained for it.  Ask any German and he will tell you that Americans are the dregs of the societies they left.  Americans are the descendants of failures in the homeland.  That probably is the case when viewed from the exalted heights of the European class system, but we like it.

Democracy: The Root of All Evil?

It’s funny the way people hear things.  I saw an article on the TV news about a high school teacher in a Colorado town who had been suspended pending a review of his actions in the classroom.  Apparently he had been interpreting the Bush state of the union speech or at least relating to the students the way he heard the message.  His comments point up the appalling lack of talent in the United States teaching corps and the way liberalism has been twisted so completely out of shape as to have lost its relevance.

This instructor got just about everything wrong.  Of course his opinions are valid in the sense that they are his, but his grip on history is a little loose.  He claims that Bush and Hitler use the same tones of voice and the comments are ethnocentric in nature. It is impossible to be ethnocentric when referring to the United States.  1930s Germany, yes Hitler was focused on the so-called Aryans.  He was also focused on eliminating the Jews.
This Colorado teacher, molder of young minds considers the United States to be the most violent nation on earth.  I guess they don’t have newspapers or internet connections in Colorado or he could inform himself about Iran, a country that imprisons and executes bus drivers for wanting a union.

This situation is a prime example of the failure of liberalism in the West.  I say again they hate themselves, their country, and their lives.  They are embarrassed by their wealth, opportunities, and freedoms.  As they look around the world and realize that only by accident of birth are they able to ski, vote, rant, and rave, instead of scratching out a meager existence under the watchful eye of a mullah or religious policeman they feel left out.

Another point this fellow makes should cause each of us to pause before voting for a Democrat who espouses this position; he considers democracy the governmental system of violent suppression. My guess is that he and his ilk know what is best for the rest of us and once in power would like to continue telling us what to do and how to live.

I saw a bumper sticker yesterday and it read “If you are not appalled you haven’t been paying attention, Vote” Its meaning is not clear and can be interpreted in several ways but if it is what I think it is then it means “If you don’t agree with me you are stupid”.  Of course it could be a protest against higher property taxes but I doubt it.

Journalists have a liberal bias

Journalists have a liberal bias, that much is true, but why is this the case? To a large extent journalists feel that they must keep track of government activity and that they are protecting to the public.  Maybe this was true at one time.  In today’s polarized world this is no longer the case.  In the United States journalists are generally Democrat party hacks, except for FoxNews where they are generally GOP hacks.  There are exceptions of course.  Since the late 1960s journalism has been corrupted by “liberal zeal” and the goal is to unseat the existing government if it has a “conservative” bent.  There has never been a case of a journalist making his/her mark by embarrassing a Democrat president.  No reporter chased Lyndon Johnson around after he escalated the Vietnam war; college students were much more effective.  There were no Dan Rathers.  Dan made his bones chasing Richard Nixon around and Dan never got over it. Yet journalists made excuses for Bill Clinton.

Journalists must always possess a certain quality of cynical naiveté with the emphasis on naiveté.  Part of the problem is that journalists graduate from colleges where Marxist professors hold sway and this influence is insidious as it makes the prosperous college student feel guilty.  As a journalist it is difficult, once one becomes aware of a problem or injustice, to look at it simply as a story and not a crusade.  Journalists also tend to look down on their audience on the basis of the experiences they have that the average Joe never will.  They begin to have a slight case of egomania.  Once awards have been won the authority of the particular journalist is confirmed, they must.  This is obvious from the recent Dick Cheney press riot.

Journalism in the past had a conservative bias.  The Hearst papers actually got wars started.  Liberal bias is a partial reaction to “Yellow Journalism” and is now “Blue Journalism.”  Why else do we get the scare stories of environmental catastrophe, health debacles, earthquakes, hurricanes, all of which would never happen if a Democrat were president?  Why is the general public so gullible?  Well most of the reason for the stories is that there is space in the paper to fill, and if you repeat something often enough it will probably come true.

In the United States and Europe we are rather lucky to have a “free press” which despite its bias is allowed to have one.  In most countries there is no such thing.  The citizens have no real idea of what is going on around them unless they are able to get information from the internet sources or bootleg radio and television signals.  Despite the objections to liberal media they are not a danger.  Anyone who wants to can dig deeper into a story to verify or discount its contents.  So enjoy your freedom, if you have it, and read on.

The Axis of Prosperity

There is a new triangle of economic power being made final.  The Axis of Prosperity composed of India, China, and the United States, will shape the rest of the 21st century both economically and politically.  It is the opportunity of a lifetime and I’m afraid that Europe is going to be left out to a large degree.  One of the positive attributes of the United States is its determination to succeed and survive; our left wing politicians notwithstanding.  Bush’s trip to India is simply highlighting the situation.

Some may not remember but during the 20th century India and China fought two border wars.  Now they are in competition to become the outsource platform for the production of products formerly designed and built in the United States.  This economic shift has been going in fits and starts for several years and is now about to really take off.  Please note that neither country has a majority Muslim population.  Both countries do have large mainly poor populations that are ready to be integrated into the world economy envisioned by One Worlders.  This in itself is not bad rather it is a complication, and should provide full employment for protesters for years to come.

President Bush is being lambasted by Indian Muslims, on the orders of their leaders no doubt, but they do so at the risk of their lives.  It is well known that Hindus and Muslims do not get along and during their frequent massacres the Muslims usually come out on the wrong end of the body count.  That is why we have Pakistan.  India, with the earth’s second largest population, is also the world’s largest democracy.  They do a remarkable job of maintaining the appearance of democracy and encourage entrepreneurship among the appropriate caste members.  This is the fly in the Indian ointment.  Until nations can overcome their ancient cultural mores success will continue to be somewhat elusive.

China on the other hand has the world’s largest population and has it almost under control. I don’t think it’s much of a risky prediction to say that in 50 years both China and India will be unrecognizable in their current form.  There is no way to centrally control 2 billion people from the top down.  This is already evident in the fraying of Chinese society; rampant corruption at local levels of government, increasing instances of demonstrations; usually suppressed by violent police action, and a general discontent about the wealth generation being closely held.

Should the United States be successful in managing its relationship with these two giants and successfully help them manage the transition to come, then the world will be a much better place.  Unfortunately there are still the Arabs and Iran to be dealt with in the short term.

My prediction: look for fires in Iran and bombers returning to US bases.

Islam -Its Heart Revealed

Islam is revealing its true nature and is matching up to my view that religion is just another political system that is designed to command and control its adherents. There is peace in Islam. Since its founding in 622 AD by Mohammed Islam has been at war. First with the local populations and then through wars of conquest and of conversion by the sword. Today is no different. Modern Islam is a pale reflection of its intellectual past and its modern leaders are nothing more than thugs and murderers.

What is happening in the world today is the result of ignorance, illiteracy, self-hatred, and fear that Islam is irrelevant. All religion as currently practiced is irrelevant when confronted by democracy. There are no votes in church.

The Arabic contribution to the world is immense, the concept of zero, medical discoveries, advances in mathematics, Algebra ( Al-Gebra) for example are just a few of the ancient human gains from Arabic minds. Where have these thinkers gone? Today they are hiding from the religious police because science can be at odds with religion. The examples from Iran, not an Arab nation, of Islamic death squads prove that individual freedom of thought and expression are inimical to the ayatollahs and mullahs.

Religion is designed to provide guidance, solace, and hope. Islam and many Christian sects are great in the guidance department but need work in the other two. Everything that is transpiring in today’s world is a perversion of religious intent and thought. Of course this is not new especially where acquisition of wealth, power, and domination are concerned. The hypocritical behavior of Muslim leaders is so egregious that they don’t even notice it. They are like children blinded by their own fears and desires, unaware of the rest of the world. The result is piles of dead human beings who should still be alive and striving to make lives. The difference between modern Islam and Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, and North Korea is difficult to discern. It is time to recognize that no amount of appeasement is going to prevent destructive behavior. In fact appeasement will encourage more outrageous acts of violence.

This is a late post

This is a late post because I have been thinking about it for a while.  Now is the time for the Democrat party to come up with ideas instead of complaints.  I believe George is tired and will be extremely glad when he is no longer the president.  The Democrats have put the nation through six years of high school recriminations and it hasn’t been fun.  It is tiresome, though amusing, to constantly have to watch their antics and listen to what passes for intellect in Democrat circles.  The most prominent Democrats are the Hollywood nut cases.  These are people who earn a living pretending to be someone else.  Some will even say that they get so wrapped up in their character portrayals that they lose sight of themselves.  How did they get to be the spokespeople of the great unwashed about whom they care nothing?

In the case of the terminal management system being ceded to Dubai George is wrong.  We do not and can not trust Arabs.  Nearly all Arabs are Muslims, but nowhere near all Muslims are Arabs.  We must cast our xenophobia in terms of Arabs not Muslims. Xenophobia it is, and ironically enough it is the world loving Democrats that now postulate this theory.  As usual Al Gore is behind the curve, two weeks ago he was praising the Saudis and castigating the horrible treatment the United States has foisted upon its Arabic citizens.  In the first place the Democrat party –line is that the Saudi’s are our enemies and in the second no Arabic citizens of the United States have been treated horribly.  Poor Al I guess inventing the Internet was too much for him and he’s never recovered his strength.

Unfortunately for the Democrats they will not change their behavior, which is good for the United States, but again tiresome for its citizens.  How can they let such an opportunity pass them by?  Do they really think that Barak Obama and Bush hating are keys to success?  We’ll have to wait and see.

New York Poofery

Thank goodness for Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, ever since Mad Magazine went out of business a good replacement has been missing.  Now we have the New York Senators.  The Senators are a comedy duo that is unsurpassed for their slapstick and posturing.  They are delightful in their inanity and can always be counted on to provide a great show!  While not particularly photogenic, they more than make up for this limitation by providing intellectual distractions that draw attention away from their physical ailments.

Their latest routine, Stop The Arabs At Our Ports, is a hilarious act that trumps the need for sensitivity towards others, injects a lively dose of racism, while still maintaining an anti-military, anti-Bush cacophony that drowns out reason.

Oh!  If only they and their friends could be in charge of real life.  Think of the capitalist deals that wouldn’t be made, imagine everyone “working” for the government.  All pay all play all the time, which should be their platform.  What a wonderful world it would be, why Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro could make cameo or guest appearances, just think of the ratings.

Their act of stopping the sale of P&O to DP World is amazing; its high wire suspense is without match.  Imagine, two senators will direct shareholders of two companies from two different countries about how to behave!  This is wonderful how great the USA is now and will be under their tutelage.  Theirs is an act that you must take in at the soonest opportunity.  See them now while the show is still on the road, before they hit the big time.

Remember you heard it here first.

A Tiger on the loose

It’s not a good idea to twist a tiger’s tail.  This is especially true if that tiger’s name is Woods.  Yesterday at the Accenture World Match Play Championships, part one held at La Costa, Tiger Woods put on a display of golf that hasn’t been seen in a long, long time.  In fact at the professional level one would have to go back to the Hagen – Jones match during the 1920s to find such a lopsided win.  Sir Walter took Bobby to the cleaners with a score of 11 and 7 over 36 holes.  Tiger’s accomplishment is even stronger.

Stephen Ames, an Australian pro and relatively new to the PGATOUR, inadvertently antagonized the world’s best golfer.  He did so by commenting that as Tiger hits the ball wildly all over the course yet still manages to score well that anything could happen and that Ames might even defeat Tiger.  You know the old saying “Better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and confirm it.” apparently Ames didn’t heed the warning.

Tiger Woods is the world’s consummate pissed off golfer.  If he was able to play at yesterday’s level all the time there would be no need for anyone to worry about 1st place.  Tiger took Ames apart winning 9 and 8 a total that is incredible in professional golf where the level of skill separation is comparable to the difference between a gold medal in speed skating and the last place finisher; milliseconds.

Tiger obviously had something to prove and prove it he did.  His demeanor from hole to hole showed that he was enjoying grinding Ames and also proving that his skills are among the best of all golfers ever.  To win eight straight holes from another professional is difficult to defeat one 9 and 8 is tantamount to pitching a shutout in Major League Baseball.

Tiger does run hot and cold, yesterday he was HOT!  I am looking forward to seeing him surpass Jack Nicklaus and in a shorter period.

I hope the Supreme Court Bans Partial Birth Abortion

The latest hypocrisy from California is out and about on the news shows.  The anesthesiologists who pacify the criminal before execution are refusing to do so on the grounds that their job is to save lives no take them.  What a joke!  Personally I think the execution of criminals is too good for them and that life in solitary confinement is a better punishment.  These doctors, however, are just plain liars.

Partial birth abortion, the act of bringing a baby halfway out of the womb and then crushing its skull, or sucking its brain out, is murder.  I fully expect the Supreme Court to uphold the ban on this barbaric practice.  The liberals prefer to call it “late term abortion,” its late alright; the fully developed human infant is killed just as it enters the world.  We have more sympathy for animals than we do people.

The parents of this victim, the doctors, nurses, and anyone else associated with this practice should themselves be imprisoned for life.  How, and I hope someone will tell me, can a medical person opposed to the execution of murderers, themselves commit murder and smile about it when the bill is paid?  When these hypocrites relax with a drink in their Malibu homes, gazing out at their domain feeling comfortable in the knowledge that they have gotten away with murder, they must feel great knowing how wonderful they are.

There can never be a reason to murder a baby that has been brought to full term.  Babies are frequently born prematurely and live full lives.  I am 58 years old and have a friend born 58 years ago prematurely; he is still living and has made valuable contributions to society.  What are we losing through this particular abortion technique?

I have said before that the straw man of women’s reproductive rights is a false argument.  A woman has no need of abortion to succeed in today’s world.  My advice to women and men is to behave responsibly, don’t get drunk, and have intercourse which may result in pregnancy.  Take a birth control measure.  If a woman’s success depends on control of her uterus then it is she who must control it, she must behave responsibly and insist that her male partner do the same.  If orgasm is the goal, use a rubber or use a dildo, the result is the same: no pregnancy.

I am afraid that the so called reproductive rights of women is simply a license for promiscuity and is in a fact a false premise that enables men another chance to have sex with a woman they barely know.  I promote promiscuity with responsibility and the application of common sense.  By all means have sexual intercourse as often as possible, its fun, gratifying, and an act of humanity; but be careful.

By allowing partial birth or late term abortion we get in the habit of not facing our problems, rather we learn how to take the easy way out.  This is dangerous because in certain situations the task of survival obviates the easy way out.

Big Problem for Bush

Physical security is a good thing, so why take chances with the security of the ports of the USA? It will be interesting to see how President Bush gets out of the political mess he is in. The issue of UAE managing US ports is the first real blunder of his presidency, because it is offending both parties thus unifying opposition. The war in Iraq only antagonized the far left, at least at the beginning, and they have been expending political capital to their disadvantage ever since. Personally the war in Iraq while the correct action has been woefully mishandled; ease of goal accomplishment was terribly overestimated. But even that has not pushed Bush to the wall as this issue will.

I saw Chuck Schumer on Fox News yesterday and he was behaving very reasonably. If I was a born again Christian I would take this as a sign of the rapture being near. A Republican congressman has been the first to take Bush to task on this issue. Things can’t be good.

Here is another aspect of the problem: are all Muslims terrorists? This is the insulting conclusion of the opposition to the UAE’s role in this situation. Of course the answer is no, yet there are enough of them to take no chances. How will this failure to implement play on the “Arab Street”? Why should we care?

This is definitely a chink in the security armor of the Bush administration and you can be certain the media will have a field day. All of a sudden the main stream media will become Hawks and abandon their compassion for murderers in an attempt to foment rage against the administration. They will be successful, and I must say it is the President’s fault. He has even jeopardized Condoleezza Rice’s career by putting her out front in favor of this action.

I hate to say it but I think George Bush is getting tired. This is no surprise given what he has had to deal with for the last six years. Still, given Al Gore’s latest behavior we are lucky to have George. Al would most likely have UAE help Osama kill the rest of us. His pathetic pandering to the Saudis is an example of what his policies would have been.

George Bush will back down on the issue of the ports and the loss will not be so great because there is bi-partisan outrage. The next problem facing him will be anger among our Arab allies and from the left no matter who is chosen to administer the ports.

Religion Part 4 Random thoughts on the subject

Who are these religious leaders? Does the Pope really believe the doctrine, or does he just have a really great job? The Church has been the repository of pedophiles since time immemorial, where do you suppose human sacrifice came from? Was this ritual a simple propitiation of the gods, or is it possible that serial killers were able to function legitimately? The abuse of religious power, though muted today, is still with us. The gullible, the frightened, the retarded, are all potential victims of these “holy men” why does this persist?

Looking back through time provides evidence of the darker side of mankind. From ancient times religions have been hotbeds of death and destruction. There are some peaceable religions, the Maoris for example, but not very many. The Jewish and Christian scriptures are a record of mayhem, infidelity, war, incest, etc. The Word of God? Well, which God?

The only religion that actually worships only one God is the Jewish religion. Christianity has at least three; they posit this multiple personality god, The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit (or Ghost). Islam has two: Allah and Mohammed, that this is true simply review the “blasphemy” of the recent Danish cartoons. Blasphemy can only be committed against the deity. Of course the Pagan pantheon is well known, as is the ancient Egyptian and South American religious icons. So why do these jobs continue to attract people?

The answer is obvious, power is the prime motivator. It is amazing how many otherwise intelligent people allow someone else to dominate their lives. In the USA, in my town, we have “evangelical churches” with facilities that dominate the landscape, have congregations of 5,000 or more, and who discourage fraternization with others who are not members. The problem is not going away.

The Roman Church, the one I was raised in, has a long history of violent repression of contrary ideas, of sexual profligacy, of out right robbery and murder. Who needs television; truth is indeed stranger and more horrific than fiction.

Religion Part3

People who take jobs in religious establishments are by definition power seekers.  They frequently find themselves in conflict with their flocks.  This is one, if not the main, reason there are so many sects in each and every religion.  Power and domination are the ego satisfiers of church leaders; adulation is their wealth; though most are monetarily wealthy as well.  Through the ages secular political development has followed two paths.  The struggle for freedom has been rebellion against high or noble birth, and its accompanying wealth and privilege; and rebellion against spiritual domination by those who hold wealth and privilege and wear the uniform of the priesthood.

In today’s world many of the world’s great religions are reduced to shadows and even caricatures of themselves; perhaps parody would be descriptive.  In days of old though, they were the repositories of untold wealth and authority.  Kings quaked before the religious leaders.  Constantine co-opted Christianity and became the de facto Pope ruling on religious matters from a political perspective.  The faithful were disdained from a safe distance.  Today this behavior is observable in Muslim cultures where the Imams dictate the living of every day life and these dictates are ignored at one’s peril.

I am not picking on Islam, they are simply the only ones still in the game.  Christianity has been relegated to the sidelines for nearly two hundred years.  In its prime Christianity gave us the Inquisition, the slaughter of several brands of “heretic,” even during the Crusades Christians in the Holy Land were murdered by their fellows for their wealth.  Education has been the downfall of Religion.  They behavior of the priests has always been reprehensible but without knowledge to combat their authority the populace simply accepted their situation in hope of heaven.  What a disappointment that must have been.

Violence rather than peace has been the hallmark of religion even today that tradition is carried on.  Fire and brimstone awaits anyone who fails to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.  Death to Infidels is the cry throughout the Middle East.  Death to Queers is heard in the United States.  White Christians must kill black ones, and Jews can be added to the list.  The roll call is endless Hindu against Muslim, Muslims against all.  Even the strictly orthodox Jews are violent against non-believers. Let’s not forget that in religion it is primarily a man’s world when it comes to making the rules and enforcing them.

What then is the alternative?  Spirituality is overrated in my opinion.  This is especially true when people feel they have to let you know what driving them and want you to come along.