Once Upon A Whistle Stop...

Politics…

I wasn't alive prior to the sixties but I think I’d prefer the late eighteen hundred to early nineteen hundred period of ’American style’ political campaigning over the current 'modern' version. Back then, the personal appearances made by decent political contenders were thoughtfully well spaced out, beautifully brief and considerately far and few between. One of the most important times was when candidate came to town on an actual train.
The true, old fashioned whistle stop method was practical, purposeful and probably most economical too. It was a chance to get out and meet the public, to press the flesh, to see and be seen, and yes, maybe even kiss a few babies. Some candidates didn’t even stop in every single town, but slowed down quite a bit when approaching the more sparsely populated villages, content with just waving from the rear platform of the final car at those prospective future constituents, fully assured that as news of their actions of merit, superior intelligence and personable strength spread, they would get your winning vote.

Politicians don’t have that kind of confidence anymore. It seems they have all developed low self esteem issues and now they need to come at you all over again within moments of you casting your final winning vote. Each candidate insists you be inoculated, inundated and totally saturated with them and their opinions, afraid to let you have a moment’s peace, lest you forget about them. The plotting, maneuvers and mudslinging must begin again in earnest, at full force, even if that election for the post of ‘whatever’ won’t actually be held again for another four years.

No longer is a coal fired locomotive engine required, now money and media drive the political monster. In modern times, it takes boatloads of both to keep a guy (or girl, for that matter), in the public eye, and ear 24/7. Buying that kind of total media saturation required through television, radio, cable, Internet and press exposure it takes BIG money known in the ‘biz’ as the campaign ‘war chest’. The higher the office, the bigger that war chest fund must be. Some of them, amount to millions and millions of dollars. I won’t bore you here, with a list of these ongoing, outgoing campaign expenses… Heck, I’m not running for office so you can trust me when I say, it’s a massive list. The fund raising drives for donations and campaign contributions must start early and continue ceaselessly if the candidate has even a slim hope of winning, to cover all those ongoing expenses which only get bigger, the further up the political ladder you try to go.

As a result, we now have people running for office, all year long, year in, year out. It would be unheard of to allow themselves (or us), a well deserved break from campaigning. Strange enough most of those who actually do get elected, and make it to that shiny, new desk, seem to decide that then, is the best time, to go on some sort of vacation….Once in office, they never seem to have the same intense drive and dogged determination to do as well for all of us, (their once valuable constituents), the voters….as they did for themselves.

Yes, I think I’d rather like the old way, with the candidates waving at me from a distant train. Only speaking at certain whistle stops, where reporters could quote the wise, witty and encouraging things they’d say. I think maybe they were actually smarter then, back when they knew that too much of anything actually lessens the demand for it. That supply and demand ‘rules’ work… even in politics and that flooding the market with something, (even themselves) tends to reduce its value. This new breed of needy, greedy, media driven politicians could use a lesson or two there.

Super Sized Stupid...

This struggling economy worldwide has made so many things seem scarce…But never fear, stupidity is still alive and so well fed it’s now apparently overweight. That’s right, it’s still here, BIG as life and as foolish as ever.

This time stupidity shows up disguised as a man some may refer to as Martin Kessman. He currently seems to be under the impression that his being overweight must confer him extra special benefits in this universe, like having the business’s he chooses to frequent, remodel and rebuild to accommodate his expansive girth.

Mr Kessman has sent several letters of complaint to the fast food, burger franchise “White Castle” complaining their booth seating is too small for him specifically, (because he banged his knee) and he is unable to squeeze himself into them ‘comfortably’. White Castle sent him back letters of apology, letting him know they planned to expand their booth seating size and then they even added coupons for free burgers to help sooth his wounded ego in the meantime.

Apparently he didn’t feel White Castle was doing enough for him personally, so Mr Kessman filed what can only be described as a frivolous lawsuit against the burger broker claiming they have violated his civil rights….Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, because he is obese.

I think the only disability this guy has is mental deficiency and maybe greed. Although they may have unwittingly aided in the process, is not White Castles fault that he actively chose to increase his own body mass beyond unhealthily overweight, to the point where he is unable to fit into a fairly roomy booth space. Despite now, not being able to fit the seating, Mr Kessman continues onward and outward, undaunted in his gluttonous burger binging by sending his wife to pick them up regularly for him…After all, every one of those well and fully cultivated fat cells add dramatically to his ‘super sized’ stupid and his Americans with Disabilities street cred, don’t they?

Electrifyingly Simple Stuff....

Electric cars…

They DO sound good but, this is one of those concepts that looks better on paper than it does in reality, at least so far. This is a complex, multifaceted problem that has been too rushed in some directions and much too long delayed in others. As a result, it resembles a fledgling cook’s first attempt at making the holiday family dinner. The rolls are burnt, the turkey’s still frozen and the gravy’s gone so stiff it could be tile grout.

The artistry and brilliant science of those innovative car makers who are trying to head down the alternative fuels path IS admirable, but I seriously question the intelligence behind those electric versions that rely on the use of stored battery power and that are ‘fueled’ via plugging in to a heavy duty power outlet.

So far it’s obvious this ‘Plug~In’ Rechargeable Electric Vehicle Plan’ isn’t going to free us from (or even lessen), our reliance (dependence) on costly foreign oil, vanishing fossil fuels or the frightening possible scenarios of (still barely understood) nuclear energy…Remember, it STILL takes (at least) one of those fuels to spin the turbines that create electricity, that comes to the outlet the cord plugs into, that leads to the batteries, which power the Ultra/Uber expensive electric car that the 'Average Joe' and 'Sensible Cindy' kind of driver really can’t afford the purchase price of, even with financing.

Solar power still looks to be the best way to get the job done. We need to get the brilliant minds developing the innovative, hair thin, energy collection films that can be used on any surfaces (even clear glass) together with the inventors of lightweight rechargeable energy storage devices and then convince them to share their brand new toys with some of the clever car kids…

Now, if only we could keep the Big Bullies who have been holding sway over the political playgrounds out of the smart kids sandbox. Oh, you know ’em, there’s The Bruiser Big Oil, Nasty Nuclear, Coal the Cootie and the Stinky Kids, those Stock Market Profiteers…
Ok, that’s the plan….So, who’s going to take playground duty this week?

And So It Begins...April 2011

April 2011. Astrologically, so many changes in the heavens, some have happened already and some are soon to be coming. Those changes made me see that it is imperative that I share what I know to help others deal with how things are unfolding. I hope sharing this helps to ease your journey along your own personal path..Anyway, here goes guys. On march 11th, 2011 Uranus which rules, among lots of other things, tension, energy and the unexpected, moved into the sign action oriented fire sign of Aries. Japan had a monumentally damaging earthquake. Jupiter (ruling expansion and excess) has also been in Aries since January 22nd, this combination is notable for creating havoc, namely earthquakes and flooding. Within hours of that huge Japan quake they also suffered a devastating tsunami wave that scoured whole cities off the face of the earth. Mercury also already in Aries made this a planetary 'triple header' with all 3 squaring off against Pluto (rules underground and what is hidden) in the cardinal earth sign of of Capricorn and Saturn (rules structural things) in the cardinal air sign of Libra. The moon moving into the cardinal sign of watery Cancer made this even more difficult exposing the real level of problems the world suspected concerning Japan's nuclear reactors being damaged and leaking. So, what more can we expect for this month? The possibilities are endless...Planetary positions of note are: Sun in Aries on march 21st, through April 2oth. Mercury in retrograde in Aries through April 23rd.Venus in Pisces moves into Aries on April 21st. Mars in Aries on April 2nd. Jupiter in Aries. Saturn in Libra. Uranus in Aries. Neptune in Pisces on April 4th and Pluto in Capricorn, going retrograde on April 9th. This makes for some explosive 'celestial gunpowder' sprinkled through our day to day activities throughout the month of April. I wont go through aspects moment to moment but will lay out some possible ramifications. Military action as political unrest and economic unbalance has bloomed in so many countries, there will be world-wide implications involved here. Mercury retrograde will cause more havoc by hampering communication as well as the causing misinterpretation of what has been said, done or written. The stock market may have another short hot 'bubble' situation, (but don't expect it to last), it will be a fast, hot flare and burn itself out quickly. A few possible positive sectors will be weaponry, iron and steel, tools and tool making, sports and health equipment, and surgical instruments. Fuel prices keep scaling upward as those in control of it can continue to manipulate our perceptions about it's scarcity and availability. We may see some strides made toward viable 'safer' forms of power, both in fuel and electrical but it might just as easily be a 'rediscovery' of something once dismissed. The point of this post is to remind you to keep your cool, things are mighty combustible this month on every level and it will only effect you as far as you allow it to. When things start to get a little too 'hot under your collar' please try to remember my little Tao Of Duckie: Anger, held long, will only steal away your strength...Allow no thing and no one to steal away more than they are due.

Tweaking Twain and Outrageous Claims

"Outrageous"....That seems to be my most often said word this week. And it's been just about a full week with that word sprinkled liberally across the top of it all...with any number of rude expletive's following those many outbursts of 'Outrageous' exclamations.

It seems while we were all sleeping our way through life, yet another foolish soul has come along. This one has decided that Mark Twain's classic rendering of the fictional tale 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' is actually quite a poor product and needs to be 'fixed'. This foolish man thinks that one word in the story, 'Nigger' is wrong. It shouldn't be there and it needs to be struck out in every instance where it is used. He also thinks it would be a far better product and more widely accepted by the world at large, with the word 'Slave' were inserted in place of every 'Nigger' word deletion instead.

This foolish man thinks that the use of the word 'Nigger' is insulting, debasing, and politically non-correct. which it is. But, it's use mainly casts the worst light on the user of the word, and gives us a rough idea of the users callous and rude nature rather than the one it is directed at. I'm guessing that this foolish man doesn't know many other people out there in the work-a-day-world and hasn't come to realize lately the only people who seem to use the word 'Nigger' now-a-days are most often black themselves...(Its use looks to have fallen out of favor in most other groups for some strange reason). Within the black community the word 'Nigger is tossed about with proliferate abandon, imagine that... The last real stronghold of its spoken use is actually within the VERY GROUP of people themselves, who are first in line to call it what it is, an insult, a derogatory term or degrading name.

Now you'd think this foolish mans name would spring 'lightning quick' to your fore brain (likely it wont), and lips just as fast and easily as Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain. After all, he MUST be at LEAST as good and prolific a writer as Twain himself to think he knows how to 'FIX' whats wrong and surely that's been the root cause of what's been hanging up the popularity and acceptance of Twain's work. Goodness knows once he (so clearly and obviously the better writer of the two), straightens out this little 'glitch' and puts it right....That poor old devil Twain might FINALLY have a slim chance at getting his book on the New York Times best sellers list...Then Twain can REALLY start making a name for himself....

You'll notice I do not endeavour to produce this foolish man's name for you, nor put it into print here (or anywhere else). I think he's already gotten far more exposure than he deserves and web crawling search engines would latch on to any reference to his actual name that I might use...if I did...and keep the foolish man in the ill gained literary spotlight and wielding what little influence he has, in the public eye even longer.

The worst and most ironic part of the entire tale is that he...'The Foolish Man' is somehow responsible for the conservatory of Twain's literature...This smacks a bit of letting the fox conserve the hen house with this newest development. He says replacing the word Nigger with Slave 'Will facilitate the story being more widely read and accepted'...Now all we have to do is to 're-write' it...
Well, why don't we slap a 'Speedo' on the statue of David...then more people might feel better about looking at it. Hey, lets update the Mona Lisa while we're at it, with some red lips, paler skin and maybe a dab or two of blue eye shadow...Then surely more people will want to take a peek at her less homely visage.

No, I don't believe it is wise to perpetuate foolishness and further dumbing down of the world at large under the guise and often misused banner of 'political correctness', when we start to feel we have the 'right' to do so.....is exactly the moment in time that we start to loose our right to free speech and self expression.
Keeping the original work.....original and as intended? Why, why....That's outrageous!