C-SPAN

November 16, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Politics | No Comments

How many of you watch C-Span?

No one? That’s about what I thought. Why would we want to watch our elected officials make asses out of themselves in real time when John Stewart can just give us the basic stupidity without all the Boring. We KNOW nothing intelligent goes on in the Halls of Congress. We KNOW we are constantly electing guys who have less skills than your average 7-11 clerk. Why would we want that insidious reminder playing on our TV set?

Well – they have C-Span out here in the Middle East. And it’s a premium. That’s right – you have to pay EXTRA to get Democracy in action on your cable network out here. Hannah Montana? Free. Family Fat Surgeon? Free. The Ellen DeGeneres Show ? Even that is free (I can’t get rid of it no matter how hard I try…). But C-Span will cost you. And these suckers pay for it! This is where the Middle East learns how America works.

After the last few months of the Health Care debate, God help us all…

Political Jokes

August 13, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 8 Comments

I saw Hillary’s little outburst in the Congo last night (that you, Jon Stewart). It was very funny. Here you have some poor guy who has this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, gets his question mangled by a translator and then gets snapped at by our Secretary of State. Where did she think she was? Did she actually think this guy was a Fox News plant trying to make her look bad? If she’s going to be so touchy, maybe diplomacy is not her strong suit. In other words – there was a reason why she didn’t win the nomination.

There are many funny things about the current Health Care Carnival, but here are two:
I find it very amusing to see all the noisy crowds at the various Town Hall meetings. Mainly, because many in the crowd are over 65 and, um, their healthcare is ALREADY COVERED BY THE GOVERNMENT! So obviously they must be worried about the children…. Or America… or school prayer… something. Just not healthcare.

And I find it hilarious that the Democrats have agreed to have these Town Hall meetings. Because none of them know what’s in the bill! Or which bill they are talking about. From what I’ve heard, there could be as many as six bills on the table. Everything they say is thoroughly incomprehensible. I hear nothing but babbling on the TV. There could be death panels. There could be pet insurance. There could be provisions to only treat children with lollipops. How would anybody know? The rumors are easier to follow than the facts.

Finally – Sarah Palin. A good laugh anytime. If she thinks the government insurance will ration her care, she obviously hasn’t met Oxford Insurance. Do these yahoos think actual doctors and nurses answer the phones at these companies? Truth is – their previous jobs were working the phones for Time Magazine subscriptions. In India.

At least it’s a distraction from it being August…

Elections

May 18, 2009 | Filed Under Politics | No Comments

We in Kuwait have just had elections for our National Assembly – the second in a year because… well, politics suck. Especially in a wealthy, third world country that has taken all the bad/none of the good parts of an American Democracy (that goes for American TV and American food as well).

But lo and behold – Hell froze over and women were elected to the Assembly for the first time! Not one, not two – but FOUR!! And for the first time in many elections, the fundamentalists lost seats. Whether this will unstick the government from lethargy, corruption and self-serving grandstanding remains to be seen. But it IS hopeful.

The Right blames Obama.

Wall Street

March 25, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 2 Comments

I never really trusted Wall Street, but lately it just seems to be in total chaos. It is acting shell-shocked. It jumps at everything! CitiGroup says it made a dollar and the market goes up. Bernanke eats a bad shrimp and the market goes down. A report comes out saying unemployment is up and Wall Street drops to its knees in agony. Hell – they need a report for that? Was the report a surprise?

What is God’s name is going on? Whatever happened to investing for the long term? What about all the garbage they taught us about 401ks – always with a condescending look in their eye? Talking to children about big finances. “We know you don’t understand, but trust us. We’re experts.” Where are those experts now?! At least we laymen thought they would better understand a company’s worth and value. That doesn’t seem to matter anymore. What matter is how Wall Street feels. Does it feel good or does it feel uneasy? I swear – the government is acting like a parent with a stubborn child, offering treats for good behavior. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO FUNDAMENTALS??

Aren’t we glad they didn’t put our Social Security money in there?

Politicians = 4th Graders

March 19, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 3 Comments

… not to insult fourth graders.

A year ago, New Jersey’s politicians were saving the world from Foie gras. Today – Behold!

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey is drawing the line when it comes to bikini waxing.
The state Cosmetology and Hairstyling Board is moving toward a ban on genital waxing altogether after two women reported being injured. Both women were hospitalized for infections following so-called “Brazilian” waxes. Technically, genital waxing has never been allowed — only the face, neck, abdomen, legs and arms are permitted. But because it wasn’t specifically banned, state regulators haven’t enforced the law.
The board will decide on April 14 whether to adopt explicit language banning genital waxing, which it has already done preliminarily.
The earliest the ban would take effect would be sometime in May.
Salons which continue to perform the bare-it-all “Brazilian” could face fines.

What’s next? Itchy toilet paper?

News?

March 8, 2009 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 4 Comments

The Media must die.
Or at least take a vacation.

Too many outlets, too much time on their hands and not enough REAL reporting. How can there be enough space to reprint every half-baked rumor and outright lie and yet NO time for investigative journalism. The Media has become purveyors of Spam and news is just processed cheese-food on a cracker. Bad enough that every website I open sings out to me of which third rate former TV star is now arrested for DUI. Bad enough that ‘OctoMom’ can rightly see a meal ticket in giving birth to a basketball team and now I have to feel for her because of the ongoing backlash. BAD ENOUGH even that every program from “Hardball” to “John & Kate Plus Eight” show the Wall Street ticker at the bottom of the screen like some kind of macbre death-watch!

But now the Media demands that I know that all our members of Congress are busy “Twittering” during sessions? And I thought it wasn’t possible to think less of them! What the hell is Twitter anyway? What vile scum created THAT? Why do we care what members of Congress are doing since they are obviously NOT DOING THEIR JOB? Why can’t they just drink like our fore-fathers??!

And I’m a billion miles away from y’all. So my options for news are the icky-gushy, melodramatic brain freeze that is CNN/FOX/MSNBC or the death and destruction of the rest of the world that is Al Jazeera. I could watch even less than I do, but I might miss something.

Stimulus Package

February 2, 2009 | Filed Under Politics | 4 Comments

I know – you’re sick of hearing about it and so am I. And I’m sick of hearing about it from both sides. Seriously, to have to watch John Kerry get his butt kicked again on Meet The Press (this time by Kay Bailey Hutchinson) is just unbearable. GET THAT MAN OFF THE TV!!!! He should never speak in public again.

And this bill is FULL of nonsense. Granted, I have not been able to find a website yet that listed everything that is in the bill. But some of what I have read reminds me why I hate Dems as well. $650 million for digital TV conversion? $75 million for smoking cessation programs? $400 million for HIV and chlamydia testing? Do we really need those things RIGHT NOW?! It’s a pork barrel fiesta! All those “feel good” programs they wanted all these years – finally home at last. It’s an absolute disgrace.

HOWEVER – I reckon that pork to only be about 30-40% of the total package. The rest is of the bill is useful. The rest of the bill is necessary. But more important – the rest of the bill will benefit me! I got nothing out of the last two bailouts – not a single check to not spend. The last 8 years only saw my taxes go up (thanks AMT!). The previous administration did squat for me except make all those wealthy people spend their extra money recklessly, invest in phony deals and collapse the entire system. They might as well have been snorting cocaine with all that trickle-down-private-investment capital the Reps moan about in their sleep every night. They don’t get that money again. Not now.

I say – let Reps bitch and moan. They’re not wrong. It’s just that their options are worse and they do not benefit me. And -right now? – that’s all there is.

Play The Numbers

November 7, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 4 Comments

I’m very happy about the election. I’ve been voting for 28 years and this is only my second win. I blame the candidates our side put up (some were truly piss poor).

But for eight years, my side of the argument has been told to sit down and shut up because right wing, conservatives were the majority. President Dimwit – we were told – had a mandate from the people.

Really? Let’s just take a look at the actual for the last three elections:

2000
Popular Vote – Bush =50,456,002; Gore=50,999,897
% of vote-Bush= 47.9% ; Gore= 48.4%
Electoral- Bush= 271; Gore= 266

2004
Popular Vote- Bush=62,040,610; Kerry=59,028,444
% of vote – Bush= 50.7%; Kerry= 48.3%
Electoral- Bush= 286; Kerry= 252

2008
Popular vote- Obama=66,917,482; McCain=58,362,971
% of vote-Obama= 53%; McCain= 46%
Electoral- Obama=364; McCain= 173

So – who’s got a mandate? Heck, Kerry beat McCain! And Bush NEVER won as many votes.

I don’t believe in gloating, but….

Election Day

November 4, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 4 Comments

Flying back to Kuwait after my whirlwind weekend. I was out before the polls opened and I will touch ground around midnight tonight US time. By the time I get off the plane, we should have a new President. Thank god I won’t have to listen to the steady stream of predictions that should start around 9AM.

Let’s get out and vote and hope for the best.

Palin… briefly

October 8, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 9 Comments

Sarah Palin is nothing but one of those “golly-gosh-set-a-spell-have-a-beer-let’s-shoot-somethin’” local bumpkins the either party brings out every few years when they need a gimmick to win. She is an old, well worn political hack-trick who usually has about as much substance as tissue paper. It is extremely cynical and very annoying… but sometimes dangerous. I would refer you all to the classic 1950’s film with Andy Griffith called “A Face In The Crowd”. She is as much “one of us” as Britney Spears. I wouldn’t have either one as an acquaintance… let alone, you know, leader of the Free World.

Chump Change

September 23, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 6 Comments

That’s what $700 Billion must be these days. Something you just find under the sofa. Stuffed in that Lincoln-head cookie jar. 700 trillion pennies (?). That’s why it should only take Congress (that fast-acting entity in DC) seven days to agree to spend it. For a country whose currency is scrapping the floor, we certainly spend like drunken sailors. (The new Zimbabwe?) Of course, you and I never see that kind of dough for healthcare or education or anything else. But I’ve always been more concerned with the fortunes of the Lehman and Merrill CEOs. They are so unique and special….

But the best is a statement I found on a website from the White House Deputy Press Secretary, Tony Fratto (thanks, Terry):

“Fratto insisted that the plan was not slapped together and had been drawn up as a contingency over previous months and weeks by administration officials. He acknowledged lawmakers were getting only days to peruse it, but he said this should be enough. ”

????

They planned to take over all the banks? That’s so… un-American and un-Republican. Once again the rest of us are left in a position of having to trust these jackasses because well it is a crisis, isn’t it?

If this bill passes (which it will), life as we know it will change drastically. The only chumps left are the American people. I wouldn’t want to be president next year…

Wall Street

September 16, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 1 Comment

wow…

And it’s not even October… As they said on Hill Street Blues – “Be careful out there.”

Say – who do you think is going to pay for all these bailouts? Could it be the “lower taxes” mantras on both sides are just so much crap at this point? How do you pay for wars, bail out major corporations, pump money into areas devastated by natural disasters AND lower taxes?

Sounds like a ponzi scheme to me…

Conventions

September 5, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 2 Comments

First – Thank God they are over.

Second – The only bit of the Dems I watched was Obama’s speech the morning after. So I watched just McCain’s speech as well (at least up until the point where he started “My opponent will raise taxes! My opponent will increase government! My opponent will suckle terrorists!” – all that holy horseshit some are taught at birth). Up to that point, I was thinking about all the folks in his own party who screwed him over the past eight years and I thought – though I could be wrong – But I thought I saw the look of revenge in his eyes. And for a moment, that made the concept of a McCain presidency very interesting.

But then he said the word ‘choice’ and I threw my Pop Tart at the TV and turned it off. He was, of course, referring to health care and tossing aside all the uninsured and those struggling to pay insurance by offering instead ‘choice’. Choice and the Market. Let me tell you – as someone who has vetted insurance companies for small businesses for 20 years – that is the greatest lie in the Republican platform. There is no choice. For one, most employers are not allowed to offer a choice of insurance packages. Most insurers don’t like competing for dollars within a company. You have to choose one. Now some insurance companies won’t take you because you’re too big. Others because you are not big enough. Others won’t bid on your firm because they don’t like your firm’s risk assessment (too many babies, large cancer claims, maybe an AIDS case). Others will offer insurance at a low cost but with half the coverage your employees had before. And there is no telling whether the low rate is introductory and will be jacked up the following year to where you began (which happens ALL the time).

Then there are the doctors. Doctors don’t like ‘choice’ because that means more forms to file and different insurance mazes to muddle through. Most limit your ‘choice’ of insurance company by only accepting certain ones (anything else and you’re Out-Of-Network). If you work in New York, you need a company that has doctors in Connecticut and New Jersey and THAT limits your ‘choice’ down to two. And because of heavy lobbying of doctors to one side or the other, you only have ONE insurer that you can choose that will cover maybe 85% of the doctors for a 100 person firm. This – and the cost always goes up. The Market argument is bullshit.

Then Mr. McCain said, “We don’t want a bureaucracy making health decisions!” WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENS NOW, you old fart?! You think Doctors judge claims? Are you crazy?? One of two things occurs when you call an insurance company about a claim: a) you reach someone in India or b) you reach a person with two phones on their desk. One is for answering insurance questions and the other is for selling magazine subscriptions. Trust me – that person is making $10 an hour. They don’t care about you, they don’t care about your pain and they don’t care about your costs. Their job is dependent on NOT spending the company’s money… because that insurance companies shareholders get upset when they spend money on poor, sick people. (And they call us elitist!) McCain wouldn’t know this because he has government run healthcare – like anyone else in Congress. (Bill O’Reilly doesn’t know this because he has “people” who take care of those things for him. I don’t have “people”).

So if anyone comes up to you to talk about health care and says ‘choice’ or ‘market blah-blah’ – Deck ‘em! Anything else they may have to say will be a lie, too.

The Candidate

August 25, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 4 Comments

In honor of the free-wheeling, gaudy circus about to descend on Denver (and no, I don’t mean Madonna’s “Sticky Sweet” Tour – though you would be forgiven for thinking that…), I would like to introduce you to the newest candidate on the national stage – Thomas Stiles Stevens. It seems young Mr. Stevens is running for State Representative in Vermont (!!). Mr. Stevens is a good man. I’ve known him a long time. Heck, I’ve known him since he was knee-high to a grasshopper. He used to come over Saturdays and cut my lawn and babysit the kids! (Amazing since we are the same age…) He is also my oldest friend who has been with me through every major and minor chord moment of my life.

Mr. Stevens is not new to the world of politics – no sir. He has been elected on a local level more than once. He is also the so-and-so who talked me into getting involved on my local level. I may never forgive him for that but though New Jersey and Vermont are VERY different states, we did share many similar experiences. Everyone should get involved. If they did, Mr. Stevens wouldn’t have to sacrifice himself again to the gods of Politics. But we don’t, so he’ll have to. I have listed his campaign website over there to my right (left?) where you can read his positions, his views, donate, or just see a gratuitous picture of him and his dog, Tinker.

Best of luck, Tom! We’ll be rooting for ya!

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