Disillusionment

The Honeymoon is over, people.

I haven't posted on here for some time, because I've been taking a "wait and see" attitude, wanting to give the new administration a chance to fix the sins of the previous administration, to accomplish something on their own. Anything.

What we've seen is Wall Street bailouts, and rampant spending with no plan on how to pay for it, the health care reform so badly needed gutted to something that has all of the costs and few of the benefits we hoped for, a plan for a surge in troops to Afghanistan with no real end in sight to Iraq, little progress in other areas where we'd hoped for change... Ugh. All my favorite comedy commentators on politics have seemingly turned on Obama - Jon Stewart, as usual, has been spot on. SNL has lampooned the lack of actual accomplishments. Colbert, Bill Maher... And my favorite bloggers and writers have also "turned" - Krugman, even Rolling Stone and the Huffington Post! (see bookmarks in the sidebar -->)

Yet I've hesitated to write anything because, you know, if you can't say anything nice...

And we can't blame it ALL on "the other side"...

Although, the lunatic fringe is still out there being crazy - Palin and her supporters, still provides fodder for comedians - love the SNL 2012 parody. But it also scares the HELL out of me, with the state of things currently - there is so much discontent from left, right and center she might just win, which would really be an apocalypse, as far as I'm concerned. The Birthers are still crazy, the jerkwad conservatives who are only out to stop ANYTHING from being accomplished, at the cost of the American public still at it. The fillibustering and dysfunctionality of our government at an all--time high. The stupidity of people...

Sometimes I feel like the internet, while a great source of information and learning for those with the critical thinking skills to sort out the nuggets of truth from the hogwash, has become a Pandora's box for the illiterate and stupid sheep who forward any dire warning to everyone on their email contacts - these same morons are the true believers that Obama is Kenyan, that "Death Panels" were ever a part of the health care bill, that Obama is a Socialist/Communist/Terrorist whatever. These people believe anything the Fox News and other conservative nutjobs like Glen Beck, Laura Ingraham, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Ann Coulter tell them to believe. And they are a pack of liars. And inciters of violence and hatred and fear. I wish them all to just disappear from the face of the earth. But honestly? I don't like Olbermann much better. I hate the snide, sneering attitudes and name-calling that has become the norm for TV politics "reporting" - it's horrible and is hurting our country. Rachel Maddow is slightly better since she seems to focus a bit more on news, but her little smirks when she reports negative things about conservative just annoy me at this point and only serve to keep people in their respective corners. This is one of the reasons I love Jon Stewart. Yeah, he's a comedian, but sometimes his reporting on the issues is far superior than real news stations! AND he makes us laugh. When we laugh, we can gain perspective, on ourselves, and on each other, which helps us get past our differences and move FORWARD.

I want people to start thinking for themselves. I want people to stop hating other points of view. I want people to start actually listening to each other. I want politicians to focus on getting things done for America and Americans, NOT on political games.

I WANT MY DAMN COUNTRY BACK!!

We've got problems, people! We need to WORK TOGETHER to fix them!!! Pretty speeches alone won't do the trick. Sorry Obama. I agree with Bill Maher when he said you need to "stand up for the 70% of Americans who aren't crazy." I like to think I'm one of them.

Shatner Does Palin

This is truly wonderful!



I think that this part of her speech is one of the only parts that really made sense, and it makes even more sense as a poem - an ode to Alaska. Hat tip to Robert Service.

John Hodgman: Nerds vs. Jocks and Obama

 

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Word Cloud of Inauguration Speech

Beautiful, Inspiring, and challenging words.

Inauguration Live Coverage

Good Climate Change Video

How It All Ends
Be sure to check out the "expansion pack" of support/detail videos to go with this - see the sidebar (More Info) on YouTube.

I'd say the risks associated with "column A" are much less, since it looks like they are already happening, and not related to any policy changes about climate change. In fact, those policy changes may be some of what SAVES our economy - investing in the future through alternative energy, reducing dependence on oil, especially imported oil, etc.

Me? Solar panels on the roof, "Victory Garden" in the backyard, increased efficiency, decreased consumption, focus on sustainability, and spreading the word. Oh, and we buy Terra Passes, too.

Thanks to Loren for this video - Science teachers rule!

Mini-Blog in the Sidebar

In case you hadn't noticed, I've got a mini-blog of sorts going in the sidebar. My decrease in posting frequency doesn't mean I stopped paying attention - I have links to pertinent articles that have come my way with my commentary added in the bookmarks sidebar. I use Diigo to do this - it's a great social bookmarking tool that allows you to bookmark sites online, add notes, comments, highlights, etc. Very useful for research! You can also post your comments directly to a blog, or do what I did and link to the RSS feed for a particular topic. Enjoy!

More Retrospection

2008 Reviewed in Song:




Uncle Jay Explains: 2008 in Review!

 

 

Looking Back...

2020

 

 

More Economic Woes Predicted

Economists Warn Anti-Bush Merchandise Market Close To Collapse

Somehow I think no one will be too sad to see this market collapse, though...

Prop 8 - The Musical

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

I've been collecting lots of links and thoughts about California's Proposition 8's passage... it was a dark shadow on"Obama Day" joy for me, and much worse for so many of my friends who are in the GLTB Community. I've been thinking about what to write, what to say about this... then I saw "Prop 8 - The Musical"! Ha! Say it with humor - that's the ticket!

What it comes down to, for me, are a few key points:

• It's an issue of equality, not sexuality - equal rights under the law for all people


• Most of the opposition to gay marriage comes from religion, and we have a separation of church and state in this country


• Even if you feel it is wrong, based on your religion, you do NOT have the right to legislate your religion, to enforce YOUR religious beliefs on those who don't share them (or even on those who do)

Here is a collection of serious articles which emphasize these points, some of which I've shared before, but which bear sharing again:

• Why churches fear gay marriage | Salon News

  Richard Rodriguez' thought-provoking article -
  
  "While conservative churches are busy trying to whip up another round of culture wars over same-sex marriage, Rodriguez says the real reason for their panic lies elsewhere: the breakdown of the traditional heterosexual family and the shifting role of women in society and the church itself. As the American family fractures and the majority of women choose to live without men, churches are losing their grip on power and scapegoating gays and lesbians for their failures."
  

  tags: politics, religion

• FiveThirtyEight.com: Electoral Projections Done Right: Prop 8 Myths

  This is interesting - I trust Nate Silver's take on statistics, and it looks like prop 8's passage may be more generational than race/religion-related. I mean, of COURSE it's religion-related, but within same race/religion groups, voters over 65 voted more for and younger voters voted more against. That makes more sense to me. And is, in a way (as stated in the article), more hopeful for the future of equality.

  tags: politics, religion, race

• YouTube - The West Wing - bible

  President Bartlet totally PWNS the "Dr. Laura" character, Jenna Jacobs, on Old Testament Biblical Law. Awesome. Homosexuality is an abomination, and also... death is the punishment for working on the sabbath, selling your children into slavery is condoned, the punishment for planting two different crops side by side is stoning, mixing two types of thread into one fabric is punishable by burning, etc, etc - just awesome.
  

  tags: religion, thought, ideas, politics

• Utah Legislators Call Mormon Leadership’s Bluff on LGBT Rights

  This will be interesting. But even if they DO support "equal" rights in these areas - haven't we learned? Separate is NOT equal.

  tags: politics, religion

• Gay marriage is a question of love - Countdown with Keith Olbermann- msnbc.com

  This is powerful, and I have to say that I like ~reading~ Olbermann much more than watching him. There is a link to a video, too, if you like watching/listening better. It's all about honoring LOVE. Honoring commitment. HONORING marriage for what it ~should~ be.

  tags: politics, religion

• Why Gay Marriage Was Defeated in California - TIME - Annotated

  In this case, fear, unfounded fears fanned by propaganda of religion-based beliefs, won out over hope and fairness. So sad, and so ironic that African Americans, who voted in record numbers for a candidate that gave them hope, also voted against equal rights for another group, crushing ~their~ hope.

  tags: politics, religion

  • a remarkable story about Rick and Pam Patterson, a Mormon couple of modest means — he drives a 10-year-old Honda Civic, she raises their five boys — who had withdrawn $50,000 from their savings account and given it to the pro-8 campaign. "It was a decision we made very prayerfully," Pam Patterson, 48, told the Bee's Jennifer Garza. "Was it an easy decision? No. But it was a clear decision, one that had so much potential to benefit our children and their children."
    • It is my fervent hope that at least one of their children, who they think they are benefiting by taking away the rights of others, IS gay, and someday wants to marry their same-sex soul mate. Only then might people like this see the error of their ways through the blinding veil of their dogma. - post by naturegeek
  • African Americans voted against marriage equality by a wide margin, 69% to 31%
    • So, African Americans, who finally have realized a dream with this election, vote for others to have their dreams deferred. This is painful. - post by naturegeek
    • The irony. Ugh. - post by naturegeek
  • David Paterson, is one of the nation's most eloquent pro-marriage-equality representatives. He is also, by the way, African American. Perhaps he can help bridge the gap between gays and blacks that widened on Nov. 4
    • Let's hope so! - post by naturegeek

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Not Shopping For a Better Future

I hope you all enjoyed celebrating Buy Nothing Day - I know I did. If you don't know, Buy Nothing Day is on what retailers call "Black Friday." Yeah, the day of the biggest sales of the year, the day we are all supposed to go out on massive shopping sprees and buy all sorts of crap we don't need or buy other people all sorts of crap THEY don't need in a grand celebration of American Consumption!  No Thank You.

The worker trampled to death by bargain-frenzied crowds at a Wal-Mart (Wal-Mart? Come ON people - WTF?) and the shootout at the toy store are two horrible, ugly stories that came out of Black Friday, but they are not why I celebrate Buy Nothing Day. Buying more than we need, buying things for the wrong reasons, buying things we can't afford are all part of what's gotten us into the current economic mess - I don't think we're going to be able to shop our way out of it.

We need to make the shift from conspicuous consumption to conscious consumption. Yes, we need to buy things to live, but we must learn to separate need from want, function from fashion, and smart choices from marketing - we have been fed this idea that part of the "American Dream" is that if we want something, then by god, we should have it! "Mastercard, I'm bored" sums up the essence of this idea. Can't afford something? Nonsense! Buy on credit! Pay nothing until 2010! Living above our means has become the norm rather than the foolhardy object lesson it should be. We've been taught personal accounting based on Ponzi Scheme economics - as our homes' values ballooned ever higher, we went further into debt because we had these "assets" - not thinking that balloons burst when inflated too high, and assets based on those balloons evaporate just as surely.

Good people out there in organizations such as the Center for a New American Dream have for many years been advocating conscious consumption, and other groups, such as the Compact, advocate for as little consumption as possible. It turns out that not only is reining in our consumptive culture better for our personal finances, the environment, and our health, people find they enjoy life more when the focus is less on things and more on what matters to them.

Living in under 250 square feet of space for almost two years now has certainly had an impact on my personal relationship with stuff. It's very easy to be overwhelmed with too much stuff in a small space, and also very easy to see how little we actually need. We do have a storage unit, and we are shopping for a house - one we can afford, and I wonder how I'll feel when we unpack that storage unit and see all the things we have not needed for two years? I'm thinking some things are going directly to Freecycle. I hope we can retain the lessons of living small when our quarters expand, but I know how easy it is to accumulate stuff when you have room for it. At least, maybe, it will be sustainable stuff - eco-friendly, healthy, stuff that is built to last and not throw away, stuff we use, stuff within or below our means not purchased on credit. That's ~my~ "American Dream."

Here is some more reading from my bookmarked websites on the topic - enjoy!

• 'Buy Nothing Day' a sign of the times? | Crave - CNET

  This article is a good synopsis of Buy Nothing Day and other ways to fight rampant, senseless consumerism

  tags: politics, economy, consumer

• Op-Ed Contributor - Dying of Consumption - NYTimes.com

  "...there is a deeper, potentially positive, meaning to all this: Consumers are now abandoning the asset-dependent spending and saving strategies they embraced during the bubbles of the past dozen years and moving back to more prudent income-based lifestyles."

  tags: politics, economy

• The Worst Is Yet To Come: Anonymous Banker Weighs In On The Coming Credit Card Debacle - Executive Suite Blog - NYTimes.com

  This is right on! The "MasterCard, I'm Bored!" mentality has got to change - we have come to believe that we are entitled to anything we want, even if we can't afford it. That is NOT the "American Way" as some people seem to think.

  tags: politics, economy

• Zakaria: A More Disciplined America | Newsweek Business | Newsweek.com

  Excellent article by the brilliant Fareed Zakaria - serious and yet very hopeful at the same time. We have the chance to go back to being ourselves - our best selves, and that is a good thing.

  tags: economy, politics, inspiration

• Forget commercialism! The new realities of consumption and the economy.

  "Spending our way to prosperity? Not this time around.
  
  As a “New Dream” economist, I am asked all the time: won’t consuming less hurt the economy? When there’s less spending, people get laid off, their incomes fall and businesses, especially small ones, go bankrupt. This question is especially urgent today, given that the recession is deepening and spreading. George Bush was widely (and rightly) criticized for suggesting shopping as the patriotic response to 9/11. Would Barack Obama be wrong if he suggested the same?
  
  Short answer: Yes. But with this topic, there’s rarely a short answer. So here’s the longer one."

  tags: consumer, economy, politics

  • Let’s remember, first, that the economic crisis wasn’t caused by a decline in consumer spending. It was triggered by the bursting of the housing bubble, Wall Street excesses, and some other factors. Consumers are cutting back now, but the decline in spending is one of a series of falling dominos—more an effect of recession than a cause.

• New Dream Blog » Blog Archive » Holiday shopping–just don’t

  "We can find better ways to support one another than funneling our money through giant multinationals in hopes that some trickles down to its employees."

  tags: economy, consumer, politics, environment

  • For the last two decades, the U.S. has been a consumer-driven economy. Bursts of spending have lifted us out of a series of short, not-too-painful recessions. And consumers are well aware of their “heroic” role. They’ve been told over and over that their spending is the basis for our economy. (Less discussed is how the consumer binge led to our gaping trade deficit.)
  • While some consumers have been on a debt-fueled binge for quite awhile, apparently they haven’t forgotten how to sober up. And fast. They’re acting smart and cautious. That’s a good thing. Scaling back on gifts and holiday spending this year suddenly seems like the socially acceptable thing to do. Spending liberally can feel unseemly.
  • Roughly a quarter of annual spending, garbage and ecological impact occurs between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
  • We can find better ways to support one another than funneling our money through giant multinationals in hopes that some trickles down to its employees.
  
  
  
  Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.