It's the Society, Stupid

After reading yet another article explaining the
arbitrary, unjust practices/philosophies of the current
corporate world's hiring, I became angry yet again.
Here are THE "NEW RULES" as designed by these people,
the very people keeping the U.S. unemployed at a
historic nine plus percent:

(1) Don't be old. This means you even if you're only
49. This is probably based on marketing's prime
consumer age range, 18-49. Retail generally considers
everyone else zombies, or at least unimportant.
This number was arrived at long ago, should have been
modified more recently in the interest of reality.
(But what's logic got to do with it, or even noticing
change, cause and effect? How about "rules" for that?)

(2) Don't be unemployed long term. Have these CEOs or
HR heads heard of the Great Recession of 2008-2011??
Do they understand that middle class college grads
can't leap at any "opportunity" of getting even low
wage jobs, for two very key reasons:
(a) employers don't want to hire them, feeling/knowing
they will leave as soon as a better job presents itself;
(b) middle class college grads understandably would
like to stay in their accustomed lane; moreover, need
to, as foreclosures and auto repossessions loom.

There were more "rules", but best to stop here.
Very few things still seem sensible in the U.S.
of 2011. The different parts which must fit together
in order to have a great society simply DON'T.
Yes, it was ever thus, let's look back at Shakespeare,
"the times, they are disjoint". But it's worse now,
if several recent decades are compared with this one.

Character issues abound; overall morality has definitely
declined. Hard-headed equals being practical, profitable.
Social mobility formerly meant upward, now mostly means
downward. Where's the blame? It's the economy, stupid.
Underlying that, far more troubling:

It's the society, stupid.

"Reform's" Many Forms: Nothing New

I'm turning Biblical, start running now. One of
the more interesting books in the Old Testament
says all is vanity, nothing new under the Sun.
(Except for the clothes and gadgets, that is.)
But we are encouraged to enjoy the fruits of our
labor nonetheless. In Chicago, the political scene
is largely about vanity, not reform, ambition, not
the greater good.

Heralded all over local Chicagoland media is our
"new day", because the City Council and the Mayor
are sporting new faces. Yet the "dreams", problems
and goals are the same compelling ones that have
preoccupied us for many decades. Who is OPPOSED to
better education, no/low crime, balanced budgets, etc.?
Rahm Emanuel emphasized these during his swearing in
today down by the lake. Chicago's Mayor will not likely
fix these matters. The causes are cultural, economic,
endemic and long standing:

(1) EDUCATION: Most kids (and their parents) simply
lack gravitas, meaning, in America it's practically
a federal offense to basically be a serious, goal-oriented
person. The never-ending search for gratification and
novelty often sidelines serious research, serious productivity,
serious problem-solving. (By the way, I hate fun, and you
can quote me.) Recalling the high rate of substance abuse,
divorce, crime, etc., it's very hard to be optimistic.
Whatever "reforms" are enacted, given this cultural context,
how are we going to make the kids do their job, which is to study?
Tackle THAT one, Rahmster Monster.

(2) BUDGET WOES: Who will be stiffed, left out, victimized
by benign neglect? Will pensions be funded? Are certain
unions really expecting too much? Should teachers be required
to keep up since their students are? (-Don't worry, many more
questions could be inserted here, but I'll refrain....) Then
there's the ugly phenomenon of NIMBY, i.e., you won't be making
me sacrifice in MY backyard, noooo....

Time to recur once again to the Good Book. I'm hoping to
escape all the hackneyed phrases and promises designed to
soothe our troubled minds, but I doubt it; humanity hasn't
changed markedly in 2,000 years.

When God or Jesus speak I see sense.
And you can quote me.

Sarah Palin's "Spudnut Moment" (-!)

--Finally! Is Sarah P the new Mrs. Potato Head?
There is no disrespect intended toward the little
shop in Washington State she referred to in an
endearing "small business, the heart of America"
lengthy, hectoring aside. She seemed to misread
President Obama's inspirational intentions and the
history of Spudnuts.

While making these mistakes, she included erroneous
summaries of the Cold War and the Soviet Union's end.
Nothing like being on a roll....

Tsk, tsk. She may be pretty, but all I see is
Mrs. Potato Head, also usually shown smiling.

P.S.: This further foray into coining new words
and punning didn't float: Sputnik vs. Spudnut?
At best, a spurious alliteration. (Hey, Sarah,
it's not "Spudnik", if that's what you're going
for....)

What's Logic Got to do With It? Logic, a Secondhand "Emotion"

Tina Turner's hit often comes to mind when watching
the antics, policies,and justifications of governments
around the world, ours included. If logic, cause and
effect considerations WERE the rule of the day, every
day, well, there would still be volcanoes, but far
less violence, tragedy, wasted time and material
destruction.

Please, I'm pleading for specificity, deeper research,
more thought before speech, all those virtues bespeaking
of demonstrable intelligence. All else reduces into
rabble/babble, eventually. Venting is ideal when we
feel more "air" than "heat", see the light.

Consider the logic; consider our common humanity.

Ashamed to be a Woman, Again

--Not again! A woman killed herself and her children
because her idiot husband cheated on her? Why involve the
kids? An insult to this female's womanhood comes
before the children's welfare? The pathetic story has
now been told by the intrepid ten year old sibling who
saved himself at the last moment.

Of course it's happened before. Who ARE these low-class
females? --Cases of arrested development, period, oh so
high school. No man is THAT important. How desperate, crazy
and stupid must any woman be to kill kids as some misplaced
revenge ("--I'll show HIM, hah!"). I'm betting that as he's
the stepfather, this cheater is less than destroyed over such
a needless tragedy.

Sometimes I'm sorely tempted to propose legislation that adults
must be psychologically tested as fit before being permitted to
bring others into this world.

Meanwhile, in addition to being embarrassed to be a human,
I'm ashamed to be a woman, AGAIN.

Out of the Mouths of Knaves

The Big Lie is alive, well and kicking, while
an urgent deadline's clock is ticking. The
current stumbling block to passing a bill
to continue funding the federal government
is IDEOLOGICAL, period. Who are Congessional
Republicans and Democrats kidding?

If our national debt total is about 14 trillion,
how is killing Planned Parenthood, Head Start
and a few other programs going to resolve that
debt? The agreed-upon amount of cuts now totals
an unimpressive amount, far less than 100 billion.
Rep. Boehner's "principled digging in" represents
nothing more than appealing to his base. --What??
Can't the rep and/or his supporters add? Actually,
they don't care to. It's one set of sacred cows
against another set. Republicans, though, would
rather increase U.S. debt by funding sexy technology
(new nukes and warplanes) and only very slightly
decrease it by slashing programs to the poor.

The USA's GDP is about the same amount as the debt;
economists used to say that average, more or less
solvent Americans carried debt equal to one year's
income. So why all the horrified howls now?

How about an honest exploration/explanation of
the issues, NOW? If it's really just simple ignorance,
head back to grammar school math class.

If not, it's obfuscating orotund blather out of the
mouths of knaves.

A Real Civilization Built on More Than Pride, Prejudice and Profit

Certain words get tossed about with surprising impunity.
One of these is "civilization". Has anybody ever SEEN one?
Please don't belabor/berate the obvious: if you think
wealth and impresive architecture inevitably denote
civilization, you and I will surely move on to a stiff
debate.

Since most of the imperialistic colonizers were unable
to control overpopulating their original homelands, how
did they become masters of the universe? Why, by the tried
and true methods effective for thousands of years: explora-
tions, military "adventures", conquests, occupations, etc.
"Oh, was this your country? Sorry, it's OURS now." (Usually
there's no apology tendered, though. After all, if I want
something, it's my right to get/have, no??)

--NO!! Civilization to ME means being kind and non-exploitative,
among many other fine qualities I rarely see exhibited among the
Western nations guilty of the lion's share of colonialism. I do
see one annoyingly stupid quality expressed time after time;
public statement of "innocent" dismay and confusion, to wit:
"Why do so many other countries hate us?"

Gee, let me get this, lemme! What reaction can anyone expect
when strangers come in, kill, change your way of life, and start
sucking your natural resources dry?--Hugs, thanks and kisses?

So again: a real civilization must be built on more than
pride, prejudice and profit. When it isn't, I call it
"the victor took the spoils", again.