Still Wallowing

Montana State Congressman
opposes DUI laws for
“changing their way of life.”

Well, I’m back from my brief escape to sanity. I vowed not to either watch TV or go on the internet. I cannot claim 100% success, but I think I easily did 95%. I avoided the internet entirely but could not completely escape television as my wife briefly watched a cooking program. It has only taken me a few minutes today on the telly and the net to learn that as I would have predicted, we’re still wallowing around in a sea of insanity. The situation in Libya remains confused but is almost certainly not merely a humanitarian gesture. It probably has to do with NATO gaining control of the Mediterranean Sea and oil routes and such, but we will never be told that. And, of course, if it is NATO that means it is really the U.S. (I think). As of now it appears that Gaddafi may be winning, or at least is far from defeated. Our supposed non-goal of replacing him seems to be a goal of replacing him. Our CIA agents are actively meeting with the rebels looking for possible successors and etc. (same ol,” same ol”).

Mostly out of curiosity, I watched three news broadcasts today and also spent some time looking at news on the internet. I was struck by the absence of news about Japan and the nuclear disaster there. I neither heard nor saw any mention of the situation other than a mention by Rachel Maddow that we were sending a couple of gigantic machines to shoot water at the plants from a long distance. I doubt the relative absence of news means the threat is over, in fact I suspect it is so bad they do not want to tell us the truth about it. In this case no news is definitely not good news. This neglect will play into the hands of those idiots who will continue to promote nuclear energy as the human memory seems to be of little help in such matters. Some are speaking of tighter standards, more inspections, blah, blah, but hardly anyone is saying what is obvious, NO NUCLEAR ENERGY ever again!

The MSM is still eagerly reporting the latest nonsense from Donald Trump, the number one non-candidate for the Presidency. Trump has discovered a bonanza of publicity by talking about Obama’s birth certificate. There are apparently still a considerable number of utter fools who believe in this crap and the more Trump brays about it the more they like him. What he is doing is terribly irresponsible, but for the media to continue to report on this is far more irresponsible. Sarah Palin, the other important non-candidate candidate, has now endorsed some Republican Judge in Wisconsin who is running against a more liberal candidate for a judgeship in that troubled state. Why the Housewife from Hell thinks she needs to do this, or that it is any business of hers whatsoever, or that it will make any real difference, is a mystery to me. I guess anything to keep your name in the news while conning a gullible public out of as many bucks as possible.

It appears the Tea Party Governors who have mounted an all out attack on the middle class and labor unions are going to regret their Fascist tendencies. They have united their citizens against them in ways they did not anticipate. There are strong movements afoot to recall them where possible and to otherwise oppose them at every turn. This corporate funded plan to destroy collective bargaining and give complete control to corporations and the wealthy is experiencing an extremely strong backlash. Perhaps even more important is that this attempt has brought about a more intensive focus specifically on them and their unconscionable greed. They will ultimately lose “big time,” but unfortunately it will take a bit of time.

Republicans who claim constantly to behave constitutionally obviously have little or no understanding of that marvelous document. Several Republican Governors, for example, have attempted to pass state laws claiming they do not have to enact various Federal statues and laws if they violate state sovereignty. This is complete nonsense, of course, and a terrible waste of time. But now Eric Cantor has pushed a bill that claims the House, all by itself, with two separate votes, can pass a law, bypassing both the Senate and the President. This is so unutterably stupid many people thought it was an April Fool’s joke. Someone said they did this only to prove they could “do something.” If that is true it is even more stupid, and pathetic besides.

I did not get in as much reading as I would have liked. I enjoyed watching the fire and the pounding surf so much I neglected to read as I had intended. It was enormously refreshing to get away and escape the insanity that seems to grow by the day. Watching the heavy surf made me wonder about energy from the ocean. There must easily be enough energy there for all our needs if it can just be adequately developed. It has not been as yet, I guess it has been underfunded and is not a high enough priority. No doubt it is being opposed by those who make their money on oil and coal and such. I have concluded after my 81 years of life, that no decent society can exist for long if all of its major institutions operate strictly for profit. Capitalism carries within it the germ of its own ultimate destruction.

LKBIQ:
To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.
Sir Winston Churchill

TILT:
It is estimated there may be as many as 30,000 invasive Burmese pythons in the Florida Keys.