The Global Musings of an Educated Man........vol.143
I hope everyone got a chance to see our fine, upstanding President scold the American public for doubting his judgment last Monday evening on national television. At least with the former President you knew what you were getting, but with this guy, he's horrifically seemed to have forgotten the many things that we were promised when he was elected. There has been little hope and no change at all. The campaign promises of shutting down Guantanamo, getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan, but instead we seem to be starting up the engines of what may turn out to be the vehicle for World War III.
Meanwhile, people in our own country, go without food, without jobs, without healthcare. For once, other countries can step up and take the role of "watchdog of the world." We have pressing issues of our own here at home. But instead, we help out the rebels in Libya, some of which are being supported by Al-Qaeda in Libya, to overthrow an evil dictator who just years ago was our ally in the never ending War on Terror, but we never, haven't even brought it up, why we haven't helped the poor people of Sudan who have lost almost half a million of their own people over the last 10 years to their own civil war. What gives President Obama? And I thought you said we were broke? What happened to that? Instead we are going to be helping out in a "humanitarian" effort, not a "war", "let me be clear," without an exit strategy or end game? After all is said and done, Qaddaffi better not be allowed to go live in exile, but should instead be thrown into the Hague and stand trial for what he has been doing these lo-40 years. So, American people, instead were firing teachers here at home while we fire tomahawk missiles into Libya.
At least with George W.,
You knew what you were getting.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
I hope we can chalk it up to March Madness?
The Global Musings of an Educated Man......vol.142
Everywhere you look the turmoil is spreading like a terminal cancer. The tentacles of it's reach are grabbing whatever it can get its hands on and it doesn't appear to be letting go anytime soon folks. From the historically mammoth Earthquake in Japan that resulted in a massive Tsunami that has breached the supposedly indestructible walls of their nuclear facility in northern Fukoshima, the devastation has no bounds. Men, women and children, the destruction that mother nature can impose has no bias. One only has to turn on the nightly news to see catastrophe and panic, riots and revolutions, the loss of life and the loss of electricity with sprinkles of radiation on top, making everyone with a pulse a little bit more nervous than usual these days.
Then there is the quelled revolution revolt in what once was our sworn enemy turned ally in the war on terror back to sworn enemy, the one and only, Libya and it's out of control despot who could give Charile Sheen a run for his money on outright lunacy. Winning!!?? No matter how you spell his last name, the man has style, but he has no sense of reality or maybe he's just an evil genius who happens to be insane. Anyway you slice it, the price of oil is going to increase.
There is also Bahrain, run by a Sunni minority, supported by fellow Sunnis in the Saudi Royal Family, who are trying to put the kibosh on their own domestic strife, which is very upsetting to the Shia majority and the nearby middle eastern rabble rouser, the Shia government of Iran and their "members only" jacket wearing president. We could be watching what may turn out to be the beginnings of World War III or the coming four horsemen of the apocalypse. So grab your socks and hose and pull, this could get messy, for everybody. 2012??
One final piece of disturbing truth is, last week the U.S. government released information pertaining to it's TARP plan, listing those financial institutions who received large amounts of tax-payer funded bailout money. The winner was, get this, Citigroup with an astounding 476 billion!!! That's right, almost half a trillion dollars in bailout money was needed, and I bet you heard very little of this information didn't you, and instead, were told by Republicans dripping with new found power, that Unions are responsible for the deficit we see currently in our state's and federal governments. Which leads me to ask, when was the last time you saw a Union, private or public, needing a bailout??
Saturday, February 19, 2011
"Say you want a revolution......"
The Global Musings of an Educated Man.....vol.141
From Tunisia to Egypt, Bahrain to Yemen, and from Tehran to Madison, Wisconsin?!?!, there are protests, there are groups forming, some of them growing into micro-revolutions demanding that old dictators of the past be replaced with something other than the same ol' same ol', and fast. The lower and middle class majorities are no longer going to put up with the "status quo" that says to "shut up and get back in line," or its timeless mantra "because of all of the foreigners" that this is happening, because there always is an inherent need for someone or something to blame for our own mistakes, our own reckless greed. Liberal Media Elites??? People are using technology harnessing the power of social networks, Facebook status updates and 140 character Tweets to help keep the momentum going in their favor. The powers that "be" are huddling in small cramped sweaty darkened offices, facing the flickering flames of their eternal control of the power grab fading in the winds of change. The Saudi Royal Family is getting nervous and rightfully so. People are becoming motivated to participate in the act in the manner of empowered citizens, demanding more from their elected officials than just security from an unseen villain and a bid to host the next World Cup. People, women and children, young and old are demanding that their "just" and "elected" rulers start to begin to show positive results after 30 years of monarchic rule while they were tasting the sweet seduction of unlimited U.S. money and military influence, while the United States at home in her own discomfort and realization that we are no longer going to be the "big enchilada", we are now bankrupt, and the fairness of it all is that the passing of the debt down to the states, the states to the counties, the counties down to the cities and finally down to the taxpayers who will end up footing the bill in the act of seeing some "essential" government programs cut, spending to be slashed, teachers to be fired and schools to be closed, but yet our health insurance premiums continue to increase at a pace that is similar to the tuition for a years worth of higher education and we are being told that we need to shell out more money to build a football stadium so that we can all enjoy 2 hours of commercials with our 1 hour of actual game every week??? Priorities are being pitted against desires, and the desires always seem to win out because after all, we are all savage primal beings by nature.
From Tunisia to Egypt, Bahrain to Yemen, and from Tehran to Madison, Wisconsin?!?!, there are protests, there are groups forming, some of them growing into micro-revolutions demanding that old dictators of the past be replaced with something other than the same ol' same ol', and fast. The lower and middle class majorities are no longer going to put up with the "status quo" that says to "shut up and get back in line," or its timeless mantra "because of all of the foreigners" that this is happening, because there always is an inherent need for someone or something to blame for our own mistakes, our own reckless greed. Liberal Media Elites??? People are using technology harnessing the power of social networks, Facebook status updates and 140 character Tweets to help keep the momentum going in their favor. The powers that "be" are huddling in small cramped sweaty darkened offices, facing the flickering flames of their eternal control of the power grab fading in the winds of change. The Saudi Royal Family is getting nervous and rightfully so. People are becoming motivated to participate in the act in the manner of empowered citizens, demanding more from their elected officials than just security from an unseen villain and a bid to host the next World Cup. People, women and children, young and old are demanding that their "just" and "elected" rulers start to begin to show positive results after 30 years of monarchic rule while they were tasting the sweet seduction of unlimited U.S. money and military influence, while the United States at home in her own discomfort and realization that we are no longer going to be the "big enchilada", we are now bankrupt, and the fairness of it all is that the passing of the debt down to the states, the states to the counties, the counties down to the cities and finally down to the taxpayers who will end up footing the bill in the act of seeing some "essential" government programs cut, spending to be slashed, teachers to be fired and schools to be closed, but yet our health insurance premiums continue to increase at a pace that is similar to the tuition for a years worth of higher education and we are being told that we need to shell out more money to build a football stadium so that we can all enjoy 2 hours of commercials with our 1 hour of actual game every week??? Priorities are being pitted against desires, and the desires always seem to win out because after all, we are all savage primal beings by nature.
Friday, January 7, 2011
My 2 Cents.....for what it's worth.
The Global Musings of an Educated Man..............vol.140
From the opening frame pitched against a gold and black dissolving picture, slowly coming into focus, we are witness to a dead man at the foot of front steps, and a horse with rider quickly gallops past, the viewer is once again brought into the cinematically visually striking world of the Coen Brothers and their understated genius. One is watching the opening scene of "True Grit." The story is about a young girl, Mattie Ross, played by first time actress Hailee Steinfeld; she is a young woman who is out to avenge the death of her father, struck down by the coward Tom Chaney, portrayed brilliantly by Josh Brolin. In watching the film, I began to assess the importance of the book of which the film is the adaptation against the back drop of our country's present day circumstances, opposed to the John Wayne 1969 version of the film which strays further from the book's intentions, and not ever being a considerable fan of John Wayne's work, never have wished to see that picture and probably never will, I was nonetheless struck by the connection that we the American Public have with the young girl Mattie Ross. We the American Public have been robbed of our "father figure" the American Dream by the coward Tom Chaney and his posse', portrayed by the Big Banks, all encompassing greed, reckless spending, the unnecessary wars, and a growing number of uneducated and physically unfit citizens unable to carry the once promised torch of hope and change for the better, only to be left holding an empty bag. We wanted to hire our 'Rooster Cogburn' to set out and avenge the losses that so many of us have had to deal with these past couple years, only to find out that what we got instead was just another selfish politician drunk on his own power. The film has the utmost relevance for today's society and for todays' young men and women, and I look forward to the day when I will be including it in my 8th Grade English classroom, accompanied by the book, as the summation of the artistic expression of the loss of innocence, a study of art, from fiction to film. I haven't seen "Toy Story 3" yet, nor "The King's Speech," but I have seen "The Social Network," "Black Swan" and "Rabbit Hole," and for now I can say that the Coen Bros, with the help of brilliant acting turned in once again by Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, they have made yet again, another film worthy of being named "Best Picture."
From the opening frame pitched against a gold and black dissolving picture, slowly coming into focus, we are witness to a dead man at the foot of front steps, and a horse with rider quickly gallops past, the viewer is once again brought into the cinematically visually striking world of the Coen Brothers and their understated genius. One is watching the opening scene of "True Grit." The story is about a young girl, Mattie Ross, played by first time actress Hailee Steinfeld; she is a young woman who is out to avenge the death of her father, struck down by the coward Tom Chaney, portrayed brilliantly by Josh Brolin. In watching the film, I began to assess the importance of the book of which the film is the adaptation against the back drop of our country's present day circumstances, opposed to the John Wayne 1969 version of the film which strays further from the book's intentions, and not ever being a considerable fan of John Wayne's work, never have wished to see that picture and probably never will, I was nonetheless struck by the connection that we the American Public have with the young girl Mattie Ross. We the American Public have been robbed of our "father figure" the American Dream by the coward Tom Chaney and his posse', portrayed by the Big Banks, all encompassing greed, reckless spending, the unnecessary wars, and a growing number of uneducated and physically unfit citizens unable to carry the once promised torch of hope and change for the better, only to be left holding an empty bag. We wanted to hire our 'Rooster Cogburn' to set out and avenge the losses that so many of us have had to deal with these past couple years, only to find out that what we got instead was just another selfish politician drunk on his own power. The film has the utmost relevance for today's society and for todays' young men and women, and I look forward to the day when I will be including it in my 8th Grade English classroom, accompanied by the book, as the summation of the artistic expression of the loss of innocence, a study of art, from fiction to film. I haven't seen "Toy Story 3" yet, nor "The King's Speech," but I have seen "The Social Network," "Black Swan" and "Rabbit Hole," and for now I can say that the Coen Bros, with the help of brilliant acting turned in once again by Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, they have made yet again, another film worthy of being named "Best Picture."
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
"Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is, do you, Mister Jones?" Dylan
The Global Musings of an Educated Man.................vol.139
Dead birds falling from the sky in Arkansas, Louisiana and now Sweden? There is massive flooding in the dry arid land of Australia, and a bible group from Pennsylvania announced on Monday that the Rapture would take place on May 21st 2011, and that the end of the world would occur 5 months later on October 21st, 2011, my wedding day. Coincidence? I'm just saying. I believe that maybe the birds flew into an invisible UFO, or maybe it's just the wrath of God is all, it's no big deal. Anyhow, if we are at the last days and these are signs of whatever it is, whoever it is, where it is coming from, who the hell knows, way of telling us to batten down the hatches, get some gasoline, grab some batteries, some canned goods, grab some hard liquor and party like it's 1999, I say why the hell not? Anyhow, keep a look out for more falling stuff, but it will probably only be white stuff around here. Just had to get that out there. Peace, Love and happiness. Stay strong and continue to try to prosper in the new Global Economy.
Some call me crazy, but as Tom Waits once said, "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a Frontal Lobotomy." The man's got a point. Cheers.
Dead birds falling from the sky in Arkansas, Louisiana and now Sweden? There is massive flooding in the dry arid land of Australia, and a bible group from Pennsylvania announced on Monday that the Rapture would take place on May 21st 2011, and that the end of the world would occur 5 months later on October 21st, 2011, my wedding day. Coincidence? I'm just saying. I believe that maybe the birds flew into an invisible UFO, or maybe it's just the wrath of God is all, it's no big deal. Anyhow, if we are at the last days and these are signs of whatever it is, whoever it is, where it is coming from, who the hell knows, way of telling us to batten down the hatches, get some gasoline, grab some batteries, some canned goods, grab some hard liquor and party like it's 1999, I say why the hell not? Anyhow, keep a look out for more falling stuff, but it will probably only be white stuff around here. Just had to get that out there. Peace, Love and happiness. Stay strong and continue to try to prosper in the new Global Economy.
Some call me crazy, but as Tom Waits once said, "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a Frontal Lobotomy." The man's got a point. Cheers.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Do you hear what I hear?
The Global Musings of an Educated Man..........vol.138
In just two days and two years from now, the world as we know it, just may end. That's right, December 22nd, 2012.
It seems to me that it is quite possible the birth pangs have already begun contracting. There have been mssive mudslides in California, 20 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada's, tragically cold weather across Europe and Great Britain; and all of this after a year of Earthquakes in Haiti, Volcanoes in Indonesia, floods in Pakistan and India, again, and so, this past year 250k people have died from natural disasters, which is minuscule when compared to those that die worldwide from cigarettes, and yet we are more concerned as to whether homosexuals can openly serve in the military?? 250,000 people, that is the largest yearly total for deaths caused by natural disasters in a generation, and that's not all we have to worry about. North Korea continues to display how unstable they are by firing missiles and artillery shells in South Korean islands while China sits by and says basically "we don't want to have to deal with them, they're crazy," Iran is leaving the world no alternative except invasion if they continue on the path toward nuclear power, we are still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, which sucks up more of governments tax payer taken money, and for what? Terrorists will just raise their arms and give up if we stay there long enough and spend enough American lives and treasure? Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank,thus enraging the Arab world, and the United States is visibly financially bankrupt, along with Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece. But still, the gap between the richest 1% in the world that controls 90% of our wealth and that of the growing smaller by the day percentage of those who can consider themselves middle class and the increasingly growing numbers of lower class poverty stricken members of the global community who can't find clean drinking water or an education that is provided by a Madrassah continues to grow. Across the United States and the world, pensions are being slashed, our social security safety net is considered to be on the chopping block, and we still don't have a decent health care system. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs is still doing business and appointing Treasury Secretaries and henchmen into the Obama administration along with Bank of America, while a man name Julian Assange who received classified government information from someone, some believe to be Bradley Manning who is already in solitary confinement on a US military base in Virginia for his criminal act, releases it onto his WikiLeaks website in the guise of "Freedom of Information" is considered to be a terrorist destabilizing our government and governments around the world, who is then wanted for rape in Switzerland, accused by two young ladies who objected to having sex with him without a condom, and government's anywhere have never done anything nefarious that would consider these two women to possibly be on the payroll of a certain government's intelligence agency? But it's okay for the LA Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Le Monde and other newspaper sources to print the same material and go unscathed. Something has to give, and yet I look onto the students rioting in England and Greece with a cynical belief that it would take quite a lot more for that to occur in America, because that would mean becoming angry instead of complacent, educated instead of walking around in a pharmaceutically enhanced stupor treating the unhappiness of your private parts inability to provide happiness to your spouse, and instead get up get active and get involved. But I do remain optimistic that the end isn't near, because if it is, all of the time I will have currently spent on my book will have been for naught, and so I remain naively hopeful.
"A mystery wrapped inside a riddle, inside an Enigma. Even the shooters don't know, don't you get it?" David Ferrie portrayed by Oscar winning actor, Joe Pesci-----the film, Oliver Stone's masterpiece.... JFK
Happy Holidays, warm seasons' greetings, Merry Christmas, post Chanukah and pre-Kwanzaa. Drag out the aluminum pole from the attic, celebrate Festivus and prepare yourself for the feats of strength.
In just two days and two years from now, the world as we know it, just may end. That's right, December 22nd, 2012.
It seems to me that it is quite possible the birth pangs have already begun contracting. There have been mssive mudslides in California, 20 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada's, tragically cold weather across Europe and Great Britain; and all of this after a year of Earthquakes in Haiti, Volcanoes in Indonesia, floods in Pakistan and India, again, and so, this past year 250k people have died from natural disasters, which is minuscule when compared to those that die worldwide from cigarettes, and yet we are more concerned as to whether homosexuals can openly serve in the military?? 250,000 people, that is the largest yearly total for deaths caused by natural disasters in a generation, and that's not all we have to worry about. North Korea continues to display how unstable they are by firing missiles and artillery shells in South Korean islands while China sits by and says basically "we don't want to have to deal with them, they're crazy," Iran is leaving the world no alternative except invasion if they continue on the path toward nuclear power, we are still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, which sucks up more of governments tax payer taken money, and for what? Terrorists will just raise their arms and give up if we stay there long enough and spend enough American lives and treasure? Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank,thus enraging the Arab world, and the United States is visibly financially bankrupt, along with Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece. But still, the gap between the richest 1% in the world that controls 90% of our wealth and that of the growing smaller by the day percentage of those who can consider themselves middle class and the increasingly growing numbers of lower class poverty stricken members of the global community who can't find clean drinking water or an education that is provided by a Madrassah continues to grow. Across the United States and the world, pensions are being slashed, our social security safety net is considered to be on the chopping block, and we still don't have a decent health care system. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs is still doing business and appointing Treasury Secretaries and henchmen into the Obama administration along with Bank of America, while a man name Julian Assange who received classified government information from someone, some believe to be Bradley Manning who is already in solitary confinement on a US military base in Virginia for his criminal act, releases it onto his WikiLeaks website in the guise of "Freedom of Information" is considered to be a terrorist destabilizing our government and governments around the world, who is then wanted for rape in Switzerland, accused by two young ladies who objected to having sex with him without a condom, and government's anywhere have never done anything nefarious that would consider these two women to possibly be on the payroll of a certain government's intelligence agency? But it's okay for the LA Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Le Monde and other newspaper sources to print the same material and go unscathed. Something has to give, and yet I look onto the students rioting in England and Greece with a cynical belief that it would take quite a lot more for that to occur in America, because that would mean becoming angry instead of complacent, educated instead of walking around in a pharmaceutically enhanced stupor treating the unhappiness of your private parts inability to provide happiness to your spouse, and instead get up get active and get involved. But I do remain optimistic that the end isn't near, because if it is, all of the time I will have currently spent on my book will have been for naught, and so I remain naively hopeful.
"A mystery wrapped inside a riddle, inside an Enigma. Even the shooters don't know, don't you get it?" David Ferrie portrayed by Oscar winning actor, Joe Pesci-----the film, Oliver Stone's masterpiece.... JFK
Happy Holidays, warm seasons' greetings, Merry Christmas, post Chanukah and pre-Kwanzaa. Drag out the aluminum pole from the attic, celebrate Festivus and prepare yourself for the feats of strength.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Short and Sweet
The Global Musings of an Educated Man....................vol.137
With the fall semester close to being over, there will be more time in the coming weeks for me to pursue my passion of creative writing and critical thinking. So I will leave you with just a taste of what is sure to come.
How long will it be, before we find on our nightly news channels that the leader of WikiLeaks Julian Assange turns up dead in a single car accident on a lone dirt road, or dies in a commercial plane crash or is shot by a crazed lone gunman? He's got more targets on him than a Osama Bin Laden right now, and he's got a major U.S. bank in his crosshairs next. I'm just saying. The man's a dead man.
Happy Holidays and remember, the 17th annual Old Spaghetti Factory Holiday get-together, Saturday the 11th, 6:30pm cst. Viva la tradicion'!
With the fall semester close to being over, there will be more time in the coming weeks for me to pursue my passion of creative writing and critical thinking. So I will leave you with just a taste of what is sure to come.
How long will it be, before we find on our nightly news channels that the leader of WikiLeaks Julian Assange turns up dead in a single car accident on a lone dirt road, or dies in a commercial plane crash or is shot by a crazed lone gunman? He's got more targets on him than a Osama Bin Laden right now, and he's got a major U.S. bank in his crosshairs next. I'm just saying. The man's a dead man.
Happy Holidays and remember, the 17th annual Old Spaghetti Factory Holiday get-together, Saturday the 11th, 6:30pm cst. Viva la tradicion'!
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