Politics Archives - Page 10 of 10

Earth Day Dichotomy

I think I finally figured it out.

I’ve been struggling to figure out why some people are willing to believe in the possibly of global warming, while others seem to be so staunchly from Missouri. And it isn’t just a left-right, liberal-conservative, Democratic-Republican thing, though it does have aspects of it.

Well, here’s the (cheeky) theory; it’s all dependent on how they view the legal system.

Let’s take group A, which I’ll call Red. Red wants to make sure we lock up all the people who need locking up (not necessarily including their friends). Red is dependent, though often bends, the rule of criminal law which requires evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Red has doubt, which Red finds reasonable. So, Red doesn’t seem to want to do anything until there’s total unanimity of opinion. Examples of this thinking: a recent Wall Street Journal op/ed piece, the current administration’s position that we can’t do anything until China does, the let’s sit on our hands position of the EPA that was vacated by the Supreme Court recently.

Then let’s take group B, which I’ll call Gray. Gray thinks we need sweeping changes, which can often be done with a class-action lawsuit. The rule of civil law requires that only a preponderence of evidence support the position, which is good enough for Gray. Thus, Gray finds the rising temperatures, stranded polar bears and hungry penguins, the increase in severe weather, the disappearing bees, the poor maple seasons to provide a preponderence of evidence of human-generated global warming. Well, maybe not the bees. A leading Republican on this side appeared on the cover of Newsweek recently; notably, he’s one of the few who isn’t running for President, because he’s ineligible.

Regardless, what I loved about this Earth Day/Month was the Step It Up protests all over the country last weekend. “We’re not going to join all together in a mass demonstration and waste all of that petrol!” they were saying. “Act locally.”

In New York, there’s conversation about expanding the bottle bill (five cent deposit on returned soda and beer cans and bottles) that was passed a couple decades ago, to water bottles, sports drinks, bottled iced tea and the like. I’m in favor. The growth of sports drinks and the like was not anticipated when the original law was passed.
ROG

Media and Politics QUESTION

The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago will be celebrating the 75th anniversary salute to FDR on July 2. FDR accepted his nomination at Chicago Stadium and announced his plans for the New Deal. If I were in Chicago, I’d be very inclined to go to this gig. Media! Politics! Robert Vaughn!

Also at this event, the organization will be announcing America’s top 100 political moments in radio and television.

Without thinking or researching, because thinking will just confuse things, and I wanted to go with my gut feelings, my Top 11.
In chrono order:
1. Al Smith, 1928. Not many people saw it, of course.
2. FDR, “Day of Infamy”, December 1941. Still respond to it in the ear.
3. McCarthy hearings in the 1950s.
4. JFK-Nixon debates, esp. the first one. I read somewhere that people listening to it on the radio thought Nixon won, while those watching TV would pick Kennedy. This would be #1, if I were to rank.
5. I Have a Dream speech (That certainly is political), August 1963.
6. JFK assassination. November 1963.
7. Cronkite dissing LBJ about Vietnam, February 1968
8. Democratic National Convention, August 1968
9. Watergate hearings (esp. John Dean), 1973
10. Reagan in Normandy, 1984
11. Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings (“high-tech lynching”)

Of course, there are the FDR’s fireside chats, the black power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Jimmy Carter’s Moral Equivalent of War energy policy with the sweater, the assassination attempt on Reagan, Iran-Contra, and a bunch more, but the ones I picked just resonated more for me.

So, what would be your picks?

P.S. – Gordon, might you attend?
***
I should note St. Patrick’s day, since I’m Roger O’Green, but there’s already enough blarney in this post, what with media AND politics. The primary Albany parade, though, was postponed for a week because of the foot plus of snow we received overnight.

ROG

Some JEOPARDY! fans have WAY too much time on their hands

I’m skimming the Wall Street Journal when I get to this piece on identity theft. One article talked about an “ego search”, so I did one in Google, as I hadn’t done one in quite a while. I found this blog – actually several times – plus references to the Roger Green who’s the Assemblyman from Brooklyn, but who works in Albany, of course. Then I came to the J! Archive, an incomplete, but detailed description of JEOPARDY! games, as though it were a sporting event, plus a wagering calculator.

And guess whose two games in 1998 were documented thoroughly? No, NOT Linda Zusman; only one of the Albany school teacher’s games are shown. Guess again.

So you get to see all the questions I got right – I did know many of the ones I didn’t get a chance to answer; the ones I got wrong, including the brain freeze from Game 1; and the order in which they were answered. I look back at Game 2, and I read the questions that no one rang in on and say, “Hey, I know THAT!” Well, NOW I know it. Anyway, compare and contrast with my recall here, here, and here. You’ll find the misrecollections I had, especially about the second game, which, strangely, I’ve watched a few fewer times than the first one.

Incidentally, only 51 of the 75 appearances of Ken Jennings are documented so far.

Anyway, I suppose it’s no more obsessive than someone who can calculate what offensive guard could be drafted in the fifth round by the New Jersey Jets.
***
Newsmeat, which documents which celebs/sports figures gave money to politicians, how much they gave and to whom.
***
Wanna have a radio station?
***
An appreciation of Molly Ivins.
***
A local event, but interesting-

The voice in My Fair Lady, The King and I, and West Side Story for all those actresses that couldn’t sing:

This coming Sunday is the Marni Nixon Master Class, from 1-4 at Bush Memorial Hall at Russell Sage College.

The price for adults is $20, and for students, $5 with a student ID.

The number to call is 518- 462-4531 x236.

There are eight wonderful young singers who have been chosen to participate with a really interesting mix of music, and it promises to be an enlightening event for both the participants and the observers.

97 random questions

Go, Indianapolis Colts! I almost gave up on you yesterday. I was going to do a joke about everybody rooting for the team with the black head coach, except that not everyone would know that BOTH teams, the Colts and the Bears, have black head coaches.

101 RANDOM QUESTIONS, cut down for some reason:

0) The Junior Senator from Illinois, who’s black, announced he’s running for President last week. The Junior Senator from New York, who’s female, announced that “I’m in. I’m in to win.” The Governor of New Mexico, who’s Hispanic, throws in his hat today. What’s the chances that none of them will be on the national ticket in November 2008? Pretty poor, though I thought over a year ago that Richardson should be VP, a position he says he does not want.
1) Do you have a crush on somebody?: Thousands, all the time
2) Do you hate more than 3 people?: No
3) How many houses have you lived in?: greater than 20
4) Favorite candy bar?: Mounds
6) Have you ever tripped someone?: Not intentionally, except in play.
7) Least favorite school subject?: calculus
8) How many pairs of shoes do you own?: 4
9)Do you own a Britney Spears CD? No
10) Have you ever thrown up in public?: yeah, a long time ago
11) Name one thing that is always on your mind: music
12) Favorite genre of music?: 1960s Motown
13) What’s your sign?: Pisces
14) What time were you born?: 3:15 pm EST
15) Do you like beer?: no
16) Have you ever made a prank phone call?: no
18) Are you sarcastic?: occasionally
19) What are your favorite colors?: blue, green
20) How many watches do you own?: one, which I got from my parents’ house in Charlotte in late December
21) Summer or winter? Summer
22) Is anyone in love with you?: hope so
23) Favorite color to wear?: wine
24) Pepsi or Sprite?: Pepsi
25) What color is your cell phone?: none
26) Where is your second home?: work
27) Have you ever slapped someone?: no
28) Have you ever had a cavity? More than one
29) How many lamps are in your bedroom?: 2
30) How many video games do you own?: one
31) What was your first pet?: Peter the cat
32) Ever had braces?: nope, never
33) Do looks matter?: more to others than to me
34) Do you use chapstick?: rarely
35) Name 3 teachers from high school: Helen Foley, Joe Maughan, Mrs. Greene
36) American Eagle or Abercrombie?: neither
37) Are you too forgiving?: can one be?
38) How many children do you want?: 1
39) Do you own something from Hot Topic?: apparently not
40) Favorite breakfast meal: a mix of Cheerios and spoon-sized shredded wheat
41) Do you own a gun?: no
42) Ever thought you were in love?: more than once
43) When was the last time you cried?: this week
44) What did you do 3 nights ago?: choir
45) Olive Garden?: very rarely
46) Have you ever called your teacher mommy?: no
47) Have you ever been in a castle?: no
48) Nicknames?: not really
49) Do you know anyone named Bertha?: yes
50) Ever been to Kentucky?: yes, in 1993
51) Do you own something from Banana Republic?: no
52) Are you thinking about somebody right now? Define
53) Ever called somebody Boo?: no
54) Do you smoke?:no way
55) Do you own a diamond ring?: no
56) Are you happy with your life right now?: some days
57) Do you dye your hair?: obviously not
58) Does anyone have a crush on you?: maybe
59) Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? Probably DD
60) What were you doing in May of 1994?: probably having a big fight with my estranged wife
62) McDonald’s or Wendy’s?: Wendy’s, definitely
63) Do you like yourself?: most days
64) Are you closer to your mother or father?: even when my father was alive, I’d say my mother
65) Favorite physical feature of the preferred sex?: the mind
66) Are you afraid of the dark?: depends
67) Have you ever eaten paste?: don’t think so
68) Do you own a webcam?: no
69) Have you ever stripped?: not in that way
70) Ever broke a bone?: no
71) Are you religious?: “being religious” has such a bad connotation of “religiosity” – I’m a person of faith
72) Do you chat on AIM often?: never
73) Pringles or Lays?: neither
74) Have you ever broken someone’s heart?: undoubtedly
75) Rugrats or Doug?: neither
76) Full House or The Brady Bunch?: neither
77) Do you like your high school guidance counselor?: he’s deceased, but yeah, he was OK
78) Has anyone ever called you fat?: yeah
79) Do you have a birth mark? No
80) Do you own a car?: well, if my wife’s car counts
81) Can you cook?: minimally
82) 5 things that annoy you: 1.) drivers who ignore emergency vehicles and keep on coming through the intersection 2.) drivers that park their cars so that one can’t access sidewalk cutouts and other accessibility locations 3.) lying politicians 4.) people who never stop talking 5.) litter
83) Do you text message often?: no
84) Money or love?: peace
85) Do you have any scars?: yes, from two bicycle accidents
86) What do you want more than anything right now?: sleep
87) Do you enjoy scary movies?: not so much
88) Relationships or one night stands?: relationships
90) Do you enjoy greasy food?: much less than I used to
91) Have you seen all the Rocky movies?: no, 1, 2 and I think 4
92) Do you own a box of crayons?:yes!
93) Who was the last person that said they loved you?: possibly my daughter
94) Who was the last person that made you cry?: probably my daughter
95) Who was the last person that made you laugh?: probably my daughter
96) Who was the last person that instant messaged you?: it’s been months, but Carla in Oregon
97) Who was the last person that called you? My wife.

Give up?

I got this e-mail from a friend last month. I called him back that weekend and tried to give him some encouraging words, like a couple W political losses at that time. But I’m not certain how well I did. Do YOU folks have some ideas?

You know, I actually don’t know anyone else I could discuss this meaningfully with; most of my friends are either apolitical or cynical to the point of absurdist caricature (with some nihilism thrown in for that extra value added).

At what point do we give up?

As I do every [public radio] fund drive, I donate $100, and heck, I get a CD out of it…Maurice Hinchey on the History of War with Iraq, Scott Ritter on the Myth of WMD in Iraq. This time, there is Bill Moyers’ address to the National Press Club at which he reads from Orwell, and talks about the evolution of journalism into consensus-forming rather than investigative reporting.

Then, since I now have cable Internet, I can watch video feeds, and caught William Rivers Pitt of Truthout addressing the Progressive Democrats of America (who, since I’ve become aware of the Congressional caucus of them, I tend to think of as “Green Democrats”).

Then I thought of a birthday card you sent me shortly after we graduated from college, and it said “It’s You and Me Against the World…” and inside, “…and frankly, I think we’re gonna be crushed.”

Amidst my disgust and rage at the corporate masters and the Fundie Dominionists, a voice keeps popping up in my head saying “Your side has LOST.” And much of the evidence seems to point to that. Our belief, and social progress we’ve been made, appears under shock & awe attack on, well, just about EVERY front that is important to me.

And I do love my country and the founding principles, but when does one cut and run? ‘Cuz it’s not just me. I’ve got a family to consider, and I don’t want my child to grow up in this sort of Empire. And Canada, far from a perfect utopia (seal pups and native Americans, and Roman Catholicism, after all), is at least not a warmongering imperialist, their culture is not alien, and the border is so close…

I’m gritting my teeth and will try to endure thru the 2006 elections (but I really don’t know if I can vote for Hillary again, even if I hold my nose), but if the fix is in, or the Cows just stand around chewing their cuds…well, THEY may deserve the slaughterhouse they will be lead to. But WE don’t.

Any words of wisdom? ‘cuz I’m tapped out, my friend.

Peace,

Send profound (or mundane) observations to me, please. Because, while I’m not at my friend’s point, I surely know what he means.