As the calendar turns into November, I am finding it harder to find time to compose posts.
My day job has become more and more demanding (longer days, longer weeks) and the travel has increased.
There have also been echanges and debates over content here that simply hold no interest for me, but seem to cause friction for others. Lately, I have neither the time nor inclination to deal with things that do not interest me or to invite friction.
For these reasons, I have decided to take the following steps.
(1) My sports blog, started earlier in the month, has been archived and deleted. Like pets, it seems that with blogs, three is too many. I am sure that the legion of three followers will be able to overcome their grief.
(2) I am taking a sabbatical from this blog until work slows down. It's not like America can get much worse off, anyway, and Americans sure don't look like they're going to all of sudden put down their remotes if I post just one more diatribe.
(3) On my music blog, I have reviews scheduled to auto-post through early December, should anyone have an interest.
Between now and then, I'll ponder the merits of continuing this blogging experiment.
This is not an appeal for followers, just a note to inform you why the activity here is slowing to a crawl. Okay, actually to a dead stop.
I appreciate the readers who have visited, and will still visit the blogs I normally frequent.
"Show me round the snow-peaked mountains way down south
Take me to you daddy's farm
Let me hear you balalaikas ringing out
Come and keep your comrade warm
I'm back in the USSR"
DiscConnected
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
CAN'T GET ENOUGH SCHWEDDY BALLS!
You gotta give this blog credit for going from the sublime to the ridiculous!
From America's burned-out moral compass to "are you freakin' kiddin' me?" I bring you what Americans do get riled up about instead of things like murder, abortion (a synonym for murder), adultery, and waging illegal and unconstitutional wars on people in countries who don't think we're cool (yet even more murder).
Yep-Americans worry the that brand name of ice cream is responsible for our moral decay!
Ben & Jerry's new limited-edition flavor 'Schweddy Balls' ice cream has brought chuckles from fans of the "Saturday Night Live" skit on which it's based, some supermarket chains feel that the flavor is too controversial and not up to the standards of, say the National Enquirer and Weekly World News.
The flavor featuring fudge-covered rum balls has been absent from some grocery freezers since it was unveiled. The title was inspired by an innuendo-laced 1998 skit featuring Alec Baldwin as baker Pete Schweddy, who promises, "No one can resist my Schweddy balls."
But apparently some grocery store chains can, and so can supporters and members of the One Million Moms group.
That Mississippi-based moms organization has been putting the heat on retailers to keep Schweddy Balls out of their freezers and encouraging parents to ask the Vermont-based Ben & Jerry's to stop production of the item, saying the name is nothing but locker room humor that's not appropriate for young children.
I can see that-the Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto video games teach our children family values that we don't want eroded by a reference to a ten-year old Saturday Night Live skit that the kids won't even understand because they WEREN'T BORN YET!
Ben & Jerry's spokesman Sean Greenwood said Thursday that Schweddy Balls has quickly become the most popular limited-edition flavor the company has produced.
But it was these unclean Schweddy Balls that raised the ire of the conservative One Million Moms group.
Monica Cole, director of the Tupelo, Miss.-based organization, said "The vulgar new flavor has turned something as innocent as ice cream into something repulsive. Not exactly what you want a child asking for at the supermarket."
Here's the SNL skit....if you think your immortal soul can stand it!
And here's a tase test on The View!
To the One Million Moms...can you guys PLEASE get behind something that frigging matters?
Your kids are being taught far worse than Schweddy Balls in those dung-holes you call public schools-why aren't you up in arms about that?
You're like the people in the condo association who send out tickets because there's a blade of grass the wrong length!
Yeah, I know America means freedom for everyone, but really....you're squandering yours!
Watch out you pious ones-B&J makes Karamel Sutra ice cream, too!
From America's burned-out moral compass to "are you freakin' kiddin' me?" I bring you what Americans do get riled up about instead of things like murder, abortion (a synonym for murder), adultery, and waging illegal and unconstitutional wars on people in countries who don't think we're cool (yet even more murder).
Yep-Americans worry the that brand name of ice cream is responsible for our moral decay!
Ben & Jerry's new limited-edition flavor 'Schweddy Balls' ice cream has brought chuckles from fans of the "Saturday Night Live" skit on which it's based, some supermarket chains feel that the flavor is too controversial and not up to the standards of, say the National Enquirer and Weekly World News.
The flavor featuring fudge-covered rum balls has been absent from some grocery freezers since it was unveiled. The title was inspired by an innuendo-laced 1998 skit featuring Alec Baldwin as baker Pete Schweddy, who promises, "No one can resist my Schweddy balls."
But apparently some grocery store chains can, and so can supporters and members of the One Million Moms group.
That Mississippi-based moms organization has been putting the heat on retailers to keep Schweddy Balls out of their freezers and encouraging parents to ask the Vermont-based Ben & Jerry's to stop production of the item, saying the name is nothing but locker room humor that's not appropriate for young children.
I can see that-the Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto video games teach our children family values that we don't want eroded by a reference to a ten-year old Saturday Night Live skit that the kids won't even understand because they WEREN'T BORN YET!
Ben & Jerry's spokesman Sean Greenwood said Thursday that Schweddy Balls has quickly become the most popular limited-edition flavor the company has produced.
But it was these unclean Schweddy Balls that raised the ire of the conservative One Million Moms group.
Monica Cole, director of the Tupelo, Miss.-based organization, said "The vulgar new flavor has turned something as innocent as ice cream into something repulsive. Not exactly what you want a child asking for at the supermarket."
Here's the SNL skit....if you think your immortal soul can stand it!
And here's a tase test on The View!
To the One Million Moms...can you guys PLEASE get behind something that frigging matters?
Your kids are being taught far worse than Schweddy Balls in those dung-holes you call public schools-why aren't you up in arms about that?
You're like the people in the condo association who send out tickets because there's a blade of grass the wrong length!
Yeah, I know America means freedom for everyone, but really....you're squandering yours!
Watch out you pious ones-B&J makes Karamel Sutra ice cream, too!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
WHAT'S YOUR WORD WORTH?
The company I work for just completed its annual push for all employees to complete an ethics questionnaire.
Apparently, under the Sarbanes Oxley regulations, this questionnaire will insure that every individual will act ethically.
It strikes me as odd that we have come to a point where we need to do this every year!
Are there really adult people in the USA who are not elected officials who do not know that things like stealing and lying are wrong?
And do we need Sarbanes Oxley laws to tell us what is and isn't wrong?
Didn't Charlton Heston give us all of the rules we need in that Cecil B. Demille classic?
We already had all the laws we need.
As much as Bill Maher likes to ridicule them, the Ten Commandments cover pretty much everything.
In fact, there was an obscure fellow from Nazareth named Jesus who even gave us a simpler law...the Golden Rule.
Remember that one?
Something about doing unto others?
But something has happened in our society over the last half century.
We've perfected our ability to rationalize our behavior.
In a specch he mad in the nineties, Alan Keyes tied this back to the legalization of abortion. After all, if we could rationalize the murder of an unborn innocent, what other behavior would we not be able to rationalize?
I agree with Dr. Keyes that abortion is unjust and immoral, but never took the next step in reasoning that he did.
Keyes said, "If we are killing our babies today, it is not just because of our lust, and not just because of our indifference, and our desire to achieve our agendas at every cost and indulge our own satisfaction and give in to our own fears."
What other behavior could we rationalize?
Look at the last several decades!
Increase in drug usage.
Increase in random violence.
Proliferation of casual sex to the point that sexually transmitted diseases were running rampant.
The above behaviors are not the problem, they are the symptoms.
The problem we are dealing with is a moral problem.
Fifty years ago, we did not have a lot laws governing the above behaviors, nor were these behaviors problems.
The fundamental discipline that was prevailing in our society all those years ago has broken down.
We have a moral crisis.
That IS the problem.
Apparently, under the Sarbanes Oxley regulations, this questionnaire will insure that every individual will act ethically.
It strikes me as odd that we have come to a point where we need to do this every year!
Are there really adult people in the USA who are not elected officials who do not know that things like stealing and lying are wrong?
And do we need Sarbanes Oxley laws to tell us what is and isn't wrong?
Didn't Charlton Heston give us all of the rules we need in that Cecil B. Demille classic?
We already had all the laws we need.
As much as Bill Maher likes to ridicule them, the Ten Commandments cover pretty much everything.
In fact, there was an obscure fellow from Nazareth named Jesus who even gave us a simpler law...the Golden Rule.
Remember that one?
Something about doing unto others?
But something has happened in our society over the last half century.
We've perfected our ability to rationalize our behavior.
In a specch he mad in the nineties, Alan Keyes tied this back to the legalization of abortion. After all, if we could rationalize the murder of an unborn innocent, what other behavior would we not be able to rationalize?
I agree with Dr. Keyes that abortion is unjust and immoral, but never took the next step in reasoning that he did.
Keyes said, "If we are killing our babies today, it is not just because of our lust, and not just because of our indifference, and our desire to achieve our agendas at every cost and indulge our own satisfaction and give in to our own fears."
What other behavior could we rationalize?
Look at the last several decades!
Increase in drug usage.
Increase in random violence.
Proliferation of casual sex to the point that sexually transmitted diseases were running rampant.
The above behaviors are not the problem, they are the symptoms.
The problem we are dealing with is a moral problem.
Fifty years ago, we did not have a lot laws governing the above behaviors, nor were these behaviors problems.
The fundamental discipline that was prevailing in our society all those years ago has broken down.
We have a moral crisis.
That IS the problem.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
THE STATE THAT PROMISES EVERYTHING
What do you do when your state is weathering a budget crisis and is running a $10 billion dollar budget shortfall?
Well, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Saturday giving illegal immigrant college students access to state-funded financial aid.
Yep, now American taxpayers are paying for illegal aliens to GO TO COLLEGE!
This is the second half of a two-part legislation known as the "Dream Act," presumably named for the only state of reality where a government can continue to spend money like water and still balance their budget.
"Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking," Brown said in a written statement issued by his office. "The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us,"
Of course, the college graduates will need to leave America to realize this improvement in life, as the only opportunities left for them in this country will be call center jobs and the challenge of asking someone if they want to super-size their order for five dollars more.
A federal Dream Act that would have created a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who attend college or serve in the military failed in Senate last year.
Opponents of the California Dream Act have argued that public funds should not be used to help illegal immigrants, especially as California faces deep budget woes that have prompted cuts in education and higher tuitions at the state's public colleges and universities.
Call me silly, call me jingoistic, but something about giving American tax dollars to a group of people with the word ILLEGAL in its name sort of goes against the grain for me.
Good luck balancing that budget, California.
Well, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Saturday giving illegal immigrant college students access to state-funded financial aid.
Yep, now American taxpayers are paying for illegal aliens to GO TO COLLEGE!
This is the second half of a two-part legislation known as the "Dream Act," presumably named for the only state of reality where a government can continue to spend money like water and still balance their budget.
"Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking," Brown said in a written statement issued by his office. "The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us,"
Of course, the college graduates will need to leave America to realize this improvement in life, as the only opportunities left for them in this country will be call center jobs and the challenge of asking someone if they want to super-size their order for five dollars more.
A federal Dream Act that would have created a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who attend college or serve in the military failed in Senate last year.
Opponents of the California Dream Act have argued that public funds should not be used to help illegal immigrants, especially as California faces deep budget woes that have prompted cuts in education and higher tuitions at the state's public colleges and universities.
Call me silly, call me jingoistic, but something about giving American tax dollars to a group of people with the word ILLEGAL in its name sort of goes against the grain for me.
Good luck balancing that budget, California.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
I LEFT MY HEART IN BAGHDAD
American icon Tony Bennett took to the airwaves at Sirius Radio to promote his new album, “Duets II,” but it’s what he said about war, peace, terrorism, and who was to blame for the Sept. 11 terror attacks that could get people talking.
Sitting down with Howard Stern, the 85-year-old singer had definite opinions about other wars involving the United States.
“To start a war in Iraq was a tremendous, tremendous mistake internationally,” he said.
Stern then asked Bennett about how America should deal with terrorists, specifically those responsible for the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.
“But who are the terrorists? Are we the terrorists or are they the terrorists? Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Bennett said.
In a soft-spoken voice, the singer disagreed with Stern’s premise that 9/11 terrorists’ actions led to U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“They flew the plane in, but we caused it,” Bennett responded.
Following seconds of silence, Stern said that his guest was “making some good points.”
Sunday, October 9, 2011
SPEND NOW, TAX LATER
I don’t know how families do it.
And I’m not just talking about the pain of listening to “Queen Of The Supermarket” on Bruce Springsteen’s last album.
In recent months, grocery items have fluctuated in price like stocks, and I have noticed my total at the register steadily creep up without much change in buying habits.
Some theorize that prices on things like gas, food, and stocks are inflating because of the printing of enormous amounts of money bu our friends at the Federal Reserve.
In other words, it’s not that the prices are going up but that the value of the dollar is dropping.
Why should that concern you?
If prices go up, it’s a function of supply and demand.
If I have a gallon of gas, and only one buyer, I’m pretty much going to sell that gallon for what the buyer is willing to pay. If I have five buyers, there will be a bidding war, especially if I have the only gallon of gas in town.
And even if the gallon of gas drives a price increase in other items, the market will still be a factor, and only those items dependent on gas are in play.
If the value of the dollar drops, it affects the value of everything.
All the hard-earned dollars in your 401K?
Worth less.
Your house?
Worth less?
Anything imported from overseas?
Do we even manufacture anything here?
If the dollar is worth less, goods cost more.
For years, our government’s overspending was funded by the purchase of US debt securities by foreign countries. Countries like China, who had been keeping us afloat, have stopped investing their money in US government debt.
Why is that?
Well, they question our ability to repay it.
You see, unlike the American people, the Chinese are smart enough to know that simply printing more money is a BAD thing.
In a few years, the baby boomers will start to retire. And as much as people joke about they won’t be able to afford to retire, some will HAVE to retire due to health reasons.
That means that the work force left to tax to support the aging population who will be drawing benefits on Social Security and Medicare will be smaller.
And in case you didn’t know, the money that comes out of your paycheck for these entitlement programs does not go into a savings account with your name on it.
It is being spent today.
On current benefits, and on wars in Asia, and on bailouts and cash for clunkers...you name it. All the things that American voters couldn't live without.
So if you’re under forty, when the time comes for me to draw benefits, they’re going to be looking to tap YOUR paycheck.
And that tax that is currently 7.5% or so is going to go up. Dramatically.
And I hope that when that happens, all of the government excess that is going on today will seem worth it to you.
And your children.
Because that's who is really getting SCREWED by all of this.
And it's our fault, children of the sixties and seventies.
Our parents left us a better future than they had, and we're leaving our children a welfare state.
And why?
So we can own iPods or iPads or Kindles or other overpriced electronics, expensive cars and all sorts of other crap that we can't afford and buy anyway on credit.
And then we encourage our government to do the same thing.
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