Political Correctness Inc

What can I say about political correctness?





Not for me.

Mexican elections - 2012 version

I know next-to-nothing about Mexican politics; nevertheless, I predict that within the next five years, Mexico will experience an economic boom and a cultural and social renaissance unseen in modern times - in fact, unseen since the beginning of time. You may think I'm nuts but I'm holding to my prediction no matter what. Don't ask me for facts or data - it's just a gut feeling. Economists and think tanks use the same method for making economic (and other) predictions. Don't kid yourself that they don't. 

Very funny

From a Yahoo! News story: “CARACAS, Venezuela – Prominent Venezuelan non-governmental organizations warned Thursday that a bill being drafted by lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez could be used to financially strangle groups that criticize the government. Ruling-party lawmakers argue the proposed law is necessary to increase oversight of foreign funding destined for NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), although they've promised to hear concerns from critics before taking up the bill for likely approval in the coming months. A draft of the bill says foreign donations for NGOs would no longer be sent directly to organizations but instead would be deposited in a government-controlled fund. Officials would dole out the money at their discretion.” This is really funny. As the saying goes, “He who has the gold makes the rules,” no? Once the government gets its hands on the money, it will be next to impossible to shake it loose. Who knows?

Government and Politics

If you want to learn something crucial about how politics and government work, simply try to find out why the flat tax cannot and never will be implemented.  

Politics

Politicians are people too. They may start out by trying to do good for the people they govern but eventually get taken over by ego and greed and dishonesty and special interests. There is no such thing as an incorruptible man or woman - Republican, Democrat, or Independent.

Europe to the Right

I told you so. It is being reported that Chancellor Merkel has stated that a multicultural society within Germany is simply not working. Read between the lines. Sarkozy had previously started to evict gypsies - Roma - who had entered France illegally. He was criticized by Liberals but he didn't care. His country comes first. This topless woman is 100% European I think. No problem.

Nobel

So, a Chinese man has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This sort of thing makes news for about two weeks then goes completely away, but it has made the leaders of China very mad. They claim that this man, who is currently in jail, does not deserve this award. The man, according to the Chinese leaders, is a criminal. The Nobel committee is just trying to start trouble in China - that's what the Chinese leaders have said. If you will recall, China executed a man for possession of drugs not too long ago, even in the face of protests from all corners of the globe, especially England. They do not tolerate lawbreakers. Think about that.

Balls

Have you ever wondered: There are some people who are so gifted that they find doing difficult things rather easy. Musical child prodigies for instance. There are also people who are not so talented or smart or well-educated who nevertheless, achieve grand schemes, whether good or bad. Those we call politicians. We also call them warlords. What makes a person so ambitious that he would want to lead an entire country or an army of criminals?

China again

From a story on Reuters: "BEIJING – China told the United States not to interfere in a regional dispute over claims to the South China Sea, saying it would only complicate the matter.  China has been increasingly strident in asserting its territorial claims, especially maritime ones. "We express great concern about any possible South China Sea announcement made by the United States and the ASEAN countries," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news briefing. ASEAN is the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. "We resolutely oppose any country which has no connection to the South China Sea getting involved in the dispute, and we oppose the internationalization, multilateralization or expansion of the issue. It cannot solve the problem, but make it more complicated," she said.

An unusual month

May 2010 has been an unusual month. We have had the usual disasters and political upheavals but things tend to take on a different hue when summer approaches. The British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has become the world's worst - to date, anyway. Greece is still struggling but the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti have become a distant memory. As a famous politician once said: People have very short memories. His future is secure.

What corruption?

They say that corruption is hard to quantify and that is probably true. The papers say that Somalia is the most corrupt country in the world. Afghanistan is not far behind. What exactly happens when corruption occurs? For one thing, it engenders more corruption. One rotten apple can turn a whole barrel full of apples rotten, no? But let's say that there is only one corrupt person among many honest ones. That corrupt person takes a bribe for a service not rendered or a product not delivered. It gets in the way of productivity and denies the economic equation its purpose - fair trade. The same can be said of greed. Greed is another form of corruption. But, how does one quantify greed? Ask yourself: do we really need to? How does one quantify hate or love or generosity or sincerity or honesty? Perhaps this topless woman knows.

Foxes

From a recent news story: “WASHINGTON – White House advisers pledged on Sunday to book administration officials on Fox News despite claims by the president's inner circle that the cable network is a GOP mouthpiece whose programming "is geared toward making money." Last week, White House communications director Anita Dunn said Fox News operates "almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party." On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama's chief of staff, said, "It is not a news organization so much as it has a perspective." Well, if Fox News is not news, then the New York Times is not a newspaper, and this beautiful topless woman is not a woman because she has short hair? That is just too silly….

Justice and foolishness

From a Yahoo! News story: “GENEVA – When launched to great fanfare nearly a year ago, some feared the Large Hadron Collider would create a black hole that would suck in the world. It turns out the Hadron may be the black hole. The world's largest scientific machine has cost $10 billion, has worked only nine days and has yet to smash an atom. The unique equipment in a 17-mile (27-kilometer) circular tunnel with cathedral-sized detectors deep beneath the Swiss-French border has been assembled by specialists in many countries, with 8,970 physicists eagerly awaiting the startup. But despite the expense, thousands of physicists around the world, many of whom hope to conduct experiments here, insist that it will work and that it is crucial to mankind's understanding of the universe.” Thomas Huxley said: "You have no notion of the intrigue that goes on in this blessed world of science. Science is, I fear, no purer than any other region of human activity; though it should be." I say, who needs to understand the universe when we so critically need to understand why the world is so unevenly just and unevenly comfortable – too few rich, too many poor, too few healthy, too many sick, too few free, too many oppressed, too few secure, too many afraid. Please. Study that.

Covering up

From an NPR story: “The federal jury that found former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson guilty Wednesday of 11 felonies, including bribery and racketeering, delivered its verdict four years and two days after FBI agents found $90,000 in his freezer. During the trial, prosecutors laid out five years' worth of deals in which Jefferson wanted payments from business people. The jurors saw a crisp FBI photo of the cash in his home freezer. They also saw a video of Jefferson collecting the money — the moment when the Democratic congressman reached into the trunk of an FBI informant's car and took a briefcase filled with the greenbacks. The informant, a businesswoman, wore a wire during the hand-off and at restaurant meals with Jefferson. She recorded incriminating conversations about business deals in Africa and the payments he expected. The defense case, by contrast, took a couple of hours and argued that Jefferson had been acting as a business consultant, not a member of Congress carrying out official acts.” There is a saying about working for two masters – it can’t be done. There is also a difference between discretion and dealing in cash – discretion is good, but cash is somehow always incriminating. Stay away from it. If you have nothing to cover up, then do everything out in the open. This topless woman knows this very well.

Do as I say, not as I do

From a story on the internet: “Al Gore’s house burns carbon like you wouldn't believe. Nashville Electric Service records show that Gore Hall consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year. To be specific: the Department of Energy says the average American consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours per year. In 2006, Gore consumed some 221,000 kilowatts hours. That's more than 20 times the national average. Of course, in his Academy Award-winning film, Mr. Global Warming told Americans to cut down on their consumption of electricity. So when some folks found him in that enormous house, they thought they detected hypocrisy.” This should not surprise anybody – he is a politician after all. He will NEVER lead by example. What does the young woman on the left have to do with any of this? Absolutely nothing.

Pick on the little man

A quote from commentator Pat Buchanan: “Last Saturday, Honduran soldiers marched into the presidential palace, bundled up President Manuel Zelaya and put him on a plane for Costa Rica. The ouster had been ordered by the Supreme Court and approved by the Congress, as Zelaya was attempting an illegal referendum to change the Honduran constitution so he could run for another term. Will someone please explain why this bloodless transfer of power to the civilian legislator first in line for the presidency, in a sovereign nation, is any business of the United Nations, the Organization of American States, Hugo Chavez, the Castro brothers or Barack Obama? For all have denounced the "coup" and demanded Zelaya's immediate return. The hypocrisy here is astounding.” Indeed! Very well said. There is s saying in Spanish (translated): “Nobody picks on whom they want but only on whom they can.” In Spanish that would go something like: “Nadie se desquita con quien quiere sino con quien puede.” In other words, you only bully those weaker than you. Is that fair? Should we blame the beautiful woman on the left? No!!! She wasn't even there. She was on Facebook.

Conservatives

The news is telling us that the conservatives have picked up seats in the European Parliament elections. It's really no big deal since that body is toothless. However, it's an indication that Europe is moving to the right (as I have been saying for about two years) as the U.S. moves to the left. As they begin to play this tug of war, old friendships will erode and treaties will become meaningless or worthless. However, remember that I know next to nothing about these matters. Either way, my sweetheart is very happy.

It didn't have to end this way

Remember the Titanic? It didn't have to sink the way it did. They had plenty of warning about the waiting icebergs but they decided to go full steam ahead. How about 911? The FBI got several bits of valuable data way ahead of the disaster and decided to do nothing. The ego-saturated administrators knew better. How about the Challenger Shuttle? The big explosion? The little engineers were overruled by the executives. There's a danger in thinking that you know everything. All I know is that this opera singer is rather pretty. Who is she?

Juvenile Delinquency

So, North Korea conducted another nuclear test. It seems to have caught a lot of people by surprise. Everyone is saying that North Korea is such a bad nation - it behaves so, so badly. No psychologist has been able to figure out why it behaves this way. How many psychologists are there in the world - 300,000, 700,000, a million, two million? I do not know. That many people cannot figure out what to do with this bad boy. North Korea is lucky. It's like when a parent is trying to figure out what went wrong with their delinquent child. It's impossible to figure out. We sent the New York Philharmonic over there and that didn't help. If they attack someone, let them have it. If not, leave them alone. Anyway, they are so far away, we should not be worried. Let those that are closest to North Korea worry - it's their problem. We have enough on our plate already, no? I didn't notice any environmental extremists say anything about how much hotter the Earth is now that the North Koreans exploded this bomb, which I'm sure produces more than a little bit of heat. It just makes me wonder. How do they pick who to pick on???

Bias in Science???

From a Yahoo! News story: “A new review of studies finds 29 percent of cancer research published in high-profile journals had disclosed a conflict of interest. While it's a good thing that the conflicts were disclosed, the review also found conflicts affect the research outcomes. The results, announced today, will be published June 15 in the journal Cancer. The findings add to a mountain of evidence suggesting you should be skeptical of health and medical advice.” Really??? This comes as no surprise – there is so much self-serving stuff out there one cannot keep up with all the posturing and pretense and hypocrisy. Good luck.