Today I saw a car with the perfect personalized license plate for America: CHRGIT. Charge It. Shop 'til you drop; spend as if there's no tomorrow.
Americans' consumer debt is rising at an annual rate of 6.4% and we currently owe $2,586,300,000,000 in short and intermediate term loans, according to the Federal Reserve Board. That's about $8,400 per person. That's not including home mortgages, either. Nearly a trillion of that is on our credit cards. Meanwhile, our personal savings rate has been steadily dropping for some time now; according to the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, our personal savings rate sank to 0.6% last year (as recently as 1984 it was over 10%).
Quite simply, we delight in spending money we don't have, but are increasingly reluctant to save anything for our future. Our parents read us Aesop's fable of the ant and the grasshopper; we apparently didn't listen.
CHRGIT
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 16 August 2008
01 November 2009
31 October 2009
Racism and the race
I was listening to a major broadcast network news analyst and another political analyst discussing the tightness in recent presidential polls and they were coming up with all sorts of reasons why Obama might be doing worse than expected or McCain doing better than expected. They discussed matters ranging from recent drops in the price of gas to continued fall-out over the lapel pin fracas to the pace of war in Iraq. What they didn't mention at all -- not at all -- was race. Guess they didn't want to play the "race card" ... or, more to the point, they were probably afraid to bring up the subject. But for good or ill, the voters know that race is the issue lurking out there, possibly unacknowledged publicly but nevertheless present in everybody's awareness.
We won't ever be able to move past racism unless we acknowledge it and face issues relating to race head-on. That's not so much the responsibility of the candidates as it is of our news media and, especially, ourselves. (Never mind his brilliant speech in Philadelphia; Senator Obama has, after all, done more to do that than anybody ever has, just by running so successfully.) Towards that end, I commend the following column from the New York Times of August 9: "Racism and the Race," by Charles M. Blow.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 10 August 2008
We won't ever be able to move past racism unless we acknowledge it and face issues relating to race head-on. That's not so much the responsibility of the candidates as it is of our news media and, especially, ourselves. (Never mind his brilliant speech in Philadelphia; Senator Obama has, after all, done more to do that than anybody ever has, just by running so successfully.) Towards that end, I commend the following column from the New York Times of August 9: "Racism and the Race," by Charles M. Blow.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 10 August 2008
Legacy
We're told that retiring presidents become concerned with their legacy. Let's look at the current incumbent's legacy ....
War in Afghanistan, not only with no end in sight, but with the government we installed riven with corruption, opium production skyrocketing, the war increasingly endangering Pakistan's fragile democracy, our enemies emboldened, the Taliban and al Qaeda becoming stronger and Osama bin Laden still free.
War in Iraq, with all the rationales for invasion exposed as lies, over a million dead, deadly violence still common, ethnic partitions hardening, political reconciliation still a distant dream, Iranian influence greater than ever, widespread corruption, hundreds of billions of dollars wasted, no concept of what "victory" might look like, and no realistic exit strategy.
The nation disgraced by torture, Guantanamo, rendition, Abu Ghraib, denial of the most basic human rights, unlawful wiretaps and surveillance, obsessive secrecy, shredding of the rule of law, secret murders and untold crimes against humanity.
Shocking denial of the most pressing environmental threat to ever threaten humanity, and an almost criminal refusal to take even the most basic measures to reduce or even postpone the danger.
An appalling eagerness to take advantage of a national tragedy for narrowly partisan purposes, coupled with a squandering of a global wellspring of sympathy for our national pain so astonishingly incompetent that most of the world now fears us, holds us in contempt, and views our espoused values as hypocritical.
Ruinous energy policies which threaten the collective health of the planet and all its inhabitants, send vast amounts of the national treasure to unstable and dictatorial regimes and quite probably into the hands of our enemies, and do enormous damage to the national economy and our industrial base.
Transformation of an inherited federal budgetary surplus into the largest deficit to ever saddle an incoming president, simultaneously saddling future generations with a mountain of debt and enormous consequences for the ability of the nation to deal with emergencies and other pressing issues in the future.
Massively regressive fiscal, tax and health care policies plus encouragement of appalling corporate excesses which combine to worsen the plight of the nation's less fortunate and exacerbate the gap between the rich and everybody else.
Cynical manipulation of public opinion, the mass media and the political process to divide Americans, foster intolerance and distract the nation from issues critical to its well-being.
Utter contempt for the hallowed principles of the Republic, starting with the antidemocratic machinations which established the incumbent's administration in the first place and leading on to packing the courts with reactionary judges, Congressional maneuvers to undermine the legislative process, dictatorial assertions of unchecked executive power, and both illegal and unethical practices to drive professional judgment out of government and replace it with partisan rancor.
The list goes on and on; readers can surely add many more examples. The sum of it all is not only that this is the worst President this country has ever had, but that succeeding administrations will need to labor heroically for a long, long time to even begin to repair the damage.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 28 July 2008
War in Afghanistan, not only with no end in sight, but with the government we installed riven with corruption, opium production skyrocketing, the war increasingly endangering Pakistan's fragile democracy, our enemies emboldened, the Taliban and al Qaeda becoming stronger and Osama bin Laden still free.
War in Iraq, with all the rationales for invasion exposed as lies, over a million dead, deadly violence still common, ethnic partitions hardening, political reconciliation still a distant dream, Iranian influence greater than ever, widespread corruption, hundreds of billions of dollars wasted, no concept of what "victory" might look like, and no realistic exit strategy.
The nation disgraced by torture, Guantanamo, rendition, Abu Ghraib, denial of the most basic human rights, unlawful wiretaps and surveillance, obsessive secrecy, shredding of the rule of law, secret murders and untold crimes against humanity.
Shocking denial of the most pressing environmental threat to ever threaten humanity, and an almost criminal refusal to take even the most basic measures to reduce or even postpone the danger.
An appalling eagerness to take advantage of a national tragedy for narrowly partisan purposes, coupled with a squandering of a global wellspring of sympathy for our national pain so astonishingly incompetent that most of the world now fears us, holds us in contempt, and views our espoused values as hypocritical.
Ruinous energy policies which threaten the collective health of the planet and all its inhabitants, send vast amounts of the national treasure to unstable and dictatorial regimes and quite probably into the hands of our enemies, and do enormous damage to the national economy and our industrial base.
Transformation of an inherited federal budgetary surplus into the largest deficit to ever saddle an incoming president, simultaneously saddling future generations with a mountain of debt and enormous consequences for the ability of the nation to deal with emergencies and other pressing issues in the future.
Massively regressive fiscal, tax and health care policies plus encouragement of appalling corporate excesses which combine to worsen the plight of the nation's less fortunate and exacerbate the gap between the rich and everybody else.
Cynical manipulation of public opinion, the mass media and the political process to divide Americans, foster intolerance and distract the nation from issues critical to its well-being.
Utter contempt for the hallowed principles of the Republic, starting with the antidemocratic machinations which established the incumbent's administration in the first place and leading on to packing the courts with reactionary judges, Congressional maneuvers to undermine the legislative process, dictatorial assertions of unchecked executive power, and both illegal and unethical practices to drive professional judgment out of government and replace it with partisan rancor.
The list goes on and on; readers can surely add many more examples. The sum of it all is not only that this is the worst President this country has ever had, but that succeeding administrations will need to labor heroically for a long, long time to even begin to repair the damage.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 28 July 2008
Gift
What's the best gift imaginable?
Attended a conference a while back. My employer is usually penurious when it comes to conferences and travel for people like me. But this one was in town and my boss thought I'd somehow benefit. I didn't want to go; it was sponsored by a vendor and wasn't terribly relevant to my work. Besides, I've got lots to do, since I keep getting new responsibilities without losing any of the old ones. But orders are orders; I went.
Turns out my boss was right, just not in the way she thought.
Towards the end of the conference I was sitting in a fairly crowded lecture hall. A late arrival found the seat next to me. I don't much remember what the presentation was about, but I certainly remember the conversation that my neighbor and I fell into after it ended. Polite noncommittal comments on the presentation slid into professional issues and rapidly branched seamlessly into myriad topics ranging from current events to literature to baseball to history to music to electoral politics to family histories and on and on. The neighbor finally had to run to catch the train home to a distant city. Then exploratory e-mails wondering if the conversation was a fluke, followed by more e-mails, more exchanges, more sharing over a gulf of two hundred miles that confirmed a simpatico soul.
Sometimes the origins of true friendship stretch back into a dimly remembered past, seemingly as much a part of the firmament of life as the earth beneath your feet. Sometimes it grows slowly, framed in familiarity, creeping silently into your life until some anomalous event suddenly reveals the bond's strength. Or it can be forged in compelling shared experiences. And sometimes it bursts forth from a vacuum with breathtaking abruptness.
However it comes, it's a gift almost beyond compare. Friends are good. Very good.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 3 July 2008
I just don't get it
But then, I'm old.
Got my 16 year old a cell phone a while back. Unlimited calls within network, and a generous allotment for prime-time out of network calls. No good; it didn't include unlimited texting.
"But you can call," says I.
"Daaaaaaaad," says she, clearly frustrated by my ignorance of all matters significant.
Despite exhortations to be prudent, if not miserly, texting still occurred, month after month. Recriminations.
Back to the provider; signed up for unlimited texting within network, and what looked to me to be a generous ration of texting outside of network. Kid agrees to bear the cost for any over that amount. First month's bill with the texting service comes today. 178 messages out of network over and above that generous allotment.
"Pay up," says I.
"Daaaaaaaad,: says she, with that exasperated, dismissive voice only teens can master.
I just don't get it. But then, I'm old. And getting older.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 2 July 2008
Got my 16 year old a cell phone a while back. Unlimited calls within network, and a generous allotment for prime-time out of network calls. No good; it didn't include unlimited texting.
"But you can call," says I.
"Daaaaaaaad," says she, clearly frustrated by my ignorance of all matters significant.
Despite exhortations to be prudent, if not miserly, texting still occurred, month after month. Recriminations.
Back to the provider; signed up for unlimited texting within network, and what looked to me to be a generous ration of texting outside of network. Kid agrees to bear the cost for any over that amount. First month's bill with the texting service comes today. 178 messages out of network over and above that generous allotment.
"Pay up," says I.
"Daaaaaaaad,: says she, with that exasperated, dismissive voice only teens can master.
I just don't get it. But then, I'm old. And getting older.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 2 July 2008
No refuge from guns
Today we learned that the Bush administration wants to let people carry loaded, concealed guns in national parks (click here for the news article). This letter is in reply.
To the editor, New York Times:
Permitting guns into National Parks is an incredibly bad idea. Poachers will be delighted. So will the deranged predators, the rapists, the thieves, the sociopaths who prey upon innocent people. But for the rest of us, it’s a recipe for tragedy.
The NRA tells us guns will make parks safer. Wrong. Department of Justice figures clearly show that the innocent are far, far more likely to be the victims of gun violence than the beneficiaries. In 2004, a fairly typical year, private citizens used their guns to kill 170 criminals. Criminals used their guns to kill 11,624 innocent victims. What makes anybody think that appalling ratio will somehow be reversed if we allow guns into our national parks?
When people come to National Parks, they’re looking for respite, for peace and quiet, for the simpler joys of our natural world. They want to get away from the violence and tension of their workaday world. Let’s not ruin it for them, for all of us.
Update: In 2009, President Obama signed into law a provision permitting guns to be carried in national parks.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 30 May 2008
To the editor, New York Times:
Permitting guns into National Parks is an incredibly bad idea. Poachers will be delighted. So will the deranged predators, the rapists, the thieves, the sociopaths who prey upon innocent people. But for the rest of us, it’s a recipe for tragedy.
The NRA tells us guns will make parks safer. Wrong. Department of Justice figures clearly show that the innocent are far, far more likely to be the victims of gun violence than the beneficiaries. In 2004, a fairly typical year, private citizens used their guns to kill 170 criminals. Criminals used their guns to kill 11,624 innocent victims. What makes anybody think that appalling ratio will somehow be reversed if we allow guns into our national parks?
When people come to National Parks, they’re looking for respite, for peace and quiet, for the simpler joys of our natural world. They want to get away from the violence and tension of their workaday world. Let’s not ruin it for them, for all of us.
Update: In 2009, President Obama signed into law a provision permitting guns to be carried in national parks.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 30 May 2008
A key to unlocking a vital door to peace
The key to nearly the full range of conflicts in the Middle East is the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict which establishes a viable Palestinian state and leads to a secure Israel, thereby removing a casus belli within the Middle East and leading ultimately to the furtherance of regional prosperity and peace. I've become increasingly convinced that the political forces holding that key reside in America and shape the direction of American policy towards the region.
In that light, I recommend an opinion piece appearing in today's New York Times by Jeffrey Goldberg, a correspondent for The Atlantic, who argues that the long-range interests of Israel depend upon the emergence of a Palestinian state and that American supporters of Israel must come to realize what many Israelis already know, that the Israel that they value cannot continue to exist unless the emergence of such a state is encouraged.
Goldberg's column can be found through this link to the Times.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 18 May 2008
In that light, I recommend an opinion piece appearing in today's New York Times by Jeffrey Goldberg, a correspondent for The Atlantic, who argues that the long-range interests of Israel depend upon the emergence of a Palestinian state and that American supporters of Israel must come to realize what many Israelis already know, that the Israel that they value cannot continue to exist unless the emergence of such a state is encouraged.
Goldberg's column can be found through this link to the Times.
Note: this was originally posted on ketches, yaks & hawks 18 May 2008
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