There are many things in life to distress me. Among the worst are the pessimists, the paranoid, the slippery-slopers, those who can only see black and white, blamers but not responsibility takers, and people who think if one apple is rotten, it follows that all apples are rotten. When the Legislators and Media hot shots keep talking about all the people at AIG caused the destruction of the behemoth company, so none of them should get a promised bonus (even those who had nothing to do with trading and for whom the bonus serves in lieu of adequate salary). It should then follow that all Representatives and Senators are immoral, crooks, liars, greedy self-serving unconscionable people and worse, because the House and Senate have at times had some of all the above.
Why then does the media stir the pot of mob rage and fail to try to find out that the one-size-fits-all judgment is inaccurate? Even those in Media whom I trust the most, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow have disappointed me because they have allowed themselves to be swept up by the angry, ill-informed mob. Should we then equate them, as Media people, and say they are ultra-conservatives like Fox News staff? Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are all entertainers who make comment on the news. Does anyone consider them all alike? I would hardly think an intelligent person could do this. Why then has the media been able to whip up a feeding frenzy that is endangering the careers, reputation, and safety of the many loyal employees within AIG, Bank of America, and some of the other places currently where guilty, as well as innocent, are being thrown under the bus?
The Media, as well as the Legislators have the power to search out the truth, analyze the total situation before presenting it to the people. Instead, they are revving up the populace for repeat acts like the massacre at Columbine, the Spanish Inquisition, or the French Revolution with its guillotines. The media ought to hire people who can work on curing the hopelessness that exists in so many who are eager to displace their anger onto innocents; too ready to believe if you work with bad executives you must also be evil. President Obama, in my opinion, did the right thing to go on the Tonight Show and reach 200,000 million people rather than the pitiful few he might reach being on the often-biased political shows, when they are attempting to be fair and balanced but end up giving credence to ridiculous, near-thought0-disordered zealots. The Chariot of Hope on which Obama rode into office is fast being eroded by the Media and others. People are too impatient. The time it will take to fix the mess we are in from the Bush Administration should be very clear to anyone whose eyes and mind are open.
Wikipedia: "Patience (pā-shəns) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast."
What happened to the patience of the American people who were able to wait out the Cheney/Bush tenure to be able to vote for some people who might make a difference and begin to put into place a cure for our ailing country? Where are the voices of ideas and hope which are not to be found in Media circles?
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
CONGRESS AS FAIR AND BALANCED AS FOX NEWS
AIG either had someone who leaked personal information on employees or was dumpster driven. In any case, the employees were thrown under the bus. Forced to give up their salary if they were not the top bonus receivers, or have it taxed 90% (probably will be proved unconstitutional way far down the pike) the people who worked for AIGFP and were not traders or policy makers have years of career down the tubes because the Congressman haven't done any of their homework. They are painting with the broad brush of ignorance finally feeling empowered.
The analogy that comes to mind is what the families of doctors who sympathized with women wishing not to bare an unwanted child. Abortionists and their families were threatened and some killed. The same thing is happening to some of the upper level employees at AIG who were not actual policy makers but charged with keeping the employees working at their best, equipment running, and all other staff supportive to the banking services. They do not deserve to be lynched by the mobs because they don't have the money to hide themselves and their families safely away.
What the government is doing is analogous to firing the nursing staff and doctors who helped the patient through the operation but are needed but are forced to stick around to get the patient back on its feet. The trouble is that the bailing out by so many employees for their safety and that of their families as well as disillusionment at being considered one of the 'bad guys' for nothing done by them but doing their job ethically and with integrity.
The analogy that comes to mind is what the families of doctors who sympathized with women wishing not to bare an unwanted child. Abortionists and their families were threatened and some killed. The same thing is happening to some of the upper level employees at AIG who were not actual policy makers but charged with keeping the employees working at their best, equipment running, and all other staff supportive to the banking services. They do not deserve to be lynched by the mobs because they don't have the money to hide themselves and their families safely away.
What the government is doing is analogous to firing the nursing staff and doctors who helped the patient through the operation but are needed but are forced to stick around to get the patient back on its feet. The trouble is that the bailing out by so many employees for their safety and that of their families as well as disillusionment at being considered one of the 'bad guys' for nothing done by them but doing their job ethically and with integrity.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
MEDIA SHOOTS LONG BEFORE THE WHITES OF EYES ARE VISIBLE
Chris Matthews: "He (Obama) has to turn away the public anger.....". Matthews makes no mention that the anger is being roiled up by the media, focused for days on raising that anger by speaking on things about which they know little or nothing. I am constantly shocked at the Babbitts in the Legislature. Legislators wasted our taxpayer money on a hearing, all morning, BEFORE they heard the testimony of the current, newly appointed AIG CEO, who came in to do the best he could after the disaster not of his making was in full catastrophe. It showed when their minds were closed and where they got their information. Those who claim their constituents are demanding bonuses be returned are as clueless as their constituents because the source of information has been the same erroneous guessing.
People in the Congress who spoke today only made me aware of how obtund most of them are. They flame, rant, and talk threateningly, raising promises of what they will do, while all the time never listening to facts.
AIG was the target today. If the employees had been black two generations ago, they'd have been lynched by now, apologized for later. What our politicians fail to recognize is that not everyone employed at AIGFP in London, or the many other sites ordered to be closed had anything to do with policy decisions. The workers in IT, for example, made a minimal salary and the yearly bonus was, if fact, their real income on which they lived. When one of the Congressmen asked if replacements couldn't easily be found for all the employees, I cringed. Just because Legislators require no particular skill for their job and need little by way of a learning curve to do it, they should not assume that is true in all corporations. There are those who have set up offices, know exactly how everything works and where everything is backed up as required by the FBI, the IRS, and all other governmental noses stuffed in to find out what happened.
Death threats for just doing your job (the few top people who were really responsible for the major problems are long gone) are pretty much undeserved. In the States, employees are having their cars vandalized and are fearful of the mob mentality that the media is helping to escalate. It is laughable that only Rush Limbaugh was sympathetic when, (I was told) he said 'let them have their bonuses; after all, they're out of a job soon') CEO compensation has been out of hand for many years now. Non-profit companies have been indulging their CEOs with huge bonuses for many years. It became a way of life but was at its worst when employees were paid a minimum salary for the job they did, but unlike food service people they got no tips from customers. Instead, just as with food service waiters, waitresses, bartenders, etc., their 'tips' came in the form of a bonus...no doubt an tax advantage to the company or some other devious reason.
During the campaign I complained bout Chris Matthews (MSNBC)asking guests for an answer or opinion and talks over them. I'm surprised anyone wants to appear on his show he is so discourteous. Then there is Pat Buchanan who does the same and even talked over Matthews. Someone needs to stop the rabble-rousing before people are really hurt, or worse, killed. Will the media take their responsibility for firing up rage over such a tempest in a teapot? I sincerely doubt it. They haven't done so in the past that I can recall.
People in the Congress who spoke today only made me aware of how obtund most of them are. They flame, rant, and talk threateningly, raising promises of what they will do, while all the time never listening to facts.
AIG was the target today. If the employees had been black two generations ago, they'd have been lynched by now, apologized for later. What our politicians fail to recognize is that not everyone employed at AIGFP in London, or the many other sites ordered to be closed had anything to do with policy decisions. The workers in IT, for example, made a minimal salary and the yearly bonus was, if fact, their real income on which they lived. When one of the Congressmen asked if replacements couldn't easily be found for all the employees, I cringed. Just because Legislators require no particular skill for their job and need little by way of a learning curve to do it, they should not assume that is true in all corporations. There are those who have set up offices, know exactly how everything works and where everything is backed up as required by the FBI, the IRS, and all other governmental noses stuffed in to find out what happened.
Death threats for just doing your job (the few top people who were really responsible for the major problems are long gone) are pretty much undeserved. In the States, employees are having their cars vandalized and are fearful of the mob mentality that the media is helping to escalate. It is laughable that only Rush Limbaugh was sympathetic when, (I was told) he said 'let them have their bonuses; after all, they're out of a job soon') CEO compensation has been out of hand for many years now. Non-profit companies have been indulging their CEOs with huge bonuses for many years. It became a way of life but was at its worst when employees were paid a minimum salary for the job they did, but unlike food service people they got no tips from customers. Instead, just as with food service waiters, waitresses, bartenders, etc., their 'tips' came in the form of a bonus...no doubt an tax advantage to the company or some other devious reason.
During the campaign I complained bout Chris Matthews (MSNBC)asking guests for an answer or opinion and talks over them. I'm surprised anyone wants to appear on his show he is so discourteous. Then there is Pat Buchanan who does the same and even talked over Matthews. Someone needs to stop the rabble-rousing before people are really hurt, or worse, killed. Will the media take their responsibility for firing up rage over such a tempest in a teapot? I sincerely doubt it. They haven't done so in the past that I can recall.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
THE OPPOSING BULLIES CRY SOCIALISM
The Republicans have sunk to Middle School tactics, that of calling names. Like the Middle School age children, the names called, like 'your mother wears Army boots' are totally meaningless, just as calling President Obama a Socialist lacks substance. They don't realize that, in calling him names, they only display their own meanness and ignorance of history and facts.
Merriam-Webster defines Socialism
"Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\ Function: noun Date: 1837
1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods 2a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property 2b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state 3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done"
It was in 1884 that Count Leo Tolstoy continued his personal confession in “My Religion” - he found in the principle of nonviolent resistance (which he called “non-resistance”) the key to understand the Gospels, a new understanding of his life and of modern society in his age. Nonviolence became the ethical basis for his doctrine of Truth Force which has later been developed by Mahatma Gandhi in his “Satyagraha” philosophy and Dr. Martin Luther King jr. in his concept of Soul-Force.
Instead of name-calling (though asking this is as fruitful as spitting into the wind), if the Republicans had any really useful ideas that the media would pick up on, rather than the whining they are calling forth, Congress might actually get some productive work accomplished rather than the little they had achieved while in the majority for the last eight years.
Ohio's Robert Ney went to jail for his backing of Ambramoff and Stanford. Clearly he is not alone among the House and Senate of people who pushed the country in the wrong direction. However, despite the loud-mouthed bullies, some work did get done productively...as long as it did not step on the toes of the Fundamental zealots. Senator Feinstein has summarized many of the positive changes made in 2008.
Now that we have a President who is extremely intelligent and trained for the job, the bullies are spending all their time name-calling and being obstructionists. Sadly, it is probably because they can do nothing else. Perhaps the electorate will, by the next elections to the Legislature, vote on their actual records rather than the lies they spin campaigning. It is refreshing to see and hear that Obama is bringing to fruition many of his campaign promises. Likely, he would put them all into effect, with only the changes that wisdom and closer study, when all the facts of a situation are presented when decisions must be made. A candidate never has all the facts, and especially wouldn't have had them during the secretive 'Cheney-Bush' administration.
Now, if the bullies will take the time to understand the difference between social democracy and socialism, politicians might establish a bit more credibility...though for some, I believe, it is a lost cause.
For more on this subject, read a blog by Pulitzer Prize winner Saul Friedman.
Merriam-Webster defines Socialism
"Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\ Function: noun Date: 1837
1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods 2a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property 2b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state 3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done"
It was in 1884 that Count Leo Tolstoy continued his personal confession in “My Religion” - he found in the principle of nonviolent resistance (which he called “non-resistance”) the key to understand the Gospels, a new understanding of his life and of modern society in his age. Nonviolence became the ethical basis for his doctrine of Truth Force which has later been developed by Mahatma Gandhi in his “Satyagraha” philosophy and Dr. Martin Luther King jr. in his concept of Soul-Force.
Instead of name-calling (though asking this is as fruitful as spitting into the wind), if the Republicans had any really useful ideas that the media would pick up on, rather than the whining they are calling forth, Congress might actually get some productive work accomplished rather than the little they had achieved while in the majority for the last eight years.
Ohio's Robert Ney went to jail for his backing of Ambramoff and Stanford. Clearly he is not alone among the House and Senate of people who pushed the country in the wrong direction. However, despite the loud-mouthed bullies, some work did get done productively...as long as it did not step on the toes of the Fundamental zealots. Senator Feinstein has summarized many of the positive changes made in 2008.
Now that we have a President who is extremely intelligent and trained for the job, the bullies are spending all their time name-calling and being obstructionists. Sadly, it is probably because they can do nothing else. Perhaps the electorate will, by the next elections to the Legislature, vote on their actual records rather than the lies they spin campaigning. It is refreshing to see and hear that Obama is bringing to fruition many of his campaign promises. Likely, he would put them all into effect, with only the changes that wisdom and closer study, when all the facts of a situation are presented when decisions must be made. A candidate never has all the facts, and especially wouldn't have had them during the secretive 'Cheney-Bush' administration.
Now, if the bullies will take the time to understand the difference between social democracy and socialism, politicians might establish a bit more credibility...though for some, I believe, it is a lost cause.
For more on this subject, read a blog by Pulitzer Prize winner Saul Friedman.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
STABBED TO DEATH BY HER GRANDSON
Today the local news reported that an 80 year old woman was stabbed to death Sunday after church. in her home. Asked if I had heard about it, I said I had not had an opportunity to tune into local news. Shortly afterward my daughter, who attends the Unitarian Church with her husband and family, phoned me, sobbing. The murdered woman was her good friend who sang in the church choir beside her for the past five years. The woman's daughter and her son (the 6'5" 22 year old who was hearing voices and was the one who killed his beloved grandmother) had also attended the church for many years.
Suddenly 6 degrees seems a short distance. How many lives are ruined because of a delusional act by a promising young man, who had been loved by his teachers, relatives and friends. As with most schizophrenics, if that is his correct diagnosis, he had begun to hear voices and, while he did well on medication, when he began to feel better he would go off of them, as he did recently. He had been in England with his mother when he began to slide backwards. She sent him back to the states, when she felt she could no longer handle him. Her mother was the widow of a psychiatrist, I was informed. However, being a psychiatrist's widow is no match for a paranoid, delusional 22 year old hearing voices, the world soon learned.
The church which had been attended by him for many years, as did his mother and grandmother, invited the congregation to meet to deal with the loss and feelings of the parishioners who knew the three of them well and loved them all. Such meetings are helpful to let people who know one another share their collective grief but they all know that nothing will bring the lady back or make that young man's life ever see the potential that was once so visible.
Death is so final for the human who has died, but it is equally final for all the people who lose that friend, neighbor, relative, parent, mentor, or whoever the deceased may be to them. The daily factual and unemotional stories in the papers and TV drone on with the facts. Media stakes out house waiting to get someone to emote, the more tears they can stir up, the more successful they seem to feel the interview was for them. Twenty two years of enjoying this little boy growing up to manhood is lost to memory. A loving grandmother has had life taken from her and the many lives she was touching. A mother must live with her own desolation while residing In England. How she will be able to make herself come to her mother's home (where she may have lived for many years) and deal not only with her death but with what the law will exact from her son.
Is it possible not to bleed emotionally for all concerned under the circumstances?
Suddenly 6 degrees seems a short distance. How many lives are ruined because of a delusional act by a promising young man, who had been loved by his teachers, relatives and friends. As with most schizophrenics, if that is his correct diagnosis, he had begun to hear voices and, while he did well on medication, when he began to feel better he would go off of them, as he did recently. He had been in England with his mother when he began to slide backwards. She sent him back to the states, when she felt she could no longer handle him. Her mother was the widow of a psychiatrist, I was informed. However, being a psychiatrist's widow is no match for a paranoid, delusional 22 year old hearing voices, the world soon learned.
The church which had been attended by him for many years, as did his mother and grandmother, invited the congregation to meet to deal with the loss and feelings of the parishioners who knew the three of them well and loved them all. Such meetings are helpful to let people who know one another share their collective grief but they all know that nothing will bring the lady back or make that young man's life ever see the potential that was once so visible.
Death is so final for the human who has died, but it is equally final for all the people who lose that friend, neighbor, relative, parent, mentor, or whoever the deceased may be to them. The daily factual and unemotional stories in the papers and TV drone on with the facts. Media stakes out house waiting to get someone to emote, the more tears they can stir up, the more successful they seem to feel the interview was for them. Twenty two years of enjoying this little boy growing up to manhood is lost to memory. A loving grandmother has had life taken from her and the many lives she was touching. A mother must live with her own desolation while residing In England. How she will be able to make herself come to her mother's home (where she may have lived for many years) and deal not only with her death but with what the law will exact from her son.
Is it possible not to bleed emotionally for all concerned under the circumstances?
Monday, March 16, 2009
CURRENT MEDIA'S LACK OF RELEVANCE
A problem with the current media today is that they are asking the wrong people the right questions. Rather than hunt down concrete facts and news, they are asking the untrained, lay people (such as most of the Congress, the man on the street, the hastily put together 'panels of experts'.) It is understandable that the habit may have started with the last, very secretive eight years of governmental functioning. With no accountability and the refusal of people in the Administration to come before the Legislature and reveal what it was they were doing and to what end, it would seem logical that the media went into 'punt' mode. Ignoring the Constitutional need for the three branches to work together, the media raised occasional weak alarms for the public about this. These alarms were quickly disqualified by other media megaliths. However, the Obama administration has transparency...shouldn't the media realize this and actually start doing their job instead of pretending they are Administrative advisers?
Katty Kay, English reporter and journalist brought up an interesting point on this week's Meet the Press. She pointed out that European countries are not as panicked to make stimulus packages because, even if people are out of work, they still have medical care and anticipate future survival better than Americans are able by current circumstances.
Among much of the useless information coming out of the media today, is amazingly how much waste of time there is by the apologists, especially the Republicans. Meet the Press had Congressman Kantor on, as he has been seen frequently on other 'shows' a well, full of promises about plans the Republicans are working on and will soon put work him to the front. Rather than the handsome face and articulate speech he puts forth, I would rather hear someone with substance. He whined about the difficulty it is to be the minority party (missing that the Democrats...party of ideas...have been in that position for the past, precious 12 years.)If the media would try to be less politically correct and more interested in actual useful information, it would stop pandering to partisanship as it is currently doing.
Stephanopoulos was first to catch onto the comedians like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and others, who zero in on issues far better than the 'supposed, straight' media. Perhaps that suggests a sense of humor is needed to see beyond the political pap being currently filling the radio waves and TV screens.
Lastly, the media thinks that a bonus is expendable but fails to realize that for many, it is the actual salary. For example, some employees of AIG have not been given a raise in salary for the length of employment even as long as 15 years. Instead, 90% of their salary is paid once a year in the form of a bonus. If that is taken away, they would have to leave the company. For employees who have been there for any significant length of time their expertise would be difficult to replace. It is now time for the average pub;ic to go back to trying to survive and let the govrtnmrny govern, while telling us how it is doing it. That is the transparency we have yearned for these past eight years.
Katty Kay, English reporter and journalist brought up an interesting point on this week's Meet the Press. She pointed out that European countries are not as panicked to make stimulus packages because, even if people are out of work, they still have medical care and anticipate future survival better than Americans are able by current circumstances.
Among much of the useless information coming out of the media today, is amazingly how much waste of time there is by the apologists, especially the Republicans. Meet the Press had Congressman Kantor on, as he has been seen frequently on other 'shows' a well, full of promises about plans the Republicans are working on and will soon put work him to the front. Rather than the handsome face and articulate speech he puts forth, I would rather hear someone with substance. He whined about the difficulty it is to be the minority party (missing that the Democrats...party of ideas...have been in that position for the past, precious 12 years.)If the media would try to be less politically correct and more interested in actual useful information, it would stop pandering to partisanship as it is currently doing.
Stephanopoulos was first to catch onto the comedians like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and others, who zero in on issues far better than the 'supposed, straight' media. Perhaps that suggests a sense of humor is needed to see beyond the political pap being currently filling the radio waves and TV screens.
Lastly, the media thinks that a bonus is expendable but fails to realize that for many, it is the actual salary. For example, some employees of AIG have not been given a raise in salary for the length of employment even as long as 15 years. Instead, 90% of their salary is paid once a year in the form of a bonus. If that is taken away, they would have to leave the company. For employees who have been there for any significant length of time their expertise would be difficult to replace. It is now time for the average pub;ic to go back to trying to survive and let the govrtnmrny govern, while telling us how it is doing it. That is the transparency we have yearned for these past eight years.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
ODDS AND ENDS OF TODAY
As I was reading news from a variety of sources to prepare for this blog, all I accomplished was to get myself incredibly depressed with just how many bad guys there are in the world and how unfortunate we were to have so many as our Administration for eight years. Mexican criminals are better armed than the police. Why are we surprised at that. Our police have been screaming for years that it is the case right here in the US!
In Ireland, a policeman was assassinated. In Germany a 17 year old murdered 15 or so in his school. In America that would not be real news but one's 'first' is noteworthy in most places. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pressed Mr Obama to improve relations with Cuba and Venezuela. Seymour Hersh: "Executive Assassination Ring Answered to Cheney", Had No Congressional Oversight By Eric Black, MinnPost.com. Posted March 12, 2009. Investigative journalist Sy Hersh dropped a bombshell revelation on Monday about international killings ordered under Bush. Germany's Industrial output drops 7.5%
The further one travels around the world reading news, there is little to make people relaxed or happy.
In Ireland, a policeman was assassinated. In Germany a 17 year old murdered 15 or so in his school. In America that would not be real news but one's 'first' is noteworthy in most places. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pressed Mr Obama to improve relations with Cuba and Venezuela. Seymour Hersh: "Executive Assassination Ring Answered to Cheney", Had No Congressional Oversight By Eric Black, MinnPost.com. Posted March 12, 2009. Investigative journalist Sy Hersh dropped a bombshell revelation on Monday about international killings ordered under Bush. Germany's Industrial output drops 7.5%
The further one travels around the world reading news, there is little to make people relaxed or happy.
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