tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44887970965786756932024-03-05T12:37:36.669-08:00Stampeding HerdA look at how society has developed mindlessly, influenced by (stampeding) herd mentality - <br>and has sent civilization flying over the abyss. <br><br>Ray Newman is an advocate of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, and its principles of reason, individualism, and freedom.rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12996711941833026818noreply@blogger.comBlogger401125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-72472920370571750882011-12-13T10:35:00.000-08:002011-12-13T10:45:41.622-08:00"THAT'S NUTS!"I say we should increase the income tax rate on the rich, lower the estate tax, increase the gift tax, lower the sakes tax, increase the corporate tax, eliminate the charitable deduction, implement a savings tax, increase the excise tax, decrease the medical exemption, stabilize the tax on minors, impose a tax on illegals, tax unearned income, reduce stock transfer taxes, lower gas taxes, eliminate the luxury tax."<br />
<br />
"That's nuts. I say we should reduce payroll taxes, increase property taxes, lower cigarette taxes, increase the self-employment tax, reduce inheritance taxes, increase consumption taxes, lower capital gains taxes, reduce dividend tax, raise retirement taxes, lower tariffs, increase tolls, lower city taxes, increase state taxes, lower unemployment taxes, raise Social Security taxes, lower fishing taxes, raise hunting taxes."Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-75350080388599582072011-12-11T11:20:00.000-08:002011-12-11T11:24:30.224-08:00THE "EST" SUPERLATIVEParade magazine headline referred to Matt Damon as "the sexiest family man alive". The missing words to the headline are "In my illogical unintelligent opinion"...thr "I" being the writer of the writer of the headline.<br />
<br />
Why illogical and unintelligent? Two primary reasons:<br />
<br />
1. The writer did not meet each of the billion or more family mean alive on the planet to be qualified to give Mr. Damon that ranking<br />
2. There is no one objective standard to be used for "sexiest". Different people of the same ethnicity, different people of different ethnicity, cultures, ages, etc. would define "sexiest" in grossly different ways...from "makes me want to hug him" to "makes me want to jump into bed with him".to "makes me want to ---" (you fill it in).<br />
<br />
We humans have a compulsion to label something or someone as biggest/ best/strongest/fastest INin the world, virtually always without reference to the two flaws mentioned above. Logically, you can't even refer to the Olympic gold medal winner in the 100 yard dash as "the fastest human alive" (which is what he is always called). At best, he may have been the fastest runner in that race on that day. The actual fastest human alive may not have competed that day. Secondly, even the guy who won the race may not be the fastest. He may have won because he ran a smarter race and in fact may have been the slowest runner in the race, if capacity for speed is what "fastest" means. And further, why is 100 yards the right distance...what about the guy who won the mile race?...the marathon?<br />
<br />
Muhammad Ali may indeed have been right when he referred to himself as "the greatest". But like Ali, the misguided use of "est" must now be retired.Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-47723193489053613692011-12-06T14:53:00.000-08:002011-12-06T15:04:42.095-08:00THE DILEMMA OF THE COMPASSIONATE CARNIVORE(This is a copy of an email I wrote to a CNN columnist.) <br />
<br />
Regarding your support of the banning of fur sales in West Hollywood, CA, may I ask : What did you have for lunch yesterday? For Thanksgiving dinner? Do you ever eat hamburgers, turkey, chicken, steak, duck, bacon, lamb, lobster, shrimp (dear little cuties), etc. Those all come from animals like the ones you don't want to see killed for fashion.<br />
<br />
Are you consistent? Do you argue against the killing of animals to eat them as you argue against killing them for their fur. And please don't make the argument that we have to eat to stay alive. We do...but we don't have to eat animals, we can survive quite well and healthily without them.<br />
<br />
I do not favor the wanton killing of animals (I don't support keeping them in a zoo for our pleasure and amusement either, I don't support keeping birds in cages) but these are not proper political matters in a free society.<br />
<br />
By the by: do you own any leather jackets, shoes, belts, wallets, handbags, pearl earrings or necklaces ?Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-38905168842564629952011-12-05T13:12:00.000-08:002011-12-06T14:22:09.821-08:00CAIN MAY BE ABLEI would have liked to see Herman Cain remain in the race for the presidency despite falling popularity presumably due to the allegations that he had adulterous affairs. I would have liked to see that because whether or not those allegations are true, they are irrelevant to his qualifications for the job.<br />
<br />
It is time for America to wake up. The job of President requires administrative abilities, leadership qualities, in depth knowledge of, and allegiance to, the Constitution, and negotiating skills. That is what the President should offer to the American public in exchange for their vote. Whether or not the President is and always has been faithful to his wife may be of concern to the President's spouse, but not to the American public.<br />
<br />
Some of the most accomplished and admired Presidents are known to have had extra-marital affairs. Whatever his or her sexual proclivities (if legal), whatever his or her sexual orientation, it is the list of qualities above that determines his qualification for the job. So many Americans, however, seem more interested in a candidate's personality and how photogenic he or she is (listen to how often you hear that Sarah Palin is too pretty to be President. Newt Gingrich is too angry looking, Ron Paul is too short). A candidate's political views, policies and programs? Eh.. What, after all, did American voters know about Barack Obama?<br />
<br />
What is also worthy of note is that the woman who claims she had a long term affair with Cain and who took money from him was interviewed on tv, with her attorney by her side, looking hurt and unjustly treated because Cain did not acknowledge the affair. Please, lady, not for you to feel a victim in this matter, nor do you have the credentials to be a moral judge. By your own statements, you acknowledge carrying on an extended affair without presumably any concern for Mrs. Cain. If the affair took place, you were a co-conspirator, co-deceiver. If there is a victim here, it is not you.<br />
<br />
Herman Cain can help break this insensible voter practice by getting back in the race. Then I can listen to him some more and decide if he earns my vote.Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-55105981549074204202011-11-27T08:24:00.000-08:002011-11-27T08:25:45.654-08:00WARMING YOUR BLOODI looked up "excitement" in Roget's Thesaurus and it listed the following:<br />
<br />
stimulation, provocation, inspiration, interest, fascination, ravishment, entrancement, passion, thrill, intrigue, glowing, soul-stirring, heart-swelling, tantalizing, enrapture, astounding, electrifying<br />
<br />
It also listed "spicy"...the spice of life...and if there is one thing that the repetitious lifestyle which society imposes on us is missing from many people's lives, it is spice. It is excitement (whatever that might be to each of us individually) that revs up our motor and carries us further on our quest for happiness. Excitement is the best concrete proof that life is the glorious, wondrous, incomparable gift we ever receive. Don't settle, compromise, merely go along/get along. Normality, the popular, the usual, are sinister killers...of the human spirit<br />
<br />
We each take only one trip down the mountain. Make it an exciting one.Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-15088291065056628012011-11-21T07:32:00.000-08:002011-11-21T08:17:10.014-08:00(Repeat of previously-published post, because we need a starting point to turn our society in a better direction.)<h3 class="post-title entry-title">JUBEL! </h3><div class="post-header"></div>Americans are often thought of as being so in a rush, they do not have the time to stop and communicate with others. And that has some truth in it.<br />
<br />
Americans are often thought to be so self-occupied that they have little concern for others. And that has some truth in it.<br />
<br />
I think it starts with the very first words we use when we see or greet each other. "Hello" has always seemed to me to convey nothing much other than "Hey, I see (or hear) you". And that short 5-letter word seems too time consuming to say in full, and is commonly reduced to the quicker "Hi" or the flippant wave of two fingers...which may give some credence to the ideas about Americans expressed above.<br />
<br />
As a child studying Bible, I was fond of the way ancient wanderers greeted each other. "Shalom"...and its various offshoots, "Salaam", "Shlom", etc... all conveyed so much greater meaning. In various places in the Old and New Testaments, it is taken to mean peace, completeness, health, welfare, safety, tranquility, prosperity, fullness, rest, harmony, absence of agitation, distress and discord.<br />
<br />
How wonderfully much to say in one word to the wanderer, to let the stranger know immediately that he is welcomed as friend, as tribesman, as family. How calming to be immediately gifted with spiritual affinity and camaraderie and blessing!<br />
<br />
We need a word like that in the English language...a word that expresses the opening of one mind, one soul, one spirit, one universe, to another. <br />
<br />
JUBEL! Enter, be at peace, serene, safe, I am interested in your story.Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-83105797038717780582011-11-20T09:07:00.000-08:002011-11-20T09:36:27.489-08:00THE TRUTH ABOUT APPLE PIEVirtually all our attitudes in this country about sexuality are unfathomable, infantile, senseless. We titter, chuckle, guffaw, when the subject of sex is brought up, even just hinted at, seemingly forgetting that all of the following are true:<br />
<br />
* there were likely over 1 BILLION acts of intercourse committed on the planet last nite, and every nite<br />
* Mom and Dad had sex or we wouldn't be here<br />
* sex is natural to our species...even Adam and Eve engaged in it <br />
* sex is a very pleasureable experience<br />
* sexual desire comes early in life, and remains to one's last breath <br />
* most everybody wants more of it<br />
* sex is necessary for the survival of the species<br />
* the advertising business is intentionally sexually oriented<br />
* women's clothing is frequently sexually provocative<br />
* tell a woman she has a great face, and she is flattered...but tell a woman she has a great body, and<br />
she is overtly offended...but inwardly flattered?<br />
* nudity is smirked about notwithstanding that we are all naked under the clothing mask we wear...and<br />
not one of us has a body part that every other member of our gender have<br />
* giant biblical heroes had sex...frequently polygamously...and in Solomon the Wise Man's case, a thousand times polygamously<br />
* jokes about sex are considered "dirty", though the cleanest, most upright members of our society laugh hysterically at them<br />
* Hugh Hefner made a fortune showing us pictures of breasts...the first things we came to have<br />
experience with in our lives when we suckled our mother's breasts as infants<br />
* references to sexual intercourse abound in euphemisms: "slept with". "went to bed with", "had relations with", "was intimate with", "made love to"...as if saying the truth of it makes us, well, dirty and perverted, a deviant, abnormal, when in fact we are as normal, as healthy, as apple pie.<br />
<br />
Wouldn't you like a piece right now?Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-3946816910639440162011-11-19T05:42:00.000-08:002011-11-19T11:09:16.568-08:00INSIDE OUTChildren love play, adults worship pay...where the hell did the l go?<br />
<br />
Don't remember the Alamo, remember you are alive to remember.<br />
<br />
Today is better than tomorrow,...it comes with more tomorrows.<br />
<br />
<br />
If a bird in the hand were truly worth more than two in the bush, no one would ever switch jobs...or get divorced.<br />
<br />
Silence may be golden, but its a fool's gold.<br />
<br />
But you always have something nice to say: the truth.<br />
<br />
Others are free to have a low opinion of you...you are free not to think of them at all<br />
<br />
Plato was right: perfection exists...in you...find it., live itStampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-91143548740685640262011-11-17T04:18:00.000-08:002011-11-17T08:01:25.522-08:00INJusTICEThe assistant football coach at Penn State is charged with molesting young boys in his care...and if he is guilty, he violated their rights and ought be punished.<br />
<br />
But the tv shows running up to an hour discussing the unfolding case are violating his rights...to a fair trial before an impartial jury. Most if not all of them, condemn and"convict" the coach (without having all the facts or hearing his testimony or listening to his attorney's defense), label him "sick" (what psychology school did they study at), and tell and retell the alleged sexual acts he performed on the kids...all to the point of ingraining his guilt on the American public's mind.<br />
<br />
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Unfair and unjust. Can he get a fair trial in America? The answer to that question should always be "Absolutely", but the answer is now "Maybe" or "Doubtful".<br />
<br />
And its all being done by tv networks and stations worshiping the Golden Calf. And by so many of us who (a) revel in unproven gossip, (b) accept unproven rumors, (c) are somehow validated by a malevolent view of the Universe.<br />
<br />
Unacceptable in a country where justice is the main (only?) bulwark against oppression.<br />
<br />
Click! off these destructive shows.<br />
<br />
Click! off buying the products of advertisers on these programs.<br />
<br />
Click! off malevolent attitudes.<br />
<br />
Click! on "with liberty and justice for ALL."Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-63984886202373468862011-11-15T09:35:00.000-08:002011-11-15T09:43:16.820-08:00GET REAL!I hear people wondering whether tv reality shows are honest or fixed...the contest or competition unfolding as the owner of a show wishes it to unfold.<br />
<br />
They're fixed, all of them fixed (did we learn nothing from the $64,000 revelation that it was fixed, the winner given answers in advance of the competition).<br />
<br />
How do I know they're fixed?<br />
<br />
* most people are not totally honest (for many reasons, including the fact they don't know WHY they should always be honest)<br />
<br />
* most people, in fact, take a measure of pride if they "got away with it"<br />
<br />
<br />
* most people are even less honest when they can gain something tangible from the lie<br />
<br />
* most people are flagrant liars when big time MONEY is on the line<br />
<br />
* the ability to lie has gone from a sin to a virtue in the inverted popular mindset<br />
<br />
* tv shows are "protected" from accusations of cheating by the catchy cleanser, "it's only entertainment" (ranking alongside "it's only business", "it's only for fun", "it's only a game")<br />
<br />
* most liars find refuge in what is close to a truism: "everybody is doing it"<br />
<br />
* it is generally believed by most people that God doesn't watch reality shows<br />
<br />
Do you really think the owner of a hit reality show is going to allow that guy/gal attracting all those advertiser-loved viewers to be "prematurely" voted off, taking all those advertising millions with him/her?<br />
<br />
They are called reality shows precisely to make you not question what the true reality is.Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-5576649663384203652011-11-14T09:59:00.000-08:002011-11-14T09:59:50.177-08:00FORGET IT!Democrats are laughing at Governor Rick Perry's inability during a debate to remember the three federal departments he would seek to dissolve should he win next year's presidential election. The Democrats have conveniently forgotten that their main man has forgotten virtually every significant promise he made during his campaign. But why should any of this junk surprise us. Politicians (and I mean all of them) are prone to lie, to forget to remember, to double-talk, to speak half-truths, for the goal of attaining or<br />
retaining power. You know it, I know it, they know it...and we do nothing about it.<br />
<br />
Perry has it backwards. It is not three departments we should throw out, but three only we should keep: the military (to repel our enemies), the FBI and CIA (to provide us with needed security), and a judiciary (to provide a forum for the peaceful settlement of disputes and grievances). That would comply with and conform to the principles set out in our Constitution...particularly that little seemingly insignificant one that recognizes the sovereignty of my life, that I own my life, and that the ONLY function of government is to provide me with an environment in which I am free to choose the course of my life.<br />
<br />
Oh, I forgot. Who reads the Constitution?Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-78894759716914639202011-10-23T10:51:00.000-07:002011-10-23T17:40:59.767-07:00THE MORAL MISTAKEI wrote last time about those responsible for the moral decay in America.<br />
<br />
The fundamental reason for that decay, I believe, is the popular erroneous view of what morality is. It is commonly thought that morality relates to how you deal with others, how you behave toward others. That the reason to be honest, for example, is that others are entitled to the truth. Out of this mistaken perspective, understandable that many will choose to be immoral (dishonest, for example) if they think they can "get away with it". "If nobody knows," this mindset claims, "what's so wrong with being immoral and reaping some benefits from it?"<br />
<br />
But, in fact, a moral life is not lived for the benefit of others, but for the benefit of YOU. Morality is a code of pro-life conduct...not pro-the other guy's life, not pro-society's life, but pro-YOUR life. Others may benefit from your morality, but they are not the reason you are moral.<br />
<br />
And maybe the best way to see that is to imagine being the only one on a desert island. Choose to sit on your butt and not make the effort to go out and find food, and you are doomed. (Which is why Productivity is a moral virtue.) Lie to yourself that the wild beast snarling in front of you is nothing but a chicken, and you are doomed. (Which is why Honesty is a moral virtue.) Make your actions for survival based on the toss of a coin rather than by thinking, and you are doomed. (Which is why Reason is a moral virtue.) Etc.<br />
<br />
Can you get "get away with it" if nobody is around, if nobody knows? Of course not. YOU are around, YOU know...and YOU will pay the price...from a loss of confidence and self-esteem, to anxiety and depression, to a thousand other prices, including the loss of your life.<br />
<br />
If you think "everybody else is doing it, why shouldn't I?" is a good rationale for immorality, think again...it does not for a moment postpone payment by you of all the prices mentioned above. (Which is why Independent Thinking is a moral virtue.)Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-26747346669666275752011-10-22T03:43:00.000-07:002011-10-22T03:45:53.872-07:00THE GUILTY MANYThere is no sense trying to pinpoint who is responsible for the moral decay that is America...we pretty much all are, including:<br />
<br />
* those who would have difficulty stating with certitude why integrity, pride, honesty and independence are, among others, critical virtues<br />
<br />
*those who believe morality is subjective: meaning, you pick the code of morality, if any, that you think is good for you, and I pick mine...and one is no better than the other<br />
<br />
*those who base their morality on the Bible of their choice...which is just the way some of those in the previous group do their picking <br />
<br />
* those who see that in America's public school system, morality is not taught, but do not complain out loud about that and do nothing to see that it is taught<br />
<br />
* those who worship the Golden Calf and will do pretty much anything to gain its favor<br />
<br />
* those who value the concrete prizes of life above the serenity, the beauty, of their soul <br />
<br />
* those who treasure moral normality...do unto others and unto yourself what others do<br />
<br />
* those who keep silent when they witness immorality<br />
<br />
* those who stopped reading this post because they feared recognizing themselves.<br />
<br />
We have seen in the past that it may take an apocalypse for a people, a nation, to change course. Has the birth of one already occurred?Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-28204000698797374332011-10-16T12:33:00.000-07:002011-12-06T18:44:58.250-08:00TOO MUCHI am on a campaign...to ban the word "too" from the English language.<br />
<br />
It's almost always used in a negative sense: He works too hard, she wears too much makeup, they are too focused on winning, we spend too much of our money on foolish things, etc. Its as if there is a standard out there for everything in life...go above it and you are in the too zone. Live below it and you're in the not enough zone (that's for another post).<br />
<br />
But there is no standard, no set amount of anything, except for the very very basics of life: food, air. Otherwise, you choose the course, the quantity, of your life. That may be the most glorious thing of human life: We choose. Which explains in a nutshell why America is the grandest of countries. It was founded on the guarantee to each of us that we will be forever free to choose the scope, the quantity, of our life.<br />
<br />
Fight to the end those who would shackle your life with artificial limits and restraints, who seek to keep you in the middle of life's road, who deplore living life to the fullest (and beyond)..for if you let them do their bidding, if you succumb to their mediocrity, it is the end.<br />
<br />
And wouldn't that would be too bad?Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-44708687790867332212011-10-15T06:04:00.000-07:002011-10-15T06:29:19.713-07:00HERE WE GO AGAIN, IT'S LIKE AN OLD FAMILIAR SONG AGAINThe President has decided to send 100 troops to Uganda to help fight the alleged atrocities being committed there by what is called the Lord's Resistance Army. Soon to be followed by "a second combat-equipped team and associated headquarters, communications and logistics personnel." He "validates" this move by claiming it is in "our security interests" to do so.<br />
<br />
Hogwash! The LRA does not pose a threat to America. All of Uganda does not pose a threat to America. All of Africa does not pose a threat to America. It is Barack Obama that is a threat to America.<br />
<br />
More young men and women are to be put in harm's way, more to be maimed and killed, more to be engaged in yet another undeclared war. If reports are true, the LRA is committing obscene atrocities on the Ugandan people. There is reason to feel compassion, there is reason to want to do something. And in America we have a policy to do just that.<br />
<br />
It is called VOLUNTARY. You want to go over there and fight? Go. You want to send money to the Ugandan Army to buy military supplies? Send.<br />
<br />
But no one...not one enlisted soldier...can be forced to go without violating the constitution and the principles of our great country.<br />
<br />
(How come I don't see the President offering to go fight in Uganda? How come I hear none of our brilliant, freedom-loving politicians saying one word complaining about what the President is doing? None moving to impeach him? It is that void, not the LRA, that threatens America.)Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-1893974419722337212011-10-12T05:49:00.000-07:002011-10-12T06:00:18.568-07:00CLEAR AS CRYSTALOne sentence by Obama reveals completely his anti-American philosophy. Speaking about Bank of America's policy of charging a $5 monthly to those who make debit card purchases,he said this:<br />
<br />
"You know, you can't do whatever you want to do to make a profit if your customers are being mistreated."<br />
<br />
<br />
Wrong, wrong, wrong, Obama...in this country:<br />
<br />
* you can charge what you want to charge for your product or service<br />
<br />
* you run your business and not the government<br />
<br />
* each debit card holder decides for him/herself whether to pay the fee (or not use the card for purchases)<br />
<br />
* the government does not stand in loco parentis. <br />
<br />
We call it liberty, Obama. We the people will decide our fate, we are not infants needing or wanting parental control by the government. We live by our standards, not yours. That the $5 fee comes after another anti-American government interference in the free enterprise system when it cut in half the fee the bank can charge vendors for purchases, is also revealing.<br />
<br />
To those of you who voted for Obama and plan to vote for him again: Are you happy? You are not complaining are you? You got what you asked for. That liberty thing that hundreds of thousands of our soldiers have died for around the globe, goes too far you think, eh?Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-4316989340188925932011-09-26T08:04:00.000-07:002011-09-26T08:24:29.051-07:00AN OLD SONG, REWRITTEN"In olden days a glimpse of stocking<br />
Was looked at as something shocking<br />
Now heaven knows<br />
Anything goes"<br />
<br />
That song was written in 1934. Where are we today?<br />
<br />
As far as the glimpse of stocking and the other sexual mores it implies, we are now in age of "anything and everything goes". Sexuality abounds in virtually all aspects of our lives. And while occasionally it goes beyond my personal taste, I think it is generally a healthy development...greater freedom, confidence and honesty in our sexual feelings and expression.<br />
<br />
But the 77 year-old song, sorry to say, must be rewritten:<br />
<br />
"In olden days a glimmer of immorality<br />
Was looked on as something shocking<br />
Now heaven knows<br />
Vice, evil, wrongdoing, unvirtuousness, unrighteousness, ungodliness, impurity, waywardness, prodigality, delinquency, scandal, infamy, knavery, nefariousness, baseness, vileness, villianousness, deviltry, corruption, debasement, degradation, depravity, goes"<br />
<br />
One line of that popular song remains strikingly relevant today, even more than it did 77 years ago:<br />
<br />
"The world has gone mad today"<br />
<br />
What goes next, I wonder.Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-79345925404906515602011-09-22T07:37:00.000-07:002011-09-22T07:39:54.283-07:00APP FLAPThe fuss being made over that "Jew/Nonjew" app which identifies whether a celebrity/political figure/etc. is or is not Jewish...and the labeling of it as racist...is totally misguided. Whether or not a person is Jewish or an American or 30 years old or older, etc. are facts...and facts are not racist. Quite the contrary: racism is the assigning of traits to an individual simply because he/she is a member of a group to which those traits have been assigned...whether they are or are not factually true as to the particular individual.<br />
<br />
In other words, racism is at its core a denial of individuality. That is why it is wrong. We may be a member of a particular race, religion, ethnicity, whatever...but from the day we are born to the day we die we are, first and foremost, individuals.Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-36723997648053347192011-09-19T06:11:00.000-07:002011-09-19T06:11:35.910-07:00WINDOW TIME AGAINThis country was founded on a unique in the history of the word concept: equality of all people (yes, the initial application of that concept was defectively applied to slaves and women, but that has since been cleared up). The Founders had in mind a classless society, no royalty, no special privileges to special groups. And equality UNDER THE LAW...the government to treat all the same.<br />
<br />
Apparently, many people do not know what the word equality means, so here it is: parity, equivalence, correspondence, parallelism, likeness, levelness, evenness, balance, the same.<br />
<br />
So, the next time you hear the president (sorry, no respectful cap) or any of his political supporters talk about "limiting tax deductions for those making over $250,000" or whatever other proposal that sets up classes in our society, you will OPEN YOUR WINDOW AND SCREAM LOUD AND CLEAR: "INEQUALITY, INJUSTICE, BIAS, PARTISANISM, FAVORITISM, DISCRIMINATION, WRONG, UNAMERICAN."<br />
<br />
One other thing: THROW THE BUMS OUT.Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-17618629464653611692011-09-05T15:19:00.000-07:002011-09-05T15:22:43.807-07:00HONOURToday is Labor Day, so I was thinking about our so-called national holidays ("so-called" because each state determines what holidays are celebrated in its state).<br />
<br />
Labor Day, meant to celebrate and honor the achievements of America's workforce, does not, for most people, I guess, celebrate anything. It's a day off, end of summer, back to school, thing. Shame.<br />
<br />
Same for President's Day, Flag Day, Columbus Day. Even on Independence Day, I hear no one consciously celebrating the enduring and beautiful achievement of the American Patriots who gave us our freedom.<br />
<br />
I think what is missing is the "our". We are not as united as our name suggests. We are yet, predominantly, a collection of smaller groups. I hear little talk, reverence and honor for "our" workers, "our" Presidents, "our" flag, "our " country, "our" freedom. And it seems to me that our President, who came into office championing a new wave of unity, has, in fact, exacerbated the situation, and has driven the different groups even further apart.<br />
<br />
Let's start spelling the word "honor" the way they used to in the old days...honour...it has the word "our" in it. Perhaps that will remind us what's missing in our holidays. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-70408066463757646422011-09-03T11:03:00.000-07:002011-09-03T11:05:46.053-07:00JUST WONDERINGWhen the doctor prescribes a battery of tests for you, is he/she thinking of your health or his wealth?<br />
<br />
When a college requires you to take courses not directly related to your career major, is it thinking of your education or its financial situation?<br />
<br />
When the auto mechanic says your tires need alignment, is he thinking of your car's balance or his bank balance?<br />
<br />
When the carpenter says your roof must be replaced, is he/she thinking of your leaks or his vacation weeks?<br />
<br />
When the accountant says the short income tax form isn't good for you, is he/she thinking of what your tax would be or what his/her fee would be?<br />
<br />
When the dentist says you need a crown, is he/she thinking of your looks or of his bank books?<br />
<br />
When the auto insurance guy says you need greater coverage, is he/she thinking of your possible car crash or of his personal cash stash?Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-73157731435155400682011-09-02T07:35:00.000-07:002011-09-02T07:37:07.790-07:00A BURSTING BUBBLE?There are a few rumblings that a segment of society's stampeding herd may be about to "break away and go their own way". The college bubble...built on the premises that (a) you can't get anywhere without a college degree, and (b) college should begin immediately after graduation from high school, may be about to burst.<br />
<br />
<br />
The realities set to burst the bubble include:<br />
<br />
1. Tuitions, rooms, food and books have pushed many schools to the financial breaking point for many people...$40,000 or more per year<br />
2. Many students do not, upon high school graduation, know the specific career they wish to have<br />
3. College curriculums require students to take a host of courses unrelated to any specific career, and which seem to have little, if any, relevance, to the student's future life<br />
4. More employers are coming to the realization that a college degree is not a prerequisite for many successful careers (salesmen, secretaries and other office staff, customer service representatives, artists, writers, etc.)<br />
5. Many colleges have become a hotbed of partying (drinking, drugging and sexual activity).<br />
<br />
Almost all colleges are businesses and it is in their interest to keep the stampeding herd and their golden bubble intact. Hopefully, each member of the herd will choose his/her own course.Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-27912973389602263282011-08-29T07:56:00.000-07:002011-08-29T07:58:34.170-07:00NO PROBLEMAI hace come to realize that there are few, if any, problems in life.<br />
<br />
Everything that happens in life must be possibles. By definition, the impossibles cannot, and therefore do not, happen. Only possibles can happen and possibles are foreseeable. And when a foreseeable happens, it is not, and ought not be thought of as, a problem.<br />
<br />
Getting hungry is not a problem. Needing sleep is not a problem. They are normal, natural, possible, foreseeable. If it rains on the day of your scheduled outdoor picnic, that was possible and foreseeable. Not a problem. And the same reasoning holds true for getting ill, not having enough money to buy what you'd like to buy, the show you wanted to see being sold out, etc. All are possible, normal, natural events.<br />
<br />
People moan endlessly about the problems in their life, when, in fact, they have only one problem: not being alert enough to identify all possibles in their life, and to accept the possibility that those possibles may possibly occur.<br />
<br />
And a picnic in the rain can be fun.<br />
<br />
<br />
Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-58981457025402307122011-08-27T10:03:00.000-07:002011-08-27T10:18:02.760-07:00HELL YES!*Irene Menaces North Carolina<br />
**Pakistan: 25 Die in Cross-border Attack<br />
***Brutal Attack on Syrian Cartoonist<br />
****Who was Behind Nigerian Bombing?<br />
*****Smoked Salmon Recalled after Listeria<br />
******Deaths Remind Food Allergy Dangers<br />
*******Dozens Dead in Mexico Casino Attack<br />
********Rebels Seize Pro-Ghadafi Stronghold<br />
<br />
That is 1-day's headlines from 1 media outlet.<br />
<br />
Earth is really Hell, I guess. Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4488797096578675693.post-11390347437688880082011-08-26T05:10:00.000-07:002011-08-26T05:18:18.539-07:00KILLER U-TURNYears and years ago, morality was entwined with the Ten Commandments. They spelled out what was a code of morality: don't steal, don't kill, don't bear false witness, etc. And the payoff was clear and personal: Obey the Commandments and they would be your admission ticket to Heaven. And the alternative was equally clear and personal: eternity in the Inferno.<br />
<br />
During the past 2,000 years, morality has taken a U-turn. Doing the right thing, being moral, has come to be not something one does for oneself, but one does for others. How could our interactive society survive, is the common refrain, if we all did whatever we wanted to do, if everybody went his/her own way? There has to be certain rules, restrictions. There has to be a moral code of behavior.<br />
<br />
The problem with that view is that it runs up against this argument: Why should I do what's right, why should I toe the line, when no one else is? Doggie dog world. If its good for him, its good for me. I ain't no fool. Get what you can when you can, and the winner is the one who gets away with the most.<br />
<br />
And thus the precipitous decline of morality in a world heading toward its self-inflicted Armageddon. Check yesterday's headlines, today's headlines. tomorrow's.<br />
<br />
Morality is a code of pro-life conduct. It benefits you, the individual, not indirectly because it benefits society, but directly because it benefits your life. Productivity, integrity, rationality, honesty, justice, independence and pride (the Objectivist virtues) are moral virtues because they enrich your life here and now, in this world, regardless of your participation in society, regardless of what the other guy does or doesn't do. It has been said that if a man on a desert island were not moral, he could not survive for very long.<br />
<br />
Can you sit down with your children this afternoon and convincingly explain to them why this is so?<br />
<br />
Now you know the problem.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Stampeding Herdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15567324342927760171noreply@blogger.com0