My Denver Post never made it to the doorstep this AM. I thought this could be the final death knell for print journalism. I hope it was just a glitch but who knows? There is a new editor and maybe he has gone totally electronic and decided not to tell anyone. I do miss it.

With nothing else to do but ponder, I reflected on all form of journalism. I decided to put my MacAir to good use and do some research. I was sure I would find that there were probably 1000 journalists in the entire country that could affect my everyday feelings on life. There are 645 of such at the Washington Post alone.

Let’s really open the doors. Count in the ranks of journalists not only writers but photographers, broadcast types like O’Reilly,Wolff and Brian, sports commentators etc and you have got one boatload of people affecting how you think. We have five local TV stations here in Denver and dozens of radio stations. Add in local rags and monthly magazines and can journalism be dead? I think not.

But as I thought more and more I got good and bad vibes. I love David Brooks, Tom Friedman and George Will to name a few. I am not a fan of Charles Krauthammer and find both he and Paul Krugman to be on a one track rail line touting their particular brand of gloom and doom. I can take bad news with the good but lighten up boys.

What gets dicey is when it is on the tube. Under the guise of broadcast news you see inflections of voice, a slant of the eyebrows or a soul searching glare when reporting this or that.The press has gone from reporting to punditry. Make whatever commentary you want but please just put the words EDITORIAL underneath your theatrics. The scary part is that for a good number of people this is the only news they get. 30 second sound bites from 6:30 to 7:00 PM.

I am not trying to be a snob. I am a news junky and try to take in all sides. It’s just that not all of you are as sick as I am nor do you have all my spare time. I get it. But to sit back in your comfy chair and tune in the right or left and feel smug that your favorite personality is singing to the choir I find a certain waste of time. What did you really learn? What did they teach?

I read a weekly aptly called The Week. They take a story, give you a synopsis and then the reactions of the press from all sides. Left. Right. In between. They have the best national and international columns highlighted. Yes it is their choice as to how they play it but they truly seem to have their rudder amidships. The point is there are nuggets of knowledge everywhere if you look to the Times, and Journal but also in hard to find spaces.

Life is going to get more interesting with the advent of Al Jazeera America. You all are familiar with the Arab version which seemed to be pretty favorable towards Osama Ben Laden after 9/11. The US version will have a lot of well known TV types as broadcasters. The most intriguing part is that this is the old Current TV that they paid Al Gore and friends $500 million for your viewing pleasure. What a country!

The thing I am trying to digest is what more do they have to offer? We have umpteen zillion channels filling the cable waves. This of course brings up the quality issue with so many outlets. There are good journalists but then again there are some really bad ones too. Can you have that much blank air time twenty four hours a day and not rely on questionable facts and half baked newspeople? Once again I am not trying to be stuck up but where are we going with this?

I read a statement the other day that “Media sets the tone for the nation.” I don’t know about you but that stopped me dead in my tracks. You take an event of any sort. Depending on how it is portrayed it can be run of the mill, sensational, maudlin, vile, happy and heartwarming or destructive in the blink of an eye.

Blacks can be victims or heroes above the fray.Immigrants as pawns or trespassers. Soldiers can be vicious or caring. A gangster portrayed as a celebrity or a ghoul. A politician…well let’s just say there is really only one way. But think about it. It all depends on the slant of the story and you have no control over it. You can start off your day with a spring in your step or feeling like you are in basement B. It all depends what filter you have on. That is a little startling.

Yes I know many of you believe the liberal bias and I don’t disagree with you on many levels. But the boys from Fox counterbalance rather than balance. The fascinating part is that Roger Ailes and crew outweigh the other guys by at least three to one. If that means there are more conservatives than liberals then how did Karl Rove miss the boat so badly in the last election? Just wondering.

Amidst all the furor about Wikileaks and Snowden, the scandals on Wall Street and Main Street as well as analysis of issues that have got to be important to us all we need journalism. It will be taken hostage and subverted like almost every other part of our society. That’s the American way. But to throw your hands up in disgust and refuse to engage in the process as a reader is even worse.

Watch Leno do “Jaywalking” where he quizzes the man or woman on the street about current events. A lot of people in this country don’t have a clue. It’s cute in one sense but so incredibly sad. People make voting decisions based on the cut of someone’s hair or clothes. We know every word to a new song but can’t recognize a decision maker or his or her beliefs. We shrug and say we are too busy. If you are one of these don’t bitch about where our country is. You helped make it that way.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
The press is sometimes referred to as The Fourth Estate. This goes back to the French Revolution. The were three classes: nobility,religious, commoners. The press it would seem oversaw these and were to keep people in check. Their commentary could actually move governments and policy. Ergo freedom of the press.

There are currently 1382 daily newspapers, around 14,000 radio stations and 1774 TV stations. Cable itself depending on the locale can have up to 600 different outlets of a sort.

Classic Jaywalking:

What country is the Panama Canal in? …..dunno.
What separates your inner ear from your outer ear? …..your brain
What is the Gettysburg Address?…..I am not sure exactly where it is but I have heard of it. That was a college graduate in her cap and gown after commencement
Couldn’t identify pictures of Barbara Bush, Al Gore, the Dalai Lama,Colin Powell or the new pope. That last one who was stumped was a Catholic.
What countries border the US? …..Australia and Hawaii.
The best of all. Which president had the nickname Tricky Dick?…answer Bill Clinton

We went to the mountains to see friends and family this weekend. It has been a tough time here in the Rocky Mountains. It rained on and off for six days. 34 more and I would’ve had to get out the ark. The devastation is severe and the brunt of the pain falls on simple folk. Dozens of trailers pushed against each other like toy blocks. Houses and cars washed away. People’s lives and hopes crushed and mangled

I was trying to figure out if it would’ve been better to have a hurricane or tornado to do me in. One short blast and in a matter of hours it would be over. Or is it worse to pray for a break over 96 hours and then 120 and on and on. Saying God couldn’t be that cruel. When will it stop? And the water kept rising. A poor man’s water torture. In Boulder Canyon a dam of debris cut loose and a wall of water 20 feet high roared straight downhill without regard for man or beast

The people are amazing. They are tough and for the most part silent .They have lived through drought and blight and horrific snowstorms. They know how to hunker down and if need be bury their dead Edwin Markham’s profound line “stolid and stunned a brother to the ox” is incredibly apt. True Grit III should be filmed right here.

As we drove down to Denver early Monday we were treated to nature at its best after seeing the worst. This time of the year the summer folk have gone home and it is still too early to strap on the boards. The aspens are changing and the shadows lengthen. The hills and roadways are quiet except for local folk going to work. Pick up trucks and campers on the side of the road mark the trailhead to the altars for hunters performing their fall ritual

The sun began to peak through in spots and clouds or wisps of fog lay hazily on the ravines and vales. It was really a picture to behold. No entrance fee. Just realize the rhythm of life. As we sped we left the sunlight behind and descended through the foothills and met the floor of the land we call Denver. It was still raining. “Hang on, help is on the way,” I wanted to say. Little by little those rays caught up to us in our Mile High City.The healing was beginning.

Throughout the day the temperatures rose and with them the spirit of some beautiful people. Smiles broaden and bikes and carriages were taken out of hiding. With over 320 days of annual sunshine we do not do clouds well. That orange ball is part of our psyche and our spirit.It is also a tribute to the resilience of man.

We will rebuild as has Seaside Heights and New Orleans. We will pick through the rubbish to find some little trinket or photo that will be the link to the past and the hope for the future. In the grieving process acceptance follows soon on the heels of shock and denial. Probably no different than the poor souls in the Naval Shipyard or Damascus or the mom of a murdered child in Chicago. This is life…. and death.

Mondays are special to me lately. I take singing lessons from a marvelously spunky and talented 31-year-old. She has had her own set of things to overcome but the smile is ever present. She pounds the piano and TTG belts them out. All of a sudden sounds come out of my mouth and they don’t sound half bad. The world is my oyster. Maybe I can do happy hour at the Holiday Inn in Lakewood.

But the residue of my lesson is the best. I drive the car or walk around singing to myself and sometimes the windshield is my audience. I don’t worry about this or that. There’s a stupid feeling of euphoria or even better the realization that whatever life throws at me will just be fine. It is really cool to be alive. Ted’s Head has got to work on that more

Later on I go to choir practice. I am not a holy roller but this is a neat part of my life. There are some real pros. Our director works us hard and that is good. All told if everyone showed up there would be about 130 in the peanut gallery and they all give it their best. If someone is off key nobody winces but it’s corrected with tact and compassion. Now that is a unique concept.

Maybe this week’s chaos is unique to Colorado or DC but I’m finally understanding that this is life. Maybe a new normal but it is the hand we are all dealt. We could hand wring but what is that going to prove? Let’s take the foot off the Obama,Wall Street, global warming and celebrity gas pedal just for a bit. Set it aside and well….sing in the rain or the sunshine wherever you may be. It’s good for the soul and the last I checked that was our most vital organ.

As Always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
The annual rainfall in this part of the woods is 15″. Boulder got over that in five days and has 32″ for the year. If it had been snow it would have been over 20 feet!

As of press time we still have over 500 people unaccounted for. Over 1500 homes have been destroyed. 650 miles of road are either torn up or destroyed.

Besides our roads our rail lines have been weakened. Not only Amtrak but a good portion of your daily coal comes in and around Denver. Over 15,000 citizens have been evacuated. Many by Chinooks and Medevac choppers from Fort Carson. It’s a small world after all. Pax.

I have been with different groups of friends and probably a few enemies over the last few days. Of course the talk was of you know who and you know where. Our Executive Branch kind of reminds me of the old Abbott and Costello routine, Who’s On First. C’est la guerre.

I am not surprised we are in this mess. I actually thought it would come sooner. Not just for Obama but all of us. A few weeks ago CIA declassified documents said we engineered putting the old Shah of Iran back on the Peacock Throne in 1953 where he ruled until 1979. Not the people of Iran. US! So we could guarantee a supply of oil and in the name of stability.

I remember once sitting in my 1971 Volvo Station Wagon outside Gerallomon’s Mobil station on Main Street in Chatham New Jersey. It was 4:00 AM on a Saturday in 1973 and they didn’t open until seven. The Mideast Oil Embargo had made us beggars on a soup line. I was freezing my ass off and wondering how we got into this mess?

Iranian hostages, The Six Day War in 1967, The first Gulf War, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Hammas. PLO. Hezbollah. Al Quaeda Muslim Brotherhood. Do you really think we are going to bring democracy to this part of the world? Not our brand. But time after time and president after president we think we have it figured out. Forget it kids. Ain’t gonna happen.

The simplest reason is that this has been a religious war for centuries. Shias and Sunnis, the two main denominations of Muslims, started going after each other in 632 AD. They couldn’t figure out who was going to succeed the prophet Muhammed. And they still can’t. Sects break into tribes with warlords and turf and there is no love lost. It is like the Crypts and Kings, Hatfields and McCoys and Republicans and Democrats. The really crazy part is it probably takes a tyrant to keep them all in line.

The problem is there are 1.62 billion of these dudes(women don’t really count) and a good portion want to kill each other. Religion trumps sanity every time.

You know what? I think we ought to let them just have at each other. Why? The world doesn’t really care. We are nuts because Assad killed 1500 with poison gas. Nobody has even talked about the 100,000 dead in the last two years. Sadam Hussein gassed the Iranians in 1988 and we gave him the satellite photos to do it. The Iraq War killed anywhere from 150,000 to 1 million civilians. So many people have been brutally slaughtered, dismembered and violated in this part of the world without any outcry except towards US serviceman or drone strikes. We are the patsies.

Under factoids I will tell you how far Damascus is from various capitals around the globe. Surprise. We are the farthest away but the one everyone looks to solve this quagmire. There are countries ranging from 85 million in Egypt to 5 million in Lebanon. There are millions of refugees in neighboring states. Where the hell are the people that would be hurt the most by violence spilling over? Where are the oil sheikdoms and continental Europe? Have any of them rose up in retribution? If Iran has nukes who do you think they hit first?

Whether we lose credibility or not we have got to back off. Our volunteer force has taken in the shorts too many times only to be used once again as pawns. Military diplomacy serves only one group. The Military Industrial Complex. We keep writing checks and burying our boys and girls in the name of national security. I say bullshit.

I went to war once. So many of you have served your country too. But today 93% of Americans are not connected in any way to the Armed Forces. We are happy to salute at ball games and then get back to whatever else we do without giving a thought. War accomplishes little or nothing. How do you think I felt when everyone was hightailing it out of Saigon and they were tossing helicopters into the ocean because of the fleeing masses? How do you think a maimed or burned soldier feels when he sees people still being killed by the dozens every day in Iraq and soon in Afghanistan?

After 40 years in the Middle East we have accomplished zip. Sure we get to try out our flashy new weapons system or tactics designed by civilian desk jockeys. But in the long run we have pissed away so much money and worse so many wonderful lives.

Ladies and gentlemen I vote no. Call me a wimp but I think you know better. If they laugh at us, so be it. They were going to curse us even if we struck a blow with a Tomahawk for liberty. Either way we are not at the top of their Christmas card list. We are left out on a limb and everyone is doing the dance of derision or looking the other way.

Let’s figure out a way to rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges. Some schools don’t even have book to start the year. We pay an admiral or a general $250,000 per year and a teacher $50k. We have so many pressing problems and we can’t even get Congress to come back early from a five week vacation.

I don’t want to see people die in any way shape or fashion but let’s have others do their turn. We are the greatest country militarily but we get out butts kicked in urban warfare by two faced warlords. I say we train 100,000 Seals and bring everyone else home. I guess that is too simple but I like the strategy.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
Damascus to:
Moscow 1538 miles
Rome 1422 miles
Paris 2042
Mumbai 2461
London 3545
Beijing 4316
Washington DC 5875
San Francisco 7342

We are almost 70% energy self sufficient at this time. We could be 100% in a few short years. The feeling is that we should continue to use foreign oil to have a wedge to use against them. Not quite sure I get that.

Disclaimer: Regardless of what is said tonight by Obama the above treatise was written from the heart. It bears no resemblance to well thought out theory. Might even border on the irrational. Sorry but that is where Ted’s Head is right now.

You know this is not as easy at it looks. Ted’s Head is supposed to be a demonstration of my writing expertise while relating what is going on in this bald wonderland known as my brain. This week has provided many challenges. There is a real effort on the part of the world and its resident whackos to render me senseless. They are coming close.

Syria aside from any rational observation is a mess. We are up in arms(literally) over Assad’s use of chemical warfare. We should be. But where has everybody been for the last two years when 100,000 people have been murdered? There are two million people in refugee camps at the borders in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. If there was a red line I think we passed that about 100 miles ago.

Obama and Kerry and lest we forget Hilary have forged a foreign policy that is beyond foreign to me. This whole let’s “let them blow their brains out” philosophy is admirable to someone like myself. I have been to war and we sure as hell don’t need another one. I am mystified by John McCain and Lindsey Graham who seem hell bent on getting us in over our heads. Forget about Viet Nam. Isn’t ten years in Iraq fresh enough in their memory?

But then there is a sticky wicket called moral outrage. We tended to overlook that in Rhwanda and Kosovo but who is counting. The chorus rang loud in Britain, Canada et alia but when it was crunch time they decided to leave the driving to us. Go get them Uncle Sam and we will sit here in the bleachers and cheer you on but excuse us if we don’t suit up for this game.

This whole fiasco has convinced me more than ever that Obama and friends are in way over their head. It’s kind of like the Hokey Pokey. “You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out.” This is the Keystone Kops at work. But wait Congress is coming back to town. That should make everything better. I think we ought to install a giant weathervane on top of the Capitol dome so they can always figure out where the wind is blowing and vote accordingly. The Debt, Immigration, Healthcare and Jobs should be a walk in the park.

Half of the West is on fire but there is an ongoing discussion as to whether we should fight the flames or let them burn themselves out. I think that might be considered Nature taking its course. TTG, you heartless son of a bitch, there are people’s houses in those forests. That line of thinking resembles in many ways the populace building houses on East Coast beaches and then spending $30 billion to rebuild and transfer sand from one place to another. We need Chris Christie out here.

Want to know the real foolishness of our ways? Let’s assume we really want to fight these fires. Air Tankers can lay down fire retardant to slow things down. The fleet of a couple of dozen we have now is old and dwindling. We have numerous C130 aircraft in the National Guard that can be equipped to carry these tanks. We cannot get authorization to use them unless we go through a myriad of red tape.

There are hundreds of former jet transports in mothballs in the deserts of Arizona and California. We cannot come up with the money to refurbish these things but we are planning to launch 200-300 Tomahawk missiles as shots across the bow. At the cost of $1 mill per unit and then the support staff, well you do the math. We need psychiatrists in DC not Congress.

My good friend in Hawaii sent me a New Yorker article on forfeiture. It seems there is a law on the books that dates back to the early days of piracy. The good folk in Linden, Texas a small town near the Louisiana border have found this law to be the path to riches. You see if you are suspected of drug smuggling you can have your possessions seized without a hearing. If you get stopped in this burgh for doing 30 in a 25 MPH zone or traveling in the left lane you are a suspect. The friendly mirror sunglassed gendarme then thinks he smells pot. Bingo you go directly to jail and do not pass GO. That is unless you sign a waiver at curbside and then you are free to move on minus your belongings or kids. The loot is split between the cops, the DA and the town. And it is all lawful. And it is happening all over the U.S. of A. What a country.

Bringing this recap to a rapid close is not easy. You have a Montana judge sentencing a teacher to a suspended sentence after raping a 14 year old student. The magistrate said the girl was far more mature than her age. He apologized not about the sentence but his lack of sensitivity. Wonderful.

Then I did miss but have heard about Miley Cyrus bumping and grinding as a shy retiring 20 year old. She was tired of being known as a former Disney Girl. And yes ladies and gentlemen she will follow blithely in the footsteps of those other matrons of honor, Madonna and Lady Gaga. I am really not sure what that says about my fellow Americans when the Tweets were coming in at 300,000 per minute.

Gang, it is only 8:55 AM MDT here in Denver and I am seriously thinking about having a drink. Instead I am going to take a long run and muse about these and other things. Trying to make sense. I don’t carry an ID so if I get lost in thought and run too far I hope someone will give me a ride home. Going down life’s highway, bumps and all.

As Always
Ted The Great

Factoids:

A six year old boy in China was discovered by his parents with two bloody sockets instead of eyes. Seems someone who was into body part sales ripped them out and then discarded them after removing the corneas. Nice.

Switzerland now has drive in sex. You park your car in a stall and sprint undetected to a room with a bed and a friendly attendant. I guess you look at the menu and place your order. Wendy’s may take on a whole new meaning. Let’s go to Sexdonalds for a Happy Meal.

There was a study done to send kids to Finland, South Korea and Poland (Really?) to find out why they do so well at education. It seems they have a real dedication to learning. Finland pays the teachers very well and there are no team sports. South Korea is a little over the top(no wonder they don’t smile) but somewhere in here is a message. Where there is a will there is a way.

Please look at Billmoyers.com. I know he is a lefty but the interview with Mark Leibovich is neither left nor right but compelling.

I have stolen some of these from The Week, a great publication that I devour Monday mornings. Me culpa.

This is the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial almost 50 years ago. It was beyond eloquent and no matter what your political persuasion I encourage you to Google it and listen to it.

The times then were downright scary. For the young ones in our audience there was a struggle in the South and elsewhere for blacks to be considered equal. They had been slaves by heritage. I was reading that some 500,000 had been ripped from their homes in Africa. They were sold as a piece of merchandise to the highest bidder. By pieces of silver or gold you now belonged to the man or Massa.

Throughout our early history these people were nobodies. In the modern era if it can be considered as such they were not allowed to ride but in the back of the bus. They could not sit with whites at a lunch counter. There were separate water fountains and lavatories. They were labeled COLORED and WHITE. They were considered the lowest of the low. In trying to figure out their status someone actually tried to equate them as equal to 2/3 of a white person. Wonder why they didn’t pick themselves up and make something of themselves?

Of course there were black schools. Money and good teachers didn’t go there. Couldn’t blame them. The whites that is. And they faltered and failed and took flunky jobs. They talked jive because that was like talking a secret language. It sounded cool somehow and Lord knows they wanted to be cool in some way. 

If you saw 42 you get a little idea. I was a  kid of seven or eight when Jackie Robinson came up. I didn’t really know racial whatevers. He was one hell of a ball player. You didn’t know bupkus until you watched Jackie or Willy Mays run the bases. You cheered like hell but don’t get too carried away. He ain’t coming for dinner or even for a game of golf at the club.

Jimmy Brown grew up in our town. I would watch him at Manhasset High playing football but even better at lacrosse. But he lived in the Valley at the bottom of Spinney Hill. You passed the Dew Drop Inn and prayed you wouldn’t get a flat tire. Don’t stop for red lights. You might not get home. The homes were run down and rancid. Stabbings and drunks were commonplace. We have really come a long way haven’t we? Did I mention that was in New York on Long Island? Not the Deep South.

Sure we have had desegregation. Yes we have had Head Starts and all of that. We have had public housing that has been trashed and burned by the residents. They killed and raped each other. They sold drugs to one and all. The good side of the tracks called them savages and some of them probably were. But so are we but just in white collars and the crimes are less violent like fraud and embezzlement.  I wonder how most of us would have fared?

I watched John Lewis, a congressman from Georgia this weekend. This man walks the walk and talks the talk. He was beaten, brutalized and arrested over 60 times. Yet he didn’t raise a finger in retaliation. He walked alongside MLK and Ralph Abernathy in lockstep. Show them we are bigger than cursing and spitting and screaming in rage. They say N____er go home but to where. Once again the haunting question. What would I have done in the face of all that vitriol and hatred?

Fifty years have come and gone. We have a black president to the chagrin of many. Let’s face it some of us are pissed because he is an uppity black not a Democrat. We have watched the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson who seem to be in it for the money and the message is secondary. I am so turned off  by the fact that Jesse Jackson got the blacks to boycott Budweiser and was rewarded with a distributorship for Budweiser for he and his sons. Sharpton blatantly lied about Tawanna Brawley and got a radio/tv show for his efforts. But then again I guess no white man has ever committed a crime. Sure he did  but just dressed a little differently and working out of a gated community instead of a ghetto storefront. That makes it alright.

Now except for this week the blacks have been in the background. The Latinos are now front and center. We want to deport them. We want to cleanse our land to make it right. Get them sons of bitches out of here so honest Americans can get a job. Really? Okay I will play your game. Just let me know in a year or so how you like making your own bed or cutting your own lawn. Or if you have help what is it really going to cost you to attract the “right” kind of person.

I am not a cross burner nor am I a cross waver.I am not apologizing for who I am or what I have. But to say I got here completely on my own is BS. There is a thing called the Lucky Sperm Club and I am a member.I could have been black or Latino or poor and destitute living in Somalia. I am not the cat’s meow.And neither are you.

The black community like the Latinos have to take responsibility for themselves. The rappers and movie moguls as well as sports stars and reverends have to stand up and take their own to task along with white America. But we as everything sane can’t keep coming up with vapid excuses to justify our right to throw stones and plain ignore the problem.

I have a dream. That I will be a better person and not be patronizing to less fortunate people but really try to get my ass in gear to help them. That when I see a young black or Hispanic I won’t say isn’t he or she cute but look and see a human being with incredible potential with as much right on the planet and in this country as I do. As I look at my kids and grandkids. That’s a dream and I have along way to go but I have to start somewhere. Care to join me?

As always

Ted The Great

Factoid:

The slave trade in Africa was set up and maintained by blacks. You had to get the poor devils from the inland regions to the coast and waiting ships. Millions went to Europe, South America and the US. They were stacked like cord wood and on the overall journey throughout all corners of the globe a vast majority of them died. Made the “survivors” all the more valuable.

Gospel music as well as the blues are an outgrowth of slavery. At night they would sing to soothe the soul and pray to God. The blues were just that and a tribute to the poor times.

72% of African American babies are born out of wedlock. 90% of blacks killed are at the hands of other blacks. Now you can view this as a cancer or a pimple. Cancers kill if left untreated. Pimples can kill also if left untreated. Just takes longer. Name your poison.

Gangs are the new black and Hispanic “family”.

Cue the music. Pete Townsend and the Who are on full volume as I ponder the question and yes maybe it is CSI. Let’s look for clues and let the evidence not emotion lead us. The boys and girls in DC are on summer break and it is a great time to think of your political bent without the normal barrage of left and right.

I really would like to know what it is I am? I could take a test on the internet which is actually quite fun if you are honest with yourself. But I really hate to be defined. Time to go to Merriam just one more time.

Conservatism

is a political and

social philosophy that promotes retaining traditional social institutions. A person who follows the philosophies of conservatism is referred to as a traditionalist or conservative. Okay I get that. You really like the status quo. Don’t mess with Texas and if you are rich and famous you like that just fine. Who wouldn’t? If you are really conservative then you are a reactionary. You want to really roll back the clock to colonial times or cavemen depending on your fervor.

Liberalism is

a political or social philosophy advocating the freedom of the individual, nonviolent modification of political, social, or economic institutions to assure unrestricted development in all spheres of human endeavor, and governmental guarantees of individual rights and civil liberties. Wow!  That was a mouthful. I think they are saying that you want to tinker with society to make it work better.

On the surface I don’t really have a problem with either side. But as always the devil is in the details and the energy. You can take a workable philosophy and have extremists. This is the take no prisoners philosophy. I can’t back down one bit because to show weakness is to predict my demise.

Branding is a concept that is very much in vogue today. In commercial applications, Coke, Nike, BMW, Kraft Foods et alia push their brand in print as well as electronic media. You want to use or be a part of their family because it implies quality, hipness or a certain joi de vivre that you want to be part of. You know someone says they wear Armani suits because it makes a statement about who they are. A little shallow but true.

We have this irrepressible urge to categorize and label. I’ve talked about neat little stacks because then I can decide if you are in or out and do I really want to have something to do with you. Can I trust you? I think I am saying if I listen to you and hear your point of view then I might catch a disease and then what will people think of me? Politically we have to define you as left or right and then form our message to attract as many as possible to our side.

If you are liberal you want to cure society’s ills through government intervention. You believe in equality and if it doesn’t exist you can create it. Now I feel for my fellow man. I give to charity and volunteer my time. Interestingly rich liberals give less to charity than rich conservatives. Why? They think the government should provide not the individual. I am not sure that makes sense in a philosophical or practical sense.

The error of the liberal way is that taken to the extreme you rob the individual of any sense of self determination. I guess at its real extreme it is socialism. I want to help a bit not give away the ranch. But let’s not get quite so smug oh ye of the right.

Conservatism says we should all do it on our own. No help. Let the chips fall where they may. I got mine. You get yours. I am a pretty self reliant person so I can agree. Sort of. If I am a conservative from the Midwest why am I taking a subsidy for my farm? If I lean right in New York then I should not have flood insurance or any help from the government when my house in the Hamptons or Mantaloken blows out to sea.

If I really cut out the entitlements then no one can get high end surgeries or hip replacements to pay for those houses. Government  grants keep the hospitals and universities that I like on an even keel. I could put in tolls everywhere to pay for the bridges and highways but then the less fortunate won’t be able to get to the malls to buy the stuff  that keep the stock prices up. Hmm. Maybe we ought to help a little. Especially when it benefits me.

Enter the independent. Now he or she says I really can’t buy either of your acts in entirety. They are the bane of politics because no one really understands what they want. A little from Column A and a little from Column B. Playing coy. Not committing but saying you have a chance for my vote. Let me hear your pitch. It really is in pure election parlance the swing vote. How cool.

The only real problem is the institution at the present time does not allow for independents. The true power in Washington is reflected by the committees of Congress. If you want to get the plum assignment you have to be a big cheese in the party. If you want to get money from the lobbyist you have to have seniority. There is not a lot of swagger or influence for the chairperson of the Postal committee.

For this reason there is an incredible need but almost an impossibility for a third party. If there was another side we would have the powers that be making deals and forming coalitions. Not trading tit for tat but forming legislation that was really in the best interest of all and not just doling out hidden percs for support. If you vote for my subsidies then I will give your constituent a tax break. What  a crock. But as long as we let them play the games it will be our ruin. If we let money and power prevail we are screwed. If you think the current situation is sustainable I have some oceanfront property in Arizona I would like to sell you.

Who am I? Government is not the solution to everything. We should be out of education nationally and leave it to the locals. We should wipe out every single tax loophole and start over. Any new levy should stand on its own and not as part of a hidden rider. We should gear our expenditures toward infrastructure and less for defense. Not only roads and bridges but a broadband system second to none. We should say if you have a great idea there is no better place on earth to see it to fruition. We have got to help the poor as civil people. If we have poverty you can’t have a sustainable economy. We have to root out the bloated bureaucracy and corruption. That means attacking power at its roots.

This is not campaign rhetoric for the TTG party. It is just a common sense approach. I don’t want to be labeled left or right. I want to tell you what I believe in and respect your ability to do the same. I want to meet you half way and sing somehow out of the same hymnal. You sing tenor, I will sing bass. But we will sing together. A loft expectation? Of course. If you are Conservative come down off your high horse. If you are liberal don’t expect the world. Those are the real facts of who we are.

As Always

Ted The Great

Factoids;

There are 26 national parties in the United States. Among them are the Communist Party, the Modern Whig Party, Socialist Worker Party, the Christian Life Party, the US Marijuana Party and the US Pirate Party????. Something for everyone.

Up until the 1820’s nominating the people to run for President was really an inside job. The Congress got together and decided who should run. This became so outlandish in 1824 that the individual parties did their own picking and Andrew Jackson, hero of the War of 1812 was the “People’s” pick in 1828.

Our current primary system is both good and bad. Ideally we would have an open primary where the two top vote getters regardless of party would square off  in the general election. Good for us. Bad for the parties.

Good Examples of Positions:

Immigration;

Liberal;Support legal immigration. Support amnesty for those who enter the U.S. illegally (undocumented immigrants). Also believe that undocumented immigrants have a right to: all educational and health benefits that citizens receive (financial aid, welfare, social security and medicaid), regardless of legal status.  It is unfair to arrest millions of undocumented immigrants.

Conservative;Support legal immigration only. Oppose amnesty for those who enter the U.S. illegally (illegal immigrants). Those who break the law by entering the U.S. illegally do not have the same rights as those who obey the law and enter legally.

Abortion:

Liberal:A woman has the right to decide what happens with her body. A fetus is not a human life, so it does not have separate individual rights.

Conservative:Human life begins at conception. Abortion is the murder of a human being. An unborn baby, as a living human being, has separate rights from those of the mother

You wonder why we can’t agree?

I am always continually amazed by our ability to dream. Yesterday I was surrounded by munchkins in the person of four of my seven grandchildren. Padge refused to let them watch TV so they played, dreaming up this scenario or that. Climbing trees or making a box of simple things come alive with meaning that could not have been in the mind of the creators. Very cool.

I am always torn by the concepts of dreaming and pragmatism. I love to think about possibilities of all sorts giving full vent to ideas without the strong arm of the law saying you can or cannot do that. But then the conservative in me says we have to have limits or even better yet it’s okay to cook up this or that but not all the time.

I guess I really wonder if our world is in any way realistic. We keep pushing envelopes with regard to housing, cars, medicine and entertainment. We had friends visiting who live in a three bedroom two bath house. It’s just them and an occasional visitor. They said they really want to add a third bath and I said why? Well because every bedroom should have its own bath, dummy.

I am always on my medical kick. I work in hospice as you know and every time I go there the moment of passing for some soul is imminent. As I walked by a room last week I joined the nurse for the last few moments of this woman’s life. She passed at 3:33 PM with no incident.

I couldn’t help but think of ICU’s and operating rooms everywhere trying to save this person or that at all cost. Pull out this part and put in a new one. Let’s try one more ultra blast of radiation or chemo to rid you of that cancer only to die from something else because your body is so beat up. Why would you ever want to go without a fight? Maybe because it is time.
Movies, games, resorts and wedding have all taken on this air of “Can you top this?” We are totally absorbed by the concept of I am just going to sit here and you must entertain me. I don’t think this is old fart as much as saying when is enough, enough. Sooner or later you can’t go bigger, better, faster or can you?

There was a bride to be who lived in one of the most beautiful places in the world, Santa Barbara, CA. They had the bachelorette party in Vegas, the bachelor party in New Orleans and the wedding in Mexico. Of course there was a luncheon for the bridesmaids, a rehearsal dinner, and an after wedding brunch tacked on. Partay on but to what end. I would hate to be the poor schlep who had to follow that act. Now is all of this looking at reality or just going farther and farther into make believe? Don’t be a Scrooge TTG.

For a moment think that our nation is reflected by its politics. Forget about left or right. We have become a nation that is putting off hard decisions. We can’t solve, immigration, infrastructure, tax reform, and medical coverage because we “kick the can down the road”(I really hate that phrase). Is this the deliberative process or a bunch of men and women who can’t seem to face up to what’s happening now?

I know it is the dog days of summer. August is when most people take off and all of this will probably fall on deaf ears. I am not opting for a puritan society but shouldn’t there be some limits? And that’s where I have my problem. I am incredibly optimistic and positive. I truly feel like I am in my early forties as far as mental acuity and even physically somewhat. Actually I was more of mess when I was forty. But that nagging voice in me says let’s look at things in black and white. Have fun but also get the joke.

Maybe it is generational? Not in the way you think. The 50-60 million Boomers who are on the back nine grew up in a crazy time, the 70’s. Make peace not war. Free love. Let’s do a few doobies and life will be grand. Enter Timothy Leary and the wonders of LSD. Woodstock was the birthplace of more than one thing. The whole gig was drugs, sex and rock and roll. Don’t worry. Be happy. Life will work out somehow.

Today we have a whole strata of retirees who have amassed an average of $25,000 in their nest egg. They have beat up their bodies pretty well and now are demanding we fix them. The other day I read with medical advances people might be able to live until they are 120. Now that is an exciting prospect. We are looking for Mommy and Daddy to rescue us and they are personified in a guy called Uncle Sam. Bad news for the next generations.

I guess my whole point is we need a little sobriety. I know some of you have been hurt by the downturn but for the most part we as a country want to keep rolling with the next frontier being an outpost on the moon or Mars. Great. Dream the dream but also figure out how we are going to pay for it. Wait a minute. Why can’t that be our new fantasy? Now that’s a clever idea TTG but let’s not get carried away.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
The average wedding today costs about $30,000. The most expensive one was $78 million and the lovely Vanisha Mittal of India. Don’t know her but she invited 1,000 guests for 5 days. The Donald only spent $1 million. He didn’t want to do anything over the top.

The 70’s brought protest, disdain for authority, wild clothes, crazy hairdos, streaking, lava lamps, Pet Rocks, environmentalism, women’s liberation, the civil rights movement and the early advent of microcomputers.

For the next twenty years there will be 10,000 people each and every day who reach the age of 65. There will be a significant drop in the number of working people (16-64 years of age) to support what will grow to be a population of 85 million retirees.

According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 46% of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement and 29% of all American workers have less than $1,000 saved for retirement.

The life expectancy in the US is 78.3 years young. The HEALTHY life expectancy is around 71 years.

Just imagine for a moment that you are having a drink in a bar with a beautiful woman or handsome man. In my case of course this is just in the realm of fantasy. Honest Kath.  You are deep in conversation and this person is WOW. Intelligent. Witty. Sophisticated. You are so enthralled you don’t even ask what they do until the second drink.You are an undertaker? Excuse me I have to feed the meter and then it is adios.

I arrived at this train of thought through two books I am reading on bias and imagination. I know my brain goes into strange and mysterious places but please hear me out. This whole bias thing was of course kicked off by the Zimmerman trial. Which way would I have seen it if I was a juror? Not as easy as it sounds.

Of course I don’t have a biased bone in my body. When I see a person of color all I see is the human being. If I see a grossly overweight person I don’t see an overeating slug. How about if you have nose ring? Loaded with tattoos? What if your head is misshapen by a gross scar or acne? I stand accused and convicted. C’mon TTG that is not really bias. Oh really?

We all have what might be called automatic biases which are both innate and sometimes acquired. We tend to categorize people at first blush. We take them and put them in this box or that. You’re Jewish? I’ve got one for that. Muslim? Asian? And then we begin this process of going from one sorting technique after another until we have everyone in neat little piles that we have personally  designed. All without uttering a word.

We use all these floors, closets and drawers because we crave order and predictability. We like our view of the world just the way it is. A comfort zone. A warm fuzzy. Why would I ever want to screw that up?

These forces are personal, familial, cultural, religious, race, gender and societal class all rolled into one. Boy do I feel good! I have it all figured out. Except there is one small problem. Our world and especially today is not static. We are taking on one tradition after another and seeing whether it is really appropriate in the new normal.

This isn’t a gradual evolution but an earthquake of cataclysmic proportions. Sure it is bothersome and I will do everything I can to shape it for what I believe in. But I also can’t stand in the middle of the street and say STOP. Even worse I can’t star in “Back To The Past” and tell you about the good old days.

And now enter imagination. I got to thinking if I shoot down every new and crazy idea then I am both a wet blanket and doomed to obsolescence. Let’s face it. Older people are probably the worst. Some are lazy. You know they want to stand up for their rights but it is really a way of saying don’t bother me my shows are on. I think most are scared. A lot of us got to where we are by being cock sure we were the cat’s meow. Admit that I might be wrong? No way.

Imagination is exciting and fun. You come at something from a totally different angle. You blow up your mindset and then start from scratch. You might arrive in the same spot but the sheer exercise of your brain is exhilarating. People my age say they can’t believe the energy I have. When you are having a good time you can’t help but be excited about life. I hope I am this whacky if I am in a wheelchair.

More importantly is sitting down with someone who has a totally new idea. Don’t throw stones but feed their enthusiasm. As some profound individual once said. “Don’t ask why, but why not?” I had the absolute joy of having lunch with a bunch of young people. They had ideas, dreams and reality all rolled into one. I put away my sifter and prejudgment mechanism and just listened or at least encouraged where I could. I learned so much.

If you think of an insect is it a mosquito or butterfly? When a person is a lawyer or surgeon are they a male or a female in your mind? If a person makes an incredible scientific discovery does the vision of a white or brown person conjure up in your brain? If a black man is walking down the street in a hoody do you say hello or cross to the other side. Think how all these automatic responses cut us off from any new discovery about both people and things.

Look we are all biased for good and for bad. Like all other learned traits they can be changed. And to me that will result in growth both personally and as a country and a world. We will find solutions as opposed to going to our respective corners to wait the next round. Life is too short and if we use our imaginations we can really picture just about anything. Even dating an undertaker.

As Always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

A funeral director does embalming, burial and cremation. The industry employs over 30,000 people. More woman are currently enrolled in mortuary science programs than men. They are fun. My favorite body snatcher, John Horan, TC and I are going to have a glass of red and a cigar at Churchills Thursday afternoon.

Your biases can be set off by words alone. Orchid, tulip, lily vomit, poison, evil, gnat, wasp, roach, steak, liver, corn, brussel sprouts. See what I mean?

How components of the U.S. population are projected to change by 2050:

The times they are a changing.

Zimmerman got away with murder. Forget about Florida law you can’t just tail a guy, be told to stop, continue on and confront that guy, get into a fight and kill him. I don’t care if Martin was white black or pink.

To all you denizens of Gotham for the third or fourth time(who’s counting) you have a Weiner to roast. This is bordering on the absurd. They said today he has fallen to fourth in the polls. Why is this pervert even in the polls? And all you New Yorkers thought rational thought stopped at the Hudson River. You are right it does but it is west of it. As Frank said “If you can fake it there, you can fake it anywhere.” Didn’t he?

I am really starting to like Pope Frank. Getting off the plane he had a carryon. As he said, it didn’t contain the nuclear codes but a razor and a prayer book. He got stuck in traffic when his driver took a wrong turn and they were beseiged by the masses. But wait…he was riding in a FIAT! He made do by laughing and kissing babies. Then he told the hierarchy of the church to come down off their high horses and get out among the people. He went on to say they should not consider themselves something special but just like the rest of us. Then he held an impromptu 90 minute press conference on the plane returning to Rome. He answered each and every question with candor and no teleprompter. We gotta hire this guy as a consultant to every mucky muck in the US whether elected or not.

Palestine and Israel are talking in DC or at least they were at press time. If Kerry pulls this off I may have to reconsider my considerable dislike of him. Israel has released some prisoners to be named later. Sounds like the big leagues. Palestine isn’t sure who represents who? I am sure at the end of this little soiree we will have a new policy. Don’t Budge. Don’t Tell.

News Flash: A Rod has been using HGH (Human Growth Hormone). You think so? Can’t be true because well, he denied it. Just like Braun and Armstrong. I was actually hoping Harry Reid, Boehner and the gang would all use performance enhancing drugs and I don’t mean Viagra. Maybe Obamacare would cover it.

I was making homemade ice cream yesterday and today with my granddaughters who are in residence while their parents are working hard on Nantucket. First I had to search everywhere in the store for heavy cream. Then my total at the checkout was $27.83 for various ingredients. Hey, I got three quarts out of it. We made one batch of mint cookies and crème and the second was cinnamon with a variety of things that were hanging around the cupboard.

I can’t make this stuff up. As a postscript to last week UBS agreed this week to pay $885 million for misleading clients on mortgage backed securities. A friend pointed out if they made billions then it was a small price to pay on the plus side of the ledger. I said sooner or later we have got to be talking about some real money. A billion here. A billion there.

Looking out for your fellow man or woman. Last Friday I was walking into the Cherry Creek Athletic Club as an ambulance was arriving. I feared for several of my old fart friends but unfortunately they were all accounted for. It seems a Zumba teacher was getting a little too carried away and passed out. As the gurney with her on it was going out the door I heard a woman at the front desk demanding to know if there would still be a class on Monday? Another asked since the free class was cut short was the club going to give out free guest passes? What a country!

Two takes on a touchy subject. I watched Obama’s off the cuff news conference on the Travon Martin case. I will give my take at a later date but this was really quite a talk. He did not use a teleprompter and I believe he really spoke form the heart. At the same time I watched Bill O’Reilly’s “Talking Points” on the same topic. I am not a fan of either but I think O’Reilly’s passion and hard hits made me sit up and take notice. I heard the pans from all sides for both of them but I encourage all of you to Google both talks. Leave your biases at the door, Look, this race thing is there and we all know it. By being politically correct we dance around issues that need a full venting. At the same time I watched “42” this weekend which was indicative of the hate and venom of the time. It wasn’t just in the south but everywhere. We have made great steps but we really do have a long way to go. Hang in there everyone.

Last night a husband awoke to find his 45 year old wife and mother of three teenaged children had died in her sleep of natural causes. A two year child was run over and killed in a mall parking lot. A young man and white collar father of two is going to jail for five years on a first time drug possession and trafficking charge. A beautiful young woman is having radical surgery for breast cancer. Think you are having a bad day? Think again.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
Coca cola would be green if food coloring was not added.

Bat those baby blues…women blink twice as much as men.

You heart beats over 100,000 times a day. More if you are in love. Your heart also creates enough pressure to squirt blood thirty feet.

Try, try again…. 35% of people using personal ads for dating are married.

Hold the QTips. A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21 inch long tongue.

People are more allergic to cow’s milk than any other food.

Fingernails grow four times faster than toenails

THE END

Walgreens fined $80 million by the DEA for letting millions of controlled substances like oxycontin find their way into the black market for drugs in Florida.

Walmart fined $111 million for improperly handling hazardous waste and dumping of pesticides.

Johnson and Johnson fined $2 billion for illegally marketing a drug Risperdal

Abbott Labs fined $1.5 billion for illegally marketing Depakote

Merck fined $950 million for Vioxx

Glaxo Smith Kline $3 billion in criminal charges around the antidepressants Paxil and Welbutrin.

McKesson fined $190 million for inflating drug prices to Medicare.

Barclays Bank fined $453 million for fixing the Libor rate.

JP Morgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup fined $740 million for collusion and bid rigging to set rates paid to municipalities which were below market.

JP Morgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup agreed to pay $25 BILLION to states for shoddy and illegal practices in handling foreclosures. That’s not a typo it is the same cast of characters.

JP Morgan Chase fined $1 billion in rigging electrical contracts in California. They will probably negotiate down to $500 million.

HSBC fined $1.9 billion for money laundering drug money in the United States and Mexico. They said they had no idea but a used car salesman deposited $25 million in sequential travelers checks at an out of the way branch in Mexico City.

Bank of Tokyo fined $250 million for 28,000 illegal payments totaling $100 billion to Iran and other members of the Axis of Evil.

Goldman Sachs fined $22 million for “huddling.” This refers to analysts, traders and salesmen talking about the analyst reports amongst themselves prior to release. Strictly verboten.

Rajat Gupta, a member of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs fined $13.9 million after being found guilty of passing confidential information to a hedge fund.

US banks topped $10 billion in fines in 2012.

Met Life fined $400 million for failing to pay death benefits to people who were deceased.

Prudential $138 million for the same practice.

I won’t keep going but you get the idea. We scream and yell about regulations and we want to get the government out of our business. I could not agree more. Everyone says let us regulate ourselves. Really?

Sure the banks are bad. Oh I am sorry they just paid all that money without admitting any wrongdoing. What was I thinking? But these aren’t the only culprits. Everyone tries to game the system or so it would seem. Push the edge further and further until you get caught.

I am not a boy scout but this sucks in my book. I love it on CNBC when after earnings Dimon or Blankfein or some CEO of a drug company expounds on the world and their place in it. With all of this going on on their watch. Please don’t snicker and tell me how many minutes it will take Goldman to pay off their latest slap on the wrists. Sorry kids. Someone should be going to jail and it should start at the top.

Many years ago my brother Kevin said you should make every CEO responsible for the outcomes of pollution. Bottom line you wouldn’t have a problem for long if at all. Ditto Drugs, Banks, Wall Street and insurance. Good thinking.

We came out with 3000 new regulations in the US last year. They covered everything from banking to chicken farms. Everyone says they should just enforce the existing laws and maybe they are right. But then we cut funds for enforcement and investigation.

I was in Italy last summer and it just so happened the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services was on the trip. Poor man. I jumped on him like a cheap suit. This guy was responsible for investigating fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the Veterans Administration et alia. No wonder he did not have any hair!

I asked simply why there were not more investigators? “Great point TTG”, he replied. He said they could prove that the money spent on enforcement was returned 10-12 fold per annum. But the Congress didn’t want to authorize new hires because it would look like they were trying to increase government. Aaargh!

He did make an interesting observation. He felt that the civilization as we know it faced one catastrophe it might not recover from. Corruption. He said in business and in government it was so rampant and insidious that he wasn’t sure we could make great strides toward rooting it out.

It is not just us but throughout the world. Afghanistan, China, Europe, Russia, Africa and South America. Bribery, fraud, theft, bid rigging are just a few that are not only illegal but unfair.

The end game is it really hits us all. If these guys screw municipalities in bid rigging we have to pay higher taxes. The thefts and payoffs add to the price we pay for everything. Corporate welfare by paid off Congresspeople not only tax us more and add to our deficits but are next to impossible to get rid of.

Yet we look the other way. Let’s just make sure our share prices go up. It’s the earnings stupid! Not just the banks but IBM, GE, airplane manufacturers, defense contractors, doctorshealthcare providers, major contractors, all have their place at the trough.

The good part is that not everyone does. There are decent people in all these organizations. And let’s just hope some of them are stand up. I am not trying to be anybody’s moral compass but my own and my family’s. I just would like others finally get off their asses and say ENOUGH! if they share the same distaste for the sleazy dealings of corporate America. If everything is just fine for you so be it. It’s not for me.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids: None. I bored you with too many already. Pax