A bit of time has passed since our last posting, as both Ms. Tea and Mr. Coffee has been very busy with other creative writing and art projects. However, Mr. Coffee -– myself and I -- was inspired recently to write an article regarding the new popularity of the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
My new article is titled “Messages from Atlas Shrugged.” As my article is a bit lengthy, I have chosen to post it at my Townhall.com blog space, John’s Ponderings. I invite you to read it.
Here are the opening paragraphs from my article:
“Here of late the famous classic novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand has become more popular that ever in its entire 52-year published history. I myself have read Atlas Shrugged many times over the past 30 years. It is not only an engaging fiction novel that grabs the reader’s attention from start to finish, but also an amazing philosophical accomplishment -– and I think one that started a new intellectual revolution of ideas. It is a story of what happens to the world when the mind of man goes on strike.
In this context, Atlas Shrugged has many, many messages to offer to the reader. Volumes could be written regarding the meaning and impact of these messages. But for the space of this blog, I will focus briefly on two of my favorite messages, with my own commentary: who actually went on strike, and John Galt’s final message to the world (Galt being the novel’s hero)…”
I hope you enjoy the article. Cheers!
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Morning Coffee: Keynes, and other Economic Quotes and Thoughts
The other day while cruising through some of my favorite economic-oriented blogs, I came across a great reference. The blogsite Wealth is not the Problem posted a great quote by none other than John Maynard Keynes, showing that Mr. Keynes clearly understood – fundamentally - the total dire consequences of government intervention into the free-market system by controlling the money supply and expanding it, causing inflation: total economic and societal collapse. Mr. Keynes deserves to be quoted again, and again, and again…. I believe that, from his own words, we can see that Mr. Keynes was deliberate in his support of a strong, controlling central government to “watch” over the “unreliable” laissez-faire economy, and that government interference into the free-market system was an “unquestionable” necessity. We need to know that his support of statism was not from an honest mistake in economic theory, but – I think – deliberate in nature: he distrusted laissez-faire capitalism.
Keynes’ Quote:
"Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the Capitalist System was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and, while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some... Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."
--- John Maynard Keynes
(1883-1946) British economist
Source: "The Economic Consequences Of The Peace"
For full text, see Project Gutenberg eBook - The Economic Consequences Of The Peace.
What a mess Mr. Keynes has gotten us into! In my world, he is not a laissez-faire economist by any stretch of the imagination, but a true statist-oriented economist. Any power-lusting and power-seeking statist politician or crony-capitalist would fall in love with this type of economist – and they have.
For my own commentary regarding the obsession for political power, see my own blog posting “Political Power At All Costs” at John’s Ponderings.
From these thoughts, the next logical move was to define some terms.
Economic Definition of Inflation:
From www.inflationdata.com -- According to Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary published in 1983 the second definition of "inflation" after "the act of inflating or the condition of being inflated" is:
"An increase in the amount of currency in circulation, resulting in a relatively sharp and sudden fall in its value and rise in prices: it may be caused by an increase in the volume of paper money issued or of gold mined, or a relative increase in expenditures as when the supply of goods fails to meet the demand.”
This definition explains the basic economic causes of inflation, and shows that inflation is not defined as the increase in prices, as many people believe, but as the increase in the supply of money that causes the increase in prices, i.e., inflation follows the laws of cause and effect: inflating the money supply “causes” inflation which it turn “causes” price increases, amongst other things. And, when a government-controlled central bank does expand the money supply with complete reckless abandonment, especially a money supply not based on a gold standard, watch out! Then, if you can, run to get your investments and savings out of that particular expanded, inflated currency as fast as is humanly possible. Hyper-inflation is just around the corner. Anyone think that this might include the U.S. dollar some day … someday very soon?
Reality check: we just got one more step closer to this scenario this past Wednesday, January 28, 2009, with the U.S. House of Representatives majority vote passing the multi-hundred-billion dollar “bailout-spending” scam-bill. The U.S. Senate could be that final nail….
Quoting Ayn Rand on Inflation:
“Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to support deficit spending. No private embezzlers or bank robbers in history have ever plundered people’s savings on a scale comparable to the plunder perpetrated by the fiscal policies of statist governments.”
--- Ayn Rand
“Who Will Protect Us from Our Protectors?”
from The Objectivist Newsletter, May 1962.
From inflation, on to that which government interference and control also destroys: wealth.
Economic Definition of Wealth:
“Wealth is material goods made by man. … It is also land and natural resources in the ground insofar as man has made them useable and accessible.”
--- As defined by Dr. George Reisman
from his book Capitalism, Chapter 2, “Wealth and Its Role in Human Life,” p. 39.
My own thoughts on wealth:
“Wealth is not the problem. Government control and stealing of wealth is.”
--- John Dick, 2009, U.S. Citizen
And, finally, a wake-up for all those who thought that a house was one’s best investment:
Houses are not investments:
From George Reisman’s Blog on Economics, Politics, Society, and Culture, in his article “Falling Prices are not Deflation but the Antidote to Deflation,” Dr. Reisman explains why houses should not be regarded as investments. It must be remembered that a house is still a depreciating consumer good, even though the depreciating value is slower than most other goods. So why are houses regarded as investments today? To partially quote Dr. Reisman from his posting:
”Only decades of inflation and credit expansion could make it possible for people to think of the houses they occupy as an investment. In reality, a house is a consumers’ good, just like an automobile or a refrigerator. The only difference is that it depreciates more slowly than they do. Only a long string of years in which inflation took place more rapidly than houses depreciated enabled their prices to rise every year and people to come to regard them as a source of financial gain. If not for inflation and the rise in prices that it produces, it would be very clear that housing is a wasting asset, a slowly wasting asset to be sure, but a wasting asset nonetheless.”
Ouch! Dr. Reisman is definitely a true laissez-faire economist (i.e., reality based and reason oriented), for sure. To which I say, thank you for that.
Also, the blogsite The Rational Capitalist adds some additional commentary to this subject. I recommend visiting this blog when you have some time.
My closing thought for the day:
“It pays to know something about basic economics and develop one’s own independent judgment, and not follow the popular consensus.”
--- John Dick, 2009, U.S. Citizen
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Keynes’ Quote:
"Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the Capitalist System was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and, while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some... Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."
--- John Maynard Keynes
(1883-1946) British economist
Source: "The Economic Consequences Of The Peace"
For full text, see Project Gutenberg eBook - The Economic Consequences Of The Peace.
What a mess Mr. Keynes has gotten us into! In my world, he is not a laissez-faire economist by any stretch of the imagination, but a true statist-oriented economist. Any power-lusting and power-seeking statist politician or crony-capitalist would fall in love with this type of economist – and they have.
For my own commentary regarding the obsession for political power, see my own blog posting “Political Power At All Costs” at John’s Ponderings.
From these thoughts, the next logical move was to define some terms.
Economic Definition of Inflation:
From www.inflationdata.com -- According to Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary published in 1983 the second definition of "inflation" after "the act of inflating or the condition of being inflated" is:
"An increase in the amount of currency in circulation, resulting in a relatively sharp and sudden fall in its value and rise in prices: it may be caused by an increase in the volume of paper money issued or of gold mined, or a relative increase in expenditures as when the supply of goods fails to meet the demand.”
This definition explains the basic economic causes of inflation, and shows that inflation is not defined as the increase in prices, as many people believe, but as the increase in the supply of money that causes the increase in prices, i.e., inflation follows the laws of cause and effect: inflating the money supply “causes” inflation which it turn “causes” price increases, amongst other things. And, when a government-controlled central bank does expand the money supply with complete reckless abandonment, especially a money supply not based on a gold standard, watch out! Then, if you can, run to get your investments and savings out of that particular expanded, inflated currency as fast as is humanly possible. Hyper-inflation is just around the corner. Anyone think that this might include the U.S. dollar some day … someday very soon?
Reality check: we just got one more step closer to this scenario this past Wednesday, January 28, 2009, with the U.S. House of Representatives majority vote passing the multi-hundred-billion dollar “bailout-spending” scam-bill. The U.S. Senate could be that final nail….
Quoting Ayn Rand on Inflation:
“Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to support deficit spending. No private embezzlers or bank robbers in history have ever plundered people’s savings on a scale comparable to the plunder perpetrated by the fiscal policies of statist governments.”
--- Ayn Rand
“Who Will Protect Us from Our Protectors?”
from The Objectivist Newsletter, May 1962.
From inflation, on to that which government interference and control also destroys: wealth.
Economic Definition of Wealth:
“Wealth is material goods made by man. … It is also land and natural resources in the ground insofar as man has made them useable and accessible.”
--- As defined by Dr. George Reisman
from his book Capitalism, Chapter 2, “Wealth and Its Role in Human Life,” p. 39.
My own thoughts on wealth:
“Wealth is not the problem. Government control and stealing of wealth is.”
--- John Dick, 2009, U.S. Citizen
And, finally, a wake-up for all those who thought that a house was one’s best investment:
Houses are not investments:
From George Reisman’s Blog on Economics, Politics, Society, and Culture, in his article “Falling Prices are not Deflation but the Antidote to Deflation,” Dr. Reisman explains why houses should not be regarded as investments. It must be remembered that a house is still a depreciating consumer good, even though the depreciating value is slower than most other goods. So why are houses regarded as investments today? To partially quote Dr. Reisman from his posting:
”Only decades of inflation and credit expansion could make it possible for people to think of the houses they occupy as an investment. In reality, a house is a consumers’ good, just like an automobile or a refrigerator. The only difference is that it depreciates more slowly than they do. Only a long string of years in which inflation took place more rapidly than houses depreciated enabled their prices to rise every year and people to come to regard them as a source of financial gain. If not for inflation and the rise in prices that it produces, it would be very clear that housing is a wasting asset, a slowly wasting asset to be sure, but a wasting asset nonetheless.”
Ouch! Dr. Reisman is definitely a true laissez-faire economist (i.e., reality based and reason oriented), for sure. To which I say, thank you for that.
Also, the blogsite The Rational Capitalist adds some additional commentary to this subject. I recommend visiting this blog when you have some time.
My closing thought for the day:
“It pays to know something about basic economics and develop one’s own independent judgment, and not follow the popular consensus.”
--- John Dick, 2009, U.S. Citizen
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Monday, November 24, 2008
Morning Coffee: Inspired Formulations
From Abraham Lincoln’s own formulation regarding slavery, my own inspired formulation regarding Capitalism:
"As I would not want my life and freedom controlled by the state, so I would not want the state to control the lives and freedoms of all other men. This expresses my ideas of Capitalism."
-- John Dick, 2008 U.S. Citizen
I was encouraged by, and inspired by, my good friend Beth Haynes (see her blog "Wealth is not the Problem" ), who came up with a brilliant way of formulating and expressing rational, fundamental concepts in a clear, concise manner. She herself was inspired by a famous formulation by President Abraham Lincoln. His formulation was this:
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my ideas of democracy."
-- Abraham Lincoln, (1809-1865) 16th U.S. President
This was Beth Haynes' formulation regarding Morality:
"As I would not be a victim, so I would not be a thief. This expresses my idea of morality."
-- Beth Haynes, 2008 U.S. Citizen
Thanks Beth!
I also invite you to visit my own recent blog site “Capitalism vs. Statism” – a comparison expose of the benefits of Capitalism versus the destructiveness of Statism, from a my own layman’s perspective. My blog is not set up in the typical manner, as it is a preset posting of my thoughts and writings. I hope you find it interesting and informative, and please share it with family and friends.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
"As I would not want my life and freedom controlled by the state, so I would not want the state to control the lives and freedoms of all other men. This expresses my ideas of Capitalism."
-- John Dick, 2008 U.S. Citizen
I was encouraged by, and inspired by, my good friend Beth Haynes (see her blog "Wealth is not the Problem" ), who came up with a brilliant way of formulating and expressing rational, fundamental concepts in a clear, concise manner. She herself was inspired by a famous formulation by President Abraham Lincoln. His formulation was this:
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my ideas of democracy."
-- Abraham Lincoln, (1809-1865) 16th U.S. President
This was Beth Haynes' formulation regarding Morality:
"As I would not be a victim, so I would not be a thief. This expresses my idea of morality."
-- Beth Haynes, 2008 U.S. Citizen
Thanks Beth!
I also invite you to visit my own recent blog site “Capitalism vs. Statism” – a comparison expose of the benefits of Capitalism versus the destructiveness of Statism, from a my own layman’s perspective. My blog is not set up in the typical manner, as it is a preset posting of my thoughts and writings. I hope you find it interesting and informative, and please share it with family and friends.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Morning Coffee: The 1977 CRA Setup of the 2008 Breakdown
As the current financial turmoil looms over our economy affecting our country’s stability, with all the political finger-pointing going on about who is to blame –- from President Bush to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, from the “evil, greedy, corrupt” corporate financial and banking CEO’s, CFO’s, E-I-E-I-O’s …to the real estate investors, from those so-called shameful mortgage lenders to all those “irresponsible” borrowers, from Fannie to Freddie and back again, including even property appraisers and man-made global warming (okay, so I just had to throw that one in) -- I sit here with my wonderfully hot mug of freshly brewed coffee pondering this perception: most of the media and the political elite is completely oblivious, ignorant, even avoidant in dealing with any historical “cause and effect” that has led to the current fiasco, and reporting as if all of history started only about two years ago.
Notice also what seems to be an “elitist, snub-nosed, monarchical” arrogance and attitude by Democrats, many Republicans, and most of the media hounds that the “cause” is irrelevant and that only certain chosen “political-governmental savvy saviors” will be able to pull all the rest of us “poor ignorant common-folk fools” out of this mess … this “crisis” … or so they say. Understanding a little about statist-socialist-Marxist-leftist political ideas and tactics, it is quite obvious where all this smoke-screening approach to solving problems comes from.
Recently, I found a couple of gem articles addressing our current money and credit woes that really helped to put all this into a proper historical context – with one article written in the Winter of 2000! Yes, 2000! Won’t find these in the mainstream media.
From Bloomberg.com -- “How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis” by Kevin Hassett
-- and –-
From City-journal.org –- “The Trillion-Dollar Bank Shakedown That Bodes Ill for Cities” by Howard Husock – written Winter 2000.
Seems there was this little known Community Reinvestment Act -– the CRA -- of 1977 signed into law by non-other than President Jimmy Carter. Also seems this little-big “Act” sat around the office dormant for awhile until it was needed in the 1990s by non-other than President Bill Clinton, along with plenty of other political opportunists, who opened the financial flood-gates for all types of “well-meaning” social programs and projects. And flow it did.
I recommend taking a few moments reading them just to raise one’s awareness of the trail to disaster. I only ask that after you read the Winter 2000 article, image that even then there were concerns about “billions” of politically-manipulated dollars going off to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac supported “community” and “social” projects in political la-la land -– and that there has been eights years since of such accumulated loaning, borrowing, and spending.
Also, check out the latest column by one of my heroes, the brilliant Dr. Walter E. Williams, “Scaring Us To Death.” Crisis scare tactics and policies of the statist-leftist kind. Karl Marx would be proud.
Without sounding too negative, but staying focused on the reality of whatever comes out of the current Congressional House of Cards (Gads, how did our government get to such a drunken state?), just be prepared for piles upon piles of more manipulated, regulated, arbitrary, statist-socialist, tax-payer supported spending to be “piled” on top of the already monolithic heaps of statist-political garbage.
Shame on all of us for letting down our “intellectual” guard and allowing -– even helping -– the statist-socialist-leftist political and governmental parasites destroy what our Founding Fathers worked so hard to get started. Our individual and economic freedom won’t be easy rebuilding.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Notice also what seems to be an “elitist, snub-nosed, monarchical” arrogance and attitude by Democrats, many Republicans, and most of the media hounds that the “cause” is irrelevant and that only certain chosen “political-governmental savvy saviors” will be able to pull all the rest of us “poor ignorant common-folk fools” out of this mess … this “crisis” … or so they say. Understanding a little about statist-socialist-Marxist-leftist political ideas and tactics, it is quite obvious where all this smoke-screening approach to solving problems comes from.
Recently, I found a couple of gem articles addressing our current money and credit woes that really helped to put all this into a proper historical context – with one article written in the Winter of 2000! Yes, 2000! Won’t find these in the mainstream media.
From Bloomberg.com -- “How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis” by Kevin Hassett
-- and –-
From City-journal.org –- “The Trillion-Dollar Bank Shakedown That Bodes Ill for Cities” by Howard Husock – written Winter 2000.
Seems there was this little known Community Reinvestment Act -– the CRA -- of 1977 signed into law by non-other than President Jimmy Carter. Also seems this little-big “Act” sat around the office dormant for awhile until it was needed in the 1990s by non-other than President Bill Clinton, along with plenty of other political opportunists, who opened the financial flood-gates for all types of “well-meaning” social programs and projects. And flow it did.
I recommend taking a few moments reading them just to raise one’s awareness of the trail to disaster. I only ask that after you read the Winter 2000 article, image that even then there were concerns about “billions” of politically-manipulated dollars going off to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac supported “community” and “social” projects in political la-la land -– and that there has been eights years since of such accumulated loaning, borrowing, and spending.
Also, check out the latest column by one of my heroes, the brilliant Dr. Walter E. Williams, “Scaring Us To Death.” Crisis scare tactics and policies of the statist-leftist kind. Karl Marx would be proud.
Without sounding too negative, but staying focused on the reality of whatever comes out of the current Congressional House of Cards (Gads, how did our government get to such a drunken state?), just be prepared for piles upon piles of more manipulated, regulated, arbitrary, statist-socialist, tax-payer supported spending to be “piled” on top of the already monolithic heaps of statist-political garbage.
Shame on all of us for letting down our “intellectual” guard and allowing -– even helping -– the statist-socialist-leftist political and governmental parasites destroy what our Founding Fathers worked so hard to get started. Our individual and economic freedom won’t be easy rebuilding.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Afternoon Tea: Never Forget 9/11/2001
After a day of watching events held to commemorate that horrific date seven years ago, and shedding tears more than once as names of victims were read and moments of silence were observed, I’m taking time out to express a few thoughts here.
A number of years have gone by since I was in grade school. Along the way, I’ve gotten a “higher education” (including a virtually useless B.A. in Philosophy/English), been hired / worked hard / been laid off or fired / been hired somewhere else, got married / divorced / dated a bit / then found my “keeper” husband, won awards for my artwork, had poems and articles published, watched hours and hours of TV (usually while I was doing something else), and created a cozy environment in which my husband and I live.
All of this while enjoying the individual freedom and liberty this country affords.
Contrary to what British “comedian” Russell Brand encouraged at the latest MTV awards, I will stand up to the world and vote against Obama – unfortunately, that means voting for McCain – so that the wonderful freedom (and the protection thereof that President Bush has accomplished during his eight years in office) that has gotten me this far will see me through to a ripe old age.
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
A number of years have gone by since I was in grade school. Along the way, I’ve gotten a “higher education” (including a virtually useless B.A. in Philosophy/English), been hired / worked hard / been laid off or fired / been hired somewhere else, got married / divorced / dated a bit / then found my “keeper” husband, won awards for my artwork, had poems and articles published, watched hours and hours of TV (usually while I was doing something else), and created a cozy environment in which my husband and I live.
All of this while enjoying the individual freedom and liberty this country affords.
Contrary to what British “comedian” Russell Brand encouraged at the latest MTV awards, I will stand up to the world and vote against Obama – unfortunately, that means voting for McCain – so that the wonderful freedom (and the protection thereof that President Bush has accomplished during his eight years in office) that has gotten me this far will see me through to a ripe old age.
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Morning Coffee: “Free” Hidden Costs
Ms. Tea’s previous blog post “Free Houses Aren’t Free” makes one realize just how much of today's news media reporting is oriented towards, and so focused on, the "hardships" of "consumers," and how terrible it is that so many people don't have enough income or "money" to be able to "purchase" and "consume" all the great, wonderful things available to us, all produced and provided for by our "terrible, mean, cut-throat, dog-eat-dog" economy and society.
Rarely does the media, however, point out that it is our fabulous, wealth producing, profit loving, freedom oriented, peaceful, division of labor, capitalist society that actually makes possible, and provides us with, all the wonderful products, goods, and services that so many consumers enjoy and have access to. And without such a system in place, only poverty and some sort of political tyranny would exist.
As Ms. Tea’s article points out, though, perhaps a lot of the "hardships" experienced by so many consumers is actually due to their own ignorance and/or lack of interest with finances and economics in general. Whether a person has truly fallen on hard times (such as, due to job loss or bad health), or is just financially irresponsible, the context is that, either way, they cannot afford to engage in activities or make decisions that will only further harm their already precarious financial situation. This would include entering a contest to win something "big" -- like a house worth over a million dollars -- that has the real potential of causing a truly devastating personal financial crisis, if the person entering the contest is not prepared to deal with, or able to pay for, the “real” costs associated with winning the “big” ticket item –- costs such as income and property taxes, fees, insurance, maintenance costs, or utilities.
If such people choose to be financially irresponsible with "eyes wide open," then they have no one else to blame but themselves, and are responsible for the consequences of their decisions, choices, and actions. Such folks need to stop making such foolish decisions, and keep their “eyes” -– and their minds -- focused on reality.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Rarely does the media, however, point out that it is our fabulous, wealth producing, profit loving, freedom oriented, peaceful, division of labor, capitalist society that actually makes possible, and provides us with, all the wonderful products, goods, and services that so many consumers enjoy and have access to. And without such a system in place, only poverty and some sort of political tyranny would exist.
As Ms. Tea’s article points out, though, perhaps a lot of the "hardships" experienced by so many consumers is actually due to their own ignorance and/or lack of interest with finances and economics in general. Whether a person has truly fallen on hard times (such as, due to job loss or bad health), or is just financially irresponsible, the context is that, either way, they cannot afford to engage in activities or make decisions that will only further harm their already precarious financial situation. This would include entering a contest to win something "big" -- like a house worth over a million dollars -- that has the real potential of causing a truly devastating personal financial crisis, if the person entering the contest is not prepared to deal with, or able to pay for, the “real” costs associated with winning the “big” ticket item –- costs such as income and property taxes, fees, insurance, maintenance costs, or utilities.
If such people choose to be financially irresponsible with "eyes wide open," then they have no one else to blame but themselves, and are responsible for the consequences of their decisions, choices, and actions. Such folks need to stop making such foolish decisions, and keep their “eyes” -– and their minds -- focused on reality.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Morning Coffee: Our Free-Market Spider
One of my favorite pastimes is “puttering” in our yard on weekends, working in the garden and doing a bit of landscaping, when needed. With so much of my time and work spent indoors in front of a computer, it’s nice to retreat outside once in awhile to venture into the outdoors and experience nature directly. And venture I did, just a couple of days ago.
I enjoy getting out into the fresh air and sunshine, tending to the various shrubs and flowers throughout our yard, and getting “up close and personal” to … spiders? Yes, spiders. And, boy, do we have some “big” garden spiders here in the Southeast U.S., including the beautiful yet startling black-and-yellow argiope (argiope aurantia). See some “startling” pictures and read about this species at this University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Animal Diversity Web page.
After working in the yard for about two hours, cleaning up the “cuttings” and gathering the garden tools to put back into the shed, I was approaching the side of our house where the garage door is, when “something” caught the corner of my eye, right above a bush, to which I turned and looked and gasped “Yikes!”
After I composed myself, I took a closer look, fascinated by such a large spider. I have seen the black-and-yellow argiope before, as they are fairly common here. But this particular one webbing “her” way between the bush and our garage wall was quite the sight. I say “her” because only the female of this spider species can get so large and so colorful, while the male is only one-third or so as big. She was just sitting there on her web, rocking in the breeze, spread out from leg tip to leg tip to at least three inches! Though they can bite if provoked, the bite is not harmful to most humans. Argiopes tend to mind their own business, and are not interested in the indoors. Which is just fine by us.
I immediately went to retrieve my wife from her own weekend activities, to witness this awesome sight, and also to let her know how close to the garage door the spider was. I didn’t think my wife would have appreciated being surprised by “Ms.” Argiope when opening the garage door.
Once seeing this beautiful specimen, my wife wanted to photograph “Ms.” Argipoe. So we got our Kodak digital camera and clicked away. I suggested to my wife that we should name our neighborly spider. We thought about it, and decided to call her Miss Scarlett, after another famous southern bell. Miss Scarlett just sat there on her web, completely undisturbed by our constant back-and-forth movements taking pictures. Actually, I think Miss Scarlett enjoyed the attention, though she wouldn’t let on about it. You know how these southern bells are.
Now, you are probably wondering why I call Miss Scarlett our Free-Market Spider. Well, after all the pictures were taken, and I finished cleaning up the yard and putting the tools away, I sat for a spell and thought about what had just transpired.
Here I was, enjoying some of my earned leisure time in the freest country in the world, using these marvelous modern gardening tools to care for our plants and landscape, including using a two-wheeled wheel barrel made of a man-made reinforced plastic material that is almost indestructible -– all made possible by the wonderful, competitive, division-of-labor, wealth-producing, capitalist “free-market” system (redundancy never hurts) -- all the while caring for various plants and flowers to beautify and add color to our yard, mowing the lawn with a wonderful Craftsman mulching lawn mower, all occurring around the very nice home we own, built on a wonderful piece of property we also own, when there “she” was, Miss Scarlett, the big garden spider. She was just sitting there, taking it all in -- and taking full advantage of, I might add, a nice, sunny spot, built and provided for by human beings –- by man, the thinking, conceptual animal.
I pondered how wonderful existence, capitalism, the division of labor, individual freedom, private property, and wealth production are. My dream world…
Then reality hit, and I couldn’t help think just how much unnecessary interference, regulation, mandating, taxation, and control there is by our “statist-socialist-communist-environmentalist” oriented dingbat, lunatic political leaders and government officials -- coming at us from every level of government, local-state-federal -- over our freedoms, rights, property rights, income, wealth, finances, including all commerce and business. From a personal point, I can only image how much more could be possible, and how much more I could achieve, if I were able to retain more disposable income and wealth to save and spend, even possibly establishing more personal time to spend with my work or pastimes.
Gee, if I could actually keep more of my earned income and wealth from being taxed to death, and have more of my personal time back instead of using it to earn money to pay taxes, what could I possibly spend more disposable income, wealth, and time on? Oh, I don’t know, how about:
- saving more money for my future security, benefiting a bank or investment company, or
- contribute more money to our favorite private charities, benefiting their activities,
- buying a bigger house and yard with more plants and flowers, benefiting the seller,
- paying someone to help care for my larger yard, benefiting a landscape company, while
- using the time I save from yard work reading and writing, adding to my knowledge, and
- buying more books to read, benefiting the book stores, writers, and authors, or
- paying someone else to mow my lawn, benefiting a lawn-maintenance company, while
- using the time I save from mowing my lawn playing my piano more, and
- paying for professional piano lessons, benefiting the piano teacher, or
- buying more meals out, benefiting the area restaurants and cafes, or
- buying a bread machine to make my own bread, benefiting the bread machine manufacturer, or
- buying better garden tools, benefiting the hardware store, garden shop, and tool manufacturer, or
- maybe build another “man-made” sunny spot providing a home for another garden spider, and
- spending more time with my wife, which would make her very happy.
Miss Scarlett had set up shop and was doing “her” job of catching and eating other large, pesky insects. I think that if I could somehow understand spider-talk, Miss Scarlett would be thanking me for such a wonderful place to call home every time I opened the garage door, backed my car out, and greeted her in the mornings before I go off to work myself, to earn and produce my wealth, so I can continue to keep my life prosperous and happy, while providing a place for Miss Scarlett to live. I’m just glad that I am not the one catching bugs for a living.
But then, that’s what a freedom-oriented, division of labor, capitalist system is all about. We all benefit independently and co-exist peacefully.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
I enjoy getting out into the fresh air and sunshine, tending to the various shrubs and flowers throughout our yard, and getting “up close and personal” to … spiders? Yes, spiders. And, boy, do we have some “big” garden spiders here in the Southeast U.S., including the beautiful yet startling black-and-yellow argiope (argiope aurantia). See some “startling” pictures and read about this species at this University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Animal Diversity Web page.
After working in the yard for about two hours, cleaning up the “cuttings” and gathering the garden tools to put back into the shed, I was approaching the side of our house where the garage door is, when “something” caught the corner of my eye, right above a bush, to which I turned and looked and gasped “Yikes!”
After I composed myself, I took a closer look, fascinated by such a large spider. I have seen the black-and-yellow argiope before, as they are fairly common here. But this particular one webbing “her” way between the bush and our garage wall was quite the sight. I say “her” because only the female of this spider species can get so large and so colorful, while the male is only one-third or so as big. She was just sitting there on her web, rocking in the breeze, spread out from leg tip to leg tip to at least three inches! Though they can bite if provoked, the bite is not harmful to most humans. Argiopes tend to mind their own business, and are not interested in the indoors. Which is just fine by us.
I immediately went to retrieve my wife from her own weekend activities, to witness this awesome sight, and also to let her know how close to the garage door the spider was. I didn’t think my wife would have appreciated being surprised by “Ms.” Argiope when opening the garage door.
Once seeing this beautiful specimen, my wife wanted to photograph “Ms.” Argipoe. So we got our Kodak digital camera and clicked away. I suggested to my wife that we should name our neighborly spider. We thought about it, and decided to call her Miss Scarlett, after another famous southern bell. Miss Scarlett just sat there on her web, completely undisturbed by our constant back-and-forth movements taking pictures. Actually, I think Miss Scarlett enjoyed the attention, though she wouldn’t let on about it. You know how these southern bells are.
Now, you are probably wondering why I call Miss Scarlett our Free-Market Spider. Well, after all the pictures were taken, and I finished cleaning up the yard and putting the tools away, I sat for a spell and thought about what had just transpired.
Here I was, enjoying some of my earned leisure time in the freest country in the world, using these marvelous modern gardening tools to care for our plants and landscape, including using a two-wheeled wheel barrel made of a man-made reinforced plastic material that is almost indestructible -– all made possible by the wonderful, competitive, division-of-labor, wealth-producing, capitalist “free-market” system (redundancy never hurts) -- all the while caring for various plants and flowers to beautify and add color to our yard, mowing the lawn with a wonderful Craftsman mulching lawn mower, all occurring around the very nice home we own, built on a wonderful piece of property we also own, when there “she” was, Miss Scarlett, the big garden spider. She was just sitting there, taking it all in -- and taking full advantage of, I might add, a nice, sunny spot, built and provided for by human beings –- by man, the thinking, conceptual animal.
I pondered how wonderful existence, capitalism, the division of labor, individual freedom, private property, and wealth production are. My dream world…
Then reality hit, and I couldn’t help think just how much unnecessary interference, regulation, mandating, taxation, and control there is by our “statist-socialist-communist-environmentalist” oriented dingbat, lunatic political leaders and government officials -- coming at us from every level of government, local-state-federal -- over our freedoms, rights, property rights, income, wealth, finances, including all commerce and business. From a personal point, I can only image how much more could be possible, and how much more I could achieve, if I were able to retain more disposable income and wealth to save and spend, even possibly establishing more personal time to spend with my work or pastimes.
Gee, if I could actually keep more of my earned income and wealth from being taxed to death, and have more of my personal time back instead of using it to earn money to pay taxes, what could I possibly spend more disposable income, wealth, and time on? Oh, I don’t know, how about:
- saving more money for my future security, benefiting a bank or investment company, or
- contribute more money to our favorite private charities, benefiting their activities,
- buying a bigger house and yard with more plants and flowers, benefiting the seller,
- paying someone to help care for my larger yard, benefiting a landscape company, while
- using the time I save from yard work reading and writing, adding to my knowledge, and
- buying more books to read, benefiting the book stores, writers, and authors, or
- paying someone else to mow my lawn, benefiting a lawn-maintenance company, while
- using the time I save from mowing my lawn playing my piano more, and
- paying for professional piano lessons, benefiting the piano teacher, or
- buying more meals out, benefiting the area restaurants and cafes, or
- buying a bread machine to make my own bread, benefiting the bread machine manufacturer, or
- buying better garden tools, benefiting the hardware store, garden shop, and tool manufacturer, or
- maybe build another “man-made” sunny spot providing a home for another garden spider, and
- spending more time with my wife, which would make her very happy.
Miss Scarlett had set up shop and was doing “her” job of catching and eating other large, pesky insects. I think that if I could somehow understand spider-talk, Miss Scarlett would be thanking me for such a wonderful place to call home every time I opened the garage door, backed my car out, and greeted her in the mornings before I go off to work myself, to earn and produce my wealth, so I can continue to keep my life prosperous and happy, while providing a place for Miss Scarlett to live. I’m just glad that I am not the one catching bugs for a living.
But then, that’s what a freedom-oriented, division of labor, capitalist system is all about. We all benefit independently and co-exist peacefully.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Afternoon Tea: Catering to European Attitude
Turner Classic Movies just showed an item about James Garner, including a clip from the movie “The Americanization of Emily.” The clip was his speech about how Europeans snubbed their noses at Americans vs. how Europeans failed in the very areas where they were claiming superiority to Americans. I guess if you feel inferior, you try to mask it by deriding someone who is better.
Here’s the speech from Garner's character, Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison:
The clip was presented as part of a mini-bio of Garner that was narrated by Clint Eastwood, a long-time friend of Garner’s. He said that after seeing this part of the movie, he and other Americans in the theater stood up and cheered.
I wonder if they would do that today? I certainly would.
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
Here’s the speech from Garner's character, Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison:
You American haters bore me to tears, Ms. Barham. I've dealt with Europeans all my life. I know all about us parvenus from the States who come over here and race around your old Cathedral towns with our cameras and Coca-cola bottles... Brawl in your pubs, paw at your women, and act like we own the world. We over-tip, we talk too loud, we think we can buy anything with a Hershey bar. I've had Germans and Italians tell me how politically ingenuous we are, and perhaps so. But we haven't managed a Hitler or a Mussolini yet. I've had Frenchmen call me a savage because I only took half an hour for lunch. Hell, Ms. Barham, the only reason the French take two hours for lunch is because the service in their restaurants is lousy. The most tedious lot are you British. We crass Americans didn't introduce war into your little island. This war, Ms. Barham to which we Americans are so insensitive, is the result of 2,000 years of European greed, barbarism, superstition, and stupidity. Don't blame it on our Coca-cola bottles. Europe was a growing brothel long before we came to town.
The clip was presented as part of a mini-bio of Garner that was narrated by Clint Eastwood, a long-time friend of Garner’s. He said that after seeing this part of the movie, he and other Americans in the theater stood up and cheered.
I wonder if they would do that today? I certainly would.
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Afternoon Tea: Free Houses Aren’t Free
The show “Extreme Makeover” takes some dilapidated house, fixes it up in an obscenely short time, and turns it over to the owners. They make for some very exciting TV viewing and bring a warm glow to the hearts of their audience while lifting up the standard of living of their benefactorees.
Unfortunately, the recipients of this largesse do not always live happily ever after. For example, the owners of the mini mansion in Atlanta, GA, that was built in six days in 2005, are about to undergo foreclosure. Possibly due to being inspired by the show, they decided to start up a construction business, except that they didn’t have any money with which to start such a company. So, they used their new house worth $450,000 as loan collateral. Unfortunately, their business failed and the beautiful 4-bedroom house will go up for auction on August 5th.
My first impression when reading this was: There was a reason these people were living in a house so bad that the “Extreme Makeover” team demolished it, either their lack of money management knowledge or falling on hard times (or, as the liberal whackos say, having been downtrodden by the evil rich). In either case, building them a huge new house is not a solution. If they have fallen on hard times, they probably don’t have the funds to keep up the new house. If they don’t know how to manage money, how will they manage the finances this new house requires? This includes the managing of the $250,000 in contributions, scholarships, and a home maintenance fund. Where did that money go?
Maybe they were an exception, not the rule.
Of course, there are the winners of the HGTV Dream Homes. They clearly are not usually aware that they are liable for income tax (state and federal) on the market value of the house and other prizes, as well as property taxes, utilities, any HOA fees, and maintenance costs. With the house being worth over $1 million, plus additional prizes such as an SUV and $250,000 in cash, the tax bill alone would be hefty, to say the least. Don and Shelley Cruz certainly found this out the hard way. Not only did they find that this splendid house was too much for them, but the financial burden was rather onerous.
Ever take a slice of cake that was way too large because the cake just looked so gosh darn yummy? Sure, we all have – either cake or pie or something else equally scrumptious. The same goes for people who grab at too much house. The Cruz’s aren’t the only winners to opt out of the “dream” after a short time.
People entering the HGTV Dream Home sweepstakes should read all of the fine print. I have and, therefore, will never enter for fear that I would win. Besides, I like the house we live in now. We resisted the loan officer’s gently persuasive techniquest to try to get us to go for more house. (“With your credit rating and financial status, you could qualify for a much higher loan.”) Thus, we ended up with a house that not only suits our lifestyle but our financial goals. We don’t care to be house poor.
That brings me back to being financially responsible. Whether you win your home, get one built for you by the Ty Pennington gang, get a government-sanctioned bundle of booty to bail you out of a bad mortgage you signed on to, or just plain overbuy, you are financially responsible. Unfortunately, Bush signed that bailout bill, so all of you who didn’t read the fine print before signing, you can pop that champagne cork now. Your neighbor is going to the politicians reach into his/her wallet and pull out a wad of money to keep you off the street and seated in that La-Z-boy.
Time for a cup of tea and a huge slice of cake!
Copyright © 2008 A.C. Cargill
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
Unfortunately, the recipients of this largesse do not always live happily ever after. For example, the owners of the mini mansion in Atlanta, GA, that was built in six days in 2005, are about to undergo foreclosure. Possibly due to being inspired by the show, they decided to start up a construction business, except that they didn’t have any money with which to start such a company. So, they used their new house worth $450,000 as loan collateral. Unfortunately, their business failed and the beautiful 4-bedroom house will go up for auction on August 5th.
My first impression when reading this was: There was a reason these people were living in a house so bad that the “Extreme Makeover” team demolished it, either their lack of money management knowledge or falling on hard times (or, as the liberal whackos say, having been downtrodden by the evil rich). In either case, building them a huge new house is not a solution. If they have fallen on hard times, they probably don’t have the funds to keep up the new house. If they don’t know how to manage money, how will they manage the finances this new house requires? This includes the managing of the $250,000 in contributions, scholarships, and a home maintenance fund. Where did that money go?
Maybe they were an exception, not the rule.
Of course, there are the winners of the HGTV Dream Homes. They clearly are not usually aware that they are liable for income tax (state and federal) on the market value of the house and other prizes, as well as property taxes, utilities, any HOA fees, and maintenance costs. With the house being worth over $1 million, plus additional prizes such as an SUV and $250,000 in cash, the tax bill alone would be hefty, to say the least. Don and Shelley Cruz certainly found this out the hard way. Not only did they find that this splendid house was too much for them, but the financial burden was rather onerous.
Don, a stay-at-home dad, and Shelly, an administrative assistant who’s gone back to school to become an accountant, are quickly running through their winnings as they struggle to pay thousands a month for electricity, household help and other outsize bills for their outsize home.Seems that they suddenly found themselves in a tax bracket reserved for those evil rich people, the ones that Democrats are declaring they will sock it to when they regain the White House (as if Obama’s inauguration were a foregone conclusion). They finally had to put the house up for auction, selling it for $1,325,000 to Rick Mullins. The Cruz family has returned to Chicago and put this two-year fantasy experience behind them. They are probably very happy to do so, since they are no longer faced with an annual property tax bill of $25,000 (many people’s annual salary). They know what they can handle financially to feel comfortable.
On top of that, they had to take out a loan to pay off a $672,000 tax bill on their winnings.
Ever take a slice of cake that was way too large because the cake just looked so gosh darn yummy? Sure, we all have – either cake or pie or something else equally scrumptious. The same goes for people who grab at too much house. The Cruz’s aren’t the only winners to opt out of the “dream” after a short time.
People entering the HGTV Dream Home sweepstakes should read all of the fine print. I have and, therefore, will never enter for fear that I would win. Besides, I like the house we live in now. We resisted the loan officer’s gently persuasive techniquest to try to get us to go for more house. (“With your credit rating and financial status, you could qualify for a much higher loan.”) Thus, we ended up with a house that not only suits our lifestyle but our financial goals. We don’t care to be house poor.
That brings me back to being financially responsible. Whether you win your home, get one built for you by the Ty Pennington gang, get a government-sanctioned bundle of booty to bail you out of a bad mortgage you signed on to, or just plain overbuy, you are financially responsible. Unfortunately, Bush signed that bailout bill, so all of you who didn’t read the fine print before signing, you can pop that champagne cork now. Your neighbor is going to the politicians reach into his/her wallet and pull out a wad of money to keep you off the street and seated in that La-Z-boy.
Time for a cup of tea and a huge slice of cake!
Copyright © 2008 A.C. Cargill
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Morning Coffee: Let the Comments Begin
When we first started posting our writings here, we had a bit of a problem getting the comment link to work. Well, now the obstacle has been removed and your comments can commence. A couple of readers wanted to comment on my last posting "The 'Addiction to Oil' Babble." And so, you may comment about oil with this posting. Have fun!
Before you do, however, check out these two links. Get some coffee or tea first, though.
Read "Oil is NOT a Fossil Fuel" by Peter J. Morgan. Imagine, oil a naturally renewable resource.
Speaking of imagining, for your break time entertainment, the hit music video "Imagine There's No Global Warming" from our friends at Minnesotans for Global Warming.
Mr. Coffee and Ms. Tea
Before you do, however, check out these two links. Get some coffee or tea first, though.
Read "Oil is NOT a Fossil Fuel" by Peter J. Morgan. Imagine, oil a naturally renewable resource.
Speaking of imagining, for your break time entertainment, the hit music video "Imagine There's No Global Warming" from our friends at Minnesotans for Global Warming.
Mr. Coffee and Ms. Tea
Afternoon Tea: Not-So-Sweet Cherries
There’s nothing like ripe, sweet cherries as part of an afternoon tea. A few cookie selections can round out the fare. Unfortunately, there was nothing like those cherries at this afternoon’s tea. The cherries were less than up to par.
We had bought these cherries the day before and stuck them in the refrigerator when returning home. The next morning, I took them out to wash and bag them, only to find many rotting and/or moldy. Normally, I would have just chucked the whole bag in the trash. However, a quick check of the receipt showed that we had paid almost $11 plus tax. Not cheap and worth a trip back to the store, even with gas prices over $4/gal. We also wanted to give the store a chance to check the rest of their stock and get back with their supplier about the less-than-salesworthy produce.
Any anticipation of being given a hard time about returning the rotten cherries vanished as soon as we told the Customer Service clerk about the problem and showed him the fruit. He promptly gave us a cash refund and then took the cherries back to the Produce Manager.
What is sweet about this story is that it really shows how the free market works best for consumers. This store has a vested interest in handling such complaints in a quick and friendly manner. They know that most of their customers are local and come in on a regular basis. They also know that those customers certainly have lots of choices for groceries in the area (including a recently-built Super Wal-Mart with a grocery section). This whole matter could have been a big turn-off for us. Instead, their reaction has assured us that we are dealing with a company that has the best interest of its customers at heart.
What a difference that is from dealing with such government entities as the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The DMV knows it has no competition and that we HAVE to use them by regulation (i.e., government force). When we moved last year and had to get our drivers’ licenses changed and new photos taken, we watched in amused horror as they went through a routine that could have been scripted by Robin Williams. Granted, it was a Monday morning. That could account for the tired, don’t-give-a-damn attitude of the employees; and, of course, we can’t blame them for the breakdown of the photo processing machine. We can blame someone for the lack of supplies (as in “I thought YOU were going to order more ink”). As I said, quite a contrast.
Give me private enterprise every time over government bureaucracy. That goes for my healthcare, too!
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
We had bought these cherries the day before and stuck them in the refrigerator when returning home. The next morning, I took them out to wash and bag them, only to find many rotting and/or moldy. Normally, I would have just chucked the whole bag in the trash. However, a quick check of the receipt showed that we had paid almost $11 plus tax. Not cheap and worth a trip back to the store, even with gas prices over $4/gal. We also wanted to give the store a chance to check the rest of their stock and get back with their supplier about the less-than-salesworthy produce.
Any anticipation of being given a hard time about returning the rotten cherries vanished as soon as we told the Customer Service clerk about the problem and showed him the fruit. He promptly gave us a cash refund and then took the cherries back to the Produce Manager.
What is sweet about this story is that it really shows how the free market works best for consumers. This store has a vested interest in handling such complaints in a quick and friendly manner. They know that most of their customers are local and come in on a regular basis. They also know that those customers certainly have lots of choices for groceries in the area (including a recently-built Super Wal-Mart with a grocery section). This whole matter could have been a big turn-off for us. Instead, their reaction has assured us that we are dealing with a company that has the best interest of its customers at heart.
What a difference that is from dealing with such government entities as the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The DMV knows it has no competition and that we HAVE to use them by regulation (i.e., government force). When we moved last year and had to get our drivers’ licenses changed and new photos taken, we watched in amused horror as they went through a routine that could have been scripted by Robin Williams. Granted, it was a Monday morning. That could account for the tired, don’t-give-a-damn attitude of the employees; and, of course, we can’t blame them for the breakdown of the photo processing machine. We can blame someone for the lack of supplies (as in “I thought YOU were going to order more ink”). As I said, quite a contrast.
Give me private enterprise every time over government bureaucracy. That goes for my healthcare, too!
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Morning Coffee: The “Addiction to Oil” Babble
There was a time when people were proud of using the correct definition of words when speaking and writing, and made every effort possible to apply those correct definitions to the correct context (of the subject matter in which they spoke). If honest mistakes were made and the wrong word was accidentally used out of context (usually due to not clearly understanding a word), apologies were made, the mistake was corrected, the dust would settle, and rational discussion would go on. Or, using the wrong word was a deliberate attempt at humor by purposefully using a word out of context.
For example, one cannot “inoculate” people against certain ideas, but one can “indoctrinate” people against certain ideas. Or for humor, one might say that they wear “stun” glasses, instead of sunglasses.
I’ve certainly had, and occasionally still do have, my own share of using the wrong word in my writing or discussion, thinking that the definition of the word I am trying to use fits the context of the subject matter at hand, but it quickly becomes apparent that the word is wrong. As a musician, I know immediately the wrong note or chord applied, but since I am not a professional word smith, word application is a little more challenging. But I digress.
Obviously, not all of history was so innocent of misusing words, of course. But the purposeful skewing and mixing of words, and their definitions, to deliberately mislead and obscure, seemed to be the exception to the rule, not the norm of expressive behavior.
Not any more.
In the confines of this article, I limit the discussion to the latest, deliberate bastardization and misuse of language by the current political class and media in the popular phrase “America’s Addiction to Oil.”
What a crock! (Did I use that word correctly?)
Let’s start with a definition for addiction.
Now, I am no doctor or psychologist, but I think we can infer that an addiction is a certain type of psychological behavior that is associated with certain desires and needs that become compulsive, obsessive, or habitual, which may also develop into a physiological need. Because of this, I think we can say that addiction is a type of behavior that is irrational in nature. Thus, addictions are potentially bad for us because the irrational fixation for certain desires and needs may become destructive to our life; they represent subjective and negative forces against life. For example, an obsessive fixation on and abnormal fear of germs may lead a person to compulsive hand washing addiction, lasting for hours and damaging skin.
Conversely, we can conclude that the opposite is true, that a type of psychological behavior that is rational in nature – non-addictive, normal, healthy mental behavior - is associated with certain desires and needs that are not compulsive, not obsessive, and not habitual. That is, a rational psychological behavior associated with healthy and normal desires and needs is NOT an addiction, but a proper, objective, good, and rational process for living, enhancing, and enjoying our lives; it represents an objective and positive force supporting life. For example, a normal, objective awareness of germs, and what they can do, leads people to wash their hands for a moment after they handle raw meat, avoiding contamination.
Dependency is also another term associated with addiction that needs to be addressed. As with desire or need, to be dependent upon a thing does not necessarily imply “addiction” to that thing. Again, context is important. For example, we depend upon the sun to continue to supply plentiful sunlight so we can grow food and survive, but this doesn’t mean that we are “addicted” to the sun or to sunlight. This type of dependency is neither compulsive or obsessive, and is considered rational. However, being compulsively and obsessively dependent on the drug cocaine to the point where one resorts to crime to fulfill the irrational need for cocaine would qualify that dependency as an addiction, and therefore, it would be considered irrational.
For simplicity’s sake, I will refer to those desires and needs associated with addiction as irrational desires and needs for something, and those desires and needs associated with normal, non-addictive behavior as rational desires and needs for something.
In my opinion, a rational dependency, desire, or need for a drug or substance or resource is NOT an addiction, even if that rational dependency, desire, or need is for a substance that we know to be potentially harmful or dangerous to our life, such as the use of radiation for X-rays or fighting cancer, or the use of uranium to produce electricity inexpensively and cleanly, or the use of insulin to stabilize diabetes.
Here, I would continue to argue that our dependency, desire, and need for oil is rational – it is NOT an irrational desire or need – it is NOT an addiction. We rationally depend upon, desire, and need oil to help enhance and better our lives. We, as human beings, rationally and objectively depend upon, desire, and need all kinds of drugs, substances, and resources to help enhance and preserve our way of life, our health, our wonderfully high standard of living, our prosperity, our wealth, our property, our businesses, our careers, our happiness, our dreams, and ultimately, our very life.
Our rational and objective dependency, desire, and need for oil is no different. We use oil in the production and manufacturing of health and medical products, everyday home and food products, farming and agricultural products and processes, toys and entertainment products and devices, medical-scientific-technological research and development, and yes, the various fuels and gasoline to run all types of machines, equipment, trains, tractors, trucks, boats, and automobiles. All of these things benefit us and make our lives prosperous.
For politicians and the media to label our desire and need for oil as an “addiction” – implying that it is an irrational dependency, desire, and need, and, I think, a deliberate attempt to also imply that it is evil and immoral – is to imply that our dependency, desire, and need for all things that make our lives safe, healthy, happy, and productive are also “addictions,” and therefore, irrational, evil, and immoral.
This means that to describe our rational dependency, desire, and need for oil as an “addiction” is to directly imply that we also have an “addiction” - an irrational, evil, and immoral dependency, desire, and need - for all the other things that enhance and better our lives, things such as individual freedom, individual rights, property rights and our property, wealth, prosperity, good health, and happiness.
How “purposefully and deliberately” twisted, malevolent, sick, disgusting, and absurd an idea is that?
And yet, this is the type of venom that is purposefully spewed out everyday by the media, our politicians, government officials, and several cowardly, leftist-appeasing private businesses, corporations, and organizations. I don’t think these folks are innocently misusing words, and they are definitely not messing with context for humor’s sake.
Using the word “addiction” to describe our dependency, desire, and need for oil is not only an attempt to distort and skew the context in which we use and need oil, it is also a deliberate, despicable, conniving attempt to convince us that our dependency, desire, and need for oil is irrational, evil, and immoral. If these people can convince you to “feel” guilty, shameful, and immoral for rationally and objectively wanting and needing those things to make your life healthy, happy, productive, and prosperous, then they have succeeded in convincing you to build the gallows on which to hang yourself. Or, at best, live in a filthy, miserable feudal system.
Did I use the correct words there?
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
For example, one cannot “inoculate” people against certain ideas, but one can “indoctrinate” people against certain ideas. Or for humor, one might say that they wear “stun” glasses, instead of sunglasses.
I’ve certainly had, and occasionally still do have, my own share of using the wrong word in my writing or discussion, thinking that the definition of the word I am trying to use fits the context of the subject matter at hand, but it quickly becomes apparent that the word is wrong. As a musician, I know immediately the wrong note or chord applied, but since I am not a professional word smith, word application is a little more challenging. But I digress.
Obviously, not all of history was so innocent of misusing words, of course. But the purposeful skewing and mixing of words, and their definitions, to deliberately mislead and obscure, seemed to be the exception to the rule, not the norm of expressive behavior.
Not any more.
In the confines of this article, I limit the discussion to the latest, deliberate bastardization and misuse of language by the current political class and media in the popular phrase “America’s Addiction to Oil.”
What a crock! (Did I use that word correctly?)
Let’s start with a definition for addiction.
From Merriam-Webster Online: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/addiction Addiction - 1: the quality or state of being addicted [to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively] (addiction to gambling) 2: compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.
Now, I am no doctor or psychologist, but I think we can infer that an addiction is a certain type of psychological behavior that is associated with certain desires and needs that become compulsive, obsessive, or habitual, which may also develop into a physiological need. Because of this, I think we can say that addiction is a type of behavior that is irrational in nature. Thus, addictions are potentially bad for us because the irrational fixation for certain desires and needs may become destructive to our life; they represent subjective and negative forces against life. For example, an obsessive fixation on and abnormal fear of germs may lead a person to compulsive hand washing addiction, lasting for hours and damaging skin.
Conversely, we can conclude that the opposite is true, that a type of psychological behavior that is rational in nature – non-addictive, normal, healthy mental behavior - is associated with certain desires and needs that are not compulsive, not obsessive, and not habitual. That is, a rational psychological behavior associated with healthy and normal desires and needs is NOT an addiction, but a proper, objective, good, and rational process for living, enhancing, and enjoying our lives; it represents an objective and positive force supporting life. For example, a normal, objective awareness of germs, and what they can do, leads people to wash their hands for a moment after they handle raw meat, avoiding contamination.
Dependency is also another term associated with addiction that needs to be addressed. As with desire or need, to be dependent upon a thing does not necessarily imply “addiction” to that thing. Again, context is important. For example, we depend upon the sun to continue to supply plentiful sunlight so we can grow food and survive, but this doesn’t mean that we are “addicted” to the sun or to sunlight. This type of dependency is neither compulsive or obsessive, and is considered rational. However, being compulsively and obsessively dependent on the drug cocaine to the point where one resorts to crime to fulfill the irrational need for cocaine would qualify that dependency as an addiction, and therefore, it would be considered irrational.
For simplicity’s sake, I will refer to those desires and needs associated with addiction as irrational desires and needs for something, and those desires and needs associated with normal, non-addictive behavior as rational desires and needs for something.
In my opinion, a rational dependency, desire, or need for a drug or substance or resource is NOT an addiction, even if that rational dependency, desire, or need is for a substance that we know to be potentially harmful or dangerous to our life, such as the use of radiation for X-rays or fighting cancer, or the use of uranium to produce electricity inexpensively and cleanly, or the use of insulin to stabilize diabetes.
Here, I would continue to argue that our dependency, desire, and need for oil is rational – it is NOT an irrational desire or need – it is NOT an addiction. We rationally depend upon, desire, and need oil to help enhance and better our lives. We, as human beings, rationally and objectively depend upon, desire, and need all kinds of drugs, substances, and resources to help enhance and preserve our way of life, our health, our wonderfully high standard of living, our prosperity, our wealth, our property, our businesses, our careers, our happiness, our dreams, and ultimately, our very life.
Our rational and objective dependency, desire, and need for oil is no different. We use oil in the production and manufacturing of health and medical products, everyday home and food products, farming and agricultural products and processes, toys and entertainment products and devices, medical-scientific-technological research and development, and yes, the various fuels and gasoline to run all types of machines, equipment, trains, tractors, trucks, boats, and automobiles. All of these things benefit us and make our lives prosperous.
For politicians and the media to label our desire and need for oil as an “addiction” – implying that it is an irrational dependency, desire, and need, and, I think, a deliberate attempt to also imply that it is evil and immoral – is to imply that our dependency, desire, and need for all things that make our lives safe, healthy, happy, and productive are also “addictions,” and therefore, irrational, evil, and immoral.
This means that to describe our rational dependency, desire, and need for oil as an “addiction” is to directly imply that we also have an “addiction” - an irrational, evil, and immoral dependency, desire, and need - for all the other things that enhance and better our lives, things such as individual freedom, individual rights, property rights and our property, wealth, prosperity, good health, and happiness.
How “purposefully and deliberately” twisted, malevolent, sick, disgusting, and absurd an idea is that?
And yet, this is the type of venom that is purposefully spewed out everyday by the media, our politicians, government officials, and several cowardly, leftist-appeasing private businesses, corporations, and organizations. I don’t think these folks are innocently misusing words, and they are definitely not messing with context for humor’s sake.
Using the word “addiction” to describe our dependency, desire, and need for oil is not only an attempt to distort and skew the context in which we use and need oil, it is also a deliberate, despicable, conniving attempt to convince us that our dependency, desire, and need for oil is irrational, evil, and immoral. If these people can convince you to “feel” guilty, shameful, and immoral for rationally and objectively wanting and needing those things to make your life healthy, happy, productive, and prosperous, then they have succeeded in convincing you to build the gallows on which to hang yourself. Or, at best, live in a filthy, miserable feudal system.
Did I use the correct words there?
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Afternoon Tea: Crow Epistemology
Sometimes, while taking my afternoon break with a smooth cup of P.G. tips and an almond biscotti, my thoughts turn to… toilet paper! Not really, but it makes a good opening line, don’t you think?
Once upon a time, singer Sheryl Crow espoused the view that we should all stick to one square of toilet paper per occasion in order to save the planet. Such a statement makes me wonder at her epistemology (her method of thinking), that is, if she has any idea why toilet paper was invented in the first place: improved human cleanliness and sanitation. Then, I see commercials for toilet paper makers such as Charmin that seem to be actively encouraging us to use less of their product, no doubt so that people like “Ms. Crow-brain” can’t force a limitation through legislation. If we all voluntarily give in to such pressures, then maybe the big, bad gov’mint guys (in league with the “green brigade” enviro whackos) will leave us alone.
Don’t count on it.
As has been pointed out many times by Stossel, Williams, Sowell, and others, if you give such whackos an inch, they will be taking a mile, putting them squarely in your bathroom, telling you not only how much toilet paper to use (or not), but also how often you can flush that waterhog toilet of yours. (“But,” you protest, “I have the low-flow toilet.” That’s so NOT the point. They have no business being in your bathroom.)
Generally, a lot of the things that are currently under attack as causing man-made global warming (a hoax) and other dire things to dear “Mother Earth” were invented to give man a more disease-free, well-fed, well-clothed, well-housed existence, one with time to enjoy life, not just work from sun-up to sundown, grab some food, and collapse into bed from exhaustion to start all over again the next day.
A few examples (look around you and you’ll probably find a lot more):
By the way, for an explanation of “crow epistemology,” check out the unit economy section of Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology by Ayn Rand. You can get a quick glance at the lexicon site.
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
Once upon a time, singer Sheryl Crow espoused the view that we should all stick to one square of toilet paper per occasion in order to save the planet. Such a statement makes me wonder at her epistemology (her method of thinking), that is, if she has any idea why toilet paper was invented in the first place: improved human cleanliness and sanitation. Then, I see commercials for toilet paper makers such as Charmin that seem to be actively encouraging us to use less of their product, no doubt so that people like “Ms. Crow-brain” can’t force a limitation through legislation. If we all voluntarily give in to such pressures, then maybe the big, bad gov’mint guys (in league with the “green brigade” enviro whackos) will leave us alone.
Don’t count on it.
As has been pointed out many times by Stossel, Williams, Sowell, and others, if you give such whackos an inch, they will be taking a mile, putting them squarely in your bathroom, telling you not only how much toilet paper to use (or not), but also how often you can flush that waterhog toilet of yours. (“But,” you protest, “I have the low-flow toilet.” That’s so NOT the point. They have no business being in your bathroom.)
Generally, a lot of the things that are currently under attack as causing man-made global warming (a hoax) and other dire things to dear “Mother Earth” were invented to give man a more disease-free, well-fed, well-clothed, well-housed existence, one with time to enjoy life, not just work from sun-up to sundown, grab some food, and collapse into bed from exhaustion to start all over again the next day.
A few examples (look around you and you’ll probably find a lot more):
- Toothpaste
- Plastic containers
- Bottled water
- Baby powder
- Anti-bacterial hand soap
- Band-aids
- Clothes washers and dryers
- Dishwashing machines
- Refrigerators & freezers
- Toilets
- Indoor plumbing
- Electricity
By the way, for an explanation of “crow epistemology,” check out the unit economy section of Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology by Ayn Rand. You can get a quick glance at the lexicon site.
A.C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Morning Coffee: Arizona Meteor Crater Chatter
On our way back home from a recent vacation trip out west to visit old friends and see some new sites (at least for us) in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, my wife and I took a last-minute detour and stopped to visit the Arizona Meteor Crater Park, about 35 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona off I-40. Since we like space stuff, it was the perfect spur-of-the-moment adventure to see what kind of impact and dent a moderate sized meteor can make moving at a speed of thousands of miles per hour.
It was some dent!
After paying the entry fee to the park (it was not cheap - $30 per adult), we made our way up to the visitor center located near the rim of the crater, which includes a museum, gift shop, movie room, and – of all things – a Subway eatery. We decided to save the indoor amusements for later and first ventured out to the crater rim. So we donned our wind jackets and stepped forward to where thousands of other tourists have gone before.
As we walked up the concrete walkway away from the safety of the visitor center, we got the occasional view of the inside cliffs of the crater. But it wasn’t until we actually reached the viewing areas at the crater rim that the full “impact” of the meteor blast site hit us. Once there, all I could do was look out across 4,000 feet of open space to the distant rim at the other side of the crater and say “Wow.”
Then I looked at the crater walls - actual cliffs of sheared, shattered rock - and followed that view down to the bottom of the crater 550 feet below us. Again, wow. Gusts of wind howled out across the open expanse. It was all very impressive.
This is where I feel I can justify using the expression “awesome,” simply awesome.
We made our way along the narrow pathways at the rim to various viewing spots and decks, clinging to the handrails as the wind made every move unbalanced. After that introduction, I began to look around at all the various rock formations and structures. One large boulder in particular caught my eye. After closely examining it, one could tell that at some point in time the surface of that boulder was boiling liquid rock and had cooled, to freeze forever in time, the bubbling surface. We were later told that the heat generated from the meteor impact 50,000 years ago melted the surface of rocks, causing them to boil like water. Now, that’s some heat.
Before we decided to return to the visitor center and gift shop, for a moment I daydreamed that I was visiting a distant planet, perhaps Mars, standing on the rim of another meteor crater in my space suit, investigating a distant world. Then the wind grabbed me, brought me back to reality, where I realized that even here on our spaceship earth, meteor craters and impacts are real and possible. And, yet, I did not need a spacesuit to view the blast site.
I also thought about how the geography around the meteor crater is still amazingly barren even after 50,000 years of the initial meteor impact. Flat, with distant, dry desert hills and mountains on all the horizons. Keeping in context that most southwest areas of the U.S. are desert in nature, one still can’t help wonder if the land around the meteor site, for what seems hundreds of square miles, isn’t still recovering from that impact.
At that moment I pondered a thought. I am not an environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination, and wonder how someone as silly (yet scary) as Al Gore can command so much frivolous attention by spewing his mankind hating, senseless tirades about global warming, inspiring thousands of environmental wacko-scientists and human lemmings, all running around like chickens with their heads chopped off believing that mankind is going to destroy this planet. After seeing this meteor crater blast site, I thought to myself, “Come on, folks. We need to have a little rational perspective here.” Mankind is not going to destroy planet Earth, or Mars, or this solar system, or the Universe. Renegade asteroids are worrisome enough. The truth is, it is men like Al Gore who are going to destroy mankind if he can manage.
I have to mention that if you go to visit this amazing geographic site, be prepared for possible strong winds and open exposure to the natural elements. However, this only adds to the affect of experiencing this meteor crater. Enjoy the site and remember how wonderful it is to be a free human being who has the mental capacity to appreciate such an awesome phenomena and how to keep it in perspective.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
It was some dent!
After paying the entry fee to the park (it was not cheap - $30 per adult), we made our way up to the visitor center located near the rim of the crater, which includes a museum, gift shop, movie room, and – of all things – a Subway eatery. We decided to save the indoor amusements for later and first ventured out to the crater rim. So we donned our wind jackets and stepped forward to where thousands of other tourists have gone before.
As we walked up the concrete walkway away from the safety of the visitor center, we got the occasional view of the inside cliffs of the crater. But it wasn’t until we actually reached the viewing areas at the crater rim that the full “impact” of the meteor blast site hit us. Once there, all I could do was look out across 4,000 feet of open space to the distant rim at the other side of the crater and say “Wow.”
Then I looked at the crater walls - actual cliffs of sheared, shattered rock - and followed that view down to the bottom of the crater 550 feet below us. Again, wow. Gusts of wind howled out across the open expanse. It was all very impressive.
This is where I feel I can justify using the expression “awesome,” simply awesome.
We made our way along the narrow pathways at the rim to various viewing spots and decks, clinging to the handrails as the wind made every move unbalanced. After that introduction, I began to look around at all the various rock formations and structures. One large boulder in particular caught my eye. After closely examining it, one could tell that at some point in time the surface of that boulder was boiling liquid rock and had cooled, to freeze forever in time, the bubbling surface. We were later told that the heat generated from the meteor impact 50,000 years ago melted the surface of rocks, causing them to boil like water. Now, that’s some heat.
Before we decided to return to the visitor center and gift shop, for a moment I daydreamed that I was visiting a distant planet, perhaps Mars, standing on the rim of another meteor crater in my space suit, investigating a distant world. Then the wind grabbed me, brought me back to reality, where I realized that even here on our spaceship earth, meteor craters and impacts are real and possible. And, yet, I did not need a spacesuit to view the blast site.
I also thought about how the geography around the meteor crater is still amazingly barren even after 50,000 years of the initial meteor impact. Flat, with distant, dry desert hills and mountains on all the horizons. Keeping in context that most southwest areas of the U.S. are desert in nature, one still can’t help wonder if the land around the meteor site, for what seems hundreds of square miles, isn’t still recovering from that impact.
At that moment I pondered a thought. I am not an environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination, and wonder how someone as silly (yet scary) as Al Gore can command so much frivolous attention by spewing his mankind hating, senseless tirades about global warming, inspiring thousands of environmental wacko-scientists and human lemmings, all running around like chickens with their heads chopped off believing that mankind is going to destroy this planet. After seeing this meteor crater blast site, I thought to myself, “Come on, folks. We need to have a little rational perspective here.” Mankind is not going to destroy planet Earth, or Mars, or this solar system, or the Universe. Renegade asteroids are worrisome enough. The truth is, it is men like Al Gore who are going to destroy mankind if he can manage.
I have to mention that if you go to visit this amazing geographic site, be prepared for possible strong winds and open exposure to the natural elements. However, this only adds to the affect of experiencing this meteor crater. Enjoy the site and remember how wonderful it is to be a free human being who has the mental capacity to appreciate such an awesome phenomena and how to keep it in perspective.
John Dick (sometimes known as “Mr. Coffee” around the house) lives in the Southeast U.S. with his wife, where he enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading about all things capitalism-philosophy-history-astronomy-mysteries, is a pencil artist, and tries to spend as much time as possible playing and composing music at his Steinway grand piano. He ponders: “What else is coffee for but to inspire! As a good friend once chimed, there is no dress rehearsal in living your life. So I say, pour yourself a mug of coffee and get on with it.”
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Afternoon Tea: Another movie about whacko liberals
Once upon a time, to see a movie, you had to drive to a theater, buy a ticket, sit in a seat surrounded by other movie-goers munching popcorn and slurping soda, and hope they would quiet down enough for you to catch dialogue blaring from the theater speakers.
Today, thanks to modern technology, we can record things on our VCR or DVR to watch when we want in the comfort of our own home, sitting in a cozy chair, sipping a perfectly brewed cup of Assam with the right amount of milk and sweetener (I like my tea “British style”). No movie made me appreciate that more than “The Family Stone” (2005), which I had recorded on DVR awhile ago and just got a chance to view. My fast forward button got a workout, skipping past the commercials, and I couldn’t wait to hit “delete” when this farce had finally come to its trite, sappy, and predictable conclusion.
I was left thinking that the writer/director (Thomas Bezucha), while possibly intending to portray how great liberals are and how awful conservatives are, missed the mark completely. His liberal characters were hateful and totally intolerant while the conservative, although irritating and unlikable, was very sympathetic.
This movie is basically about a family of whacko liberals versus an uptight conservative girlfriend (“Meredith”) that the eldest son (“Everett”) brings home to meet them during Christmas. First, they harass her. Then, they verbally assault her when she expresses an opinion different from their own. Their intolerance was thick throughout, but especially during a dinner scene where “Meredith” asks openly (yet in a nervous and stumbling manner) how her boyfriend’s mother (“Sybil”) could possibly wish that all three of her sons had been gay, not just the youngest (“Thad,” who is also deaf – get out the Kleenex for the maudlin scripting here!). They point out that “gayness” comes from a gene (no scientific evidence is presented, just a bald statement) and, therefore, no more unusual than left-handedness.
I ended up feeling sorry for “Meredith,” even though the character (and Sarah Jessica Parker’s portrayal) lacked even a scintilla of warmth, and feeling very pissed off at the freaky liberals (not that I am the least inclined to feel favorable toward them anyway).
While Diane Keaton brought forth a romantic comedy flavor in “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003), here she was hysterical and bigoted as lib mom “Sybil.” Partly, this was due to a script heavy with PC themes (“gays are just like us,” “so are gays who are deaf and have black gay partners, especially when they adopt a black baby boy,” “liberals should not allow anyone to hold views different from the views of liberals, who are always right,” etc.).
Craig T. Nelson was insufferable in his turtleneck sweater, hugging and crying his way through one scene after another that was too obviously written (and directed) as a real tear-jerker. It all came across with the subtlety of a cream pie in the face. Maybe he is trying to counter the male testosterone machine he played in “Coach.”
Dermot Mulroney, who portrayed the cute guy with a heart-of-gold in “The Wedding Date” (Feb, 2005) as gigolo “Nick Mercer,” plays son “Everett.” Here he wears a very proper, conservative suit and is attracted to “Meredith,” claiming that she is the one woman for him. However, he joins the family’s attack on her in the dinner scene and then proceeds to pursue her sister, “Julie,” a free-spirit who has come to town to give her a bit of moral support. When “Meredith” goes off with middle son “Ben” to a local bar to drown her upset at how she has been treated (yeah, booze is always the answer when you’re feeling depressed – not!), and then wakes up the next morning in “Ben’s” bed, “Everett” attacks “Ben” as if his favorite toy train has been played with and broken. At this point, he no longer loves her, but his male pride is wounded and nothing will fix it but pounding the stuffing out of the person who supposedly perpetrated this outrage. (Gee, sounds like a cheesy scene from one of the lesser-quality daytime soaps. Maybe this family should go on the Jerry Springer Show.)
Luke Wilson (“Ben”) is totally uncharming, with his long, seemingly unwashed hair and a wardrobe that looks like it’s straight out of the reject bin at the Goodwill store. This portrayal is a far cry from his clear-thinking and clean-cut lawyer in “Legally Blonde” who has faith in the ability of “Elle Woods” (Reese Witherspoon), a first year law student taking over a high-profile murder defense. (Ironically, that movie promotes a stereotype of gays – that they are experts on women’s fashion vs. straight men, who know nothing about women’s fashion – which ends up being the reason that “Elle” wins the case, making the scene impossible to cut from the movie to make it “PC.”)
Rachel McAdams as sister “Amy Stone” epitomizes liberal attitude toward conservatives. She also seems to be totally lacking in social manners, making it very clear to “Meredith” that she is upset at being put out of her room so that “Meredith” doesn’t violate her “prudish and Puritanical ethics” of not sleeping with “Everett” out of wedlock (at least not under his parents’ roof – presumably they have slept together under their own roofs). “Amy,” while displaying her own quirks, also seems totally intolerant of other people’s peccadilloes, as she harps on “Meredith’s” mannerism of clearing her throat frequently.
All in all, this movie is a mish-mash of PC claptrap wrapped in a thick caramel coating of over-the-top tear-jerker scenes. As I said above, there was no hesitation on hitting the delete button when it was over. Just a big sigh of relief.
Now this movie is out on DVD. That’s $14.99 I won’t be spending thanks to my DVR.
A. C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
Today, thanks to modern technology, we can record things on our VCR or DVR to watch when we want in the comfort of our own home, sitting in a cozy chair, sipping a perfectly brewed cup of Assam with the right amount of milk and sweetener (I like my tea “British style”). No movie made me appreciate that more than “The Family Stone” (2005), which I had recorded on DVR awhile ago and just got a chance to view. My fast forward button got a workout, skipping past the commercials, and I couldn’t wait to hit “delete” when this farce had finally come to its trite, sappy, and predictable conclusion.
I was left thinking that the writer/director (Thomas Bezucha), while possibly intending to portray how great liberals are and how awful conservatives are, missed the mark completely. His liberal characters were hateful and totally intolerant while the conservative, although irritating and unlikable, was very sympathetic.
This movie is basically about a family of whacko liberals versus an uptight conservative girlfriend (“Meredith”) that the eldest son (“Everett”) brings home to meet them during Christmas. First, they harass her. Then, they verbally assault her when she expresses an opinion different from their own. Their intolerance was thick throughout, but especially during a dinner scene where “Meredith” asks openly (yet in a nervous and stumbling manner) how her boyfriend’s mother (“Sybil”) could possibly wish that all three of her sons had been gay, not just the youngest (“Thad,” who is also deaf – get out the Kleenex for the maudlin scripting here!). They point out that “gayness” comes from a gene (no scientific evidence is presented, just a bald statement) and, therefore, no more unusual than left-handedness.
I ended up feeling sorry for “Meredith,” even though the character (and Sarah Jessica Parker’s portrayal) lacked even a scintilla of warmth, and feeling very pissed off at the freaky liberals (not that I am the least inclined to feel favorable toward them anyway).
While Diane Keaton brought forth a romantic comedy flavor in “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003), here she was hysterical and bigoted as lib mom “Sybil.” Partly, this was due to a script heavy with PC themes (“gays are just like us,” “so are gays who are deaf and have black gay partners, especially when they adopt a black baby boy,” “liberals should not allow anyone to hold views different from the views of liberals, who are always right,” etc.).
Craig T. Nelson was insufferable in his turtleneck sweater, hugging and crying his way through one scene after another that was too obviously written (and directed) as a real tear-jerker. It all came across with the subtlety of a cream pie in the face. Maybe he is trying to counter the male testosterone machine he played in “Coach.”
Dermot Mulroney, who portrayed the cute guy with a heart-of-gold in “The Wedding Date” (Feb, 2005) as gigolo “Nick Mercer,” plays son “Everett.” Here he wears a very proper, conservative suit and is attracted to “Meredith,” claiming that she is the one woman for him. However, he joins the family’s attack on her in the dinner scene and then proceeds to pursue her sister, “Julie,” a free-spirit who has come to town to give her a bit of moral support. When “Meredith” goes off with middle son “Ben” to a local bar to drown her upset at how she has been treated (yeah, booze is always the answer when you’re feeling depressed – not!), and then wakes up the next morning in “Ben’s” bed, “Everett” attacks “Ben” as if his favorite toy train has been played with and broken. At this point, he no longer loves her, but his male pride is wounded and nothing will fix it but pounding the stuffing out of the person who supposedly perpetrated this outrage. (Gee, sounds like a cheesy scene from one of the lesser-quality daytime soaps. Maybe this family should go on the Jerry Springer Show.)
Luke Wilson (“Ben”) is totally uncharming, with his long, seemingly unwashed hair and a wardrobe that looks like it’s straight out of the reject bin at the Goodwill store. This portrayal is a far cry from his clear-thinking and clean-cut lawyer in “Legally Blonde” who has faith in the ability of “Elle Woods” (Reese Witherspoon), a first year law student taking over a high-profile murder defense. (Ironically, that movie promotes a stereotype of gays – that they are experts on women’s fashion vs. straight men, who know nothing about women’s fashion – which ends up being the reason that “Elle” wins the case, making the scene impossible to cut from the movie to make it “PC.”)
Rachel McAdams as sister “Amy Stone” epitomizes liberal attitude toward conservatives. She also seems to be totally lacking in social manners, making it very clear to “Meredith” that she is upset at being put out of her room so that “Meredith” doesn’t violate her “prudish and Puritanical ethics” of not sleeping with “Everett” out of wedlock (at least not under his parents’ roof – presumably they have slept together under their own roofs). “Amy,” while displaying her own quirks, also seems totally intolerant of other people’s peccadilloes, as she harps on “Meredith’s” mannerism of clearing her throat frequently.
All in all, this movie is a mish-mash of PC claptrap wrapped in a thick caramel coating of over-the-top tear-jerker scenes. As I said above, there was no hesitation on hitting the delete button when it was over. Just a big sigh of relief.
Now this movie is out on DVD. That’s $14.99 I won’t be spending thanks to my DVR.
A. C. Cargill (aka “Ms. Tea”) is a tea aficionado, movie buff, artist, and all-around enjoyer of good things that don’t cost a lot.
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