Bunker/Paulsen: No Worse Than Anyone Else

 

My slogan for the 2008 presidential election was “Anyone But Hillary.” I got my wish there, but I should have been more specific.

I am no fan of our current president, nor was I too pleased with the one before him, or especially the one before that. Like you, I’m tired of all the mudslinging and acrimony in politics. It’s all just posturing, at best, but mostly it’s just a bunch of lies, spread by an all too willing, lazy, uninspired media. Both parties are out of touch with Americans, so as far as our day-to-day lives go, there is little difference between a Democrat or a Republican in the White House.

 

Which is exactly how they and Congress want it. Our politicians, especially at the national level, learned a long time ago that if they can keep common people like us bickering between ourselves over relatively minor issues, they can do as they please. “They keep us doped with religion and sex and TV” is how John Lennon described it. That Chick-Fil-A spectacle is a perfect example. While we fight about that, we forget about or have no energy left for the real issues that are dooming us as a country, like rising unemployment and a multi-trillion-dollar debt.

Which is exactly how they want it. Infighting prevents us from remembering that this is our country, not theirs, and this is our government, not theirs. Petty bickering stops us from uniting, stops us from fighting the bigger issues, together, stops us from being good citizens.

 

Both parties are as guilty as the other, just as corrupt as the other, but we as citizens, we as voters, have to take the blame. Whichever party wins the presidency in November, little will change because both parties do what is best for themselves, not what is best for the country, not what is best for we the people.

In the photo, I’m wearing a 1972 “Archie Bunker For President” t-shirt. I’m old enough to remember Pat Paulsen’s 1968 bid for the presidency on the Smothers Brothers show. As I see it, we wouldn’t be any worse off electing them.

 

 

 

The Bunker image came from here, and the Paulsen from here. You might check Youtube for some Paulsen videos. The guy was funny.

 

If This Is Being A Sheep, I Say “Baaaaa, Baby, Baaaaa”

 

 

I came across this photo essay on MSN, and some of the pictures made me smile, and some of them made me wonder if I’m as nice to others as I could be, inside and outside of my home and my small circle of friends.

 

The problem is that articles like this make it seem that acts of kindness are rare, newsworthy, but they are not rare. Most people are thoughtful, and most people do kind things for others  – with no thought of praise or attention – all the time. I mean that literally, all the time.

 

But kindness rarely makes the news. More likely is a story about someone breaking into that vending machine or someone stealing the bike seat, or one about how America is to blame for that poor, shoeless girl’s plight. Unkindness and bad news are what sell in the media, and sadly, the reason misfortune sells is that we keep buying it.

 

And the more we buy it, the more we believe it, which makes it less likely we will act with kindness, thinking “why bother.” The ultimate end of such a path is we will be like lonnie5000, who commented:

 

“There is no such thing as kindness, random or otherwise. It’s all just propaganda meant to spread false hope in a failing society. And the quicker you sheeple realize this the better. Thumbs down if you are a mindless sheep being herded by the corrupt government or you are just a dumb***.”

 

I’m guessing lonnie5000 watches CNN and a subscribes to USA Today. What do you sheeple say?

 

 

How USA Today Headlines Are Deliberately Screwing With Your Head

Scanning the headlines on this page, USA Today, August 23, 2012, it is obvious that we are in serious economic decline. If you read the copy, however, that’s not the case. Why is it reported that way?

 

 

One snippet of the always fluid stock market shows a 30-point drop over a few hours. It was up to13,292 a few days later.

 

 

The 2000s were hard on the middle class in that 60 percent of those who left went up in income level, above $118,000. So apparently not just the rich get richer….

 

 

Placed under the middle class decline article, but above the fold, the impression is more doom, gloom, despair. But the article is about how the stock market has been within one point – one point – of matching the level it was before the “financial crisis” of 2008-09, and within 1,000 points of the all-time high. Which sounds like a full recovery to me, but not according to USA Today.

 

 

Yes, HP desktop sales are down, but only minimally, simply because we are less and less of a desktop world, as everyone knows. Apple picked up the slack, so wouldn’t that be a wash for the economy? As for the $8.9 billion reported loss, $8 billion of it was the result of HP buying another business, not slumping sales. Why would USA Today mislead us like that?

 

A non-story based on minutes from a meeting weeks earlier, back in July. The Fed isn’t going to step in, at least not before “late 2014,” so why scare us like this?

 

 

Mullaney, Taylor, And Pew: More Reasons Not To Trust USA Today And Other Measly Rags That Bash Successful Americans

 

If you read a headline that says “2000s hardest on middle class,” you’re going to assume that economics aren’t too good for millions of Americans classified as middle class. Right? Well….

That’s the approach USAToday takes in the August 23, 2012, article by Tim Mullaney. The first six paragraphs tell us how dismal the past decade was for those who used to do pretty well. Now, according to Mullaney, 29 percent of “middle class Americans say they are still cutting back and having a hard time paying their bills,” and “one in six reported trouble making rent or mortgage payments,” and “the middle class got smaller.”

 

Lacking a credible source, Mullaney quotes Paul Taylor, vice president of Pew Research, the company that conducted the poll. (My journalism instructor would have slapped us for such sloppy, lazy reporting.) Taylor says it is no longer true that middle class Americans enjoy “a rising standard of living,” and that this was the worst economic decade since World War II. To prove it, Pew says that only 51 percent of Americans are middle class, compared to 61 percent in the 1970s.

Well, that does indeed sound like bad news for the middle class. But let’s look at some of the numbers Mullaney, Taylor and Pew use, and some of the facts they seem to ignore.

Middle class is defined as households that earn between $39,000 and $118,000 per year. Having been in that group from time to time in the past 30 years, I suggest that most households sometimes have to cut back to pay the mortgage and bills. This isn’t news.

 

What is news, if Mullaney’s numbers are right, is that 5 of 6 middle class households report not having trouble paying rent/mortgage, and that 71 percent of middle class Americans are not cutting back. That sounds like prosperity to me, you know, the American Dream. That’s great news. Why isn’t that the headline?

If the middle class is shrinking, then Mullaney’s implication is that many thousands of households have become poor. It isn’t until the next to last paragraph that we learn that 60 percent of middle class households that left the classification – 3 of every 5 families – have earned enough income to be classified above the $118,000 standard. They have become rich.

That is also good news. Why is it reported as more tragedy for American families? What is the motivation behind this negativity?

 

Disclaimer: You and I know this was a rant, to expose one small manipulative technique disreputable media can use, but what you don’t know is that I am highly allergic to surveys. The sample in this survey was extremely small, only 1,140 people. And, those 1,140 people were adults “who said they are worse off.” The cherry pickers at Pew Research don’t say how many people claimed not to be worse off. Their answers were ignored.

Sometimes Only A Brand Name Will Do (Just Ask Winston Churchill)

The TOMS shoes post got me thinking about name brands. In most cases, the known brand is not worth the extra money because most generic products are identical to and manufactured right alongside the more expensive ones. But aren’t there some things where only the brand name will do?

I have a few favorite brands, such as ConverseAll-Stars, Wilson tennis rackets, Levi’s Jeans, and Gibson Guitars. Right now I’m wearing Reeboks and Lee Jeans, because they were on sale. I play tennis with a Head racket, also on sale, and the guitar sitting next to me is a Johnson (a Johnson?) because who can afford to learn on a Gibson? In most things, it seems – clothes, groceries, most hygiene products – my loyalty is to price over brand.

But there are some things on which I do not skimp, just like Churchill having some things up with which he will not put….

In the kitchen, I only use Saladmaster cookware. It is simply the best and healthiest and cheapest way to cook, and the food tastes great because it loses so little nutrition.

Since 1977, all my cameras have been Canon. A friend loaned me a Canon AE-1 35 years ago and I was hooked for life. Even though Kelly’s wonderful Nikon Coolpix is on my desk at the moment, I would never purchase anything other than a Canon for myself.

My computer is a big ol’ HP, as are both monitors, the speakers and sub-woofer, the external hard drive, the wireless keyboard and the printer. I like HP, and likely will stay with the brand. Kelly, on the other hand, has a big ol’ iMac on her desk and a MacBook where ever she goes. She is pretty devoted, in the way raving lunatics are devoted, to the brand, and if I point out – logically and kindly – that she could have bought three computers like mine, or six times the computing power, for the same price, she starts acting all wonky, like all Apple people do when you use logic on them.

A recent preference is for Bose speakers. Over the last four years we’ve gotten the SoundDock, the SoundLink Wireless Mobile speaker, and the Quietcomfort 15 headphones. I’m telling you, you have never heard music until you put those babies on and flip the little switch. The sound is stunning and absolutely personal. Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I just put them on with the noise cancelling feature on so I get a little quiet time. Oh, and don't wear them while riding your bike.

I take generic medicine, when I take medicine at all, but if I have a cold, I rely on Vicks VapoRub. It’s the best.

I use regular Zest soap, and only Zest soap, in a bar, because I like being "zestfully clean," and I use Mennen Speed Stick, Unscented.

There are also some brands that I refuse to use. I don’t Google, for example. I don’t wear Old Navy or Aeropostale or Abercrombie, which is good, my children say, because I’m not cool enough. Which, I say, proves the point about that whole TOMS shoes scam.

How about you? What are your brand loyalties?

Tip: $1.75 - Feeling Like A Million Bucks: Priceless

I’m not a big tipper by nature, but following advice from Jim Rohn, my favorite philosopher, I’ve learned how to do it right. Pay well for good service, he says, but then tip again for how it will make you feel all day.

I passed a lemonade stand down our street, four little kiddies smiling and calling to cars passing by. They had ice and cups, of course, bite-sized brownies, and piles of old toys and some little boy clothes for sale.

A cup of cold lemonade and a green metal lunch box proved irresistible, so for $1.25 I got a good deal. This is where Jim Rohn comes in.

I asked the little ones if they took tips, and they looked at each other and giggled. I handed the girl who poured my drink $3 and walked away. I heard the sharp intake of breath and a chorus of oooooohs from four tiny voices, and saw the little boy running up the sidewalk, shouting. I turned to see the other three, standing on their toes, grinning like it was free Ben & Jerry's Day, waving.

Yep. Best seven quarters I’ve ever spent.

This Little Piggy Went To Market

The long-awaited Walmart Neighborhood Market has opened in our neighborhood, which saves us an 8-mile drive through thick traffic, and helps us avoid the much-too-expensive grocery store over by the college. Saving time and money is good.

I like Walmart. I know they’ve lost the vision and community Sam Walton built into the company years ago, and that low price at any cost has cost their reputation. But I believe Walmart is good, and that the corporation can get back to its original motivations.

My first trip to Walmart in my hometown, some 40 years ago (man, can that be true?) is still vivid in my mind. It was so big and had so much variety, I loved going there. I even liked Walmart for the two crazy years I worked there.

 

Yes, the stores can be crowded, the lines long, the employees surly. But I like shopping there because I don’t like paying $8 for something I can buy for $5 at Walmart.

People complain about the poor mom and pop shops closing, but that doesn’t bother me. If mom and pop can’t sell what I need for the price I want, maybe mom and pop can go get jobs at the typewriter ribbon factory. Or open a $5 cupcake shoppe….

Trees In Your Way

Trees in your way? That’s what this billboard near my house asks. Part of the sign is covered, I assume intentionally, by tall trees, making the point that trees are just pretty much in the way.

It seems wrong that we should chop down trees merely because they block our view, because there are lots of better reasons for chopping down trees than that.

Don’t get me wrong. I like trees. I’m a big fan of trees, because we can build and make so many useful things out of them, everything from houses to paper to money. And making money is what trees need to do to survive.

Because I love trees, I argue against my students and other faculty where I’ve worked who say that we should limit our use of paper, that we should print front and back to use as little paper as possible. My misguided, un-American peers and students somehow think that by not using paper, they are protecting trees.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The only way to protect trees, the only way to make sure we will always have enough trees is to make sure that enough people are making enough money from trees. That’s why they say there are more trees in the US now than there were when the Pilgrims came here centuries ago, and the numbers are increasing. It's simple supply and demand.

Like corn or wheat, trees are a renewable cash crop. As long as people are making money from them, there will always be enough trees, enough for you and for me, for the birdies and the squirrels.

So do your part: save a tree. Go and print a bunch of long, single-sided documents. Our economy needs all the help it can get.