Confusions
As I approach the status of a septuagenarian, an age which in earlier times would have been indicative of doddering or dead, I must admit to, not being doddered and definitely not dead, but to confusion.
Impudent younguns would attribute that confusion to almost seventy years on God’s green Earth. I think it’s caused by human nature more than by any other single factor, human inclinations for betterment at all costs, for power, for greed, for laziness.
I’m confused mostly why America elected an incompetent ideologue to lead us during the most dangerous times the country has faced since World War Two. That grave mistake can be rectified next year but it will take years to overcome the social, military, and international ramifications President Barack Hussein Obama visited on us.
Chalk one up for change for the sake of change.
The most serious error any nation can collectively make is what stockbrokers are mandated to caution, that prior performance is not necessarily indicative of future results, believing the past will surely be replicated in the future.
America’s long-term prior performance has been outstanding, an unprecedented prosperity, an unrivaled freedom, a history of fighting for and winning the rights of the oppressed at home and abroad, and unparalled opportunities for personal advancement which still exist though they are dwindling day by day.
The United States of America is by all measures an empire, economically, militarily, and in international influence and power an empire. What we forget at our peril is that empires have historically lasted an average of two centuries.
We are currently well into our third century, though quibblers may argue the USA wasn’t a great power until the 1900′s, which brings me back to my confusions.
After my bewilderment over electing a community organizer as president, my next confusion relates to those quibblers. Does a relative versus a supreme empire really matter? China’s Han Dynasty, the Mongols, the British Empire were extremely powerful both before and after they dominated their spheres of influence.
More troubling and confusing than such quibblers are Americans and pseudo-Americans who exemplify the worst elements of human nature.
Those who take to the streets like Bolsheviks to effect change instead of to ballot boxes demonstrate a gross lack of understanding and appreciation of the benefits this country offers them to, among other things, take to the streets like Bolsheviks without being shot. (Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=9421.)
Showing posts with label african american. Show all posts
Showing posts with label african american. Show all posts
Monday, December 5, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Buffett's Bluffing
Buffett's Bluffing
. . . Unlike most carpenters, Buffett has, he says, cut off his progeny from his billions when he eventually shuffles off this mortal coil. Susan, Howard, and Peter Buffett can just shuffle for themselves, he says, when Warren bites the bullet and moves on up to the great corporation in the sky.
He might just as well sing, “If I were a billionaire/ And gave it all away/ Would you love me anyway/ Would you be my babies?”
Maybe they will, and maybe not since Buffett’s whole, politically-motivated charade, his pledge to give away 99% of his almost boundless wealth, most to be dispensed, with strings attached and in relative deibbles, to the philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is an outrageous crock.
Borne of his new-found, George Soros-esque, socialistic, pseudo-egalitarianism and guilt over decades of milking the capitalist system for all it was worth, Buffett’s pledge is less a promise than a threat.
When octogenarians sniff their mortality, some seem to get social consciences even as their years tend to cloud their sanity.
Alternatively referred to as the Oracle of Omaha and the Sage of Omaha, the oracular, sagacious Buffett earned his billions as Chairman, CEO, and principal shareholder of the amazingly-successful American conglomerate, holding company, Berkshire Hathaway.
Just incidentally, Buffett indirectly made my neighbor a millionaire when Berkshire’s principal holding, Coca Cola, bought out his modest Coke delivery enterprise. For that, my neighbor is eternally grateful, even worshipful, of Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, and Coke, although he thinks Buffett’s professed, current political and economic views are asinine.
Good call, neighbor!
In conjunction with his 99% pledge which, even if fulfilled some day and which would leave him with a piddling $600,000,000 of his current $60 billion kitty, Obama buddy Buffett wants his fellow billionaires to cough up half their money for the common good, an invitation with as much likelihood of acceptance as Obama becoming a capitalist.
Knowing that Pollyannaish idea is a non-starter, he has other monetary plans up his sleeve which would threaten the livelihoods of millions.
Buffett made headlines with his as yet unfulfilled 99% giveaway as well as with his claim of paying 17.4% in federal taxes, a much lower rate than that paid by his secretary, and with his persistent insistence that the government undertaxes the rich even as it is in dire need of additional funding.
He ignores the truth that the upper echelons already pay 70% of federal taxes and 45% of those at the other end pay zilch and he doesn’t cite the primary cause of that funding shortfall–Obama’s profligacy. He also hasn’t offered to raise his secretary’s salary in compensation nor to write a check for ten billion or so to the Treasury Department to tide it over.
What he could do to help his country, and hasn’t . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5293)
. . . Unlike most carpenters, Buffett has, he says, cut off his progeny from his billions when he eventually shuffles off this mortal coil. Susan, Howard, and Peter Buffett can just shuffle for themselves, he says, when Warren bites the bullet and moves on up to the great corporation in the sky.
He might just as well sing, “If I were a billionaire/ And gave it all away/ Would you love me anyway/ Would you be my babies?”
Maybe they will, and maybe not since Buffett’s whole, politically-motivated charade, his pledge to give away 99% of his almost boundless wealth, most to be dispensed, with strings attached and in relative deibbles, to the philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is an outrageous crock.
Borne of his new-found, George Soros-esque, socialistic, pseudo-egalitarianism and guilt over decades of milking the capitalist system for all it was worth, Buffett’s pledge is less a promise than a threat.
When octogenarians sniff their mortality, some seem to get social consciences even as their years tend to cloud their sanity.
Alternatively referred to as the Oracle of Omaha and the Sage of Omaha, the oracular, sagacious Buffett earned his billions as Chairman, CEO, and principal shareholder of the amazingly-successful American conglomerate, holding company, Berkshire Hathaway.
Just incidentally, Buffett indirectly made my neighbor a millionaire when Berkshire’s principal holding, Coca Cola, bought out his modest Coke delivery enterprise. For that, my neighbor is eternally grateful, even worshipful, of Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, and Coke, although he thinks Buffett’s professed, current political and economic views are asinine.
Good call, neighbor!
In conjunction with his 99% pledge which, even if fulfilled some day and which would leave him with a piddling $600,000,000 of his current $60 billion kitty, Obama buddy Buffett wants his fellow billionaires to cough up half their money for the common good, an invitation with as much likelihood of acceptance as Obama becoming a capitalist.
Knowing that Pollyannaish idea is a non-starter, he has other monetary plans up his sleeve which would threaten the livelihoods of millions.
Buffett made headlines with his as yet unfulfilled 99% giveaway as well as with his claim of paying 17.4% in federal taxes, a much lower rate than that paid by his secretary, and with his persistent insistence that the government undertaxes the rich even as it is in dire need of additional funding.
He ignores the truth that the upper echelons already pay 70% of federal taxes and 45% of those at the other end pay zilch and he doesn’t cite the primary cause of that funding shortfall–Obama’s profligacy. He also hasn’t offered to raise his secretary’s salary in compensation nor to write a check for ten billion or so to the Treasury Department to tide it over.
What he could do to help his country, and hasn’t . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5293)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The End of the Shuttle, the End of Exceptionalism
The End of the Shuttle, the End of Exceptionalism
The final flight of America’s space shuttle does not simply represent the end of an era. The successful landing of the Atlantis signaled an undeniable indicator of the beginning of the end of American exceptionalism.
The belief in the United States of America as an exceptional nation long pre-dated the Atlantis. Indeed, it long preceded President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s 1961 Special Address to Congress in which he pledged to send a man to the moon and return him safely within the decade was just the capstone of our exceptionalism.
In that speech, JFK called for a national commitment from “every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, contractor, and civil servant . . . that this nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space.”
We accomplished that goal a year early in 1969. America’s incomparable feat not only put the U.S.S.R. on notice that we were in the space race but that we were far in the lead and planned to stay there.
As momentous as the Apollo 11 lunar landing was, it merely represented a footnote to our exceptionalism.
Apollo 11 and our subsequent achievements accented what Americans had known for almost two centuries, that this nation had accomplished more in 200 years than any other country in the history of the planet, that we had become the richest, most powerful, most influential, the most free, most innovative, and most productive country ever to grace the Earth.
Long before 1969, most Americans were well aware that the United States was “different” in the best sense from the rest of the world. We had and have our flaws but among boundless other benefits, our nation offered every citizen opportunities and potentialities denied to even the most free of European countries. We had achieved more in a scant few centuries than Europeans had accomplished in hundreds.
We had gone to the moon and back, our horizons were unlimited, we were exceptional.
American exceptionalism ended on Thursday, July 21st, 2011, as per the design of President Barack Hussein Obama . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5060)
The final flight of America’s space shuttle does not simply represent the end of an era. The successful landing of the Atlantis signaled an undeniable indicator of the beginning of the end of American exceptionalism.
The belief in the United States of America as an exceptional nation long pre-dated the Atlantis. Indeed, it long preceded President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s 1961 Special Address to Congress in which he pledged to send a man to the moon and return him safely within the decade was just the capstone of our exceptionalism.
In that speech, JFK called for a national commitment from “every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, contractor, and civil servant . . . that this nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space.”
We accomplished that goal a year early in 1969. America’s incomparable feat not only put the U.S.S.R. on notice that we were in the space race but that we were far in the lead and planned to stay there.
As momentous as the Apollo 11 lunar landing was, it merely represented a footnote to our exceptionalism.
Apollo 11 and our subsequent achievements accented what Americans had known for almost two centuries, that this nation had accomplished more in 200 years than any other country in the history of the planet, that we had become the richest, most powerful, most influential, the most free, most innovative, and most productive country ever to grace the Earth.
Long before 1969, most Americans were well aware that the United States was “different” in the best sense from the rest of the world. We had and have our flaws but among boundless other benefits, our nation offered every citizen opportunities and potentialities denied to even the most free of European countries. We had achieved more in a scant few centuries than Europeans had accomplished in hundreds.
We had gone to the moon and back, our horizons were unlimited, we were exceptional.
American exceptionalism ended on Thursday, July 21st, 2011, as per the design of President Barack Hussein Obama . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5060)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Where, Oh Where Has Our Education Gone?
Where, Oh Where Has Our Education Gone?
. . . Of course, colleges and universities, trying desparately to seem relevant and far above secondary school fare, have cloaked their curriculum offerings by gussying them up with grand course titles such as ”Dynamic Exploration Of Radio Talk Shows: A Process Approach,” “Aesthetic Early Cubism In Modern Sculptures,” and “Urban Italian Retrospectives In Today’s Society.”
But the proof is in the pudding and course content and they’re not succeeding very well in concealing the truth that course content, as opposed to course titles, is increasingly sophomoric.
In article on “Crazy College Courses,” Carol Berman takes issue with that contention: ”Study for an exam on Syrah? Take a lab in levitation? How about tuning into TV for credit? All this is possible in college today, even in the Ivy League. Courses not only sound more interesting than “Calculus 101,” they actually are! However, courses that sound fun may not always be easy . . . Easy classes do exist, but don’t get fooled by the creative subject titles. You will have to work.”
That’s a matter of opinion. I took Calc 101. Watching television for college credit could in no possible way be as difficult.
Berman also addresses a serious issue related to dumbing down, binge drinking: It’s difficult to teach hung over–and strung out–students. Nevertheless, despite that serious collegiate issue in one course at least one Ivy League school plies students with alcohol. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=2108
. . . Of course, colleges and universities, trying desparately to seem relevant and far above secondary school fare, have cloaked their curriculum offerings by gussying them up with grand course titles such as ”Dynamic Exploration Of Radio Talk Shows: A Process Approach,” “Aesthetic Early Cubism In Modern Sculptures,” and “Urban Italian Retrospectives In Today’s Society.”
But the proof is in the pudding and course content and they’re not succeeding very well in concealing the truth that course content, as opposed to course titles, is increasingly sophomoric.
In article on “Crazy College Courses,” Carol Berman takes issue with that contention: ”Study for an exam on Syrah? Take a lab in levitation? How about tuning into TV for credit? All this is possible in college today, even in the Ivy League. Courses not only sound more interesting than “Calculus 101,” they actually are! However, courses that sound fun may not always be easy . . . Easy classes do exist, but don’t get fooled by the creative subject titles. You will have to work.”
That’s a matter of opinion. I took Calc 101. Watching television for college credit could in no possible way be as difficult.
Berman also addresses a serious issue related to dumbing down, binge drinking: It’s difficult to teach hung over–and strung out–students. Nevertheless, despite that serious collegiate issue in one course at least one Ivy League school plies students with alcohol. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=2108
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Mexicans in America: Segunda Parte--MEChA
Mexicans in America: Segunda Parte--MEChA
Yesterday’s first installment of this re-published series focused on Aztlan, the mythical place; today’s Part Two deals with the movement called MEChA.
I’ve personally seen illegals in action and I can say that Mexicans, and most other Latinos, are damned hard workers.
Whether they arrived via wading across the Rio Grande or by running across the Sonoran or Chihuahuan Deserts, by being trucked in, or by any other means, their entrance onto our shores was not an easy one, in most cases. From the southwest they then migrated north and east and west and take jobs that Americans, we are told, don’t want, from farm laborers, to factory workers, to restaurant workers, even nannies.
If I were in their positions in their home countries, immersed in poverty and politically corrupt regimes, their families barely eking out existences in fetid cities and on dismal farms, I would probably do the same, that is, illegally enter that rich nation of the gringos, work hard, live meagerly, and ship bundles of American dollars back home to help keep their loved ones alive. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1657)
Yesterday’s first installment of this re-published series focused on Aztlan, the mythical place; today’s Part Two deals with the movement called MEChA.
I’ve personally seen illegals in action and I can say that Mexicans, and most other Latinos, are damned hard workers.
Whether they arrived via wading across the Rio Grande or by running across the Sonoran or Chihuahuan Deserts, by being trucked in, or by any other means, their entrance onto our shores was not an easy one, in most cases. From the southwest they then migrated north and east and west and take jobs that Americans, we are told, don’t want, from farm laborers, to factory workers, to restaurant workers, even nannies.
If I were in their positions in their home countries, immersed in poverty and politically corrupt regimes, their families barely eking out existences in fetid cities and on dismal farms, I would probably do the same, that is, illegally enter that rich nation of the gringos, work hard, live meagerly, and ship bundles of American dollars back home to help keep their loved ones alive. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1657)
Monday, April 12, 2010
What's in a Census Word?
What's in a Word?
. . . The election of the semi-black Barack Obama as president of the United States should have signalled an end to racial politics and racism but, instead, it has exacerbated the racial divide. Obama greatly widened that divide by indicating on the 2010 census form that he was totally African-American without a trace of caucasian blood even though he is half white.
Whites should now say we were dissed, using the African-American jargon. By ignoring his white roots, Obama has served to marginalize the vast majority of Americans, treating his white half as if it didn’t exist. That is an insult to his mother, to his maternal grandparents who largely reared him, and to the 74% of Americans who are caucasians.
Consider the repercussions had Obama checked the box next to “White” instead of “Black, African Am, or Negro.” Such a self-designation would have been met with demonstrations and protests by the black community righteously demanding he at least explain his choice of words. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1625)
. . . The election of the semi-black Barack Obama as president of the United States should have signalled an end to racial politics and racism but, instead, it has exacerbated the racial divide. Obama greatly widened that divide by indicating on the 2010 census form that he was totally African-American without a trace of caucasian blood even though he is half white.
Whites should now say we were dissed, using the African-American jargon. By ignoring his white roots, Obama has served to marginalize the vast majority of Americans, treating his white half as if it didn’t exist. That is an insult to his mother, to his maternal grandparents who largely reared him, and to the 74% of Americans who are caucasians.
Consider the repercussions had Obama checked the box next to “White” instead of “Black, African Am, or Negro.” Such a self-designation would have been met with demonstrations and protests by the black community righteously demanding he at least explain his choice of words. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1625)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)