“Unlike more civilized patriotic Americans who support the Fundamentalist Christian Agenda of self-sufficiency and the caste system, during my long life of sin, I have (more…)
June 18, 2011
June 1, 2011
Why do people think I was ever a Hippie?
Is Paul a Hippie? A colleague suggested this because I often wear a peace badge or peace T-shirts. OK, HUAC, I may be guilty of being a Quaker pacifist revolutionary socialist, and I have been a friend and fellow traveler of a number of other peaceful revolutionary socialists over the decades, but I do affirm (I don’t swear— Quaker, remember) that I was never a hippie. (more…)
April 16, 2011
My Comment on NYTimes column entitled “About My Support for Natural Gas.”
Article states “The truth is, every problem associated with drilling for natural gas is solvable.” Ah, and isn’t that the American Way. Let’s see – there’s the Gulf Oil Spill for oil, and Three Mile Island for atomic energy, but where there’s a will, there is a way. NOT in this country – there is no effective “will” because it will significantly cost the wealthy that control the decisions (and country) some of their profits. (more…)
April 5, 2011
Cigarettes, 2 for $1: The Brisk, Shady Sale of ‘Loosies’
The title above is from a recent NYTimes article about the illegal sale of single cigarettes, and it poses many questions about the society we live in. Here are some things to consider:
Does this encourage people to break the law? Does it even become “hip” or “smart” to be a little bit illegal? What about all the folks who cross state lines to avoid paying their sales tax on liquor or other items?
Is this American entrepreneurship? The central character is working regularly, when no other more appropriate jobs are available for him.
Is this how we get healthcare – doing your time in prison? (more…)
March 18, 2011
Japan, the United States, and a radioactive nightmare waiting to happen.
Safety and environmentalism can cost consumers a lot of money, without immediate benefit. Government can force this on the consumers, as with cars and building codes, while industry and government profit from it. But there’s no profit for industry and government in protecting the public, and so, in a capitalist dominated society…failure and disaster (earthquakes ARE a predictable event in Japan, unfortunately).
November 23, 2010
What is labor union? Not the following from the NYTimes.
Two-Tier Wage Scales Gain Traction Union workers are reluctantly agreeing to contracts that create two levels of pay on a permanent, rather than temporary, basis.
Labor lost their battle decades ago, when they lost their idealism and settled on the independent self-centered specialties model. Unions could be as uncaring as their bosses for the average working man or woman. I admire the integrity of the old left (now mostly gone) that had high principles and truly stood for the common laborer and a common union of all workers, with leaders elected democratically in open and fully transparent elections. The Socialist Labor Party, the third oldest extant party in the U.S. and the most peaceful of these three (and you well know the other two parties), is a good example. http://slp.org/what_is.htm
November 13, 2010
“Medical science” is becoming a misnomer.
”…research and development at nonmilitary agencies — including those that sponsor science and health research — would fall 12.3 percent, to $57.8 billion, from Mr. Obama’s request of $65.9 billion for fiscal year 2011.” (NYTimes report of Republican platform promising reduction in science and health research.) But don’t suppose that we will get nothing. Instead, we will get science for financial investors, brought to you by those who discovered Vioxx (recalled), Meridia (recalled). Propofol (recalled), Avandia (warning) etc. etc. See http://www.drugrecalls.com/propofol.html and http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm So let’s restrict funding from going to the already underfunded FDA. Give people back their freedom to choose their own (heavily-advertised) poison. “I demand my junk food and Fen-phen!”
When science follows the money, you lose objectivity and thus have no science.
“Sponsorship almost invariably predicts the results of research. David Ludwig and his colleagues demonstrated this phenomenon in studies of the effects of soft drinks on childhood obesity. Independent studies almost invariably find an association between habitual consumption of soft drinks and obesity. By contrast, industry-sponsored studies almost never do.” (more…)
October 14, 2010
Freedom can never be taken for granted.
David Frost queried Nixon “So what in a sense you’re saying is that there are certain situations…where the president can decide that it’s in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal.” Nixon: “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” Frost: “By definition?” Nixon: “Exactly, exactly.” (more…)
July 19, 2010
The Roots of White Anxiety (NYTimes 7/18/10
This article helps explain some of my issues with what has become of Affirmative Action. ML King and Bayard Rustin had it right when they said poverty was a “people” problem, not a “black” problem. (more…)