The Family – C Street

Florida secedes, becomes Canada’s 11th province

Ok, it’s not true, but thinking of it is not so far-fetched. Could you imagine? Just think, if you’re a right wing Republican you would not have to face 7 more years of Obama, and well just the act of seceding would warm the cockels of their hard hearts. For Florida’s democrats well they would see solar communities in no time, high stakes testing in schools would disappear and Florida’s education levels would surpass the entire United States in 5 years.
There are other advantages. Florida’s aged population would benefit from Canada’s wonderful socialized medicine. And since there are already so many Canadian snowbirds in Florida, the transition would not be difficult and they wouldn’t have to get supplementary medical coverage while in the US – they could stay longer than 6 months!!!
Another real estate boom in Florida -just think!
Hey, maybe we could trade? Florida for Quebec. The US would gain much needed hydorelectricity from Quebec, which they pay for already, and Florida could sell their water to Atlanta for much more money – granted in Canadian $$$, but no matter. Of course, French would have to become another language taught in US schools, but hey Quebecers look like Americans except for the accent, just think of them as more foreign sounding Aussies. Then there’s poutine – yes gravy and French fries – sounds pretty American to me.
Yes, if only politics could think out of the box and be shackled by historical prerequisites. What a world it could be!

OBAMA IN SARASOTA

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

I will never support torture as I will never support the death penalty. I boil this down to the belief that humans must exemplify decency, tolerance and respect for all life. Once we start to make exceptions, we are lost.

Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong? It is sad that the US is one of the few western nations that still supports the death penalty.

But back to torture. If you believe in this barabric policy you should try what Christopher Hitchens did and that is to experience waterboarding firsthand. Oh of course, that isn’t torture.

Well, if you are convinced that torture is necessary and effective, then at least have the decency to watch the documentary Standard Operating Procedure. Then we can talk.

Fast Draw: Offshore Drilling Video

Fast Draw: Offshore Drilling Video

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Emperor’s New Clothes

It’s deja vu all over again. Remember way back when the discussion was the lack of intelligence of our new President? This was pre 9/11. We all thought it, but no one would say it. The media looked the other way. And then Iraq. The media let us down more severely, by allowing the government to get away with misleading the public. And here we go again. McCain’s VP pick is the most boneheaded move conceivable. Yet the Repubs are spinning faster than a summer tornado, and the media is eating it up. Has no one got the guts to say what we all are thinking?? McCain is no maverick, he is a loose cannon. I personally wonder if his POW experience did not damaged this man, and perhaps now in his old age the psychological wounds are surfacing in some sort of dementia. I mean this sincerely. Has anyone done a psych evaluation on the man? Isn’t it required?

My greatest fear is that America is becoming it’s own bad reality show. I fear that people would rather eat up sensational news and events rather than deal with issues that effect their lives. When you consider how much of our media is under corporate ownership, controlled by big money, how can we hope to construct truth. In the end, how can we hope to change this country???

GOP WOMEN

Let’s just cut to the chase. The Republicans haven’t a clue about women. Look at the Republican women that have come to our attention in the past eight years – Condoleeza Rice, Harriet Miers, and Miss Scary herself, Katherine Harris not to mention some drab or rigid first ladies, sorry Laura, Barbara Bush (she is a lady right?), and Betty Ford to name a few. McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin is consistent with the Republicans’ taste in women, whom I call the political bimbos – bad hair, Wall Street suits, and some essence that appeals to the sad old men of the Republican party.

Republican women remind me of the Stepford wives and some remind me of those women who marry Mormons and serve them quietly and obediently. I can’t help but feel that Cindy McCain is quietly seething as a younger, big-haired woman is going to steal her photo ops, while it is her fortune that gave McCain his path to politics.

McCain has seriously erred if he thinks that Hillary will sit quietly as this lightweight tries to break the “glass ceiling” instead of her. I’m looking forward to Hillary claws coming out and maybe Bill can get her in a compromising position. It will be fun to watch. Let the games begin.

The New Yorker Cover

I’ve just recently got back into reading The New Yorker as a friend of mine passes on the odd magazine. I read it because I think that I am expanding my mind and sometimes I am intimidated when the writing is a little out of reach for me. I am always pleased to “get” the many cartoons that are a pride of the magazine and even the odd poem.

The first time I read the magazine was when I was at university in Toronto. I had a job at the research library and got into reading the movie reviews in the New Yorker, which was stacked in the employees room where the librarians poured over it at break time, because I had heard of the famed critic Pauline Kael. It was at then that my love for films was growing into an acknowledged passion. It also added to my appreciation for the city of New York where wonderful plays graced a street called Broadway and where Woody Allen walked through Central Park. Heady stuff.

While those years fed a developing intellectualism in me, or least an appreciation for it, I also had in me a strong sense of socialism that came from my Canadian education and media influences. While I wanted to be “intellectual”, I disdained elitism and arrogance, two things that are hard to avoid in the desire for knowledge.

So back to the New Yorker cover. Of course, they can print what they like, but they do have a readership upon which they depend. I saw once on Sunday Morning a story that showed the incredible process of choosing a cartoon for the magazine. I would love to have been a part of the editorial discussion for this cover. I agree with this comment on BuzzFlash:

I cannot believe that your staff being such an intelligent group could not realize that your cover could hardly cut it as satire. Bill Bennett correctly suggested that you should occasionally desend to the streets and talk to some people outside your building about subjects in question. Out here in the hinterlands I certainly appreciate your taste and sophistication but fear that you have slipped into poor taste and with the stubbornness and arrogance of intellectualism refuse to admit to it. Robert Mousaian

For more great comments: http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorblog/103

I am saddened that we are having this debate at all. I am sorry that those who understand the cover of TNY, also fear the power of the anti-intellectual, whom they perceive are responsible for the election of the current dismal administration.