Mike Savage is perhaps the smartest dumb person I've heard in a long time. My friend Harriet loves him, though I'm not entirely sure that she understands everything he says. But he says it with such force, and at times a touch of whit, that like many, she goes along.
He can be amusing from time to time, and even rational. Then he goes off on a tangent like -- according to him -- Halloween is destroying America. It is the liberal communities, he says, who supported this pagan worship. Everyone, or most people know the roots of St. Hallows day Mike, you;re not educating anyone. But come on it isn't now what it was then. It has an entirely new meaning and is in good fun. Yes, as you said, kids do dress up as devils, goblins and demons, but they also dress up as fairys, Cinderella, Princesses, presidents, and super heros. Your kids were right, you should lighten up.
But it is more distressing to listen to Mike speak about real issues with dire consequences, like Iraq & Iran. He doesn't understand, he says, why we -- the USA -- don't just blocade and bomb the Iran harbor, shut it down. This, because Iran may be supporting the insurgency in Iraq. The first thing Mr. Savage should understand is that to do so would be not only waging war on Iran, but also Europe's economies. Second, we don't KNOW that they are supporting the Iraq insurgency, just like we didn't KNOW Iraq had WMD's that they were going to use on the USA, and third, what if they are?
I'm not in any way condoning what the insurgents are doing, not at all. I believe that fanatics are fanatics, and they come in all shapes, sizes, colors and religions. The Jihad is just more visable than other rebel forces have been in this past century. But the point I am making is that the USA supported, funded, trained and sheltered rebel fighters all around the world. What separates Iran from the USA? The idea that we are the good guys? We grow up in this country being taught that we are always the good guys. In truth we have as a nation exploited people all over the globe, and as Americans we should be ashamed of what we have allowed our government to do. But that is for another post.
Yes, we have done good, but mostly when it has been in our own best interests to do so.
Mike Savage belongs to a sad and deperate group that see the world through one set of eyes: theirs. Their religion is right, their politics are right, their way is right, and to all the others let them be damned. What is most troubling to me about Mr. Saveage is not his views, but his inability to really engage in discussions or an exchange of ideas, he is too busy mocking his callers: in one instance he mocked a callers speech impediment then hung up on him. No, Mike Savage is not a classy guy. He is self righeous man who dislikes anyone who does not agree with him. The saddest part is that so many American's listen to him, sort of the way couch patatoes stare at a television.
America made history trhough its form of government, laws and way of life. And it is time for Americans to take hold of that and guide the countries future to ensure that stature that we had attained, instead of turning a blind eye to the truth and riding on our past and being led by scarred little rabbits trying to spread their fear and control the masses.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Gays and the Priesthood, Bush etc.
I read the other day that the pope has decided that men with a tendency towards homosexuality will not be allowed to be admitted as priests. How do you define a "a tendency towards homosexuality" anyway. It just seems to me that the church should spend more time worrying about child abusers and less time about gays.
And while we're on the topic of religion, the US government put out a report condeming various coutnries around the glober for suppressing religious freedom. You know I love being an American, but I have to wonder where we get off, I mean our own president get's his guideance from "his" God everyday, and at the same time reduces gay Americans to less-than-equal citizens by not allowing them the same rights as every other American, because according to the presidents "religious beliefs" marriage is for a man and a woman.
Some of you may fluff it off, oh, Brie is one of those gay supporters. Well, yeah, I am, because equal means equal, or it means nothing. You can't have it both ways. Government has to learn that there are many ways to look at the world, and everyone is right from their own perspective. We have to be a nation of law, equal and fair, otherwise it is all bullshit.
Most people don't know history anyway, and are raised to believe a very distorted view of the truth anyway, I know, I used to be one of them. Seeing the worlkd for what it is and not what you want it to be takes courage, and we don't have enough of it these days.
And while we're on the topic of religion, the US government put out a report condeming various coutnries around the glober for suppressing religious freedom. You know I love being an American, but I have to wonder where we get off, I mean our own president get's his guideance from "his" God everyday, and at the same time reduces gay Americans to less-than-equal citizens by not allowing them the same rights as every other American, because according to the presidents "religious beliefs" marriage is for a man and a woman.
Some of you may fluff it off, oh, Brie is one of those gay supporters. Well, yeah, I am, because equal means equal, or it means nothing. You can't have it both ways. Government has to learn that there are many ways to look at the world, and everyone is right from their own perspective. We have to be a nation of law, equal and fair, otherwise it is all bullshit.
Most people don't know history anyway, and are raised to believe a very distorted view of the truth anyway, I know, I used to be one of them. Seeing the worlkd for what it is and not what you want it to be takes courage, and we don't have enough of it these days.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Protecting the ruling class
I wonder how it is possible that the general public is not aware of the president's past, in particular, the relationship between his granddad Prescott Bush and Nazi Germany. Any thoughts? Oh, you don't know about Prescott Bush? That's my point, so look it up and post your comments.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Right Over Your Head
Well, leave it to the WAshington crowd to continue saying stupid things. For those that didn't read about it, William Bennett, a secretary of education in the Reagan administration and drug czar in the first Bush administration, who is now a radio host, recently said, "you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." He went on to say that would be a "morally reprehensible thing to do."
In his defense in todays New York Times he stated that his opponents make it sound like he supports such a monstrous act, which of course he doesn't. But what Mr. Bennett fails to recognize is that the fact that he doesn'tt "support" such a "monstrous" act isn't the point. The point, which went right over his head, is the racism that was inherent in the statement. It is scary that people like Mr. Bennett have access to the ears of so many Americans. The white house statement of, "it wasn't appropriate," was right up there with "your doing a heck of a job Brownie." The more I read the more frightened I become.
In his defense in todays New York Times he stated that his opponents make it sound like he supports such a monstrous act, which of course he doesn't. But what Mr. Bennett fails to recognize is that the fact that he doesn'tt "support" such a "monstrous" act isn't the point. The point, which went right over his head, is the racism that was inherent in the statement. It is scary that people like Mr. Bennett have access to the ears of so many Americans. The white house statement of, "it wasn't appropriate," was right up there with "your doing a heck of a job Brownie." The more I read the more frightened I become.
Catostrophic Disaster
During the almost four hours that I watched the Senate hearings involving Mr. Brown on C-Span, I waited for the senators to ask questions that never seemed to materialize. Time and time again Mr. Brown, the former FEMA director, insisted that we had to remember that, “this was a catastrophic disaster!” as though none of us were aware of that, or as though FEMA was just an accounting firm suddenly thrust into managing an emergency and everyone was being to critical of him. Isn’t emergency management the point of FEMA? Personally, I don’t have experience in emergency management; my point of view comes from my eighteen years owning and operating a small logistics/transportation firm.
Don’t get me wrong; it certainly was something like entertainment to watch Senator Taylor hammer home the point that Mr. Brown did a terrible job, only to then listen to Mr. Brown whine about being berated for not being Rudy. It would have been humorous if it (the hurricane) weren’t so tragic. But I don’t want to know why the buses didn’t arrive on time, but why they were the only option planned for in the first place. After all, it was already known (that the levies couldn’t withstand anything over a cat 3) that the city would be under water? Wouldn’t reasonable planning have recognized a need for a contingency plan?
The senators asked about the contents of trucks and the answer was simply that FEMA didn’t know the contents of many of the trucks, or where the trucks were. My little company in 1995 relocated four warehouses that contained 12,000 different types of items, that were transported within 250 trucks, using nothing more than a simple transport computer program, cell phones, and spotters. How could we have known where every SKU, pallet, trailer, and truck was throughout the 64-hour move within minutes of a request, and FEMA not even know what was in the trucks, let alone where they were? Of course FEMA had to deal with a hurricane, but FEMA’s problems began long before the storm arrived.
Mr. Brown in his lame defense has cowardly blamed the locals because they wouldn’t listen to him, which sounded more like a child whining rather than a leader charged with the responsibility to “manage” an emergency. At every turn Mr. Brown responded to senator’s questions as to why things weren’t done with a thundering, “that’s just what we did!” It was too little too late Mr. Brown. Winners cross the goal line: despite the broken play, missed blocks, or any other unexpected obstructions. But, in your case failure didn’t loose the game it lost lives. For FEMA to have moved the equipment and resources to within striking distance, only to fail at delivering it to where and when it was needed is equivalent to rearranging the deck chairs on a ship that is sinking.
President Bush for his part has again shown his bad sense of judgment in hiring Mr. Brown in the first place. But we’re stuck with this president for a while longer, so he needs to recognize that if FEMA is going to exist at all, it has to be able to coordinate – in a meaningful way – all the resources required to get the job done. I would submit that any small to moderate sized logistics firm could have performed better than FEMA during Katrina -- in both planning and execution -- and FEMA should look into contracting private fleets (that are not cronies of he administration) to provide supply line services in the future. Logistics management is best handled by those who have been in the trenches and can think on their feet; not the intellectuals that merely study logistics theory. If FEMA is at all like many clueless logistics departments of major corporations that I have worked with in the past, they could cut their budget by 10% and increase operational efficiency by utilizing the right contractors.
The loss of life in New Orleans and the Gulf states could have been avoided. We as Americans should expect and demand better. After watching C-span it became apparent to me that Kartrina was a bad hurricane and that is was FEMA that was the catastrophic disaster.
Don’t get me wrong; it certainly was something like entertainment to watch Senator Taylor hammer home the point that Mr. Brown did a terrible job, only to then listen to Mr. Brown whine about being berated for not being Rudy. It would have been humorous if it (the hurricane) weren’t so tragic. But I don’t want to know why the buses didn’t arrive on time, but why they were the only option planned for in the first place. After all, it was already known (that the levies couldn’t withstand anything over a cat 3) that the city would be under water? Wouldn’t reasonable planning have recognized a need for a contingency plan?
The senators asked about the contents of trucks and the answer was simply that FEMA didn’t know the contents of many of the trucks, or where the trucks were. My little company in 1995 relocated four warehouses that contained 12,000 different types of items, that were transported within 250 trucks, using nothing more than a simple transport computer program, cell phones, and spotters. How could we have known where every SKU, pallet, trailer, and truck was throughout the 64-hour move within minutes of a request, and FEMA not even know what was in the trucks, let alone where they were? Of course FEMA had to deal with a hurricane, but FEMA’s problems began long before the storm arrived.
Mr. Brown in his lame defense has cowardly blamed the locals because they wouldn’t listen to him, which sounded more like a child whining rather than a leader charged with the responsibility to “manage” an emergency. At every turn Mr. Brown responded to senator’s questions as to why things weren’t done with a thundering, “that’s just what we did!” It was too little too late Mr. Brown. Winners cross the goal line: despite the broken play, missed blocks, or any other unexpected obstructions. But, in your case failure didn’t loose the game it lost lives. For FEMA to have moved the equipment and resources to within striking distance, only to fail at delivering it to where and when it was needed is equivalent to rearranging the deck chairs on a ship that is sinking.
President Bush for his part has again shown his bad sense of judgment in hiring Mr. Brown in the first place. But we’re stuck with this president for a while longer, so he needs to recognize that if FEMA is going to exist at all, it has to be able to coordinate – in a meaningful way – all the resources required to get the job done. I would submit that any small to moderate sized logistics firm could have performed better than FEMA during Katrina -- in both planning and execution -- and FEMA should look into contracting private fleets (that are not cronies of he administration) to provide supply line services in the future. Logistics management is best handled by those who have been in the trenches and can think on their feet; not the intellectuals that merely study logistics theory. If FEMA is at all like many clueless logistics departments of major corporations that I have worked with in the past, they could cut their budget by 10% and increase operational efficiency by utilizing the right contractors.
The loss of life in New Orleans and the Gulf states could have been avoided. We as Americans should expect and demand better. After watching C-span it became apparent to me that Kartrina was a bad hurricane and that is was FEMA that was the catastrophic disaster.
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