Kinda freaky

Set it at full screen and focus on the cross in the middle of the screen.



It's an accidental discovery called the "Flashed face distortion effect" but no-one seems to know how or why it happens at a psychological or physiological level.

###

From Liveleak by way of Hynd

Fun flies when you're having time

Cheeses! That was fast!

A recent article from the economist may explain a bit about why you may feel so rushed and stressed these days.

"Over 23% of all the goods and services made since 1AD were produced from 2001 to 2010, according to an updated version of Angus Maddison's figures."

Then they offer this chart:

The analysis lends somewhat to the overpopulation argument. We have to wonder just how long this old planet can sustain this kind of growth... from both the economic and population perspective. The old gal has got to be feeling some strain. 

###

Just a year ago

... I posted this video.

What a difference a year makes. Today we busted an all-time record. It was 108.1 here at the place today... right there where all that nice cool rain was falling just a year ago. We've already reached the record for the hottest average single year temperature on record, and the worst single year drought. Now, for the 70th day this summer, the official temperature topped triple digits. Yet another record falls. This past weekend I had to mow weeds on the bed of that pond you see in the background. 

On the bright side, 1980 still holds the record for number of days over 105.

EDIT: I've been advised to quit my whining. A friend who resides in Wichita Falls, TX informs me that his city just yesterday became the only city in Texas ever to suffer 100 days in triple digits in a single season.

I bow to that city's obvious superiority.

###

Happy Labor Day

This is Labor Day. I wish all those who labor a good day. For those wishing they could find labor I wish you both a good day and the best of luck.

###

Happy birthday Virgos

I've been taking a few days off celebrating!

Sweet justice

You've just got to love it.

That which goes around... comes around.

Wonder if they paid for the movers too...

###

Old Bird

Some may have noticed that blogging has been sporadic of late. Some probably don't care, but that is for another story.

Over the past several months I've been chasing an old Bird. This has been time consuming and the blog has somewhat suffered because of it. Well... yesterday I finally caught her, and she's move in here at Casa Mule Dung. 

Meet the new lady in my life... a 1990 Blue Bird Wide Body. She's old, but she ain't hurt and a little TLC will have her purring down the road with my motorcycle trailer in tow.

She needs a paint job, but the body is all aluminum so there is no rust. Good tires, new batteries, a generator that could serve as back-up for a grocery store... what more could I ask?

The interior needs updating. The pink shades and the mirrors have to go... makes the place feel like a whorehouse... and all the flooring will be replaced with wood. Electronics are dated, so I've already started yanking them to replace with modern stuff. 

Time consuming, but in the end it should be well worth it.

###

Something not right here

Super Bowl XLV is this weekend. The Packers and the Stealers came to town a couple days ago only to be greeted by record cold weather. It is currently warmer in both Green Bay and Pittsburgh than in Fort Worth.

Something about that just isn't right.

The 20 degrees mentioned by the reporter was the high that day, and again on Wednesday. With a little Sun peeking through the clouds some of the ice melted into slush, but refroze overnight. We don't have many plows around here, and sand trucks were limited to major arteries and overheads. The roads haven't had much of a chance to recover.

Folks around here aren't accustomed to single-digit cold, and we're especially not accustomed to extended cold weather events with temperatures such as these. With single-digit overnight temps and daytime highs barely peeking out of the teens, I've stayed indoors as much as I can.

Not everyone stays home, and the Texan's infamous inability to drive in these conditions becomes apparent. Fort Worth police reported over 200 accidents the first few hours of Tuesday morning. Dallas was similar in number. This continued into yesterday and considering wrecks in the burbs, there were likely in excess of a thousand autos damaged over the past two days. News coverage has shown automobile carcasses and various body parts littering the highway shoulders.

Seldom a good idea to contest the Laws of Physics. Combine the effects of inertia with a low coefficient of friction, and the results are inevitable.

I can think of better places to be than in a snow drift on the side of the road.

###

I figured there'd be trouble

For many years the Dallas Cowboys were known as God's Team.

Probably nobody would call them that today, because in early 1989 a hillbilly hick from Arkansas bought the team from Clint Murchison ... the only owner the Cowboys had ever known.

It was the flush heard round the world, and when I learned about it, I figured there might be trouble.

When the hick fired legendary Cowboy coach Tom Landry he did it on live, national television. The whole world learned of Tom's fate before the hillbilly actually told Tom …

After that I knew there would be trouble.

The hick’s choice for Tom's replacement was Jimmy Johnson ... a coach barely competent enough to shine Tom's shoes.

Johnson actually took the team to a couple of Super Bowls … but it was a team Tom built, and as the Landry influence ebbed and Tom's talented players moved on or retired, success became elusive.

So the hick fired Johnson, replacing him with disgraced OU Sooner coach Barry Switzer. He barely made three seasons.

Subsequent hires found success just as elusive and job security nonexistent. Hillbilly has hired and fired six since 1996, but to no avail. The plowboys just keep on losing.

God’s own team hasn’t made a Super Bowl appearance in 16 years ... perhaps because for the past 26 years the team has suffered under the clueless guidance of a bumbling fool from Little Rock ... an arrogant clod who won't get out of the way and let professionals run the show.

... but at least while at Tom's House in Irving, God had a premium seat ...

... which lasted until 2010 when our good ol’ hillbilly demolished the venerable edifice that had seen Tom’s teams go to 27 post-season playoffs, win 18 NFC East championships, appear in ten Super Bowls, and take home five Lombardi trophies.

Tom Landry died 12 years almost to the day from when Jerry Jones humiliated him on national television. Texas Stadium is gone. Jerry Jones has no talent and even less class, but he won't leave.

The hick tore down God's Stadium and built one with a lid on it. The team moved this season to that gawdawful Chrome Cockroach in Arlington ... and they're still losing.


Now the Super Bowl is in town, but God lost his front row seat, and he apparently ain't happy about it.

###

My analysis

President Obama is still preaching hope and change... 

In the Republican response, Paul Ryan (R. Wisconsin) continued the danger Will Robinson, fear and change message that has been central to that party's line since 2008. 

Then, in the unauthorized Tea Party version, Michelle Bachman (R. Twilight Zone) sang a lovely rendition of Yes, we have no bananas. It was painfully obvious that whoever wrote her speech didn't allow for listening to the Obama speech.

Yep. Tonight certainly underlines our current State of the Union.

###

Reflecting modern sensibilities

Click on image to embiggen

December 21, 2010 - 23:28

Axial tilt is the Reason for the Season


Earth's seasons are the result of the 23.5 degree tilt of the planet's axis. Half of each year the southern hemisphere has more exposure to the sun than the northern hemisphere, and the other half of the time the reverse is true. On one day of each year the sun reaches its maximum elevation and produces the largest number of daylight hours. This day is called the summer solstice, and in the northern hemisphere it usually falls on 21 June.

When the opposite set of circumstances occurs, with the Sun is at its lowest elevation and daylight hours at their shortest, this is the winter solstice... the first day of winter. That is today.

Today, several hours before the solstice, is marked by a very rare total lunar eclipse. The last time a total eclipse coincided with the solstice was in 1638. The next will be in 2094. Volcanic ash in the atmosphere, we are told, should cause the moon to take on a eerie orange glow, which to some degree it did.

We had a few thin clouds partially obscuring the show, but I still managed a few not so good photos. I need better equipment for shoots like these.

This year's event is also supposed to coincide with the Ursids meteor shower, so in a way we get a three-fer.

With or without the celestial light shows, this day and this time of year are traditional for celebration. I would like to wish and/or hope you had/have a festive, merry and productive nonspecific day of your choice for fall/winter celebration. You may choose from any of the following, listed in no specific order.

Winterval, Freezingman Day, Winter Solstice, Yalda, Saint Nicholas Day, Saturnalia, Saint Stephen's Day, Life Day, Hanukkah (Chanuka, Chanukkah, Feast of Lights), Soyal, Lenaea, Feast of Winter Veil, Mōdraniht, Holy Innocents Day, Bhaubeej (Bhai dooj, Bhai Bij), Hogswatch (Ankh-Morpork), Feast of Circumcision, HumanLight, Kwansolhaneidmas, Yule, Shab-e Yalda, Festivus, Loi Krathong, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, Kwanzaa, Saint Lucia's Day, Chag HaMolad (Yeshau's Birthday, Christmas), Chrismukkah, Diwali, Agnostica, Eid ul-Adha (late, sorry), The Long Night (Endless Night),  Jashan-e Sadeh, Feast of Fools, Bodhi (Rohatsu), Chahar-Shanbeh Suri (soori), Hogmanay, New Year, Imbolc, Tu Bishvat (Tu B'Shvat)...

There. Does that cover everyone? If not, mea culpa. I'll strive to do better in 2094.

###

Big Boy's Toy

The Toyota Land Cruiser

When the Japanese occupied the Philippines in 1941, among other artifacts abandoned in the hasty retreat of Allied forces, they found a broke-down jeep. An American Bantam Mk II to be precise.

The American Bantam MK II was one of
the earliest U.S. Army GP (jeep) vehicles 

The Bantam was one of 4,500 jeeps produced under US Army contract, 1,500 of which were produced by the American Bantam Motorcar Company.

The jeep’s design was based upon specifications outlined in the Army’s technical manual for a "... general purpose, personnel, or cargo carrier especially adaptable for reconnaissance or command, and designated as 1/4-ton 4x4 Truck."

The Bantam was taken to Tokyo where Japanese engineers studied it. Very quickly the military authorities recognized the utility of such a vehicle, and ordered Toyota to create something based upon the design.

Toyota’s initial prototype was the ¼ ton Model AK, which was formally accepted by The Japanese Imperial Army. Toyota designers continued working and in 1942, using reverse-engineering from the Bantam, produced the ½ ton AK10. These two vehicles were never widely used by the Japanese military, but they would go on to form the platform for Toyota’s post war success.

The Toyota BJ was inspiration for
the first American release, the FJ20

After Japan’s surrender in WWII, and in an effort to help rebuild the industrial infrastructure of the country, the U.S. asked Toyota to build 100 vehicles to be used in Korea and with a design based on Land Rover and Willys specifications. The resulting vehicle was dubbed the BJ.

Toyota’s first attempt to break into the American market was the BJ inspired FJ20. The BJ design was the genesis of Toyota’s most popular line… the Land Cruiser… the only Toyota model that has been continuously sold in the U.S. since the company came here. The little two-door utility vehicle was introduced to the U.S. in 1958. They sold a grand total of one that first year.

Beginning in the 60’s, Toyota experimented with a number of body styles and models, but the most popular was the FJ40. Thousands were sold from the early 60’s up until 1984 when Toyota dropped the design in favor of the larger FJ70.

The FJ25 caught the attention of Americans
and rekindled the love for off-roading

The sporty little two-door FJ40 sold for less than $3,000. The motor in the earlier models was the 125hp 6-cylinder, 3.9-liter model F, replaced in 1975 by the more powerful 4.2-liter F2 engine. The first model year with the F2 was the last before government emission and fuel efficiency standards were implemented, reducing the power of the engine.

A variety of Land Cruiser models were introduced since the 1958 debut of the FJ20, but none have enjoyed the popularity of the FJ40. In 2006, almost 20 years after ceasing production of the FJ40, perhaps in an attempt to recapture the market lost when the FJ40 was dropped, Toyota introduced the FJ40 inspired FJ Cruiser.

While I am sure the design will be successful, nothing will replace the rugged, durable fun-to-drive FJ40.

FUN FACTS

Toyota FJ40

1955 FJ20

1954 – A 125 hp, 3.9-liter engine (the Type F) is mounted on Toyota’s BJ inspired FJ20 fire-engine chassis. Toyota’s technical director, Hanji Umehara, names this the "Land Cruiser."

1955 - The Second generation FJ20 appears. Designed with “civilian appeal” and intended for export.

1957 – A  four-door American Bantam Mk II Station Wagon is added to the Japanese line-up. FJ25’s and FJ28’s are exported to Australia.

1958 FJ35V

1958 - Toyota introduces the FJ20 to the U.S. market.  Total sales are 1. The FJ35V station wagon is introduced in Japan. FJ25’s are produced in Brazil… the first Toyota vehicle built outside Japan.

1960 – The FJ20 is upgraded to the FJ40. FJ20 and FJ25 are dropped from the U.S. market.

1962 – Total U.S. sales for the FJ40 top 1,000.

1967 FJ45

1965 – Global production of Toyota Land Cruisers tops 50,000, and the FJ40 becomes the top selling Toyota in the U.S.

1967 – Toyota introduces the FJ55 Land Cruiser Wagon. Predecessor to the SUV. Total Land Cruiser sales in the U.S. exceed 10,000 for the first time.

1968 – Toyota sells their 100,000th Land Cruiser.

1972 – Toyota sells their 200,000th Land Cruiser.

1973 – Toyota sells their 300,000th Land Cruiser.

1974 – Toyota offers Land Cruisers to the world market equipped with the 3.0-liter Type B diesel engine. These were never made available in the U.S. (I would have been the first in line if they did.)

1975 – The Type F engine is replaced by the F2. The FJ55 get front disc brakes.

1976 – The FJ40 gets front disc brakes. In California, the Toyota Land Cruiser Association was formed.

1978 – Total U.S. sales exceed 100,000.

1984 – The last FJ40 rolls off the production line in Toyota City, Japan.

~~

Extra credit

Photo contest. Name the city and location where you would find this sign.

HINT: It is down the block from Tulagi, which is closed. The building is being wrecked out as I watch. Another piece of the 60's bites the dust.

~~

31-17

Finally the aint's.... are!

Congrats to the Saints, the city of New Orleans, state of Louisiana, and the entire Gulf coast. You finally got you a WIN!!!

Whooo Daaattttttt!!!

The essential American story

This is the story of a genuinely American company. Conceived in a 10’ by 12” wooden shed, sired by a 21-year-old kid with a penchant for speed and a talent for mechanics.

It was in 1901 when William S. (Bill) Harley penciled out a drawing for a small engine intended to be mounted onto a bicycle frame. He showed his drawing to school chums Arthur and Walter Davidson. Together these men built the first American motorcycle. Two years later they sold their first to another school chum. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company was open for business, and Bill shepherded the company from upstart, through war, into legend.

In 1943, at the age of 66, the kid with the dream died. Bill Harley's concept had become a great success, built a great company, and made the American motorcycle king. It would reign for several more years, but the beginning of the end came in 1965. With all of the original founders now dead, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, privately held for over 60 years, became a publicly traded company.

Many would consider this to be the pinnacle of success, but historically similar stories have not always had dream-like ends, and Harley-Davidson would be no exception. In 1969, only a few years after going public, Harley-Davidson announced a “merger” with the American Machine and Foundry Company (AMF). The die was cast.

The next ten or so years would prove nearly fatal for Harley-Davidson. Under AMF management, the original American motorcycle company sacrificed quality for expediency, innovation for mass marketing, and reputation for short term profit. Investors made big bucks for a time, but as both sales and reputation plummeted, the profit takers cut and ran. Shares were sold in volume and the company’s value sank nearly as low as employee morale. The company product, once the envy of every hairy-legged country boy, became all but reviled in the American marketplace. As Harley slid to near oblivion, innovative new Japanese bikes took over the bulk of the market share. The imports bikes would never look back.

As anyone even the least bit interested knows, the Harley story did not end there. They were down, but old-time Harley management knew they were not out. In 1981, a group of 13 employees purchased the company from AMF in a leveraged buy-out, and began an undertaking that has surprised even die hard skeptics like me.

The next five or so years of Harley history saw renewed focus on quality and technology. Outsourced, low bid parts purchasing and mass marketing policies were replaced by improved, in-house manufacturing techniques, strict quality control, and targeted marketing. Many of Harley’s new processes were learned from the Japanese, their greatest competitors. As product quality improved, sales and employee morale followed. Today the Harley-Davidson is again the Great American Motorcycle.

The dichotomy that is Harley-Davidson is well illustrated by comparing the 75th Anniversary bikes, produced in 1978, against the fine fine craftsmanship and high quality of 2003’s 100th anniversary bikes. It has taken a long time for Harley to rise from the ashes, but the company has restored not only their reputation, but some small faith in American innovation. We must hope that Harley-Davidson sets an example, and that this is not too little, too late.

Though a tale of great rebound, this story begs a question. Where has American innovation gone? Harley-Davidson did not hold an exclusive to the profits over quality story. Looking around it seems that as America becomes more a culture of consumption and less a culture of innovation, all the great success stories are crumbling. Look at big names like General Motors and General Electric, or products such as Master padlocks, Black & Decker power tools and Hoover vacuums.

American companies are being sold off to foreign interests or taken over by managers with a decidedly low-tech mass-market mentality. The philosophy seems to be "Make them faster and cheaper, then advertise the hell out of them so everyone will want one." This is a dead end philosophy that will eventually bankrupt any business... if it doesn't bankrupt this country first. Harley-Davidson's rebound may represent the rare exception to the rule, but only because a handful of employees were more interested in quality than short-term profit.

More products manufactured overseas are imported and sold in stores such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot, and more American factories are shuttered. Americans demand low prices, and quality goods no longer sell well because they are more expensive. American companies responded by cutting quality and out-sourcing production. This shored it up for a time, but not long. There are very few Made in America products left. The American automobile manufacturers seemed solid enough at first, but even those are threatened by this most recent recession. Cash for Clunkers sold more imports than Chevrolets, Chryslers and Fords.

Look to the boardrooms to understand this phenomenon. The heads of most major American manufacturing and technology companies are salesmen and bean counters, with no knowledge of, or interest in the quality or technological innovation required to make a product of quality. Instead they rely on the often-told-lie and slick, weasel-worded advertising to maximize profits, moving cheaper products in shorter time.

Discussing Microsoft and the technology sector in general, Badtux offers an interesting corollary to this over on his blog.

“…this is true of most big companies today in the United States. They're run by salesmen, cronies of the oligarchs who control half the wealth of the US, and salesmen are not by nature reflective souls and are chosen for loyalty, not for intelligence. They arrogantly believe it is not necessary to understand technical details of what they're selling in order to make proper judgments about its content and scope, all they have to do is sell, sell, sell and it all works out in the end. The problem is that since they don't understand the technology and worse yet have no desire to understand the technology, they're ill equipped to make critical decisions about product direction and feasibility. They fall prey to yes men, fads, and scams, and pour company resources into directions that are not productive.”

The roots of the tree of greed are beginning to grow large under the foundation of our country, and the cracks are showing. If it all falls down around our ears, I wonder where the bankers will run. You can't eat money.

[I have a friend with one of those AMF Harley's, which sits in my shop waiting for parts more frequently than it spends time between his legs. That was the reason for this piece, which has been sitting unfinished and idle in my drafts folder for a couple of months. The penguin's piece prodded my writer-blocked muse off the couch... Thanks Tux.]

~~

Ambulance Chasers?

... or infringement on business practices?

The following article is from Texas Lawyer . You make the call.

Lawyer, Chiropractor Challenge Amendments to Barratry Statute
by Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

September 07, 2009

Upset over amendments to Texas' barratry statute that require lawyers, doctors and others to wait 31 days before soliciting individuals involved in accidents, a Houston lawyer with a traffic ticket/warrant practice and an Austin chiropractor are seeking a federal court order to declare the amendments unconstitutional.

H.B. 148 went into effect Sept. 1 and amended Texas Penal Code §38.12, which is commonly known as the state's barratry statute. Violating the statute is a Class A misdemeanor.

Houston solo Christopher Villasana alleges in the complaint in Donald McKinley, D.C., et al. v Greg Abbott that the law puts him at risk for a Class A misdemeanor for "sending directed, State Bar approved advertisements to persons on a ticket/arrest warrant list less than 31 days after the arrest/ticket." Dr. Donald McKinley of Austin alleges in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas that he faces the threat of a misdemeanor if he permits his "very satisfied patients," who receive no economic benefit from the communication, from sharing his business cards or brochures with injured individuals.

Villasana and McKinley allege in the Aug. 27complaint that the amendments violate their constitutional rights under the First and 14th Amendments to U.S.Constitution and Article I, §§3 and 8of the Texas Constitution.

The plaintiffs allege H.B. 148 bars chiropractors and lawyers from communicating with prospective clients through written communication, in person or over the telephone before 31 days have passed after an accident or disaster or before 31 days have passed after an arrest or summons to a person or that person's relative.

They allege the law doesn't contain any exceptions and does not target misleading or deceptive communications.

"Instead, it operates as a complete and total ban against the proscribed communications, and no warnings or disclosures made with the communication, regardless of how truthful or informative the communication may be, can rescue the communicator from communicating an offense under the broad sweep of H.B. 148's prohibitions," they allege in the complaint.

They allege the amendments "dramatically changed the competitive landscape in favor of the insurance companies" who now have a month to persuade accident victims to sign away their rights before the victims may understand their legal rights or medical injuries.

No TRO

On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin denied the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order. Sparks wrote in the order that while he has "grave concerns" about the constitutionality of H.B. 148, Villasana and McKinley didn't file their complaint until right before the new law was set to go into effect on Sept. 1, and well after June 19, when Gov. Rick Perry signed it into law.

"Without criticism to Plaintiff's counsel, the application for a TRO in this case was brought a mere one day before the effective day, when it had been obvious since June 19, 2009, at the latest, that the statute would become effective on September 1, 2009," wrote Sparks, who held the hearing on the motion for the TRO for U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel.

Sparks wrote that he's confident Yeakel will schedule a hearing on a motion for a temporary injunction in the very near future and there is no substantial possibility of immediate, irreparable harm to the plaintiffs.

Lynn Carter, an assistant attorney general who represented Abbott at the TRO hearing, refers comment to Thomas Kelley, a spokesman for the AG's office. Kelley declines comment.

Plaintiffs' attorney Martyn B. Hill, a shareholder in Pagel, Davis & Hill of Houston, says his clients filed the suit shortly before Sept. 1 to ensure they could have a hearing on the TRO close to the day the law would go into effect.

Hill says Villasana is now prohibited under the new law from sending letters to people who received traffic citations or missed court hearings for those tickets.

"We have a right to a lawyer — a constitutional right — and here it is the Legislature saying, Let's delay marketing to someone who needs a criminal defense lawyer for 31 days,' " Hill says. "If you get the letter, don't like the letter, throw it in the trash, but at least it reminds you."

Hill says Yeakel held a telephone conference with lawyers in the case on Sept. 3 and set the case for trial on Oct. 9. That date could not be confirmed through PACER, and Kelly, the AG's office spokesman, did not respond to an e-mail request to confirm the date.

Attempts to reach Villasana were not successful.

State Rep. Todd Smith, R-Bedford, a solo who sponsored H.B. 148, says, "It seems clear that there's nothing unconstitutional about this sort of prohibition against telephone or in-person solicitation."

A couple years ago I had a close encounter with the center piece of a sectional couch, lost from the bed of the pick-up just ahead of me. I almost made it, but clipped my quarter panel and made a small dent just behind the wheel well. The owner of the furniture stopped, but was rather obnoxious so I phoned for the police. The recalcitrant gentleman received a citation for failure to secure his load, and I received his insurance information. The cop wrote an accident report.

The very next day I learned that accident reports are public record, including all the information on them. Almost immediately I started receiving phone calls from body shops and chriopractors, on my cell phone, soliciting my business. They knew everything about me, including my license number.

So I'm not entirely certain I disagree with this new amendment. Telephone solicitors have not found a warm place in my heart, and hearing some dude tell me he was calling "from the doctor's office to set up my medical treatment plan" rather chapped my arse.

So, from a personal perspective I support the ammendment.

~~

Scatter-shooting – of Good and Evil

Op Ed page

A long time ago, in a land far away, I would go down to the Golden Buff Newsstand on Broadway in Boulder, Colorado where I would peruse news and opinion from around the world. This was back in the 60’s, and it was probably pretty odd at that time for a store in the United States to have rags from New York, San Francisco, London, Capetown, Cairo and Helsinki, all under the same roof. The status of the University of Colorado as a major research facility, and the presence of NOAA’s National Center of Atmospheric Research made the selling of these papers profitable, and their availability enhanced my exposure to other cultures while still at an impressionable age.

For a young, west Texas born country boy, this exposure provided startling revelation. Not everyone thought the same as we did. Morality, it seemed, was flexible and dependant on geography.

Over the years since I’ve continued the habit of following opinion pages of various newspapers. The more the merrier. Newfangled technology has aided my efforts considerably and I can now read English language versions of publications from around the world without getting out of my pajamas.
Fast-forward some 40 years from Boulder, and here I sit behind the glowing plasma screen of a laptop, prowling news and opinion stories on-line and musing on the same cultural differences that so startled me as a youth. What had its start in a smoky newsstand has led me to spend a great deal of time visiting various venues spewing differing opinion; radio, television, print and on-line sources, as well as listening to a variety of speakers around the world. It also encouraged me to spend time reading various tomes to learn how and why things happened from another perspective.

Morality and Patriotism

So history has been as much of a passion as news gathering. I’ve found that, with the combination of historical knowledge and an understanding of opinion, it becomes easier to see how societies led by charismatic leaders can be bent to a purpose. I’ve also learned that these purposes, and the actions demanded by them, have the potential for great good… or for great evil.

Probably the most well known recent example of this is the Third Reich. Adolph Hitler was very convincing, and German society was in a mood to be convinced. The resultant evil is undeniable, and also is abundant proof of how easily whole societies can be led to evil behavior; how they can be led to believe that there is good in something history will certainly judge to be evil.

"Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, It is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship,
or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

That was Hermann Goering testifying at the Nuremberg Trials. Pretty dramatic observation. With a bit of pause we can remember scores of similar, if smaller scale tales to tell—some old and some modern. A short list just might include:

• Salem witch trials
• Stalin
• Mao
• French-Algerian war
• Bosnia
• The People’s Temple (Jim Jones)
• Civil wars in Congo, Sudan (twice), Ethiopia, Rwanda, Mozambique and Nigeria
• Khmer Rouge
• 9/11/2001

Some in the world would say we should include the U.S. led war in Iraq and our war on terrorism. I’m almost inclined to agree.

Are we Sheep?

What is it about people that allows for this blind following of an articulate orator? Is it arrogance? Ignorance? Theology? Lack of understanding? Whatever it is, it can obviously be dangerous.

We are seeing a great deal of sheep mentality in the Obama craze, and just like with George Bush, it is reactionary rather than reasonable. The followers of Shrub suffered (still suffer?) from the same myopia, and I think our country has suffered greatly because of it. Dubya felt morally mandated to behave as he did. He believed he was divinely led. He followed his convictions. A little moderation would have gone a long way back then, but there was none.

He was wrong in so many ways, and some damn bad things have happened in the world because of it. The actions of the Bush administration enabled and caused atrocities. Of that I have no doubt, although I’m just as certain that some of the folks reading this will doubt my patriotism because I dare to speak these words.

Now the pendulum has swung. The over-action of the right-wingers has fomented an overreaction by the left. Will the results be as evil? Possibly. I fear we’ll see over-action in this administration, at least to some degree, if in an opposing direction. Unless the Obama cult can find moderation, America will suffer further.

A majority of voters in modern America, I think, display sheep mentality—chasing after ideals and following dogma rather than thinking for themselves and using reason. Sound bites uttered by shrill, emotion-provoking pundits rule the culture. The television news offers them all they feel they need to know, and thus we run from crisis to crisis.

It doesn’t have to be that way, but we’ve allowed the growth of a media that foments it, because it’s good for ratings (profits) when the people are afraid. Folks following narrowly focused opinions have nothing with which to compare them. Fear is the result. Everything is polarized, and attempts at moderate, fair coverage fail to reach an audience. We are selectively ignorant.

This is why we never see a quality candidate rise to the top of the ballot for either of the major parties. Just as Goering understood, people ignorant of the truth can be led like sheep. Everyone needs to have the benefit of a Golden Buff Newsstand. A little exposure to alternate cultures could go a long way.

Imagine

~~