Monday, June 28, 2010

"Fight The Real Emeny!"

Okay, Okay, I’ve been ignoring you. You will be glad to know that while I have been gone, I’ve been having a busy, fulfilling life. I’ve been happily remodeling the store. As you know I like building things. I like that feeling of creating something tangible and useful. I occurred to me that my remodeling efforts had already passed the “hammer test”.

Refrigeration repair and installations have been good, also heating and air-conditioning. So, "LIG" (life is good)

I felt that I needed to emphasize that things are okay with me, in case you were worried. I have even been on some interesting fire/ emergency medical calls lately. One involving a vodka bottle beating and setting a motor home on fire. One involving a tasering, like in “don’t tase me bro”.

The local fire departments did a field day at the Tooby Park, where we burned the Harding Grass to try to kill it. They say that fire will kill the plant. The reason that they want to kill it is that there is an endangered specie of sparrow that lives there that doesn’t like to nest in Harding Grass. The endangered bird is called a “Grasshopper Sparrow”. It is a super-good feeling to be able to play with fire, and be helping the environment at the same time. It's funny, I thought that there were millions of Grasshopper Sparrows, but all wildlife is precious, no mater how large or small, endangered or not.


It is especially a good feeling to be helping the environment in view of the recent, worst destruction of the environment in the history of man, of course you know that I’m talking about, the Gulf oil spill. Where the hell is Al Gore when you need him? Oops, I forgot, Al is an “oilman”, and a big stockholder in oil companies. Not to mention a fraud, and cheat, a liar, and a crook. Gore makes Nixon look like a saint.

Before you get all pissed-off that I bad-mouthed your hero, I have that same opinion of MOST all of our higher echelon political leaders. Now, the real reason that I haven’t been blogging. I promised myself that I would not turn this blog into a political rant rag. But lately, I have been greatly preoccupied with what’s wrong with the politics of this country. Capitalism is an ideal system, I like the idea where if an honest person works hard, produces a good product, he should be able to succeed. If that person has a good idea about how to produce something, he can go to a “capitalist”, a person with a lot of money, present his good idea, borrow the money to go into business, and hopefully succeed. “Life is good.” But….. Something is wrong with the way we select leaders.

If the person with the money charges too much, the person with the good idea can go somewhere else to borrow their needed capital. It sounds like a great idea. Where it all turned to crap is, you guessed it, the system needs ultimate universal oversight by our elected officials. However, those officials are all bought and paid for by the capitalists with money. That can’t happen, in theory, because We The People elect the politicians, that appoint the regulators, and we should be in control, right? Wrong.

The Capitalist bought the elections, and politicians, and they have moved the jobs and investment offshore, where they get paid a portion of every dollar that they export by selling Americans cheap goods that should be fairly regulated, but they are NOT. The stock market fat-cats are doing great... thank-you! Too bad that Americans have no jobs... no-thank-you! AND, our politicians have finanaced this despicable bail-out of the Big-Money fat-cats on the backs of our children, who will have to pay for it. Thank God our parents didn't leave us with debt to pay. They knew the value of a dollar, the depresion taught them that.

There are a variety of reasons why we keep electing corrupt politicians.. too numerous to list here… but the largest reason is Big Money owns everything. Including the mainstream media, the TV stations, radio, AND newspapers. The allow us to rant at each other about who is the dirtiest word, Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative, religious or sectarian. We all share the frustration of knowing something is wrong with our government, but we are all being led by disinformation that is fed to us in order keep us fighting each other, instead of “the real enemy’

There are few people that really try to think for themselves, and try to find solutions that can be “hit with a hammer”. Grass roots movements are always going to be easily divided because of their very nature, grass roots people have a variety of beliefs that allows divisions amongst the groups. The Big-Money owned media can easily drive a wedge between the groups. Also, grassroots groups are easily infiltrated by Big-Money plants. One racial remark, or one hate remark can be blown way out of proportion, and discredit the whole group’s message.

We really need to learn to close-out the political rhetoric, and listen to the voice inside that tells us what is real. Do you remember Sinead O’Conner on Saturday Night Live, where at the end of her performance, held up a photo of the Pope, then emotionally tore it in two, while saying: “Fight the real enemy!”? Remember how shocked and outraged that we were? I was personally offended by her behavior, and her disrespect for one of the worlds most respected leaders.

How many of us took the time to research Sinead a little bit? I finally found out that Sinead O’Conner is actually a devout Catholic. She was distressed with the direction that the Catholic church was heading. She already knew about all of the child molestation, and other corruption that was happening in the church. She was a strong enough Catholic that she felt that she needed to sacrifice her career to get the world to look at what was happening to her beloved church. To most people, she became the subject of much hate. After giving Sinead’s comment a little scrutiny, she has become one of my all-time heroes.

Sinead O'Conner (Please read here about the church abuse that Sinead O'Conner was trying to expose. Unfortunately, her message fell on deaf ears, and her career was ruined. She now is recognized, not only by the world, but by the Catholic Church as a hero.)



Now as Americans, we are all (most) wildly patriotic about America. We know that we are a great country, and that we were once the greatest country on the face of the Earth. We also all (most) know that our elections are bought-out and controlled by “Big Money”. What will it take to expose the corruption in American politics? What will it take to lead “We The People” into taking back the helm of the great ship of state.

Just as Sinead O’conner risked her career to expose the church, we need to put more of ourselves on the line, stop quibbling about our differences, start celebrating our commonality.

What piece of paper can we hold up, rip in two, and emotionally utter “Fight the real enemy”, and expose the corruption of our present political system of selling out to Big Money, or whatever TV tells us to do.

Where are the jobs that we were promised? Where is the oil company regulation that we are entitled to? Where is the border control? How many other things are wrong?

“Fight the real enemy”

31 comments:

Rose said...

How many stupid regulations have gotten in the way of the stemming the oil? From the Jones Act to life vests to sand berms - real people like you Ernie, know that men work together and can do amazing things - government gets in the way of that at every step of the way. And now, because of government red tape and shortsighted officials, the disaster has spread and continues unabated.

And that's the tip of the oil spill/iceberg.

Big government is nobody's friend.

spyrock said...

i agree with most everything you said ernie. except your usual tirade about al gore. i imagine you see him as an anti freon devil which is your bread and butter so i totally understand your obsession with him.
however, promoting fox news propaganda which is spread by the very people you claim to be against, big money, just to diss al gore is a bit misleading and i'll tell you why.
armand hammer, funny coincidence, was the ceo of occidental oil back when he and al gore's father became friends. the stock in occidental oil belonged to al's father and upon his passing it belonged to his mother. if indeed it was a trust, al was the trustee of the trust, not the executor which implies he had the right to dispose of his mother's assests. in other words, the oil stock belonged to his mother until her death and due her longtime friendship with the hammers she may not have wanted to sell that stock. as a trustee of my parents trust, i understand that completely. i waited until both parents died before i sold their stock. luckily before the recent crash.
al is a little bit younger than me and he has been through all the changes my generation has been through.
all of us started out driving gas guzzlers, some of us still do, but its been a learn as we go thing and people's priorities have
changed. and then bad mouthing tony coehlo just because he was on a board of directors whose job was to review environmental factors of proposed projects is really a stretch.
i knew tony personally and he is the nicest person you could meet and my mother had a lot to do with him getting elected year after year. his replacement, dennis cardoza is another fine congressman from our area who also comes from a family of portuguese immigrants. big money destroyed tony coehlos career just like they destroyed al gore's career and now family. i for one don't like to see a man kicked while he is laying on the ground. tony and al are history. get over it.
we spilled their tea into boston harbor so the british are paying us back by spilling their oil on our beaches. y'all have thousands of chevy extra cabs up there that get less than 15 mpg not to mention all the diesal fuel spills that are ruining the creeks and rivers up there. clean up your own backyard before you start pointing fingers at other people.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Spy
I didn't mean to offend you, as you know, I value your opinion. Maybe I should have chosen another, less prominent politician. Lord God there are many that I could have chosen from.

But yes you are absolutely right, there is many ways that Gore has, unfairly and dishonestly, stepped on the toes of the refrigeration industry. Al didn’t invent the ozone theory, he just saw the opportunity and jumped on the band wagon. By the way, he cashed-in quite nicely, so you needn’t pity him too much.

Should I give you a Conservative charlatan? Where would you like me to start? What I would really like to do, is see us all on the side of America. Many, not all, of our politicians are crooks!

But, to defend Al Gore? Come on Spy.. Google him. He reads like a dime store novel crook. Right up there with Chaney, but it seems unfair to pick on Chaney, he’s sick you know.

J2Bad said...

Okay, I've previously admitted to being confused by the words that appear here, and I'll admit that the Cheney-Gore thing got me close to posting, but I want to let that pass.

Instead, I have a question for Rose. Rose, you're seen the oil spill, right? You've heard about all of the unsafe and greedy ways that all of the big oil companies (but BP especially) cut corners, aided and abetted by the deregulation of the oil industry that went on under Clinton and CheneyBush, right? And your conclusion is that the oil companies need less oversight? Really? Really?

I can hear the Fox news in your voice, but I always wonder when people repeat that stuff how they reconcile the things they see with the things they say. Sorry if that sounds disrespectful. That comes naturally, but I'm trying to work on my tone, and more than anything, I'm troubled by the odd selection of enemies in this particular clusterf**k.

J2Bad said...

Since I'm asking Rose a question, I feel like I should also address hers. How many regulations have gotten in the way of the cleanup? I would say a predictable amount, given the size and complexity of the systems involved, but not a significant amount. That was just a typical talking point for the political activists who are determined to complain about everything and anything they can.

You'll notice that all those Republican governors who were complaining about Obama not releasing more National Guardsmen and women haven't actually deployed any of the Guards who have been made available. That's because the argument was a red herring from the start, just like almost all those arguments about regulations getting in the way have been unserious. Talk to anyone who deals with big operations and you'll hear the same understanding that regulations sometimes get in the way, but they're in place for reasons that you're just not focusing on. The bigger the system, the more resources involved, the more of those niggling details you'll come across. But that's just a quality of any system. And focusing on that small detail is just a way to take your focus on the real questions - who spilled all that oil, and why did it spill?

Ernie Branscomb said...

I was just reading today that Obama was told by his advisors that offshore drilling was "perfectly safe". Maybe he believed them, but I think that he should recheck his advisors, because he is getting some pretty bad information.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Sinead O'Conner quote: "Almost 18 years ago, I tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on an episode of "Saturday Night Live." Many people did not understand the protest -- the next week, the show's guest host, actor Joe Pesci, commented that, had he been there, "I would have gave her such a smack." I knew my action would cause trouble, but I wanted to force a conversation where there was a need for one; that is part of being an artist. All I regretted was that people assumed I didn't believe in God. That's not the case at all. I'm Catholic by birth and culture and would be the first at the church door if the Vatican offered sincere reconciliation."

spyrock said...

i'm not into making anyone a charlatan, scapegoat, or real enemy. my second old lady's dad was named dick cheney. not your dick cheney. i never have paid much attention to him. in fact i don't pay much attention to any of this. some peeps say you can't like the raiders if you are a 49er fan. well, i like both. and i like people of all kinds of persuasions including political ones.
i like the oneness people and i like the twoness people. i listen to rush and i listen to oprah and i even listen to fox news if i need a laugh. people make mistakes, and perhaps this oil spill will manifest a positive result in the long run.
there is oil on the beaches off santa barbara from the off shore oil wells and there is oil on the beaches of los angeles as well. this is nothing new to surfers, we have been paddling through a dead ocean for quite some time now. but now that the rich people with the million dollar homes are watching their vacation homes become worthless, something will be done about it.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Spy,
“The real enemy” is not any one person, but the whole system of American politics, where we can’t pull away from the Big-Money driven system.

America needs people like you that pay attention, I’m sure that you see and understand that even though you don’t choose sides, some do.

I’m often accused of being a Fox News fan like it might hurt my feelings., what’s that all about? I’m in lock-step with Rachel Maddow on the oil spill. Obama says that his advisors told him that offshore drilling was “perfectly safe”. Is that believable?

Whether we want to be involved or not, we will all be affected. The Gulf spill is far worse than a few surfer “tar balls”, it is a MAJOR environmental disaster. And, you ain’t seen nothing yet!

Anonymous said...

STOP CALLING IT A SPILL!
This was my favorite online comment:
A spill is when you tip your glass of water over.
What is happening in the gulf is what occurs when you take a sledge hammer and knock the faucet handle off!

Bunny said...

STOP WATCHING FOX "SO CALLED" NEWS.
I mean really. Why would you watch stories that are lies. Why would anyone watch distortions? As a commentator said recently listening to fox news borders on believing the earth is flat. I'm with Spyrock all the way.

Anonymous said...

I love FOX News.

Oregon

Ernie Branscomb said...

Why would anyone watch Fox News?

"Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” Sun Tzu (An old Chinese philosopher)

Because we need to be roundly informed. Only a fool would believe anything without substantial evidence.

\ said...

Who are the oneness people in lockstep with?

spyrock said...

Who are the oneness people in lockstep with?

everyone, we are all connected nez pa.
dancing with the stars

\ said...

the one is the same as the two, but the two is not the same as the one.
Advaita Veda

Swanee River (it's where the old folks...) said...

Are you the twooth fairy?

\ said...

the twooth, the whole twooth, and nothing but the twooth is, there's two sides of every mouth that those losers, the Wonners, speak 2 you from.

\ said...

btw, there's fresh oil in Suwanee for you old folks to dangle your toes in.

Anonymous said...

How long is a story, 10 feet, 12 feet? I hear on the news about how it is 20 stories long or it is about 3 stories apart. I never heard anybody say " I sighted in my rifle to 10 stories". What's up with that? I bring this up cuz I heard it again today. Taiwan has sent the biggest skimmer ship in the world to the Gulf of Mexico and it is 3 football fields long and 9 stories high. DANG!! Anyway, to get to my point here, it hasn't got any clearance to start skimming because it is a foreign registered ( and built) ship and they don't know if and when it does get to skim (oil) it might put the skimmed water back into the ocean with a trace of oil in it. That is against the law y'know. It is our federal government taking care of us Double Dang!! These are the same folks that are going to take care of our health care.

Oregon

\ said...

how high is a tall tale?

Anonymous said...

How long is a tail? LOL
Don't you pick on me Suzy, I know I am out gunned here.

Oregon

J2Bad said...

Oregon - The Coast Guard spokesman said that: “There are standards for oil spill response vessels, testing standards...[but] The Coast Guard research and development center has a team of personnel that are ready to observe the tests, to test the efficacy of the vessels systems, as well as its ability to safely operate in that area down there.”

That's a problem why? The downside to having rules governing who gets to do stuff in our national waters is that, every once in a while, you have to take the time to implement those rules.

I've known lots of people who work for the medical insurance companies, and I've known a few who work for the Coast Guard. We might differ here, but I know who I'd trust to look out for my well-being.

Anonymous said...

J2Bad
When I lived in Alaska I knew lots of charter boat folks and I thought I might like to start my own fishing business. I looked into boats in the 22' to 32' range. The best ones were built in Canada. You can buy and register a boat built outside the USA (for a lot less money and better built) but cannot use it commercially, that is because of the Jones Act.
Now, for the feds watching out for us, I guess I could go off the deep end here but I'll let it lay. I do want to say I believe the federal government does not have our interests at heart no matter how good he speaks or how good lookin' he is.
Now back to the Coast Guard and implementing the rules of the road. I do not know anybody that did not have the required fire extinguishers, life jackets and flairs on board in Alaska. Oars are required on skiffs under 15 feet. That's about .005% of a football field so most of you can know how big these things are.
I ain't apologizen' for the things I have said but it seems somewhere Common Sense has to show up.

Oregon

spyrock said...

i remember people protesting back in the 1960's. i remember people saying something like love it or leave it. my country right or wrong. well, now that the shoe is on the left foot. now you even have tv news stations like the fox channel that are anti american constantly putting down the government.
like kennedy said, its not what your country can do for you, its what you can do for your country. i'm sure the only effect that these protesters are having is a negative one. they aren't helping anyone. so if you don't like it, move to mexico or back to germany or whatever part of the world your family came from. us natives don't need you anyhow. no body likes a whinner or a party pooper. you lost the election, so get over it, its time to man up.

spyrock said...

you can't handle the twooth.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Spy
Alright, this time listen! And think about what I said. About “the real enemy.”

You are still spouting about “right” and “left”, Fox and NBC. Still pointing out the differences between us, and if we don’t like it we should leave the country. You even added native and newcomer to the mix. Big Money loves that, and they have promoted it amongst our ranks. It keeps us at EACH OTHER’S throats instead of being at theirs.

Rupert Murdoch owns Fox News. He is a major contributor to BOTH republicans and Democrats, he owns both Fox News and The New York Times. Do you really think that he cares if you have a good job or not? He doesn’t even worry about the fact that people know that he donates to both political parties. And , he owns both conservative and liberal news services. The only thing that he wants the politicians to know is, he has the clout to take them out of office if they don’t play the game his way.

British Petroleum has the same record of playing all side to middle for their greatest advantage. They donated to both Obama and McCain. It has worked well for them so far. Just watch, the publicity that they will put out will make them look squeaky clean, They will end up looking blameless. Big Money owns the news service and they will tell us what to think.

Anyone who recognizes these facts will be discredited as a psycho. Just watch and see what happens. Any bets?

J2Bad said...

Ernie, I completely agree with you on oil being bigger than government. Global capitalism is our ethos, not democracy.

Oregon, I appreciate the restraint.

However, the Jones Act doesn't apply to skimmers - that was just a media-induced red herring, drafting off of all the Obama hatred. Speaking of which - despite the impression I must have given, in truth, I view the president as a reasonably-powerful figurehead, but not much more; I don't think he's the government. I will grant you, though, he is a handsome man.

The vast majority of government workers work for whoever is in charge, applying the rules that remain fairly consistent from administration to administration; and though they work in a slow-moving bureaucracy, most government workers I've known take pride in their work. We may disagree on this, but I've seen no evidence to support the hostility towards basic governance that has conveniently arisen since Obama took office.

Even though the Jones Act doesn't apply - for the reasons that you would expect - I'm surprised that you don't think Taiwanese-owned, Liberian-flagged supertankers should be checked out before coming into our waters, just because the Canadians make good fishing boats. The one seems unrelated to the other, in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

J2Bad
There are a lot of Taiwan built boats plying Alaska waters and well built ones to boot but they cannot be used commercially even if owned and registered in the USA. The Jones Act is also the reason folks cruising the Inside Passage on Princess Lines etc. have to board in Canada. I was not aware that any foreign built boats are exempt from the Jones Act, and if they are I might still forget in my ripe old age before I get this note sent.

Oregon

Anonymous said...

Don't tax me bro!

Oregon

Anonymous said...

Obama's next frontier: Fix relations with Muslims.
According to NASA administrator, Charles Bolden, the president has assigned America's space agency with the task of helping U.S. relations with the Muslim world.
Dang, I am going to sleep so much better tonight knowing that information.

Oregon