“Workless poverty” in 1930’s England transformed the Eton schoolboy and Imperial policeman Eric Blair into the socially-conscious George Orwell. He went Down and Out in Paris and London; he went down the coal mines and picked hops in England. He saw the rich get richer and the working class get little reward. Sounds like the situation in the US today doesn’t it? His weapon was a pen but sometimes a handmade sign will do the same job today. One can only admire those who have come out against the greed and duplicity of the Masters of the Universe. Eric Cantor calls them a mob. There is no generosity of spirit on the Right. They know they are safe. It’s all there in Michael Lewis’ book “The Big Short”. Sell the public investments then double cross them and rake in the money. It’s all there in Thorstein Veblen’s “Theory of the Leisure Class”. Millions out of work, bankruptcy and foreclosures as far as the eye can see and they’re still running BMW and Cadillac commercials. The politicians are staying out of this since Wall Street owns them. Can’t expect any help from Obama either since Goldman Sachs was his biggest campaign contributor. All you can do is act on your own behalf. Scissor your credit cards and don’t be politically inert. You still have a vote.
Lenin said there could never be a revolution in England because the crowd wouldn’t storm Parliament when the signs read “Do not walk on the grass”. This is America so stand your ground people. Don’t let anyone push you away. You can’t trespass on democracy.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Nein, Nein, Nein...No, No, No!
The less-than-Presidential debate was held in Las Vegas this week and we were treated to Herman Cain’s nonsensical 9-9-9 tax proposal again. Since all tax policy is social policy this is really on the wrong track. Not fair. Not practical. Not realistic. But it is the topic de jour for the media who can only milk “Dancing with the Stars” and “Bowling for Fish” so far. Actually, it doesn’t matter since none of the guys in dark suits are going to be President. That includes Ms. Bachmann, the Tracy Flick candidate for Student Council.
I hate parading my serenading but I’ve done a little poem for the event.
Mitt and Newt don’t give a hoot.
Newt and Mitt don’t give a !@##$%
Paul is sick.
Perry is scary,
Cain’s a pain,
Bachmann’s a bore,
The rest we can ignore,
So let’s keep Obama,
And the lovely Michelle,
And let these Republicans
Go to hell!
We’ve come a long way from Thomas Jefferson to a pizza parlor policymaker
I hate parading my serenading but I’ve done a little poem for the event.
Mitt and Newt don’t give a hoot.
Newt and Mitt don’t give a !@##$%
Paul is sick.
Perry is scary,
Cain’s a pain,
Bachmann’s a bore,
The rest we can ignore,
So let’s keep Obama,
And the lovely Michelle,
And let these Republicans
Go to hell!
We’ve come a long way from Thomas Jefferson to a pizza parlor policymaker
Saturday, October 15, 2011
How to fix our country
The President has a jobs plan. Oops, had a jobs plan. The Republicans have a jobs plan. They want the country to hire 10 more GOP senators and as many other elective officers as possible. But this is kind of silly, isn’t it? When you listen to the Republican candidates for President it’s inherently comic. Besides, if they aren’t already corrupt they will still have to deal with Lord Acton. You know, the guy who said “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
The bankers say that the Occupy Wall Street “mob” is naïve. They should be grateful it isn’t being led by Robin Hood or Leon Trotsky or they would know what a mob can really achieve, and it wouldn’t be pretty. Epic and heroic, and very messy.
I have an idea that is better than politics and the shallow negations that plague us today. You’re not going to get any wisdom from bloated buffoons like Rush Limbaugh and Lou Dobbs. You need a real thinker like Fran Leibowitz who says, rightly, “Democracy needs things from its citizens so stand up and do your job”. What we need now is some civilizing energy from the populace. I have identified three areas where you can change your thoughts and you’ll change your world.
No. 1 Guns. They have killed more Americans than King George’s Redcoats did in two
wars. My home state Nevada has more registered guns on a per capita basis than anywhere. We also have 26 gun deaths per 100,000 which makes this one of the most violent places on Earth. Don’t buy a gun unless you’re shooting birds and squirrels. Let the police keep the peace and don’t try to get even with your ex-wife by killing eight people in a hair salon.
No.2 Drugs. This is the way to kill yourself today. I mean you start with yourself then kill your family and anyone else standing in the way of your addiction. Don’t be stupid. Don’t do drugs. Don’t enrich Mexican Drug Lords.
No. 3 Divorce. Men want a husband and women want a wife but the general population still has to go with the opposite sex. I’ve been married for over 54 years but this is what happiness is all about and I have two wonderful children that benefited. A single parent just doesn’t cut it when raising a family, even if you’re a Siamese twin.
Shakespeare wrote, “The fault, Dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves”. The great psychologist William James said, “Man alone is the architect of his destiny”. And, as the great American philosopher Georges Santayana said, “You must change your evil ways”. Or maybe that was Carlos Santana. Wisdom walks in many doors
The bankers say that the Occupy Wall Street “mob” is naïve. They should be grateful it isn’t being led by Robin Hood or Leon Trotsky or they would know what a mob can really achieve, and it wouldn’t be pretty. Epic and heroic, and very messy.
I have an idea that is better than politics and the shallow negations that plague us today. You’re not going to get any wisdom from bloated buffoons like Rush Limbaugh and Lou Dobbs. You need a real thinker like Fran Leibowitz who says, rightly, “Democracy needs things from its citizens so stand up and do your job”. What we need now is some civilizing energy from the populace. I have identified three areas where you can change your thoughts and you’ll change your world.
No. 1 Guns. They have killed more Americans than King George’s Redcoats did in two
wars. My home state Nevada has more registered guns on a per capita basis than anywhere. We also have 26 gun deaths per 100,000 which makes this one of the most violent places on Earth. Don’t buy a gun unless you’re shooting birds and squirrels. Let the police keep the peace and don’t try to get even with your ex-wife by killing eight people in a hair salon.
No.2 Drugs. This is the way to kill yourself today. I mean you start with yourself then kill your family and anyone else standing in the way of your addiction. Don’t be stupid. Don’t do drugs. Don’t enrich Mexican Drug Lords.
No. 3 Divorce. Men want a husband and women want a wife but the general population still has to go with the opposite sex. I’ve been married for over 54 years but this is what happiness is all about and I have two wonderful children that benefited. A single parent just doesn’t cut it when raising a family, even if you’re a Siamese twin.
Shakespeare wrote, “The fault, Dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves”. The great psychologist William James said, “Man alone is the architect of his destiny”. And, as the great American philosopher Georges Santayana said, “You must change your evil ways”. Or maybe that was Carlos Santana. Wisdom walks in many doors
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Say it again Sam
In Roger Ebert’s new book on the movies he says that he misses the great dialogue of past films and finds today’s scripts flat and dull. I was reminded of that recently while watching “Love me tonight” a 1932 musical comedy. Someone gets ill and the butler says to the flirtatious ingénue (played by Myrna Loy), “Could you go for a doctor?” and she replys, ‘Sure, show him right in.”
That’s witty, a commodity in rare supply in Hollywood today. After all, what is a Smurf, or Shrek or a Transformer likely to say that’s memorable. For that you need social observation as practiced by Billy Wilder. In “Lost Weekend” the alcoholic Ray Milland is in a bar begging for a drink and the bartender says, “One is too many and a thousand aren’t enough”. Even in a war movie like “Desperate Journey” you get a line like Ronald Reagan’s answer to a Nazi who says, “What’s your nationality?” and Reagen replys, “Half American, half New Jersey”.
Some of the problem comes from the botched remakes so popular now. The new “Arthur” was such a dud I walked out in the middle. In the original, Dudley Moore says to his manservant: “I’m going to take a bath” and the bored servant says, without looking up from his newspaper, “I’ll alert the media”.
Comedy is hard, I’ll admit, but I do like a scene from “The Doctors” where one doctor says, “My patient has just had a stroke, he slurs his words and nothing he says makes any sense”. And another doctor says, “Well, he can always move to Texas”.
The script that is the mother lode, of course, is “Casablanca”. “We’ll always have Paris”, “I’m shocked, shocked”, “Round up the usual suspects” and many others.
I met a young man in London who told me that there were no good scripts anymore and “Chinatown” was the last decent one. I told him there were always two he could go back to: “All about Eve” and “Double Indemnity”. His answer was, “never heard of them”
We have it all today, 3D, Imax, every special effect known to the computer nerds. Yes, the movies speak but, unfortunately, say nothing.
That’s witty, a commodity in rare supply in Hollywood today. After all, what is a Smurf, or Shrek or a Transformer likely to say that’s memorable. For that you need social observation as practiced by Billy Wilder. In “Lost Weekend” the alcoholic Ray Milland is in a bar begging for a drink and the bartender says, “One is too many and a thousand aren’t enough”. Even in a war movie like “Desperate Journey” you get a line like Ronald Reagan’s answer to a Nazi who says, “What’s your nationality?” and Reagen replys, “Half American, half New Jersey”.
Some of the problem comes from the botched remakes so popular now. The new “Arthur” was such a dud I walked out in the middle. In the original, Dudley Moore says to his manservant: “I’m going to take a bath” and the bored servant says, without looking up from his newspaper, “I’ll alert the media”.
Comedy is hard, I’ll admit, but I do like a scene from “The Doctors” where one doctor says, “My patient has just had a stroke, he slurs his words and nothing he says makes any sense”. And another doctor says, “Well, he can always move to Texas”.
The script that is the mother lode, of course, is “Casablanca”. “We’ll always have Paris”, “I’m shocked, shocked”, “Round up the usual suspects” and many others.
I met a young man in London who told me that there were no good scripts anymore and “Chinatown” was the last decent one. I told him there were always two he could go back to: “All about Eve” and “Double Indemnity”. His answer was, “never heard of them”
We have it all today, 3D, Imax, every special effect known to the computer nerds. Yes, the movies speak but, unfortunately, say nothing.
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