Do I know you? No? Great....let's keep it that way.

Have you noticed how UN-social we've become?  People are withdrawing, to one degree or another, from social interaction.  It's been a creeping thing for years, but now it seems to me it's becoming a stampede.  The most obvious example of this....

Texting

Given a choice, people....young people in particular, would prefer to not talk to other humans, ever.  Instead of going to see our neighbor two houses down the street, or calling them, we text them.  People go out for dinner, and then spend half their time texting, sometimes to the person sitting right across the table from them!

Shopping

It's estimated that 20% of American shopping malls will close within 5 years.  People are just not going out shopping like they used to.  Toys R Us, Radio Shack, Circuit City, and Blockbuster, among many others, are long gone.  Sears and Kmart are dead men walking, JC Penny isn't far behind, and even big chains like Macy's are closing stores as fast as they can.  Yet online retailers are THRIVING!  (OK....guilty.  Just this week I placed online orders with Amazon, LL Bean, and REI.)

You can even buy a car online without ever speaking to a live homo sapien!  That is, those who still want to drive can.  I recently read that the average young person doesn't even bother getting their driver's license until they're 19 years old.  In my day (as we old farts used to say) we were at the DMV at 6 am on our 16th birthday to be first in line to get our license.  Auto makers are seeing a trend of "car sharing", where a number of people will buy a car together, then take their turn driving it on the increasingly rare times they have to venture out of their house/apartment.

It wasn't long ago that if you wanted a meal of a slightly higher caliber than a drive-thru joint, you had to go INSIDE, be seated by a human, tell a human what you wanted, and pay a human on your way out.  

Today we have home delivery via Grub Hub and Uber Eats.  Just place your order and pay online, in half an hour open your door up just wide enough for someone to slip your food to you, then slam the door and lock it again.  No eye contact necessary.  *sweet!*

Many local grocery stores are now making home deliveries, and they all allow you to order everything from beans to toilet paper online, then just pull up curbside where they will hand you your assembled order.  (Coming to a complete stop is appreciated.)

If you're feeling puny, you can call any number of online doctors who will examine you long distance (?) and in many cases send you a prescription from a mail-order pharmacy.  (Just hold your camera phone up to your open mouth and say 'ahh'.)  Why go out to see a doctor or to a hospital (oh, many hospitals are closing, too) when you can sit at home and get fixed?

Will dermatology eventually become an extinct medical specialty?   Today dermatologists are in their heyday, treating all of us who regularly went outside when we were younger and now have skin cancer.  Soon we won't go outside enough to absorb any of those evil rays that give us problems 30 years down the road.  *note to self:  sell all suntan lotion stock*

Are we just getting lazier, or just more scared to interact with others?  Gee thanks Gates, Jobs, Bezos, and Zuckerberg.  *sigh*

S

Bacon Bacon, and More....WITH EDIT

Have you heard the latest twist to the life or death saga of Bacon Bacon, the San Francisco restaurant that specializes in dishes that contain that special male aphrodisiac?  Some residents of the area had complained of the smell of bacon permeating the neighborhood and had succeeded in having it shut down.  *gasp*  

Yesterday the court allowed Bacon Bacon to reopen if they uprated their ventilation system.  I should hope so.  If there was ever a reason to rally....riot even....for a cause, this was it.  Those anti-bacon types better not try any of that nonsense here in Texas!  We love our bacon, and we have the waistlines to prove it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I understand Edward Snowden, the guy who stole top secret gubment info and fled to Hong Kong (who then shipped him on to Russia) is about to make his move again.  He's been holed up in the Moscow airport for a month, and I'm guessing is smelling pretty ripe by now.  So far the only countries who say they will take him are a couple of banana republics in Latin America and Venezuela (not much better).

Can you imagine what 'ol Ed is thinkin'?  "This has NOT worked out like I thought.  I'm gonna spend the rest of my life in Bo-f__king-livia, swatting flies and selling souvenir 'Che' t-shirts to tourists.  Crap!"  

Smart career move, Ed.

EDIT:  U-turn....the f__ker is staying in Russia.  (Not a safe place, Ed.  "Bad things" can happen to people there.  *wink* )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a follow-up to a post of a few weeks ago where I suggested that some kind of immigration reform needs to be implemented ASAP.  The main argument for just rounding up undocumented workers and escorting them back across the river is that they are taking away jobs from legal Americans who need work.

I received an email from my patterned concrete vendor yesterday pleading with all their customers to please be patient with them.  It went on to say concrete was in short supply, they had jobs backed up for 3 weeks, the concrete companies couldn't hire enough drivers, they themselves couldn't hire enough employees, etc.

If you're wondering, this ^ is specialty patterned concrete.

OK all you native born Americans of whatever color you might be who were shunted aside by illegals who got that job meant for you.  You say you want to work?  Here's your chance.  You're up.  The hiring signs are out and the pay is good.

*Waiting....*

*Still waiting....*

Have a great weekend everyone.  Stay cool.  :)

S

They bicker, we suffer

Have you heard the old saying, "Nero fiddled while Rome burned"?  Nero was a Roman Emperor, and many Romans believed he casually fiddled his lyre after he himself started a fire in order to clear land for his palatial complex.  It was said all he cared about was himself, and gave no thought to the plight of his subjects.

That's about what's happening right now in Washington.  If Congress does nothing, major spending cuts will go into effect in January and the Bush era tax cuts will expire, hiking taxes.  It seems that more than 40% of businesses cited this upcoming "fiscal cliff" as a major reason for their spending and hiring restraint.  Equipment isn't being manufactured and sold and people desperately in need of work aren't being hired because Congress won't work together to put an end to this stalemate.  

In fact, they've "abandoned ship", turning out the lights and going back home while the country goes down the tubes.   Of course they'll tell you they are going back home in order to "consult with their constituents", but honestly all they're doing is fund raising.  Right now the only jobs they care about are their own. 

Most everyone agrees spending needs to be cut, but both parties have drawn lines in the sand and refuse to let their (special interest's) pet projects be cut. By default automatic across-the-board cuts will go into effect in January, and they are draconian.  They refuse to get together and negotiate, everyone giving up a little for the benefit of the whole.   The same with the Bush-era tax cuts....Republicans insisting the rich keep their tax cuts, too, while the Democrats only want to extend cuts to the middle class.  They bicker....we suffer.

They're waiting until after the November elections to see how the power paradigm changes.  If there is a major shift, the big winner will dig in even more and beat the other to death to get what they want. They're playing a game where one side wins all the marbles and the other is crushed.  Not exactly a good way to bring the country together is it?

Leaders would sit down together and work something out for the good of the country.  Ideologues see thing in black and white..."we win, they lose".  We don't have leaders.  Our politicians are a despicable bunch.

S

Grandpa's getting a tattoo? What's up with that?

Here's a new one:  It seems many people, particularly older people, are getting medical tattoos.  I guess they're suppose to replace those Medic-Alert bracelets.  They say things like "diabetic" or "allergic to ____".  Some have even had "Do Not Resuscitate" tattooed across their chest.  Paramedics can't use that as a legally binding order, but it will alert them to ask relatives for legitimate instructions.  I dunno.  I was kinda thinking about "Mom" or a pirate or something cool like that.


I think we've been sold a bill of goods....again.  Our politicians all say that it's small businesses that are the job creators in our country, so we can't raise taxes on them, right?  Now evidence says that isn't so.  It seems that brand new businesses just getting off the ground DO create jobs, but older small businesses (>5 yrs)  generally cut as many or more jobs as they create due to efficiency improvements.  Figured together, they cut more jobs than they created in all but 3 months last year.  I'm not suggesting we should or shouldn't raise taxes on small businesses, but I am saying the rationale our politicians have argued is a bunch of phooey.  Yet another reason to not trust 'em.  


S

What's wrong with these people?

ideo·logue

 noun \ˈī-dē-ə-ˌlȯg, -ˌläg\

1

: an impractical idealist : theorist

2

: an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology

That's what Republicans in the US House of Representatives are; "impractical idealists".  It's their way or the highway, baby.  


I'm an independent voter, sometimes siding more with one political party or the other depending on the issue, but never consistently enough to proclaim myself a Democrat or a Republican.  IMHO there are indeed a few places where compromise is NOT an alternative:  Faith, honesty, integrity....but politics isn't one of them.  I'm fed up with the Republican ideologues in Congress. 

Through [mainly] their efforts they have empowered the financial services industry (think big banks) to rob us blind and ultimately take the world to the precipice of a financial abyss.  Over the past 30 years the middle class has seen their fortunes stagnate (fact) while the upper class has seen theirs reach unprecedented highs (also a fact).  When is enough, enough?  Now the Republican House of Representatives won't even give the working stiffs a simple payroll tax cut extension to help mitigate the financial misery we're all experiencing?  (Well, not all...see above.)  Merry Christmas to you, too, jerks!

When are these guys going to come off their ideological high horses and work with the Democrats to put in place a FAIR tax policy and a realistic, sustainable spending plan?  If the rich can't be taxed any more because they're using their trillions of dollars to create jobs, where are they?  China?  Vietnam?  Indonesia?  In fairness, the Democrats can't keep upping their social program expenditures either.  They all need to be realistically reviewed.

Come on, Speaker Boner....er....Boehner.  LEAD!  (Oooo...new nickname:  "Viagra John")  So where does this leave us?  Screwed.  (Pun intended)

S  

The REAL Rick Perry

Now that Texas' Governor Rick Perry has announced his candidacy for president I'm sure the airwaves will be inundated with misinformed 30-second sound bites about our esteemed governor.  Let me tell you a few things you're probably not going to hear about Mr. Perry from his supporters.


First and foremost he's an opportunist.  He is quick to jump on what the prevailing poll sentiment says is currently popular....until the poll numbers change next week.  He's masterfully played up his reputation for fiscal conservatism to the Tea Party-ers, although his 10-year record as governor doesn't match his rhetoric.  When he became governor in 2000 Texas state debt was just over $13B ($16B in 2011 dollars allowing for inflation).  Today it's over $35B.  Ouch!


He'll tell you that under his leadership Texas' economy has thrived, and that 40% +/- of all jobs created in the US in the past several years have been in Texas.  True, BUT he doesn't tell you that the vast majority of those jobs are low-paying with few if any benefits.


So why have we thrived?  We're sitting on an ocean of oil and natural gas, and with crude prices around $100 a barrel, it would be hard NOT to thrive.  Remember NAFTA....the North American Free Trade Agreement?  It opened up a torrent of cheap imports from south of the Rio Grande border, and those imports are shipped straight up the middle of Texas to points north, which means jobs.  It's simple geography.  (And remember, NAFTA predated Rick Perry's governorship by a decade.)  Rick Perry has simply been at the right place at the right time.  


Remember all the fuss over the abuse of Eminent Domain, the legal tool used to take people's property if it's for the "public good" (such as for a school)?  Perry gets really bent-out-of-shape over that one....never mind that he once proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor, a half-mile-wide strip of confiscated land all the way from Mexico to Oklahoma and beyond that was going to be developed for highway/rail/data transmission, the rights to do so sold to a private (and foreign at that) FOR-PROFIT group.  Seems he overstepped his bounds on that one and was slapped down by the people when they found out about it.


Perry likes to tell the story of how he got in Barack Obama's face saying, "if you can't police our borders, WE can" (or something close).  Lots of talk, very little action.  Why?  Cheap labor fuels all those new low-paying jobs he's so proud of.  Business interests bluster a lot, but deep down they LOVE all that cheap labor.  REAL immigration reform isn't going to happen if Perry is elected president.  (Sorry Tea Party.)


His supporters will point out that he'll be a powerful national candidate because he's a prodigious fund-raiser.  Or to put it another way, he's never met a PAC (political action committee) he didn't like.  (See "Trans-Texas Corridor" above.)  He once proposed that it be mandatory that all little girls be vaccinated against PVM (a virus linked to cervical cancer).  Conservatives objected loudly about the intrusion on people's parental rights and he backed down.  Oh....and it was discovered that Perry's former Chief-of-Staff was then actively lobbying for his new employer Merck (pharmaceutical), the ONLY maker of an approved PVM vaccine at the time. *cha-ching*


He is a master practitioner of patronage, too.  After 10 years in office he has packed every department, commission, committee, college Board of Regents....even 6 of our 9 Supreme Court justices.  The size of our state government has grown MUCH faster than our increase in population would suggest it should.  So much for "smaller government".   (I guess the Tea Party missed that.)


So don't we here in Texas love him?  I mean, we've elected him governor 3 times.  Um...news flash:  Anyone running for statewide office in Texas with an "R" beside their name is pretty much a shoe-in.


So should you vote for him?  I dunno.  That's your choice.  He's a snake, a worm, a liar, or as those types are commonly  called today, a "politician".  Is he any better or worse than any of the rest?  Probably not.  But if you do vote for him, don't expect him to be a pure ideological standard bearer adoring supporters can rally around.  Best case he might be the least objectionable.  Worst case....?  Just go in with your eyes wide open, and don't turn your back on him.


On a positive note, he does have that most essential presidential qualification of all:  good hair.  ;)


S

We need to think this through a little more....

Lemme see if I have this right:  The Republicans say no new taxes on the rich because they (the rich) are the ones who are the "job creators", and taxes on them would kill off the new jobs we desperately need right now.  


Sounds good on the surface, but it doesn't seem to hold up under scrutiny.  When the economy imploded in 2008 it was estimated that over two TRILLION dollars was moved out of various investment vehicles (stocks, mutual funds, corporate bonds, etc).  Just today CNBC (business news channel) said again that roughly a TRILLION dollars was still on the sidelines not invested.  In other words the rich are NOT using their money right now to create new jobs.  They're sitting on their wealth waiting for lucrative investments to come along, but there are too many unknowns right now to make them feel comfortable parting with their cash.


So if a little less of rich folks money was sitting idle on the sidelines not creating jobs, how would that hurt the economy?  Seems to me if it were part of an agreement (along with cutting tons of waste, fraud, and bloat from government programs) to dramatically reduce the deficit, THAT would eliminate some uncertainty and help create jobs.  Think of it as a bit of "pump priming".  


Make sense?


S