The Hard, Central Fact Of American "Conservatism"
The hard, central "fact" of contemporary "conservatism" is its insistence on a socio-economic threshold above which people deserve government assistance, and below which people deserve to die.
The sooner the better.
***
Give 'em Hell Frankie!
"Pope Francis Links"
***
Dear Fred,
Hey! Please count me in... for the duration.
I have many glowing reports on Turkey and can put you in touch with a friend who knows it well. Keep it in mind as you plan your mid-East trip.
Down the road, I will send travel tips Italy, a country I know quite well. Gianutri, Scopello, Lucca and Parque Naturale dello Zingaro are all extraordinary and seldom visited.
I'm glad you left "rich bastards" in your latest edition of Frog Hospital.
An important -- perhaps an existential -- component of 1% vility is that they have made us feel ashamed to identify them as the murderous mofos they are. Here's an hors d'oeuvre. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/09/harvard-study-45000-americans-die.html
Even Warren Buffett is "on board" with class warfare. He is also frank -- and frankly disappointed -- that "his class is winning." http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/01/gk-chesterton-and-warren-buffetts-class.html
Do hesitate to call a mofo a mofo, although -- as you know better than I -- it is counterproductive to use more than a strict modicum of vulgarity with people you're trying to reach/convert.
One of the earliest directives in Genesis is to name all the animals.
Pax on both houses,
Alan
PS Don't miss the following Jon Stewart posts. They are unusually good and the first of them is pertinent to our discussion.
On Thu, Dec 5, 2013 at 12:43 PM, Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:
FROG HOSPITAL -- December 5, 2013By Fred OwensI hear people say Europe this, Europe that, and how can I respond? I need to get there and soon.
Purging the Mailing List. In an annual rite, Frog Hospital will soon purge the mailing list. We will set you free. We will not clog up your Inbox with unwanted and unread emails. And all you have to do is nothing.
But if you want to STAY ON THE MAILING LIST, then you need to represent. We need to hear from you. A short message such as "Hey!" will do.
Legacy Readers. So it's simple. Do nothing and Frog Hospital goes away. Respond with a short message and you keep receiving these sparkling words. There is only one exception to this schemata, it is the Marty Federman Rule.
The Marty Federman rule applies -- well, of course, first of all it applies to Marty Federman who once told me that since he hardly ever read Frog Hospital, maybe I should remove his name from the list.
I was alarmed. I realized that, as a writer, I needed to know Marty Federman was out there, somewhere, and that he might, just might, read what I wrote. I realized he was important to the continued success of Frog Hospital, and I asked him would he kindly stay on the list, with no obligation to ever read the thing, but just be there for me.
He agreed, and so became the first of several Frog Hospital Legacy Readers. That basically means you can't quit even if you want to, and I know who you are.
Okay, on with the news.
Mr. Obama said in a speech on the economy and the widening gap in national income that he will devote the rest of his presidency to the crucial issue of social mobility.
I agree that this is a serious problem. It is observable at many levels. The people who "earn" 100 times more than I do are not 100 times smarter and they do not work 100 times harder. It doesn't even make sense.
I put myself in one of the lower income tiers to offer as an example. So, I must quickly add that my life is not a living hell. I do not need the Food Bank, although I know it is there and recently they had so much food that they ran out of storage space. And during some times of low unemployment this summer, I put in extra volunteer hours at the community garden which donates its produce to the local Food Bank.
We are getting by, those many of us who are statistically broke.
Even so, I want to put the hammer down on those rich bastards..... and I soon as I typed those words I realize that I ought to manage such a harsh sentiment.
Anyway, President Obama has raised the issue of inequality. It is a problem. Government initiatives are dubious, but raising the minimum wage is a workable partial remedy.
If there is no solution, there is no problem.
Say it again. If there is no solution, there is no problem. I composed this sentence recently and I had a chance at a Thanksgiving dinner to launch it into the public sphere. I was sitting next to a planetary researcher from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena -- a genuine rocket scientist.
We were talking about asteroids, large ones, hurtling toward us from outer space, on a collision course that will end all life on Planet Earth. He said it will happen, it's only a question of when.
This gave me an opening. I said, "If there is no solution, there is no problem."
The scientist paused for a moment and replied, "You're right."
The Frog Hospital assignment this week is for readers to come up with other unsolvable situations which, therefore, are not problems.
Why the Dutch Love Black Pete
Washington has the Redskins and the Dutch have their Black Petes. These are old-style ethnic monikers that may have served their time.
But I don't react one way or the other. Do you know what I really want? I think I would like to go to Amsterdam -- ....... Go there for a week, and then two or three weeks in France, and some time in Italy and then come back.
Actually, I could skip Amsterdam and just go to France and Italy -- that would be on my way to the Middle East. Of course, if I go to the Middle East, which country would I visit? Not sure about that just yet.
Anyway, here I am in Santa Barbara (can't complain) reading about an important social issue in the Netherlands, and realizing that I have such a poor understanding of Europe because I have NEVER been there -- except for three weeks in 1969 which was such a short trip and so long ago that it doesn't really count.
Subscriptions. Your subscription money keeps the editor from getting cranky. Your dollars keep him on an even keel. He needs to maintain a sense of detachment and keep his sense of humor. Help him out. Send your check today or hit the PayPal button...... Just follow the instructions below.
Subscriptions. Thank you --- Subscriptions can be paid at PayPal on the Frog Hospital blog for $25. Or you can mail a check to the address below.
Fred Owens
cell: 360-739-0214
My gardening blog is Fred OwensMy writing blog is Frog Hospital
send mail to:
Fred Owens
35 West Main St Suite B #391
Ventura CA 93001
No comments:
Post a Comment