B-P-B LIMBAUGH
Johann Wagener 8-24-13
Rush is nothing more than a Blubbery-Pillpopping-Blowhard who's bankrolled by the the Cock (spelling intentional) Bro's cartel to act as a "sh-t magnet" in attracting the dimwits (of which there is an abundance of in these United States) to keep them dumb, ill-informed, and in line in fear that if they wised up the game would be over.
Limbaugh is astute at waving a flag in one hand while at the same time holds a gun in the other and spews on about taking down the country the flag represents. How dumb is that? Yet it sells well and is effective in keeping the heat off the 1% crowd who continue to pull of the greatest Ponzi scheme in history.
The following op-ed was a compassionate piece about a slightly disillusioned old man who was able to open himself up to what really matters in our short time on the planet. He, in a sense, was saved and enlightened before the end came, and I commend him for that.
Read it here: Dad, Rush Limbaugh and me
Then came the blow-back in today's Op-ed section of the LA Times which surprisingly brought some thinkers in addition to the "walking dead" Rushies.
Read it here: BLOW BACK
What this tells me is that there is hope. That, in the end (or near there) we can redeem ourselves by realizing that yes indeed, there is a God (and those we hold close to our hearts) and He loves us enough to forgive us for following folks like Limbaugh down the path of doom and gloom. That even goes for Rush, if he's smart enough to get it.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
THE GREAT AWAKENING
IT WAS ONLY A DREAM
Johann Wagener 8-22-13
Waking up from a really pleasant dream is a real downer which is exactly what happened when the "American Dream" bubble popped and we woke up to the "Great Recession."
Not that everything was ever peachy-keen mind you. Your home was never actually worth what you borrowed against it by using it as an ATM machine to buy up piles of made-in-china junk that you really had no need for (just wanted it) and would break or wear out long before you ever got used to it. Americans became nothing more than recycling junkies; trapped in a never ending cycle of "shop till you drop."
As the now infamous GWB boldly proclaimed after the 9/11 horror, "forget the past; take a break; go out and shop."
Updated September 14, 2010
One of the most persistent claims about George W. Bush's response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is that he urged Americans to simply "go shopping" as the nation headed into war.
"Bush did nothing to mobilize public opinion to accept the sacrifices that war implies - the first thing a leader would do," Ronald Spiers, a retired American diplomat, alleged in a 2003 op-ed in The New York Times.
"Tax cuts could go ahead as planned, and energy saving was dismissed out of hand. 'Go shopping' was the administration's message."
Now, 4 years after the great recession supposedly ended, the dream has turned into a nightmare. The American family is drowning in debt....has little or no savings in the bank........retirement is something one can only dream of.....and the best most can do is tred water. But, by golly, we still shop! Neiman Marcus has been replaced with Walmart. Abercrombie & Fitch? No, J.C. Penny.
Not to worry however. The "dreamweavers" that make up the 1% who created the last disaster are busily whipping up another one of their famous BS salads, counting on our short memory spans and our desperation to escape reality. So, go back to sleep folks. Next year will be better. That $52,098 yearly income (which would by you a low end Rolex) might get back to what you were bringing in 2007 when the Great Recession began.
Household income has dropped 4.4% since recession ended
American households are earning 4.4% less, when adjusted for inflation, than they were when the economic recovery began four years ago, according to a recent report by Sentier Research.
In June, the median income clocked in at $52,098, down from the $54,478 earned in June 2009. That drop is even more drastic when compared against the average income of $55,480 that households earned in December 2007, when the recession began.
Johann Wagener 8-22-13
Waking up from a really pleasant dream is a real downer which is exactly what happened when the "American Dream" bubble popped and we woke up to the "Great Recession."
Not that everything was ever peachy-keen mind you. Your home was never actually worth what you borrowed against it by using it as an ATM machine to buy up piles of made-in-china junk that you really had no need for (just wanted it) and would break or wear out long before you ever got used to it. Americans became nothing more than recycling junkies; trapped in a never ending cycle of "shop till you drop."
As the now infamous GWB boldly proclaimed after the 9/11 horror, "forget the past; take a break; go out and shop."
Updated September 14, 2010
One of the most persistent claims about George W. Bush's response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is that he urged Americans to simply "go shopping" as the nation headed into war.
"Bush did nothing to mobilize public opinion to accept the sacrifices that war implies - the first thing a leader would do," Ronald Spiers, a retired American diplomat, alleged in a 2003 op-ed in The New York Times.
"Tax cuts could go ahead as planned, and energy saving was dismissed out of hand. 'Go shopping' was the administration's message."
Now, 4 years after the great recession supposedly ended, the dream has turned into a nightmare. The American family is drowning in debt....has little or no savings in the bank........retirement is something one can only dream of.....and the best most can do is tred water. But, by golly, we still shop! Neiman Marcus has been replaced with Walmart. Abercrombie & Fitch? No, J.C. Penny.
Not to worry however. The "dreamweavers" that make up the 1% who created the last disaster are busily whipping up another one of their famous BS salads, counting on our short memory spans and our desperation to escape reality. So, go back to sleep folks. Next year will be better. That $52,098 yearly income (which would by you a low end Rolex) might get back to what you were bringing in 2007 when the Great Recession began.
Household income has dropped 4.4% since recession ended
American households are earning 4.4% less, when adjusted for inflation, than they were when the economic recovery began four years ago, according to a recent report by Sentier Research.
In June, the median income clocked in at $52,098, down from the $54,478 earned in June 2009. That drop is even more drastic when compared against the average income of $55,480 that households earned in December 2007, when the recession began.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Why get off welfare?
DUMBER THAN DUMB
Johann Wagener 8-22-13
In the following op-ed piece a guy named Tanner points out that poor people are not stupid and then goes about selling them on a stupid notion that welfare recipients make too much money which is why they are not motivated to work at "slave labor" wages like those doled out by the Walmarts of this world. The Waltons, by the way, are one of the richest families in the US and they go there on the backs of those that work for those "slave labor" wages they pay.
Rather than increasing wages Mr Tanner wants to cut welfare; a complete reversal of what would be the common sense and moral thing to do. What Tanner and those who think like him should do is take a month or two and go on welfare and then work at a Walmart, or MacDonalds for a few months, and then come back to their cushy jobs and take another jab at the problem. Maybe that would wise them up a little.
Why get off welfare?
By Michael D. Tanner
August 22, 2013
Contrary to stereotypes, there is no evidence that people on welfare are lazy. Indeed, surveys of welfare recipients consistently show their desire for a job. But there is also evidence that many are reluctant to accept available employment opportunities. Despite work requirements included in the 1996 welfare reform, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says less than 42% of adult welfare recipients participate in work activities nationwide. Why the contradiction?
Perhaps it's because, while poor people are not lazy, they are not stupid either. If you pay people more not to work than they can earn at a job, many won't work.
As a result, if Congress and state legislatures are serious about reducing welfare dependence and rewarding work, they should consider strengthening welfare work requirements, removing exemptions and narrowing the definition of work. Moreover, states should shrink the gap between the value of welfare and work by reducing current benefit levels and tightening eligibility requirements.
Michael D. Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author of "The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society."
Johann Wagener 8-22-13
In the following op-ed piece a guy named Tanner points out that poor people are not stupid and then goes about selling them on a stupid notion that welfare recipients make too much money which is why they are not motivated to work at "slave labor" wages like those doled out by the Walmarts of this world. The Waltons, by the way, are one of the richest families in the US and they go there on the backs of those that work for those "slave labor" wages they pay.
Rather than increasing wages Mr Tanner wants to cut welfare; a complete reversal of what would be the common sense and moral thing to do. What Tanner and those who think like him should do is take a month or two and go on welfare and then work at a Walmart, or MacDonalds for a few months, and then come back to their cushy jobs and take another jab at the problem. Maybe that would wise them up a little.
Why get off welfare?
By Michael D. Tanner
August 22, 2013
Contrary to stereotypes, there is no evidence that people on welfare are lazy. Indeed, surveys of welfare recipients consistently show their desire for a job. But there is also evidence that many are reluctant to accept available employment opportunities. Despite work requirements included in the 1996 welfare reform, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says less than 42% of adult welfare recipients participate in work activities nationwide. Why the contradiction?
Perhaps it's because, while poor people are not lazy, they are not stupid either. If you pay people more not to work than they can earn at a job, many won't work.
As a result, if Congress and state legislatures are serious about reducing welfare dependence and rewarding work, they should consider strengthening welfare work requirements, removing exemptions and narrowing the definition of work. Moreover, states should shrink the gap between the value of welfare and work by reducing current benefit levels and tightening eligibility requirements.
Michael D. Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author of "The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society."
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Is the American dream dead?
WAKING UP
Johann Wagener 8-21-13
Dreams don't die; really. Since they only exist somewhere in that blob of grey matter between your ears, they just disappear when you wake up. What is happening now is that many more Americans are waking up and staring right into the stark and painful reality that many of us so desperately work at avoiding; using drugs, booze, sex or anything else those that operate the "dream-weaving" machine dole out. Sort of like leaving Disneyland, walking through an ocean of cars, jumping into yours and getting freeway ramp; a place where being wide awake and alert is a must and tuning out to reality needs to be put on hold at least until you get home where you can safely distract yourself once more and join ranks with the "walking dead".
Two American Families – FRONTLINE
It’s a central premise of the American dream: If you’re willing to work hard, you’ll be able to make a living and build a better life for your children.
But what if working hard isn’t enough to ensure success—or even the basics of daily life?
FRONTLINE and Bill Moyers explore that question tonight in Two American Families, a special 90-minute documentary that was more than two decades in the making—and that The New Yorker says "will take its place among the central documents of our time."
In Two American Families, Moyers revisits the Neumanns and Stanleys, whom we first met in his 1992 PBS documentary Minimum Wages: The New Economy. Back then, the breadwinners in both families had just been laid off from well-paying factory jobs after corporate downsizing.
With poignant and revealing intimacy, Two American Families chronicles the Neumanns' and Stanleys' struggles from 1992 up through the present as they try to hold onto their homes, their jobs and a future for their children.
Where are they now? Have their efforts paid off? And what does their story say about the fate of the middle class in the new American economy?
Johann Wagener 8-21-13
Dreams don't die; really. Since they only exist somewhere in that blob of grey matter between your ears, they just disappear when you wake up. What is happening now is that many more Americans are waking up and staring right into the stark and painful reality that many of us so desperately work at avoiding; using drugs, booze, sex or anything else those that operate the "dream-weaving" machine dole out. Sort of like leaving Disneyland, walking through an ocean of cars, jumping into yours and getting freeway ramp; a place where being wide awake and alert is a must and tuning out to reality needs to be put on hold at least until you get home where you can safely distract yourself once more and join ranks with the "walking dead".
Two American Families – FRONTLINE
It’s a central premise of the American dream: If you’re willing to work hard, you’ll be able to make a living and build a better life for your children.
But what if working hard isn’t enough to ensure success—or even the basics of daily life?
FRONTLINE and Bill Moyers explore that question tonight in Two American Families, a special 90-minute documentary that was more than two decades in the making—and that The New Yorker says "will take its place among the central documents of our time."
In Two American Families, Moyers revisits the Neumanns and Stanleys, whom we first met in his 1992 PBS documentary Minimum Wages: The New Economy. Back then, the breadwinners in both families had just been laid off from well-paying factory jobs after corporate downsizing.
With poignant and revealing intimacy, Two American Families chronicles the Neumanns' and Stanleys' struggles from 1992 up through the present as they try to hold onto their homes, their jobs and a future for their children.
Where are they now? Have their efforts paid off? And what does their story say about the fate of the middle class in the new American economy?
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
THERE'S A NEW "NEWS" IN TOWN
IMPORTED NEWS
Johann Wagener 8-20-13
Getting the news; I mean real news, is not easy. The closest one can come to getting it is on PBS or NPR both publicly funded entities and not beholden to advertisers and those shadow-people called "investors."
Then there's the BBC who is the British version of our PBS that does an admirable job in sticking to what's going on in the world.
Then comes the "media circus" we call news media who parade an unending army of "pundits' around the circuit to hype whatever cause that particular network panders to. The left and the right use the same game card so neither is considered an actual "news" outlet and fall far behind even faux news shows like Colbert and Stewart when it comes to delivering rational, sensible information. They are consistent in filling the 24/7 cable void with an onslaught of one hour circus acts that only serve to dilute the news into a giant steaming pile of BS.
It's a rage fest of uninformed but sadly opinionated clowns ranting about nothing newsworthy desperately trying to fill the 24/7 void to keep their jobs. Journalism? No. Cronism? Yes.
Now comes "AL-J" as I call it and I'm wondering who's camp are they going to join? That's left to be seen of course, but my guess is that they will be a far cry from the cable circus crowd but not exactly a clone of the "public" outlets.
The unknown is who will view and support a Qatar funded news organization. You can bet your granny's panties that the "flag wavers" will launch their attack and there's no way the "Fox-Zombies" would ever tune in to anything that threatens their fantasy world. So that leaves about 50% of the American viewing audience to decide if they are intelligent and concerned enough to look at the world through clearer glasses. And, AL-J to deliver as promised.
Al Jazeera America launches, but will Americans watch?
Johann Wagener 8-20-13
Getting the news; I mean real news, is not easy. The closest one can come to getting it is on PBS or NPR both publicly funded entities and not beholden to advertisers and those shadow-people called "investors."
Then there's the BBC who is the British version of our PBS that does an admirable job in sticking to what's going on in the world.
Then comes the "media circus" we call news media who parade an unending army of "pundits' around the circuit to hype whatever cause that particular network panders to. The left and the right use the same game card so neither is considered an actual "news" outlet and fall far behind even faux news shows like Colbert and Stewart when it comes to delivering rational, sensible information. They are consistent in filling the 24/7 cable void with an onslaught of one hour circus acts that only serve to dilute the news into a giant steaming pile of BS.
It's a rage fest of uninformed but sadly opinionated clowns ranting about nothing newsworthy desperately trying to fill the 24/7 void to keep their jobs. Journalism? No. Cronism? Yes.
Now comes "AL-J" as I call it and I'm wondering who's camp are they going to join? That's left to be seen of course, but my guess is that they will be a far cry from the cable circus crowd but not exactly a clone of the "public" outlets.
The unknown is who will view and support a Qatar funded news organization. You can bet your granny's panties that the "flag wavers" will launch their attack and there's no way the "Fox-Zombies" would ever tune in to anything that threatens their fantasy world. So that leaves about 50% of the American viewing audience to decide if they are intelligent and concerned enough to look at the world through clearer glasses. And, AL-J to deliver as promised.
Al Jazeera America launches, but will Americans watch?
Saturday, August 10, 2013
A $38,000.00 Purse?
Queen Oprah
Johann Wagener 8-10-13
Why would anyone in their right mind want to pay $38,000 for a purse? It seems that the richer people get, the crazier they behave.
How does their mind work? Let's see, I've got $38,000 here. What should I do with it? Help some kids who don't have enough to eat? Donate it to a cancer research fund? Help some old folks pay for their medical expenses? Hey! I got a better idea! I'm going to buy a purse!
Oprah handbag worth $38 000
Johann Wagener 8-10-13
Why would anyone in their right mind want to pay $38,000 for a purse? It seems that the richer people get, the crazier they behave.
How does their mind work? Let's see, I've got $38,000 here. What should I do with it? Help some kids who don't have enough to eat? Donate it to a cancer research fund? Help some old folks pay for their medical expenses? Hey! I got a better idea! I'm going to buy a purse!
Oprah handbag worth $38 000
FILNER-GATE
EGO-BLOAT
Johann Wagener 8-10-13
An article in the LA Times quotes the founder of a sex addiction clinic where Filner is alleged to have been treated, as “helping people regain their integrity”.
If that’s true, then they have failed miserably in helping Filner. For one to have integrity, requires one to also have humility, empathy, respect, and dignity; none of which Filner expresses if he continues to hold on to power.
The sexual assaults are just one of the many ways a “power junkie” feeds a “supersized” bloated Ego. The addiction isn't in sex, but power and, in his case, an adolescent way of wielding it. If he truly wants to heal he first needs to “surrender” (as they teach in the Recovery movement) and humbly ask for help rather than control his disease and play at getting better. Then, and only then, can recovery begin.
Going away for a few weeks to a place he chose is nothing more than another arrogant act of defiance and contradicts it's intent. One would have to be an idiot (or a practicing addict themselves) to buy into this guys manipulations. He's been at it for years and no one has a "2 week" cure for what he suffers from.
Hanging on to his power based position as mayor of San Diego is like an alcoholic hanging on to a bottle of his favorite booze, or a coke-head hanging his spoon around their neck in a gesture of defiance against the laws of recovery.
Sorry mayor, it doesn't work that way.
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