Waiting for Godot . . .

I always remember the first time I saw this play. Lakeside, CA 1969, Cathy Fogerty and I team teaching and deciding that there was much to be learned from Beckett's play. But I hadn't seen the play, I had just the synopsis from Cathy and she seemed to think it had merit. So it starts. Oh, did I mention we were watching it via a video taped copy from KPBS? And it starts, and starts and starts again. And we are all like waiting, you know, for something to happen.

I think I read Joseph Heller's, Something Happened, at about this same time period. Anyway, nothing much occured. Just us, waiting for some dude named Godot (pronounced Goh-Do) never comes. Kinda' like the end of this fucking war in Iraqistan.

Which reminds me of what was said, "The air is full of our cries. But habit is a great deadener."

Our own little tea party

Why not, I woke up thinking. Why not form our own little version of the tea party movement? We are certainly fed up enough. We are certainly done with trying to cooperate while we are asked to wait. We do have a real agenda of concerns that need to be acted on. So why the hell not?





But first, lets go see what the tea party network is already doing. I took the time to join up and then look around, starting with the ning network guidelines where I found the following strictures against posting:

in a manner that is libelous or defamatory, or in a way that is otherwise
threatening, abusive, violent, harassing, malicious or harmful to any person or
entity, or invasive of another's privacy;

in a manner that is harmful to minors in any way;

in a manner that is hateful or discriminatory based on race, color, sex,
religion, nationality, ethnic or national origin, marital status, disability,
sexual orientation or age or is otherwise objectionable.

And yet, at the Tea Party site there were quite a few malicious and harmful videos and comments being posted. Hmmm. I guess I'll be seeing if the taplin blog got it right when he suggested the Republican Tea Party is a closed movement.

Meanwhile, back to my original thought. Why not do our own tea party thing? I think a full page ad in the LA Times would be a great place to start. I'll be back when I find out how much that would cost and if the Times guidelines would restrict us saying what we want to say.

Votes don't matter nor voters neither

That is really the only conclusion one can come to after last Friday's election in Iran and then today's approval by the House of a War Spending Bill that includes the following:

"The war spending legislation (just passed by the house) carried a hodgepodge of other provisions, including $5 billion to expand the role of the International Monetary Fund in shoring up the world economy, $1 billion to encourage U.S. consumers to trade in gas-guzzlers for more fuel-efficient new cars, and limits on the administration's ability to bring terrorist suspects from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba to the United States."

Politics again rears its ugly head. Trade off the IMF aid for friendly grades from Europe, trade the aid to car manufacturers for seeming to help the auto industry and the consumer, trade the limits on the Admin of Guantanomo for getting the Republicans to pass the IMF part, and trade the Democrats their anti-war feelings for some down the road support from President O.

This isn't what I voted for, hoped for, wanted. But what the hell, I am just one voter.

If your credit is bad

According to an article in the June 7, LA Times Business section, "The credit report is becoming the latest hurdle for unemployed workers in a dismal U.S. job market. Up to half of employers use credit screening to weed out potentially troublesome hires, though estimates vary, and the practice is on the rise." So a person applying for a job, a person that has been hit by the foreclosure market and the job loss market that has reached 9% and rising has developed a case of a loss in credit status, is that what I'm understanding? Is this supposed to be news?

The article goes on, as though point A leads to point 2, "Money woes could signal disorder in an individual's personal life that could translate into slipshod work habits, some staffing experts said. Companies lose billions annually to employee theft. A sterling credit history, they said, points to a worker who is more likely to be disciplined, trustworthy and reliable." So the workers having lost the home they bought because they thought they were secure in their job which they lost because the company they worked for laid off workers because the company itself had to apply for bankruptcy protection are now suspected thieves?

The fact that the credit industry is in full pull-in-your-head turtle mode apparently doesn't play a part in this analysis either. American Express has recently joined a number of other credit card companies in the following. First, they notify you that your available credit balance has been lowered to just above whatever the current balance is. Then they notify you that because they can, they are raising the interest rate on your current balance by 10 or 15 or, in some cases, 20%. This happens whether you are current and have a great payment history or not. Another company, Advanta, just closed its doors. Toodledoo ducks. And oh by the way, before we go away, you available credit has been lowered because you've had too many inquiries in the last 12 months and (since we lowered your available balance) your accounts are now too close to their limits.

Anyone else sense the circle here. The companies, and not just the ones you give permission to, are checking your credit history. Because you are applying everywhere and anywhere in hopes of landing something, that means a lot of credit checks which means your credit gets lowered and your credit report shows this. Yuck, or that other word that sounds like it but starts with F.

The President and the Auto Industry

The news today was cram full of stories about the President's Auto Industry Commission report on what the government expects GM and Chrysler to do if they want to receive any more bailout funds. Straight talk apparently equals government interference according to the Repubs. It was to be expected. The Republicans are looking for any way shape or form that will help them get back the power that the Bush years cost them.

But I think that President Obama and his commission are right on course in this case. The facts stand out. GM and Chrysler are perfect examples of how the power of a monopoly of ideas (free market expansionism and profit first) can be distorted into a disaster. If we had time or were in another place, this situation might be something that could be managed by just letting the hand play out. But, to my mind that just lets the situation, like a bamboo plant, have another chance to do the same thing all over again.

It is time that we all grew up. Teenagers want fast cars. Macho men need Hummers to pose their image. Well-to-do Matrons and their clones have to have fear safe SUVs. But what an adult and intelligent person needs is sensible, affordable transportation. The auto industry has spent years and billions of dollars selling us on the idea that a car is an expression of our personality. Only a kid would believe that. Only a mercenary industry would think that such a morally reprehensible position was right and justified under the free market bannerism of "Caveat Emptor!"

But that is just my opinion. What do you think America, are you ready to give up your toys and grow up?

Politics as usual

I listened with great interest to Mr. Obama's question and answer session last night. I watched it on C Span. I have to say he showed why he can be trusted to think through this ongoing series of events even though I did not always agree with how he answered. I did like, do like, his persistence and the way he used it as the element of his campaign to become president which brought him victory suggests it will serve him well here.

Meanwhile, the clamor of voices trying to be heard about all the very important issues to be resolved does make it difficult to trust that politics as usual isn't hard at work. A politician by nature must please the ones who put it in office first and those general community of voters second. Otherwise, goes the traditional wisdom, the politician won't stay in office long enough to accomplish any work. So along with the "Earmarks" attached to the bills that congress passes, we also should expect the vocal earmarking that allows the politician to broadcast where his or her loyalties lie.

They say in real estate that its location, location, location and in business that there's no such thing as bad pub. Well, the same thing appears to be the play in politics. Which brings me back to Mr. Obama.

Every time he chose to use the code words, healthcare, energy, and education, I found myself questioning his answer. What I find difficult to hear when somone uses code is what their real motive is. Just like when a questioner asked him about China by including the phrase, a communist government, and I immediately wondered about the motive behind the question.

So this brings me back to this question, was this Q & A just politics as usual?

So the Stimulus is a stress test

We all want something out of this. Less the stress, I would guess. Here in sunny Encinitas, things have the appearance of business as usual even though there are a hell of lot of surfers out for February and the holidays seem to be coming pretty quickly so spending at least on the surface seems normal. But man o' man there are a lot of stores closed or closing and in the ones I visited that are Sales! closing out, people are waiting until the very last minute to make a buy.

Two things might be playing a factor in this: One, no one wants to let go of their cash and Two, a lot of people seem to be noticing that they don't really need the things on sale. It may well be a dawn of a new age. Less is more.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of concern about where the actual stimulus money is going to go and how much of it will actually get to we individuals who know we are going to need help in the near future. Are there going to be more and larger stimulus checks? Or will it show up in the form of better transportation and cheaper and more complete health insurance? Will the jobs that are supposed to appear actually be ones that people will want to work?

I asked the question other day - what is going to be the business/commerce of the 21st century? What will we produce that people need to exist healthily and happily? I think we need to broaden and deepen our commitment to the education of our future citizens. We need life long education for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the need to learn how to live intelligently with our fellow human beings. But deeper than that we have to acknowledge that the computerization of our culture will lead to more leisure or at least more extra time that we will have to know how to use creatively enough so as to be happy in the result. I know this sounds idealistic but I am a realist. We have to face ourselves and where always wanting more has brought us.

Okay, that's enough for now, I need to research and to think more before I go on.

So Barack what is the plan?

The day after Clinton conceded and here we all are. Kurt Streeter in the LA Times uses it as his double lead story about the Lakers/Celtics then and now. So Barack what now? Everyone is caught in this moment. Do we dare hope?

Well, maybe, but that won't stop the idiots from claiming they won because the Dems duked it out. On the other hand, the joy of winning is certainly hard to ignore.



Meanwhile, the question still needs to be asked. Barack, what now? We, after all, have been here before. Kerry, Gore. Looked great, ran out of steam. I have to admit I don't like the fact that you caved on the church thing. But I do like the fact that you are challenging McCain on the things he's said and the actions he's taken.



Still, what about this healing thing within the party? Hilary as your VP. I like it for the fact that it works to laugh in the face of the Repugnants and buffers you from those who might do you physical harm. Richardson. He would be great for the infrastructure rebuilding and for support in the international relationships we have to establish. My personal choice is Claire McCaskill but that's just because she is level-headed, forthright, and clear-spoken.



And finally, Barack, what about the issues? You know some young blonde child-woman will ask you the question about abortion, right? Immigration, can you challenge McCain on this issue by actually speaking to the real facts of the case? Immigrants are us. Whether we came by slave ship or in the back of a truck, by sampan or for the railways, through religious belief or economic need; unless we are native american, we are all immigrants. What we have brought to America in the process is what makes America great. And then there's the economy which as it stands looks like train wreck happening. Can you return the right kind of regulation to a lending industry gone wild? Can you weather the storm of failures that will come first before any of this gets turned around? You know the Repugnants, their party comes first so don't expect help there, expect blame.

For me there is one last issue that towers above them all. We are locked into a militaristic future budgeted beyond control and blanketed in fear. Do you have a solution? Can the military frame of mind be reasoned with? Can the black op nature of our government be made transparent? Can the mothers and neocons be convinced to let up on their continuing fear of the terrorist threat that drives their vote?

I find myself coming to one conclusion. If I ask Barack, what now? Am I not also asking myself the same question? So what about it, rhbee, what now?