As American As An Apple iPhone?

Sometimes I wonder just how my brain manages to function with the eclectic thoughts and interests I have rummaging around in there.  On the day that my Vanity Fair magazine arrived (yesterday) so did my PlayStation Magazine.  And, then, I was left with a decision:  which one do I read first?  The one that holds the last interview with Dennis Hopper or the one that has a huge article on LittleBigPlanet 2?

Ah, were every question in life as meaningless as deciding on a magazine.  But, then, life would be boring.

Anyway, being the intellectual I am, I opened Vanity Fair first and flipped through the pages.  I read The 60 minutes/Vanity Fair poll which asked 960 adults the following question:

If we wanted to update the expression "as American as...," which of the following would be the best replacement for "apple pie"?

The choices were Apple iPod, NASCAR, Triple bacan cheeseburgers, S.U.V. and Going to rehab. 23% of the people polled said the Apple iPod and 23% said NASCAR.  I find this funny.  NASCAR is truly American.  It's stockcar races are direct decendants of the races held by moonshiners for very small purses.  It's first drivers were moonshiners - not that the corporate image of NASCAR wants to remember their "bad boy" days, which makes it more American, as re-writing history seems to be the favorite pasttime of the right wing, but I digress.

However; the Apple iPod couldn't be further from the American as.  They're not made here and as I mentioned yesterday, Apple only employs 25,000 Americans in this country.  That's not very American.

But, then, not many companies or corporations truly care about America and Americans.  It's all about profits.  And, I guess that's the way of the country now.

Perhaps, Vanity Fair missed the mark.  The updated phrase should be as American as layoffs and corporate profits.

Come and Get Me Rush Dittoheads...

According to the Dignity Index in this week's Newsweek, Georgia Representative Phil Gingrey told Rush Limbaugh to pipe down. Then, the poor man had to "grovel for forgiveness" becasue of the heat he took for it.

So, our great country has truly, truly lost its collective mind. We're going to give someone crap because he had the nerve, honor, brains and courage to stand up to this country's biggest no knowing blowhard?

Did I wake up in the USSR?

Let's face it, "folks", Rush's days are numbered. Anyone who has been listening to him for the last twenty years has to realize that he's just running scared. His "I hope he fails" and his creepy and unAmerican idea that any Republican who works with Obama isn't a real Republican is proving more and more that he's out of touch with reality and what America needs.

In case you're wondering what Representative Gingrey said, I'm posting it below:

"It's easy if you're Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks. You don't have to try to do what's best for your people and your party. You know you're just on these talk shows and you're living well and plus you stir up a bit of controversy and gin the base and that sort of that thing. But when it comes to true leadership, not that these people couldn't be or wouldn't be good leaders." -- source Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The man has a point. Right now, the "right" is in trouble. Their old ways of "small" government and tax cuts isn't going to get us out of the mess we've gotten ourselves into over the last eight years. We're going to have to join together and work on fixing the country the best we can. Over the last sixteen years, we've neglected our infrastructure and over the last eight years, we've wasted the surplus we once had. Our issues won't be solved over night, but if we don't work together -- they won't be solved at all.

Jerks like Limbaugh really don't want the nation's issues to be fixed. They live for the divisions morons like him have worked to create. On top of that, they would rather sacrifice America's future than be proven wrong or even admit there might be a better way.

Remember that the next time the windbag appears on your radio -- he doesn't give a rat's ass about you or me or this country. He cares about ratings.

God Bless

Hatefilled People

I want to know why people are filled with hate think they have a right to sprout off to whomever they want about whatever they want. I'm not talking about someone who disagrees with my viewpoints, I'm talking about someone who is completely filled with nothing but hate.

Take for example, Ann Coulter. How could she possibly think that it is completely okay to say (and I quote) "If I'm gonna say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."

Wouldn't she be having a fit if John Edwards said that about her? Wouldn't the whole right wing be having a fit?

I'm really coming to the conclusion that this woman is just plain mean. There cannot be a loving bone in her body. You don't like someone, fine, but where does she get off making personal attacks? If she doesn't like how John Edwards runs his campaign, fine, say something about that. But, she's been calling him names and not really saying anything of substance. I wonder why that is. Could it be that she doesn't really know anything?

Oh and did you see Hardball with Chris Matthews, when Elizabeth Edwards politely asked Coulter to stop the personal attacks? I think Ann was too busy messing with her hair to actually be listening. I couldn't watch the whole thing, because Coulter can't even be gracious.

And, it's not just Ann Coulter. It's people in general who seem to think that they have the right to yell and scream at someone when they disagree with them. When did this happen in our nation? When did politeness leave the building? No one has the right to humiliate another human being in that manner. I don't think I've ever written in my blog that I wish someone died in a terrorist attack.

So, all of this brings me to an article I was reading in Newsweek. It appears as if scientists have discovered that we can actually change people's brains. So, a psychopath who has no empathy for other people can have their brain altered to have compassion. Someone who is filled with hate for another group can have their mind altered to eliminate the hate. Someone who wasn't born with a maternal instinct could be given one.

Pretty cool, huh. We could eliminate the need for war and hurt and anger with just a rewiring of the offender's brain. This is years away, of course, but years away will be here soon enough.

But, then, I wonder, who would make that determination of what was hate and what was right and wrong? What if Ann Coulter was the one to make that determination? Would we all be hatefilled as she is?

Anyway, it's an interesting concept and one I'm sure we'll end up debating for years to come.

God Bless

PS. Side note to Ann Coulter: Just because you have free speech doesn't mean you should necessarily use it all the time. Sometimes, it's best to be quiet.

Health Care

Today it was difficult to settle on a topic. Ann Coulter just made an outragerous remark against John Edwards, so I could discuss that. But, I was thinking, hasn't that hateful woman received enough attention? So, I decided to write about another subject: Health Care.

A while back, I contacted the Human Resources department where I work and requested the opportunity to purchase additional coverage -- coverage that I was willing to pay for, but since it would be through the company, I could receive at a lower cost. On Tuesday, I received a we're sorry, but no, along with a lecture on the rising cost of health care and the flexible spending accounts.

Okay, I'm not even going to get into the fact that I understand about flexible spending and it was obvious to me that the woman who answered my email never bothered to see that I put a lot of money into my flexible spending account all ready. What really bothered me was the condescending air that health care is some sort of privilege and I should be grateful that they let me have it.

Excuse me, but I work hard for a living. I give my all at work and I care about the company for which I work. All of this talk lately about health care centers around the fact that somehow in employers' minds, workers don't deserve health care. They shouldn't have to put out the money for the premiums.

Well, that's just wrong. Health care is a business expense, like the computer on my desk, the paper in the printer and the electricity that lights the building. I give them a honest days work and they give me a honest day's pay and health care. That's the deal for which I signed on.

But, it isn't just the company from whom I work, it's all of them. Chrysler, Ford, etc. are blaming their financial woes on the high cost of health care (which was cited in the email), which if they made cars we want to buy, they'd make money.

And, it's the same with other companies. They have these huge payouts for their CEOs, but they don't want to spend the same amount on the people who are actually making them money. I'm sorry, but you know what gets sugar on the table? It's not a CEO, it's the little people who do all the work. And, that's a fact, Jack.

I know that health care costs have gotten out of hand, but I'm tired of these companies wanting to take away the little in benefits they offer.

God Bless