Being Dragged into the 21st Century

Collin Powell gave an unflagging endorsement of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense.  Even David Gregory had doubts that Hagel was a little too on guard about the “Jewish lobby” in congress, but Powell isn’t a bit concerned about that, and frankly, neither am I.  You know these people who say they love Israel and yet they are professing fundamentalist Christians.  I maintain that inherent in embracing the “message” of the New Testament is an inherent hatred of the Jewish race and culture that is every bit as great as a Southern slave owner’s hatred against Black people.  The defense lobby is just an armlement lobby.   They don’t care about the wages of military personnel or possible jobs lost; all they care about are these defense contractors pitching and getting lucrative government contracts for their latest gadgets.  Mc Cain was on Face the Nation at the same time, but I never caught his message.  Clearly President Obama won the election last November.  He and Romney had two contrasting messages.  The President believed in ending wars and negotiations with our enemies.  Romney pitched the idea of looking for starting the next war anywhere and everywhere.  The people picked the President, and from where I sit, that should pretty much end the argument.  Collin Powell also took exception to this raft of racist rhetoric against the President.  There is the birther movement, and expressions they would not dare use against a White president such as “The President is engaged in shucking and jiving” and “We are going to break this President” or “President Obama is lazy and spends all his time in Hawaii, after he raises taxes on the rich”.  Judy came up with this last chestnut.   People forget that Collin Powell has served in the highest positions under two Republican presidents, and that he himself IS a Republican, and he has endorsed another Republican, Chuck Hagel, for Secretary of Defense.   Of course Powell says- - despite backing President Obama in the past two elections- - he has a long track record for decades past of supporting Republican Presidents.

There is also other news of note.  Peking is continuing to have its major pollution problems.  Their atmosphere has now risen to 755 parts per million, or whatever, of pollutants.  Three hundred parts per million is considered an emergency in the United States.  Of course in Austrailia they had those orange “waves” or clouds traveling along the ground menacingly like a scene out of some Hollywood visual effect in a Sci Fi movie.   Of course there’s the problem with Putin banning the adoption of Russian children, even adoptions of disabeled children, and adoptions that were already in the pipeline.  Now these children are consigned to Russian orphanages.  And it all probably traces back to some assenine bill the tea party Republicans passed last year.  Some people in the government are, or were concerned about government secrets being made public in the Zero Dark Thirty movie that was just out this weekend, and immediately went to the number one grossing movie at the box office.  In terms of assault weapon legislation, the odds are now strongly tilted aginst banning these fifty calabre weapons that fire these solid body “cop killer” bullets that go through walls and still kill people.  But a slim majority of the American people - 51% oppose the banning of these "assault weapons".  Law enforcement can’t be very happy about that.  We are reminded that when the Black Panthers wanted to arm themselves as protection forces against police abuse 45 years ago, it was Ronald Reagan and the NRA that got anti gun legislation passed in California.  We are nothing if not hypocrites.  Congressmen that advocated for Hurrican Katrina relief seven years ago are the same ones that are ham stringing any real relief bill for Hurricane Sandy victims.  They are only doing it peace-meal like nine billion at a time, when the concensus is that these people really need about fifty billion in financial aid.

Dr. Levy handed out an interesting sheet on the "Eight Aspects essential to Human Well Being" the other day.  There is physical wellness, which covers a lot of ground right there.  They say "If you've got your health, you've got just about everything".  Then there is emotional well being.  I like the perameters of this segment.  Because Dr. Levy boils down "emotional well being" to how a person handles stress in their lives.  Stress can manifest itself in either physical symptums, or subtle or gross changes in human personality or behavior, or in its worst form, severe psychological mental abberations.  Then there is "social well being'.  Others also say "If you've got your friends and family then you have just about everything".  Then there is spiritual well being.  This in a metaphysical sense I take to "realize One's Own Place in the overall scheme of things, Man's place in the Cosmos.  Medatation or one of the eastern disciplines like Yoga or perhaps Thai Quan Do - - would be good to accomplish this.  Then of course there is Financial well being.  If your wallet is looking a little thin and ill balance sheet winds blow- - one could argue, "then can a decline in one's physical health be far behind?"  Then there is one we overlook, but should really be thankful every day of our lives.  This is Environmental Wellness.  We have safe food and water, and we have police and fire protection, and don't fear the gunman, as well as certain things like living in a properly heated domicile so you don't freeze to death.  I told Dr. Levy I couldn't mind one bit if asked to teach a class on "Intellectual Wellness".  This one about "Occupational Wellness" is OK I guess.  I guess if you live in a communist government, they would consider it their mission to give you perhaps useless, menial work, and pay you the generous salary of a dollar ten an hour- - - because "work creates good character" or some such thing.  I guess in a pure, abstract sense, it does.

Let's talk about coffee drinking a little more.  I'm not entirely opposed to having coffee with a dash of cinnamon in it.  In fact there was a period around 1966 when my brother, Al, used to sneak it in, and he'd annoy my Dad in doing it.  And at the bakery for a while they'd have cinnamon out - - and occasionally I would endulge.  Of course fast food places are notorius for really lousey coffee- - particularly Carl's, and also George's, which I mentioned in a recent posting.  Mc Donalds has the best coffee of any of the common fast food places, and this has always been true, even before they began advertizing it.  In terms of places with the best coffee- - - my "data" comparrison is about forty years old so it might not still be accurate.  Cocos Famous Hamburgers consistently had the best coffee, with International House of Pancakes and Sambo's as the runner up.  But don't hold me to that because I haven't been to either an IHOP or a Sambo's in a long time.   The coffee at my Mom's place started off pretty good, but has steadily been declining in quality.