Rant of the Day

I feel compelled into offering a long form analysis of the current state of affairs in the US. Bear with me as you will usually see my comments fit well within 140 characters. Nature of the beast….LOL. To wit:

The situation is more dire than most people realize. The public is forced to focus on distractions served up by the corporate controlled media (no offense to the memory of Trayvon, but in the overall scale of issues that need to be addressed, the coverage given is nothing less than a carnival show).

It’s endemic. There’s statistically much less crime (Steven Pinker has the stats) these days but significantly more coverage of crime in the media. Not that these diversionary media clown shows are restricted to crime “journalism”. No indeed. Pick a subject that can easily be broken down using scientific evidence. The media will find a way to give “equal time” to some plastic haired lunatic flat-earth leaning nut job with the appropriate fake smile and rhetorical flair.

In the meantime, the transfer of wealth from the many to the few continues to accelerate even after the US banks “collapsed” as a result of their overzealous self regulation and return to the banking practices circa 1890, (a point at which we are still mired, no offense to Elizabeth Warren. Heaven knows she’s trying). Banks are giving something like 2% “return” on your money while simultaneously charging 30% interest on credit. Sounds fair.

Healthcare costs were already off the charts when I bailed out of the US several years ago. It isn’t gonna matter how much you pay for insurance or who is paying it so long as we allow immoral profiteering off our sick, elderly and dying. And let’s be blunt here. It’s outright highway robbery on a scale unseen in human history. The suffering and misery imposed by the US healthcare system is shameful to me as an American and as a human, but that’s just because even though I’m a devout and militant atheist, I stand firm in my Christian values. It’s what my momma raised me in.

Something’s gotta give sooner than later in the US. If it doesn’t then America will be like any other South American country where the rich are forced to live behind walls. That’ll work for plenty of the idiots I left America to get away from but not for me. The stink of the ghetto and the desperation of the deprived always manage to breach the walls which is not the way I wanna live my life. If I thought there would or could be a peaceful, political way to diffuse the powder keg that will ultimately explode, I would not be so pessimistic. We’re still spending money we don’t have on military expeditions we should never have started while simultaneously making it harder for poor people to either abort or feed their babies. I quote the immortal words from a popular song:

Who is to blame in what country? Never can get to the One.
Dealing in multiplication but they still can’t feed everyone.

Enjoy.

To Hell In A Handbasket

This entire affair has local residents extremely nervous about the remaining debt on the recently completed road repairs. Be on the lookout for the upcoming episode of Lizard Lick Towing, or Operation Repo, where either Ron and Bobby, or Matt and Froy, will be sneaking up on the South Street bridge with a really big repo truck.

On the plus side, flashlight and gun sales are set to reach record highs in the area. Acclaimed scientists from the Climate Change Denial Center, note that given enough time, local residents will likely evolve the ability to see in the dark, a net gain for the neighborhood. Medical experts are already hard at work trying to isolate the specific gene allowing for echo location in bats. Employees at Monsanto and other biotechnology firms are giddy with the potential windfall profits to be made with such research, even as the lengthening shadows of darkness fall across America. But hey, if it all goes to shit, the last person out of town won’t even have to worry about turning off the lights!

Enjoy.