Fun Facts From Zach's Almanac: "I think I am, therefore I am. I think."

Never actually knowing a father figure, I have always enjoyed the extreme luxury of imagining anyone at all to fill that position for me. Today the guy who has always been a very strong candidate, if not the best, for that position checked out of this hotel, bought the farm, shuffled off this mortal coil, settled in for the ol' dirt nap or as the timid say, "passed away".
I've never like that term. It's just too vaporous and nondescript. It's kind of like a fart in the crowd at Woodstock orBonoroo...You know it's there. But you can't put your finger on exactly where it came from, who did it, what the hell it's made of or how the good God damned long, it's going to linger. And then, just as it's losing it's potency and you think there may be a shot for you at sucking in some oxygen, someone freshens the damned thing.
The following excerpts are entirely George and what I like to believe are the things I would have learned earlier on as a lad at his knee.
"...in the bullshit department a business man can't hold a candle to a clergyman."
"Spirituality: the last refuge of a failed human being. Just another way of distracting yourself from who you really are."
"I've never been quarantined. But the more I look around the more I think it might not be a bad idea."
"Road rage, air rage. Why should I be forced to divide my rage into separate categories? To me, it's just one big, all around, everyday rage. I don't have time for fine distinctions. I'm busy screaming at people."
"Can anyone explain to me the concept for one-hour photo finishing? How can you possibly be nostalgic about "a little while ago"?"
"...jazz musicians are the only workers I can think of who are willing to put in a full shift for pay and then go somewhere else and continue to work for free."
"When you think about it, 12:15 pm is actually 11:75 am."
In fact, there's no end to the things I actually did learn from this guy. And thinking outside of the box was always at the heart of it all.
Thanks, "Dad".

Bam! Just like that.: Beggers and thieves.

You can hear it on the conservative radio stations and news outlets. You can hear it on the right hand side of the aisles of Congress. Both in plain English and in so many coded words the message is repeated again and again until far too many people begin to believe it. "The American people are soft and lazy, and they just want a hand out."
From the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in N.O.L.A. to the collapsed bridges of a decaying highway infrastructure, to the farmers and home owners surviving the latest flooding in the Midwest, Americans are waiting on rooftops and under the debris of freeway bridges as they watch their government spend years of our future and trillions of our dollars on the betterment and well being of people halfway around the globe that (aside from the few wealthy political entrepreneurs who were hand selected by the invaders to lead these people) don't even wish to be occupied by the U.S. or anyone else, any more than we would want to be.
I can't state this any more plainly.
The American people are not looking for give-aways from the government. We are looking for intelligent and reasonable yields and returns on our mandated tax dollars contributions.
And after the last two terms of the mismanagement and ineptitude of our current administration, the GOP and a string of natural disasters, many of the American people could use a little help from those taxes.
Pundits and politicians need to stop portraying reasonable tax payer expectations for funding and legislative spending as appearing as though the American people are asking for a hand out. And the American people need to stop being made to feel as though we are the beggars at the door with hats in hand trolling for alms.
This government doesn't create the revenue. This government does not produce the revenue to run and operate this country although it uses yours and mine to run and operate others. Revenue is generated by the American tax payers and the American tax payers alone.
Some people have begun to see things in such a twisted fashion and have done so for so long that they no longer know the way things are supposed to work in a democracy such is ours.
That in itself is a major contributing factor to why after less than 300 years it is appearing to be falling apart at it's seams.

Bam! Just like that! "Sticks and Stones..."

An interesting article appeared in the national news today. An expose, if you will, after a week filled with various warnings about "terrorist activities" the world around...(we have had a very busy week of this sort of information in much of the press!) and the danger that we are in and reportedly have been in despite the western alliance's brink of victory in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Some of the latest reports offer us that "white Europeans" from "Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Romania and Estonia" have been actively training for service to al-Qaeda as would-be terrorists. A major accomplishment if it's true, with the goal of recruiting western non-Muslims to the cause of doing the bidding of al-Qaeda. So much for the battle to win the hearts and minds of the invaded people of the middle east, huh? So stop the rhetoric on it and the s(pl)urge, already.
But back to the purpose of my writing about this today:
Considering that what was once called simple assault according to the laws in the United States is now being called "an act of terrorism" thanks to the Patriot Act and Homeland Security initiatives... (I direct your attention to the not so distant case of the "hockey Dads" who get physical with their kids coaches and pepper the national news every so often)...I would be very careful in choosing what one may choose to believe about the latest "terrorist encounter" they read of, based upon who originally made the claims, what kind of spin was used by the press in the article published about it and just what standards were used in attaching the new "terror-anything" label to those activities being reported about.
Until water boarding, sleep deprivation, extreme exposure to temperature change and electric shock can be openly called what it is, "torture", and the use of that torture can finally be recognized as a genuine act of terrorism even by those empires that use it to meet their own strategic objectives, all bets should be off on who the actual terrorists are in any given case. There are obviously more than we can even imagine. And many of them who hide behind being a world power or being part of an alliance with one are controlling the story, the spin, the language and the writing of daily events and resultant history for their own purposes and to their own advantage.

BAM! Just like that! "Smilin' faces, they tell lies, sometimes."

Thanks to those good folks who have been riding rough shod over every law and article of the constitution that the attention span of the American people could allow for during the last 7 years, we again find them hard at work in the field of creative language arts and double speak or as Orwell penned in his novel 1984, "newspeak".
Yes, the same people who brought us phrases like "it's not civilian casualties, it's collateral damage" and, "it's not troop expansion, it's a "surge"", have now somehow smuggled into the American lexicon, the American consciousness and into the reporting of the main stream media their newest code word for what has been up until now, after years of congressional investigation into the military use and practice of torture...well, "torture".
While up until now these acts that have been questioned by even the international community and collectively and historically called "torture", is now being bandied about as, merely the practice of "harsh interrogation practices".
There. Isn't that so much nicer on the ear and easier on the national conscience than, ugh, "torture"?
Ah, the cleverness of these people in Washington is not to be underestimated. And their ability to infuse even the most stalwart broadcasting entities such as NPR to help reshape the message sent out to the American listener is indeed stunning in it's effectiveness.
At the same time, try and keep in mind (if for nothing else but perspective) that the sign posted high and prominently above the entrance to the camp called Auschwitz still reads "Work is freedom." But that neither, necessarily makes it so to this very day.
Maybe when it comes to that part of human nature to do one thing while striving to convince others that by changing what it is commonly called it can appear to be acceptable... some things never do really change.

Fun Facts From Zach's Almanac: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

About 18 months ago, we as a species survived the contaminated lettuce scare. Prior to this we managed to fend off the dreaded spinach invasion and yes, mad cow disease.
Now, in the last few weeks we've been living through the horrors of the very real attack of the killer tomatoes. The renegade Romas and the unrelenting Round varieties would all have it, (if we were to believe the national news each day) that we throw ourselves down and all kneel before the porcelain alter to howl our petition to the powers that we are told these sardonic side entrees are... and the death grip they have on us.
Run for your very lives! (I really don't know what "run for your very lives" translates to literally since we all only seem have one life, but that happens to be one of my all time favorite sci-fi B movies lines of script...and I suggest we do just that whenever the threat is present or the opportunity presents itself.) "Run for your very lives!"
Truth be known, this most recent garden variety threat was pretty much just a bad B movie plot and only that. Approximately 125 people became sick over the Salmonella that coursed through the capillaries of these berries with an identity crisis, ("Am I a vegetable or a fruit??") out of a nation with a population of 300 million. Let's 'see...125 is what percentage of 300 million? You do the math, ok? The number is so minuscule we might as well be nearing a non-event here.
Considering that anyone who expects total and absolute security from any branch of the government, whether it be the FDA, CDC or (dare I suggest it?) FEMA or for that matter an absolute of any kind from anything or anyone in this life is asking way, way too much... the number of people affected by this outbreak, this red menace is about as absolute as you can get. To my knowledge, very few people have so much as been hospitalized and no one, not one tomato eating fool, has died as a result of this new red plague going around. Yet still it is being heralded on the level of one of the ten plagues or one of the many pathogens that will mark "the end of days". And it's just my guess, but I imagine that some where some of the more extreme religious groups are secretly in their glory over this.
But it's not a pandemic. It's nothing more than a relatively small number of people being made somewhat sick over some poop on or in a small number of tomatoes and in no time, or through washing our produce, the danger will subside.
So tell me then. Why are they refusing to throw any tomatoes on my Papa Murphy's Gourmet Chicken pizza?
Evidently, that's just one more absolute that can't be counted on.
So by all means, "run for your very lives!"

Fun Facts From Zach's Almanac

Greetings all, from the "fly over" states in the great Midwest where even the summer doesn't care to spend the season!
Le'see, here...

FDA says, "Trust us!"
The FDA today approved the use of baby bottles that are manufactured using a substance that goes by the name of bisphenol A. You know. The very same FDA that approves the big question mark pharmaceuticals such as Aspartame, and Rofecoxib…(AKA Vioxx) which stayed on the market for almost five years until the manufacturer, the Merck Company voluntarily called it back. They did this because it was not only relieving pain…as it was meant to, but it was also allegedly responsible for relieving some people of life itself. In all, 80 million people were prescribed this drug before it was pulled in by Merck…and the FDA never took a stand on it one way or the other until the millions were made and the issue was eliminated by someone else. Sometime I really have to tell ya about the anti-depressants that have been the "coincidental" prescription of choice for so many of the people who have gone postal for no known reason from Virginia Tech to Columbine. Hey…I didn't break these stories! But then neither did the main stream media at the time.

The Big Guys: (another) 1, The little Guys:0
The Right Side of the political aisle defeated the Left Side today on the almost corporate tax on Big Oil. So while Big Oil keeps racking up 41 Billion dollar profits per quarter, the American taxpayer can continue to provide 17 million of it in the form of breaks and cuts for the people who have their hand in keeping us at the 30 MPH combustible ceiling. Mean while Europe averages 45 MPH and that's as of today as a gallon of gas goes beyond $4 per gallon. It's hard to get excited about the prospect of having a national standard of 35 MPH by 2012 when you look at the larger, Euro picture. This is somehow supposed to make sense. But it doesn't.
More importantly to the average Joe and Jane, I heard last week that the cost of hops…one of the essential ingredients used in the fermentation and production of beer has gone up in price from approximately $4 per pound to nearly $45 per pound. Perhaps the gas crisis and the prices won’t get anyone off the couch to demand representation from the politicians, but you let a case of beer become as dear as $40 or $50 bucks and you'll have a revolution reminiscent of 1776 against the King!

Forty years on...
One of RFK's assassins showed up in the news today…Interesting how 40 years changes the way people look. I wonder what Eugene Thane Caesar looks like after all this time? (Pssst. If you have to ask…you haven't been paying attention!)

"I can call you Betty." Betty, you can call him, Al!
Kudos to Al Franken for sewing up the DFL nomination in Minnesota over the weekend in spite of the opposition he has had to face from the press and his own sour grape party. It appears the best campaign against him thus far is coming from the U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, who was instrumental in the campaign of another DFL hopeful, who didn't fare so well as Franken in the primaries, Mike Ciresi. It appears people have had their sensibilities shaken over something Franken wrote 8 years ago and appeared in a Playboy magazine. Of course none of these people bothered to explain why, if that sort of thing offended them, they were reading and referencing Playboy in the first place…but hey. It was something to hang on to in hopes of changing the primaries rather than accepting the given outcome. Has there been a lot of this going on this year across the Democratic party, or what? Don't blame Hillary. You have free will.

Who is this "chick" and who cares??
Can anyone tell me what the hell Elizabeth Hasselbeck has ever accomplished that makes her worthy of pontificating on everything from soup to nuts on The View each day that compels ABC to fairly much, exclusively feature her vapid opinions in video and print on anything ABC/Disney on the internet day in and day out?? What the hell are her credentials that make her the Wizardess of OZ, anyway? Oh, she's pretty, you bet! But she is as irritating as a mound of fire ants. C'mon, how authentically worldly can she possibly be at, what(?) less than 30?? Fer chrissake, I have jeans that have seen more of life than she has, ear hair that's older and there are over 90 million Americans who have spent as much time sleeping at night as she has sucking in oxygen all together in this life time. Humble it up, Lizzie. You too can be wrong some times. From my View...it's more often than you can even fathom.

ABC online, it's like I hardly knew ya!
And finally, while I'm on the subject of ABC…particularly ABCnews online…let me get this off my chest. Why? Because I wrote them more than one email over the course of time and told them I would. So here it is.
I have spent hours and days and nights enjoying posting to ABC's comment boards and discussing things with other readers at that site for literally years. I have with no exception, respected the terms of use and have in spite of all temptation avoided using obscenities, profanity, spamming, trolling or hate speech of any kind. Still, and also without exception, the censors have seen it eventually appropriate to delete whatever account I had registered under, prohibit my involvement and banish me to the vast internet lands beyond ABCnews, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Internet Group.
Should anyone with whom I may have held intercourse with (not HAD intercourse with!) on ABCnews' comment boards stumble across this blog and read this, allow me to me re-introduce myself under the assortment of handles I have used for as long as I was allowed to maintain them. I have been, "Zenandnow", "Yasgarsfarm", "25or6to4" and "Kiddcharlemagne" to just name a few of my more current favorites.
I would not want to imply that I and I alone have faced the wrath of the gatekeepers at ABCnews exclusively. Many people who were invited by ABC to participate have been quite arbitrarily removed under less than the good faith invitation made ("Welcome to the ABCNEWS.com message boards. This is the forum where we're harnessing the power of our user community. We encourage you to talk back, discuss and debate, and make your voice heard. And, of course, we welcome your feedback both on our newly redesigned web site -- and on our reporting.") Bullshit, all!
There is and appears to have always been a policy in place at ABCnews that is based on readers and writers being accepted or rejected based solely on political ideology and involves nothing any more complicated than that and the whim of whomever is monitoring public input at any given time.
If you can add something inciting and reactionary that propels the particular story you are commenting on further into a mindless, knee jerk, vigilantism that expresses the view or opinion that appear to be followed or supported by corporate America (as seen by ABC and WDIG) then you are left relatively unfettered and unimpaired even to the point of declaring verbal warfare on other people submitting posts and comments.
If on the other hand you pose questions that counter the promoted political policies or the group propagated assumptions of ABC and the Walt Disney Internet Group, you will surely be posting on borrowed time, for at some point without so much as a howdy-do you will find that your posts have been deleted and you can no longer log in to so much as post a ditto.
Don't take my word for it. Ask around. Google the phenomena. See what others are saying. Register and attempt to promote a conversation that is not usable for the corporate cause/main stream media that is ABC, as a bludgeon to an opposing line of reasoning or other than the mass accepted hive minded rationale.
You may find as I and others have that they are a total waste of time for anyone that might choose to follow an online discourse or debate to its logical conclusion or mutual understanding.
Then…if you actually are interested in freedom of speech and a place to voice and share your outlook…avoid these guys and other sites like them as you would any brain-flesh eating plague.
I know I certainly will.
Even I catch on, eventually.