Thoughts and outrage III

"The down side of capitalism" or "strange bedfellows".
When did we lose control of our government? As a business savvy entity, WalMart is a ferocious negotiator. It uses its huge bargaining power as a tool to force its vendors to lower prices. Now, it makes sense that the U.S. government which represents 20% of the GNP of the U.S. economy should be in a killer position to negotiate best prices when making deals with subcontractors. Yet, when the last Medicare bill was passed, the government somehow caved to the drug lobby, rather than dictating the terms government drug purchasing policy. Consequently, we pay billions more dollars for prescription drugs than we might.
Or look at the companies which are subcontracting to the government to provide services in the Persian Gulf, and yes, now New Orleans(and soon Galveston). These contracts were awarded through no competition bids...........................go fuck yourself Mr. Cheney;^)
Now to the oil refiners who suddenly discovered several years ago that they could increase profits by depressing production. They have been steadily decreasing production even as demand has risen. Recently, the government stepped in to stop the closure of a refinery. Actual oil reserves and OPEC machinations have little effect on the daily price of petroleum products in the U.S.
In many critical ways, our government no longer supports us.
Ankh

Kurt Vonnegut's list

LIBERAL CRAP I NEVER WANT TO HEAR AGAIN
Give us this day our daily bread. Oh sure.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those wh trespass against us.Nobody better trespass against me. I'll tell you that.
Blessed are the meek.
Blessed are the merciful. You mean we can't use torture?
Blessed are the peacemakers. Jane Fonda?
Love your enemies - Arabs?
Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. The hell I can't! Look at the Reverand Pat Robertson. And He is as happy as a pig in s**t.

The Daily Show

Omigod!;
I finally got to watch the show this A.M. Content was good. The great part was the special guest. Just a little preamble here. We've been cleaning out some stored stuff recently. Among the refuse, a few boxes of my old books. Notable authors include Kurt Vonnegut and Jerzy Kosinski.
Jon's guest was Kurt Vonnegut. I worshipped this man in my adolescence. As Jon said, he opened my forming mind to a whole world of thought I would not otherwise have encountered. Vonnegut loosed his lacerating wit on the current administration and gave a synopsis of the history of democracy in the U.S. that appears to be serving as an abbreviated framework for its nascence in Iraq......to include: after the first 100 years, you have to let your slaves go free. After 150 years, you have to let your women vote. There must be a period of genocide and ethnic cleansing and so on. Wickedly funny stuff rimmed with sadness.
He had a list of "liberal crap" to read which they didn't have time for, which Stewart said would be posted on the website under Vonnegut's name. I plan to check it out.
G'day all,
Ankh

Thoughts and outrage II

Why is it that the only economically painful thing we are willing to do, as a nation, is wage war? We will spend anything to try to prevent the loss of even one life on the battle field. And nothing to try to prevent deaths from predictable disasters.

Contingency plans for dealing with a "Katrina" type disaster were formulated over twenty years ago. Too economically painful. Not politically comfortable, so we suffer what, in hindsight we now know we could have prevented or mitigated.
During the gas crunch of the '70s, we started to realize that we must develop alternate energy sources. But.................................too economically painful. So we suffer the consequences of our continued dependence on a dwindling energy source: pollution, global warming, terrorism.
Locally, I'm an optimist. I'm raising two good kids. I work to make my community better. I have a good marriage and I think I'm basically a good person.
Globally, I'm more pessimistic. There is a widening gap between the "haves" and the "have nots". I'm not totally comfortable being in the "have" camp. Our bad habits and lack of courage will ultimately lead to our demise................................only in generations too far removed for me to contemplate. Complacency is still morally affordable for me, sadly.
Ankh