Going too far (hat tip to Huffington Post)

Protests continue, and make me look back on the protests I took part in as tame and whimsical frolics, compared to what is now happening:
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Wednesday that officials from the FBI and Capitol Police briefed Democrats on how to handle perceived security threats.
Hoyer said at least 10 lawmakers who feel that they are at risk of harm are getting attention from the proper authorities.
"Tea Party organizer" posted what he thought was Tom Perriello's (D-VA)home address, encouraging people to harass the lawmaker at home. The address ended up being the home of Perriello's brother's family, but the activist, Mike Troxel, took it in stride, saying, “I was a journalism major in college, so I have every reason to believe my research is accurate.” Laugh if you want, but this is precisely how the "journalism" works, circa 2010.
CBS News reported: "Congressman Stupak, you baby-killing mother f***er... I hope you bleed out your a**, got cancer and die, you mother f***er," one man says in a message to Stupak.
"There are millions of people across the country who wish you ill," a woman says in a voicemail, "and all of those thoughts that are projected on you will materialize into something that's not very good for you."
Health Care Reform opponents reacted with dignity and maturity by calling for a fatwa on socialist windowpanes. The call went out from some "militia leader" named Mike Vanderboegh, who said: "“We can break their windows...Break them NOW. And if we do a proper job, if we break the windows of hundreds, thousands, of Democrat party headquarters across this country, we might just wake up enough of them to make defending ourselves at the muzzle of a rifle unnecessary.”
Station WHAM (Rochester, Niagara Falls) reported: "Last Thursday [Louise Slaughter (D-NY)] received a chilling recorded message at her campaign office. 'Assassinate is the word they used…toward the children of lawmakers who voted yes.'"
Representative Louis Gohmert (R-Tex.) was apparently disturbed enough by this past weekend's events that he decided to call for the repeal of the 17th Amendment and return to state legislatures the right to appoint Senators.
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyom.) got a little bit ahead of himself when he accused Representative Jim Matheson (D-Utah) of casting his vote for health care reform in return for his brother Scott Matheson getting appointed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The only problem with Barrasso's logic is that Representative Matheson voted against health care reform.

Wiley Drake, a pastor from Orange County sent an email out to his parishoners "telling them that all 219 Democrats have been placed on the “imprecatory prayer list.” That means that these churchgoing folks will be asking for God to kill those who voted for the reform package, in accordance with Psalm 109, which reads, "May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership...May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."

Sarah Palin has suggested targeting Democrats in swing districts. Her map of the U.S. is decorated with crosshairs as to where those districts are.

A Twitter post on Sunday,by a Solly Forrell became internet famous for tweeting: "ASSASSINATION America, we survived the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy. We'll surely get over a bullet 2 #BarackObama's head." He followed that up with "The next #American with a #clear #shot should drop #Obama like a bad habit."
A series of tweets by Jay Martin lead off with 11 F-Yous followed by "You should be assassinated @ Barack Obama" and other posts, as noted by Gawker: http://gawker.com/5498712/meet-the-obama-death-tweeter-who-will-be-arrested-today

Going too far . . . and now further

Vandals hit at least five Dem offices nationwide, threaten to ‘assassinate’ children of pro-reform lawmakers.

Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that several Democratic offices around the nation had been vandalized in the days surrounding the House health care vote. Vandals have struck the Tuscon office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), the Monroe County Democratic Committee headquarters in upstate New York, Rep. Louise Slaughter’s (D-NY) Niagara Falls office, the Knox County Democratic headquarters in Ohio, and the Sedgwick County Democratic Party headquarters in Wichita, KS. The local Rochester ABC affiliate now has more information on the upstate NY vandalism, including an assassination threat against the children of lawmakers who voted for health reform:

No one was inside when the brick was hurled through the Democratic Patry Headquarters on University Avenue. Attached was a note quoting conservative Barry Goldwater: “Exremism in defense of liberty is no vice”.

Slaughter has been at the center of the push for reform. Last Thursday she received a chilling recorded message at her campaign office. “Assassinate is the word they used…toward the children of lawmakers who voted yes.”

I am amazed how angry, frustrated people can be manipulated by demagogues.

I want my country back

Tea Party protesters were in town. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a "nigger." Henry Waxman (D-CA) was called a "liar and crook." James Clyburn (D-SC) received racist faxes and a noose at his office. And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "faggot," as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. The escalation of threats of violence as noted in the sign to the left, seen being held aloft by more than one protester at the rally, while Republican Reps. Steve King (IA), Michele Bachmann (MN-the banner on her campaign Website read, ""Michelle Bachmann - Amaricas Congress Woman." Hopefully a dictionary was found and a correction made), and Mike Pence (IN) spoke to the tea party crowd, along with actor Jon Voight. I have nothing against protests, having taken part in a few myself over the years, but if you want to make statements, use your voice to talk about the politics not the race or sexual orientation of the politicians.
The Web site Free Republic carried a number of the reactions to the Capitol Police closing the capitol and Congressional office buildings. Most notable to me among the comments was this one:
"We are now oppressed by a tyrannical oligarchic government. These potentates will ignore every aspect of the Constitution, which they recognize in name only."
I guess the idea of the government reforming health care was the proverbial straw for these people after warrantless wiretaps, screened attendance at public political events, torture, and rendition.
I wonder if they have any concept of civility in government or even interest in a democratic process?
Then Bill and I watched the Patricia Neal/Andy Griffith movie "A Face in the Crowd" and I saw that the time is ripe for an updated remake. If you've never seen the movie, a nobody gains public attention, realizes his entertainment value has an affect on people, uses it to advance his career and then becomes a demagogue, attempting to manipulate and control people he really thinks are ignorant sheep. I can think of a few people who fit that description in today's political media.

Am I Murray Burns or Austin Powers

I started this blog some time ago, after a few years of perusing the Web for news items and posts that caught my eye. Somehow the daily email I send out that contains articles about politics, spirituality or culture never migrated to here.
Then a crisis of creativity came up in my life -- mainly the lack there of. As a graphic designer, I have always enjoyed my career but find the limitations of it constrictive -- focus groups, design by group, etc. I still enjoy my job but, watching Bill create videos, Web pages, etc. with a real opportunity to express himself makes me realize what I miss (and what I am jealous and frustrated about).
This boiled over when I started writing something to put here (Bill was redesigning his Web page and putting in a link -- OMG, I haven't updated this since December of last year, even a quarterly blog makes this due NOW!).
As I started to write, I felt more like I was creating a trauma list (something a therapist had me do to help me focus on the impact of events in my life), and two figures came to mind: Austin Powers and the idea of wanting my mojo back and Murray N. Burns (A Thousand Clowns: whose line "Neighbors, I have nothing to say." makes me worry -- what if that is me?
Hopefully it isn't so this and other personal and creative aspects of my life are a new focus (hey, resolutions made at the new year often are dropped, but has anyone studied the longevity of March resolves?
Of course, I am still me, so as I try to be a more consistent blogger, politics might creep in every now and then.

“The disappointment of manhood succeeds the delusion of youth” - Benjamin Disraeli
New years eve and I find myself after almost a year of hoping for change wondering if it can ever happen. My disappointment in the current political situation was confirmed in a lunchtime discussion in which hope has turned to a taste of bitter defeat, in a country where the party of the people has sold out to the party of business; triangualtion used in the last decade has moved the left to the center while the right has remained in position, if not moving further right and my view of the future is more than bleak (hence the Centralia, PA photo). I now envy my friends who have chosen to ignore the political and immerse themselves in their art. Their choice, while not terribly valued in this society, at least gives them some fulfillment instead of despair.
Tonight a friend posted a Tennyson quote about the bells ringing in the New Year: "Ring out the old, ring in the new/Ring, happy bells, across the snow/The year is going, let him go/Ring out the false, ring in the true" and all I thought of in response was Poe's The Bells:
Hear the sledges with the bells -
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells -
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

II

Hear the mellow wedding bells -
Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight! -
From the molten - golden notes,
And all in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle - dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Oh, from out the sounding cells,
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
How it swells!
How it dwells
On the Future! - how it tells
Of the rapture that impels
To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells -
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!

III

Hear the loud alarum bells -
Brazen bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek,
Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Leaping higher, higher, higher,
With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor
Now - now to sit, or never,
By the side of the pale - faced moon.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear, it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows;
Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling,
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells -
Of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells -
In the clamor and the clanging of the bells!

IV

Hear the tolling of the bells -
Iron bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy menace of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people - ah, the people -
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All alone,
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone -
They are neither man nor woman -
They are neither brute nor human -
They are Ghouls: -
And their king it is who tolls: -
And he rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A paean from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the paean of the bells: -
Of the bells:
Keeping time, time, time
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells: -
To the sobbing of the bells: -
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells -
To the tolling of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells, -
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
Either I need to adjust my meds or forget caring about politics and pay attention to my own art.

I know, it's a minor irritant and there are bigger problems out there, but . . .

Whats Up with TV and Choice: What decade are they living in?
We now get to choose our energy provider, our phone and internet provider, our health care providers and insurers, etc. So what is up with cable and satellite TV, which offer the U.S. population little choice and then only as package deals (perhaps à la carte is just too French sounding)?
There was a bill to give viewers real choice (Canada has it, the argument here is that the lesser watched stations would have funding problems without the packages. So, isn’t there a problem there with the idea of an open market?) introduced in Congress in 2007 by Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) and Jeff Fortenberry (R, Neb.) but it has never made it out of committee. Wikipedia states this:
There has been a recent push to create laws that force cable providers to allow consumers to purchase individual cable TV channels "a la carte," i.e. to allow them to pick and choose which channels they would like to have available in their homes. This is not likely to occur until digital cable television becomes popular (someone needs to update Wiki and let Congress know about the fact that it happened, that’s why all those people with analog TVs got the converter boxes that the government sold cheaply), although technically, analog cable television would be sufficient if all channels were scrambled, as it is very difficult to notch out individual channels from a cable TV line without scrambling. For example, many cable providers have a "basic plan" consisting of local channels and a few national cable networks; and an "economy basic" plan consisting of local channels only. Both plans are supplied on the same cable, but the cable company can filter out the expanded channels to the "economy basic" subscribers using a low-pass filter which filters out higher channels. Notch filters are available which can filter out a "notch" of channels (for example, channels 45-50 can be "notched" out yet the subscriber can receive channels below 45 and higher than 50). However, to do this individually for a single subscriber who wants many "notches," would be very difficult unless a scrambling system is used requiring a set-top box. These problems are alleviated with the use of digital cable, which requires a set-top converter box. This converter can be programmed remotely to allow or disallow access to channels on an individual basis. The use of IPTV (i.e., delivery of television over an internet or IP-based network) makes it even easier, since the provisioning of channels can be fully automated.
The current cable and satellite delivery systems provide an opportunity for networks that service niche and minority audiences to reach millions of households, and potentially, millions of viewers. Since a la carte could force each channel to be sold individually, many of these networks could face a significant reduction in subscription fees and advertising revenue, potentially driving them out of business. For these reasons, cable/satellite providers and programmers are reluctant to introduce an a la carte business model. Others however believe that by allowing a less expensive entry point into the cable marketplace the a la carte option would actually increase overall sales through the addition of new subscribers. Often when programming distributors would like to sell channels a la carte they are prevented by contract from the program who force an all-or-nothing approach.
Of course a recent article in Harpers on “Understanding Obamacare” by senior editor Luke Mitchell gives a general intro to competition and notes:
The idea that there is a competitive “private sector” in America is appealing, but generally false. No one hates competition more than the managers of corporations. Competition does not enhance shareholder value, and smart managers know they must forsake whatever personal beliefs they may hold about the redemptive power of creative destruction for the more immediate balm of government intervention. This wisdom is expressed most precisely in an underutilized phrase from economics: regulatory capture.
When Congress created the first U.S. regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission, in 1887, the railroad barons it was meant to subdue quickly recognized an opportunity. “It satisfies the popular clamor for a government supervision of railroads at the same time that that supervision is almost entirely nominal,” observed the railroad lawyer Richard Olney. “Further, the older such a commission gets to be, the more inclined it will be found to take the business and railroad view of things. It thus becomes a sort of barrier between the railroad corporations and the people and a sort of protection against hasty and crude legislation hostile to railroad interests.” As if to underscore this claim, Olney soon after got himself appointed to run the U.S. Justice Department, where he spent his days busting railroad unions.
The story of capture is repeated again and again, in industry after industry, whether it is the agricultural combinations creating an impenetrable system of subsidies, or television and radio broadcasters monopolizing public airwaves for private profit, or the entire financial sector conjuring perilous fortunes from the legislative void. The real battle in Washington is seldom between conservatives and liberals or the right and the left or “red America” and “blue America.” It is nearly always a more local contest, over which politicians will enjoy the privilege of representing the interests of the rich.
We are hosting an Oscar party in March, and since we have no cable/satellite connection, I have been researching them. Why do we still have to buy a package? Every package has something I know I will not watch (here is a Direct TV 200+channel choices called Choicextra sampling):
BTN: not gonna watch it
BET: not gonna watch it
Bloomberg: not gonna watch it unless it is work related
BYU: never gonna watch it, even if Romney runs
CBS College Sports: not gonna watch it
Centric: doubt if I will watch it
Christian Television Network:
Church Channel:
CMT: Country Music Television, maybe, but rarely. I did like “Don’t It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue,” when was that a country hit?
Current: Since I am a bit over the 34 year old top of their target audience range, probably won’t watch it
Daystar: Woo-hoo, another Christian station,
Discovery Kids: Since this target audience is 20 years younger than Current, probably won’t watch it
ESPN, ESPU, ESPN 2, ESPNews: 4 that I doubt will get airtime in our house
EWTN: Like I want to watch Papal events, etc.
Fox Business: I doubt it.
Fox News: Fair and balanced, I decided not so . . . not gonna watch it
Fox Reality: Reality tv, what a joke. I remember when it was reported Liza was postponing her reality show so they could rehearse.
Feul: Extreme sports? I watched it once with Hans & JD, when we were in a hotel, but doubt it will get air time at home unless they are visiting
GALA: Unless I decide to brush up on my Spanish, doubt it will be watched on our set
GEMS: Shopping channel? I thought we Americans were going into a frugal stage
God tv: Not on our tv
Golf Channel: Sorry Tiger, but even with the sexual scandal, not on our tv
Gospel Music Channel: Unless there is a Mahalia marathon, I doubt it
Great American Country: Hmmm, the Grand Old Opery. Nope, would rather rewatch Altman’s “Nashville.”
GSN: Unless I really get hooked into reality series, dating and casino games or video gaming, I doubt this Sony and liberty station will see the inside of our screen.
Hallmark: OK, maybe if they rerun the Anne of Green Gables series or another of those sentimental movies I fall for from time to time
HTN: Another chance to brush up on those high school and college Spanish courses
Home Shopping Network: see GEMS above
Hope: Just reading the description: Find peace, power, and purpose for your life. Hope Channel provides inspirational and educational programs for the entire family. Can they spell treacle?
Inspiration Channel: They add patriotic programming to faith oriented programs. No thanks, I think I would rather celebrate my country without the filter of what sounds like more syrupy coating.
Jewelry televisions: Hmmm, do I need a tiara? Nah.
Jewish life: Perhaps, after all I liked “For Your Consideration”
Lifetime: When I want to get in touch with my feminine side, maybe.
Military Channel: Maybe, but I need to know more about what they tell about battle, etc. and who wrote, advised or approved it.
MLB: Baseball 24/7/365, Does it ever offer a 7th Inning stretch?
NBA TV: Unless they go back to those shorter uniforms, read the next item.
NFL TV: Look even as newspapers are folding their business section into their news section (which at least might be considered an honest way of noting what really makes the decisions in this country) and their book reviews are no longer even a Sunday supplement but tucked into some other section, they still have a Sports section. Me not having to subscribe to these channels is not going to break them.
NHL TV: read the prior comment.
NRB: Historic Christian faith for inspiration and enlightenment. I thought there was a conflict between the church and the Enlightenment. I know there is a conflict between most churches and me.
Sprout: PBS pre-school channel, with JD entering the school-age years, unless my son and his fiancée decide on kids . . .
QVC: More chances to shop, not in our house
Shop NBC: see previous comment
Soap: I liked the movie with Sally Field
6 Sonic stations: OK, I sometimes like Latino music but not often enough to watch even 1 much
Speed: auto, boating and aviation enthusiasts. That leaves me out.
Spike: Why do I feel that this station aimed at modern man isn’t really all encompassing?
Style: Even with DC approving marriage equality, I don’t think this is for me, unless they run Wedding Wars (which was a really stupid movie, so bad that I loved it, and own it, so not even then)
TBS: Why am I wary when something calls itself family-oriented
TCT: “a worldwide television network bringing the bet in Christian educational, news and entertainment programming to your home daily.” (or not, in our case, not)
Tennis Channel: Rarely.
The Sportsman Channel: Again, rarely if ever.
The Word: Free and multi-denominational (as in different religious beliefs or Catholic and Baptist?). Even if so, probably never in our house.
Trinity Broadcasting Network: Uh, no. Never.
Tru: Real-life excitement? Doubt it will be clicked much if ever, we don’t want to get flustered.
TV One: African-American adult lifestyles. Again clicked rarely if at all.
Univision: Spanish practice again.
V-me: And again.
World Harvest Television: To preserve and promote the traditional American value system – sounds like a plot to me.
And the Listening Opportunities via XM:
Backspin: Hip hop. Not hoppening.
Cinemagic: Listen to movie soundtracks. Maybe if they have the movie music I like. Gosford Park anyone?
HipHop Nation: Does anyone still read “The Man Without a Country?”
Kids Place Live: I’m not a kid anymore.
Praise: While the one about Southern gospel might get me to listen for some early groups, this one probably will never get a click.
Strobe: More Hip Hop
The Message: Christian pop. Hate to burst that bubble, but nope.

So, 67 out of 200, and a lot under the XM that I left in the list but doubt will get air play in our house.
What about Congress giving the subscribers a break in cost, instead of welfare for stations that might have to face cutbacks or closing?

Where was Google?

Since the early 1990s, December 1 has been recognized as World AIDS Day. This year, I wasn't online too much, I was attending a funeral of an aunt. However when I got home, my partner (whose brother died of AIDS) commented that Google recognizes almost every thing with a tweak to their logo but was silent about the day of focus on the on-going AIDS situation. Why with all these previous manipulations of their logo did Google ignore December 1?