maven&meddler

For all those nay-sayers here in Northern Nevada trying to peddle the nonsense that Harry Reid can’t bring home the bacon - jobs, now - here’s just another way of saying ‘balderdash’:

Senators Reid and Ensign have announced that $5 million of funding would be coming to the Reno-Tahoe International Airport for needed upgrades to the airports ramp. The idea is to keep this airport viable for tourist and business traffic well into the future. All said, this means some 200 well paying construction type jobs, in addition to supplies and materials purchased from local business.

Furthermore, for those who hate everything about the federal government: Here’s a news flash - that money comes from the Department of Transportation. Another one of those nasty federal agencies.

Let’s just say that the likes of Sue Lowdan is right when she claims that private enterprise can handle it all.

Then the Reno-Tahoe International Airport should be able to do this on its own, right? I’ll just bet that airport director Khrys Bart - a staunch supporter of private enterprise - would have some real heartburn over that one.

Therein lies the rub.

All those in favor of less government are only in favor of less as it gets out of their way or doesn’t particularly help them. This seems to be the very definition of the “I’ve got mine, F**K you” philosophy that seems to be the mantra of Republicans and so-called Conservatives.

They’ve gotten very good at packaging this narrow, nasty worldview in a mantle of rugged, vintage Hollywood type of self-reliance and patriotism that probably never actually existed outside of a Ronald Reagan movie script. But gee, it coulda. Maybe. Woulda.

When anyone actually points to the bankruptcy of this type of ‘thinking’, the GOP-ers have a fall back position: “Call ‘em Socialists!” That’ll fix ‘em. This has been especially effective - not in pushing back the facts but, rather in rallying the brigades of nimrods who have only a passing familiarity with a dictionary, and fear listening to NPR.

This reminds me of something that occurred to me as I listened to NPR the other morning - as I do every single morning. NPR should start a new campaign called “Listen to NPR for Seven Days Challenge.” I just can’t believe that learning great stuff about the world we call home could be a commie plot. But, I have been wrong before.

Challenge those who think NPR and PBS is all a commie plot to make them well informed and thoughtful.

Listen for just one week, and see if Karl Marx jumps out of your old vacuum tube radio to eat your children.

I crack myself up. I don’t really want well-informed Republicans or Tea Party types. Then they’d really be dangerous.

Today, I was listening to NPR’s Science Friday, with Ira Flatow, in the car. Again, I was amazed. So much to know about the 8.8 Chilean earthquake.

“Last week’s powerful earthquake in Chile may have shifted the Earth’s axis and changed the length of a day, according to NASA researchers. The magnitude 8.8 quake of February 27 was powerful enough to alter the position of the planet’s figure axis, an imaginary line around which the mass of the planet rotates, by about 3 inches. That adds up to an Earth day that lasts about 1.26 microseconds less than it did before the earthquake. We’ll talk about how geological processes can effect the planet’s rotation, and how researchers model planetary movements.”

And here’s the real kicker: Was Charles Darwin the first Geologist? Listen to geophysicist, Ross Stein, and find out why Darwin might have been one of the most out of the box thinkers in history.

Ah, this is just the kind of socialist/commie/liberal crap that so-called conservatives love to diminish and dismiss. Which could be part of the explanation of why they buy into Sarah Palin and creationism.

This week has seen another unfortunate shooting by a demented extremist who has been spending too much time listening to or being influenced by the violent hyperbole of the right. Fortunately, the officers at the Pentagon were only wounded. This time.

When are normal people going to start called the so-called conservatives out for what they do to incite their fellow countrymen and women to hate their own government? This type of hateful speech - although protected - is dangerous.

The Murrow Building memorial site in Oklahoma City is testament to right wing fueled hate and what it buys us as a country.

The blog numbers have really be up lately, and I want to thank my readers and supporters. I especially want to thank the regular readers. I get really great folks, leaving thoughtful, and insightful comments for me and others.

That’s a big part of why I blog… to start a larger conversation, and get people challenging their own assumptions ( and mine!).

Rock on.

maven