Monday Musings: January 17. 2011

Today is obviously Martin Luther King Day - two giant steps forward. Today is also the 50th anniversary of one of the most pivotaly speeches in American history - President Eisenhower’s (Republican from Kansas!)  “Farewell’ speech in which he warns America of the military-industrial complex.

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Listen to this segment on NPR. Disappointingly, they understate the case as America marches a thousand steps backward:

Watch the video. No, no! Don’t watch it. Close your eyes and get past the grainy black and white image, so out of phase with our shiny HD world. Listen. Listen with Iraq and Afghanistan in the front of your mind.

We are a nation of hopeless addicts. It’s no wonder we can’t solve the problems of mere drug addiction in the United States, when we are unwilling to honestly address our addiction to the obscene amounts of money that flow - often unchecked and unaudited - into the military-industrial complex coffers. With the economic downturn, it’s even more critical. Now we/Obama can’t cut jobs. Jobs that have been carefully spread around through districts with willing  drug lords - called Congress - as the enablers. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during Obama’s ‘Come to Jesus’ moment when he figured out that he was ‘hooked’, too - with a near collapse of the economy.

We chose not to pay much attention to Eisenhower’s message. We also chose not to pay much attention to the rise of corporate influence that has undermined and grossly distorted our democratic processes. No wonder the Tea Party is angry. I am too.  I just wish they’d be angry at the real perpetrator rather than the laundry list of red herrings that the punditry on Fox points them at.

Case in point: Florida and The Clean Water Act.

Listen to this segment on NPR.

Poor babies. The State of Florida - handmaiden, in this case, to RepubliCorp and Big Sugar et al - is being ‘picked on’ and made an example of by that nasty federal government. If this isn’t a perfect example of the tail wagging the dog, nothing is. It’s also a textbook example of how corporate interests - fanned by Fox - are really behind the effort to inflame the uninformed - the Tea Party particularly - with rallying cries of “FEDERALISM is running RAMPANT!” Gasp. Gag. Sob. Crocodile tears.

Having worked for an environmental services consulting firm, I had to learn a bit about The Clean Water Act. I learned that it was a really good thing. It has pre-emptively kept our waterways, estuaries, and wetlands thriving and vibrant for wildlife - and people. We have cleaner drinking water, and a better environment for it.

I’m also from Florida, and watched, horrified as giant agri-business and real estate took out their dicks and pee’d all over some of the most beautiful, unique and endangered wetlands in the world. Repeatedly. Turned them into cesspools. All the while telling the simple-minded that it was jobs that were at risk, and the economy, and that the government that would protect this priceless jewel was the enemy. No, it was their corporate profits at risk. Untold is the story of how tourism - the number one industry in Florida - after pillaging the environment for more subsidized sugar - was nearly destroyed with the Everglades.

Growing up in Miami, I heard plenty via the local Haitian community about the violence and criminality perpetrated on Haiti by Papa Doc Duvalier. So yesterday, Bebe Doc Duvalier (the son) goes home from exile in France - perhaps a worse criminal than his father, if that’s possible. How outrageous. How sad. How wrong that he can just walk back into a vulnerable country to do what? Time will tell. He should be arrested and put before an international tribunal.

I’m so happy that ‘The King’s Speech’ won at the Golden Globes. That bodes well for a very well deserved Oscar. 

Fashion ‘Hits’ included: Anne Hathaway in Georgio Armani Prive, Natalie Portman in Viktor&Rolf, Emma Stone in Calvin Klein Collection, Heather Morris, Kyra Sedgewick in Emilio Pucci, Edie Falco in Valentino, Piper Perabo in Oscar de la Renta, Catherin Zeta-Jones, and Elizabeth Moss in Donna Karan. Geoffery Rush was oh, so dapper. This, folks, is how it’s done.

Fashion ‘Mis-statements’ included: January Jones in Versace, Olivia Wilde in Marchesa and Kelly Osbourne in Zac Posen.  In the WTF Category: Helena Bonham Carter in “Something the cat dragged in”, Julianne Moore in an old bridesmaid dress, and Sandra Bullock - with BANGS FROM HELL - in something really uh, droopey.

Few opt for Zostavax - the Shingles Vaccine? Not us. We’ve got an appointment for Wednesday. It’s amazing, but a report on NPR this morning says that of the 50 million people that should get a dose of the shingles vaccine in America, only 10 percent do.

After Mr. Maven’s experience with it, I wouldn’t even consider NOT getting the vaccine. As one woman interviewed for the NPR piece said, “it’s more painful than childbirth” and goes on for months, even years. It’s now obvious that much of the pain Mr. Maven has suffered with - thinking it was a pinched nerve in his neck - was in reality the after effects of shingles.

“The recommendation is for everybody over the age of 60 to get a shot,” says Dr. Richard Dupee, a geriatric specialist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. The vaccine’s maker, Merck and Co., has asked the Food and Drug Administration to lower eligibility to age 50.

So, if you have had the chicken pox (and 99.9% of Americans have), and you are over the ago of 60 - or have special risk factors like me (cancer) - then you want to consider getting it. ASAP.

January ‘Thaw’ is upon us. It’s hit all time records here, and folks were out in shorts today. This ‘surprises’ everybody each January. It’s not always this warm, but this isn’t exactly unusual. Winter is still lurking out there, waiting to bite.

Update on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 04:46 by mavenandmeddler

Oh, just wanted to mention that I’d finally gotten around to revising the search by category and tags - hopefully to enable to mine the content more fully. I’ve got Page by Category appearing on all active pages now, and the Archives have been revamped to break each journal into finer detail for searches.

Give me some feedback here - let me know if it’s better or worse.

-maven