Hi Friends!
Well, even in a society which almost daily provides grist for those of us who look at the world in a certain way and just shake our heads in disbelief and mutter "WTF" (or- sometimes shout it) this past week demonstrated that just when we've hit bottom, we can still push the envelope. (By "we" I mean all the stupid, insensitive, unfeeling and selfish people of the world...coupled with those who just shrug their shoulders, fail to vote, or resort to electronic contraptions, sports and/or artificial stimulants in order to allow them to escape/ignore the insanity.
Except that sometimes there is no escape.
Generally I agree with those who are angry that profiling exists, that innocent individuals are sometimes treated poorly (and sometimes die), that certain individuals in authority - whatever their motivation - are prone to overstepping their authority and committing acts against citizens that are unacceptable in a civilized society. But targeting random police officers - or others in authority - who are merely doing their job, trying to protect the public, trying to earn rather substandard wages in comparison to their level of personal risk, people who are husbands, fathers, wives, mothers, sons, daughters…that behavior is equally unacceptable - acts of domestic terrorism as heinous as the acts they portend to protest. One of the unmistakable truths in the universe that when taking certain actions one must decide upon the objective(s) that one wishes to achieve. Killing two policemen in their squad car had absolutely no chance in hell of stopping the escalation of violence or even reducing the rate of the unfortunate incidents that it portended to be avenging. In short the act was pure evil and the act of a madman. And as such 100% reprehensible. If anything there will be additional innocent individual lost to violence.
Different subject: the most recent Congressional "Omnibus" spending bill..."Omnibus" sounds most impressive, does it not? Personally it's just a fancy term for screwing the American people. WC Fields: "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull." There ya go. Ease the restrictions imposed upon the financial community that were instituted after the last crash, then raise the amount of money these corporations can contribute to - guess what? - the political campaigns of the very politicians who voted to ease the aforementioned restrictions! And who got screwed? The American people - many of whom voted for the politicians who were screwing them! Just wait until the next downturn and more private pensions - foolishly invested - go down the tubes, throwing even that many more Americans into poverty - or forcing them to work until they die. Two more very old- and very - apt phrases…"There is a sucker born every minute" and "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." I think the best one is the following: "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are condemned to repeat it".
One other subject from this past week - different yet the same - as it deals with privilege versus the average tax-paying citizen - is the continuation of the absurd situation out in Forest Hills, Queens, where thousands upon thousands of drivers compete for a minimum number of parking spots - a competition made more difficult by virtue of the archaic alternate-side parking rules - while - barely a few blocks away - there sits the "private" community of "Forest Hills Gardens" where the "rest of us" are unable to park while most streets remain bare of parked cars because the homeowners have driveways and private garages on their property - blocks and blocks of adjacent streets which would relieve the communities' parking issues - but if you are stupid enough to park there you risk your automobile getting "booted" and/or-towed - and in any event have to cough up a hefty sum of money to reclaim your vehicle. Every day in Forest Hills piper there are arguments between people who are fighting desperately for a parking spot so that they can get home after a long, hard day to their loved ones and the comfort of their home. To warmth, perhaps TLC. And a god, hot meal. Yet "Forest Hills Gardens" is smack in the middle of the borough of Queens, and therefore part of the City of New York. Protected by NYC police, the terrorist task force, and utilizing city streets and services - including the NYC subway system - as they enter or exit their insulated neighborhood. "The Gardens" was established at some point in the past by making a deal with the politicos and fat-cats of the past. To the detriment of the average, tax-paying, hardworking citizens of Forest Hills.
So here's a particularly angry and bitter "WTF?" going out to the following: anyone who misuses their authority, anyone who engages in random "urban terrorism", the American politicians who sold their citizens down the river yet again, the American people who continually allow it to happen - and to the NYC and Queens "Movers and Shakers" from yesteryear who established the privileged community of Forest Hills Gardens in the middle of Queens. And - finally - to the people who live in Forest Hills who - as a subsection of the American public public I just gave the "WTF?" to - continue to take it. Again and again and again...
Oh yes...I can't forget this final subject: the absurd situation of the government of North Korea investing the time, money and energy to "hack" the moronic SONY movie "The Interview"…and the decision by SONY to completely "pull" the movie due to North Korea's threats of terrorist action AKA blackmail - what can one say except "WTF?" Somewhere Neville Chamberlin - "google" him if you don't know who he was - is smiling.There IS a sucker born every minute. Millions of them. Evidently...
Happy Holidays everyone!
Bye for now, be safe!
Stevenn
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