The Rant is Due

Printer Hell

    I have to get a new all in one printer and I hate the whole endeavor. Why? Because most of the printers on the market are cheap pieces of shit where the makers soak you with the ink refills.

    Ok I'm not an economist or business savvy but I can't understand why  this business model is successful. Haven't they ever heard of Maytag? You know the company that makes washer and dryers built like thanks and last forever? You know how they succeed? Their competitors make crap, so consumers decides to invest in a Maytag which will be replaced when their kids graduate from College.

    IBM produced the first office inkjet printer but stopped making them because of expense and complexity. Well, if engineers can build a rover on a shoestring budget and send it to Mars, they can make a decent printer. A printer that gets along with any computer, that prints, copies, and scans in color and doesn't cost a week's groceries to replace the ink.

    I would pay good money for a such a machine, why? Because when the latest piece of shit from Epson, Brother or HP dies I'll surrender and buy the new and improved IBM model and use it-- forever.

I Hate Amazon

                            Downtown Cairo Illinois

 

    It's the season for gift giving and I plan to shop local to promote our community and economy-BUT there is this bald, white billionaire who has ruined it for everyone-except him.

    Amazon started out as a small start up, shipping books from a garage. Companies like Walmart and Google started out the same way with good ole capitalism. Then they became successful and so big, they turned into monsters devouring everything in sight.

Shopping beyond the basics now relies on a mega corporation that sucks the life out of local economies, has a return policy that is ruinous, wasteful and bad for the environment not to mention unsustainable in the long run.

    I wanted to buy a simple item on a Christmas wish list without giving any money to a greedy, faceless company that treats it's employees like shit. I searched at two home improvement giants and several local shops with no luck- even at Walmart. Ever try calling their customer service? It took me three attempts to talk to an actual person who informed they didn't have the product even though it was listed on their website. I gave up.

    Another time when I couldn't find a headset at Fred Meyer (also merging with a mega corporation) the clerk said " Maybe you can get it on Amazon." I frowned her in disbelief. Oh I see, you want me to give my money to another business. This detested phrase is right up there with " Just Google it." Grrrr.

Some may argue it's convenient, easy and stuff is delivered right to your door. But when     I shop in person, my money goes to someone here, not into the pocket of the poster boy for avarice.

    What's missing is the human contact when walking into an actual store. Going out gives me a chance to walk around and get away from the house- especially after the last two years of forced isolation. I like going into a shop and interact with people who want to help you find what you're looking for and are knowledgeable about their product. I like handling things so I know if it's right or not. I can wander and explore what else they have. I can order a book from a local store and they will cheerfully hold it for me to pick up later.

    When did commerce become so impersonal? When did it become more trouble than it's worth? What is wrong with these people? Hopefully the economic pendulum will swing the other way and monopolies will die off like the dinosaur so we will return to the near by, familiar locally owned mercantile- please?

Civility is Dead

 

         Public freak outs, employees being assaulted for enforcing rules, people having a tantrum over not getting their way. We are in the midst of an philosophical and emotional pandemic that has infused everything with a sense of dread and panic that is causing full scale meltdowns in disproportion to minor inconveniences.

        I suspect much of this behavior is rooted in confusing privilege with rights. We live in a remarkably privileged society where can go about our daily business without too much official interference. We have come to expect being unrestricted in our attire, our speech, where we are going and how we do it. We have been spoiled to think privilege and rights are the same thing. They are not.

        What's is absent in these wild conflicts is civility, common courtesy, good manners. But to most of the offended it's not about politeness or communal boundaries, it's about an inflated sense of entitlement.

        Freedom of speech means you have the right to an opinion that does not mean people have to agree with it. It does not include harassment, bullying and assault.

        Privilege is offered with a caveat. People have forgotten that every store has a sign that says they reserve the right to refuse service. Not because you're gay or black or Jewish but because you are being obnoxious, threatening or dressed inappropriately. When has anyone ever complained about "their rights" because they had to wear a shirt or shoes to go into a 7-eleven? It's private property and therefore they set the boundaries of what is acceptable. Just like your own home.

        In a recent incident a passenger on a plane refused to wear a mask, when he was asked by the flight attendant to comply, he promptly broke her nose. He was restrained, the pilot had to make an emergency landing, and the attendant had to go to the hospital. He managed piss off everyone. He violated the terms of that privilege yet he probably thinks he was justified. Don't be like that guy.

        Speaking of privilege, a new experience for Americans is having to wait for service, goods or deliveries due to shortages. We are used to getting what we want, like now. The new normal- common in other countries, is finding a store shelf empty, a product no longer unavailable, a local business understaffed or shuttered. Even buying on line requires a wait time. When I find myself frustrated by the inconvenience I'm reminded how decades of seemingly endless goods have spoiled us rotten.

        Climate change, a pandemic, a faltering economy, whatever the reasons, we are faced with a changing reality we must adjust  and grow up or continue to act like spoiled children.

 

Your Yearbook May be Used Against You in the Future

     I am appalled by the current PC fashion to dig up something stupid someone did decades ago and use it vilify and oust them from office. We all did something stupid, insensitive, possibly illgeal or downright embarrassing in our past. I'm not buying into this "off with their heads" mentally. Instead of bowing to unforgiving Political Correctness, point out said offense was dumb and in the past. Promise to make honest amends and let's move on.
   The mock outrage is not really about what they did long ago, it's just an excuse to get rid of someone purely for political reasons.
    Trent Lott was in Congress for decades when all of a sudden it was revealed that he had supported Sturm Thurmond, who had been in Congress forever, was a known racist. Gasp, yawn, no surprise. Lott was not a nice guy but for very different reasons.What really happend was he pissed off the real powers so they got rid of him with some handy ammunition.
   The media knows and plays along with this bullshit because it's good for ratings and riling up people. A glance behind the curtain exposes the subtefuge. 
   Remember the Gulf War and George Bush Sr. claims of Iraqis terrorizing Kuwait? Babies being ripped from incubators and all that hyperbole? It   sounded like a PR campaign. When "the war" was over and we were done cheering the troops "60 Minutes" did a story about -- guess what? How Bush hired a PR firm to sell the war to the public. Right, the media knew it all along but why ruin good ratings with the truth. The Pentagon even shamelessly admitted they led the press around by the nose and it was greeted with a collective shrug.
   The current president and media have replaced democracy and governing this country with a reality show like "The Apprentice" where we are merely contestants. People get "fired" for ratings and distraction, not for some real public threat.
   Issues like climate change, widespread corruption and rising nationalism can be easily drowned out with gossipy scandal and endless prattling by talking heads.
   I say it's time to cancel this show because the viral delusion it spreads is the real threat to humanity.

Music of the Mind

As a person with Asperger's, I have discovered there is no defense from thin skinned, politically correct, humorless Eugenians. No matter how hard I try to be courteous and polite, sometimes I say things that sound tactless without knowing it. 

We live in an era of hyper entitlement where people can not tell the difference between unintentional and deliberate offense. Any and every offense --real or imagined-- has the same unpardonable weight, where the offending person must be removed from their position or they must grovel and apologize immediately for hurting someone's feelings. 

A privileged executive with Korean Air is served snacks incorrectly and the resulting tantrum creates a scandal. A celebrity innocently says "colored" instead of "black" and people react with manufactured outrage.

Imagine what happens when the socially clueless autistic encounters such a person. Close friends and family accept my limitations with kindness and understanding but encountering strangers in the current environment is fraught with anxiety.Whenever I tripped, I would be acutely embarrassed and withdraw as a defense mechanism. This was  often mistaken for indifference or insensitivity, making the situation worse.

Society places a high value on human interactions and if the autistic compares themselves by those standards, they will always fail. After the latest gaffe, I gave considerable thought to what was going on and came to an interesting conclusion: the important skill those on the spectrum lack is social improvisation.

Conversation is like jazz, someone takes a theme and passes it to another, who changes it and passes it back. Neuro normals learn  a vast number of themes and how to alter them while those with ASD develop only a handful. For someone who only knows three chords and two songs, the frustration is compounded when they realize they can't expand their repertoire.

 

The autistic can learn to imitate themes but not grasp the nuances or their proper use. They are repeated without variation as a result, introductions became stilted, conversation focuses on a narrow subject, body language is misinterpreted.

 

After years of walking through this social mine field, I resigned myself to being shut out because I was comparing myself by neuro normal standards and always failing. But as I looked deeper into this analogy, I discovered those with ASD know more than three chords, in fact, our internal music is vast but fundamentally different from others because of the way our brains are wired. 

To use another analogy, the person with ASD has genetic roadblocks to "normal " function so new pathways are found around them that may seem perfectly clear to us but are baffling to the rest of the world.

An extreme example can be seen in synesthesia, where the senses blend. Colors have sound or names have taste. Until recently scientists scoffed at such claims but now see it as a legitimate phenomenon occasionally found in those on the spectrum. The discovery of savant skills are these new and unknown pathways of the brain.

Bach was famous for using staid old musical forms to weave new intricate melodies. Jackson Pollock dripped paint on canvas in patterns so complex, computers using advanced algorithms are needed to tell the real from the fakes. 

How easy it is for me to separate each orchestral part of  Bach's Toccata and fugue in D as seen in Fantasia. One long look at Jacksons splotches and I can see the fractals buried in the color  scheme but when talking to people, I can't tell whether I made a clever remark or insulted someone. 

Those on the spectrum may suck at the daily songs of conversations but we excel at the symphonies of ideas, patterns, and seeing the beautiful world around us. 

Climate Chage? Don't be Silly.

A perfectly normal scene in California. The low water line helps people get closer to the lake.

(Photo: Boaters launch their boats hundreds of yards away from designated boat ramps at Folsom Lake on August 19, 2014 in Folsom, California. As the severe drought in California continues for a third straight year, water levels in the State’s lakes and reservoirs is reaching historic lows. Folsom Lake is currently at 40 percent of its total capacity of 977,000 acre feet. By Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Bad Cop

It's seems to a bad time for blacks to go to cops for help after being in an accident and don't call  911 either.

Time For a New Congress

The following is being passed around the internet, which means it won’t be taken seriously by the real powers that be. With the government shutdown perhaps we should take matters into our own hands and see how far the country can be run without government interference.

However noble and reasonable this idea, Congress would never vote on a measure that reduces it’s own benefits. Maybe the courts or a presidential act might do it. A general public vote would definately work. It is time to enact some restraint of  runaway power.

Congressional Reform Act of 2013 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office. 2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people. 6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/13. 

The American people did not make this contract with Congress. Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Being elected into Congress means serving the people and should be regarded as an honor and a civic duty not as a career for personal lifelong entitlement. George Washington served the county as General and President then quietly retired to his farm in Virginia without special treatment or pension. 

Like I said before. . .

Gun control, we hear a lot about it in the news. Every time there is yet another massacre we hear the cry for stricter control while on the other side there is resistance to any safeguards because it will compromise the right to own guns.  Once again, everybody falls for the simple emotional response instead of more nuanced reason. We’re missing the point.

Guns aren’t the issue, it’s the cultural attitude around them. It’s the attitude that if I, as an unarmed citizen ask that there be some boundaries to their use and ownership that I am immediately viewed as anti-gun and wish to take your’s away. No. I believe we have the right to have guns. Call me paranoid but they may be our only protection from an increasingly militarized police, and Orwellian government. 

People use them for hunting, sport and self defense; all fine with me. What is NOT fine is having anyone under 18 having easy access to guns. A minor should NEVER handle or use a gun without direct adult supervision. You wouldn’t let anyone under 18 drive a car without an adult present, right? There’s a reason why. Endless statistics and studies have shown why. Children including adolescents do not understand or process danger like adults. Add to this the easily prompted idea that a gun is simply another appliance like a lawn mower or toaster and it’s a deadly mix. As I have already pointed out in an earlier post, tragic accidents happen because people were irresponsible. 

Don’t accuse me of infringing on your rights when I ask that they be regulated like any other potential danger in our society. Don’t lump me in with the evil jack booted authorities trying to violate your 2nd amendment rights. Don’t turn my fears and concerns of the mentally ill, the deranged and the furious ex boyfriend / lover / husband having easy access to arms into a political  “us vs. them” argument. I’m not playing that game and neither should you. It’s not that simple. The media and the politicians want it to be, so the issue can be avoided all together. We’ll just put in some stopgap unrealistic banning of this and that and the problem is solved.

It’s fine to own guns, but I want to know that you own them responsibly. That means they are safely locked up, out of reach of minors, thieves and the malicious. That means you know how to safely handle them. I want to know that you took a NRA certified gun safety course before you even purchased that gun for personal protection. Especially if you’ve never handled one before in your life so that you don’t accidentally shoot a loved one in the middle of the night, because you mistook them for an intruder. I want to know that your kid, who goes to the same school as mine isn’t going to get hold of your assault rifle one day and come to class in a rage.  I want to know that your five year old can’t get hold of that pistol and shoot themselves or others out of curiosity. 

Gun owners claim that they need protection from an increasingly intrusive government, fair enough but I don’t want to have to depend on that same government to be protected from gun owners. Like the emotionally disturbed co worker who takes out his frustration on the innocent. Never mind the police or the law, it’s your responsibility to possess a gun properly and educate others of the virtues / dangers of them. We need to understand that it’s a gun owner’s job not only to protect their own safety but also the safety of those who don’t own one.

Be Careful What You Read on the Internet.

Letters. petitions, editorials and gossip make the rounds of the internet faster than the old rumor mills but it’s just that, rumor. The internet is also a good way to spread propaganda.

An example is the following rant against a member of Congress. On closer inspection however, this letter appears to be professionally written while trying to sound like the average person. Even Snopes.com found it’s lack of provenance suspicious.  

The author simply breaks the classic rules of writing in order to appear to be an “amateur”. Insulting the subject of the letter and his ilk with juvenile language like “political pukes” and “morons”, the  multiple use of capitalized words for emphasis and the three exclamation points- which no real writer would ever dare use. It must be an average person because average people write like that. Except that the average person usually doesn’t frame their complaints with well ordered bullets points, multiple arguments and support or use rhetorical questions. This looks more like an assignment from an essay writing class then the Average Joe. 

I’m not saying the average person isn’t capable of a good retort. I’ve read great letters from real people who responds pointedly to an editorial or article. It just isn’t this one.

Alan Simpson, the Senator from Wyoming calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security " to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. Here's a response in a letter from Patty Myers of Montana .

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole (tit) for fifty years. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).

 2. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give our money to a bunch of zero losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.

Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and "your ilk" pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age, 67. NOW, you and your "shill commission" are proposing to move the goalposts yet again.

I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now "you morons" propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because "you idiots" mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal our money from Medicare to pay the bills. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you "incompetent bastards" spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off your debt.

To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" to your incompetence.

Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for you: How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career? At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?  How much do you pay for your government provided health insurance? What cuts in your retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcase thieves who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers.

And for what? Votes and your job and retirement security at our expense, you lunk-headed, leech.That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic, political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.

P.S. And stop calling Social Security benefits "entitlements". What an insult! I have been paying in to the SS system for 45 years “It's my money”-give it back to me the way the system was designed and stop patting yourself on the back like you are being generous by doling out these monthly checks .

He Was Fine Until He Put His Foot In His Mouth

Orson Scot Card is a fine writer and  has a movie coming up based on his novel Ender's Game". I don't intend to see the movie not because of his notorious homophobia but because I found the book weird and unreadable for a number of reasons.

Still It amazes me how smart people can parrot ignorant ideas as if they were original and sincere.  Please don't boycott my movie, he says, I get that the whole same gender marriage argument is moot, but now those radical queers have to be tolerant and not be upset with me, his statement seems to say. After decades of discrimination and abuse, being denied basic legal rights and looked down as immoral, this guy has the gall to imply he and his fellow members of the tight ass club are the ones being persecuted.

Nice try.

Olympic Inequality

I love the Olympics but I despise the coverage by NBC. I can't seem to find another decent source. I think it's great that women compete but the media isn't interested in the less glamourous sports. You know, the ones where women aren't in skimpy outfits. Beach volleyball, which isn't a real sport if you ask me- they wear tiny bikinis. The men? How about baggy shorts and a tank top. Hey, I want to get my beefcake too, they got to wear speedos.

There's nothing like the Olympics to remind us how misogynistic men can still act. They don't know how to handle a woman who looks like this. Or this. Only at the Olympics are sixteen year old girls considered women, in gymnastics. (It's the whole mass, muscle ratio thing that requires teenage girls.) They're darling and they are, but I would not want to be on the wrong side of a fight with one of them. So stop referring to them as cute and posting their weight.

It's time we treat the female athletes with the same respect the men get.