Fortunately, so far, this is a bad nightmare based on real facts. I hope it never happens, but just in case... here it goes...
Once upon a time, in a very remote land, called Bestonia, where no one would leave, except to the other world (is there another world?), there lived an almost-old man with his almost-old wife. They had both been celebrating his retirement and whatever was left of his 401K (considering that on September 11, 2001 he had lost a big chunk of well earned and saved money from more than 30 years of hard work and stressful days).
His name was Adam. her name Eve. Well, not really, but those names fit perfectly well, because sooner or later the nightmare would commence and they would eventually also lose their clothes too.
One day, after many years of living happily, things started to change in that land, which many claimed as the "Best Land in the World" (Hence the name...Bestonia). All the basic things to maintain a joyful peaceful life started going downwards. It all began with an invasion to a foreign land, where its people, in spite of all the deficiencies and lack of freedom, lived considerably contempt, as long as they would not infringe in their master's deranged ideology.
The original excuse for that invasion was to protect the entire planet earth from a possible man-caused-cataclysm, also known as Weapons of Mass Destruction, or WMDs. The excuse kept changing along the years to accommodate to the C.Y.A (and CIA too) convenience, as one by one, all excuses became apparent they were just that, excuses, justifications to hide the real purpose of that invasion. The invaders, along the years, depleted all the budgets assigned to different sectors of the economy in their own land to sustain their occupation, while many big corporations profited from it. Among them, Exxon Mobil, Shell Oil, BP, Chevron, and Halliburton, KBR, CACI, Titan, and Blackwater. I probably left out many more, but I am not a researcher, I am just a story teller who also lives in Bestonia, and who cares about Adam and Eve and their family's future.
Five years after that invasion the price of a barrel of oil shut up from $30 to $135, and that uncontrollable rise was felt at the gas pumps. People started paying more than $5 for a gallon of petrol, commonly known in that far, far away land as "gas".
As a consequence of the unmanageable cost of gasoline, all food products suffered unimaginable price increases, mainly the healthy ones, such as fruits and vegetables, because all those products had to be transported from other lands across the oceans. See, Bestonia could not grow them anymore because one of the parties that ran the land decided it was time to deport all illegal foreigners, who had entered Bestonia through areas that originally belonged to them and lost to another of the Bestonian invasions, many years ago. Therefore, Bestonia was left without farm workers. No more fruit pickers, no more vegetables growers. No more good healthy food. Imagine, Bestonians were not going to perform jobs for less than the minimum approved salary by their rulers, who had recently passed a bill to guarantee themselves the sum of $15,000 a month for life during their retirement.
Nevertheless, some of the more necessitated Bestonians who had lost their jobs to natives of India working in Bangalore for at least 1/10th of the salary, applied for odd jobs which they would have never done under normal circumstances. One of these weird jobs entailed picking tomatoes. Obviously, the tomato farmers made a colossal mistake giving these Bestonian those jobs. First because they had to dish out more money to meet the minimum salary requirements; and second because this was hard work, with no time to get to a bathroom to relief themselves. Consequently...Salmonella spread throughout the vast land of Bestonia by consuming those tomatoes. Rumor has it that this epidemic was probably caused by the few remaining illegal foreigners as a way to retaliate for their comrades sent back to their lands of origin, but the theory of hard work and incontinence by the new laborers was not far fetched either.
As everything in life, one thing lead to another and Bestonians had to be driven to hospitals, where many of them died waiting on line or trying to fill up 187 different forms to make sure, in case they would not die, the bills would be paid for, or if they succumbed to Salmonella somebody in their family would have to cough it up, should the insurance refuse to cover the $100 charge for a couple of aspirins administered by a licensed Filipino nurse.
All these back and forth trips to hospitals, added to the regular commuting to/from their jobs, plus the sky rocketing prices at the supermarkets, became a gargantuan burden and finally lead most Bestonians to bankruptcy. Unfortunately, the Maximum Ruler of Bestonia for the last 7 1/2 years, had passed a command eliminating the Personal Bankruptcy for all individuals. Big Corporations had nothing to worry, as the rule did not apply to them. Some of those screwed people from that immense land had a little money saved and opted for staying home and would walk to their closest supermarket to buy some groceries, except fruits and vegetables, and milk and many other items, that had experienced a price increase of up to 50% . Meanwhile they hoped that "things" would change by themselves, as if that ever happens. They really did nothing to provoke a change. Actually, all they did was to complain and whine, but they, as usual, were contempt with their situation because during many years of brain washing, they knew they lived in the Best Country in the World, Bestonia!
Unfortunately, nothing changed and Bestonians found themselves in a real jam. They already had lost their jobs to outsourcing, and now their savings got depleted. Soon they could no make payments on their homes either, actually on homes owned by the Banks or Mortgage companies, because let's face it, Bestonians, unless very rich or well off, never owned a home. Those homes were always owned by those Banks and/or Mortgage companies. Bestonians just made monthly payments to live in them, and no matter how much they paid and how many years had passed, they still owed the same amount of money due to a brilliant idea by those Banks, called Equity Loan. That caused millions of "homeowners" to default and "their homes" to go on the "F" word. (In this case both words apply...
...Foreclosure, and the other one you thought of first).
Adam and Eve, who saw the handwriting on the wall (who ever came up with that stupid saying?), decided to cut down on many superfluous things, such as long trips, clothes, Blackberries, long distance calls, the already mentioned unaffordable fruits, except bananas imported from another land, shoes, prescription eyeglasses, and dental care. Of course, gas was now a luxury, and every short trip to the food store or to the Doctor of the Week (remember that Adam and Eve where retired and their lives were programmed around food shopping and medical specialists) was calculated to eliminate backtracking, thus reducing gas consumption in their mid size car. It should also be noted that the mid size car they owned was sold to them as a good gas guzzler, 21 in the city and 27 in highways, but like everything else Bestonians bought, the real mileage was 14 in the city and 21 on the road.
Ah, those car sales people! and double Ah!, those TV commercials!
The years passed and although the economy improved a little bit, the damage was already done and Bestonia and most of the lands in the planet were never the same. Adam and Eve eventually passed away, but their children and grandchildren, and their great grand children had to witness all the changes that occurred on planet Earth. Bestonia and many other lands had been given new names by their owners. names such as HSBC Holdings, General Electric, Bank of America, J.P.Morgan Chase, Exxon Mobil, AT&T, Walmart, Chevron, AXA, and many more.
These were the rulers now. There was no more middle class. There were only 2 defined groups, The Corporates and the Poorates. Life as we knew it in the 50s, or 60s when Adam and Eve were proud of being Bestonians, had suffered tremendous changes. Instead of Elvis Presley or Nat King Cole, or Frank Sinatra, or Charles Aznavour, Earth was now the most noisy planet in the universe. Musicians and singers did not play their instruments or sang songs. They competed to break noise decibel records. Even Rap was considered outmoded and nerdy!
There was no more food, except in the form of pills invented by major Pharmaceutical companies and approved by the FDA, which in turn would get a big chunk of the generated sales.
Sex was only allowed if you paid a special tax to these companies. How did they control that? Very easy, most of the pills you ingested as food contained a fatal sperm killer. If you wanted to have sex then you had to buy THE PILL. It was only good for one shot, but it became the best seller of them all.
Until one day, whether because of the noise pollution, or the other killer pollution, Earth exploded and shattered throughout the universe. It was the end of it all!
Adam woke up that morning and his heart was pounding faster than ever. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE! OR...WAS IT?
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
POLITICAL GARBAGE FLOODS THE INTERNET
We've been watching the news and we are horrified by the tragedy in Iowa, where so many homes have been washed out and so many families are now trying to pick up the pieces after losing everything they had to mother nature. Of course, faulty levees built by unscrupulous engineering firms, and cheap construction collaborated in this demise. Our hearts are with these suffering people and we hope that the Bush administration redeems itself from the other catastrophic event during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans 2 years ago. That said I will remit to a different type of flood that is happening on a daily basis on the Internet. THE POLITICAL GARBAGE FLOOD. There isn't one single day that I don't open my email and find a piece of garbage forwarded to me by friends or family, who unbeknown to them (and this is the real problem) they also forward to other people. A geometrical progression occurs and all of a sudden thousands of people receive the same garbage.
These are emails generated by cowards who have a way to hide within the vast world of "Planet Cybernia" with phony names and undeliverable email addresses to avoid a reply from people like me who investigate all the lies they try to choke us with. They have a political hidden agenda, but the only way they know and choose to persuade us is by fabricating or using false material as truth. I would like to mention 2 names which I have seen now quite often as generators of false information. One of them is Gary Hancock, and the other one Joanna Shager Hocker. I don't even know if these people exist or these are invented names, like the information they send. The only Gary Hancok I knew was this mediocre baseball player from the late 70s and early 80s who played for the Red Sox and Oakland A's. As for Joanna Shager Hocker, the only thing I could find out in Google was a Psychologist somewhere with the same name. Both characters who send this political garbage have probably different names, and their cowardice can only be matched by their sick desire to spread their lies through the Internet.
If you read this blog I strongly recommend you do like I do every time I receive an email from a friend or a family member,which contains political information to demean or disgrace a political figure, generally degrading either a Democrat or democrats in general. I click on http://www.snopes.com/ and verify the authenticity of the article. I must say that so far, 100% of all the emails I have checked with http://www.snopes.com/ containing political information they are "so nicely sharing with us", are totally FALSE.
It is unfortunate that some people don't know how to accept defeat and the only thing left for them is to send us unsolicited garbage against a democratic candidate or a bill passed by the democratic majority in Congress, or to blame Bill Clinton for the mess created by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and his corporate cronies in the last 7 1/2 years.
If you happen to be a Republican, please don't take offense, this is not directed at you, unless you are a right wing extremist fascist who believes women are second-rated citizens, and all Hispanics should be deported, whether illegal or not. Then do, please, BE OFFENDED. My pleasure.
These are emails generated by cowards who have a way to hide within the vast world of "Planet Cybernia" with phony names and undeliverable email addresses to avoid a reply from people like me who investigate all the lies they try to choke us with. They have a political hidden agenda, but the only way they know and choose to persuade us is by fabricating or using false material as truth. I would like to mention 2 names which I have seen now quite often as generators of false information. One of them is Gary Hancock, and the other one Joanna Shager Hocker. I don't even know if these people exist or these are invented names, like the information they send. The only Gary Hancok I knew was this mediocre baseball player from the late 70s and early 80s who played for the Red Sox and Oakland A's. As for Joanna Shager Hocker, the only thing I could find out in Google was a Psychologist somewhere with the same name. Both characters who send this political garbage have probably different names, and their cowardice can only be matched by their sick desire to spread their lies through the Internet.
If you read this blog I strongly recommend you do like I do every time I receive an email from a friend or a family member,which contains political information to demean or disgrace a political figure, generally degrading either a Democrat or democrats in general. I click on http://www.snopes.com/ and verify the authenticity of the article. I must say that so far, 100% of all the emails I have checked with http://www.snopes.com/ containing political information they are "so nicely sharing with us", are totally FALSE.
It is unfortunate that some people don't know how to accept defeat and the only thing left for them is to send us unsolicited garbage against a democratic candidate or a bill passed by the democratic majority in Congress, or to blame Bill Clinton for the mess created by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and his corporate cronies in the last 7 1/2 years.
If you happen to be a Republican, please don't take offense, this is not directed at you, unless you are a right wing extremist fascist who believes women are second-rated citizens, and all Hispanics should be deported, whether illegal or not. Then do, please, BE OFFENDED. My pleasure.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Tim Russert and the lesson
Tim Russert is dead but not his legacy. It was a shocking news, as it happened suddenly without any warning. He was 58.
I am not going to talk about Mr. Russert, or Tim, as everyone used to know him, because the TV media, especially NBC and its affiliates is doing that and with great love and admiration. I cannot top that, although in my thoughts I think of a million things why this man was examplary to all of us.
The lesson he gave us in life is what I would like to talk about. We have to disect this Tim Russert 101 class into two different courses, the lesson in humanity and the lesson in professionalism. With him, these two subjects never collided, in fact they blended very well and made him what he was.
What I learned from him as a person is that the basic things in life are the ones we tend to neglect as we take them for granted. We take for granted our family; we don't get passionate enough about our sport team (avoiding to cross the line into fanatism); we don't stop to look around and see where and how we live, we take for granted the smell of recently cut green grass; we keep our money (if we have any) in the bank, instead
of using it to live more comfortably; we don't help those in need because we are selfish. I don't go on for fear of being categorized as a "daisy picker" and that I am not.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
TV OR NOT TV
Yes. Pretty corny, but I could not think of another title that denotes how confused I am about this incredible device that controls our lives.
I can't deny that I enjoy PBS when they have a rerun of the Doo-Bops. I don't know why since I am only 35. Family and friends...shut up!
I also like Animal Planet for its scientific value, not because I am an animal person, you know what I mean. Some sports, like the World Cup Soccer or the Eurocup; the 162 games played by the Marlins, which my wife watches religiously and I have to deal with it whether they win or lose. I hate to continue watching a game when my team is losing. Too stressful. And I also like science fiction. Anything with science fiction, even of the caliber of "Q"!
OK, so now you know , in my case, the first part of that Shakespearean famous quote. The bad part, the "Not TV" one includes the Local News, where all the non-sport news are about who got killed, raped, and crashed on the road; and the sports news about some who-cares-high-schools teams winnning or losing to other who-cares-less-team schools. Well, maybe the players parents are very proud, but... correct me if I am wrong...Aren't we ripped off by the Cable Company or the Satellite Network providing us with the audio and images just as those proud parents are? How about if some of the Local News could add a daily segment regarding Old Farts pride achievements, like...
"How to go to the bathroom at least 3 times a week without causing hemorrhoids pain"...or "Sex in the Rocking Chair"?
Here is more of the "NO TV"....Reality Shows. reality for whom? To me a reality show should be more something like how to survive with the economy crisis or how we are being held hostage by the gas companies and their providers; or what to do when you can't continue payments on your mortgage. Those are REAL topics for REALITY SHOWS. The other garbage they show on TV is just that...GARBAGE. Please keep in mind that this is my blog and I only reflect my opinion. You are entitled to yours, and you could tell me off in the "Comments" section...or start your own blog!
More on the "NO TV"? Oh, yes! The INFOMERCIALS! The infamous infomercials. The ones that force you to keep switching chanels at 3 o'clock in the morning if you are an insomniac like me, in order to find
something to put you back to sleep.
I have been listing all these NO TV culprits in reverse order of annoyance. Now comes the second annoying reason of why I would not have a television set: Senior Citizens dish out just about 10% of their social security check for a package of forty five thousand chanels (or fifty thousand, I am not sure), when at their age, after one program they are already asleep. The rest of the population need to work to earn a salary. They also need to commute, and to sleep. Those are basic and irrefutable requirements to have a job and to maintain it. Thus...how many hours are there left to watch TV? Why can't those cable and satellite companies allow people to select chanels, like we do when we go to a restaurant to eat? Imagine if we ordered lasagna and we would be told we also had to pay for chicken cacciatore and eggplant parmigiana as a "package deal"?
And now...the number one reason why I HATE Television!....
THE LOUSY COMMERCIALS during any program. They are the worst I have ever seen since 1961, They are false, mainly lies, loud, low class, stupid, lacking originality and subliminal with the intention of brain washing. They all insult our intelligence. Well, there are a very few exceptions, but just a number you can count with your fingers. Worst of all...WE ARE PAYING to watch those awful commercials! Unless, of course, you master the art of muting them by being the Quick Draw McGraw of the remote control. Nevertheless, even if you could pull the trigger faster than Doc Holiday, do we need all that stress in order to watch TV? Here is an idea to all of you lying and malicious companies...Since you've been bombarding us for years and years with a bunch of lies and deceptive advertising and we already know that you exist, unfortunately, why don't you save all that money that you waste and use it for instance...to lower the cost of your products? It would be a win win proposition. Who knows, perhaps we would even start liking you!
Definitely :"NO TV" outweighs "TV".
I can't deny that I enjoy PBS when they have a rerun of the Doo-Bops. I don't know why since I am only 35. Family and friends...shut up!
I also like Animal Planet for its scientific value, not because I am an animal person, you know what I mean. Some sports, like the World Cup Soccer or the Eurocup; the 162 games played by the Marlins, which my wife watches religiously and I have to deal with it whether they win or lose. I hate to continue watching a game when my team is losing. Too stressful. And I also like science fiction. Anything with science fiction, even of the caliber of "Q"!
OK, so now you know , in my case, the first part of that Shakespearean famous quote. The bad part, the "Not TV" one includes the Local News, where all the non-sport news are about who got killed, raped, and crashed on the road; and the sports news about some who-cares-high-schools teams winnning or losing to other who-cares-less-team schools. Well, maybe the players parents are very proud, but... correct me if I am wrong...Aren't we ripped off by the Cable Company or the Satellite Network providing us with the audio and images just as those proud parents are? How about if some of the Local News could add a daily segment regarding Old Farts pride achievements, like...
"How to go to the bathroom at least 3 times a week without causing hemorrhoids pain"...or "Sex in the Rocking Chair"?
Here is more of the "NO TV"....Reality Shows. reality for whom? To me a reality show should be more something like how to survive with the economy crisis or how we are being held hostage by the gas companies and their providers; or what to do when you can't continue payments on your mortgage. Those are REAL topics for REALITY SHOWS. The other garbage they show on TV is just that...GARBAGE. Please keep in mind that this is my blog and I only reflect my opinion. You are entitled to yours, and you could tell me off in the "Comments" section...or start your own blog!
More on the "NO TV"? Oh, yes! The INFOMERCIALS! The infamous infomercials. The ones that force you to keep switching chanels at 3 o'clock in the morning if you are an insomniac like me, in order to find
something to put you back to sleep.
I have been listing all these NO TV culprits in reverse order of annoyance. Now comes the second annoying reason of why I would not have a television set: Senior Citizens dish out just about 10% of their social security check for a package of forty five thousand chanels (or fifty thousand, I am not sure), when at their age, after one program they are already asleep. The rest of the population need to work to earn a salary. They also need to commute, and to sleep. Those are basic and irrefutable requirements to have a job and to maintain it. Thus...how many hours are there left to watch TV? Why can't those cable and satellite companies allow people to select chanels, like we do when we go to a restaurant to eat? Imagine if we ordered lasagna and we would be told we also had to pay for chicken cacciatore and eggplant parmigiana as a "package deal"?
And now...the number one reason why I HATE Television!....
THE LOUSY COMMERCIALS during any program. They are the worst I have ever seen since 1961, They are false, mainly lies, loud, low class, stupid, lacking originality and subliminal with the intention of brain washing. They all insult our intelligence. Well, there are a very few exceptions, but just a number you can count with your fingers. Worst of all...WE ARE PAYING to watch those awful commercials! Unless, of course, you master the art of muting them by being the Quick Draw McGraw of the remote control. Nevertheless, even if you could pull the trigger faster than Doc Holiday, do we need all that stress in order to watch TV? Here is an idea to all of you lying and malicious companies...Since you've been bombarding us for years and years with a bunch of lies and deceptive advertising and we already know that you exist, unfortunately, why don't you save all that money that you waste and use it for instance...to lower the cost of your products? It would be a win win proposition. Who knows, perhaps we would even start liking you!
Definitely :"NO TV" outweighs "TV".
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