Conservative Bill Kristol put the "smack down" on certified nut-bag & former Morning Zoo DJ Glenn Beck the other day. You can read Mr Kristol's column HERE. It's worth your time to read this piece if you've ever been amazed that someone like Beck, who I believe is genuinely disturbed in the head, is allowed anywhere near a public forum (let alone get paid to do that sort of thing). Seriously, the guy is to politics as Art Bell is to hard Science.
My favorite quote from the piece?
"But hysteria is not a sign of health. When Glenn Beck rants about the caliphate taking over the Middle East from Morocco to the Philippines, and lists (invents?) the connections between caliphate-promoters and the American left, he brings to mind no one so much as Robert Welch and the John Birch Society. He’s marginalizing himself, just as his predecessors did back in the early 1960s.
Nor is it a sign of health when other American conservatives are so fearful of a popular awakening that they side with the dictator against the democrats. Rather, it’s a sign of fearfulness unworthy of Americans, of short-sightedness uncharacteristic of conservatives, of excuse-making for thuggery unworthy of the American conservative tradition."
For the uninitiated, HERE is some additional information on that band-o-idiots called the John Birch Society. This is a group that believed that FDR was behind the attack on Pear Harbor.
All I can say is "AMEN" Mr Kristol. For the record you don't often see this kind of public rebuking in politics these days, but when you do, it's more often than not done by Republicans. Maybe that's because their fringe is more radical/weird than the fringe of the left. Maybe it's because they simply have more guts than their counterparts on the left. Regardless, score one for Bill Kristol.
I saw this on CNN this morning and just had to post it. Story link HERE.
They guy should resign from Congress mainly because he is a moron. Seriously, the guy posts a picture like that online and people trust him to help make laws?
I'm sorry, but members of Congress should be barred from anything having to do with Craigslist.
A seemingly fitting song (link HERE) for today, although it was far too cold for actual rain...
I had to pack for two and a half days in Hartford, I had to pick up the keys for Korin's car, Kate had car trouble, I had to drive to Hartford, I had my annual performance appraisal at 5pm and my back hurt. Yes, it was a hell of a day.
For the record, the performance appraisal discussion went well and Kate's car had to be towed (which cost me $100). Beauty!
Here's to hoping for a bit of sunshine tomorrow.
As for now, I am exhausted. Too much thinking, too much worrying, too much breathing in really cold air (which is really difficult with the bum ribs). I think it's time for fiber, flossing, brushing and just generally engaging in some good old fashioned sloth.
Sometimes I sit here and think "gee, I'd like to write something", you know, getting that wisp of creative intent. The problem is that intent and ability (what little I claim to have) are often times two different things. Case in point: this is the third time I've started something, with the two proceeding attempts sitting wherever deleted blogger posting go to die. Maybe three is a charm.
Anyway, I have this mental list of things I actually want two write about. The list includes such enthralling topics as...
...the role of government in society
...why Glenn Beck is nothing more than a washed up morning zoo DJ who traded top 40 hits for 40 hates
...assessing performance at work
...why I feel guilty (about almost everything)
...why Republicans are sometimes better at self-policing than Democrats
Hell, I even have a few articles laying around in support of this stuff. But yet here I sit writing about why I'm not writing. I even feel quasi-guilty about not writing (see above). Oh well, I guess I can scratch "Huffington Post Columnist" off of my list of potential career choices.
It's been my experience that in life that the most important things are more mental than anything else. That includes "the muse" as I like to laughingly call my desire to be creative in spurts. Times like this it feels like I am chasing "the muse" and it is running at the same speed I am, just five feet ahead. Mind you, other times I can readily grab "the muse" wrestle it down and choke it to death. Maybe there is just too much crap running through my head at the moment. Maybe I just need some mental dietary fiber, you know, to clean the old pipes out.
Well so much for the post about not posting.
I'm off to pack for a few days in Hartford. Maybe I'll find "the muse" standing next to the XL Center.
Well for the first time in a long time I actually watched at least part of the Super Bowl. Based on that, I learned the following:
Heinz Ward...is the perfect name for a Pittsburgh Steeler. Okay, I know his name is actually spelled Hines Ward, but still, how perfect is that?
Brett Favre...is no longer the quarterback for the Packers. Mind you I don't remember the name of the actual current quarterback, but I do know that it is NOT Brett Favre. I also know that he played a good game.
Speaking of Quarterbacks...the QB for the Steelers, "Big Ben", should be re-nicknamed "Big Bum", as the dude just doesn't look like an athlete...he look like some guy who should be moving boxes in a warehouse. In fact, he reminds me of THIS GUY from The Office.
The Peas...What precisely does "the Pea" named Taboo actually do?
On a more serious note, the game did prove the importance of defense in football. So much for the glory of the quarterback or the wide-receiver; this game was one by a bunch of guys on the Defense who forced Pittsburgh turnovers that allowed the Packers to score.
A Few Days...It's been a few days since I've written anything, with the hiatus being caused by a combination of a sore back (and associated medication that makes me tired) and just generally having a lot of things to do. Some of that stuff is listed below. Note though that it only gets worse over the next two weeks, as I have some fairly long company business travel planned. Ah, the joys of corporate travel, with broken ribs yet. I need to remember to sit in conference rooms where I can plug in my heating pad.
Coxton Campaign...I was honored to attend the premier of the Coxton Campaign at The Banshee on Friday night. Great, great stuff. Kind of reminded me of a political version of The Office. Anyway, I was honored to be sitting at The Banshee with the mom of NEPA's favorite blogger who also co-wrote the Coxton Campaign. The fact that a bunch of young men and woman pulled this together in such a professional way says a lot about the caliber of education in this area. My only negative thought: it's a shame that talented people like this almost always end up leaving NEPA for greener pastures. Let's hope that if they do, they also end up coming back a-la Jason Miller (but sans the rampant drunkenness).
College Visits...Speaking of young people (this time my own), I had my final college visit with one of my daughters yesterday, with a trek to Shippensburg University. The weather was less than ideal (freezing rain, fog, etc.), but I am so glad we made the trip. My daughter probably isn't going to attend Ship, but I always do enjoy the visits. It brings back so many memories for me. Most importantly, it's just great to spend the day with my baby daughter. Unfortunately I did not pick up a really cool looking "Ship Happens" tee shirt. Bummer.
Ubuntu...Now that I have my Gateway Netbook back, I'm going to see if I can breathe new life into my Sony Vaio laptop by way of installing Ubuntu 10.04 desktop on the machine, replacing the incredibly virus infected Windows XP that resides on the machine. Really I'd just like something that I can surf the net with, and I do admit the Vaio's super-sharp & large screen beats the hell out of the netbook's puny display. How successful this will be is part of the fun of it all I suppose. More exploration.
SuperBowel...I don't watch much in the way of TV sports, most especially professional football. I also have no emotional attachment to either team playing in tonight's "big game". That noted, I will be going to a friend's house to, for all intensive purposes, watch the "big game". Actually I am mainly going to just eat, but hell, the game will be on in the background anyway. One of the things I wanted to do differently for 2011 was to try different kinds of food, and tonight will be an opportunity to try something called "Taco Soup". Rumor has it that Taco Soup is not, in fact, simply a runny version of chilli. We shall see.
YouTube Weekend...I feel the need for a little Duran Duran.
I suppose big-time bloggers like Tom B. get tons of this stuff, but it only happens to me every once in a while. In celebration, I'd like to share...
Sean Ryan On Behalf Of CSNPromoTeam
to me
show detailsFeb 1 (1 day ago)
Good Afternoon
My name is Sean and I work on the Promotions Team at CSN Stores. I came across your blog recently and wanted to reach out to you for a potential partnership. You may have seen CSN Stores around the blogosphere as we are currently running promotions with a variety of different sites and thought you might be interested in working with us!
With over 200 unique sites, ranging from www.cookware.com to www.allmodern.com, we carry just about everything (including the kitchen sink...).
We would love to help you reward your US and Canadian readers with a CSN gift code giveaway. It's a great way to give back to your loyal followers as well as draw in new audiences! Plus your winner gets to pick exactly what they want from our inventory of over 2 million products! And if you think a review would be a better fit for you and your readers, we could certainly discuss that option as well.
Let me know if this sounds like something you would be interested in and we can discuss the details!
Thanks for your time, Sean
For the record I would just as soon perform self dental surgery than provide this kind of "reward" to my "readers". Sorry Sean.
Now I'm not anti-commerce. Hell. unlike my ultra-conservative brother, I actually have worked all my life in the private sector. My point is that anyone who wants to go shopping can go to Amazon, Meritline, Overstock or many other wonderful on-line commerce sites. Come here? Hell no. I'd just as soon people come here to laugh at me...after all, I did pay the princely sum of $10 (or whatever it was) for this URL.
Egypt...This is another one of those "history being made" moments happening in Egypt as I type this. Every freedom loving individual should be thrilled with events in Egypt; the notion that some (mainly n the far, far right) view this uprising with some skepticism says a lot. As I have noted on a few occasions, if we, as Americans want to claim some moral high ground, then we actually have to act like we have the moral high ground. Supporting a dictator who has run a country via martial law for 30+ years isn't what I would consider to be "moral".
Pain...Well via a combination of not really paying attention & your basic winter conditions, I managed to slip on some ice Sunday night, fall, and I ended up with a few injured ribs. This is some seriously painful stuff, worse than just about anything else I've gone through. It's also the first time I've ever gotten some hard-core pain medication (in my case Vicodin). While the pain meds work, I don't get the whole addiction...I in less pain, but it doesn't work that good. As for me, I'm sticking to my usual chocolate addiction.
Dating Policy...Minority Lackawanna County Commissioner A.J. Munchak stated last week that county government needs to augment its ethics policy to include some rules around county employees dating each other. Seems reasonable to me, although it's important to remember that Mr Munchak has been a Commissioner for something like 8 years now, including one term as a majority commissioner, so if this were such a pressing issue you have to wonder why it wasn't tackled years ago. Anyway, such a policy is needed. No one should ever be supervising...directly or indirectly...someone they have a personal relationship with, period. If you are a manager you should not have this kind of relationship with anyone who directly reports to you or someone who reports to someone who reports to you (so by extension, County Commissioners shouldn't be able to have this kind of relationship with anyone working for the county). If you are not a manager but you are in a position whereby part of your job is to provide feedback on the performance of another (think of a quality control person, auditor, etc.) then there needs to be rules in place whereby no one could be perceived as providing favorable treatment because of a personal relationship. Now I'm not being Draconian about all of this; if you want to date someone who is within your reporting chain of command, then there is a solution: either you or the person you wish to date need to transfer to another department. If you are an auditor and you want to date someone who has work that you need to review, simply disclose this fact and don't conduct the audit on the person in question.
Ice Day...My employer actually has a two hour delayed opening today. That almost never happens, so it must be really, really bad out there. Since I don't need another accident in my immediate future, I'm going to be ultra careful out there. Sgt Esterhaus would be proud.
Scranton School Board...NEPArtisan reported Scranton School Board Director Chris Phillips has announced that he will seek another term in office. You can read the announcement HERE. I like the job that Chris Phillips has done; on my one and only appearance at a school board meeting this year he was attentive and all business. However, I will confess that the promotion of his wife to a principal position does leave a bad taste in my mouth. I am sure that his wife is very well qualified for the position in question, but that's note the point of an anti-nepotism policy. Such policies exist in part to prevent the appearance of conflicts of interest. As a member of the body that governs the Scranton School District, Mr Phillips is in a position to influence hiring decisions. His abstaining from the actual promotion vote is just window dressing, because no one with an IQ above 70 actually believes that the "real" debates and discussions of government always occur in front of the public eye. Bluntly, the right thing to do here was for either Mr Phillips to resign from the board or his wife voluntarily remove herself from the promotion list. Since neither happened, voters in Scranton now have to weight this almost blatant act of nepotism against the other work that Mr Phillips has done as a director. Like most things in life, this situation isn't black-n-white.
Public service in elected office is a privilege, not a right.
My employer has further clarified its Social Media policy, and after some thought I'd added the following disclaimer to the blog:
DISCLAIMER
The opinions expressed in NCFE are those of Stephen Albert alone and are not intended to represent the ideas or opinions of any other person, group, or organization
Now I don't think I've ever referenced my employer by name, and I have indirectly referred to it all of, I think, two times over the years. Regardless, having this kind of disclaimer seems to be a reasonable thing to do. I know, I am probably caving in to "the Man", but so be it; as I do reserve the right to adjust, refine, and re-look at just about everything I do.
Speaking of the blog as an entity, I have the opportunity to engage in some virtual work this summer that could actually get more people actually read this stuff. That's actually an interesting thought, as I've honestly never spent any time thinking about such things. Do I care about that kind of thing (a-la "readership")? Not really. As I have said all along, I do this to entertain myself; the fact that someone else may be entertained is something of a side note. I do, however, enjoy the notion of spurring thought, be it in myself or in others. If reading something here make someone think about something they otherwise would not have, then I suspect that's not a terrible thing.
"For an introvert, he really put's himself out there"
The above is something of a paraphrased comment from someone who read over some of this stuff a few months ago. I think the sentiment expressed is actually pretty fascinating. Yes, I am probably one of the most introverted people anyone would ever meet. I genuinely dislike things like parties, small-talk, and just general all-around "hob-nobbery". I am comfortable working alone and I am comfortable being alone for the most part (although I will note that I have no desire to be completely alone for any extended period of time). For me, the ideal interaction is with just one other person at a time. As I write this stuff, I never imagine anyone other than myself speaking or listening, making this far more of a monologue than a discussion. Why do it then? Well the reasoning is similar to why I acted in a few plays in high school (despite being incredibly shy and awkward) and actually speak to groups of people at work: I love the notion of "controlled" extroversion. Being an introvert, I am very uncomfortable in situations where I have to think and act too much on my feet; I always need to "process". Here I can "put things out there" but do it in a way where I basically get to think about, ponder and choose what goes out onto the page. Basically I can "act" like an extrovert but do it in an oh-so introverted kind of way. Best of both worlds.
