Anti-Press Express

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2008-01-01T02:13:00.000-05:00

F*** Xmas

2007-12-25T17:52:00.000-05:00

© 2007 Stan Spire

Since I’m a family values person, I’ve copped out and replaced key letters in the title with asterisks. So if there are any inquisitive kids wondering about the title, tell the little bastards it means Free Christmas.

Plattsburgh streets are empty and still today. Instead of someone’s birthday, you would think someone had died.

What has died is individualism. Everyone is supposed to follow the majority. But for someone like me – no job, no car, no house, no family – I don’t have the conformity cachet to play in the reindeer games. Christmas is another day in the week, albeit a quiet one.

But I prefer not to get caught up in the seasonal game. No more fighting the crowds at the mall. No more impossible idealism about having the perfect holiday.

Everyone lives with the illusion that nothing bad should happen on Xmas. Peace on earth, good will towards men. Ask your local police about this time of year. More calls to break up family disputes. A bank robbery is less messy than calming down a domestic blow-up.

But don’t talk about that. Keep such details in the background. After all, it’s Xmas! There’s the factoid that years ago relatives would fudge the death date of a loved one by moving it before or after the holiday. After all, no one can die on Jesus’ birthday. It’s kinda rude.

Anyway, talking about death around the holidays might affect the economy. Xmas sales are vital. After all, that poor CEO wants to buy a new private jet.

No matter how stupid the ritual, don’t think, just do it.

A few days ago the national news followed the story of some jerk and his children who got lost in the snowy woods while looking for an Xmas tree. Search parties were sent out. The idiot and his kids were found, cold but alive. And what does the lamestream media call this event? A Christmas miracle.

Isn’t Christmas stupidity more accurate? If it’s so easy for an adult to get lost in the woods, he should buy his tree in a city parking lot. (And even then the moron might get lost.)

I Want A Flamethrower For Xmas

2007-12-23T02:54:00.000-05:00

© 2007 Stan Spire

Plattsburgh – The City That Don’t Werk - will spend all sorts of money putting up useless Xmas decorations downtown as if that junk will draw anyone away from the shopping malls outside the city limits.

After every light and wreath is in place, the city claims it doesn’t have enough money for manpower to keep the sidewalks clear of snow. Every winter Pits-burgh threatens to bill anyone who doesn’t shovel the sidewalk in front of his home or business. But nothing happens. Some stretches remained blocked with piles of white crap. If it has the time, public werks might scrape off a few walkways before the spring sun does the job for it.

Well, I have the answer. Give me a flamethrower. A stream of fiery napalm will quickly clear away any clogged sidewalks. And I’ll take out those stupid Xmas decorations, too. No decorations, no need to put them up next year. That means more money to maintain the sidewalks in the winter.

Money that the city could spend on a good flamethrower.

Changes

2007-12-22T01:25:00.000-05:00

Stan Spire. Or stanspire.

Simple. Direct. Easy to remember.

Unlike Anti-Press, hyphen required at Blogspot. Or A-P_E, both hyphen and underscore required at Yahoo groups.

Also, Anti-Press works well as the name of an ezine or blog, but not that well as a pseudonym. Too aloof; not personable like Stan Spire. And when it comes to reaching readers, having a freaking personality is key. Anyway, my grandmother, Gram Ana, likes to see my name in print.

So take note. New blog, new group.

http://stanspire.blogspot.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stanspire/

As for the old blog and group, they'll be around. Maybe for a while.

Questions/comments? stanspire[at]yahoo[dot]com

The Blackmailer

2007-12-20T01:56:00.000-05:00

© 2007 Stan Spire

Despite the constant downward pull, I refuse to sink and hit bottom, unlike certain criminal masterminds who appear in the news.

For example, take the case of the Internet blackmailer. He created a second identity with an online social networking service, pretending to befriend a woman in his community. He led the woman on, causing her to reveal the possible existence of an amateur videotape showing her in flagrante delicto.

Knowledge is power, especially inside knowledge of a scandalous nature. It was easy for the man, hiding behind his phony identity, to blackmail the woman. His activity moved from cyberspace to meat space. He claimed that he had the sex videotape and that he would give it to the woman only if she provided sexual favors to “a friend.” Actually the friend was the blackmailer using his real name.

The woman, with great reluctance, gave in to the threats. She visited the “friend’s” apartment on different occasions, apparently not suspecting that she was engaging in sexual acts with her online blackmailer. She tried again and again to get the videotape but no success. The blackmailer was bluffing; the tape didn’t exist.

But the story got out. The blackmailer was arrested and later he pled guilty to coercion. Despite his cleverness (or what he thought was cleverness), he didn’t get away with the crime.

Imagine the poor victim. This young woman must be jaded now when it comes to men. The terrible experience must leave a bad taste in her mouth.

Hopefully she’s wiser and won’t fall for another bonehead deception.

Template Reporting

2007-11-05T01:07:00.000-05:00

(C) 2007 Stan Spire

She was nervous, rattled. She searched through her notes when a question was asked, responding with a prepared statement. At one point she hesitated for a while, lost in her thoughts. Not a good showing for an incumbent.

OK, she was having an off day. Possibly something upset her before the debate. That's understandable. But an important aspect of politics is how well a candidate comes across to an audience. Public speaking 101.

When the newspaper article appeared, no mention of the incumbent's difficulties. And while an article can't include every detail, at least the pertinent ones should be mentioned.

The reporter should have been a stand-in witness for those who couldn't attend the debate. Anyone there who was half-awake noticed that the incumbent was struggling at times to make her points.

But the article was the same standard unit the reporter had stamped out with previous debates and other candidates. He wrote utilizing a basic format, treating each debate like a sporting event. Portraying the action like a battle of wills between two evenly matched opponents. Tossing in words like "tussle" to enliven the copy. Using quotes like key plays.

Template reporting results when a reporter has covered too many stories over the years. Stick to an easy formula, file the story.

But even a sports reporter mentions when an athlete drops the ball.

An Immodest Proposal

2007-11-03T04:37:00.000-04:00

© 2007 Stan Spire

During recent debates with local city candidates the topic of a bed tax came up. Apparently some are eying the new hotel to be built down by the lake as a source of new revenue for the city. But the lakeside hotel has dragged on for two years and nothing has been built. Of course, locating a hotel next to the city sewage plant has raised some eyebrows (or should I say twitched a few noses?).

Plattsburgh, NY has never been known for pragmatism. It has never learned to take advantage of what it already has. And when it comes to proposed projects, most are dreams produced from a certain kind of pipe.

Realistically, the best way for the city to charge a bed tax is find the right beds to tax. Legalized prostitution is the answer. It fits well with the nighttime ambience of downtown, the bars, the drugs, the walking wounded who come out when the sun sets. And with rates by the hour instead of by the day (or night), Plattsburgh would be raking in enough money from whoring to fix its sorry ass.

Profit$ Over People

2007-11-01T05:38:00.000-04:00

© 2007 Stan Spire

“Companies are now paying attention to the mental health problems of employees. An estimated X million dollars are lost each year due to depression and other emotional problems.”

“If a pandemic like bird flu sweeps the world, an estimated X billion dollars would be lost in productivity.”

Ever notice how most news stories stress the financial over the human? When there’s a problem related to workers, the main concern is how it affects the bottom line, not the person.

A cog in the machine – that’s the apparent value of a person. If he’s struggling with the agony of severe depression, don’t think of him as a fellow being who needs help. Regard him only as a mechanical part that needs a little more oil.

And make sure that your cogs are properly maintained, keep them healthy, not because they have families to support, but because you, Mr. Rich Capitalist, want to achieve your target for yearly profits. Keep the machine going. Don’t do anything for humanitarian reasons; such altruism is for suckers. Spend money on employees only when it affects the profit margin. And even then spend the minimum.

After all, materialism makes America the greatest country in the world – of expendable cogs.

Info As Bait

2007-10-14T01:43:00.000-04:00

“So what’s the weather this weekend? Sunny or will your day off be rained out? Well, stayed tuned.”

The teaser. A smiling TeeVee weatherman wants to suck you in into watching most of the newscast. After all, maybe bad weather is on the way, like that terrible thunderstorm last week.

So you’re glued to the channel, keeping those ratings up. Finally, after some news you don’t care about and a bunch of irritating commercials, the weatherman comes back, asking the same question: sunny or rainy? Well, he’ll tell you, after some more ads…

With the Net you have other ways of getting weather forecasts without sitting through the commercialized pap of your local TeeVee newscast. Just log on and look it up within a minute or so.

But since most TeeVee viewers are idiots, the forecast bait works, hooks those suckerfish every time. So why not apply it to other bits of information?

Recently a Vermont TeeVee station has been running an ad for its newscast, tossing bait into the water along this line: “Did you know that there are two types of smoke detectors? Which one is the best? Did you know that one type might not go off during a fire? Which type of smoke detector is the safest? Tune in tomorrow…”

Oh My God – is your smoke detector inadequate? Make sure to watch that newscast and sit through all the annoying ads pushing crap you don’t need.

Don’t get hooked. There are other options besides TeeVee for getting information. If so-called journalists want to play games with information, screw them. Especially when it’s info that could save your life.

= = =

ADDENDUM

From a quick search it seems that the answer to which smoke detector type is the best isn't so cut and dry as indicated by the TeeVee station's bait.

Google keywords: "smoke detectors" + two types + best

Hit: http://www.firesafetycouncil.com/english/pubsafet/safact.htm

Q. What types of smoke alarms are available on the market?

A. There are two types of household smoke alarms in common use. These are known as ionization or photoelectric type smoke alarms.

Q. Which type of alarm is more effective?

A. There is no simple answer to this question. The two types operate on different principles and therefore may respond differently to various conditions. Some advantages to each type are set out below:

Ionization
--Fastest type to respond to flaming fires
--Lowest cost and most commonly sold
--Some models have a hush or temporary silence feature that allows silencing without removing the battery
--Some models are available with a long life battery

Photoelectric
--Fastest type to respond to slow smoldering fires and white or gray smoke
--Less prone to nuisance alarms from cooking

Information is at your fingertips. Don't let the lamestream media hold it hostage.

© 2007 Stan Spire

The Back To School Scam

2007-09-25T03:20:00.000-04:00

© 2007 Stan Spire

Remember in college when you were required to buy a lot of expensive textbooks and you found out as the semester rolled on that you didn’t need all of them? Your instructor would say, “Well, those other books are additional background material. I’m not going to test you on that.”

But such scams aren’t necessarily limited to colleges. Take a look at the back to school sales for middle and high school students. Johnny or Jane comes home with a list of crap that the teacher says is required.

For example, the student MUST HAVE a plastic orange folder of certain size (and price). This particular folder will only be used to hold math assignments. Are today’s students so dumbed down that they need color codes to organize their materials? Then again, most dumb citizens pay attention to the spectrum of threat levels pronounced by Homeland Security. This one color per subject could be great training for future Amerikans. Pavlov’s dog whimpers when he sees the color red.

Why are these lists of required school supplies accepted without question by parents? How did it come about that an office supply store like Staples suddenly got into “educational materials?”

I suspect that there is some connection between big companies with product to push and schools short on cash. Look at the incident when a student wore a Pepsi t-shirt during “Coke In Education Day” at his high school. The student was suspended. After all, if Coca Cola wants to use a school to recruit more Cokeheads, then you better be a team player.

I’ve tried using a search engine to find articles online that at least raise the issue about back to school supplies and the companies manufacturing and peddling those supplies. Nothing. Not even a blog post. Apparently no one is curious about the back to school fad (or I haven’t hit the right combo of keywords yet). One article did say that the back to school season is second to Xmas in total sales. Consumers = lemmings.

One parent told me that a leading calculator company provides “free” instruction books when a school requires its students to purchase a particular calculator made by the company. I wouldn’t be surprised if more such deals are being made behind the scenes between various companies and cash-strapped schools.

I not saying there’s a great conspiracy, but keep in mind the main point of capitalism is to get money out of your pocket.

Setting that issue aside, there’s the validity of the back to school lists. I’ve heard from one student that as the school year rolls on, she found that she didn’t need all the items. Hopefully she’ll learn from this and avoid buying unneeded textbooks in college.

Just Say NO To Diamonds

2007-09-13T16:35:00.000-04:00

Blood Diamond. A movie nominated for 5 Academy Awards. So what.

This movie proves how Hollywood can trivialize an important social issue. Blood Diamond is set during the civil war in Sierra Leone in 1999. At that time there was talk about "blood diamonds," diamonds sold to finance the bloodshed. If you wanted to be politically correct/socially aware, you had to ask your jeweler if he dealt in conflict or blood diamonds. (As if that made any real difference.)

The entire diamond industry is tainted, not just by the civil war that occurred in Sierra Leone. Right from the beginning of the diamond trade black Africans were forced to work under inhuman conditions to enrich a few white capitalists. How would you like to sleep on a concrete bed after a long day in the mines? And to end up with a pittance of what De Beers and other such companies were raking in?

Blood Diamond does raise a few issues, for example, how the major diamond companies buy up all the stones and hoard them, creating an artificial scarcity to keep the prices so high. Or how a man is told that he should spend at least three months of his salary on a diamond engagement ring.

But such issues are lost among all the action and violence during Blood Diamond. After a while the rapid pace of gunfire and last minute escapes becomes boring. Our heroes somehow serpentine their way through mass destruction and deadly chaos, but while everyone around them is injured or killed, they come through to face more danger. This movie could have been easily changed into Indiana Jones And The Blood Diamond.

Of course, this is how Hollywood tackles social issues. Keep the real issues in the background and dazzle everyone with a video-game plot.

At the end of the movie a statement is shown that buyers should make sure that they only buy diamonds of the non-blood type. If the viewer had been paying attention, he would remember how it was mentioned in the movie that blood diamonds were easily mixed in with "good" ones as they're sold along the way. But like I said, it doesn't matter, the entire diamond industry is tainted with blood.

Last Xmas season one of the big diamond companies ran a TeeVee ad featuring an upper middle class black couple at a posh restaurant, a heart-touching scene of a man giving his wife a diamond. I wonder if those black actors were aware of the history of the diamond trade.

And if they were - for shame.

(C) 2007 Stan Spire

Two Events, Unrelated?

2007-08-22T03:22:00.000-04:00

© 2007 Stan Spire

Karl Rove, longtime political advisor to the president, is leaving the White House to spend more time with his family. And the president’s daughter, Jenna, is getting married.

Karl Rove. How can I sum up such a great humanitarian in a few words? Let’s see, there’s push polling. South Carolina, 2000. George Bush and John McCain are out to win the favor of voters, each trying to be the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.

Someone masquerading as a pollster calls a voter, asking if his opinion of McCain would change if they knew he had fathered an illegitimate daughter with a black prostitute?

Of course, the “pollster” didn’t claim that McCain had committed a two shocking transgressions against Deep South conservative Christian racists. The caller just posed a question to gauge a reaction. There’s nothing against the law against bringing up a “what if” situation.

And how can a “pollster” be responsible for any confusion that might arise from the fact that John McCain and his wife had an adopted daughter from Bangladesh? After all, Rovian politics helps to keep voters on their toes, motivating them to check out the facts. Most voters use their minds, not their hearts, when choosing the right candidates.

And with Rovian discourse, anyone can become involved in the great cause, even someone’s innocent daughter.

So would your opinion of Karl Rove change if you learned he had impregnated Jenna Bush, forcing her to get married to someone her age to cover up the scandal?

A Brain Enhanced By Conservatism And OxyContin

2007-08-06T01:17:00.000-04:00

Rush Limbaugh. He’s more than a political radio commentator: he’s a true historian.

In a promo for his show, Rush really hits it on the head about modern events. He states that the Soviet Union fell apart because it gave up when the United States decided to press ahead with the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as “Star Wars.” The Soviets knew that we had the know-how and can-do attitude to make a missile defense shield work. All they could do was admit defeat.

Of course, the fact that the Soviet Union was corrupt, inefficient, and overextended are minor reasons why it failed.

America has a perfect record when it comes to creating and utilizing superior technology. After all, our advanced weaponry during the Vietnam War quickly won us peace with honor – just like it will in Iraq.

And consider our space agency, NASA, for a sterling example of how to properly design and build technology. One shuttle blew up while going up; another burned up while coming down.

Look at other triumphs. Like the Mars probe that crashed into the Red Planet because someone forgot to properly convert between kilometers and miles. Or the solar space probe that crashed into the desert because its parachute didn’t deploy. The parachute switch had been installed upside down.

And don’t forget the most important component in any system: the human operator. It was reported recently that some astronauts have been flying drunk, obviously to keep their reflexes optimal.

Imagine our government and its crack administrators and operators protecting us with a nationwide missile defense shield. Maybe a drunken ex-astronaut would be put in charge of the program.

Imagine SDI activated during a crisis.

BOOM.

The U.S. empire falls apart in seconds. After blowing itself to pieces.

Rush Limbaugh crawls out of the rumble, grabs a microphone, and starts blaming the liberals for the disaster. He knows the real story.

© Copyright 2007 Stan Spire

Dear Reverend Fry

2007-07-29T04:29:00.000-04:00

Dear Reverend Fry,

With due respect, are you getting fried?

Every Friday in the Plattsburgh (news)paper you run an ad in the Faith and Spirituality section that at first glance looks like a weekly column. Entitled “I Was Just Thinking About…” there’s a photo of you sitting in your study, a bespectacled middle-aged man wearing suspenders and a tie, a learned look on your face. Each week you take a news item and relate it to the Bible. You wrap up with the statement: “It would be an honor to speak with you further about this at the Bible Baptist Church.”

While your choice of new items are interesting, I think lately you’ve been writing too many sermons and are getting a bit burned out. Your last two ad-columns have been stretching the point too far in trying to connect the incident with a Bible quote.

For example, you talk about a man named Scott Naylor who found a five-foot boa constrictor emerging from the engine of his car. The event was mysterious because Naylor didn’t own the snake and he couldn’t figure out how it got inside his car. This event reminded you of a Bible verse:

“And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” (Numbers 21:9)

Then you state that this verse speaks of the healing that Christ provides.

So what’s the connection between the news item and the Bible verse? Did Scott Naylor have Moses’ brass serpent in his trunk and that’s why he wasn’t bitten? Or did the Saint Christopher statue on his dashboard save him?

A week later and you write about a fox that attacked some people in a steakhouse. The fox (apparently rabid from what is described) chased customers into the restaurant and bit the manager. This Bible verse came to your mind:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, waketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

OK, a rabid fox can be dangerous but it isn’t a lion. I can’t see a fox devouring a person like a lion; a few good bites and it would be stuffed. And as you stated, animal control officers put down the fox. What did they use – a crucifix to corner the crazy critter?

What’s next week? One item that got a lot of play recently in the press was the nursing home cat that seemingly predicts when death is near for a patient. The foreseeing feline wanders around and sometimes jumps up on a bed, sitting there just hours before the patient dies.

But maybe that cat isn’t making predictions. After all, some people believed that a cat would climb into a crib and smother a baby. (If the poor little soul hadn’t been baptized, he would end up in purrgatory.) And then there are all those stories about witches and their familiars…

So what Bible verse would be appropriate? How about:

“He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.” (Psalm 10:9)

That does tie in better with the news item, albeit in a warped way. But warping works better than stretching. Try it some time, Reverend Fry.

© Copyright 2007 Stan Spire

If It's Safe Then Why Hide It?

2007-06-28T04:30:00.000-04:00

(C) 2007 Stan Spire

Remember the NutraSweet logo? It was a fancy swirl emblazoned on all sorts of products, announcing that it was the perfect sugar substitute. Lately I haven't seen it too often when I'm shopping for food.

NutraSweet is a brand of aspartame. For years there's been some controversy about aspartame; safety issues have been raised. Links made to cancer and brain tumors. The approval process by the FDA for this particular ingredient has been criticized.

One story is a competitor hawking a different sugar substitute started a whispering campaign to ruin aspartame's reputation and so that's why the swirly logo hasn't been so prevalent lately. Or maybe it's because aspartame smells the same by any name; the US patent expired in 1992. So why not announce the inclusion of aspartame in big letters on the front of the container, even if it wasn't made by NutraSweet? Aspartame is still hailed as being safe for people wanting to avoid sugar.

Sugar has been around for generations. Its bad effects are known. Aspartame is relatively recent; no one knows what the long terms affects will be, if any.

Me, I don't wanted aspartame in any food products like yogurt because it upsets my stomach.

So you'll see me holding a cup of yogurt at the supermarket, peering at its ingredients, making sure it contains sugar, not aspartame. The print isn't the largest, to say the least. Also, one brand uses blue letters, not easier to read black print. And while words like milk or whey are put in bold, aspartame doesn't get the bold treatment, just a tiny asterisk. I have to carefully check the label for that one ingredient I'm trying not to ingest. It's amazing how small blue print hides the word; aspartame is lost in the list.

I didn't have this problem when the red and white NutraSweet swirl was prominently placed on the front of the package. It was easier back then to avoid eyestrain and an upset stomach.

PIA Zadora Stalls Before Takeoff

2007-06-20T05:09:00.000-04:00

By Stan Spire (C) 2007

The Plattsburgh International Airport (PIA) has suffered a setback. When it opened Monday, June 18th, the company lined up to provide fuel and handle maintenance had squelched the deal.

PIA is located at the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base. Clinton County closed down its old airport and moved its operations to the flight lines and runways left behind when PAFB was decommissioned.

Some have questioned the wisdom of the move. "Build it and they will come," works in the movies, but not necessarily in real life. The county only put up a portion of the funds needed to build the new airport, indicating that the local taxpayer wasn't going to be burdened. And what was the source for the bulk of the funding? Other taxpayer funds. So the taxpayer pays all the time, whether its local, state or federal taxes.

Did the taxpayer end up paying for another white elephant? It's not a good indicator of success when a company backs out of a negotiated contract, asking for additional items that the county couldn't provide.

So Clinton County is now searching for another fixed-base operator. Until then another company will keep providing fuel.

The operator that dropped out, Million Air, had intended to set up shop at PIA with a government contract to transport soldiers overseas. (And as my Granddad Spire used to say, they were also going to hit a hog in the ass with a brick.)

Million Air. Yuk, yuk. What a pun.

My nickname for the new county airport is PIA Zadora. That's a pun referring to a movie star named Pia Zadora who was more flash than substance. She was once married to a rich sugar daddy who took good care of her. PIA, on the other hand, mainly has taxpayers to provide the sugar, lumps and all.

Crap Osmosis

2007-06-13T00:26:00.000-04:00

By Stan Spire (C) 2007

Despite my protective mental membrane, crap molecules still seep in.

I don't have cable or satellite TeeVee. And with the few stations I pick up off the air, I don't watch that much. I avoid looking at entertainment rags. I seek out only real news on the Web.

But somehow trivial info slips through. I've never watched the TeeVee show American Idol, but I am familiar with the judges' names and even the names of certain contestants. A lot of buzz is generated about a wannabe pop star and the lamestream media is obligated to play up the story over real events.

Flip through the late night TeeVee talk shows and every host has to bring up the contestant's name and the vapid buzz accompanying it. Even the losers are brought out on these shows, their fifteen-minute fame serviceable for lame comedy bits.

At least such contestants project a positive image. "News" is created when image of a young female movie star or pseudo-celebrity becomes negative. Drugs. Alcoholism. Sex scandals. Arrests. Even jail time. All the news outlets and talk show monologists treat such incidents as major news. They aren't. They're just crap.

But the pop media gives the public at large what it wants. After all, learning about the controversy surrounding the present US Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, ain't fun. Or even funny. Even though Gonzales has a direct effect on the lives of average Americans, John and Jane Q. Pubic would rather follow the story of a spoiled rich bitch going to jail, even though she doesn't have the power to screw up their existence.

The crap: it can't be avoided it when it's spread everywhere. It's in your face even during the briefest exposures to the media. You would have to blind yourself off to every headline or blurb. And by doing so, you also shut out important information and news.

The latest fads and crazes aren't news. In the end the buzz dies away, revealing the pseudo-event behind it to be what it was all along: meaningless crap. Time will prove how right I am.

Historians, 40 years in the future: do insignificant molecules named Sanjah or Paula Abdul or Lindsay Lohan mean anything to you? I didn't think so.

Don't Die For A Lie

2007-05-28T18:26:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day disturbs me.

Like other holidays, it's a time for fun-filled noise. Shouldn't this be a day for reflection?

I've been thinking about the phrase, "It's your duty to protect your country." Is it still your duty if your leaders are corrupt or just fucking stupid?

You can look at a country as being its citizens, the average folks, and those who are in power. Too often leaders have exploited the citizenry, especially when it comes to war. The power players get involved in all sorts of global shenanigans for personal gain and when a snag is hit, it's time to call upon the citizen to defend his country (i.e., defend the players' thwarted plans).

I don't question a citizen's sincere patriotism, especially the patriotism of someone who enlisted after 9/11 because he thought America was in immediate danger. Yes, terrorism is a problem -- but how big of a problem?

For the cynical power players 9/11 was an opportunity to inflate that problem into an all-purpose scam, a convenient rallying point invoked to rationalize the Iraq misadventure. Also, by creating The War On Terror, it would keep the populace pre-occupied so that it wouldn't have time to realize that the terrorism problem was the result of American players screwing around in the politics of other countries.

But this has happened before in history: if the players stirred up the hornet's nest, they went straight to plan B. Plan B was easy: demonize the enemy, hypnotize the citizenry with patriotic fervor, and let the dogs of war rip. The protected and comfortable masters let their obedient canines do all the dirty work for them.

No, I'm not one of those hippie-pacifistic types who believe all violence is wrong. I'm a realist. Sometimes war is justified. Sometimes it isn't. I've seen how power players will lie and lead on others on, only gambling with their money and prestige, but not with their lives. In fact, they won't even risk the lives of their own pampered offspring. (You don't see the Bush Twins serving in Iraq, do you?)

Leaders are supposed to represent the people. In actuality leaders only represent themselves. If you think otherwise, you're living a blissful life.

In ancient times it was believed that a man born mentally defective had glimpsed the gods: his subnormal condition was a sign of their awesome energies. In a way he was blessed.

Wrapped in his nation's flag, the idiot leader of the US commands his followers to die needlessly, his simpleminded dream of victory a nightmare for everyone else. But despite his gods-blessed mind, the leader must know that his crusade is nothing but a lie.

When someone dies for his country, is it really for his fellow citizens or for the power players that control the nation at that moment?

Something to think about besides the parades and the picnics on this day to remember.

(C) Copyright 2007 Stan Spire

A Battle To Win Minds And Hearts

2007-05-16T03:27:00.000-04:00

Not much war news lately in the Pee-Pee, the Plattsburgh daily (news)paper.

I'm not referring to the conflicts in Afghanistan or Iraq. What I'm talking about is the battle between Plattsburgh's House O' Healing and the Medical Center across the lake in Burlington, Vermont. Each one has wielded advertising to win the minds of potential patients. And when a mind is won, so is the heart -- and with it all the other body organs.

Pick up the paper and see an ad with an endorsement from a local person who had heart trouble but found the best treatment in Vermont. After all, the Medical Center based in Burlington has the latest tech.

Oh ya?, responds the Plattsburgh hospital. Well, we just expanded our cardiac unit and here's a testimonial from a satisfied customer who said he got the best treatment for his heart trouble right in his own backyard. He didn't have to voyage across the lake to be saved.

Back and forth it went, one ad from the House O' Healing followed by one from the Medical Center. It was like the little kid on the block (Plattsburgh) felt inferior, wanting to quickly grow up to be a big guy in the neighborhood (Burlington). But I think the Medical Center now has one up on the House O' Healing. It ran an ad in the Plattsburgh University newspaper saying that it can now harvest human ova. The pitch is a young college gal with extra eggs (and extra debt) can help a childless couple (while receiving a much needed cash inflow). So far the House O' Healing hasn't countered with its own ova-harvesting program. (Considering how it treated me in its ER last year after an accident, I wouldn't trust them to harvest eggs from hens.)

One criticism heard about Plattsburgh hospitaloid operation is that more money is spent on equipment and buildings than on its employees and its patients. Recently the House O' Healing started a two-year program to expand into a bigger operation. It just can't shake its size problem when compared to the Burlington Medical Center. (It's a guy thing. "Na, na! My colonoscope is bigger than yours.")

The House O' Healing nurses have unionized, complaining that the hospital doesn't pay them a fair wage while its president and board of directors make obscene lumps of $. Is the Plattsburgh hospital a humanitarian institution for helping the sick, or is it just another corporation out to keep growing, to keep raking in the money, to keep paying big dividends?

I was talking with a nurse the other day. She used to work at the House O' Healing. But like many other nurses over the years who were once House employees, she has quit there and is now commuting all the way across the lake to work at the Medical Center. Let's face it: nurse turnover isn't a good thing when it comes to maintaining consistency of care.

But screw care if it stops the two year expansion program and bigger profits.

(C) Copyright 2007 Stan Spire

Iran: The Second Sucker Punch

2007-05-14T03:41:00.000-04:00

Members of al-Qaeda must be as happy as pigs in shit because the US is bogged down in Iraq, trapped by a no-win situation. Al-Qaeda wasn't there when Saddam was in power but they're there now.

Why did al-Qaeda attack America on 9/11? One reason could be to sucker this country and its idiot president into endless wars overseas. Shrub couldn't be satisfied with Afghanistan, he had to get greedy and invade Iraq. Now there's rumblings about our pinhead POTUS "Bringing It On" with Iran.

Al-Qaeda must be salivating, hoping that Uncle Sap will fall into that final trap, a war on three fronts. If we're hit by another terrorist attack, maybe cooler heads will prevail and take rational action. To al-Qaeda we're "The Great Satan" and they will try to drain this country dry of its military and financial resources. Don't forget, "God" is on their side (they call him Allah.) In some ways they seem to be more devote in their faith; look at all of the suicide bombers.

The US won't survive another sucker punch if it reacts so stupidly again. Even with our God.

(C) Copyright 2007 Stan Spire

A Belated “Happy Holiday!”

2007-05-05T02:14:00.000-04:00

May 1st, 2007. Mission Accomplished Day.

It was four years ago on that date that Our President declared that we had won the war in Iraq. He stood there on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that major military operations were over in Iraq.

When he spoke those historic words, a giant banner hung in the background proclaiming MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. That’s why May 1st each year is Mission Accomplished Day (MAD).

I don’t know about you but I’ve been celebrating all week and will have to spend this weekend recovering. The parades, the fireworks, the picnics – what a time! Indeed, it’s a MAD holiday!

Americans deserve to be proud. Our President has brought peace and prosperity to the world. The liberated people of Iraq have built a thriving democracy, a stable society, a strong economy. Terrorism is on the decline. And even though it wasn’t our main interest, the victory in Iraq has reduced the price of gasoline to historic lows, only 70 cents a gallon.

Also, countries like Iran have seen the light and are becoming more democratic, realizing the practical benefits now being demonstrated in Iraq.

Wait a minute. Hold on. The hit of LSD that someone slipped me is wearing off…

© Copyright 2007 Stan Spire

Granddad Spire

2007-04-29T08:09:00.000-04:00

I inherited my rant gene from him.

About once a week I visit Granddad Spire. He's more or less confined to his small one-story house set back from the street. When I arrive he says he's glad to see his favorite grandson. I don't point out that I'm his only grandson.

Sometimes Granddad Spire is alert, sharp as a tack. On other occasions, he's a bit fuzzy, due to his age and his long list of meds.

He's happy when I read the newspaper to him. He claims his eyesight is shot but I know his vision is OK; me reading the paper is a way of generating topics for conversation.

I start with the obits. Lately Granddad Spire has fallen into a routine of knowing all of the recently deceased, but not in a good light. I mention the name of a woman who recently "passed on into the arms of the Lord."

Granddad Spire snorts. "Her? Biggest whore around. Used to hang around the bars all her life, take home three or four men at a time. She slowed down to two men when he got old and had to use a walker."

I don't tell him that he's confused. I skip to another name, not mentioning that the woman in question spent most of her life as a nun.

For Granddad Spire local and world events blend in together. When I read a news item datelined Washington, DC, he reacts as if the event had taken place right at home. Part of the confusion is that he jumbles up similar-sounding surnames from his neck of the woods with national leaders.

I read a story about President Bush. Granddad Spire was dozing off but suddenly he snaps awake.

"Bushey? They made one of them company president at the mill? I tell you I never met a Bushey who wasn't dumber than a box of rocks."

Then there's an article about the vice-president, Dick Cheney.

"Haney? Rick Haney. There's a lying sonofabitch. Talked out of the side of his mouth. He could sell bullshit to a cow. He talked tough, sounded like he was ready for a fight, but he was a yellow skunk. Used to hide in his basement when trouble came a'calling."

When he makes a statement like that, I suspect Granddad Spire is faking his confusion. Maybe he likes pulling my leg.

But I remember the time he reminisced about his childhood, way back when it was OK to belong to the communist party. The local communists would even hold a parade in his neighborhood on May Day. Then the demonization started, the years of McCarthyism. Granddad Spire doesn't say too much about those dark days.

So if Homeland Security shows up at his door, he can say, "You mean Bushey and Haney, right? I went to high school with those bastards..."

(C) Copyright 2007 Stan Spire

TeeVee And The Nature Of Evil

2007-04-28T23:52:00.000-04:00

TeeVee friends want to help you.

Aging actress Sally Field pops up on your television screen, saying she has the answer to your problem with osteoporosis. She hawks a wonder drug called Boniva. Of course, Sally is doing this for no compensation, a true humanitarian.

The first couple of times the Boniva ad is tolerable. After that, it starts tainting your soul. When Sally pops up again for the nth time, you say to yourself: “Hey, lady, I got your Bone-niva, right here. It’ll fix your osteoporosis.”

Another TeeVee friend, distinguished elder actor Morgan Freeman, haunts the nighttime hours when the networks are forced to give up ad time for public service announcements. In this PSA a healthy-looking middle-aged man sits in a professional photo studio, getting his portrait taken. Morgan appears on screen, saying you might be the picture of health but you must get a colonoscopy.

Even though you don’t watch that much TeeVee – you’re just trying to catch a few stories on the late night news – Morgan seems to be on shilling for colonoscopies every fifteen minutes.

“Hey, old man, shove it! And get a picture of you shoving it, too!”

The cynicism felt towards commercials now has seeped over to PSAs. And as you watch the news, you find yourself making snide comments about various tragedies. Then again, the way the stories are presented, the TeeVee news department is exploiting the tragedy to keep the ratings up. Asking someone “How do you feel?” after a loved one has died violently. Zoom in for a tight close-up to capture those streaming tears. See that a few times and desensitization sets in, then cynicism.

Most viewers keep tuning in, still entranced by the slick package, news as dramatic entertainment. High ratings mean more annoying ad spots sold, unless forced to repeat ad nauseam the same PSAs over and over again.

But you see beyond the illusion, no longer entranced. The parade of good and bad is sickening. The “good” are wonder cures and friendly advice of dubious validity. The bad has been transformed into infotainment. The truth sets you free but it’s ugly, corrupting.

You snap off the TeeVee. Sanity returns.

Seduction by the dark side is abated.

© Copyright 2007 Stan Spire

Coasting Along & Getting Paid Good Money

2007-03-18T22:10:00.000-04:00

© Copyright 2007 Stan Spire

Hey, I’m now coastal!

I always wanted to live near the ocean. Enjoying an invigorating sea breeze, watching the sun either rise or set over the vast waves.

Well, that ain’t gonna to happen. As long as I live near the recently designated “Adirondack Coast.”

Adirondack what?!

Take out of map of this area, the northeastern corner of New York State (AKA NENYland). Find Plattsburgh, where I survive – I mean, live. It’s located in Clinton County. To the west stand the Adirondack Mountains. To the east sits Lake Champlain, separating this neck of the woods from Vermont (fortunately for Vermont). To the north runs the US-Canadian border.

If you’re looking for real cities, you have your choice of Burlington, Vermont, or Montreal, up dere in Keybec.

NENYland suffers from an inferiority complex when it competes against Burlington and Montreal. Basically, that’s because there’s nothing here of cultural value, unless you’re into snowmobiles and pick-up trucks.

Now let’s take another look at the map. The region around Lake Champlain is called the Champlain Valley. Why? Because there's a valley around the lake. As far as I know, a valley is an area separate from a mountain range. It can be argued where the transition from mountain to valley occurs, but there is a transition. So what is this Adirondack Coast crap?

Apparently some entity called the Champlain Shores Visitors and Convention Bureau – the official tourism agency of Clinton County - needed a new angle on the region to promote it. So someone making good money looked at a map, ignored geography, and came up with the Adirondack Coast misnomer, somehow merging the lake's shoreline with the mountains. And to make it official, they put up a web site (www.goadirondack.com). After all, if it’s on the Net, it must be real.

A spokesperson for the Champlain Shores Visitors and Misnomers Bureau said that group tour links at the website will lead people to events in Burlington, Montreal, and Lake Placid. The plan is to market Clinton County as “a central location to these other communities.” (Press-Republican, Page A5, March 14, 2007)

Really. Will that change the fact that Burlington or Montreal makes a better central location? By staying in either city, one will still be within a day’s drive of most events in the region. And with either city, you will be already close to major events. Why stay here in the hinterlands of NENYland and have black flies bite your ass?

How desperate will NENYland become in trying to sucker people into coming here? Maybe it will put up a website and declare that Burlington is just the Translake Suburb of Plattsburgh. Or maybe it can try to alter reality with a slogan like “Montreal: Clinton County’s Bitch.”

We Are America, Damn It!

2007-02-11T07:20:00.000-05:00

(C) 2007 Stan Spire

According to a new National Intelligence Estimate, Iran is supplying to Shiite militias in Iraq a special type of roadside explosive that can blast through armored Humvees. This means more American soldiers will be killed or maimed from explosively formed penetrators as Vietnam II grinds on and the violence keeps escalating.

But to admit that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake is unacceptable to Prez Shrub and his neo-con-men. In fact, Shrub seems to want to expand the conflict, indicating that Iran is the next target of his crusade to win the Oily Land from the non-Christian infidels.

Some are skeptical about the recent NIE findings after it has been shown that data about the connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s government was really “alternative intelligence” (AKA, a lie) passed along to fool the American people as they were jingoed into a dead-end war.

At the same time, is it so surprising that Iran would be helping to drive the U.S. occupation forces out of Iraq? It’s tragic that American soldiers are being placed in greater danger from the specialized explosives. In no way can the violence be condoned. But what would you expect Iran to do – ignore what’s going on right next door to it?

Should Iran forget history, ignore the fact that at one time Saddam was the U.S.’s good buddy, used by the American government to fight Iran during a protracted, indecisive war? After all, the U.S. supplied Saddam with all sorts of weapons and material. Why is it so shocking that Iran would be involved in covertly backing the insurgents? What makes America so special that it can play dirty tricks, but other countries are not allowed the same option?

It’s superpower psychosis. “We are America, damn it, and we’re anointed by God to spread righteousness around the world. We don’t worship any phony supreme being like ‘Allah.’ We have The Truth on our side and whatever we do is justified because our might makes us right!”

And so the US acts as Maniac World Cop, trying to enforce its system of laws on others. But the World Cop has been lead into a trap. The so-called "Islamofascists” are delighted that the US is mired in Iraq, pissing away money and lives while caught in the jaws of a bear trap.

And if Prez Shrub presses ahead and expands his insanity into Iran, the trap will shut tight.

SOURCES:

“DEADLIEST BOMB IN IRAQ IS MADE BY IRAN, U.S. SAYS” By Michael R. Gordon. New York Times, Page A1, Saturday, February 10, 2007.

“Inquiry on Intelligence Gaps May Reach to White House” by David S. Cloud. New York Times, Page A6, Saturday, February 10, 2007.