March Madness

Thoughts during the last day of March:

• We live in Michigan--only a few miles from South Bend, Indiana--so we obviously have an interest in what's happening in Indiana. We spend a fair amount of money in the state, so we will examine closely whether we want to continue to do so.
• Governor Pence is either totally clueless or totally dishonest to claim the law was passed without any thought of discriminatory intent. The rhetoric of the supporters and the promoters of the law before and after its enactment states exactly what that intent was.
• The context and timing are important, even if Pence claims naivete about it. Does anyone really question why this particular bill was passed at this particular time in this particular way? The continual citing of the federal law and those other 19 states carries no weight. Most of those laws were not passed against the backdrop of an anti-LGBT agenda like we saw in Indiana. (Not to mention that the Indiana law is even broader--intentionally so--than the federal law and most of the state laws that Pence tries to use for comparison.)
• And lastly, while I am somewhat sympathetic to the businesses, localities, and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce who don't like the bill (or at least the outcry against it), my sympathy only goes so far. Forty out of the fifty state senators are Republican, and the Indiana House also has a huge Republican majority.  These big majorities didn't result solely from the votes of religious extremists. Rather, it is likely that many of these business owners probably voted for the very legislators that passed this law. Similarly, I suspect that the Chamber endorsed more than a few of these legislators. It reminds me of the business groups and "moderate" Republicans on the national level who bemoaned the government shutdown after working so hard to get candidates elected who perpetrated that shutdown. Well, you got the legislature you wanted, so don't be surprised when they do stupid things. The same holds for Indiana. You elected this legislature, now you will have to share in paying the price for that. I'm sorry that I will have to take my business elsewhere, but think about that when you go to the polls next election.

Keep on Keepin' On

Last night we watched the wonderful documentary "Keep on Keepin' On", about the relationship between Clark Terry and the young jazz pianist Justin Kauflin. See it if you have the opportunity, it's only an hour and a half. And rest in peace, Clark.

Are You Kidding Me?

I haven't seen too many things dumber than this.

Franklin Graham's Chance for Repentance

Franklin Graham was on fellow hate monger Tony Perkins' radio show the other day with an accusation that Obama's mother "must have been a Muslim". (I guess this is supposed to imply that Obama himself is a Muslim.) Of course, he gave no explanation or proof other than claiming that Obama's father and step-father were Muslim--both of which are false

There is a term for this kind of innuendo gossipy character assassination. It's called "bearing false witness". In case Mr. Graham has forgotten, it is the 9th Commandment and he can find it in both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. There is also another word for it: "sin".

Now it's quite possible that Mr. Graham spends so much time pointing out the alleged sins of the rest of the world that he doesn't have the time or inclination to recognize his own. Or maybe he simply lacks the character and integrity of his father. In any case, like all of us sinners, Franklin Graham is fortunate that God is merciful and forgiving. I hope he confesses his sin and asks for that forgiveness.

Kim Jong-un Feels Snubbed...

From The New Yorker.

One Man's Theory

According to the February report, there were about 8.7 million unemployed workers in the U.S. For the sake of a hypothetical argument, let's say that somehow we could airlift those 8.7 million people somewhere out of the country, to Mars or somewhere. Now we are left--at least for an instant--with zero unemployed people, because we got rid of all those lazy freeloaders.

My contention--I obviously have no proof--is that within some period of time--one year? five years? ten years?--we would have something similar to 8.7 million unemployed workers. Why? Because man has not yet been able to invent an economic system that doesn't rely on a surplus of labor in order to operate.

So, did this new group of unemployed become lazy freeloaders like the ones we airlifted to Mars? I don't think so. The system had to create them. I don't say it is done consciously or with malice, just that it happens. At any point in time, many (probably most) of the unemployed are not there voluntarily, nor do they want to stay that way. And if too many of them do get jobs and their number decreases too much, the system will have to create more of them from somewhere else.

So for a bleeding heart liberal--or socialist--like me, the question becomes what--if anything--to do about it? We can't eliminate the 5%, or whatever the magic tipping point is. Last week's freeloader is working this week and we had to create another to take his place. So if we accept the 5%, why not do what we can for them until their turn comes. The actual cost is incredibly small, compared to, say, a B-1 bomber. So why not provide an income floor or something, until someone invents the system that doesn't rely on them? In a sense, we couldn't survive without them. We can at least pay them for their service.

Anyway, that's my theory. I'm not claiming it's scientific, or even original. Just one man's view of how the world works.

Fetal Pain Dishonesty

The Christian Life Resources (CLR) website has an article today which states that there is "compelling evidence" that fetuses feel pain "by 20 weeks...if not earlier." The current scientific evidence is exactly the opposite. Pursuing anti-abortion legislation is a perfectly valid thing for an anti-abortion advocacy group to do. Using dishonest claims to buttress your argument is unacceptable for a group whose advocacy is supposedly based on Christian moral principles. Unfortunately, it's not the first time this sort of misrepresentation has appeared on the CLR website.

Target Gobbledygook

I happened to catch this article on Business Insider today, about Target laying off thousands of workers (whatever that means), mostly in their headquarters. What really caught my eye, though, was the following quote from the company's statement about the lay-offs. This is kind of the poster child for inane corporate-speak bullshit in thirty-one words:

The restructuring will be concentrated at Target's headquarters locations and focus on driving leaner, more efficient capabilities, removing the complexity and allowing the organization to move with greater speed and agility.

Did somebody actually get paid to write that? Is there even a shred of meaning in any of it?

Well, here is a rough translation: "Target will be eliminating thousands of jobs, so that the remaining employees will be able to do more work for less money. We hope the extra work will make them leaner and more agile."

The Wisconsin Sell-Out

Wisconsin--thanks to Scott Walker--is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Industries and the mining companies.  Here is Walker in 2013, speaking about a bill written by the mining industry:

On behalf of the unemployed skilled workers in our state who will benefit from the thousands of mining-related jobs over the next few years, I say thank you for passing a way to streamline the process for safe and environmentally sound mining in Wisconsin.

One mining company recently announced that it's closing its office in northern Wisconsin.  Number of jobs created?  Approximately zero.