Is Thanksgiving Real

It's Thanksgiving week, which means I'm going to the well again for a list of things for which I am not thankful.  It's going to be a politically heavy list this year, because it's an easy fit....

The most corrupt, amoral, unethical person to be elected U.S. president, Trump.

All of the complicit, lying, sycophants of that person.

The right-wing Republican propaganda machine.

The stupidity of Americans, and by default, the American electorate.  I wrote about this 15 years ago!

Our lack of critical thinkers.  I wrote about this 13 years ago!

I'm sure I've said this in the past, maybe multiple times, but....reality television.

Tech bros.

Crypto bros.

Real estate commissions.

People who don't take care of their yards.

Door dings.

Spam texts and emails.

The NASCAR Noncompete Clause

Another new season for NASCAR began last week, with the running of its most famous race, the Daytona 500.  Why they start their season with their biggest race is a mystery decades in the making.  To say the least, it's unique; to say the most, it's the dumbest thing a spectator 'sport' could do.

I'm not a car racing fan, I don't watch and I don't really care.  But I still can't get over how, inside every NASCAR race, are two dumber ideas that have come to fruition.  I submit to you 1) stage racing, and 2) overtime a/k/a the green-white-checkered ending.

With stage racing, each race has 2 or 3 'segments' to it, basically a prescribed number of laps.  At the end of each segment, the yellow flag comes out to pause the race, and the top finishers for each segment receive 'points' to be used in a season-long competition.

One of the outcomes of these stages is a re-bunching of the field.  So, if the driver leading the race was ahead by a lot, now his lead is gone.  In other words, it takes the strongest cars / drivers and evens them up with everyone else throughout the race.  Huh?

Imagine that happening in any other competition.  A team takes a big lead into halftime?  Reset the score for the second half.  A golfer has a big lead after two rounds?  Give the other golfers strokes to even things up.  It's unimaginably stupid.

However, when it comes to stage racing, NASCAR's overtime rules say, "Hold my beer."  The overtime rules were established years ago, after many races were being decided while the field wasn't actually racing, but proceeding 'under caution' due to a crash near the end of the race. While that type of ending was very much a buzz-kill for fans, the overtime rules don't help.

Now, instead of the race ending like that, extra laps are added, so that at least two laps can be run full-tilt to the end.  This sounds better, except it isn't.  Again, it hurts the race leader.  Plus, it often doesn't work.

Consider this year's Daytona 500, which went to overtime not once, but three separate times, because crashes just kept happening after re-starts.  In the end, NASCAR basically put the race out of its misery by declaring the race over, and naming the winner to be the car in first place at the last crash.

So after an extra 30 miles / one hour of boring caution laps, there was still no racing to the finish line.  The winner wasn't the best car / driver, it was more a matter of who was lucky enough to avoid the crashes.  Again, unimaginably stupid.

NASCAR has long fought the stereotype of being a good 'ol white boys 'sport' with fans that aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.  In the case of these rules, it takes one to know one.  If they were looking for ways to make races more boring and non-competitive, you could say they're the big winners.

Irony Is Wasted On The Stupid

Since the start of the year, states have been grappling with the procurement and end-user delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.  (States are doing this because there was no national plan, thanks to the incredible collection of dumbasses in the prior presidential administration.)  It's very similar to how the entire pandemic has been handled, which I've compared to the Wild West.  There are no laws, only unenforced guidelines that many people simply choose not to follow.

Most states / governors have tried to establish sensible vaccine distribution guidelines that seek to inoculate frontline healthcare workers and older-aged Americans.  However, some states have now decided to open vaccine eligibility to those under age 65 if they have an underlying health condition that heightens the risk of severe illness from COVID-19.  This seems benign enough until you look at what is considered (by our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to be a qualifying health condition.....

The most objectionable condition has to be those who currently or previously smoked cigarettes.  Those who choose to pollute their lungs, not not mention the air that we all breathe, get bumped up in this line.  What a travesty, spending a life-saving vaccine on people who are willingly shortening their lives every day of the week -- plus increasing everyone's health care costs while they're at it.  Bravo, CDC.

Another questionable condition has to be obesity.  Yes, I realize there are illness-based and genetically-based reasons why some people may become clinically obese. Even conceding that, this means many others who became obese simply by eating too much of the wrong things and not exercising, will be able to get a vaccination before others who made healthier choices.

Leave it to the government to nudge people away from living a healthy lifestyle by rewarding those who don't.  They should call it the 'anti-survival of the fittest' policy.

The bigger irony is, this pandemic would have hospitalized and killed many fewer Americans to begin with if its citizens had healthier diets / lifestyles. Now to add insult to injury, anyone who has spent a lifetime staying fit by eating right, not smoking, and being active, is going to pay a price for that by being made to wait to be vaccinated against a deadly virus.  Who knew that being healthy could be such a vice?

In the words of the great playwright Oscar Wilde, “Irony is wasted on the stupid.”

Blog Entry Classic

Haven't had much time to write recently, but right now seems a good time to link to a couple of blog entries from years past.  Note when these were originally written -- otherwise I submit them without further comment.

Here is one from 2009.

Here is one from 2011.

Another Solution In Search Of A Problem

Spent a few days in Arizona in the past week, and what little news I saw was dominated (locally and nationally) by the furor over the state's proposed legislation allowing businesses to refuse service to gays based on religious beliefs.  A few hours before I wrote this, the Republican governor vetoed the bill, after waiting longer than she should have.

While I was in Arizona, I played golf with several small business owners, and I asked what they thought about this bill.  Almost unbelievably, most didn't know to what I was even referring - this goes to show you how much staying up on current political events really matters to a small business-owner's success.  But this also underscored the dumbness of it all.

Here again, we have a solution in search of a problem.  No one is crying out for this legislation, other than your basic right-wing religious zealots, and we consistently see that aligning with them politically is a guaranteed way to lose elections.

It was a terrible idea for the Republicans in the Arizona legislature to advance this issue, they stood to gain nothing while alienating voters.  It was anti-value.

To recap the list of stupid, in no particular order:  Bigoted legislation, the Arizona Republican Party with the possible exception of the governor, certain small-business owners, solutions in search of problems.

Still Danger In Numbers

In honor of today, I give you something from last year.

From Dope To Dopey

A new study released this week concluded that teens who routinely smoke marijuana risk a long-term drop in their IQ.  The study drew on survey data from more than 1,000 people in New Zealand.  (The study did not say why Kiwis were chosen for the study; maybe all of the Amsterdam folks were sleeping it off.)

If one reads the headlines on this study, the quick and easy takeaway is that smoking pot makes you dumber.  Therefore, it's bad for you, and young people should not smoke it.

Fine...but why be so limiting?  The whole truth is, teens would be adversely affected by using ANY mind-altering substances.

In America, and I suspect in New Zealand, wouldn't the outcome be the same if youngsters drank alcohol?  Or how about if they consistently took anti-anxiety or anti-depression medication?  Of course, the answer is yes, a conclusion I reached without using one taxpayer dime to study.

Yet it is completely legal (and prevalent) in this country for kids to take prescription medications that affect brain cells.  And while it is illegal for teens to buy / sell / drink alcohol in the U.S., they don't get thrown into jail if they do it, because it's socially acceptable and tolerated.

This is where the anti-marijuana folks get it all wrong.  Critical thinkers - like me! - aren't pro-pot; we're pro-decriminalizing pot.  We know from a combination of experience and god-given common sense that it isn't any worse, and maybe better for you, than the other legalized mind-altering substances I've mentioned.

Throw in how marijuana decriminalization will save billions in law enforcement, and help the economy in other ways (and I'm not just talking about Doritos consumption), and even a 'dumb' pot smoker can tell you this is a 'no-brainer.'

Here's What Is The Matter With People

Lately I've been boiling down my frustration with the actions of others through a simple statement of, "What's the matter with people?"

I've finally decided that, for the betterment of humanity, I will try to answer this question.  I think it comes down to three overarching items:

1)  People want attention.  It doesn't even matter whether it's for good or bad reasons, as long as those who seek attention get it.  This is both the cause and effect of reality television.  It's bad enough that people want to make their entire lives a show for the public, but then that's further encouraged by compensating (and even making celebrities out of) people for their asinine behavior.

2)  People are stupid.  I wrote about this a few years ago, and it's only gotten worse.  Most people will believe anything they read or hear.  They have no filter, no ability to discern whether something passes the 'smell' test.  The internet / social media make this problem worse, because people are constantly relying on it for all of their information.  If the United States could devise a way to tax anyone who forwards an electronic message that has little or no basis in fact, we would quickly solve our deficit problem.

3)  People are slackers.  The children and grandchildren of the 'greatest generation' are not nearly as motivated as their ancestors.  It seems that for every two Americans who try to make an honest living, there is one who doesn't give a damn.  Sometimes to avoid life, that one will use extreme measures, e.g. unqualified government assistance, illegal activity, or even living with their too-coddling parents, to avoid getting a real job.  On the minimally plus side, I always say that we need people in the service industry too, to take care of me when I'm on vacation.

So that's what's the matter with people.  Now that I've provided the answers, someone please come up with the solutions.

Danger in Numbers

The following is taken directly from an April 18, 2012 email to parents of students at West Des Moines Valley Southwoods Freshman High School:

Dear VSW Parents/Guardians:

At a community meeting on Monday evening, it was suggested that building principals share the following information from the WDM Substance Abuse Coalition about April 20th with our parents:

4:20 or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is a term used as a discreet way to refer to the consumption of marijuana and a way to identify oneself with the drug subculture. Marijuana users observe 4:20 as a time to smoke together and April 20 has become a counterculture holiday, where people gather to celebrate and consume marijuana.

4:20 has become a code for a time to get high, a symbol of marijuana and its culture. Teenagers believe they can talk about getting high in front of their parents without them knowing by using the phrase 4:20. Fortunately, your teenager will not have that option. April 20 events are international and 4:20 has become a worldwide "burn time." For parents, it's a red flag, a warning sign that your teenager may be into something that could harm their future. When you see the symbol 4:20 or your child wearing excessive green clothing on April 20, beware of what it represents. April 20 has now become National Pot Smokers Day.  Our pop culture is pro-marijuana, as evidenced by the success of movies and celebrities who flaunt their use. This makes it more difficult for parents to get anti-drug messages across to kids. Use 4:20 as your opportunity to get a dialogue going about drugs, and not just marijuana.

Isn't that awesome/crazy/stupid!  When I read this, I knew immediately there was a high (no pun intended) probability I would blog about it.

This email is asinine for a lot of reasons, many of which I've written about before.  (Just click on the labels.)  These reasons can be put into two main categories:

1) School administrators who think it's their job to govern kids 24/7.  Like I've said before, what happens outside of school or school functions is the responsibility of parents.  If the parents choose not to raise their children the 'right' way, that doesn't make school administrators their surrogate.

Trying to educate parents on pop culture like this is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to do a parent's job.  I love how the author notes at the beginning that "it was suggested that building principals" share this information.  Who suggested it, one of the principals?  Had to be I guess, because if a parent knew about four-twenty, they'd already have a grip on communicating about it.

2) People who think any suggestion of marijuana means the worst.  It's a "warning sign" if your kid wears "excessive green clothing" on 4/20?  A warning sign of what, that they follow pop culture or that they must be a pothead?  You mean like if a girl wears a short skirt she must be a slut, or if a boy wears a sideways cap he must be a gang member?

And how about the statement that "our pop culture is pro-marijuana"?  I see a helluva lot of pop culture that "flaunts" drinking too much, or using violence, but smoking pot?  Not so much.  Regardless, smoking pot would be less harmful than either of those other two things, but our society is much too repressed to admit that!

So kudos to you, Valley Southwoods Freshman High School administrators, for drawing attention to this falsely dangerous calendar date.  You've truly earned the ridicule that the students are going to point in your direction on four-twenty.

Bad Business

Years ago when I worked for a trade association, the powers-that-be (?) insisted that the annual meeting begin with a prayer. This might have been harmless except for the fact that the prayer was never non-denominational - the prayer-giver always invoked the name of Jesus Christ.

I always complained about this, not because I'm not Christian, but because it was ignorant. We were not a Christian organization - why assume everyone else was? It was pretty simple to conclude that not everyone in the room believed in JC, much less in God, and to throw this prayer in their face was just plain bad business.

With this as a backdrop, over the past few years I've paid particular attention to businesses that show their religious and/or political colors. Of course, it's OK for a private business to do that, but it is also relentlessly dumb to offend potential customers.

My best contemporary example of this has to be those businesses who insist on showing Fox TV in their public areas. First, let's agree on what Fox TV is - a conservative, Republican-leaning broadcast network. Everyone knows this. Fox is to 'fair and balanced' journalism as 'The Beverly Hillbillies' is to a fair and balanced depiction of life in Beverly Hills.

So if a business has Fox on their TVs, one can safely assume they are conservative, Republican-leaning folks. That's fine, but that also tacitly means they don't care to have non-conformists as customers. At least that's what it means to me, and I'm happy to oblige them. It's crazy. Just put the TV on the Food Network or some other benign channel, and I won't think twice about patronizing your business.

Take this weekend, in which I spent time in a corporate tent at a golf outing. The Golf Channel was on every TV but one - which was on Fox. Now, I'm certain I was around a bunch of Republican-leaning folks, but to assume all of the clients there were of the same political/conservative bent is dumb. If people want the news, the can go somewhere else, or use their smart phones.

I don't know, maybe I'm making too much of this, but I think there is a lesson here for businesses: Don't assume everyone else believes the same things that you do.

Post #100

When TV shows reach their 100th episode, they usually have a retrospective show that replays some memorable clips. Since this is my 100th blog post, it seems a good time for a retrospective of some of the themes of this blog.

Let's start with this one, from Post #1 on July 26, 2009: "Too many people simply believe what others tell them, with the unfortunate consequence of allowing those who control the message to also control them.....Think about it, then make up your own mind."

Since then, I've tried to get you to think about how taxes, obesity, commissions, and political parties and fringe politicians are bad. On the other hand, medicinal marijuana, some lyrics, fee-based advice, and Caddyshack are good.

Speaking of Caddyshack - in honor not only of the 100th post, but of this weekend's 75th Masters golf tounament, here's my post from February 3, 2010: [standing in an ornamental flowerbed] What an incredible Cinderella story! This unknown, comes out of nowhere, to lead the pack at Augusta. He's at the final hole. He's about 455 yards away, he's gonna hit about a 2-iron, I think... [swings, pulverizes a flower] Oh, he got all of that! The crowd is standing on its feet here at Augusta. The normally reserved crowd is going wild...for this young Cinderella who's come out of nowhere. He's got about 350 yards left, he's going to hit about a 5-iron, it looks like, don't you think? He's got a beautiful backswing... [swings, pulverizes another flower] That's...oh, he got all of that one! He's gotta be pleased with that! The crowd is just on its feet here. He's a Cinderella boy. Tears in his eyes, I guess, as he lines up this last shot. He's got about 195 yards left, and he's got a, looks like he's got about an 8-iron. This crowd has gone deadly silent... Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion... [swings, pulverizes yet another flower] It looks like a mirac- it's in the hole! It's in the hole!

Here's to the next 100 posts!

We Need More Critical Thinkers

A while ago, I blogged about the politically incorrect topic of stupid people, and how this country has too many of them. It's a statistical fact - check it out.
http://streffblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/stupidity-is-easy.html

Reducing dumbness, however, is only part of the answer to curing society's ills. If we had more 'book-smart' people, that would help, but what we really need are more critical thinkers.

A critical thinker doesn't accept everything they see or hear as fact. They have an ability to separate fact from fiction, based on probabilities and god-given common sense. This negates the herd mentality.

Here's an example from just this past week. More than one person I know, who apparently don't have enough to do, forwarded me emails about some outrageous act of a politician. Since stupid people believe everything they read on the internet, especially things forwarded to them by acquaintances, I can only imagine the collective outrage of the recipients.

Except that none of the email was true. Folks, all you have to do in go to a search engine and type in a few of the key words along with the word 'hoax'. More often than not, you'll find out the email you got had more to its story.

I know, I know, I'm using the internet to prove something else on the internet wasn't true. Fortunately, I'm a critical thinker, and I can separate fact from fiction on the intenet!

Imagine how much better the world might be if more people thought critically, and didn't just accept the words, actions, or faith of others. But suffice it to say - again - that most people are sheep, easily led to the slaughter. That's the entire business plan of Fox News, right?

So if someone tells you to stop being a critic, tell them to start being a critical thinker!

The Failed Politics of Religion

Yesterday the following letter to the editor appeared in the Des Moines Register:

"Recently, I received a request for money from the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines. This annual appeal, signed by the bishop, arrived about the same time his lobbyist was testifying in the Iowa Legislature in favor of House Study Bill 50, the Religious Conscience Protection Act."

"This proposal would legislate broad discrimination aimed mostly at married gays. That this measure is cloaked in "religious conscience" seems hypocritical, and that my church actively supports it is for me appalling and embarrassing. Fortunately, at least for the moment, the bill is dead. Unfortunately, for me, the disappointment in my church lingers."

"Sorry, bishop, my conscience will no longer allow me to support the diocese."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Forget about how this bill is an incredibly stupid attempt to legislate morality in this state. Focus instead on this being one of many examples of the consequences of mixing religion with politics.

If my religion strongly opposes something I strongly believe in, how do I reconcile that with their requests for me to tithe, or otherwise fund their ability to continue that opposition? The only answer I can come up with is to show support by way of service and not by way of money.

I understand the fight for social justice must in some respects be played out in the legislature or the courts, and there is a financial cost to that. I get that. But that fight for compassion is a far cry from financially supporting a religious dogma that has little to do with faith.

So how to you keep religion from mixing with politics? Easy. Eliminate the tax-exemptions for churches and other organizations who actively lobby. Once these organizations experience the financial hurt of their actions, they might just be a little bit more keen to the emotional hurt they put on people who simply don't share their faith or political convictions.

Hikers Deserve Scorn Not Sympathy

We have a new leader in the clubhouse for the title of "Person Currently Getting Our Sympathy Who Really Deserves Our Scorn."

One of the top news stories in the past week was about Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans arrested last year while hiking near the Iran-Iraq border. Iran finally released her, and now she's doing the U.S. media ciruit talking about her captivity and urging the release of the other two male hikers (her fiancee and their friend).

Here's the thing: When asked why they were hiking so close to an unmarked border in such a dangerous part of the world, she acts like it was no big deal. They'd been staying in Syria, and were looking for a place to hike, and other people hiked around there, and they meant no harm, it was just a simple navagational mistake for which they were imprisoned.

Really!?

First off, people deserve what they get when they willfully choose to go hiking in one of the most volitile and lawless places in the world. It doesn't matter if you weren't spying. Frankly, it doesn't matter what you were doing. A lot of people there want to kill Americans, pure and simple. And don't you think maybe, just maybe, if there were people hiking there, they were locals who knew what they were doing and where they were going?

Next, to make matters worse, our Sarah met with the Iranian President - and International Madman - Ahmadinejad while he was in New York City this week on a United Nations visit. Nothing like giving that idiot more publicity by asking him to release the others. And this was right after that douchbag gave a speech suggesting the U.S. orchestrated the 9/11 terrorist attcks. Note to Sarah - again, that A-hole wants to kill as many Americans as possible. We shouldn't even allow him in the country to speak to the United Nations, a liberty no other country would give him.

Finally, has Sarah or anyone else thought about the huge amounts of taxpayers dollars that have indirectly gone to freeing them? You're welcome, Sarah, you immature loser. Why doesn't she mention this when she's talking about all of the hardships faced because of her own stupidity?

Since she was reportedly living in Syria because she was "fascinated by the region" I wish she would just go back over there and stop sucking up any more resources from America. And after she gets a lucrative and very undeserved book deal, I'm sure she will! Oh, and I'm sure she'll use that money to pay back us taxpayers.

Sarah, this scorn is for you!

Dumb Rules

It might take a bit to get to my point, but follow along here.....

The other day I played golf at a local course that, like many courses in my area, had some flooding damage. In this case, large portions of several fairways were comprised of compacted dirt that remained after the floodwaters receded. In the end, this meant that hitting from some fairway lies was like hitting from a mixture of dirt/sand.

This made me think of this year's PGA Championship at Whisting Straits in Wisconsin, where one of the leaders was assessed a two-stroke penalty on the final hole for grounding his club in a sand trap, which neither looked like nor was maintained as a bunker.

This made me think of a fantastic column by ESPN.com writer Rick Reilly, on what a dumb rule that was, along with many other dumb rules of golf. (Read it at this link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5470940)

This made me think - now to the point - of a few other dumb rules (laws?) in life. To wit:

*Motorcycle helmet laws. If someone wants to crack their skull open and die - the primary outcome of a helmet-less motorcycle accident - and no one else is hurt, why should we care? It isn't like a seat belt law, because people in cars who don't wear those restraits will often still survive accidents, but then are permanently disabled, which puts on cost on society. Speaking of death and dying.....

*Bans on 'assisted' suicide. Again, if someone wants to end their own life, in this case with dignity, who else is harmed by that?

*No instant replay in baseball or soccer. We have the power of technology, but not the will to apply it. (Kind of like 'assisted' suicide.) If you have to defend something using the old 'integrity of the game' argument, consider yourself on the losing side of the argument.

*Criminalizing the possession of marijuana. Just go to the keyword 'marijuana' for this blog to find out all you'll ever need to know about why this is in the dumb rules Hall-of-Fame.

*Continued extension of unfunded unemployment benefits. Paying people to not work is not a viable or sustainable national economic policy.

*24/7 'citizenship' policies in schools. Schools have a hard enough time policing kids at school / school activities, why do they think they should also police the kids' behavior outside of school? Regardless, they don't have my permission to do it, so they need not bother.

Stupidity Is Easy

As I do on a lot of weeknights, late last night I was flipping the TV back and forth between The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and The Colbert Report (with Stephen Colbert). Two funny guys with great shows - but not my point.

Conan's first guest was Bill Maher, the politically opinionated comedian. They talked about a recent controversy involving comments Maher made about Americans being stupid, and a piece he eventually wrote to defend that opinion. It's a must read at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-smart-president_b_253996.html

Of course, it's inflammatory and an over-generalization to say Americans are stupid. But statistically speaking, it has the element of truth. As I've said before, we are in many ways a nation of sheep, allowing other people to tell us what to believe in or what is good for us without thinking about it for ourselves. It sort of comes naturally to us over time, as each generation learns to do what is easy and avoid what is hard. And it's a lot easier to know nothing than it is to know something.

America survives and will continue to thrive because unlike so many other countries, individuals have the freedom and tools to reach their potential, however limited that may be. As Carl the groundskeeper says in the movie Caddyshack, "So I got that going for me. Which is nice."