2017

It's time for my annual review of the list of things I wanted to happen the prior 12 months, and give my list of things I want to occur in the next 12 months.  Here's the 2016 list, with comments in ALL CAPS:

-At least some progress, not regress, on medicinal marijuana legalization in Iowa.
NOPE TO DOPE AGAIN, BUT AT LEAST THERE WAS A BILL ON WHICH TO VOTE.

-Chris Christie versus Hillary Clinton for president, with ? winning.
HILLARY LOST THE PRESIDENCY, WHILE CHRISTIE LOST HIS POLITICAL CAREER.

-A higher stock market.
AFFIRMATIVE, BUT IT DIDN'T LOOK GOOD ON FEBRUARY 1ST.

-Just one actual, even very minor piece of legislation to make it slightly more difficult to buy a gun.
DESPITE MORE VIOLENCE, WE'VE NEVER BEEN FARTHER FROM THIS HAPPENING.

-The personal, financial, and political implosion of Donald Trump.
THE OPPOSITE HAPPENED THIS YEAR, BUT IT WILL EVENTUALLY HAPPEN.

-A way to charge devices without a wire.
NO, BUT WIRELESS HEADPHONE HAVE GONE MAINSTREAM.

-An à la carte option for cable and satellite TV channels.
THANKS TO PRESSURE FROM STREAMING SERVICES, SEEING SMALL PROGRESS.

-More time for eating right, less time for exercise.
ENDED UP DOING MORE OF BOTH, WHICH WAS A GOOD THING.

For 2017 I'd like to see:

Again:  At least some progress on medical marijuana in Iowa,

Some type of institutional or legal control over fake news / social media.

Related to the above, more critical thinkers, fewer idiots who believe everything they hear.

GPS technology used in major sporting events, e.g. to mark the ball in football games, and for the strike zone in baseball games.

More working from home by me.

The return of popular mainstream rock bands and rock music.

Implementation of the fiduciary rule, and the demise of commission-based financial advice.

The resignation or impeachment of an unqualified president -- no names, any one will do.

Calling Mr. Murrow

Edward R. Murrow was a broadcaster for CBS radio and (later) television.  He first gained fame for his radio broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States.   However, Murrow is perhaps more well-known for later producing a series of TV reports that helped expose and discredit then-Senator Joseph McCarthy for his reckless, anti-communist rhetoric.

Murrow is still considered one of the greatest journalists ever, noted for his honesty and integrity in delivering the news.  Although he died in 1965 at age 57, he left us a lot of great phrases from which to quote.

One of Murrow's most famous quotes is, "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves."  This takes on new meaning with the current 'fake news' epidemic on the internet -- but more on that another time.

Now take a look at the following quotes, all attributable to him, and ask yourself how much they fit now -- over 50 years later -- with our country's current state of affairs:

No one man can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices.

Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions.

The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.

We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.

We will not walk in fear, one of another.

Good night, and good luck.

Don't Buy The Fake

Society doesn't accept emotionally fake people, right?  People who mislead in order to make themselves look better are eventually exposed, then ostracized by others.

It's the same for intellectually dishonest people.  If someone lies about the facts in order to make themselves look better, society is usually quite efficient at discovery and excommunication.

Then why are we so willing to accept physically fake people?  Those folks are also doing something to make themselves look better, yet others often encourage them to repeat that behavior.

From plastic surgery to artificial hair to indoor tanning, people have plenty of ways to pull off the physical-fake.  Unless it's taken to the extreme, we accept that it's better to look good (and younger) than to feel good.

I suppose faking the physical self isn't harming others, so we let it go.  But is it really harmless?

I'm not so sure if obscuring the physical-you is any better than obscuring the emotional-you or intellectual-you.  I don't buy that faking it should be allowed in anything.  (Yes, even that.)

In matters of integrity and trust, I'd rather deal with someone being honest in all three.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

There are many iconic phrases given to us by the novel/movie Forrest Gump, e.g. "Run Forrest, run!" or "Life is like a box of chocolates."  The one that I've been pondering the past few days is, "Stupid is as stupid does."

I've never been quite sure what that phrase means, but I can think of at least one recent instance where it fits perfectly.  That is, in the case of last month's fake 'debate' in the Iowa legislature over medical marijuana.  (Yep, this in another blog post on the topic of pot.  Only the enlightened should continue reading.)

A legislative subcommittee just held a hearing on the topic of medical marijuana, which a new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll revealed is supported by a majority of Iowans.  That didn't stop the old white man who chaired the meeting from starting the hearing by saying, "Doing any bill.....that would legalize marijuana would be one of the stupidest bills that's ever been passed by this organization.  There is no reason to legalize medical marijuana."

Stupid is as stupid does, sir.

Before the hearing, I wonder how many legislators or their family members got their day started by taking an anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, or anti-pain medication, or some other kind of mind altering drug?  And after the hearing, I wonder how many legislators went to one of the nightly lobbyist-sponsored receptions and had an alcoholic drink or two?

I'll bet the answer is, "Lots of them."  But please ignore the man behind the curtain, we have an intellectually dishonest argument to make.  Society has determined that legalizing those other mind-altering substances is perfectly fine, even though they may be addictive, routinely abused, and lead to dire consequences for other people.

Stupid is as stupid does, for sure.

So we won't even have a real debate about controlling and legalizing medical marijuana.  We will merrily go along another year in Iowa, not only ignoring the incontrovertible organic health benefits of marijuana for some, but also spending millions on anti-pot enforcement and criminal incarceration for others.  Iowa allows gambling, Iowa allows gay marriage, but somehow the social conservatives here continue to beat back progressives on medical marijuana.

Maybe Forrest Gump's mom can explain this to me, because he also once said, "Mama always had a way of explaining things so I could understand them."

"And that's all I have to say about that."

How To Tell If Something Is Fake

This time of the year there are an awful lot Santas out there. So how can people tell the real Santa from all of the fakers? It's simple really. The dude at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the real Santa. Anything else you see between then and Christmas Eve is just a faker, or as I told my kids, Santa's helper. God-given common sense should tell you the real Santa has too much to do at the North Pole!

Fake Santas may not be the best example of how to tell if something is real, but God-given common sense is. This brings me to today's actual topic: Bristol Palin's Facebook Page.

I don't use Facebook; I'm still trying to figure out how to leverage my Twitter account. However, Facebook-ers often use it to communicate crazy things that get mainstream media play. Bristol used it this week to defend herself against a fellow Dancing With The Stars contestant, Margaret Cho, who blogged that Bristol's politically famous mother, Sarah, made her do the show.

It would be perfectly fine and even righteous for Bristol to defend herself using her Facebook page - if it was really her writing the entries. If anyone reads the Cho defense entry, and compares it to the actual verbal quotes of this in-over-her-head (like her mother) kid, no one with any God-given common sense could believe that she actually wrote it.

Let's deconstruct it: She uses the word "canard". She refers to her mother's "bestselling book, Going Rogue". She even makes an analogy that includes KD Lang and the Indigo Girls! When someone who normally communicates at an 8th grade level ends up writing something that sophisticated, and with political innuendo, my 'faker' radar goes off.

So that same God-given common sense tells me this entry was written by a Sarah Palin political operative for damage control. Normally that would be fine - most 'celebrities' and executives use publicists or ghost writers to write statements or even books. But a Sarah Palin ghost writer on her own daughter's Facebook page? It sort of gives Cho's blog entry credibility - that Mama Grizzly is controlling what her kids say and do.

In a way, I feel for Bristol. She didn't sign up to be a Palin, to be under the microscope, and criticism sucks, especially through the media. But when Bristol signed up for reality TV (and the cash that came with it), she put herself on the media-watch list. (Um, that is assuming it really was her and not her mom that made her do it.)

The best path for Bristol now is to live her life with a quiet confidence, and stay out of the limelight a la Chelsea Clinton at her age. In the meantime, she can hope her mom's political ambitions don't take over her life.