Latest from Arizona

Well, it has been some time since I signed in, but I just can't hold back any longer. I am listening to politico arm chair quarterbacks blather incessantly about whether or not we should get or have gotten involved in Libya's struggle for freedom from their vicious dictator and the extent of our involvement or lack of. First, let me give you the names this tyrant goes by and the media uses to identify him . . .
(1) Muammar Qaddafi,
(2) Mo'ammar Gadhafi,
(3) Muammar Kaddafi,
(4) Muammar Qadhafi,
(5) Moammar El Kadhafi,
(6) Muammar Gadafi,
(7) Mu'ammar al-Qadafi,
(8) Moamer El Kazzafi,
(9) Moamar al-Gaddafi,
(10) Mu'ammar Al Qathafi,
(11) Muammar Al Qathafi,
(12) Mo'ammar el-Gadhafi,
(13) Moamar El Kadhafi,
(14) Muammar al-Qadhafi,
(15) Mu'ammar al-Qadhdhafi,
(16) Mu'ammar Qadafi,
(17) Moamar Gaddafi,
(18) Mu'ammar Qadhdhafi,
(19) Muammar Khaddafi,
(20) Muammar al-Khaddafi,
(21) Mu'amar al-Kadafi,
(22) Muammar Ghaddafy,
(23) Muammar Ghadafi,
(24) Muammar Ghaddafi,
(25) Muamar Kaddafi,
(26) Muammar Quathafi,
(27) Muammar Gheddafi,
(28) Muamar Al-Kaddafi,
(29) Moammar Khadafy,
(30) Moammar Qudhafi,
(31) Mu'ammar al-Qaddafi, and
(32) Mulazim Awwal Mu'ammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi.
As it that weren't enough, he also goes by the following titles:
(1) Dean of the Arab rulers,
(2) King of kings of Africa, and
(3) Imam of Muslims.

How's that? We not only can't find a six-foot-plus Arab on dialysis, but now we can't agree on what spelling to use to name yet another sociopath that, by the way, world governments have tolerated for more than 40 years. I wonder if the Mayan people ever vacationed in the Middle East or North Africa. Could this all just be a calendar snafu? What happened to Persia anyway?
I also recently am inspired by the constant barrage of virtual claims about social media and social marketing. While I am pleased that a large group of people can be assembled in a short period of time to protest, attend a rave or riot against their government, I fail to see the value vs print to inform the public of actual facts and support the dissemination of those facts through advertising.
It seems some CEOs in Arizona have sent a signed letter to AZ legislators asking them to back off immigration attacks through state bills proposed by a few politicians hoping to literally whitewash their inability to raise enough funds to run their state. According to this misguided few, everything that is wrong with Arizona must be the fault of immigrants. After all, if we can pit the poor African Americans against the poor Hispanic Americans, we can keep them from organizing against the wealthy. I don't wish to begrudge anyone's success, but if the soldiers of this nation are protecting the abilities and freedoms of those who need abilities and freedoms to become rich, then they should volunteer their wealth to fund the struggle. If illegal immigrants were gathered and placed on active duty, perhaps some National Guard and Reserve men and women could come home and do what National Guard and Reserve men and women are supposed to do. When the new soldiers have completed 3 years of service to their new nation, they could become American citizens and get an education and continue to contribute to our society.
Anyone priced lettuce lately? Now imagine if white people were picking it. We'd be paying $3 to $4 per head. Then there are grapes, lemons, melons, peppers, tomatoes, nearly every type of fruit and vegetable picked by immigrants. With politicians seemingly trying their best to reduce pay and benefits for middle America, higher priced food is far more painful than educating a child of an undocumented alien.
I always thought it would be interesting to see people with political career desires to be given the same amount of time on radio, television, in print and on the web and let the best person win. But, our Supreme Court Justices have determined that America deserves the best government money can buy. Hopefully, it will all play out like the recent Wisconsin rucus. Maybe Americans will decide they've had enough and realize their government isn't really there to protect them or improve their quality of life, but there to have cushy jobs with great benefits and pensions.
I do feel a little better now that I've ranted. Good luck and God help us, everyone!


That's all for now . . .

Latest from Arizona

Observed moment of silence in respect for recent fallen and injured and their families in what is being called Tragedy in Tucson. Finger pointing has begun, and quotes from politicians, pundits, media hosts and the like are being attributed to the motive of the gunman.
They're all right and they're all wrong. I don't believe it is any one statement or gesture or accusation or threat that causes an unstable gun owner to decide to murder people. I believe it is the fervent fevor of society in general and our acceptance of inane thoughts and gestures.
Juan Williams says you can't blame the rhetoric of the right for the Tragedy in Tucson. He's right. But, that doesn't mean there wasn't an influence from the Palin crosshairs and Nevada's Engle who suggested her constituents exercise their 2nd Amendment Rights and take out Harry Reid. Of possible influence was the ad that Giffords herself posted toting an automatic rifle. And the Mama Bear statment of don't retreat, reload.
Put those thoughts and images in the twisted mind a derranged gun owner on the edge and maybe he decides it's his responsibility to take out this dangerous politician who opposes his views.
The mentioning of poilitical rhetoric comes in play because a Congresswoman was shot, an attempted political assasination, but hundreds of people are shot every day for anger, love, jealousy, drugs, money, spite, revenge, initiation, sport, and nobody mentions political rhetoric.
While watching footbal games this weekend I was struck by the insensitive nerve of two commercials in particular, both by Bud Light Beer. One showed a driver waiting for his truck while mechanics stole his cargo and partied under the bay, lying to him about his truck's problem and continuing with the celebration. The second involved a couple of thugs holding hostages and making wild demands because they found Bud Light. It sounds innocent enough an is made humorous by thie outrageous requests, but the fact remains that in order to take hostages you must be committing a crime and have weapons to keep the hostages detained. I realize these are meant to be humorous and appealing to the sophomoric audience watching the ball games, but, as with some explicit video games, we tend to desensitize to viewers and users.
It is far different to gobbly things with Ms PacMan and have a frod dodge in and out of traffic than to reward points for shooting cops or causing bodily harm to women.
Could these commercials and games be contributing to the violence in America? Who knows?
As an alleged civilized society, we are responsible for all of our actions, including our verbiage. If one attributed every thought to being a prayer, perhaps we could begin to offer words of understanding, acceptance and compassion rather than threateing words of contempt, anger and discontentment; We can begin to see our opponents as jopponents and not enemies.
Someone has to step up. Someone needs to lead the march for civility, not just for women or black men or Christians or gays, but for all humankind. We need to Think Universally, Act Globally!
Peace! Namaste! Shalom! Ho'oponono!

That's all for now . . .

Sdona Excentric

It's been a while. A lot has happened around the world - floods, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, oil spills - myriad natural disasters and tragic stories. Some tragedies are not natural but worthy of mention - a Mosque a couple of blocks from an attack in New York, the World Trade Center. More than 90 countries lost citizens September 11, 2001. This horrific and cowardice attack was carried out by an extremist group of radical Islamic fundamentalists. Since then, many Americans seem to want to hold all Muslims responsible. I have trouble with that. As a recovering Catholic, I ponder the accusations from some that all Catholics are bad because of the actions of some of their priests, or their relation to the slaughters of the varius Crusades or their role in the Spanish Inquisition or the Norman Conquest. Some believe Catholics click their heels three times and say, "There's no place like Rome." How about those Episcopalians, allowing homosexual clergy? Will some contend that all Episcopalians are or will be homosexual? If so, let's deny them the right to build their places of worship. Let's not forget those polygamist Mormons. Most men fantasize about being with more than one woman, but married to more than one! Should we deny them the right to continue their faith and gather to worship in future Tabernacles? How were Buddhists allowed in Hawaii and Japan after they attacked Pearl Harbor? There are 7 Temples listed on Wikipedia, along with 7 Shinto Shrines. Since most Japanese relate to either Buddhism or Shinto, should Hawaii bar their places of worship? Extremists from any group scare me. They are willing to further their agenda at any cost. Sadly, my baby-boomer brothers and sisters seem to be missing from the ranks of the shouters of true freedom - including the freedom for any religion to build wherever they are legally permitted to do so. No wonder Green Day is so popular with today's American youth. I was thinking of standing on a corner with a sign on a pole that reads: God Hates All Protesters! But, I'm afraid too few would get it! Today, I read that Roger Clemens has been indicted by a grand jury for lying to Congress about his personal use of a substance that could have brought potential harm only to himself. I recall military officials lying about arms trades and tobacco company owners lying about the addictiveness and harm of cigarettes and oil barons lying about the safety of their rigs and refineries and NOT ONE of them has been indicted for the line of bull they spewed under oath. People who have directly caused serious harm to their fellow Americans and have even been involved in products or events that have taken lives have walked out of Congress never to be heard from again. But an athelete who juiced to enhance his performance - that's something that can't be tolerated - not in this country. Who does he think he is? He shot a strange substance into his body, bulked up, thew small balls at sultans of swat and possibly lied about gaining an edge. Clemens' greatest guilt is that he just didn't contribute to enough political campaigns. America is embroiled in two wars, facing one of the greatest depressions of all times, unemployment is rampant, people live in constant fear or depression, our climate is changing, our political system is morally bankrupt and we're publicly dragging the multiple Cy Young Award winner to face Congress about steroids! The inmates have finally seized total control of the asylum! I'm thinking of rubberizing all the walls in my home. Then, bouncing off them would leave fewer scars and bruises. If this continues, I may install the tequila cooler I have had my eye on for the past 10 years. I still have hope, clinging perilously onto the swaying branch of reason.

That's all for now . . .

Sedona Excentric

Todrick Hall and Lily Scott - two names only family and friends remember. They were contestants on 2010 American Idol. What a waste of talent. Didn't they know they were entering a popularity contest, whre someone with talent might possibly win, but no necessarily.
American Idol remains the only reality TV show my wife and I watch. Our love for music is the only draw, and we actually talk about the show, before, during and after. Todrick and Lily have musical talent, more than most of the remaining seven and quite possibly the only legitimate competition to Crystal Bowersox besides Lee DeWyze and Sioban Mangus. Following close behind was Lacey Brown. If this group were competing next week I believe the audience would be actually juding a vocal talent competition.
Instead, we are forced to watch a teenage boy gyrate his hips the same to an Elvis song as he does to an inspiration tune about Flying. But, because of his age and the age of the average text voter, he remains alongside the other talent-challended, Tim, who should have auditioned for Glee or an UltraBright commercial. Casey, the Bob Seger of the group is a rock star, just not an Idol. The super-sized brother, Mike, has the gentlest voice among them, but that's his limit - Luther Vandross tunes, romantic balads.
I usually blog, though it's been a while, about social, economical or political issues, but after a show revives memories of performing music and currently being of the age when you want to see everyone to succeed, I felt compelled to vent the frustration viewers create with their selections, which, by the way are often guided by the "judges" especially the musical Machiavelli, Simon Cowell, whose interests seem to be inspired purely by the marketability of each contestant and how much more money he can make off of them.
Let's review, nay, judge, the judges. Randy Jackson - finally learning not to call everyone Dawg and everything he doesn't like, pitchy. His weight loss seems to have given him a new vocabulary - "I just didn't get it." He also seems to favor, "I don't know." Well, Randy a judge has to know. Either the performance was worthy of them returning or it wasn't. Last night he gave us interesting choice and okay karaoke praise to Tim Urban, who butchered an inspriational tune from the Goo Goo Dolls followed by the big pipes appraisal of Aaron Kelly on a song that was way too big for this youngster. It's as if Randy now sets the tone for, okay we need to keep our young viewers tuning in, so let's not bash these guys who shouldn't be here in the first place.
Kara DioGaurdi -  a woman who has never met a camera she didn't think loved her. A cardboard cutout with a massive overdressed wardrobe could replace her easily with a recording of "You are in the zone" and "I just don't know who you are." Give me a break. You're not there to know who someone really is or not - you're there to evaluate their vocal ability on that song on that given night. Either it was good or it was bad.
Simon Cowell - the man who single-handedly revived the stock values of Hanes and Fruit of the Loom. How dare he judge someone on their attire? Especially Siobhan, whose wardrobe must be provided by some futurist designer. For vocal purity, nobody comes close to Siobhan, who could benefit from some coaching with her arrangements, but is the only "big pipes" singer on that stage this season. Back to Cowell - it's as though he has resigned as the insensitive pit bull he was when Paula Abdul was there to offer emotional balance. Now, he seems to be calculating what songs he would record with each singer while mildly paying any attention to their performance. Perhaps he is ready to move on.
Ellen DeGeneres - no doubt, the best thing that happened to this show since its debut. Her wit not only entertains and disarms the viewer as well as the contestant, but her ability to hear talent and appreciate diversity places her in a judge's robe of her own. I hope she'll stay.
Each year, my wife and I attempt to guess who the texters will remove from their list of favorites. Let's face it, these are the people who are going to be buying their favorites' tunes, so they should be the ones to decide who it will be. By definition, they crown their American Idol.
People do make careers from reality contests - remember Star Search? How about Britney Spears, Beyonce Knolls, Alanis Morrisette, Justin Timberlake, Norm McDonald, Tiffany, Aaliyah, Brad Garrett, Leann Rimes, Christina Aguilera even Drew Carey and Rosie O'Donnell? All appeared, but didn't necessarily win on Star Search.
If the music gods are watching this year's Idol contest, they are surely amused and amazed by Crystal Bowersox, possibly the purest raw talent to ever step on that stage. Too bad she won't be competing with Lily Scott, who hopefully can forge a successful career like the losers from Star Search.
Wouldn't it be fun to see which judge American viewers voted off?

That's all for now . . .

Excentric

While I haven't seen the movie 2012, I have been listening to all the chatter about the soon-to-be end of the world. I'm reminded of lyrics from some songs, "You tell me over and over and over again, my friend, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction," and "We've gotta get out of this place, if it's the last thing we ever do," and "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine." First, I don't believe anybody has been able to pinpoint and document time. I believe in the guy who said it was all relative. It might be his hair. Anyway, for argument's sake, let's say some people have put together Mayan predictions with biblical prognostications and added them to some notions from I Ching and have determined the end of the world is actually going to happen on December 21, 2012. I think that everyone who accepts this as reality should put their money where their mouths are and buy, buy, buy. They should create and end of the world stimulus package that benefit other believers and non-believers alike, since we're all going at the same time. They should start picking out their outfits for that day, buy luxury items that they otherwise might not be able to afford. Stop paying their credit cards bills (after maxing them out and opening more), their mortgage, their rent, their insurance, their car payments... But wait, what if their employers believe the end is near? They could cut off paychecks or just write bogus checks or pay them with Monopoly money. Then what? What if politicians believe the end is near? They might just stop legislating and sit around and drink and have affairs. Wow - they must already believe it. What if people in Denmark knew? They might senselessly slaughter dolphins and whales for sport. And what about the Canadians? They might serve seal meat as an entree. What if evryone knew? They might chop down the tropical rain forest, or take elephant tusks for trinkets, or wathc animals fight for fun, or eat animals' parts to amke them verile, or kill each other over religious disputes. Imagine the horrible acts people might engage in if they knew the end was near. What if the United States Supreme Court knew? They would make it easy for everyone to own an automatic weapon as a right to protect themselves from the non-believers. Hey, our buying spree might turn into a shooting spree. That's no good. We need shoppers, not shooters. The world's economy could right itself in mere days, if all the believers would simply embrace their faith and shop 'til you drop. After all, it's not the economy, it's not jobs, it's the end of the world, stupid!

Then I thought, what if everyone could be convinced the end is near and they feared meeting their maker for the atrocities they have committed? What if everyone came together and embraced the natural beauty of all life? What if they destroyed all their weapons and worked in peace and harmony?

Then I thought, who am I kidding? The people who believe the end is near are the same people who claim evolution is either a sham, or survival of the fittest is the creed of the day. I'm getting a headache. The end of the blog must be near.

That's all for now . . .

Excentric

I guess because I recently decided to straighten my teeth I have paid a lot of attention to the smiles of the olympic athletes. It's amazing how almost every athlete's teeth are perfectly aligned and pre-plowed snow white. Are they children of privilege or do they just have ortho-frenetic parents? Either way, I can't help but stare at their pearly smiles, even in defeat. And by defeat I don't mean being judged as a lesser athlete, but rather wiping out on the track with no other contestant within a skate, board or ski length in sight. It's beautiful that we all take a pause from our regular jabbing and sparring and shooting and bombing to watch our young athletes compete for a round piece of metal that they can hopefully cash in for endorcements for products most people could otherwise do without.
Speaking of products, my mentor and friend of yore used to ponder the concept of new and improved taste in pet food products. Who was volunteering to taste this stuff. And while Morrie is on mind, I am reminded of a call from Sedona's newest city manger who used to have copies of the Sedona Excentric mailed to him by our former police chief, Bob Irish. I told him that Irish, though quoted often, never really communicated his thoughts to the paper. Like about seventeen years back when we quoted the chief reporting a rampant increase in crime in Sedona, citing the example of a man stopping in the Basha's parking lot, leaving his driver's window down, exposing 2 season tickets to the Arizona Cardinals on the top of his dashboard. Upon returing to his vehicle, he noticed there were 4 tickets. We also advertised for free singing lessons, from Gregorian chant to Rap, taught in the privacy of your own shower. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. Everybody thinks they can be on American Idol based on their shower volcalizations and their ability to sing along with their car radio blasting at window glass rattling decibels.
Hey, President Obama met with the Dahli Lama, much to the chagrin of China's leaders. What do they fear? Could it be that a whole 10% of their population would convert from Taoism to Buddhism? Let's see, 10% of 1.3 billion is around 1.3 million  people. They lose that many people in bicycle accidents delivering Peking Duck and eggrolls annually. Personally, I prefer the eggdrop soup and Cashew Chicken. My wife makes me add tofu. Maybe it's the weight of the tofu throwing off the cyclists. There is an art to leaning to keep your balance when toting tofu laden carry out.
While repairing some damages to my home caused by the December 8 winter-soon storm, I have had the privilege of working with some terrific people, like the guys from Behmers Roofing, John Di Battista and his crew of C J and Sam, and Gus the drywall guy. Local guys who care about the quality of their work at an affordable rate to working Joes.
Well I'm wondering how snowboarding became an Olympic sport, but my age is probably interfering with the processing. Jumping and spinning from a youngster looks like fun, but hardly seem worthy of being deemed an olympian. Perhaps it's not that much different than tossing a long spear or hurling a ball on a chain or bowling a granite stone down an alley with broom handlers chasing  it for top position.
We'll see what tomorrow brings. Gotta like that Ono kid, Shani Davis and the team of Mancuso and Vonn.
Meanwhile Taliban leaders are being captured, Haiti is reeling under new storms, Iran is ready to be a free nation and Europe is ready to bail out Greece. Things are good, much better than they could be and we are all sitting one the edge of a tiny planet, forced to hold each other's hold to keep one other from falling off.
What a great world!
That's all for now . . .

Excentric

With some relatives huddled in Maryland, I have been left with the feeling of helplessness in AZ, resigned to watching the news of Snowmageddon. Surprised that the attacks from politicians have been limited to vile lies about global climate change. What part of Global don't they understand? It's another reminder that the entire world revolves around them and their contributors. Keep waiting for bin laden to claim al qaeda is behind America's northeastern blizzard. Actually, a lot should get done now that hell has frozen over. So, a couple of snowstorms and all the icebergs in Antartica have reformed, all the dead polar bears have come back to life and mankind has had no negative effect on the environment; oh yeah, nature is also responsible for Toyota's auto failures. Maybe nature is the reason for job losses, bank failures, home foreclosures, and stagnant wages - wait - they're right - Human Nature! Is greed human nature or simply a sin? Speaking of greedy sinning politicians, I marveled at the lack of knowledge Newt Gingrich had on the Daily Show when he professed that the shoe bomber was an American citizen. I guess being an Islamic militant from England is closer to be an American than being an Islamic militant from Nigeria. I can see how the skin color could confuse him, after all, his is from Dixie. Dixie, where teabaggers eat their own. Just ask Ron Paul - not conservative enough for a movement he is given credit for starting. Now the southern talking heads are calling for Paul to be replaced, by a true conservative - one who agrees that government is responsible for everything wrong with America and that the politicians they put into office will do their bidding. Then, we'll have a real America, run by the few people with big enough wallets and big enough mouths to tell the majority of Americans what's good for them, as opposed to them now being told what's good for them.
Once in power, things will be set straight - no one will be gay (especially in the military), no religion will be recognized as legitimate besides Christian, no teenagers will have sex before marriage to someone of the opposite sex, there will be no Medicare or Medicaid, no food stamps, no public schools, no voting without passage of tests designed by them, no immigrants, no unions, no foreign trade, no taxes, no public infrastructure (including no highways, police, fire, emergency responders, bridges, mass transit, traffic signals or road signs, no parks, no courthouses, no government buildings, etc.) - everything will be privatized and run by the very CEOs who got bailed out and gave themselves big bonuses.
Gives new meaning to just say no, huh?
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. Wow, what rhetoric. It's almost as if the person who spoke those words was just standing in front of a lecturn, using a teleprompter. Let's look at some other presidential quotes: George Washington: "Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder;" Thomas Jefferson: "One man with courage is a majority;" John Quincy Adams: "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost;" Franklin Pierce: "We have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of peace and amity with all nations;" Theodore Roosevelt: "The only man who makes no mistake is the man who does nothing;"  Thomas Woodrow Wilson: "If you want to make enemies, try to change something;" Harry S. Truman: "We need not fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their suppression;" Richard Nixon: "A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself;" James Earl Carter, Jr.: "The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation;" Ronald Wilson Reagan: "America is too great for small dreams;" George Herbert Walker Bush: "I want a kinder, gentler nation;" William Jefferson Clinton: "We need a spirit of community, a sense that we are all in this together. If we have no sense of community, the American dream will wither;" George Walker Bush: "Recognizing and confronting our history is important. Transcending our history is essential. We are not limited by what we have done, or what we have left undone. We are limited only by what we are willing to do."
I wonder what the teabaggers think of these quotes, both republican and democrat. It would seem each was driven at some time in their term of office by a love of country.
The very first American president talks about virtue and the highest bidder and the current Supreme Court opens American politics to the purses of multi-national corporations, unions, bankers, insurers, and the likes to offer their personal choice for high office. Remember when they used to say, "America, best government money can buy?" The joke is now on us. Fool me twice . . .
An amazing thing happened. After calling the Associated Press to complain about their "close enough" reasoning for putting events IN Sedona instead of NEAR Sedona, I came across a couple of news stories that actually stated the events took place NEAR Sedona. Is somebody actually reading what I write? I didn't expect anyone to listen, never mind react. Maybe there is hope after all. Nah, just a coincidence.
My prayers and good thoughts for those dealing with the blizzard. Keep on digging!

That's all for now . . .