Freakin’ Friday Follies

Tags

conservatives, corporate greed, Election 2012, IQ, medicine, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, racism, Saul Alinsky, science, teabaggers

“To the moon, Alice, to the Moon!”

I just love Newt.

He gets in front of a bunch of ex-NASA employees, in a very depressed part of the state of FLOOREDA, and he garrrunteees that in his SECOND term of office as POTUS, he will ensure that we have a colony on da moon.

Now, you can call that Newtspah. And you would be right to do so.

But, he’s not our big winner this week.

No, our boy Mittens wins this week.

Why you ask?

Well, because he called out the Newtster on this promise, accusing him. . . .wait for it. . .  OF PANDERING to the audience.

He chided Newty for trying to promise his way to the White House by, in each state, finding some pet project that the residents were interested in, and then promising he would give them “it” if they were so kind as to vote for him.

Yes, he did.

And well, go ahead, yell it: THAT’S KINDA LIKE THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK oh Mitten-man, you who are known for your chameleon-like ability to change position based on the change of wind of public opinion. So ya win this week!

¶

Ahab or dear friend turned us on to this great little link that actually proves to be a rather well done study on the convergence of IQ, conservative thinking, and bigotry. Wanna guess what it tends to show? Dumb people tend to not have the capacity to see the “big picture” and so tend to fall for the easy simplistic structured and ordered world that conservatism offers. Those who are least capable of abstract reasoning, are more likely to fall for racism and other bigoted ideas.

Was there ever any doubt?

¶

Kevin Drum kinda proves the above study. Right now our boy Newt is the darling of the TeaNutz®, mostly because they have run through all the other possibilities and he’s what’s left. Well, tea bibbers are folks who believe in doing NOTHING about most things, and shrinking government. And at heart, Newt is a guy with grandiose ideas of being a world-wide mover and shaker. And that requires “DOING BIG THINGS”. But being light in the brain-case, said TeaNutz® have not yet puzzled that paradox out. And probably never will.

¶

I wanna share a little secret with ya. When you retire, even years and years after you retire? You will still smile a bit bigger when it’s Friday. It’s true. I swear it is. And late Sunday afternoon will find you feeling a bit let down. You will sigh as you see the sun go down. It happens. It’s just the way it is. And you can’t know that until it happens to you.

¶

Mittens has an ad in Florida wherein he goes after Newt for claiming that “Spanish is the language of the ghetto.” While not factually completely true, Mittens, when asked, inquired, “Is that one of my ads? I haven’t seen it. I doubt that’s my ad.” Of course the ad ends with the statement “I’m Mitt Romney and I approve this message.” Which means, I guess he doesn’t, or didn’t, or it’s all meaningless. But then, well I guess we knew all that anyway.

¶

Newtie Patootie invoked the name of Saul Alinsky again last night. It is supposed to raise all kinds of dangerous visions of commie boogeymen comin’ around to take away our freedoms. At least Newt is hoping it will. He, in his snooty, lookin’ down my nose at all of you, way of viewing the world, is assuming you have no clue who Alinsky is, and are way too lazy to find out.

What is rich of course, is that Saul Alinsky did most of his community organizing in Chicago, among poor working stiffs. And he did it with the full help and approval of the Roman Catholic Church, who joined him in his efforts to improve the lives of working folks. Oh, and Alinsky’s heroes? They were Jefferson and Madison, you know, the FOUNDING FATHERS, who are nigh on to gods to the Crazy Right.

Alinsky received the Pacem en Terris Peace and Freedom Award from the Vatican in 1969. Past recipients have been  Martin Luther King, Jr., Desmond Tutu, Cesar Chavez, Daniel Berrigan, Jim Wallis, and Lech Walesa.

Oh Newt? That would be YOUR Catholic church no?

¶

 Why we are right:

Caterpillar posted record profits this year. To the tune of 36% after taxes. Revenues increased by 2.65 BILLION.  Yet they have locked out workers at their Ontario plant in Canada, because the workers refused a cut in pay from $32/hr to $16.50/hr. Caterpillar CEO, John Oberhelman, made $10.5 million in 2010.

This is not class warfare. This is about fairness.

¶

Okay, I’ll let you off easy today. It’s Friday, after all. No Football.

What’s on the Stove? Leftovers: Chick-Ling Spaghetti Parmesan or Wild and Wicked Taco Soup (your choice). The latter recipe will be posted today, the former already is.

Related articles

• Who Is Saul Alinsky & Why Is Newt Gingrich Yammering About Him? (themoderatevoice.com)
• Newt Using The Saul Alinski Playbook (alan.com)
• Gingrich: “I’m Going to Colonize the Moon” (weeklyworldnews.com)

Did Anyone See My Elf?

Tags

Group dynamics, Humor, IQ, Life in Iowa, lifestyle

I read recently that people dream of being rich, only to find that once they attain whatever level of wealth they envision, they learn that they indeed have no time to enjoy those things they expected money to bring them.

I say, “give me the money, and I’ll let you know.”

Seriously. Send me the money. It’s Christmas after all. Don’t you have any spirit of giving? I’m standing here with open arms, ready to receive I tell ya. I’ll surely send you a thank you card. You can count on it.

You see, I have a lot of wishes. Mostly for having my own team of elves to do all the dirty work. Clean the house, bake the goodies, do the shopping, buy the presents. (I’ll wrap. I like that part.)

Weather-wise. Not  so bad. We may get a 1-3 inch little storm come Friday, but the temps, until Saturday are in the high 20’s (remember when 60 was cold?).  We are (not actually we, but we in the sense that marriage makes us a team, so what the Contrarian does, I get credit for) stacking up wood in these nice days. (Stacking up means cut down dead trees, wrap a chain around them, drag them to the splitter, chump them up, roll them to the splitter, sit down, split, throw, and then throw again, and then stack on the cart that comes in the house! Phew.) Just talking about it is really tiring!

I’m cooking hearty meals to sustain all that work. I made sugar cookies yesterday. I have truffles to make tomorrow, and nut clusters on Friday. Then comes the ham and all the goodies for Saturday. So I’m doing my part. I mean we, we are doing our part.

I so hope you aren’t in a place in America where the snow is 15 feet, or the rain has been falling for days. I hope it’s not too cold, too hot, or too anything. Lot’s of folks are really hurting now, sleeping in airports and stranded in shelters. Houses are knee-deep in water, or buried under snow. Lot’s of folks probably won’t make it home for Christmas. It’s a sad ending to a sad (mostly) year.

But we hope in the future don’t we. So maybe January might be better. Maybe 2011 will be better, and people will get jobs, and save their homes, and have a little extra to enjoy a few things. You know, not jets and ski lodges, and diamonds, but maybe a trip to the lake for a weekend, or a patio set to sit and enjoy the yard. A second car, used of course. We hope anyway.

Amen.

***

Go over to Ree Drummond’s blog (Pioneer Woman) and leave a comment and get in the running for 3 KitchenAid mixers she is giving away. You have until Noon Thursday, Pacific time.

***

Picture this: me doing the happy dance. I, after long years of suffering, have been proven right once again. (I figure in an infinite universe I’m likely to be right on everything given enough time.)

Okay, I used to say with great sincerity, that the collective IQ of a jury was below that of the lowest member of it.) Meaning, that the average jury is incredibly stupid and makes its decision often on the most bizzaro ideas (most of which they glean from TV shows like Perry Mason).

Well, a new study from MIT suggests that group IQ has little to do with the IQ’s of its respective members. It doesn’t even follow the smartest person in the group. It’s an independent factor.

I think they suggest that having brainiacs is less important that group think on problems, implying I guess that groups collectively equal one awfully smart person, but heck, I think I’m still right in my initial theory, and I’m suspicious that MIT has somehow picked up on my “research” of many years past. Which means, I’ll be searching their research for mention of my name, and expect my share of the Nobel prize next year.

***

I just realized that its been a couple of months now since I employed my new “monthly menu planning” scheme. First evaluation is that it’s working pretty good. I start with my “menus” page here and then count the Fridays and Sundays off, since those are leftover days. Then I choose menus until I’ve filled up the other days.

Then I create a full menu for each item. In other words, with the choice “Pork Chops” I would then add, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, salad. I print this off, and create regular calendar, adding the main choice for each day. These are both posted on the fridge.

From the full menu, I create the shopping list, first from a “monthly” list of almost always need items (including cleaning and pharmaceuticals), and a separate list for specifics for the meals. So I take two lists to the grocery store.  I shop for all non-perishables for the month, including meat, which I freeze, and two weeks worth of fresh veggies.

I also have by menu, listed all the ingredients,  for each  menu item: Pizza would entail yeast, flour, pepperoni, tomato sauce, etc. These are put in a folder. That will eventually be finished, and it’s a good way to not forget the “mushrooms” or “red onion” that is essential to a dish.

So far things have gone really well. We eat up our leftovers much better, and I don’t have a lot of fresh vegetables dying in the fridge from lack of use. We’ve not thrown out lettuce for instance in the last two months. Amazingly, I have used up celery each month so far too.

I allow for changes of course due to unforeseen circumstances. I think I’m spending less and managing our food much better as well as eating more balanced meals.  And I don’t have to rack my brain trying to think of something to make. It’s already decided!

Do you have tips for how to manage the food in your budget?

***

What’s on the stove: skillet mac and beef, salad, rolls.

The Art of Wisdom?

Tags

critical thinking, essay, IQ, Literature, philosophy, thinking

I continue to believe that much that is wrong with higher education, and certainly of lower education, is our failure to teach and thus to learn, “how to think.”

You may think such a thing is self-evident, but I can assure it is not. For all creatures, with a sufficient brain, think in some sense–a dog thinks it’s hungry and walks to its food bowl, much as a fish does. When satiated, they stop.

However, humans, or at least higher life forms have greater capabilities, and can make decisions about events yet to come, assess long term benefits and pitfalls. We have the ability to think critically. And yet, few of us are taught this most important skill. Instead we are relegated, all too often, to the tried and true method of experimentation and learning from “our mistakes.” This is both time consuming and can be costly.

I have been a reader all my life, yet, I feel not particularly well read. I can name dozens of “classical” literature that I have not read. It was not stressed in my youth certainly–books (except for cheap dime store war novels) never graced our coffee table or night stands for that matter. I knew nothing of architecture, anthropology, french literature, or god forbid philosophy.

I did not secure a liberal arts education, where I might have bumped into some of these things. Trying to read, say Spinoza today is a bit like dropping into the middle of War and Peace and explaining the plot. I don’t get the language. A dozen other topics have left me cold in the same way–verbiage that I cannot penetrate no matter how hard I might try.

One is tempted to simply say, that I don’t have the IQ for it. And in fairness, that might be accurate. Maybe I could read Jergen Moltmann for years and never discern what the hell he is trying to tell me, because I just don’t have the brain power for it. I just don’t know, though I’ve devoted some significant thinking to the problem.

It matters. I am not comfortable with being average in intellect, I want to be part of that rarefied 1-2% of superior minds. I suspect I am not, and thus, I am perhaps wasting time.

As I said, part of it may be  simply that you have to be in the club. Doctors can read all manner of stuff that we laypersons can’t fathom, because they have a secret language that only they know. Same for lawyers. I suspect the same thing is found in most of our disciplines.

Part is not existing in the social milieu where such material is discussed as a matter of course. We were working class folk, and though I was often teased for having my head in a book all too often, I was not dissuaded from my pursuit often. But then, I had no one to bounce these new ideas off of either.

Some things I read at too early an age, and simply didn’t have the background. Dropping into the middle of War and Peace again. I recall reading Kate Millet’s Sexual Politics in my late teens or very early 20’s and recall nothing memorable. I certainly wouldn’t have grasped much of Simone de Beauvior’s Second Sex I doubt. (Which by the way it is being re-issued in English in its entirety.)

All I know is that when I come upon something that I start to read, and it gets all existential and then tells me about ontological and teleological methodologies, I start to swoon, and not with love, but with nausea. We get to neo-Platonism before I have begun to digest Platonism, and then it goes off to Post-Modernism with hardly a chance to catch my breath. I hear about relativism from people who don’t frankly have a clue what they are talking about, but they have picked it up as a good sound bite from their talking points memo.

It starts to make my head hurt, then starts to make me feel stupid. And if there is one thing I don’t like to be, it is stupid. While it’s far better to know one is stupid and to keep quiet, it is still pretty bad to know that.

Having no really great talent, such as violin playing, or creating exotic desserts, I have to rely on something after all.

Which brings me back to critical thinking. Perhaps I can do that, at least well enough to know that I am not Einstein’s protege′ nor heir.  I can’t write prose that draws on seven different disciplines including neuroscience, anthropology, analytical psychology and Elizabethan court literature. Nope, if you expected that, well sorry to say, it ain’t me.

Yet, I look adoringly upon those who can, for they just sound so dang smart. Maybe it’s all pretense. Maybe it’s all an inside joke and they  and their peers know it’s all so much blather. But I doubt that. I truly do. And I wanna be part of the club.

So I read.