My Conversation with Cairo – In Pursuit of Democrazy or Democracy?

I had a great conversation with my close friend Ramzi this morning. Ramzi is Egyptian, and his family and other close friends still live in Cairo. Ramzi came to the states in the 80′s and we found ourselves in pursuit of the same dreams at the same business, and as a result became close friends and were even roommates for a couple of years. Ramzi and I spoke this morning about what is going on in Cairo, what he has heard, and naturally, I have my take on what this means for all of us.

The long and the short of it is, we have a World out of balance, not just in Cairo, Tunisia, and other shaky political theaters. The math of inequality is eerily close to our own here in the States, with the majority of the wealth in Egypt being controlled by about the top 1-2%. Only the baseline for their poor people is worse than ours. The average Egyptian makes about 500-600 Egyptian pounds a month, or about $100 dollars, and if you do the math this is not enough to even pay for the food they need to eat, let alone shelter, healthcare, education, or other needs. Ramzi states that this has led to people from all walks of life using whatever means possible to exist, from bribes to theft, the corruption runs deep and anything goes to keep life going and to keep food on the table. Roughly 40% of the Egyptian population is below the poverty line and simply cannot sustain a decent quality of life. It has simply not been, and is not, sustainable.

At some point, any person can reach a boiling point, where they just cannot take it anymore. At that moment, the fear of what may come by not “doing what it takes” to get through the day is overpowered by the necessity to change the situation, even if it means their own demise. The people of Egypt have reached this point. They are tired of a Kangaroo government that only looks out for the wealthy. They want government that looks out for its people, not just some of the people. The people really want democracy and hopefully that is what they get, and not democrazy. Although we have the best version in the World as the model, there are dangerous similarities between the problems their people face, and problems we face here at home. In their fight for something better, we should all take a look at our democracy and pay attention to addressing improvements where needed.

I would argue that this is not just some problem “over there” and although this particular wave of dispair may have started with Tunisia, it is spreading, and like it or not we are not immune. To think so would be naive. Imagine the couch-potato-planted, reality-show-watching, fast-food-eating, average “barely-making-it” American under the same duress as these people, only now, their TV is gone, they can’t cash a check, food lines get long and the food, too expensive. How well do you think we would handle it? Do you think as well as our ancestors did during the last depression? I doubt it.

This brings my mind to recent American politics. Since our last bubble burst, the Bush administration and the Obama administration have spent billions we don’t have to head off a financial armageddon that would have dragged the World economy down. It started with our financial “players” gaming a system that they knew would not sustain by selling products that enabled them to pocket cash and sell the unstable product to some other sucker as a “safe-rated” product. Although they knew this was a ticking time bomb, but they did it anyway. And, in the end, they blamed the little guy for it – the guy trying to get a leg up. So, they gamed us all, took the loot, got the government to bail them out, and are in a great position to do it all over again.

Once again, we are focusing on trying to address the symptoms but not the disease itself. Since money and power are what makes the World go around, the masses are manipulated into taking sides that really do nothing more than benefit the rich and powerful – regardless of which side of the aisle “wins.” People are convinced they are voting for their interests, but that is really just a mask that hides the real players that finance the messages that sway the electorate into a sheepish support. This pattern repeats itself with swings back and forth through time, with all of us pretending that it will end with different results – this time. That is the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. But, that is how this game is played. It order for it to continue, we all have to believe that it will result in something different.

I think Cairo is a wake-up call for everyone, not just the poor people of Egypt. As people of this planet Earth, we had better decide if we want to embrace the true promise of Democracy, or continue to pretend that Democrazy is just fine as it is – a broken misrepresentation that is a camel hair away from breaking on a scale unprecedented in human history. Although I am largely cynical of the system, I am also hopeful. I am hopeful that as a species we wake up, and realize this path we are all on is dangerous, biased, and out of balance. I am hoping we all wake up before it’s too late.

Rabble-rousing, Rounds, and Rhetoric – The Tucson Tragedy

It is difficult to process the shooting in Tucson over the weekend, and even more so if you are a parent. It is really unthinkable to lose a child by any means, but it is especially devastating when a child is taken by such senseless violence. Too many families lost too many loved ones over the weekend, and for what? We don’t know yet what the killer’s motives were for his rampage, but I think there is much evidence as to why these acts of violence continue to occur and at an ever increasing rate.

As a species, we have a long history of violence and although we like to think of ourselves as “civilized” the reality is that there exists a very fine veil between our illusion of civility and a boiling under current of chaos and violence. Our American culture is fascinated by violence, and you don’t have to look far to see its widespread glorification.

Every time a tragedy like this happens, we watch the same story play out. There is “talk” of changing rhetoric, of learning to understand other people, of restoring civility. But, this is just pillow talk. In a very short time, we will hear the same tone and tenor permeate our public discourse, and very likely we will see a return in the future of painful new lessons that we refuse to learn from.

In essence, as a society we have positioned ourselves in a Mexican standoff of colossal proportions – two guns loaded with rounds pointed at ourselves. If you look at the political sparring going on, you will see folks from the right blaming pop-culture, especially music, TV, and the movies. Folks on the left blame the gun-toting right, specifically the Tea Party, and Palin’s now infamous political maps with gun sights to target the democrat political opponents.

If you go a little farther right (and straight into the ass of the Universe) you end up with the Westboro Baptist Church, the now infamous Kansas church of loons that picketed fallen soldiers funerals. They have reached a new low and have announced plans to picket the victims of the Tucson tragedy, even the 9-year old girl that lost her life. Can you imagine this happening to you and your family? I must admit, this personally tests my limits of patience and can honestly say that if I were present to witness this travesty of humanity I would likely get in their business and it would most likely get ugly.

And there lies the problem. We as humans are naturally aggressive and violent, but our illusion of self keeps us from solving these problems as a culture. We don’t try to elevate each others thinking and find common ground, instead we reduce the clarity of issues and promote division and indifference. I have a long-held belief that you can’t really grow as a person unless you’re honest about your self, about your shortcomings, and about what needs to be done to improve and progress as a person. We can’t really solve problems like these until we all admit we are just a dominant, violent species that masks its nature with the illusion of stability.

The truth is, there is no easy fix. A good start would be to see our elected leaders and our media grow up a little and stop setting the bar so low. They should be examples of what we all strive to be, instead of frustrating reminders of how backwards and self-destructive we are as a species. We need to evolve passed school-yard tactics and attitudes, and work together to usher in a new era of truth and a focus on finding common ground rather than fanning the flames of indifference.

If we really hope to reach our full potential as a species, it will require a huge dose of humility, honesty, and compassion that I am not sure we are really capable of achieving. But I remain hopeful.

10 Commandments for the New Year, 2011

It has been a while since my last post, over a year actually. It has been a crazy year. I found the love of my life, I lost my Uncle to cancer out of the blue, my kid turned 18 and moved out, and I left one start-up to start another one. It’s a good thing that I don’t get “life motion sickness” and am a natural at adapting to change. On this New Year’s Eve for 2011, I have been reflecting on where things are at in my life and where I am headed and about the world at large and my place in it. This time of year everyone “makes a plan” or “a list” and promises to change – this is the time that people reflect on all the things they wanted to accomplish but couldn’t.

Ironically this usually fails many since life is a variable that screws with every formula, even with the “best laid plans of mice and men” we still come up short. Why? I think it’s because we all fall into the same trap. We “wait” for a time when we can get to the things we want, procrastination takes hold. We make the large goal, but don’t address the small daily habits that allow us to grease change. In other words, I think the model of just setting yearly goals is severely lacking. Couldn’t we get more out of life if we could be more responsive to life and opportunity? Let me take a moment to try and tackle this.

I present my own list of thoughts for 2011 that are my new 10 commandments (I love going biblical for fun, but they are just good suggestions really) for the New Year:

1. Sharpen your tools, settle on a formula – Think about how you wash a car. You get the hose ready. You look at where the Sun is at so you don’t get spots. You get the bucket ready, soap, sponge, then you are ready to go. You have prepared for the task at hand. This same simple approach can be abstracted to creating a system of approach for dealing with the daily, and charting a path to longer term goals. You simply cannot be equipped to capitalize on long term goals if you are not ready with the right tools for approach. Getting the most out of life is about being ready for changes to the plan, new opportunities to capitalize on, and so forth. So what are your tools? Mine are simple. I have a general notion of where I would like to end up by the end of next year, smarter, faster, better than I was before (like the bionic man), and fall asleep at the first sign of boring complexity, so, in order of priority: a) increase awareness of things entering my orbit and determine what role they may play in longer term goals, b) be fluid in my response to these new strands of opportunity and how they connect to future paths, c) execute daily. I like things in 3, and can’t remember shit after 3, so there we are.
2. Be aware, and Learn to Let go – Part of the problem for many is “I made a plan” and “I didn’t get there.” The reality is, is that people rarely achieve their goals the way they thought they would, and that can be frustrating. It can make you feel like you are incapable, inept, impotent in getting where you are trying to go. Were you really aware in that time though? Was there something that happened on Tuesday that you missed that perhaps would have gotten you there in another way? If you are too fixated on the perfect plan, you will miss the simple fluid opportunities that come along that could dramatically further your progress, just maybe not in the way you had envisioned. Be open to these strands of opportunity, be more flexible in determining how you get where you want to go. Sometimes letting go of the reins is the right thing to do, and sometimes it just gets you there faster if you have vision broad enough to notice.
3. Be a Life Ninja – You may have heard people say things like, “meet things head on,” “learn to take it on the chin,” and similar words of wisdom. While these may help in some situations when you have no other choice, I prefer things, like “step out of the way” and “duck you idiot so you don’t get smacked in the chin.” In martial arts you use an opponent’s moves and momentum against them in fluid motions, mixed with abrupt punctuated points of contact. Applying this to to everyday situations is priceless. Not only is it far more effective of a strategy, but you are more calm, more aware of what is happening, more in tune, and most beneficial you are often able to catapult to the next move, whatever that may be.
4. Use the Force – I am not much for prayer and religion as a means to make things happen, but prayer and my approach have some similarities. In prayer you are expending your energy to plead with a higher power to help you in your time of need, in my version you are expending your energy to move energy around you and get where you want to go. I use the approach that removes the middle man. The force is a perfect term to frame how life really works and how you can get more out of it. If you visualize life as an interconnected network of energy, then it makes perfect sense to learn how to pluck the lines, learn to make chords, basically, learn to play with the energy around you.
5. Stop Bitching – Too many people expend too much energy whining about what isn’t working, about how they were wronged, and so on, to just about anyone who will listen. Naturally there are heavy problems we all deal with like losing a loved one, and that is not of what I speak. I refer to the million little situational circumstances that don’t require the energy to make them so important. The overall problem with needless bitching is that it adds up, and soon the small gang up on you – in effect pecked to death by ducks. This is sort of a sister to the above “let go” except with the added, “save your breath” for something that really matters.
6. Find Your Balance – The hardest thing to achieve in life, I have found, is maintaining balance. My best template for finding mine is in visualizing all of the interconnected moving parts with their own opposing forces, and try to intuit the path that maintains the course I want even though the weights are mismatched. For example. If you have a kid, take them out on your lawn, grab their hands and spin them in circles. As you spin them, start walking in a direction across your lawn. The balance you find when you lean back against the weight of your child, while walking along a path, is the perfect analog to how to live life.
7. Lose the Fear - I know everyone hears this one often, but really, fear has to be ditched. Certainly some fear is good, especially in the case that it saves you from being eaten by a bear or something like that. But in life in general, fear is a cloud that screws up visibility for where you are headed and cloaks opportunities that could be right next to you.
8. Laugh More – How you react to things is entirely up to you. Some people get angry, some get sad, some depressed. I chose laughter, and you would be surprised how many things in life you can make funny. After my first startup crashed when I was 22ish, I found myself bankrupt, evicted, without a car (repossessed), alone (wife took kid, left), and back living with my mom. Even though this was a hard time in my life, I remember laughing at much of it. The circumstances that occurred were like a cascade of bad, a systemic collapse of mass proportion, a domino pattern that seemed to make its way through my whole life at the time. I found humor in the irony of how these things occurred. The fortune in this approach is that I was able to rebound quickly, identify new opportunities, and ultimately get where I wanted to go. You can do the angry or sad thing, but all that feeling sorry for yourself, or that anger, will cloud everything you see. Laughter is an emotion that holds great power and promise, so I say HA!
9. Let Things Die – Zombies are huge these days, but they belong in video games and on the silver screen, not in your day-to-day life. Don’t let things in your life that are obviously dead become a Zombie. This could be a job, a relationship, a friendship, or any number of large or small issues you face in life. Everything in the Universe has its lifecycle, and when it is dead, it is dead. Out of death comes new growth, and new opportunity that would never be there if not for a death. People usually hang on to things that aren’t good for them out of their own insecurities, so it’s always a great idea to review your life through a similar lens and not hang on to things that are clearly bad for you out of your own insecurities. There is a lot of life power in learning how to let things die.
10. Take Control of Perspective – One of my favorite movies of all time is Being There, it was Peter Sellers last role. He plays Chauncy Gardener, a childlike adult with a learning disability that is mistook for a sage of life due to his simple framing of things related to his gardening. His answer for solving an economic crisis in the movie was that “more new growth would come in the Spring after a death of things in the Winter” to paraphrase. The central theme of the movie for me was that so much of what is made complex in life can be perceived and encountered with a higher form of perspective. There is much grace to be gained in life by taking control of perspective. How we look at what we go through makes a difference on how it affects us and the people around us. Don’t let life treat you like the tail wagging the dog, chose your perspective and own it, you have the power to do so.

I for one am optimistic and excited about the New Year and really believe I can manifest 2011 into the best year of my life so far. I wish everyone out there a very Happy New Year 2011!

For my closing words, I will again reference Being There, which had one of the best endings in a movie EVER in my honest opinion. The last line uttered as Peter Sellers walked on water was, “life… is a state of mind.” I couldn’t agree more.

Ping service

Cheating on my iPhone with a Droid

Droid Manhandling Justin

Well, my verdict is in. I have been playing with the new Motorola Droid from Verizon for the past couple weeks and finally feel comfortable enough to render an opinion. The bottom line? Sure she has a bit more junk in the trunk than my iPhone, but she is sexy, she is smart, and she knows how to rock my world!

At first I had thought my iPhone was simply more elegant, with more of the right curves in all the right places. But since I am now working at a mobile software company, I really put both phones through the paces and switched back and forth between them to compare frequently.

Here are my top 10 reasons to leave my iPhone for the Droid.

1. AT&T - Topping the list is AT&T, because I always have issues with dropped calls. I live in the mecca of technology and rarely can finish a conversation without one party having to call the other party back. I’m sure the etiquette is, if I called you and we drop, I will call you back. But this never works in the real world. Usually both parties end up dialing each other again, and well, it’s all just too annoying. Worse case? If both parties on on iPhones. Horrible. It kills me that AT&T is whining about Verizon commercials instead of fixing their service, sad really. My Droid handles calls perfectly, have not dropped a call yet. Except when talking to my friends with iPhones, and their phones drop the conversation!
2. Zombie Mode – My iPhone has a nasty habit. I call it Zombie mode. This is when it appears you have full bars and everything seems to be working but you are not getting any calls. And, when you dial out it just sits there not connecting to anything for no apparent reason. This always requires a reboot, at which time I find I have text messages, voicemails, and can make and receive calls again. This alone makes me want to shoot the zombie in the head and be done with it.
3. Multitasking – I’m sure everyone is tired of talking about this one, but I’m not! This is just fantastic! I can finally run Pandora while cruising the Internet, checking email, playing with my apps, or whatever. Ok so my priorities are fun and business, so what? The fact that you still can’t do this on an iPhone is embarrassing.
4. Keyboard – Ok, another obvious choice, but you know it’s really nice? I have gotten used to it now and I can now type messages and respond to emails without having to send everything with the following message: “If this reply looks like I never learned how to spell or type, it came from my iPhone.”
5. Fast, Fast, Fast - I do appreciate that the Droid keeps up with my keystrokes and my requests to open things, move things, etc. I have endless frustrations on the iPhone trying to type a text and getting 5-10 characters ahead and waiting for it to catch up. The Droid has enough horse power to keep up with me.
6. There’s an App for That - With over 10,000 apps in the Android app store, I have had no trouble finding cool tools and things to tweak my user experience to my liking. I gussied up my mobile desktop with a picture of the Hal 9000 from 2001 a Space Odyssey with my favorite Android apps bordering my cool pic: 3banana Notes, AK Notepad, Compass, Pandora, Facebook, Voice Search (sooo cool), and a bunch of others. I don’t really feel like I am missing anything here in the switch.
7. Droid Has a Better Eye – I have read some pieces saying that the camera isn’t so great on the Droid, or more that the software isn’t so great (yet) but the hardware is good. The reality is though, it is lightyears ahead of the iPhone! The iPhone’s camera blows. It only delivers a good picture with the solar system aligns with the center of the Milky Way (I saw the 2012 movie recently).
8. Mobile Desktop Widgets – I only recently discover this on Droid, and it is just way cool! I like that I can set them up off to the sides and slide over for a peek. Really cool functionality and I don’t appear to be taking a hit in performance for using them. Magic??
9. Droid Tough - I always felt like my iPhone needed a case, needed protection from everything. It somehow seemed naked without something to keep it from getting scuffed or broken. The Droid leaves me with no such feeling. A friend of mine bought me breakfast at Buck’s the other day so he could check out my Droid. After playing with it for a while, he said that you could also use it as a self-defense device and performed a mock overhand head clubbing maneuver for me. Not only funny to watch, but affirmed my feelings about Droid’s substance. You get the feeling it is not as fragile as the iPhone.
10. Mouse Button – Not only to you get a keyboard, but the mouse button is a great to have as well. Hopping around on web pages clicking thing is really easy using the mouse and I find myself using it more and more.

Now certainly there are things that my iPhone does that I really like. The tap, pinch, and swipe functions of web browsing are phenomenal, and of course the easy connection to my iTunes library. But as in all things you tend to weigh the benefits of certain features against others and I find that on the whole the Droid is simply a better buddy than my iPhone. I feel like I am getting more for the money, and that the Android platform will continue to yield new fruit for me in the future.

I still love my iPhone, what we had was real. But love is love, and when you feel it, you have to move on.

Civilization Jumps the Shark

As many of you know in pop culture, “jump the shark” is a term to describe a moment when something that was once great has reached a point where it will now decline, losing its quality and generally marking the tipping point at which collapse in popularity is imminent. I was old enough to watch the Fonz jump the actual shark, and even as a kid thought it ridiculous. Despite my generally optimistic view of the future and of possibilities, it has started to “feel” like civilization has jumped the shark. We live in a time where voices like Glenn Beck are considered credible, when only a couple thousand years ago Aristotle and Socrates would have been considered thought leaders (talk about a decline in standards). We live in a time where the competition between intellectual thought and logic must compete with dogma and belief, as if it were a fair fight. One requires rigorous testing and reproduction of consistent results in order to be recognized. The other requires nothing other than a fervent position, a belief, based on zero evidence. Moreover, our civilization somehow holds both approaches in equal regard.

To further this disconnect, people that claim to have seen UFOs are considered crackpots yet those that believe in gods and angels are assigned credibility. Civilization has taken some serious hits out of this imbalance between reality and fantasy, from the way we treat each other to the way we treat the planet. We live in a time where the level of intellectual laziness has reached new heights, where “tea parties” are held without tea – arguments without substance. We live in a time where those substance-free arguments are held out like “real issues” and are defended vigorously with righteous anger and indignation. Lately, the news cycle has begun to discuss whether “civility” (e.g. Joe, town hall meetings, etc.) is on the decline in America, but they are missing a grander point. Civilization itself is on the plank. It is on the plank because we as active participants in our collective experiment are intellectually dishonest about what is required to propel us forward and ensure we thrive as a species in the future.

The divide between those that want us to progress as a species, and those that want us to “go back” is widening and as long as both paths are held up to be equally credible, this divide could fracture the foundation that we have built civilization on. There is a truism in nature and in evolution, that which does not adapt to its changing environment will cease to exist. To evolve and progress is a “natural” thing to do for everything; be it a planet, an animal, a human, even a software program. To deny this force is to hold back our true potential, and to invite catastrophe into the living room of humanity. I would have to say that I have been forced to downgrade my rating for civilization’s odds for survival from optimistic to ”cautiously optimistic”, and am concerned that it is teetering on pessimistic.

Lou Dobbs Claims Earth Could Be Flat

Some years ago I recall having some measure of respect for Lou Dobbs. He seemed to have an even keel, and tried to be factual and objective about stories he covered. But over time, Lou seemed to drift towards more of a Glenn Beck clone, or some other Fox entertainer. He lost objectivity in favor of sensationalism. He became known for the “border issue” and for the most part became singularly identified with anything immigration. But then, something happened. Obama became President. It is no secret that Obama has made comments about Lou’s inflammatory  approach to the border issue, and that Lou has no love for Obama.

But, Lou’s real transformation from objective news man to opinionated shameless entertainer is in no way more profound than in his recent “reporting” of the “birthers’” and their looney claims of Obama not being an American born citizen. Now, it is a sad state of affairs that the news in general has become such a sham and in my eyes looks more and more like so called “professional wrestling” before they came out and clean telling the world they were really entertainment. The news should follow suit and be forced to add the word entertainment to news, which would at least be more honest. But, this reality doesn’t let Lou off the hook with this issue and exposes him to be intellectually bankrupt when it comes to reporting on real issues with honest analysis.

CNN/US President Jon Klein declared the issue a “dead story” but that hasn’t stopped Lou Dobbs from pretending this is a real issue that needs thorough analysis. What it is in fact is a total embarrassment and exposes that the emperor wears no clothes. Lou has even gone so far as to thank Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly for defending his right to report on the birther movement (excuse me while I dry heave), even though O’Reilly called the story “bogus.”

So, where do we end up with this one? We end up in the realm of the fact free zone. The world is flat, and all the facts in the world don’t amount to a hill of beans.

Much of History Written on an Etch-a-Sketch

Lately I have been pondering how information seems to always come under dispute and debate, and interpretation of that information is often a tug-of-war between opposing view points. We have all heard the adage that “history is written by the victors” but what is often over looked is that the victors seem to not even be able to agree on what actually happened. So, whomever has the most leverage and influence decides what the approved version is for what went down. This system of historical scribing plays across political, religious, even familial realms.

People tend to presume that the version of history they understand as truth is seen as concrete, as if it is a perfect interpretation free of imperfections. This mentality towards history is especially profound within religious groups. The thing that has been really striking me lately is that how can people be so quick to accept historical “facts” with such certainty, while fully aware of how lamely modern people process, analyze, and interpret what is happening at any given moment. We all know the children’s game, telephone. Telephone teaches you that people are completely full of shit as they “pass on” information to the next person. Yet, this simplistic understanding of human nature seems to be given a pass in terms of historical reference and interpretation.

Just today, I saw an article on CNN.com talking about how LBJ and Reagan loyalists are clashing over the Obama agenda and how it compares or repeats aspects of their respective celebrity. A group of very smart, well-educated people sit on either side of an issue and basically out-argue the other side, and at some point in the future some version of these arguments and historical interpreting becomes the facts. I think it a bit funny that for all of the supposed intellectual power of the human mind, people pretty much can’t agree on anything. What’s worse is that many people are willing to just agree with a viewpoint that is somewhat compliant with their own quick read, and never bother to dive any deeper to really understand or gain an educated slant on their view.

But, even if you are diligent enough to really immerse yourself in an issue and feel confident that you really grasp the supposed “truth” of the matter, you then just find yourself in a new group of supposed experts that are all arguing over the correct interpretation. History is rife with examples of information squabbling and agreement on facts. A great example is the First Council of Nicaea, convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine to settle differences of opinion within Christianity. Costantine put the word out to 1800 Bishops and convened this group to sort out some serious issues relating to “heresy” (spare me) and a bevy of problems related to interpretation and validation of certain doctrines.

It is striking how they are arguing about subjects that were argued about, and these subjects are still argued about today. What is even more striking is when you hear a modern day expert interpret the past with absolute conviction even they are now the farthest away from said point in history. I can’t say I have a solution to this, especially since I recognize the value of learning from past experience. In order to really learn from the past, you really need to understand what happened to you first. Obviously this is easier on an individual level, but it seems to fog greatly the larger the issue gets and the farther you get from it in history.

Stick that in your Etch-a-Sketch and shake it.

Glenn Beck is an Idiotic Windbag

Some of my favorite comedic minds (Stewart, Colbert, Maher) have been taking a lot of shots lately at Glenn Beck, with the crying breakdown on his show recently being the primary object of ridicule. So, it has been a while since I have had the stomach to force Fox down without some sort of indigestion, I thought I should see for myself. Last night I turned on the tube and tuned in for a bit of Glenn Beck. It seemed to start off pretty normal (for Fox) and at about 2 mins in I thought to myself, what’s all the hubbub, he seems harmless enough. At about 3 mins the wheels came completely off the tricycle.

He opened the show by apologizing for being wrong about Obama leading us into socialism, and that he had more to share on that, but by 3 mins in he was sitting in front of a green screen of marching Nazis and claiming Obama is leading us straight into fascism. He asserted that Obama is out to recreate America in the fashion of 1984, and the effect of the green screen was dramatic to say the least. To me his entire argument seems disingenuous at best, and yet another attempt at changing the definition of a word like the hatchet job done to the word “liberal”.

Let’s take the classic definition of fascism at wikipedia and see how close Glenny (I can call you Glenny,right?) gets. Score a 1 for so far off base it isn’t even funny and perhaps time to get Beck a nice white jacket to wear in a calming white padded room, and score a 5 for right on, now let’s get a national uniform with a cool emblem on it and learn the goose step:

• Fascism is a radical, authoritarian nationalist ideology that aims to create a single-party state with a government led by a dictator who seeks national unity and development by requiring individuals to subordinate self-interest to the collective interest of the nation or race. Score: 3 - I give Glenny a 3 here because I could see how a loony would take this definition and attempt to graft it on to the shitty economical issues we face. So, even though a stretch, I will give him a 3.
• Fascist movements promote violence between nations, political factions, and races as part of a social Darwinist and militarist stance that views violence between these groups as a natural and positive part of evolution. Score: 1 -Time for the padded cell Glenny. Obama doesn’t project any of this and this begins to show your intellectual criminality by attempting to paint his efforts as fascism.
• In the view of these groups being in perpetual conflict, fascists believe only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and have an aggressive warrior mentality by conquering, dominating, and eventually eliminating people deemed weak and degenerate. Score: 1 - Ok, so again, I think we can book him a comfy room at the bonkers hotel. At about 3:00 in to his speech, he gets on a roll with 1984.
• Fascist governments forbid and suppress all criticism and opposition to the government and the fascist movement. Score: 1 - Running out of witty things to say about rubber rooms and straight jackets.
• Fascist movements oppose any ideology or political system that gives direct political power to people as individuals through elected representatives rather than as a collective nation or race (individualism, liberalism, representative democracy); that is deemed detrimental to national identity and unity (communism, class conflict oriented labour movements, internationalism, and laissez-faire capitalism); that protects and empowers people deemed weak and degenerate (egalitarianism) and that undermine the military strength and military ambitions of the nation (pacifism); that may seek to preserve any of the privileges, institutions and cultural values that fascism seeks to overthrow (traditionalism and conservatism). Score: 1 - Once again, totally off the reservation. True fascism can’t really take a foothold without nutty nationalism to go along with it. Obama has been warning countries all over the world to not turn inward, that it is time to work together to solve our problems on our every shrinking planet.

I would ask, what is the litmus test for intelligence for hosting a show on Fox? Shouldn’t you be able to read? Understand definitions of words? Be able to articulate a position that doesn’t have holes large enough to drive semis through? From my perspective, Glenny Beck and mentally challenged nitwits like him (don’t get me started on Rush Windbag) are dangerous. They issue rally cries without much substance behind their arguments, and play on peoples fears and insecurities. I am sick and tired of weasels like Beck expousing their verbal vomit and not getting called on it. I think Beck, and simpletons like him, represent far more of a threat to our Country than terrorism.

It is time for people like us, and other personalities in the media to stand up and set idiots like these straight. They need to be publicly dressed down and exposed for being misleading windbags and we need to return to a time where people actually bother to educate themselves. If we don’t, we are participating in our own downfall.

Outlawing the Color Black to Save Planet Earth

I have been exposed to more than my fair share of dimwitted ideas, but this one earns a place in the top 10. Apparently, the California Air Resources Board is pushing a new “cool paints” initiative which is a strategy based on measures to reduce the solar heat gain in a vehicle parked in the sun. All dark colors are targeting, but the color black has been deemed especially nasty and may be a color on the chopping block.

Now, I get what their intention is and I also get that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. The logic is that the reflective nature of dark auto paints, especially black, raise the interior temperature of a car such that people use their air conditioner too much. So, this measure is being ushered into existence to mitigate this hot car phenomenon. What’s next? Outlawing black clothing? Should we paint dark-skinned humans white so they don’t get hot and use more indoor air conditioning (Is this a sketch for Saturday Night Live, or what?)?

Why not attempt to capture the heat energy and use it to cool the car? Why not any number of ideas for solving the hot cabin problem other than outlawing colors. I applaud the resolve of California to take a leadership position in reducing CO2 and reducing energy consumption, but at some point it seems we would all be better served by a tighter relationship between government and business to solve problems, rather than mandating policies that sound silly and may not even be feasible or achievable. Air resource wonks shouldn’t be dictating “how” problems are solved, but they could identify problems to be solved and work with the private sector to design practical solutions.

Turning to Google instead of God

With the economic downturn in full swing, people are exploring many different ways of coping. This piece I read on CNN talks a bit about what people are doing; joining non-profits, watching tv, going to the movies, etc. The part that really raised my eyebrows though was the section titled, “Turning to Google Instead of God”. This quote from the piece, “Folks might not turn to God as much as they turn to Google,” said Nancy Dallavalle, chairwoman of the Department of Religious Studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Apparently, using Google to find self-help, mentors, new things to do, etc. is syphoning off believers in droves. So I got to thinking about this and decided to try a few myself, and unlike prayer I got immediate results and in fractions of a second!

Here is what I tried:

1. Be more successful – 1 – 10 of about 62,400,000 for be more successful. (0.22 seconds): Great articles on improving your success, even now; Top result: top 7 tips to be more successful at anything
2. Make more money – 1 – 10 of about 192,000,000 for make more money. (0.33 seconds): Surprisingly interesting content on making money; Top result: 11 ways to earn more money
3. Score chicks – 1 – 10 of about 283,000 for score chicks. (0.19 seconds): I couldn’t help myself, just too funny to pass up; Top result: “Score a hottie”
4. Cure my baldness - 1 – 10 of about 1,460,000 for cure my baldness. (0.25 seconds): Okay, I have a full head of hair but I was trying to get into the mind of the praying party: Top result: Potential Baldness Cure Leads Man to Reverse Stand on Stem Cells (The Onion)
5. Exorcise demons – 1 – 10 of about 264,000 for exorcise demons. (0.25 seconds): Doesn’t everyone need a good demon cleanse now and again? Top result: How to perform a Christian exorcism

Not only did I get great results, in an instant, but rather than waiting for a invisible diety to solve my problems the Google God provides ways for me to help myself. Hey? Isn’t that a religulous line, (Google) God only helps those that help themselves?