I have to vent. Something has happened to our language over the past couple of decades. Call it dumbing down, call it carelessness, call it plain idiocy. What's my gripe? It's our abuse of the word "fun." Somewhere along the line, we have forgotten how to properly use it, whether it's a verb or noun. For example check out the following sentence:
My trip to Disney world was the funnest vacation I ever had?
Funnest? There's no such goddamn word in the English language; yet I have heard kids and adults use it, I have heard talk show hosts and journalists use it.
Then there is this abuse:
How fun was your trip to Disneyworld?
How fun? Are you illiterate? There should be a modifier in there. The correct sentence should read: How MUCH fun did you have at Disneyworld?
Our society and culture have come to a serious crossroads when even college educated adults use bad grammar. I am sure my old high school English teachers must be turning over in their graves at these inexcusable abuses.
Please, unless you have just been smuggled across the border by a coyote in the back of a U Haul van, use proper English. Words are communication. Words express our thoughts and feelings.When language is corrupted, communication is disrupted; and when communication is disrupted, civilization and culture perish.
How fun is that?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
OUT OF THE DARKNESS
Saturday, March 28, 2009 was the second annual Earth Hour promoted by the World Wildlife Fund. We were encouraged to turn off all our lights between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. and live in darkness as a symbolic gesture to save our planet and preserve our resources. Rather than a sensitive and selfless act, I contend that the individual who authored the theme is intellectually and morally impoverished, intellectually and morally dishonest, and intellectually and morally bankrupt.
Lights out indeed! Those lights are a symbol alright--they are a symbol of human acheivement, human resourcefullness, human intellectual prowess. What's next? Vacate our homes for a day and live in a cave? Pull the plug on all medical facilities and devices that ease or pain and suffering and increase our longevity?
It is imperative that we understand the mindset of those who devised and promote Earth Hour. They despise and distrust humankind, yet worship nature; they deplore scientific and technological innovation that has allowed us to escape the tyranny of nature, providing the human race with the opportunity to survive and flourish.
Go back ten thousand years. Life was short and brutish. Each day was a constant struggle against hunger and illness. The average lifespan was twenty years of age, infant mortality above fifty percent. We were helpless against the vagaries of nature, falling prey to disease, drought, cold, heat, floods, as well as larger, faster more powerful predators of the animal kingdom. It was the human mind and our ability to think and reason that not only levelled the playing field, but gave us a decided edge.
Now in the 21st. century we have machines to do the laborious, backbreaking work, we have computers to help our minds solve seemingly incalculable problems and delve deep into the mysteries of science and the world around us. No longer are our days filled with the endless task of filling our bellies. No longer must we garner our shelter by huddling around an open fire in a dark, damp cave.
We have the light. It illuminates our journey from cave dweller to interstellar explorer. It is the light that eradicates hunger and disease. It is the crowning acheivement of the human intellect and reflects the unlimited potential of the human mind and spirit.
Those who seek to extinquish the light, are not the friends of earth, but rather, the enemies of the human race. They long for a world of past millennia, where we huddled in the shadows and feared the dark. They want a world where humankind is tormented by nature and preyed upon by beasts. The light is their nemesis.
To turn off the light is to turn off the human intellect; to turn off the human intellect is to deny our very nature. We must celebrate Human Hour, a time to pay tribute to what the human mind has acheived, and what innovation and greatness it can yet accomplish.
Lights out indeed! Those lights are a symbol alright--they are a symbol of human acheivement, human resourcefullness, human intellectual prowess. What's next? Vacate our homes for a day and live in a cave? Pull the plug on all medical facilities and devices that ease or pain and suffering and increase our longevity?
It is imperative that we understand the mindset of those who devised and promote Earth Hour. They despise and distrust humankind, yet worship nature; they deplore scientific and technological innovation that has allowed us to escape the tyranny of nature, providing the human race with the opportunity to survive and flourish.
Go back ten thousand years. Life was short and brutish. Each day was a constant struggle against hunger and illness. The average lifespan was twenty years of age, infant mortality above fifty percent. We were helpless against the vagaries of nature, falling prey to disease, drought, cold, heat, floods, as well as larger, faster more powerful predators of the animal kingdom. It was the human mind and our ability to think and reason that not only levelled the playing field, but gave us a decided edge.
Now in the 21st. century we have machines to do the laborious, backbreaking work, we have computers to help our minds solve seemingly incalculable problems and delve deep into the mysteries of science and the world around us. No longer are our days filled with the endless task of filling our bellies. No longer must we garner our shelter by huddling around an open fire in a dark, damp cave.
We have the light. It illuminates our journey from cave dweller to interstellar explorer. It is the light that eradicates hunger and disease. It is the crowning acheivement of the human intellect and reflects the unlimited potential of the human mind and spirit.
Those who seek to extinquish the light, are not the friends of earth, but rather, the enemies of the human race. They long for a world of past millennia, where we huddled in the shadows and feared the dark. They want a world where humankind is tormented by nature and preyed upon by beasts. The light is their nemesis.
To turn off the light is to turn off the human intellect; to turn off the human intellect is to deny our very nature. We must celebrate Human Hour, a time to pay tribute to what the human mind has acheived, and what innovation and greatness it can yet accomplish.
Monday, December 22, 2008
HUTZPAH & HYPOCRISY
Never underestimate the hypocrisy of politicians. Ever since the bailout last October, our Congressmen in D.C. have demanded that the institutions receiving the 700 billion dollars in cash inforce certain fiscal disciplines. One of the things demanded of the banks, lending institutions and auto industry bigwigs is that they forego their huge salaries and bonuses in return for the taxpayer money. Given the size of the bailout and the dire economic conditions of these companies, it was not an altogether unreasonable request.
When it comes to taxpayer money, however, the street does not run both ways. Last week our Congressional representitives received a 4.7% salary increase. Given the state of the economy, one might have thought that those same people who lectured and badgered Wall Street CEO's about their bloated salaries would, themselves, refuse to take a bump in pay. Yeah, right. That's as likely as Barbra Striesand inviting the Bushs'to her home for dinner.
Democrat Representitive Harry Mitchell of Arizona even sponsored a bill that would have nullified the automatic pay raise. To no one's amazement, the bill never got out of committee.
If ever one needed proof that our Congressmen are vile, self-serving, repugnant rabble, one has only to look at their check stubs. Sacrifice is what they demand, not what they do.
When it comes to taxpayer money, however, the street does not run both ways. Last week our Congressional representitives received a 4.7% salary increase. Given the state of the economy, one might have thought that those same people who lectured and badgered Wall Street CEO's about their bloated salaries would, themselves, refuse to take a bump in pay. Yeah, right. That's as likely as Barbra Striesand inviting the Bushs'to her home for dinner.
Democrat Representitive Harry Mitchell of Arizona even sponsored a bill that would have nullified the automatic pay raise. To no one's amazement, the bill never got out of committee.
If ever one needed proof that our Congressmen are vile, self-serving, repugnant rabble, one has only to look at their check stubs. Sacrifice is what they demand, not what they do.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
WHY I AM A LIBERTARIAN
Today, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was busted by the Feds for--among other things--attempting to auction off Barack Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder, and for withholding 8 million dollars earmarked for a children's hospital because the head of that hospital would not kick in 50 large to the Governor.The word "vile" would have to be considered an understatement when discussing Blago's actions. He joins a long list of Illinois politicians indicted and ultimately imprisoned for wrongdoing. In my lifetime (and admittedly I am a bit of a geezer) he makes the fourth Illinois governor to be busted by the Feds. Otto Kerner, Dan Walker and of course George Ryan were all convicted and did or are doing time behind bars. That alone sums up why I am a libertarian.
Libertarians believe in limited government. We put no trust in politicians. The very fact that someone wants to run for public office makes them suspect. One of the real puzzles regarding Blagojevich is how the people of Illinois were dumb enough to re-elect this guy. The first time around can be forgiven. But after he has served 4 years and you know what this guy is about, how can you vote him back in office? The voters of Illinois should be ashamed of their electoral stupidity.
Based upon what was heard on the tapes of his conversation, it's clear that Blago is an immoral, greedy, power-hungry gangster who has betrayed and spat upon the public trust. This should serve has a lesson to all citizens in Illinois and elsewhere: Do not trust politicians. Government is not your friend; it is malevolent by nature, not benevolent.
It is said that people get the government they deserve. When you keep electing the same moral trash from the same gangs, whether that gang calls itself Democrat or Republican, then you deserve to be victimized by graft, corruption and the thirst for power.
The Who said it as well as anyone: Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
Libertarians believe in limited government. We put no trust in politicians. The very fact that someone wants to run for public office makes them suspect. One of the real puzzles regarding Blagojevich is how the people of Illinois were dumb enough to re-elect this guy. The first time around can be forgiven. But after he has served 4 years and you know what this guy is about, how can you vote him back in office? The voters of Illinois should be ashamed of their electoral stupidity.
Based upon what was heard on the tapes of his conversation, it's clear that Blago is an immoral, greedy, power-hungry gangster who has betrayed and spat upon the public trust. This should serve has a lesson to all citizens in Illinois and elsewhere: Do not trust politicians. Government is not your friend; it is malevolent by nature, not benevolent.
It is said that people get the government they deserve. When you keep electing the same moral trash from the same gangs, whether that gang calls itself Democrat or Republican, then you deserve to be victimized by graft, corruption and the thirst for power.
The Who said it as well as anyone: Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
OIL AND THEORIES DON'T MIX
This past summer when oil hit $147.00 a barrel, and gas was over $4.50 a gallon, pundits on both the Left and Right pointed their fingers at the oil companies as the culprits. The theory was that the greedy oil barons controlled the market and manipulated the price so as to reap outrageous and obscene profits at the expense of us downtrodden car owners.
Well, the last time I looked, the price of oil was hovering close to $50.00 a barrel, and I recently filled up for $1.63 a gallon. Have those greedy and ruthless oil barons suddenly gone soft in the head? Someone please tell me how the price of oil can drop more than 60% within a few months if the oil companies control the market and manipulate prices. Did they all take a vow of altruism over the autumn months?
The plummeting prices should end the crackpot notion that the oil companies run the world. Price is determined by supply and demand. The problem is, there is always an ample supply of ridiculous theories demanded by people who have no conception of how the dynamic engine of free markets operates.
Well, the last time I looked, the price of oil was hovering close to $50.00 a barrel, and I recently filled up for $1.63 a gallon. Have those greedy and ruthless oil barons suddenly gone soft in the head? Someone please tell me how the price of oil can drop more than 60% within a few months if the oil companies control the market and manipulate prices. Did they all take a vow of altruism over the autumn months?
The plummeting prices should end the crackpot notion that the oil companies run the world. Price is determined by supply and demand. The problem is, there is always an ample supply of ridiculous theories demanded by people who have no conception of how the dynamic engine of free markets operates.
BARACKING MY BRAIN
The election of Barack Obama should lay to rest for all time the dated notion that the United States is a racist nation. Even though 95% of black voters cast their ballot for Obama, they are only 12% of the population, meaning that Obama could not have been elected without the support of white voters. And what racists are going to vote as their leader someone of a different color? Speaking of racism, anytime the issue has been raised, particularly by Black leaders, the assumption has always been that the only racism in this country is white racism. How many times have we heard or read about white racism, white supremists, white bigots, skinheads? You would have to be an utter fool to think there are no Black or Hispanic racists, no Black or Hispanic supremists, no Black or Hispanic bigots. The race industry led by its two primary CEO'S, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, is on its last legs, like analog television. This is one industry that does not deserve any bailout.
Monday, October 6, 2008
CUBS, AS IN SHLUBS
My blogs are generally about politics and social issues, but this one is going to be different. This one concerns sports--baseball, to be exact. And to be more exact, the Chicago Cubs.
I have been a Cubs fan for 60 plus years. I've seen them in first place, I've seen them in last. What I haven't seen is the Cubs playing in a World Series. I'm already in my sixties, time is beginning to run out. That's why I thought this year was going to be THE year. They won their division and had the winningest record in the National League. Considering the entire 25 man roster, this was the best Cubs team I ever saw.
Then came the post season.It has been exactly 100 years since their last championship. This had to be the year. They had home team advantage and faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. No way this would be a repeat of the 2007 playoffs in which the Cubs dropped 3 straight to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Guess again.
They ended up dropping 3 straight to the Dodgers, looking pitiful in the process. For whatever reason this ballclub has a split personality. They have swagger and fire during the regular season, but in the playoffs, their demeanor undergoes a transformation. They look stiff and tentative. The surehanded fielders boot routine grounders, while the patient hitters swing at anything within five feet of homeplate.
Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster walked 7 in the opening game. It took the entire month of September for him to walk that many during the season. Every man wearing Cubby blue has that "deer in the headlights" look.
Do we blame it on the billygoat curse? I don't believe in curses and spells. What I do believe in is chokers, and the Cubs were suffering from severe ligature marks around the throat. I, for one, have had it. I've suffered through 6 decades of disappointment and frustration. Enough is more than enough. The Cubs will no longer get my money or attention. What they should get is about thirty-five thousand empty seats for every home game.
Come to think of it, maybe we can fill those seats with goats.
I have been a Cubs fan for 60 plus years. I've seen them in first place, I've seen them in last. What I haven't seen is the Cubs playing in a World Series. I'm already in my sixties, time is beginning to run out. That's why I thought this year was going to be THE year. They won their division and had the winningest record in the National League. Considering the entire 25 man roster, this was the best Cubs team I ever saw.
Then came the post season.It has been exactly 100 years since their last championship. This had to be the year. They had home team advantage and faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. No way this would be a repeat of the 2007 playoffs in which the Cubs dropped 3 straight to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Guess again.
They ended up dropping 3 straight to the Dodgers, looking pitiful in the process. For whatever reason this ballclub has a split personality. They have swagger and fire during the regular season, but in the playoffs, their demeanor undergoes a transformation. They look stiff and tentative. The surehanded fielders boot routine grounders, while the patient hitters swing at anything within five feet of homeplate.
Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster walked 7 in the opening game. It took the entire month of September for him to walk that many during the season. Every man wearing Cubby blue has that "deer in the headlights" look.
Do we blame it on the billygoat curse? I don't believe in curses and spells. What I do believe in is chokers, and the Cubs were suffering from severe ligature marks around the throat. I, for one, have had it. I've suffered through 6 decades of disappointment and frustration. Enough is more than enough. The Cubs will no longer get my money or attention. What they should get is about thirty-five thousand empty seats for every home game.
Come to think of it, maybe we can fill those seats with goats.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)