Vox

Musings, rants, rambling, general nonsense

The Error of Big Government

Posted on | October 7, 2013 | No Comments

This current government shutdown has given us some amusing hashtags: from the simple #HarryReidShutdown, #ObamaShutdown, #ShutdownTheater to the hilarious #SpiteHouse, #PresidentStompyFoot, #ShutNado

Though I do believe most of the #Barrycades (and #Harrycades) are just so much spoon banging by a petulant & vindictive administration, they certainly serve as an illustration of the famous quote*

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have

Perhaps that is Obama’s clumsy point. His biggest opposition comes from those opposed to big government spending…and big government control. He may well have seen this as an opportunity to “show everyone” just how terribly important we should think all that big government is.

What he has illustrated by closing open air monuments to veterans, blockading scenic overlooks & private businesses, kicking home owners out of their own homes, and even attempting to close the ocean is just how big the government is – and how much control we have allowed it to have. And how very much we need to take that control back, back to “We The People” where it belongs.

And, in Barack Obama’s attempt to show us how big and important the government is, he has clearly illustrated how truly small and unimportant he himself is.

* Yes, I know it wasn’t Jefferson, but the quote is still good and I like the pic.



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Category: politics, USA
Tags: > >

Shutdown Spoon Banging

Posted on | October 6, 2013 | 1 Comment

Riddle me this – even if you believe, against any evidence to the contrary, that the Republicans are 100% responsible for the current shutdown (which, obviously, I don’t) But, if you did assign every tiny possible bit of blame to the Right…

How can you not see the vindictive, capricious, random & punitive measures the White House has ordered as anything other than a petty, thuggish, spoon-banging, temper tantrum designed to hurt as many people as possible?

Tantrum Politics, Shutdown

A few more:

OK, I’m tired of tracking down the links, you all know how to Google. The stories of malicious closures just keep coming; Cliff House in San Francisco, the Pisgah Inn, the Vietnam Memorial, he even tried to close state funded parks, barry-cading bus turnarounds, blocking off scenic overlooks….another day, another foot-stompy unnecessary (and often, extra costly) blockage.

UPDATE: Here’s the latest move out of the Spite House, Shutdown forces owners to leave Lake Mead homes

A shutdown – which has been used many times in our nations history – is meant to minimize expenditures. Obama, AKA President Stompy Foot, has found ways to spend more money in his quest to “make life as difficult for people as we can.”

Whether you agree with the shutdown or not, whether you like Obamacare or not – how can you not be disappointed in a President whose idea of leading is to bully veterans, tourists, private businesses & children with cancer?



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Category: Law, Media, peeves, politics, USA
Tags: > >

Getting Currents

Posted on | October 4, 2013 | No Comments

nexI recently treated myself to a new tablet – well, it was a delayed birthday gift from D, just hadn’t found the one I wanted.

Until I got my hands on the 2nd generation Nexus 7 – love at first touch. I am so glad I waited, and I am happy to report that Jelly Bean is all it is cracked up to be

The only problem with it, it feeds my N.A.D.D. (which I posted about previously)

All the information, all the time, right at my fingertips. It can’t be healthy, but I can’t stop – I need INPUT.

One of my new favorite things is Google Currents, which isn’t a new thing, at all. But it is new to me – and it is awesome. Some much content, presented in happy little windows I can click and read. And read. All night; news, opinion, news, opinion. From so many places. I can’t go to sleep because I might miss something good from Australia. Or Minnesota. Or Turkey.

I do wish Google was doing more to support it, and I wish it integrated better with Google+. Because I am on it all.the.time. And I want to share all.the.stories. Because you all need to read all.the.stuff.

READ ALL THE THINGS!   SHARE ALL THE THINGS!



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Category: Happy, technology

Voir Dire in Arizona

Posted on | September 19, 2013 | No Comments

I recently had the great fortune of being called for jury duty* Since I was not selected, I can share some of the general bits here.
voir dire
For instance, the defendant was facing firearms possession charges. This lead to voir dire involving firearms related questions. In Arizona, with a beginning jury pool of 48 people, it goes something like this:

Do any of the prospective jurors belong to, or do any of your family members/close friends belong to, the NRA or any such organization? 44 hands go up

Do any of you personally own a firearm, or do any of your family members/close friends own a firearm? 47 hands go up

Do any of you think that handguns should be banned? No hands. Zero

Do any of you feel that assault rifles should be banned? Six hands (a bit disappointed that no clarification was given as to what constituted an assault rifle)

Do any of you feel that current firearms laws are too lax or need to be toughened in any way? Two hands.

Do any of you have, or do any of you have friends/family who have, specialized training with firearms or in marksmanship? 30 hands.

Et cetera. It was almost comical how not anti-gun the group was.
(Since the charges were that a convicted felon had multiple weapons stashed in his home, I’m not sure how many of those questions would really have had any bearing. Perhaps that is a list she uses anytime there is a gun involved at all)

Side note: As we, the unchosen, walked toward the elevators to leave, a young man in our group spoke to a woman behind me. I heard him saying, “I actually hate guns. They are stupid. I think they are for cowards.” Putting aside the ridiculousness of his statement, that is exactly the sort of information the judge was attempting to elicit with her tedious string of questioning. Certainly, if he felt that way, he should have piped up when it would have made a difference – perhaps he was just too cowardly to tell the truth.

* Yes, I’m being sarcastic. I don’t mind jury duty, but I certainly don’t relish the idea, either.

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Category: AZ, Boom, Law, politics

Remembering 9/11

Posted on | September 12, 2013 | No Comments

AT&T 9/11A site I follow on Facebook just shared this Independent Journal Review story:

8 Advertisements That Exploited the 9/11 Tragedy

 
If you were online yesterday, you probably saw as many complaints about how others were remembering 9/11 as you saw actual tributes. We are nothing if not outraged by whatever we can find to cause outrage.

I posted this response on Facebook, but that audience is limited – so I am bringing my outrageous outrage about the outrage over to my blog,
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I disagree on a couple of these, not all are “exploiting tragedy for financial gain”

I believe AT&T’s picture was a genuine attempt at paying respects, and I see no reason to believe Expedia was anything but sincere with their tweet (just because they didn’t change their background pic?)

And the Lakers (who I dislike) posting a flashback pic of Kobe (who I despise) may have been clumsy, but I doubt it was cynical.

I agree that 9/11 should never be “just another day”, and Patriot Day is a different Holiday than the highly commercialized ones like Valentines Day, but are we really so highly strung for outrage that we can’t accept that businesses may want to sincerely express their grief, too?

While the others on the list are remarkable in their tone deafness, and would best have been avoided, where is the outrage over Memorial Day sales? Surely a Holiday dedicated to the memory of the hundreds of thousands of men & women who have died in service to this country deserves a high level of respect & decorum, too.

 
BTW: I found the Esquire falling man picture/headline mess the most offensive because A) it was an unbelievably stupid mistake and B) they were unbelievably cavalier in their response

 

 

From 2012, this article rounded up ads that were actually exploitative: These Are The 10 Worst Ads Exploiting The 9/11 Attacks

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Category: advertising, Media, peeves, politics, USA
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