1230 Congress is a Troubled Teen

1230 Congress is a Troubled Teen

This particular troubled teen is into cutting.

For those unfamiliar with this practice you can get the full definition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, any recent edition.

Look up Self Harm or Deliberate Self Harm.

To save you the trouble, the basic layman’s definition is when kids cut themselves with razors or knives.  It’s kind of like a drug with no purpose but loads of side effects.

Well, not exactly no purpose.  Some  say it relieves pressure or fear or anxiety or other common intense but unwanted emotions.  

The key is “intentional” or “deliberate.”

And that’s what the House of Representatives is doing to itself.  If it had an arm, it would be scarred.  But there’s a difference.

When this crazy teen cuts, it’s the rest of us who bleed.

Defund the Affordable Health Care Act.

Cut the heart out of the food stamp program.

Lie about the debt ceiling and then freeze it.

Sequester.

Shut down the government.

Deny global warming, especially since it has slowed in recent years.

Bomb Syria.

Reduce taxes for billionaires.

Listen to constituents only when it suits you, and scarce little suits you.

Stopping cutting requires willpower. It needs encouragement and support.  The best way to stop this particular version is to send every one of these self cutters into rehab.  That’s much more humane than, say, putting them in straightjackets, though there are times that might be helpful.  And it’s more practical than invading their homes and offices and removing knives, scissors, razors, pens, pencils and other pointed or sharp objects.

Cutters will cut their arms, their legs, their torsos.  But they will not cut their own throats.  So we’ll bleed, we’ll hurt, but we won’t die. At least not right away.

They have to be removed from bad influences like their friends and favorite lobbyists, the House of Representatives, the state capitals, the county seats, the town councils, the village boards, the screens of TV networks, the political clubhouses, the right wing “think” tanks.  They need to be isolated and kept incommunicado.

Maybe the straight jacket and the home invasions aren’t such bad ideas after all.  If they bleed out, so do we.

Shrapnel:

--Merkel stays on as chancellor of Germany.  That means there’ll be no change in the way the EU will handle its phony debt “crisis,” anymore than our congress will end OUR phony debt crisis.  Merkel says she’ll serve the entire term… four years.  She realizes there’s nowhere to go from that spot but down.

--Over this past weekend, the Kenya shopping mall invasion remained unresolved but the islamist invaders have not killed any more hostages that we know of.  There were bombings at funerals in Iraq and Pakistan and the overall death count is in the mid-200s.  Bombing them back ain’t gonna help.

--Did you watch the Emmy awards last evening?  Do you know what TV people say about them?  “Emmys are like catching cold… eventually everyone gets one.”

I’m Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com

© WJR 2013

812 Hu Dunnit

812 Hu Dunnit

“We are not a threat.” -- President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China, speaking to the US Congress.

Hu is someone worth listening to because right now, he holds all of China’s cards at the international table. Beside the presidency, he’s also general chairman of the Communist Party (where the real power is,) chairman of the Military Commission, and is referred to as the Paramount Leader.

So, what’s showing at the Paramount? “Promises, Promises,” starring Hu Jintao and a cast of around one billion.

During his state visit to the US, Hu has charmed President Obama, and now he’s working on members of congress who want a better record on human rights, assurances that the days of China’s romance with North Korea are over and that he’ll suck on a Barbie Doll to prove there’s no lead in the paint and titanium in the jewelry. It’s also been suggested that he try eating some pet food exports to make sure they’ve removed the anti-freeze.

Oddly, only English speakers in China get to hear what their Paramount Leader says here. CCTV has the speeches on television and the internet. But not in Chinese. And the fair and balanced headline on the People’s Daily on line is “Hu’s US Visit Shapes New Political Civility.”

Hu told a meeting of (self appointed) business “leaders” that his country has saved American consumers billions. Yeah. The average Chinese worker earns between 4500 and 8000 USD a year. The median income here is about 35-thousand. So paying for materials, labor and shipping is still cheaper for American business than making stuff here. Way cheaper.

The US secretary of defense visited Beijing recently. Then he said America has to match China weapon for weapon, lest there be a “calamity.” Translation: They’re going to come over here to destroy our cities and deep fry our dogs.

Officially, we in the US have a “one China” policy. But who can resist a good weapons sale even if it is to the “other” China, Taiwan. One China indeed.

So goes another meaningless, useless and probably phony show of friendship, hosted by and attended by useless politicians. Bread and Circuses. With sesame oil.

Shrapnel:

--The Bleat Goes On. Season ten of American Idol has hit the air and without Simon Cowell, it’s a total loser instead of just a partial one, punctuated with “singing” that sounds generally like the noises made by sheep or goats. The second best part was seeing Jennifer Lopez, but the real treat was the frequent interruption of the signal from Fox TV.

--The retiring Joe Lieberman is somewhere in the middle of the top ten list of annoying US Senators currently in office, right up there with McConnell, Graham, Grassley, Toomey, Reid, Nelson, Murray, McCain, DeMint and Chambliss. But of all the things he’s misspoken and mis-done over the years, the one that solidified his position on that list is this from August, 2000: “...the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion (n)ot freedom from religion.” Earth to Joe: Yes it does, if not directly then by implication.


I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Email comments to wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2011

806 The Nothing Hour

806 The Nothing Hour

That would be 3PM. Why? Lotta reasons. It’s too early to go home. It’s too late for lunch or to start any new project. So nothing much happens between three and four.

By four, you can start cleaning up. Five starts happy hour. Six or seven maybe dinner, and then whatever you have planned for “thereafter.” But three? Nothing. Maybe make a few phone calls, check the baseball scores, play computer solitaire, surf the ‘net. Schmooze with your co-workers -- they’re in the same boat you are.

Three in the morning may be the loneliest hour in the day. Three in the afternoon is the Nothing Hour. Three to four in the afternoon also is the slowest hour of the day. It takes that minute hand way more time to reach 12 than at any other time. Check it out. You’ll see.

You can watch your clock hands turning or your digital watch flashing numbers. They don’t stop, or seem not to. But when you look away, the clock knows. And THAT’s when it stops. Until you look again, believing that half an hour has passed and find out it’s only been three minutes.

More at-work crossword puzzles get started at three pm than any other time of day. Ditto Sudoku. Ditto “Jumble.” Maybe the day should be 23 hours instead of 24. Of course, that would mean the entire world would have to realign its time zones. And every watch and clock would have to be replaced. Probably not going to happen.

More office gossip circulates around 3 pm than at any other time during a nine-to-five work day.

One of the makers of those “quick” energy drinks recommends you have one around two o’clock, to avoid that “2:30 feeling.” Why bother? Five hours of energy with no let down? At that hour? For what?!


Shrapnel:

--These posts are drafted and edited in Google Documents. The geniuses at Google have changed the program so it looks more like MS Word, which has many more bells and whistles but is harder to use, especially the latest version. Thanks for the “improvement,” guys... at least your program is free.

--The geniuses in the village of Great Neck, New York have banned outdoor smoking on the main … um … drag, which also runs through seven other small neighboring villages to the north and south. Go to the “Welcome to the Incorporated Village of Great Neck” sign, step over the dividing line and light up. But be sure your smoke doesn’t cross back over the border.

--Some members of the new congress spent their first day of “work” reading the constitution aloud, apparently trying to prove to their constituents that they can actually read. They can, and they can edit too, omitting at least one part. Unless you don’t call the part of the constitution labeling slaves ⅗ of a person part of the constitution.

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them.®
©WJR 2011