This morning's posts bemoaning the sentencing of a self-anointed savior of freedom are not very persuasive to me.  Moreover, I find their tone disturbing. Folks!  Really! Assumptions of absolute evil in the hearts of those on the other side of an issue is ugly.  It's not liberal, either. Deciding that you and your friends alone are on the side of the angels is too Fox-like for me to applaud. Suggesting that alternative lawful actions were not existent and that taking any other path would have been the moral equivalent of condoning murder is simply tautological blindness. Vigilance is good. Protests [...]

"Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!" Crying "Wolf" is the problem I have with last night's Amber Alert that broadcast on cellphones throughout California a BOLO about a missing child from Boulevard, California. Which CHP genius decided to make the alert statewide when the incident occurred near the Mexican border AND, according to reports I read, the authorities thought the suspect was headed to Mexico or Texas? If pitting the inconvenience of getting awakened from sleep against the life of a kidnapped child seems like a fair appraisal of the situation to you, I won't argue. I think it's a queasy comparison, but [...]

San Francisco's local trash hauler -- which I bet we now are supposed to call a "waste management system" -- is asking to increase rates by 21.5%. I believe it is so high that it should not be taken seriously. The 21.5% hike is absurd, even as an opening negotiation position. If I were running this process I would throw out the request as being unworthy of serious consideration. Let them come back with a realistic, cost-driven proposal. Unfortunately, it looks like we are already into the review process. So, I have glanced at the rate increase applications online, and [...]

In our negative narrative world,  the dirty, thieving politicians are all deserving only of scorn, criticism, and abuse.  Members of Congress are out-of-touch, corrupt, pandering, and stupid buffoons.  The ones we vote for are only the of lesser of two evils on the ballot.  The office holders of national statue are truly kings of the dung heap worthy of the personal loathing that the opposing parties hurl at each other’s leaders.I feel the imperative to distrust government and to vilify every single Member of Congress.  Whether it’s Fox News or MSNBC, the sneering, impartial, truth-telling reporters make it clear that [...]

In Iowa President Obama’s campaign headquarters is the target of anti-war Occupiers demanding the dismantling of the “ U.S. military empire.” .  A photograph of the protesters taken Sunday shows fresh-faced people mugging for the camera in friendly sincerity.  The Occupiers were  apparently either oblivious or unmoved by the news that the final American troops were departing Iraq as they pitched their tents in a public opposition to the President who orchestrated and ordered the war’s end.In San Francisco, my church has been a hive of anti-Iraq war activity.  The peace-loving congregation wrapped the building up in anti-war tape one [...]

Congratulations to the fringe of the Occupy movements for completely switching the focus of the protest from the powerful economic justice issues to the thinly-supported demand for the Right to Camp Anywhere.  The news reports and Tweets are no longer talking about executive salaries and Wall Street. Instead they are counting the number of plates thrown at cops and the number of tear gas canisters lobbed back.The liberal-leaning city governments of Oakland, New York, and soon probably San Francisco are the new targets of the protests who are both outraged and outrageous in their hyperbole. The most vocal Occupy folks [...]

A friend on Facebook posted links to today's Fox News rabble-rousing, hate-America message. The flavor of bile this month is, of course, raising the debt ceiling. Can we talk? It is simply nutty to refuse to raise the debt ceiling to pay for programs Congress has already passed.  It's like using your credit card and then saying it's unacceptable for the bank to tell you that you have a high balance that is increasing.  Try telling the merchants not charge you for the things you've already purchased.  Or, see what happens when you tell the bank to stop adding on the interest charges. [...]

May 21, 2011 Wells Fargo PO Box 6995 Portland, OR 97228-9995 REGARDING: FAILURE TO CREDIT FRAUDULENT DEBIT CARD CHARGES IN A TIMELY MANNER Dear Wells Fargo, Someone recently charged $100 at an Exxon station in Connecticut to my debit card while I was at sea on a cruise ship. My first clue that something was wrong was when I was at a port call, tried to get cash from an ATM, and my request was declined. Apparently, your security system correctly suspected that my card had been compromised and blocked my card. Of course, I didn’t know about the reason [...]

As I was about to renew an satellite radio subscription, I went through the list of fees and found the prices unchanged.  But, as I click through to checkout there's a new line: U.S. Music Royalty Fee      $21.79. Huh?  I cannot buy the satellite radio subscription without this "fee".  So, how do they get away with claiming one price and then adding in a "fee" later.  Maybe the subscription should be $0 and then there's a $100 satellite operation "fee", a $25 on-air talent fee, a $30 "cost recovery" fee, ... Geesh!

Democrats from the President on down are lining up to reassure the country that any health care reform will not include help for illegal aliens Congratulations, illegal aliens. You’ve replaced homosexuals as the powerless group that it’s okay to trash. Even among self-described liberals. Even among racial minorities and socially powerless groups. Personally I am intensely uncomfortable with the selfish, Americans-vs-Illegals divided standard that is passing as the agreed-upon norm. I keep searching the Bible – or any holy book – to see where the prophet recommends checking immigration status before treating someone decently. I haven’t found the Book of Joe [...]