An Ayn Rand Christmas (note: that was irony)

Read em and weep. I'll put  up something uplifting tomorrow.

Quick snark

It is late and I am weary, but there is always time to take a whack at my favorite literary target, to wit Ayn Rand. The link includes some bonus snark on other topics by the late great southern writer Flannery O'Conner. Her (F O'C's) work has often been compared to that of my favorite WV writer Breece Pancake, so I should probably get around to reading it one of these days.

Two Christmas--ish items

Christmas Day is past, but we're still in the twelve day range, so I thought these two Christmas related stories might be worth sharing.

The first involves my favorite target, Ayn Rand. No doubt tens of thousands of Americans watched the classic film "It's a Wonderful Life" this holiday season. It turns out that Rand and her orcs buddies warned the FBI that the film was commie propaganda. I mean, obviously compassion and community are subversive ideas that have no place in Rand land. Sadly, they don't seem to have much of a place in today's America either.

Finally, I have been following the story of a person in an Ohio suburb who stirred up a bit of controversy with a zombie nativity scene. He was ordered to take it down, supposedly for reasons of zoning rather than content, but at last word defied the order.

There you have it.

Just for fun

Over at the New Yorker website, there is a funny piece that imagines how Ayn Rand might review popular children's movies. It's worth a look. Here's a sample review of Lady and the Tramp:

A ridiculous movie. What could a restaurant owner possibly have to gain by giving away a perfectly good meal to dogs, when he could sell it at a reasonable price to human beings? A dog cannot pay for spaghetti, and payment is the only honest way to express appreciation for value. —One star.

Enjoy!

Feeding the trolls

This op-ed of mine probably should have been two. It's kind of schizoid. First, I teed off on Paul Ryan and my nemesis Ayn Rand, then went on a jag about the Affordable Care Act and how repealing might not be the most popular thing to do in WV if it came right down to it. But it's kind of hard to stop when you're on a roll. Besides, feeding the web trolls is an act of Christian charity.

Happy 75 to a great book

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, a true American classic. Ironically, I recall reading somewhere that Ayn Rand aspired to be the anti-Steinbeck. I'd say she succeeded in that one anyway.

IT'S NOT ALL BAD NEWS. First, it looks like the cost of the Affordable Care Act is going to be lower than expected.

NOT ONLY THAT, but more West Virginians are taking part in the farm to table movement.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Plague days

I've been re-reading Albert Camus' novel The Plague for the umpteenth time, about an outbreak of the pestilence in the Algerian town of Oran in the 1940s. I think Camus saw it as a metaphor for the grip of fascism on Europe.

At times, I  feel like I've lived through wave after wave of outbreaks of the plague, not, thank God, in the form of 20th century fascism but of a mean-spirited, all-American robber baron mentality of bloodless greed, often backed up by bigotry, fanaticism and xenophobia.

The first wave hit with the Reagan ascendancy in the 1980s, followed by the Gingrich "revolution" in 1994, the era Bush II, and lately the Tea Party. it's hard for me to tell most days whether to count that as separate waves of plague or one long outbreak the wanes and waxes.

I think that's also why the image of zombies shows up so much in this blog, as the dead (or in this case ideas that should have long been dead) come back to devour the living. In the image of Camus' novel, the dead rats keep appearing in intervals, signifying another outbreak.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, here's American food policy on plague.

AND HERE'S ANOTHER CRITIQUE of the ideology of the plague.

This doesn't happen every day...

...but I'm with Bill O'Reilly on Republican efforts to defund the Affordable Care Act. There's more here about how the efforts might backfire. And E.J. Dionne makes a great point here as well: the real fear on the right isn't the failure of  "Obamacare"--the real fear is that it will succeed.

THE OTHER BAD THING about the last two days is the vote in the US House to cut food stamp benefits. Here's a look at what the program means to WV.

CRAZY? Paul Krugman here wonders about the sanity of certain factions.

A ROWDY RIFF ON RANDITE RANTINGS here.

A RINGING ENDORSEMENT for establishing a Future Fund in WV appeared in today's Huntington Herald-Dispatch.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Of the Future Fund, pronunciation, lite beer, and sacred honor

I mentioned in earlier posts that I went to North Dakota with several members of the WV legislature to study that state's Legacy Fund, a permanent mineral trust fund from taxes collected from the oil and gas boom up there. (Note: El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia did not pay for my part of the trip.)

Regular readers will recall that I have been working with allies to build support for creating a Future Fund in West Virginia from severance taxes for the last few years. It's a way of turning the extraction of non-renewable resources into a permanent source of wealth for the state.

I learned several things while up  there. One was how to pronounce the name of the city of Minot. I was guessing something like "minnow" or "minute" but it was "my knott." Another takeaway was to drink light beers if one is trying to keep up with the boys.

But I digress...

Back on topic, I heard an eloquent argument about the importance of preparing for the future as a matter of honor from North Dakota Republican state Senator Dwight Cook, who chairs the Finance and Taxation Committee. He told me that we should follow the example of the founders who signed the Declaration of Independence. He argued that the signers weren't acting simply to benefit themselves but rather those who came after. He then talked about how in the last lines of that document they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. He concluding by saying that of those three, you only get to take the last one to the grave.

So there.

SPEAKING OF THE FUTURE FUND, here's some coverage from WV Public Broadcasting and the Daily Mail.

JOB KILLING TECHNOLOGY considered here.

A FAVORITE TARGET OF MINE gets whacked here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Small change

In lieu of a real blog post, here's...

...a look at great and not so great one liners;

...more on the whole bird/dinosaur thing, a topic I think about frequently when watching the turkeys and peacocks at Goat Rope Farm;

...some good coverage of the events celebrating the African American contribution to WV in the Charleston Daily Mail, including this editorial and this news story;

...and another whack at my perennial favorite target, Ayn Rand-ism.

A bitter disappointment

El Cabrero has recently listened to and enjoyed a series of lectures on the Vikings by Michael Drout. I must admit, however, that I was bitterly disappointed to learn a couple of things.

First, it turns out that they may not have had horns on their helmets. That was kind of a downer. But I was positively crushed to learn that they didn't really drink from the skulls of their enemies. I mean, heck, the only reason I started doing that was to be more like them. Guess I'll revert to ordinary drinking vessels...

More musings on the Norse to come. Unless Ragnarok happens, in which case we'll all be kind of busy

SPEAKING OF VIKINGS, here's a great NY Times op-ed on why austerity kills. It turns out that the descendants of the Vikings in Iceland managed to deal with their economic crisis without inflicting wholesale misery on ordinary people.

MORE AYN RAND WHACKING here.

STRANGE HUMAN/ANIMAL INTERACTIONS here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Bumper sticker thoughts

In lieu of a real blog post, I'd like to report on some of the more interesting bumper stickers I've seen lately.
The first of these is on a topic frequently discussed here but one which, sadly, has been neglected lately: to wit, zombies.

In the parking lot of a Kroger store, I saw one that said something like "The hardest part of a zombie apocalypse will be pretending I'm not excited." I don't exactly look forward to one, but it would no doubt put a certain zest into one's days.

Another good one, which by coincidence or not was seen near where the WV legislature meets said "Come to the Dark Side! We have cookies." That would probably be all it would take for some folks. Probably for me too if it was in the afternoon and they had coffee as well.

Finally, I'm still trying to figure this one out. I saw a vehicle with a Dostoevsky bumper sticker, which is fine, AND a "Who is John Galt" Ayn Rand bumper sticker.

I'm sorry. El Cabrero is all about freedom of expression but you can't have it both ways. It's either got to be Dostoevsky or Rand but not both. One has to choose between being a real and compassionate person or a moral insect. Father Zossima and Alyosha Karamazov would be mortified.

Interestingly, the vehicle also had a 13.1 sticker, signifying the mileage a half marathon. The Spousal Unit and I are going to try to do one on trails at Babcock State Park tomorrow. I estimate that it will take me a week to finish. Don't wait up. And don't mix your bumper stickers!

KALOO KALAY no links today. We're cabbages and kings.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Point taken

This blog is dedicated to the cutting edge of positive social change...and like other stuff too. One example of the "other stuff" category was a link featured in yesterday's post about a scientific study of longevity records of Korean eunuchs from the 14th to early 20th century which suggested that castration might lead to a longer life.

(Which makes me think that longevity is sometimes overrated.)

I received an email yesterday from a Goat Rope reader who pointed out that such surgical measures did little to promote longevity for members of a certain religious outer space cult back in the 1990s. Duly noted.

One can only hope that anyone today who adopts such a drastic measure in search of a few more years of life is selective in his choice of religious affiliation.

REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH seems to be OK with some folks when the direction is upward.

BAD LIT, REVISITED. Here's an item dealing with the true love a certain vice presidential candidate has for a really bad writer.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Galloping fingers

El Cabrero is kind of slow on the uptake, especially about social media. After several years, I think I'm finally figuring out some uses for Twitter (especially good for breaking news and for contacting journalists).

Facebook is another story. I've used a few pages for work stuff. There is the American Friends Service Committee WV page, which I am really bad about updating. During the recent (and ongoing) struggle over child care cuts, this page was helpful in generating emails to the governor's office and such. I have higher hopes for the WV Future Fund page, which we hope will generate interest in creating a permanent mineral trust fund for WV, although we really haven't gone public with it yet.

Then there's the personal FB stuff. I rarely put anything on there but I do check it occasionally. It occurs to me that I don't really know quite a few of the people I've "friended."

But there's one thing I really don't get. It would seem to me that if you wanted to make a statement on Facdebook, you should do so as clearly as possible, put it out there, and let it stand for a while. I have noticed, however, that some people have something like diarrhea of the fingers, posting picture after picture after comment over and over and over and over and over with no break between. Usually these posts aren't personal statements but pictures or cartoons produced by God knows whom.

I think this is where the law of diminishing returns kicks in. The more you put out in a short time, the less anybody is going to pay attention to any particular item. Methinks some people should give those fingers a break.

WHACK AWAY. Here's Paul Krugman taking swipes at two of my favorite targets.

ONE GOOD WHACK DESERVES ANOTHER. Here's George Lakoff on the Devil's budget.

GROSS IDEAS FOR SAVING THE WORLD here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Tiger mom, revisited

Once upon a time, there was an orphan baby chick. It tried to seek solace from other hens, but only got pecked. As for the father, roosters aren't big on parental responsibility.



This baby obviously needed a mother. We found one, a badly mauled stuffed tiger toy, in our dog's abundant toy box.



The baby thrived. Here's a look at the happy family today.

FOR MASOCHISTS ONLY. Here's a whole slew of recent articles on the BS of Ayn Rand.

IF YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT MORE BAD IDEAS, here's a slew of info on Paul Ryan's budget.

PRIVATIZATION. Here's a look at its dark side.

TROGLORAPTERS, ANYONE? If you need  a cave spider fix, click here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Droning on

Back in the heyday of the Industrial Workers of the World, footloose organizers rode the rails into skid rows, lumber camps and hobo jungles to sign up workers for the One Big Union. Often, they used song as an organizing tool, taking familiar tunes and changing the words around "so they made more sense," as the late great Utah Phillips used to say.

The spirit of the Wobblies lives on these days in a friend and co-worker of mine known here as New Hampshire Slim. At least one of his songs has even made its way into the latest version of the IWW Little Red Songbook.

I can picture Slim right now hopping freight trains and spreading the rebel gospel to the downpressed wage slaves of that New England state, whilst regaling one and all with song. Here's his latest effort, which is sung to the tune of a popular Bob Dylan song. It is reproduced with permission. From Slim, not from Bob, that is. Nothing personal, Bob...but these days

Everybody must get droned

They’ll drone you when you’re leaving from the bar,They’ll drone you when you’re driving in your car,They’ll drone you when you’re trying to be discrete,They’ll drone you when you’re marching in the street.

Well I would not feel so all alone,Everybody must get droned.

They’ll drone you when you’re maintaining law and order,They’ll drone you when you’re getting near the border,They’ll drone you when you’re sitting in the park,They’ll drone you when it’s light and when it’s dark.  

Well I would not feel so all alone,Everybody must get droned.

They’ll drone you when your minding your own business,They’ll drone you when you’re improving your physical fitness,They’ll drone you when you’re at a private luncheon,They’ll drone you while performing a bodily function,

Well I would not feel so all alone,Everybody must get droned.

They’ll drone you when you’re at a wedding party,They’ll drone you if you’re early or you’re tardy,They’ll drone you when you’re riding in the bus,They’ll drone you if you’re them or if you’re us,

Well I would not feel so all alone,Everybody must get droned.

Slim has a blog worthy of a look that he updates whenever he is not riding the rods or working the wheat harvest. You can find it here.

BAD MEDICINE. Here's a look at what Paul Ryan's budget would do to El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia.

MORE OF THE SAME. Here's a look at the Long March of Ayn Rand's BS into the mainstream of American political thought.

IT EVEN RHYMES. Here's a fun and quick look at what's wrong with trickle (tinkle?) down economics.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

To paraphrase a line from Hamlet...

"...madness in great nuns must not unwatched go." In this case, however, the madness is really righteous indignation.

Here's the deal: a group of Roman Catholic sisters are traveling over 9 states to highlight the harm the House Republican federal budget would do to vulnerable families. I hope they metaphorically whack a few knuckles with a ruler like the nun did in the old Blues Brothers movie.

WV Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, alas, voted for the Ryan budget for the second year in a row, while her Republican counterpart in the state's northern district, Congressman David McKinley, to his credit voted against it for the second year in a row.

Target practice

I admit it. There are few things in the world that I love whacking more than the bull****... I mean ideology of Ayn Rand. By chance last week, I stumbled upon this article from the Parthenon, campus paper at my alma mater Marshall University, about the controversy still surrounding its acceptance a few years ago of a million or so dollars from the big bank BB&T to teach an economics class in Randian garbage.

I couldn't help but respond in the following letter to the editor:

 I read with interest the Parthenon article discussing the controversy of Marshall’s acceptance of BB&T money to indoctrinate students in Ayn Rand’s “philosophy.”

There are any number of ironies here. First, Rand didn’t believe that places like Marshall should exist at all. In a 1964 Playboy interview, she stated that “My position is fully consistent. Not only the post office, but streets, roads, and above all, schools, should all be privately owned and privately run.” She also would have opposed the several kinds of publicly provided financial aid that Marshall students receive.

It also establishes a disturbing precedent. Suppose some other billionaire or corporation wants to plop down another million or two to establish a chair to advocate for, say, white supremacy or female circumcision or any other loopy ideology. Is money the only thing that matters? Should Marshall cave every time somebody waves some cash? If so, there’s a word for that and it isn’t education.

I wish I could have been a little nastier in the letter, but 20+ years of working for a Quaker organization kind of ruined me.

AUSTERITY is overrated.

UNEMPLOYMENT, its costs and possible remedies are discussed here.

SITTING  is bad for your health.

WAY TO GO, BOB. Dylan is a winner of the presidential medal of freedom.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Of turkey love and random news

A romantic comedy has been playing itself out at Goat Rope Farm, where we now have two male and two female turkeys. The males are much too gentlemanly to fight but they spend a great deal of time displaying and following each other around to make sure their rival doesn't get a moment alone with the ladies. Still, somebody is getting somewhere since the females are jointly sitting on what appear to be 27 viable eggs. We're hoping at least a few make it.

Meanwhile, here are a few items.

 CONFUSING AYN RAND WITH JESUS seems to be a problem for granny whacker Paul Ryan. The Jesuits cleared things up a bit.

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS. Here's a look at left/right unity on prison reform.

BIG FOOD. Here's a look at how the corporate food system derailed the struggle against obesity.

WHEN RED WAS RED. A friend of mine just published a book on the history of the Socialist Party in West Virginia.

ANALYTICAL THINKING AND RELIGION may not go very well together.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Little pinkos

Whilst reading Simon Baron-Cohen's (yes, that would be Sacha's cousin) recent book, The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty, I came across an interesting discussion of rhesus monkeys. He notes that in the 1960s primatologists found that

those who were trained to pull a chain to get food refused to do so if pulling the chain also meant another monkey was given an electric shock. It was as if they refused to profit at the expense of another monkey's pain. 

I guess by the political standards of the American right, that would make them freedom hating socialists.

SPEAKING OF THE RIGHT, here's a look at Ayn Rand nation.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED