I Guess We Still Need America

This Guy Passes For "Good Music" In Germany

Hello to all,
 
I have spent this Christmas and New Year in Germany with my wife and in-laws. We were lucky enough to be in Berlin for the New Year's Eve festivities. Together, we braved the cold and stayed outside for about 6 hours waiting to ring in 2012. But, that is not really the point of this hub. During my time here (and especially in Berlin), I've noticed a few instances of America's influence on the world and where we are still sorely needed.

While on vacation, I have not kept as sharp an eye on the news as I usually do. However, I did notice that in the last few days, the US had a 3.5 billion dollar arms sale to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Those who followed the Arab Spring closely will know that the US shipped tear gas to Egypt. This tear gas was eventually used against protesters in Tahrir Square. If you follow world health and food issues, you would also know that Far East countries are experiencing large jumps in cases of diabetes. This has been attributed to the adoption of the Western diet. US diplomats even push dodgy, genetically modified foods (via diplomatic relations) onto other nations, for companies like Monsanto and DuPont.

While waiting to celebrate 2012 the other night, I even noticed that "Weight Watchers" had a large presence at the event. Their ads lined most of the area where people congregated. They sponsored/featured in their ads, a performer from the evening (Cassandra Steen). So, in the 6 hours standing in place, I feel as though I saw this ad about 1,000 times. You can see Cassandra Steen's performance from that night (below). But, tying this altogether, I came to the conclusion that the US's main exports are: war, obesity, Franken-foods, and obesity remedies. I thought the world didn't really need us. We screw up a lot of stuff for other nations. But, as 2011 ended, I realized one other export and it is where the world does truly need us. The US must remain as a global force, solely for our.......pop stars!!

Other than that, I feel as though the world would be better off without us. We have multiple wars and occupations going on. We're supplying the weapons for brutal crackdowns elsewhere. We can't get any tough laws regulating our banks or Wall Street as a whole. The list goes on. The US even stood in the way of a binding deal at a recent climate conference (COP 17). I wrote a post that talked about this conference, you can see it here if you wanted to know more about US obstruction on climate talks. But, some on the ground were calling the President, "George W. Obama." Because, his stance differed little from the past Administration.

Back to New Years Eve, needless to say, I was a bit underwhelmed by some of the popular acts here in Germany. The gentleman in the first picture, goes by the name of DJ Oetzi. His real name is Gerhard Friedle and he was born in Austria. According to my wife, the goofy white hat is a staple of his. Take 30 seconds to view a part of his New Years Eve performance and you'll see why the world still needs us. With all the acts, on the night, I felt as though I was watching a play, people acting how they thought pop stars would act. None of the acts seemed really genuine. It's that same feeling you get if you turn on Fox News. That, "...wait a minute, something isn't right here..." feeling. All of them seemed rigid and just pathetic on the whole. I'm not the biggest fan of today's pop music, but watching a rotund Austrian fella labor around the stage, made me long for the stage presence of Lady Gaga, Beyonce, or Katy Perry.

During the evening, the crowd also suffered through a performance from a man named Ben Jaimen. This guy was the most emotionless, plastic figure I may have ever seen on stage. Again, it looked as though he was playing the part of a pop star (but badly). With each song he performed, the crowd seemingly became more indifferent towards him. You can see one of the songs and the crowd's apathetic reaction. There was a rotating sign next to the stage, at points, that mentioned his album was on sale in stores. I joked that him being there was only hurting his sales. For his last song, he brought a number of children on stage (for a choir-type effect) and that could not even get a rise out of the crowd. After another round of hapless applause, he desperately says, "One more time...for the kids..." That didn't even help. For anyone who has seen "Coming to America", it was reminiscent of Sexual Chocolate dropping the mike and leaving the stage, only if hundreds of thousands of people were being quiet at the same time.

Last one, I promise. These guys have a special place in my heart. I reserve this place in my heart for extra dislike. They are called "The BossHoss." The band is originally from Berlin and are amazingly popular in Germany. From what I've worked out, they only cover popular songs, but in a Country/Western sound. So, I guess they save money by not having to hire songwriters. You can hear their version of "Hey Ya" from Outkast, if you're interested. I could not find their NYE performance. They've carved out this special niche where they are just a glorified cover band. But, they cover the songs in a singular sound. Maybe it's a goof on Country/Western bands from the States? Who the hell knows? You have a group of guys from Berlin in Stetsons and wife-beaters. You try to figure it out.

What can I say? It's confusing for my American brain. I have to say. I do love Germany. It's a dream place to live for a liberal like myself. Their citizens accept climate change, a good chunk of ours do not. All of their citizens have health care and have had in since 1883. They have high speed rail. Our trip from west Germany (near Hamburg) to Berlin only took 3.5 hours, and that was with 2 transfers.
 On the way back, it took right around 3 hours flat.

Through progressive taxation, strong unions, and amazing social services, Germany is among the world's most equal countries. CEO pay vs average worker pay is only 12 to 1 in Germany. It is 475 to 1 in the USA, I can go on and on about the services here. I haven't even touched on the low cost of education or generous maternity leave. In their current Parliament, there are 6 parties holding seats, giving voters an actual choice when voting. (I think we just have the illusion of choice in the US...story for another day) But, with all that being said, the one glaring hole in Germany's CV is in the area of pop-stars. How can a country, that has figured out health care in the 1880's, be listening to a portly Austrian bring in a new year? Questions like this boggle my little mind and it's why we still need America. USA! USA! USA!

See you next time,

James

Massive Dichotomy/ Reindeer Bullying Edition

Hello, thanks for checking in. Before we get going:

Dichotomy: a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities <the dichotomy between theory and practice>

In the last few weeks, I noticed two instances where there was a large gulf between what I think/feel/see and what was happening. I mean, this happens all the time to me, but these examples are especially stark.

I mention in my profile that I am a vegan. I'm only in my 7th month of veganism, so I just learned that November 1st was "World Vegan Day." No joke, it's really a thing. You can see for yourself here. Whether you live this lifestyle or not, I think (hope?) we can agree that someone choosing to not have animals for food is a good thing. I feel this can be independent of you wanting to live that way or not.
That being said, imagine my surprise to find a fashion show, in which the models actually wore food. This was an instance of a large dichotomy in my little world. And, I don't think I'm looking at this from a vegan's point-of-view either. I think meat-eaters can even see the distance between people who won't eat animals and people wearing them in a fashion show? I hope they can. I don't feel like this is an instance where my own choices are making it seem worse to me. Anyway, you can decide for yourself. In the show, some women wore octopus, fish skin masks, quail eggs, a guy was in a tank top made of salmon, and many other examples. It struck me as wasteful and tacky. Here is a video about the show.

More dichotomy and this something that should be closer to home for most people. For the most part, America seems to have war fatigue. This poll, from late October, showed that only 34% of the country still supported the Afghan war. This poll, also from late October, showed that 75% of Americans support pulling out of Iraq at the end of this year. You’re thinking, “Yay! We’re going to stop occupying other nations and spending hundreds of billions of dollars per year on the military.” But, here comes to dichotomy part. Considering that small percentages of the populace want to be in these wars, why would President Obama increase the troop levels in the Persian Gulf? So, we’re basically leaving Iraq, to move our stuff a few miles away into other Gulf nations. I have to review his comments. He might have only said “we’re leaving Iraq.” And not, “the troops are coming home.” Obama might get off on a technicality with this one. This more recent story even suggests that after the troop removal, new troops may be sent in (looks like the troops coming back in will be CIA, Special Forces, private military (another technicality). It gets worse too. Obama is sending 2,500 troops t0 Australia as well. Your guess is as good as mine. Terrorist kangaroos? Rogue Koala Bears? Who knows anymore? It seems the goals are endless wars and/or endless occupations, regardless of what the people want.

Since, I hate ending on a low note. This is something I noticed just yesterday. If you read this Hub, you know that Fox is a joke. It’s not just me talking either. Media Matters for America fact-check Fox regularly and prove how useless they truly are. For anyone that is new, I wrote about what it was like to argue with a Fox Viewer and linked to more facts about what is done over there. I am ashamed to say that I sometimes tune in, just to see what they’re lying about. However, yesterday morning, I tuned in to see them tackle the pressing problem of Rudolph being bullied in a cartoon. They also wondered how kids might react to this. They brought in a psychiatrist to discuss it. I had to snap a pic of the graphic they used as the discussion went on. As always, there is no embellishment needed. If you know anyone that watches Fox, push them towards Media Matters or Outfoxed (a Robert Greenwald documentary). Together we can prevent them from completely stupidity-fying (made up word) the nation. Your country needs you!

See you next time,

James

Beginner’s Guide to the GOP Debate, Part III, Paul/Perry

Hello and thanks for checking in on Part III of the GOP Debate preview. I can’t believe you came back after hearing about the first 4 candidates. I have a hunch today’s post might go long. Both of these guys, are from Texas, so they have a base level of craziness, not known to the residents of the other 49 states. Now, that I think about it, I should have called this post the “Texas Two-Step“. Damn you hindsight! Anyway, let’s get to it.

Ron Paul:

He’s the Congressman for the 14th District of Texas. He is in the John McCain-zone (in age). Paul will be 77 by the 2012 election. He prides himself on being the ultimate libertarian. Paul does not want you, corporations, or himself burdened with rules and  regulations. Quick aside on the GOP, I could never figure how they campaign on hating government, but we should vote them into the highest office?
He is at least consistent, which most of them aren’t. And, for that, I hope he stays in the race a little longer. He wants all drugs legalized, which I’m for (I’m not a user). I’m going to go into that in a separate post. Here he is asking a debate crowd, if they would buy heroin if it was legal. Paul is an isolationist when it comes to our dealings with other countries. Because of that, he hates our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, “humanitarian” stuff in Libya, and the troops sent into a few Central African countries last week. I think that was all of them. You need an abacus to count US wars/occupations/humanitarian missions these days, it’s tough to keep track. For those 2 reasons, I hope he hangs in there and makes the others answer questions on these issues.

Another quick aside on libertarianism, it sounds great in principle. But, it falls apart when applied to any real life situation. Paul thinks the government shouldn’t do anything about regulating health care, the energy companies, or the financial world (and all other companies/industries). He says let the free market handle it. I can’t remember anything going wrong with any of those industries. Oh wait, there’s the fact that 47,000 people die each year because of lack of health care. BP blew up the Gulf of Mexico, to the point where you can still get “Unleaded Shrimp” in New Orleans restaurants. And, the banks blew up the world economy in 2008. Like I said, it falls apart pretty quickly in practice. Paul has other stuff like “Ending the Federal Reserve” and going back to the “Gold Standard” for our money supply. It’s too long to explain those and it would never happen anyway. Onto another crazy Texan.
Rick Perry:

Wish I was clever enough to think of this line (courtesy of www.progressive.org):

“Rick Perry is the candidate for those of you who could never cozy up to George Bush due to his flagrant intellectual elitism.”

Not just one person had this thought about Perry either. Politico posted this article in August, asking, “Is Rick Perry Dumb?” Probably not the best start if you want to be President. He shot a coyote with a laser-sighted pistol while jogging. Why does he have a pistol on a jog? C’mon, this is Part III of the preview. You know not to ask logical questions by now.
On a serious note, he’s basically a murderer. He has presided over 234 death penalty executions. One of which, included a man named Cameron Todd Willingham. We now know for certain that Mr. Willingham was innocent. Perry received new evidence that put Willingham’s guilt in doubt, refused a stay of execution, and even prevented him from being ruled innocent after his execution. Another man, Anthony Graves, was sprung from Death Row after being proven innocent and shortly before an execution order was signed. All info about Willingham, Graves, and their situation is detailed in the embedded link above.

He called Social Security and Medicare unconstitutional. Again, who knows why? And, he’s also said that God crashed the economy to get us back to biblical principles. Um, ok. You usually see God blamed for hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, etc. But, this is first time I’ve seen God called out on his economic policy. Every time you think the GOP hits a new low, someone comes by with a bigger shovel.

On top of all this, he doesn’t want Texas to be a part of the US. He’s called multiple times for Texas to secede from the US and become their own republic. This part I love. I say let them go. The NFL can claim to be an “International League”, thanks to the Cowboys and Texans. You can get a stamp in your passport for going to Houston. Texas money would probably have oil rigs, ten-gallon hats, laser-sighted pistols and coyotes on it. Win, win and another win. Let’s start-up the paperwork.
And, some proof that Perry is not the brightest of guys. Behold this video from a GOP Debate in September. He’s so bad, it has subtitles. Reminder, he speaks English. It’s Texas English, but still. We shouldn’t need subtitles.

I immediately thought of this young lady, after hearing Perry, behold another gem:

Two more things, unrelated to the debates. I’m thinking of starting a new blog section called, “Wouldn’t It Be Easier to Just Raise Taxes?” It will just be quick hits of horrible stuff going on around the country. A Pennsylvania District is starting to sell ads in its schools to make up for budget shortfalls. I think the next step is to put henna tattoos of company logos on the kids. Do people still use that stuff? Henna might have lost its word status by now. It hasn’t been used in so long. Can someone check a dictionary and let me know if it’s still in there?

Last thing, I wanted to post this because it doesn’t get too much play over in the States. It’s a video from yesterday’s riots in Greece. For those that don’t know, the citizens are being forced to take on a harsh austerity program of massive salary/pension cuts, coupled with tax hikes, and across the board cuts to other social services. The full story of Greece is too long to detail now, it’s worthy of a book by itself. And, I’m sure many people are writing this story. Needless to say they are not taking the cuts in stride. They fought with cops/riot police, set things on fire, looted businesses, etc. To top it all of, today (Thursday) is Day 2 of a general strike. The strike shut the airport and all public transportation down. Trash collectors have not picked up garbage in 17 days, so trash bags line the streets. Here’s a pretty amazing video of the scene in Athens. If you haven’t yet made it to see the Acropolis, you should probably take it off your bucket list. Things will be horrible in the cradle of democracy for a long time.

I think we should call it there. And, I’m getting the tingling in my fingertips again. Which means, this post is getting too long. I’m trying guys. I could have gone longer on Ron Paul’s wacky thoughts, Perry on gay marriage, Perry’s ties to the Evangelical fringe, his threats to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, etc.


See you next time for Part IV (you guys like the Roman numerals?). I’m trying to class this blog up). Final preview is Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

See you next time,
James