Down with Normal

 Posted by at 18:17  Down with
Jul 072014
 

There is an unwritten law in California.

In California we believe that if you don’t think it’s broken, your standards suck.

Following this law has given us a whole new election process.

A Dictionary of American Politics, Comprising ...

A Dictionary of American Politics, Comprising Accounts of Political Parties, Measures and Men, Etc. (Photo credit: Cornell University Library)this law, Californians have gone from being the best state in the union when I moved here in 1970 for such things as roads and schools to being last today. Having ruined the state infrastructure, the focus these days is undermining governance.

Yesterday was the primary election. Californians never expect to have an impact on the candidate for President. Still we get to express our preference and vote to determine who should be on the ballot in November. But California has decided that regular primary elections are just too ordinary for the Golden State. This is a primary election with a twist. This year everybody gets to vote for everybody; parties don’t count.

What I mean is that no matter what your political party preference, you get to see the entire list of candidates and vote your favorite. No more of those arbitrary distinctions between candidates and voters. Everybody is as good as everybody else. The idea that you should limit yourself to one party when you vote in the primary is like believeing that the Earth is flat. No flat Eathers alowed in Califronia. California is challenging the tired old routine of elections. They shook everything up by putting all the candidates on one ballot. No matter your political party you can vote for any candidate and only the top two vote getters will appear on the November ballot.

Why? you ask.  In California you learn not to bother asking.

Nobody I know has offered a rational explanation for this change or any evidence that it is an improvement over what we used to do. I can’t even remember how this new process got established. It was probably one of the plethora of ballot initiatives that confuse California voters each election. Nobody can understand what the language means and both supporters and opponents lie like rugs.

Whatever, the result is that instead of all the miscellaneous political parties having a candidate on the Primary ballot in November, there will be only two candidates and there is no requirement about what party they represent. The voters will choose.. It might be two Democrats. It might be two Republicans. It might even be two Greens or a mix with one Democrat and one Republican or even a Libertarian and a Peace and Freedom. There are no petty rules about party representation.

 Tradition never looked better as California improves itself to death.

As I watch California deteriorate these days I’m appreciating tradition more and more. Change isn’t always good. I don’t much like this change but it is something you have to accept when you live in California. It’s what they like to do in California, shake things up. Like they did a few years back with the ‘new’ math back when my kids were in elementary school. I have no idea what ‘ new’ math is, or was. I couldn’t make heads not tails of it. I always assumed that the teachers understood but there is no clear evidence that they did either. All I know is that my kids never understood math, new or old and hate math to this day, in spite of tutors hired to remedy the failings of the California education tyranny.

They never admit failure. 

Eventually, (after my kids were past saving) California abandoned ‘new’ math and without fanfare or explanation returned to ‘old’ math. It’s a tradition in California to do new things, just because they are new. They rejected phonics as well but lucky for my kids they were already reading by then. They went back to phonics without skipping a beat or admitting failure. We shudder to think what might be next – new traffic laws?

 

So, it remains to be seen how this new election practice will fare. I fully expect that Californian’s will shrug the new practice after a year or two off and return to the old ways. I fully expect that the politicians will shrug it off as well just like they shrug off any responsibility to the people who elected them. What I do anticipate is that whatever the intent of the bureaucrats that designed this monstrosity, they will be upset when nothing much changes. That isn’t good either.  I can’t believe that they will be satisfied with letting things go back to normal. Fortunately there are always plenty of new ways to do things.

Even California normal.

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Up with L.A.

 Posted by at 18:17  Up With
Jul 072014
 
Nighttime view of Downtown L.A. and the Hollyw...
Image via Wikipedia

“L.A. Where there’s never weather, and walking is a crime. L.A.: where the streetlights and palm trees go on forever, where darkness never comes, like a deal that never goes down, a meeting that’s never taken. The city of angels where every cockroach has a screenplay and even the winos wear roller skates. It’s that kind of town.” Ian Sholes

I admit to liking LA. I lived there for 35 years, made a career and raised two sons. It was hard to give it up but now 400 miles away, my wife and I love to visit even for a few days and even if LA like the rest of California has been declining. My LA is from the 70′ when I arrived, fleeing from the stifling conventionality of my Midwest home and the pretentious cultural snobbery of the East coast. LA represented freedom; Anything goes; A fantastic freeway system and parking on the street – anywhere and every where. Alas all that is gone now, destroyed by Jerry Brown and his acolytes. His goal was to stop building infrastructure so that people like me would stop coming to California. It took 30 years but he has finally done it. People have stopped coming to California and I am primed to leave as well.

L.A. Is dead and unworkable and all of California is not far behind. LA freeways are impossible. The politicians are out of control. Living in LA means denying the reality that you see on the overcrowded freeways and overpopulated, urine-infused underpasses. Still it is great to get back from time to time and live the fantasy that LA used to be. You can do that when you visit because you can avoid rush hour traffic – to a degree- and enjoy getting from one part of LA to another quickly. You can remember the relaxed and casual feeling of shopping in Beverly Hills on a Saturday afternoon or finding a place to park at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena.  You can remember the ticket books at Disneyland.

We will be reliving our L.A. History, visiting museums and some of our old haunts as well as spending some time with our older son who still lives in LA. LA isn’t what is used to be; it isn’t what it wants to be; and it isn’t quite dead yet but L.A. Is unique and American to the core. It may be an acquired taste but once you get L.A. In your heart, you never get it out.

And then there were two…

 Posted by at 18:17  Coot Comedy, Coot Smirk, principles, Uncategorized
Jul 072014
 
City Lights, France-Italy Border (NASA, Intern...

City Lights, France-Italy Border (NASA, International Space Station Science, 04/28/10) (Photo credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center)

By now, Ralph is winging his way over the ocean heading towards the land of canals and spaghetti, Italy.  He has his bags packed, his cell phones rented, and this blog pushed to the back of his mind where it will reside with many other undesirable things like pond scum.

A vacation.  Do you ever have a “vacation” that you come back from, rested, relaxed, and ready to return to work?  Yea me neither.  I am hoping that it will be different for Ralph.  See, he is just going with his wife to Italy.  We can only hope that he brings her back with him.  I guess it depends just how bad the flight actually is.  But that is another story.

Over the past year I do believe that I have grown complacent, letting Ralph and Bob, well mostly Ralph, have at this site and run with it.  Now It is back to me and the fine work that used to fly from my fingers.

Have a great Vacation Ralph, you deserve it.

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Down with Politicians!

 Posted by at 18:17  Down with
Jul 072014
 

“Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad name.”   Henry Kissenger

Unfortunately, the founding fathers set up the country to be run by politicians. Elected representatives presented the best of the bad choices offered by history. Unlike royalty, the public would be able to replace politicians when they overstepped their role. This system has kept our country going for over two hundred years despite the concerns of Benjamin Franklin.

Now that government is failing all around us. Ordinary citizens and voters seem to be getting the short end of the stick in terms of the services that we expect the government to be providing in exchange for our taxes. Here in California, we hear that the City of Oakland, never known for it’s safe streets is reducing the police force because it can’t afford to pay the retirement commitments to officers. The legislature in Sacramento can’t balance a budget but can ban plastic bags and aluminum baseball bats.  Is that what we told them to do?  Our national politicians are no better, spending money we don’t have to grow government, paralyze private industry and abandon national security issues like controlling the border.

How did we get in such a mess? Whatever makes us reelect politicians who blatantly refuse to do what we pay them to do? Why are we so trusting? And so forgiving?

I think the simple answer is that when it comes to politics we are all fools. We will buy into any story that a politician is willing to spin. And when we don’t know, we are willing to assume that the incumbent deserves to stay. That was my excuse and I am learning that it is a piss poor electron strategy because it is based upon assumptions that give the incumbent advantages without requiring him to earn them. Most of the time I don’t have a clue what my representatives have been up to in Sacramento or Washington. They don’t tell me and I don’t ask. Come election day, I assume that they have been behaving themselves and give them a thumbs up. Look what that kind of thinking has produced – total dysfunction.

I’m not giving anyone the benefit of the doubt any more. If I don’t absolutely know that politician has done something good during their term, then they don’t get my vote. If everybody would take that position, I think we would have a whole new class of accountable politicians. How do you know what they have done? Not my problem. If I don’t know what they have done, they don’t get my vote. Instead of candidates trying to convince me whey they should replace the incumbent, the burden is on the incumbent to prove that they should stay. Voting made easy. Vote the incumbent out!

Coot Lesson #3 – Polite is over rated!

 Posted by at 18:17  Coot Law, Coots Lessons, principles
Jul 072014
 

Don’t be dense!

This should be pretty obvious if you have been following our lessons. Unfortunately these days most people are pretty dense and seem unable to follow a stream of logic so we are going to be very blunt. Polite is a synonym for lie. It is just that simple. If you choose to remain oblivious to simple truths, we can’t do anything about it. Human nature is pathetic. We continually ask people to tell us things that we know are untrue. If you have to ask your husband whether a dress makes you look fat, you already know the answer. “Of course it does!” So now the poor man has two bad choices. He can say yes which will make you hate him for confirming the truth or he can say no which will make you hate him for lying. Most husbands are taught to be polite and lie through their teeth and most wives delight in making it impossible for them to be honest. No wonder marriage is in trouble these days.

Stop being a mealy mouthed liar!

We always seek to be inoffensive which of course causes us to lie. “That was a great cup of coffee, Carol. Can I have a refill.” The coffee tastes like battery acid. It is luke warm and the cream is curdled. “I’d love another piece of that delicious cake, Mrs. Smith.” The cake in questions is lumpy and tasteless. Who wins with such behavior? The answer, of course is nobody. If you don’t set these people straight, they will continue to inflict their shoddy goods on other unsuspecting victims. If they believe you they will have your encouragement to do it. If they don’t believe you, they brand you either as a fool or liar.

Be straight at work!

You may think that we are singling out women here but men are just as inclined to this foolishness as women. It just attaches to different activities. When it gets into the workplace, it is even worse because we are expected to lie as a condition of employment. Your boss may be a fool but he is unlikely to keep paying you if you tell him. Imagine the chaos if you said what you were thinking. Is the customer always right? Of course not. Could you fix their problem and get them out of your face if they would just shut up and go away. Of course. Because we think that polite is important, we waste everybody’s time and make everybody upset. It is a darn nuisance.

You aren’t getting any younger you know !

Cut out the crap. Tell it straight. Stop the lies and stop pretending that polite isn’t a synonym for lying, You don’t have tine for games. Time is a wasting and nobody is getting any younger. Next time somebody expects you to waste your time and theirs with mealy mouthed and duplicitous politeness, just say no. Tell them the truth and lets get on with life.

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