It's not that we're actually entertaining the thought of even wanting to hold the U.S. presidential position -- or any other political one whatsoever -- but this piece is simply devoted to the changes we'd strongly propose if ever so elected. As the reader will quickly note from the following list of our campaign issues, they would accomplish little more than cause this fellow to be blackballed from consideration as being labeled a radical, a socialist, an anti-semitist, an unpatriotic villain, and a downright traitor, to suggest just a few epithetical titles.
Nevertheless, we intend to go ahead with what we deem to be essential to the ultimate survival of this supposedly great nation throughout the not-too-distant future. So, without further ado, here are the changes considered vital to ongoing success, presented by category:
1. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
A. Legislative Branch
1. A single parliamentary body only, presided over by a duly
elected Speaker, with the majority party in control.
2. The similarly elected Prime Minister required to be present at
each parliamentary session.
B. Executive Branch
-- Essentially an administrative body, carrying out the laws,
regulations, and policies established by Parliament.
C. Judicial Branch
-- The same 9-member body as at present, but with each Justice
subject to periodic popular re-election.
D. Election Process
-- Replacing the electoral college completely, to be replaced by
straight popular vote.
II . LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS
A. Income Tax
-- Drastic revamping and simplification, eliminating virtually all
existing loopholes.
B. Political
1. Compulsory voting by all citizens age 18 or over, subject to a
heavy fine for non-compliance.
2. Lobbying to be completely outlawed, under threat of prison
sentence.
C. Health
1. National health care for all citizens and legal immigrants,
covering everything except:
a) Abortion
b) Cosmetic surgery
c) Dental work for beautification purposes only
2. Heavy taxes on the following products:
a) Alcohol and tobacco
b) Soft carbonated drinks
c) Candy and chewing gum
d) High glucose, sodium, and cholesterol foods
3. High import tariff on coffee, tea, and cocoa beans.
4. Posting of public signs virtually everywhere, stating simply that
"cigarettes kill".
5. Government takeover of full control over narcotics under the
following conditions:
a) Resale to registered users at nominal prices.
b) Compulsory use cessation for registered users, covered by
national health.
D. Education
1. Free education to level sought for all duly qualified citizens and
legal immigrants.
2. Spanish treated as official second language, and required to be
taught along with English from starting age.
E. Welfare
-- Ongoing state-sponsored job creation programs.
F. Crime Prevention
-- Hand guns only for police, with unlawful possession -- including
in the home -- subject to imprisonment.
G. Criminal Punishment
-- Elimination of death penalty, except for conviction due to
corruption.
H. Immigration
-- Available to all who can prove capability of earning a normal
living.
J. Marriage
1. License subject to renewal by written consent of both parties at
consecutive 5-year anniversary dates.
2. Automatic divorce if no renewal executed on time.
By way of conclusion, the reader is invited to think about what we solemnly view as highly-needed social improvements illustrated above. Granted, they'd never get this fellow elected, but we're confident of their value in seeking solutions to countless hitherto insurmountable impracticalities, injustices, inequities, inconsistencies, and unnecessary dangers to health.
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Sunday, February 2, 2014
THE CLASSIC AMERICAN FALSEHOOD
Time and time again, dating back to childhood days, we’ve been hearing
politicians and other superpatriot types loudly proclaiming the United States
to be the greatest country in the world, often to tumultuous applause from
bands of naïve, shortsighted listeners.
Homeless,
Inadequately educated,
Unemployed,
Chronically ill,
In most cases though no fault of their own?
Yes, it’s unfortunately true that we can’t avoid having:
The lazy,
The listless,
The careless (e.g. improper eaters, smokers, heavy drinkers, drug abusers).
Even so, how many of these supposedly hopeless people might revert if
once given a chance for a better shake in life – rather than continually beyond
reach due to social and economic imbalance?
No indeed, Folks, we have no right to call ourselves the greatest,
chiefly because of the mess our government and our less-than-sufficient human
rights system have been building up for generations.
We allow ourselves to be inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s classic words
about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness …..
But what do we actually do, as a democratic society, to maximize or
even optimize its universal attainment, except in restrictive half-way
legislative measures, unduly compromised by special interest groups
galore?
In the simplest of terms, we’ve failed out citizenry miserably.
Meanwhile, however:
The rich continue to get
richer, as always;And our esteemed government is galloping toward total fiscal insolvency,
As it keeps dumping money down the drain in a never-ending quest for absolute military
supremacy;
And making countless arch enemies by meddling needlessly in the Middle East and elsewhere ,
On the supposed premise of national security,
When we aren’t the least bit stable or secure, in a far too many respects.
What, then,
would be so wrong with spending such vast sums instead for:
Public welfare,Full national health care for every citizen,
Enhanced educational opportunities, and
State-sponsored public job creation ?
Most
certainly, we could manage all this,
and still retain the individual human right to reject any and all such
benefits, strictly on a voluntary – rather than an unjustly imposed – basis.
Friday, June 21, 2013
OBESITY, BY GEORGE
According to
recent news reports, our esteemed medical profession, in all its wisdom, has
now declared obesity (aka overweightedness, fatness, lardbuttedness, and so
forth) to be a disease. And, by George,
they’re right!
However, in
our not always so humbly expressed manner, and adopting thesimulated title of
honorary medicinis doctoris, we hereby opine that said malady should be added
to the already lengthy list of mental setbacks, along with paranoia, schizophrenia,
manic depressiveness and so many others.
We say this in all earnestness.
As far as this writer is concerned, except in certain out-of-sync
glandular cases, obesity stems from a person’s mind being too weak to pursue careful
dietary habits, and to know when to push
one’s way back from the table.
By way of
evidence, we offer that endless daily parade we see of men looking as though
they might be six months pregnant, and women who should make pretty fair middle linebackers.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
A STUDY IN CANINE ACTION PRIORITIES
One morning
several years ago, having left the house enroute to work, we found our forward path
temporarily blocked by two dogs of
varying breed – a male and a female.
Considering what action was about be undertaken, we could readily
discern that the little lady was “in heat”, as the standard expression goes.
Just after
the masculine party had put himself into the appropriate position, the idea
struck us that an interesting experiment
might be in order. Quickly then, we
opened a briefcase and extracted about a half slice of bread from a planned
lunchtime sandwich, and tossed it on the ground a few feet to the pair’s right,
in the male’s peripheral view. Which, we
were endeavoring to determine, takes precedence?
The answer
came without the slightest hesitation, as our canine Casanova abandoned his
intended action long enough to go scoop up the food in his teeth and gulp it
down. Then, of course, he proceeded to
take up where he’ d left off.
Consequently,
we were able to surmise that in the wonderful world of man’s best friend, the
underlying philosophy must be “you can always find a convenient girl friend,
but a meal is much harder to come by”.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
WARNING
When U.S.
Chief Justice John Marshall delivered the Supreme Court ruling in the 1819 case
of McCullough vs. Maryland, he declared that no state could hold the right to
tax the federal government. The logic
applied, which remains on our laws to this day, was quite succinctly expressed
by his words: “The power to tax is the power to destroy.”
Jumping to
the present day, we find people blithely choosing to register often manifold
credit card numbers with internet vendors galore. Accordingly, such persons are leaving themselves wide open to
charges, whether authorized or
otherwise. We sincerely urge that heed
be taken of Mr. Justice Marshall’s sound advice, duly rephrased in 21st
century fashion, by stating that: “The
power to debit is the power to bankrupt.”
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU
In a great many
long past conversations with fellow members of the male species, this writer
can readily recall at least a dozen different cases, wherein the other chap
openly admitted to having once acquired “a dose”. Although such term should be fully
explanatory unto itself, any reader failing to grasp the meaning right off
might simply ask the nearest person over age seven.
Taking this
theme just a step further, it stands to reason that, statistically speaking, if
some twelve lads have brought such fact to light, perhaps we’ve also carried on
acquaintanceships over the years with roughly twice that many who’ve been
similarly smitten, but would never admit it in a thousand years.
This feeling
on our part stems from having observed two
highly divergent male philosophies in this respect ever since boyhood days.
In the frank admission instances, the underlying motivation is to portray
optimum achievement vis-a-vis the fair
sex from the masculinity standpoint. Meanwhile,
the supposed majority maintains a never
faltering silence, since confession
would undoubtedly smack of excess promiscuity in one’s femininity conquests. In other words, it’s preferable to perpetuate
an atmosphere of association with only the most high-class glamorous mates.
If any
reader deems this an extremely oddball subject to dwell upon, please rest
assured, we’ve already done worse on previous literary occasions.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
SHOCK WAVERS AND ICE BREAKERS
The intent
of this piece is to focus briefly on a few modest but notable milestones, wherein
we’ve experienced welcome breakthroughs, with what’s come to be known today as
excessive permissiveness gradually winning out over ridiculous ultra-conservatism.
Altogether, a half-dozen key events are covered. Each one either involves, or is directly
related to, the world of public entertainment.
AND WEST IS
WEST
Back when
television was a mere gleam in David Susskind’s eye, the prime means of family
home entertainment was listening to the manifold dramatic, comedic, musical,
documentary, or news reporting programs presented by the various radio
networks. And believe it or not, even
then there were numerous bluenose-incited complaints about excessive violence
corrupting the minds of growing children.
Such “frightening” just-home-from-school daily shows as Tom Mix, Jack Armstrong,
Little Orphan Annie, and Buck Rogers, for example, featured far too many evil,
cutthroat villains. Even though such nasties
would be eliminated one-by-one as a
result of heroic or clever feats by the good guys, these broadcasts simply had to be damaging to junior’s
or junior miss’ tender psyches.
Tsk! Tsk!
for it to be performed note-for-note as originally composed, and at the same customary pace.
In addition to both ladies’ film careers suffering major setbacks for quite some time due to universal scorn, they also became the butt of a few smirking jokes. The one most remembered dealt with the two of them meeting on the street one afternoon. “How are you these days?” asked Ingrid. “Oh, very busy,” Rita replied. “You see, my sister is getting married next month.” “Oh,” Bergman then stated, “ why, I didn’t even know she was pregnant.”
Nevertheless,
our concerned adulthood vigilantes had no need to worry over their kids’ being
in danger of learning a little bit extra about (shhh!) s-e-x from listening to
the airways. Well, at least not until
Sunday, December 12, 1937. That’s when Mae
West, an established movie actress, whose alleged immorality-driven film
performances were deemed unfit for children’s sensitive eyes and ears, did a
one-shot radio appearance, which became
the talk of Mrs. Grundy’s universe, shorter than even overnight.
The Edgar
Bergen Sunday afternoon “family” show featured the famed ventriloquist and his dummy
sidekick Charlie McCarthy. Don Ameche was also a regular cast member. On this fateful Sabbath, Miss West became the week’s guest
star.
Following an
innuendo-tinged exchange with Charlie,
she and Ameche did a skit portraying Adam and Eve’s initial “get-together”. Although innocuous enough to most listeners, the lady’s sultry and provocative tone
caused bells to ring and cannons to go off from the halls of Montclair NJ to
the shores of Monterey. It seems that
far too much sex had been allowed to drip all over biblical scriptures – and on Sunday yet.
We can’t
really call this incident an ice breaker, but it remains somewhat immortalized
in radio annals as its biggest shockeroo.
Even the FCC uttered words of condemnation, echoing those of offended
souls throughout radioland. Should the
same bit be redone on television today, using identical phraseology and tones as
then, it would likely create more than a few yawns, and/or viewers reaching for
their remotes to try another channel.
YON BONNIE
BANKS AND BRAES
1937
provided still another stunning occurrence, this time in the realm of popular
music. Long-established acceptable
practice, when playing or singing a traditional “old favorite” number, wasfor it to be performed note-for-note as originally composed, and at the same customary pace.
It so
happened, however, that a young and enterprising pianist named Cllaude
Thornhill had prepared a slightly upbeat vocal arrangement of the celebrated
Loch Lomond, to be sung by Maxine Sullivan, an up-and-coming chanteuse. Happily for the lady, the recording became an
immediate hit, the principal reason being that it was quire bouncy in
execution.
Despite reaping
a fair amount of bucks in disk sales, Miss Sullivan became pronounced guilty of
having defiled a lovely age-old tune, considered semi-sacred to the more
conservative-minded music appreciators.
Oddly enough, as soon thereafter as February 1938, Benny Goodman’s orchestra played Loch
Lomond as part of its renowned Carnegie Hall concert program, and the Martha
Tilton vocal followed the same swingy
manner as had the Sullivan version – and nobody seemed to be offended. Perhaps the “new” styling had already sunk
in.
LARRY’S
REVERIE
Again the
subject is popular music. Larry Clinton,
the leader of a prominent dance orchestra, had the “audacity” to record Debussy’s
Reverie, with lyrics “manufactured” and sung by lady vocalist Bea Wain. In this instance, the pace hadn’t been
stepped up, but just as written. What
was wrong with that, we hear you asking?
Well, in those days a person simply didn’t corrupt a piece composed by
one of the “old masters” with romance-dripping words. The classics just weren’t to be monkeyed
with. Horrors!
Whether “My
Reverie” was a mere shocker to the bluenose (and ears) folk, or merely an ice
breaker, we can’t be sure. In any event,
it didn’t take long afterward for the practice of “swinging the classics” to become
rather popular. Prime examples were Woody Herman’s Woodchoppers’
Ball (Quartet from Rigoletto); Les Brown’s Bizet Has His (Day (L’Arlesienne Suite)
and Marche Slav; Alvino Rey’a William Tell and In the Hall of the Mountain
King: plus Harry James’ Dodger Fan Dancer (Dance of the Hours) and
Flight of the Bumblebee. Still further
on, no loud objections arose when Freddie Martin recorded an instrumental
version of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto
under the title Tonight We Love.
UPTOWN
INDEED!
In the very
early 1940s, popular music produced two relative ice breakers, when Gene Krupa’s
band recorded Let Me Off Uptown, with Tommy Dorsey’s Yes, Indeed close behind. And what, one may ask, was so significant
about that? It’s just that they were both vocal numbers spiritedly rendered by
white girls accompanying black men – a hitherto unheard of situation up until
then. Anita O’Day and Roy Eldridge had
teamed up in the first case, with Jo Stafford and Sy Oliver the other.
JOSE DIDN’[T
SEE
A real shock
wave hit the TV screen on October 7, 1968.
The occasion was a World Series match between the Detroit Tigers and the
St. Louis Cardinals. A young,
growing-in-popularity blind singer-guitarist named Jose Feliciano had been
invited to perform the customary pregame national anthem. And history was promptly made.
To the sheer
astonishment of the entire viewing nation, and maybe somewhat beyond as well,
Mr. Feliciano offered a “soul” rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, feeling in all sincerity that this was justified in
his capacity as a professional
entertainer with unique styling. But
despite the artistically melodious phrasing ….. well, gangbusters. Maybe it had been acceptable in earlier times
to jazz up a classical piece, but the National
Anthem? No way, Buster! Never!
Unfortunately
for the youthful Jose, the uproarious reaction, which began after no more than
the first few bars of his singing, did indeed damage his career for a year or
so afterward. In some circles, he may
still be held in contempt to this day. Super-
and even lesser-patriots galore wasted not a minute in putting his name at the
top of their private blacklists, maybe never to be erased.
Isn’t it add
that, shortly thereafter and up until the present, nearly every pregame
sporting program has featured either an individual vocalist or a group belting
out the age-old anthem in his, her, or their own note-altered
manner. And nobody complains any longer.
“A” FOR
ADULTRESS
December
1949 and February 1950 brought on a pair of back-to-back Nathaniel l
Hawthornian events, wherein two silver screen goddesses became adorned with
bright scarlet letters, resulting in our modern age’s most lastingly significant
ice breaker from the public morality standpoint.
Although not yet divorced from Orson Welles, glamour queen Rita Hayworth had been carrying on a highly publicized
globe-hopping affair with the fabulously wealthy Prince Ali Khan since
1948. Very little backyard fence
indignation became noticeable -- that is, until news broke to the effect that
the lady was “in a family way”, as the saying goes. Meanwhile, fellow actress Ingrid Bergman was
also married to one man but involved with another, namely film producer Roberto
Rossellini. In due course, the eyebrow-raising
world learned that she too had started “eating for two”.
Even then, a touch of light courting or a harmless flirtation in far-off Stromboli could
easily be tossed aside as girls will be
girls issues. But giving birth to
illegitimate children? Oh, dear me, that
simply won’t do! Especially for such
renowned limelight figures! So Rita’s
past films immediately became objects
for organized boycott, while Ingrid was
actually denounced on the floor of the U.S. Senate, and Ed Sullivan refused to
have her appear on his TV show. In addition to both ladies’ film careers suffering major setbacks for quite some time due to universal scorn, they also became the butt of a few smirking jokes. The one most remembered dealt with the two of them meeting on the street one afternoon. “How are you these days?” asked Ingrid. “Oh, very busy,” Rita replied. “You see, my sister is getting married next month.” “Oh,” Bergman then stated, “ why, I didn’t even know she was pregnant.”
Fortunately, though, for both these maligned ladies and the film
industry in general, their indecent interludes were eventually forgotten. Not
only did they bounce back with utmost success, but indignant public outcry over
such once unforgiveable sins has long since given way to ho-hum, whenever
similar occasions have come to light.
The days of “when is the wedding?”, after an unmarried lass has begun to
show a slightly protruding waistline, are far behind us. In many ways, therefore, our fickle society
owes a deep debt of thanks to Dames Hayworth and Bergman for having brought
about such a decided and welcome breakthrough.
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