"That's The Way It Is!"

 

“That’s The Way It Is!”

   When stupidity is accepted as unquestioned reality, we have a problem.  I’m sorry but when the present ineffective rules of government are accepted as unalterable reality we are being cowed.  “That’s the way it is Buz, accept it.”  It isn’t working, but accept it.  No, I intend to praise the positive, but rail against what doesn’t work.  And, to me, more and more of government isn’t working.  Are we being cowed?

   When a single member of The US Senate can hold up the ceremonial promotion of our military leadership, it is no longer just a harmless senate show.  It is very real.  By what insane rule of the Senate, is one member given the ultimate control of the other 99?  Is it just the way it is?  Moo.

   When over seventy percent of our nation’s citizens would like to see better regulation of the tools of death, can a majority leader of the Senate or the House not allow a motion of this intent to the floor for discussion and vote?  Well, yes he or she can.  It’s the rule.  We don’t have the right to see our children and ourselves safe from mass murder.  It’s the rule.  Moo.

   Medicare is being charged one hundred and ninety five thousand dollars a year for a lifesaving drug, by Abbvie Pharmaceuticals, to keep me and a couple hundred thousand others alive (that is, $195K/per year/per patient).   The justification for the pricing is that the company paid twenty one billion dollars for the government enforced patent protection.  Paid, not to the government, but to the previous owner of those rights.  The original developer of the drug, Celera Pharmaceuticals, sold the patent rights for three million dollars.  So, through the bidding up of the patent rights price, through time and transactions, the cost of the drug has been increased by a factor of seven thousand times (not with a test tube & a microscope but with a pen).  Well, that’s the way it is.  Moo.

   When our annual military budget is greater than the next ten militaries in the world combined, our government adds twenty to thirty billion per year with a bipartisan vote of eighty to ninety per cent of our representatives for the increase.  Could we use some of these nearly trillion dollars annually for climate change defense, or universal healthcare, or education or infrastructure?  Well, that’s the way it is.  Not a hell of a lot we can do about it.  Moo.

   When your government tells you that they are burying the evidence from the Kennedy assassination in the archives for fifty years (to be increased by another twenty-five years, before the release) is it just the way it is?  When we carefully observe the three buildings falling to the ground on 9/11 and our government tells us that no demolition was involved, is that really the way it was?  (I don’t wish to insult cattle here.)  Cluck, cluck.

   Are we as a nation being cowed into accepting the absurd by: “It’s the law?”  “It’s the way it has always been.”  “That’s the way we (Democrats or Republicans) see it.”  “I’m only one person.  What can I do?”  Moo.

   When women were not allowed to vote, “It’s the law” wasn’t an adequate answer.  Neither did that answer suffice when our nation turned a blind eye to slavery.  When one senator can stop the promotion of hundreds of military officers, “It’s a rule in our senate” isn’t an adequate position.  When one of the most important trials in the history of our nation is about to take place, don’t tell me there are no television cameras allowed in a federal courtroom.  It is my country.  I am a citizen.  Do not treat me like a mushroom.  I will see.  I will speak my mind.  Do not sluff me off with, “That’s the way it is.”  Put on your God Damn cape and take to the sky.  Grr.

Cheers, Old Buz      8/5/2023

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

“All living things base their conscious actions on their knowledge*. The difference in their effectiveness is the quality of their knowledge and their skill.” – Old Buz

*”The essence of knowledge is an ongoing search for accurate awareness”

"Up to Your Ass in Aphorisms"

 

“It is far easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.”     

     - Mark Twain

  

  Bible History

“My point, once again, is not that those ancient people told literal stories and we are now smart enough to take them symbolically, but that they told them symbolically and we are now dumb enough to take them literally.” – John Dominic Crossan, New Testament Scholar & Former Catholic Priest                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

(Your) “Life is what you think” – J.R. Pirtle

 

Purpose of Life:

“Your life is a university for the wisdom of your eternal soul.” - Old Buz (If you are but a high school graduate, substitute the words high school for the word university.)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

 Biblical Wisdom

 “Live by the foma* that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.” – The Book of Bokonon I:5 – Translation by Kurt Vonnegut

*foma = harmless untruths

 

Awareness Guide:

“See what is plain to see.  Doubt if you don’t.” – Daniel Sobel

 

“You cannot change a person’s position with reason … if they did not reach it through reason.” - Anon                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

“What others think of me is none of my business.” – Anon

 

“There is nothing stranger than a stranger …

     But realize … that stranger is you.” – Old Buz

 

“Only the actions of Donald Trump could have enabled Americans to look back  and have respect for Richard Nixon" - Old Buz                                                                                                                                                                                

 

“Lofty goals are far easier to achieve from the pulpit than from the pews.” – Old Buz                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

“The Wisdom of The Aged … the words wisdom and aged are as much an oxymoron as the words biblical and history.” – Old Buz (82 years of age)

 

“A single life is but a page in the education of eternal soul.” – Old Buz

 

“If you find little or no humor in life … you are missing most of it.” – Old Buz

 

The Present Motto of the Republican Party:

“Yes … Donald Trump is a lying, moronic lunatic,

                        but

he is OUR lying, moronic lunatic.”

 

“To the common folk, religion is truth.

To the wise, religion is false.

To the leaders, religion is useful.”

- Seneca the Younger (4 BC – 68 AD)

 

“I no longer exercise.  I don’t wish to bury a perfectly good body.”

- The Wisdom of The Aged

 

“When The Lord God sent Noah in his ark out to sea, He gave Adolf Hitler a hard act to follow.” – Old Buz                                                                                                                                              

 

Freedom in the time of pandemic:

“I’m going to attend crowded events.  I’m FREE.

“I’m not going to wear a mask.  I’m FREE.

I’m not getting vaccinated.  I’m FREE.

Why hasn’t President Biden stopped the spread of Corvid?” – Old Buz

 

The Last Word:

“I don’t listen to the experts.  I listen to my gut.”

- Donald J. Trump, 45^th President of the United States of America

 

 

True Believers:

“When Greeks speak of Gods fathering human children, we call it Greek Mythology.  When we speak of it, we call it Religion.” – Old Buz                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

“Born an agnostic and with the help of GOD* will remain one.” – Old Buz

*GOD – an acronym (G.O.D.) for Grand Omnipotent DNA – The system (or systems) guiding the Universe as studied by science. 

 

The Solutions:

“There are no perfect solutions to the problems of our imperfect world.”

(But, it is nice to keep searching.) – Old Buz

 

“All living beings base their conscious actions on their knowledge.  The difference in the effectiveness of their actions is the quality of their knowledge and their skill.”  – Old Buz

 

The essence of knowledge:

“The essence of knowledge is having it to use it.” – Confucius

“The essence of knowledge is recollection.” – Plato

“The essence of knowledge is a search for accurate awareness.” – Old Buz

 

“The end does not justify the means.  We die in the end and live in the means.”

   - Old Buz

 

“Place your dumb head on MY PILLOW.” – thank”Q”forsharing.com

 

“The pioneers take the arrows.” – Anon

 

Remember:

“One cannot fool all of the people all of the time … and that is why we have two political parties.” -Anon                                                                                                                                                     

 

“A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” – George Bernard Shaw

                                                                                                                                          

“A liberal is a person whose interests aren’t at stake at the moment.”                        - Willis Player

“A conservative is a person who does not think anything should be done for the first time.” – Frank Vanderlip

 

“There are some things only intellectuals are crazy enough to believe.”                      - George Orwell (best present example: The Big Bang Theory)

 

“Medicine is the orderly arrangement of what at the moment, seem to be facts.”   – Anon

 

“Economics: the science that tells you what you already know in words you don’t understand.” – Dr. Grubbs, U of Colorado Professor of Economics

“Our quaint optimistic aphorisms, offered in an hour of anguish, are like playthings by the bedside of a deathly sick child.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

“I think; therefore I am.” – Rene’ Descartes (original quote)

“I think; therefore I think I am.” – Ambrose Bierce (a much needed clarification)

(Your) “Life is what you think.” – J.R. Pirtle (accurate conclusion)

 

“Psychiatry: enables us to correct our faults by confessing our parents’ shortcomings.” - Laurence J. Peter

 

“The essence of a quotation is often lost in translation.” – Jesus of Nazareth (spoken in Hebrew)

 

“With deeper understanding comes simplicity.” – Old Buz

 

“Trump Republicans: The party of the 5^th Amendment.” – Old Buz

 

“Somewhere back in infinity … it All began with a plop.” – Divine Revelation

 

“There is a willful blindness that marches alongside loyalty.” – Old Buz

 

“Beware of corporations bearing gifts.” – Tros, the Founder of Troy, 3,000 BC

 

“There are some things that only The Faithful are crazy enough to believe.” – Old Buz (example: God created the universe about 6.000 years ago … in six days.)

 

“Suicide is the only arguably, morally justifiable use of a deadly weapon.” – Old Buz (Morals, shmorals … it’s a messy method.)

 

Humanist: “Morality without Mythology”

 

“If you take great pride in the color of your skin, you have little to be proud of.”  -Old Buz

 

“Rarely is the last word the wisest word spoken.” – Old Buz

 

“If you are starting to use emoji to express your thoughts … remember your mother’s good advice: Use your words darling.” – Your Mother

 

“The word Freedom is fast becoming a synonym for the word Stupidity.” – Thank Q

 

“Political Polarity: Where one person’s truth is another’s nonsense.” – Old Buz (Not a very good formula for cooperation and progress.)

 

Religion: “Currently, the longest running successful experiment in human gullibility.” – Old Buz

Society: “Camel riders on route to attempt passage through the eye of a needle.” – Old Buz

 

“Predator or President, we love him either way.” – The RNC

 

“Willful ignorance is nine tenths of the Trump Republican.” – Old Buz (With respect to political correctness and effective communication, I gave them an unearned one tenth.)

 

“Don’t rock the trough.” – Motto of the United States Government

 

“Ignorance about your enemy is not a position of power.” – Old Buz

 

“Follow a voice that reminds you of Home, leaf in the wind that you make as you follow.” – Daniel Sobel

 

THE OBVIOUS:

“All living things base their conscious actions on their knowledge*. The difference in their effectiveness is the quality of their knowledge and their skill.” – Old Buz

* ”The essence of knowledge is an ongoing search for accurate awareness”

 

“Enjoy your awareness.  It is definitely a choice and possibly a gift.” – Old Buz

 

“Everything that you are presently aware of existed before you were aware of it.” – Old Buz”

 

“God doesn’t know a weed from a flower and that is why Donald Trump lives.” – Old Buz

 

“Kevin, we are not going to turn over the control of our nation to Marjory Taylor Green of QAnon, simply so that you can maintain your position as House Majority Leader.” – President Joe Biden (spoken if this were the best of all possible worlds)

 

“In the best of all possible worlds Donald Trump would not exist, so where the hell are we?” – Gottfried Leibniz

 

“The loyalist follows the under tail scent of the lemming in front of him.” – Old Buz

 

“Illusion x Majority Opinion = Truth & Knowledge” – Old Buz

 

“HONK if you love Jesus.

TEXT if you’d like to meet Him.”  - American Foundation for Truth in Bumper Stickers

 

“Ponder your awareness.  But remember, faith is an obstacle.” – Old Buz

Cheers, Old Buz           06.13.2023

iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

Science Lemmings

   Science Lemmings pretty much follow the philosophy of any other group of lemmings.  Lemming groups are represented by such groups as Religious Lemmings, Political Party Lemmings, Family Lemmings and Patriotic Lemmings.  The members of lemming groups don’t primarily think as individuals.  They follow a respected leader.  Some call it faith.  The Science Lemmings once believed that the sun circled the Earth.  This belief was shared by the Religious Lemmings and pretty much everyone else.  It was a popular belief.  By observing the sun from the Earth each day, there was little reason to question the belief.  Belief changes with time, unless it is religious belief.

   Science Lemmings of today pretty much universally believe in The Big Bang Theory.  My understanding of the theory is that about 35 billion years ago a bit of matter, the size of a pinhead exploded BANG and from this explosion the material universe was created.  It has the feel to me of something from nothing, or nearly nothing to everything in the universe.  My experience when questioning anyone in the Science Lemming group is that they believe in big bang, but they can’t actually explain the transaction.  They cannot produce the mathematical formula behind the theory and if they could I probably wouldn’t understand it.

   Neil deGrasse Tyson did say in a Video that I watched that he did believe in the Big Bang Theory and when asked where it took place, he said here, where the Earth is now.  He further explained that anywhere in the universe where the theory is applied, will be the point of origin of the big bang.  I would guess that Neil has a working understanding of the formula.  So the exact location of the bang was anywhere and everywhere.  That is a problem for me.  How could it be?

   Tyson is a very bright man.  I believe that the Science Lemmings may have one small error in their formula.  I see them as tracking awareness, not matter.  That would say that at the moment that life began anywhere, awareness began and awareness is of the Universe.  I don’t know if not living objects have awareness, but I would guess that they don’t.  The concept that the existence of matter requires awareness is not new to Buddhists, but I don’t know that the Buddhist Lemmings associate their beliefs with the Big Bang Theory.  I would offer this concept to the Buddhists, but they probably have no faith in me.  Ho hum.

Cheers, Old Buz   11/24/2021

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

Liberty

“Give me liberty, or give me death!” – Patrick Henry, Virginia delegate 3/23/1775.  “Give me liberty, or give me death!” – Gov. Dunmore of Virginia 3/20/1775.  This is Patrick quoting his Governor, three days after the original quote, and yet, Patrick Henry is generally given the credit for originating the statement.  This assumes that my on-line research is correct.

Liberty is an often misunderstood concept and each of us has a slightly different understanding of it.  I believe that Adam gave up some of his liberty when he gave up one of his ribs.  That is to say that as the population grows and co-operates for the good of all, we give up some individual liberties.  It is accomplished with empathy and effective legislation.  We give up individual power for the good of the community.  Mandating a vaccine in the time of a pandemic is an example of this.

But this particular blog isn’t about Liberty.  It is about Liberty Mutual and the awareness of their potential customers.  Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance has been advertising on the major cable news networks (MSNBC, CNN and Fox) for over a decade that “Liberty Sells You Only What You Need”.  The ad is repeated several times a day and features a B.S. artist and an Emu.  This is a lot of dollars in advertising, for a long period of time, so it must be very effective.  Since it is presented to both Liberals and Conservatives, we must assume similar gullibility.  You see, I have been buying auto insurance for over sixty years now, through such companies as GEICO, Allstate, State Farm and Farmer’s and I am yet to see a policy that didn’t allow me to choose the level of my coverage.  There are basic requirements set by your State, but above those basic coverages, the level of protection is the buyer’s choice.  That is to say that if Ford Motor Company offered you an automobile with four wheels on the ground, it would be an important feature.  Obviously, all commonly sold cars have four wheels on the ground.  Is it a reason to buy a Ford?  Because if it is, then you are a potential buyer of Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance and I fear that you are in the simple majority.

Another quick note on Liberty Mutual:  I spent a couple of years as the office manager of a Physical Therapy office.  I handled the claims.  Liberty Mutual Health Insurance would often deny a claim or a procedure for no apparent reason.  On calling their claims agent, I was always told to resubmit the claim and they would pay it.  They did pay it.  This seems to make no sense, but it does if you realize that many office managers will accept, without question, the determination of the insurance claims department.  The other important point here is that you, as a patient, agree that all charges by your provider are your primary responsibility and that your doctor is merely accepting payment from your insurance company, in place of your payment.  Any portion of your bill not paid by your insurance company is your responsibility.

This particular blog post is not about Liberty Mutual.  They are not alone.  It is about this nation’s acceptance of obvious lies.  A great philosopher once said, “See what is plain to see.  Doubt what is not.”  When you doubt something … research it.

Cheers, Old Buz   8/28/2021

Iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

"G.O.D."

Just as IBM stands for International Business Machines, GOD stands for the Grand Omnipotent D.N.A.  The Grand Omnipotent DNA is the system of the universe, just as your DNA is the system or blueprint of your individual being.  So, GOD is the system of the universe and you Atheists might as well throw in the towel.  After all, there is a system.

“Dark Matter” is the scientific terminology for “we don’t understand it.”  The formulas that deal with dark matter are constantly changing, being modified and none move to the level of scientific  law. Twenty years from now, many scientists will laugh at today’s scientific theories.  There is nothing wrong with that.  I applaud a belief system that corrects itself as it accumulates knowledge.  Too bad that our most popular belief systems don’t do that.

Enough reason (anti-religious babble).  Our free market system and uber-capitalism is bringing an end to our society.  I don’t wish to sound like Chicken-Little, but we are running out of fresh water.  In California 2,700 farms have been threatened, by the state, to stop allowing the pumping of river water to irrigate their crops.  This short term bandage will help Californians with their bathing, drinking and landscaping, but it will raise the cost and lower the availability of food, in California and all over the nation.  How could this happen?  We have known about the water shortage in the Southwest and elsewhere for decades.  We presently have the technology to solve the problem.  It is called desalinization.  An atomic aircraft carrier produces 400,000 gallons of clear water from sea water a day.  Saudi Arabia and Sydney, Australia both get their water from the sea.  Desalinization can be powered by solar energy, without polluting the air or using up fossil fuel.  Then why aren’t there modern desalinization plants strategically located along our ocean and gulf coastlines?  Well, our utility companies are generally large corporations.  Their decisions are not based on the common good, but on quarterly profits and presently it is cheaper to pull fresh water from ground water and rivers than to build and operate desalinization facilities.  This will of course change with improved technology and scarcity of available clear water, but short term profitably will still not call for the capitalization to build the facilities.   Sorry you utility stockholders, all utilities need to be nationalized.  They are a natural monopoly or oligarchy and neither works well in a “free market” system.  “Give me water, or give me death”.  A reasonable quote and so true.

Where does G.O.D. come into the picture?  Well, presently we and many other nations of the world are spending huge sums of national wealth on studying the Higgs Boson, commonly referred to as “The God Particle”.  The budget for this program is 5.1 billion dollars.  It is the study of a particle that exists two dimensions away from our awareness.  It is a sub-atomic particle.  Our transgression into the atomic world has thus far given us a dangerous source of energy with unmanageable byproducts and a weapon system that we have used to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and is scheduled to murder many more and perhaps to end civilization as we know it.  I think we would be better off staying in our own dimension.  Below the atomic dimension, lives the sub-atomic dimension and this is where the God particle resides.  The Higgs Boson has 126 times the mass of a proton.  Not important to you and me, but it is a balancing factor involved in the gravity of our universe.  The experimentation on Higgs Boson involves firing the particle, at the speed of light, down a 17mile tunnel, into another Higgs Boson.  The exact result of the collision is a bit of an unknown.  One unlucky quantum fluctuation, or a change in energy, could trigger a process called, “quantum tunneling”.  This quantum fluctuation would likely cause a chain reaction that will destroy the universe.  Not to worry.  There will be no pain.  The “God Particle” will simply turn off your lights.

You live in a democracy.  It isn’t presently working.  Did you ever vote to use tax dollars to support Higgs Boson research and facility construction rather than on desalinization research and facilities?  Do you have any real interest in Higgs Boson?  What are the benefits?  For that matter, what are the benefits of sending a man to Mars, as opposed to desalinization of water or improvements in education, or improvements in healthcare?  We have limited funds and that implies choices.  Yes, I love science and the possible increase in knowledge that it brings.  But when the benefit is to the scientist and not to the population in general, then I want a vote in how my tax dollars are spent.  I will vote for vocational and preschool education over playing two dimensions out of my awareness into a realm that may usher in the end of our universe.  And, let’s solve the water shortage.  It is time to get out the pitchforks and torches.

Cheers, Old Buz   
comments are welcome