Get off the high ground: because your views directly contradict the lives and beliefs of every revered figure of human worth and equality. Get off the high ground: because goodness acts in the open; and you insist on secrecy. Get off the high ground: because you bend important principles 180 degrees and still claim you’re fulfilling them.
Get off the high ground; you ain’t all that — but you are all that that has oppressed people throughout history.
We can coexist; as long as we do what they want. As long as we say what they want. As long as we think what they want. For as long as they allow.
There is no compromise — it’s just that some things can’t be swallowed whole.
In Cornithaca County; I exposed the myths behind this modern Icon of Incorruptibility — debunking the popular view that Science is responsible, rational, reliable, selfless, and self-effacing.
When scientific studies rely on outside funding, and when, in some fields; more than a third of those studies cannot be replicated by impartial researchers — it doesn’t require a mathematician to add things up.
Science is the well-fed lap dog in the houses of the rich and powerful.
If you want to understand our government’s policies — just think like a 14-year old:
A world of privilege without responsibility. A demand to have now at any cost; ignoring the future consequences.
A resentment and refusal to listen to advice. A rebellious attitude toward anyone and anything that restricts your behavior.
And a pattern of blaming everything on someone else — especially anyone outside the group.
Or you could read “Lord of the Flies.”
Keywords. Just as keywords help in search engine recognition; they can be used attach attributes to actions [whether or not they exist] — that is why every questionable government policy comes cloaked in words of righteousness.
Equality. Equal. Equitable.
And yes, the double meaning is intended.
“Cronyism” is the Gold Standard of corruption. While following a money trail is difficult; the Quid Pro Quos and Future Expectations of cronyism are much more difficult to nail down as misconduct.
New York State requires that 3 of the 5 voting members of every oversight Soil and Water Conservation Committee be “farm” [one an active farmer, one from the Farm Bureau, and one from the Grange]: farming is the biggest polluter of the state’s lakes and waterways — is this “cronyism”? These Committees oppose fines and excuse even the largest agricultural spills; while constantly praising these farms for their commitment to Stewardship — is this “cronyism”?
There is always a point at which the logic and reasoning disappears, transparency is lost, and the power of the decision maker takes over — we need to make sure that these decisions are made for the right reasons.
We’re all in this together . . . but wouldn’t you rather be together somewhere else?
When you’re in a speeding vehicle with an impaired driver; maybe it’s better to jump out anywhere, then end up who-knows-where. Oh, Hell!
“Faster than a spending bureaucrat! More powerful than a lobby! Able to leap ethical barriers in a single bound!
(“Look! Up in the sky!” “It’s a Law!” “It’s a Mandate!” “It’s The Greater Good!”)
Yes, it’s The Greater Good… strange concept from an autocratic viewpoint, who came to our society with powers and abilities far beyond those given by the Constitution! The Greater Good… who can change the course of ethical guidelines, bend principles in his bare hands! And who, disguised as Equitable Policy, mild-mannered proponent for a Great Dictatorship, fights a never-ending battle against truth, justice, and the American people!
Is there a “kryptonite”? Yes, knowledge. Full Disclosure • Full Exposure of our government’s policies and statistics will change a Greater Good Dictatorship into a good for all democracy.
Life is more than just choices; it’s also about opportunities. Sometimes the opportunity comes when you’re out of choices; sometimes the choice carries an “opportunity cost”; and sometime the choice creates the opportunity itself.
I can’t say the choice of not going on to another bar was ever a bad one. The opportunity? Maybe just living to talk about it.
Nature abhors a vacuum — doesn’t everyone?
There’s always the urge to fill in the blank space; even when you’re not requested to “insert image/comment/URL here.”
But what constitutes a “blank space”?
Incomers define our rural fields and meadows as “vacant space” because they have not been defined and demarked as to usage. To them, these “blank spaces” are frightening; objects without labels —opportunities without a profit.
There is no neighborliness: instead, we’re now a “community,” and our community needs, running and bike trails, a dog park, sidewalks, a “town center,” a high-tax school system . . . a suburban pastiche of county club aspirations and sit-com sensibilities.
Forcing on the original inhabitants things that they don’t want; at a price they can’t afford.
The natives either die off, are taxed out, or squeezed into low-level jobs and marginalized living.
Pure Urban Colonialism.