"In the long run, we're all dead!" ... John Maynard Keynes

In the long run, we're all dead

It seems that it's about time to apply some logic and common sense to this Swine Flu Pandemic [sic].

That's right ... the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Wednesday that a swine flu pandemic is not just likely, but imminent (that's a score of five where an all-out pandemic would be six). On this evening's evening news, Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO's director general said, "It's really all of humanity that's under threat."

Wow! I'm really scared! [NOT!]

Some statistics from the same news broadcast are worth mentioning.

The total number of laboratory-confirmed swine flu cases as of noon today (Eastern daylight time): United States - 121; Mexico - 356; rest of the world - 162. The total number of laboratory-confirmed swine flu deaths worldwide is only 17. (Yeh, the number of suspected swine flu deaths is roughly between 150 and 175.

But ...

The average total number of seasonal flu deaths annually in the U.S. is around 36,000 and is over a million worldwide. Hellfire, the number of Americans who die in automobile accidents exceeds even the 36,000 who die of the flu.

We have yet to confirm even the second known death of swine flu in the United States during the current epidemic-cum-pandemic and Seattle, Washington has already closed five elementary schools with more to close next week. Will the airports and shopping malls be next?

Let's get real!

It would make more sense to plant a $600 lightening rod in your front lawn than to spend even fifty cents for a face mask to protect yourself from the swine flu.

But it's always a good idea to cover your mouth when sneezing ... and washing your hands after using the bathroom.

Judas in Heaven ... Why not? ALL things are possible with Christ!

Judas being welcomed into God's Eternal Kingdom?

To some extent, I think that Scripture itself supports some of the thoughts from my most recent previous posting.

(1 Pet 4:6) "For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."

I kind of think that just about all of the people whom Jesus visited in "Hell" after His death on the cross knew that Judas betrayed Christ. Hmmm ... I just wonder if the first soul that Jesus met in those terrible hours was Judas. If so, I'm sure there would have been a crowd around--and that if Judas asked Jesus to forgive him ... well, what do you think Jesus would have done then? (Especially after asking His Father in Heaven to "forgive them for they know not what they do!")

What an impression that might have made in the depths of Hell!

There's just something that's tells me that if Jesus went to the depths of hell, and if Judas was there, that Jesus would have retrieved him as well as the others. (My pastor would add ..."if they accepted Christ as their Saviour," of course.)

I think the next four verses will back me up on my crazy thoughts.

Psa 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Mat 18:12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

Mat 18:13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

Mat 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

I think it was great that Jesus went to all those that had died before, and offered salvation to them, before returning to those in the flesh. You must know they waited for quite a long time for that moment.

One parting thought: Where would the rest of us be--if someone had not betrayed Christ?

Is Judas in Heaven or Hell today?

I say that we probably should let God be His Judge.

Remorse? Repentance? Me thinks my pastor is splitting hairs ...

Today, our pastor in Ocean Shores--a sweet Baptist and good friend, at least until today--suggested that Grace is defined as "undeserved love" and that it's a mystery how God chooses some of us and rejects others. He specifically cited Judas as an example of the latter.

After his sermon, which was quite good in most respects, he asked for questions.

I waited until many had had their chances to pontificate on "Hell being our own choice" and other such jewels of wisdom [sic] relating to so many of us who reject the Grace of God before I asked a simple question.

I used (perhaps clumsy) words to describe a child of perhaps two who was learning to walk in the sands of Judea 2000 years ago. I gave this child the name, Judas, and asked how God in all of his mercy chose to reject this child.

Before the pastor was able to come up with his answer, several in the Congregation angrily suggested that I read my Bible more carefully and realize that Judas rejected Christ and not vice-versa. The Pastor then broke in and said something like, "That was a good question, Joe, but you must see that Judas showed remorse in the end and not repentance--even hanging himself as the ultimate sin!"

I let it pass and apologized to Pastor Kerry on the way out for having asked the question.

But now, I read in my New International (NIV) version of the Bible some interesting words: (Matthew 27:4): "I have sinned," he [Judas] said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."

Remorse? Repentance? Sounds a little like my very gentle (really!) and intelligent (really!) pastor might just be splitting hairs a little.

Would Jesus so split hairs?

Clean Coal? Who's Kidding Whom?

To back up my previous posting, let me add that coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels available for power. Coal power produces sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, carbon dioxide and other toxic substances that lead to acid rain, smog, ozone and climate change.

RFK Jr. versus P-BO ... Is "Clean Coal" an Oxymoron? You're Effen Right it is!!!

Environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- the Family's Courage is Unstoppable!

In an interview this week with ABC News, environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized President Obama and other political leaders for choosing "to endorse conditions that clearly are wrong" in the debate over so-called "clean coal."

"The coal industry and the carbon industry in general are the largest contributors to the political process," he said. "So, you know, you have politicians who have essentially become indentured servants to these, and adopt the talking points of these industries." He didn’t have to name our current president explicitly, but included P-BO with other politicians who "feel the need to parrot the talking points of this industry that is so destructive to our country."

"You don't have politicians representing the American public, but rather the people who finance their campaigns," RFK Jr. said. "And that's the coal industry and the oil industry, who are the primary funders."

Unfortunately, "Clean coal" is a somewhat vague term—indeed I believe that it’s the most obvious oxymoron of 2009. The coal industry defines it as "any technology to reduce pollutants associated with the burning of coal that was not in widespread use" before regulations were put in place in 1990. A more well-known blogger (Slate) commented that "By that definition, the group can call any newer coal-based power plant clean." Read the Slate article By Jacob Leibenluft, if you do nothing else today! It was written way back in that 2008 campaign, if one can recall back into the "good old days" before the full impact of the recession befell us.

Regardless of how little we think we are paying for the electricity generated by the coal plants now, we will be paying the cost for having continued to burn coal later—in our health and our doctor bills. I believe that was what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was trying to tell us. Having become addicted to his XM radio show, I recognize that he is not a nuclear scientist any more than he is America’s top energy genius.

But he is a spokesman and he has clearly pointed out that our politicians—both Democrat and Republican—have been bought and paid for by the oil and coal and ... name the fossil fuel ... industries. In time, we will think of banks and the automakers as little more than a moment's concern.

We have to start somewhere to kick our fossil fuel habits and the radio and television air waves are probably the only current possibilities for that start.

Clean? Indeed ...

Artistic Talent Continues to the Third Generation

Nephew John Szabo's Painting in Upper Left ... His Grandmother's ("Mediawingnut's" Mother's) Painting at Lower Right

If you go to my nephew, John's website and scroll down to his "Painting #8" ... you will see the above photograph with no mention of another painting to the lower right of John's painting--clearly showing off a painting by one of the two (primary) persons from whom young John inherited his talent. His father, Joe Szabo (my big brother in Alpha Delta Phi and a classmate going back to high school and college) married my sister and shared his (my bro-in-law's) artistic talent with that of my mother to produce the world's next Picasso.

Also shown in the photo (besides the paintings) is a photo of Mediawingnuts being zapped by a UFO-borne laser near abouts Mount Rainier and also my laptop showing my brother's dog's website on the screen.

No one has ever asked me to decorate their living room wall. I wonder why not ...

You can't tell a book by its cover, they allus says ...

A Star is Born ... Turn over in Your Grave, Judy Garland for ... Susan Boyle!

I wonder how many of you (especially among the Ryan clan) went to YouTube to hear and see Susan Boyle sing "I Dreamed a Dream" over the past week or so. If so, you will surely agree that she carries with her the makings of an unlikely star in a world where age, beauty (of the beholder) and rock star fame are the keys to the kingdom, so to speak.

The competition on Britain's Got Talent (England's version of American Idol) during which the unglamorous, unfashionable Miss Boyle, 47, turned a whole lot of stereotypes upside-down by unveiling her gorgeous singing voice last Saturday night has suddenly taken on worldwide notice. Part of the joy of watching her performance was seeing the obnoxious grimace disappear from Simon Cowell's face once she opened her mouth. Even the audience, in an instant, transformed itself from tittering condescension to open-mouthed admiration.

Miss Boyle is unmarried (and unkissed, she told the program), has no job, lives with her cat and has, until now, sung mostly in her local church. But she has become a heroine not only to people dreaming of being catapulted from obscurity to fame but also to those who cheer her triumph over looks-ism and ageism in a world that so values youth and beauty.

Go, Susan ... GO!!

The P-BO Conspiracy. Note that Mediawingnuts has been referring to President Obama as P-BO for three months ... a Conspiracy? What do you think?

Well, Malia and Sasha (and Michelle, P-BO and Li'l Bo) ... Congratulations and Happy Easter from Mediawingnuts. Sweetheart and Gem both look forward to learning more about what exactly a Portuguese Water Dog is. Looks a little like Sweetheart after walking on one of Ocean Shores' newly paved (wet black tar!) streets.

Of course, it (li'l Bo) won't be in the White House until Tuesday or so in order that today's big news can remain (and IS!!!) the rescue of Captain Phillips from the pirates off the Somali Coast.

Even so, a completely new conspiracy theory is arising: Did FirstDogCharlie.com really break the news first and was Li'l Bo's name really "Charlie" until now?

Watch for Rush Limbaugh to make that the headlines over the next week, and not the solidly presidential decisions to (1) apply force to save Captain Phillips and (2) accept the wonderfully warm gift of Li'l Bo from Senator Ted Kennedy and allowing his daughters to meet and say "Yes!" in advance to Li'l Bo's selection as the First Dog.

This, from Senator Kennedy's office's "official" statement: "We couldn't be happier to see the joy that Bo is bringing to Malia and Sasha. We love our Portuguese Water Dogs and know that the girls — and their parents — will love theirs too."

Sweetheart, George, Ralph, Rosie, Andrew, Arnold, Patricia and Samantha (the Mediawingnuts managerie) all wish their best to Malia and Sasha too.

For those of you who thought I was a mite unfair ... suggesting that the PUMA (a.k.a. Obamobile) would be uncomfortable seating two ...

Many have commented that even suggesting that the PUMA (see previous posting) might not seat two comfortably. This head-on photo should settle the matter!

With G.M.'s CEO fired by Obama, the wave of new sleek models is IN!!

G.M. has unveiled its newest--the two-wheel PUMA (a.k.a. the Obamobile)!!

The revolution of socialized auto manufacturing is HERE!! The new Federally funded and managed cars of the future will soon be the "wheels of America," just as the City Bank of Hong Kong and the First Bank of Beijing are becoming models of the new "Bank of America"!

Admittedly, the Obamobile will only go 35 mph and 35 miles on a charge, but will seat one comfortably (or two moderately-sized persons uncomfortably) and likely be General Motor Corporation's Cadillac of the 21st Century.

Basically, it is a result of the merger of General Motors and Segway--although at least two major manufacturers of can-openers are likely to be brought aboard before the next GM Board meeting.

Coined P.U.M.A (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility), the vehicle features an OnStar wireless communication system that lets people communicate and locate each other in a city. Reportedly, the vehicle can also detect and automatically avoid other moving vehicles and people in its path.

GM's stock will now be competing with many bicycle and golf-cart manufacturers and is touted by the Obama team as the wave of the New World Economy's transportation both here in America and abroad.

I Feel the Trickle-Down! And it Doesn't Smell Like Roses! Nor Money--not Even Like Glade in an Outhouse!

Yeh, yeh ... I know ... the DOW has been rallying for a month or so. The recession is ending ... Life is good!

Layoffs are an easy answer.

They are also a boon to stock prices and the depth of the pockets of the millionaires’ pockets.

Our State Government simply didn’t do the work necessary to hit decent budget numbers that reflected changes in tax revenues. Layoffs, while still an emotional hit on guys like me—and my “manager,” a lovely woman who does a good job as an Associate Dean—are easy.

In my case, the previous school management just didn’t get how much trouble they were in and ignored problems so long that the only choices they had were drastic actions, including layoffs.

In the bigger picture, the 8.5% unemployment nationwide was a gross mismanagement dating back probably ten to twenty years—Republicans and Democrats—that allowed almost criminal mismanagement of corporate (not merely banking and financial) regulations.

But there are winners! Notice that Wall Street is coming back as unemployment continues to rise and salaries and hourly wages continue to drop.

My theory is that investors never stop reaping the rewards of such awful events as mass layoffs, jobs being exported to slave shops overseas and the continual “trading” of puts and calls of corporate stocks that have decimated my IRA (almost gone!) and 401K (gone!) accounts.

It’s not only the lack of employment that tears the elderly (that’s me!) apart; it’s the lack of that wonderful (so we thought) nest egg for when we hit 74.4 years of age--and now can do little more than pound the keys of our laptops complaining about life in this "Great" 21st Century.

In the eight disastrous years of George Bush’s reign, income inequality increased and there was no responsible government oversight of the stock market. This allowed our economy to free-fall into an abyss of debt. The Republican solution is still more tax cuts for corporations and the rich. When did that work? Answer: The Gilded Age. Who did it work for? Answer: It made the rich richer and the poor poorer.

President Bill Clinton was no better fifteen years ago. He and his administration abetted corporate America in exporting more American jobs so that investors on Wall Street could reap bigger profits from sweatshop labor in the Third World, leaving Wall Street richer and American workers poorer. But let’s face it, Clinton was largely supported by a Republican-dominated Congress. Nice excuse, Bill!

Migod! The Republicans and "Blue Democrats" have been chanting tax cuts and small government for the last 28 years and look at the results. They said tax cuts would increase wealth and investment (the "investment" went essentially to Third World sweatshops), and that the increased wealth would "trickle down."

I feel the trickle – it’s cold, clammy and it doesn't smell like money. It smells like sewage.

This posting is getting too long …

Please, Mediastinkbutt! Get off the Pity Pot! ... from Sweetheart

No! This is NOT Mediawingnuts!

This posting is from Sweetheart … not from my Dear Uncle Joe.

Uncle Joe tends to dramatize a bit (see his previous posting) and personally, I for one think everything will work out.

There’s a statement in the Big Book (could be in the Twelve and twelve) that says something along the lines of “God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.”

Well Uncle Joe (a.k.a. Mediawingnuts) could probably never have managed to bring himself to stop working fulltime—even at 74.4 years of age—and well … God figured out how to bring a recession to the United States and a nine billion dollar budget deficit to the State of Washington … and well, you know the rest of the story from Uncle Joe’s previous posting.

With my love to the grumpy old man--and my best friend (BF) Richard’s love too--we believe that he’ll survive to pay the mortgage after July 1, 2009 … although the details have yet to be worked out.

That’s God’s job—and Jesus has been working for the betterment of His creation for several thousand years.

Of course, Purina One Dog Chow is at the top of the list for July 2, 2009!