GE Propaganda

Over the weekend I saw a number of different TV commercials from GE touting their great company and all of the wonderful things that they do. None of these commercials had anything to do with promoting consumer products. This is simply corporate propaganda, feel-good stuff to make the average viewer say, “Wow, that there is a pretty darn good company, ain’t it Clem?” While I cannot be totally sure about their motives, this certainly has the feel of damage control, i.e., a reaction to the public backlash, by the small percentage of the population who is actually paying attention, over their not paying any taxes in 2010 and receiving money back from the government.

Hey GE, where is the TV commercial where you explain how and why you moved your entire radiology division to China? Yeah, you will say because China is an “emerging market” which it probably is. Did you have to move all of the jobs over there for that, or because you can get cheap labor and continue to dodge paying taxes to Uncle Sam?

The ironic part about these TV spots is that they will be classified as a business expense against earnings, thereby contributing to GE’s continued tax dodge. Only in America.

The Penn State Board of Trustees did the right thing with respect to Coach Paterno. The way this thing has exploded due to his seemingly-calculated inaction there is just no way that he should be permitted to continue to lead this team. There may be a lot more to come but right now the best thing to do is get him and all of the others involved out of the public eye and away from the school while they begin to address the huge storm ahead.

While I am glad that he has been removed I do not revel in this shame and disgrace that has befallen the school or football program. I am quite disappointed that school officials have not been more forthcoming with proactive statements or actions related to the victims, but recognize that there is a fine legal line in place that they must maintain and probably cannot get into that stuff, at least not yet.

I am certainly very disappointed with Paterno's involvement and inaction with this situation. It has diminished my respect for him to the lowest possible level. I will never be able to hear his name and not immediately think of the damage that his inaction has done to a bunch of kids, the exact number of which we may never know. But just like O.J. I will always admire what he was able to accomplish in football, on and off the field:

• He created one of the most storied college football programs in the history of the sport
• He stressed academics and graduated a lot of players
• He didn't cash in by leaving for more money
• He knew the value of branding and didn't succumb to the lure of big money to change that brand.
• He gave back millions to the university
• He won a lot of games, bowl games, and a couple of national championships

This is the stuff that those who continue to support him remember while not considering that character trumps all of that. They are people whose values are misplaced, either permanently or due to their emotions temporarily clouding their better judgment. Those in the latter category will come around, while just like with O.J. there will be those who will support Coach Paterno to the end of their days.

My primary thoughts are with the victims of Jerry Sandusky and hope that they find a way to find some way to heal and put this behind them. I know that is a tall order. Just like we cannot un-ring a bell, there is not much that can be done to erase these acts from their memories and lives. Still I hope that he has not ruined these people in such a way that they cannot follow their dreams.

In Thursday, November 10, 2011 Neil Rudel of the Altoona Mirror wrote:

Wednesday night, while attempting to take the first step toward rebuilding its reputation and re-shaping its future, Penn State finally sent the message that the institution cannot take orders from the football coach.

From: http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/555303/End-of-lion-won-t-overshadow-greatest-tenure.html?nav=805

On the margins of this mess another subject needs discussed, that being the stranglehold that college sports and sports in general have on our society. Had events like this been related to faculty members associated with the school's orchestra would the school attempt to cover it up? I don't think so, but there is no potentially-huge financial loss associated with the school's orchestra.

We live in a world where a school will pay millions of dollars for the right to play football in a different conference. We don't blink an eye when we see that West Virginia University will pay $5 million to leave the Big East. FIVE MILLION DOLLARS! For an extracurricular activity? Coaches are paid enormous sums and these programs generate boat loads of revenue. Is it any wonder that these guys would want to protect that? While the end certainly does not justify the means in this case, I will suggest that we, our collective society, should also be ashamed that we have created this monster that would make some intelligent men make horrible decisions that hurt children all for the sake of what is supposed to be a diversion for students in pursuit of higher education.

GOP Blows It, Again

Does everyone remember the GOP going on and on about the solution to health care in the US is letting it sort itself out in the free market and introducing more competition by permitting the sale of health insurance across state lines? Well they had an opportunity to put their votes where their mouths are last week and failed miserably.

A Senate bill was shot down by the Republicans that would have permitted American consumers to buy US-made pharmaceuticals from Canadian vendors over the Internet, by mail order, or in person. This applied only to individuals, not wholesalers, who would be obtaining FDA-approved drugs for their personal use.

Just think, an opportunity to lower the prices of drugs in this country, something that would have given a whole lot of people some additional discretionary income to pump into the economy. But it would have taken some of the profits away from big pharma and the Republicans could have none of that.

For those of you who kneel at the altar of the GOP every November keep in mind that:

• Nobody will ever force you or any of your loved ones to have an abortion.
• Nobody will ever force you or any of your loved ones to marry someone of the same sex.
• Nobody will ever take your guns away from you.

How about throwing all of your bums out and voting in Senators and Representatives who will do something to help everyone and not just the rich and powerful? Just try this so that we can get everything on the right track and then you can go back to your single-issue, narrow-minded, God, Gays, and Guns voting habits.

Where do they get this stuff?

Did anyone notice that the sun continues to rise and everyone's lives have been unaffected by the official elimination of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy in the military?

On a related note, check out this exchange that took place at a recent Republican debate:

Quote

KELLY: Senator Santorum, this question stirred up a whole lot of controversy online, and it comes from Stephen Hill, who is a soldier serving in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: In 2010, when I was deployed to Iraq, I had to lie about who I was, because I'm a gay soldier, and I didn't want to lose my job.
My question is, under one of your presidencies, do you intend to circumvent the progress that's been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BOOING)
SANTORUM: Yeah, I -- I would say, any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military. And the fact that they're making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to -- to -- and removing "don't ask/don't tell" I think tries to inject social policy into the military. And the military's job is to do one thing, and that is to defend our country.
We need to give the military, which is all-volunteer, the ability to do so in a way that is most efficient at protecting our men and women in uniform.

So, let me get this straight, permitting anyone to serve in the military is injecting social policy and Don't Ask Don't Tell is not? If someone can explain this, please take a shot.

Perry? Say it ain't so!

For over a decade, we Texans have witnessed firsthand what Perry's done to our state. And it's not a pretty picture. We've watched him threaten secession and rail against Washington while using federal stimulus money to cover up his own billion dollar budget shortfall.

Perry bragged to the national media about shooting a coyote, but we watched him do more lasting damage to public education by shortchanging schools, knocking 100,000 kids out of full-day Pre-Kindergarten, and crowding more kids into classrooms. He brags about the Texas economy, but his budget proposal would have destroyed hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs from both the public and private sectors.

During any debates that he may choose to participate in (remember that he refused to attend any debates during his last run for governor) pay close attention to his attack on the new health care act, specifically the provision that mandates that everyone have coverage. He really cannot criticize this provision without being beat down by the opposition because as govenor he mandated that:

• All Texas girls receive a vaccine against the human papillomavirus before entering the sixth grade. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4521884.html
• All women undergo an ultrasound, hear a detailed description of the fetus and then wait a full 24 hours before receiving abortion care.http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7572639.html

The first one had to involve some kind of payoff from Merck to him or his family. The second one was just playing to the base, of course.

If he ends up being the nominee I would certainly hope that smart Republicans will write in a better choice for president.

Absentee Governor

Go into your boss’s office and tell them that from now until late November, 2012 you will:

• Work many fewer hours per week.
• Not be at work as much, many weeks not at all.
• Be spending your time trying to obtain a new job.
• Be coming back and resuming a normal work schedule if you do not obtain the new job.

How do you think that would go over? Probably not very well. However this is precisely what Governor Rick Perry is doing now that he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Republican presidential nomination.

Governor Perry was elected to direct the activities of the state, not to spend a year or more running for president. Seems like we need an amendment to the Texas State Constitution that either prohibits this practice or requires that elected officials resign if they want to seek a higher office.

Better yet, this should be a federal law, which would help to implement term limits on these do-nothing career politicians.

Perry vetoes texting while driving bill

During the coverage of the US Open a commercial was aired multiple times that showed a number of parents making sure that their kids were safe, e.g., wearing safety gear while biking, floaties when taking a bath, etc. One of these parents was shown buckling her child into a car seat and checking it. Then it cuts to her driving while texting, with her child securely buckled in the car seat in the back seat. Suddenly, as she is not paying attention she runs an intersection and is hit broadside. The commercial illustrated that one should be mindful of all risks to the safety of their children and should not be texting while driving. This was definitely a good and effective way to drive home this message.

On Friday, June 17, Texas Governor Rick “I wanna be president” Perry vetoed a bill that would have made texting while driving illegal. He did so because he views it as "a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults." He recognizes that "texting while driving is reckless and irresponsible”, but prefers information and education campaigns to dissuade drivers of all ages from texting while driving.

So OK, that is understandable, especially when considering the governor’s hard right leaning political posture, one that he moved to after previously being a Democrat. (He no doubt changed parties because he saw no future in politics as a Democrat in Texas, but I digress.) However, he is currently flying all over the place to address various groups of conservatives, testing the waters for a presidential run, and repeating his anti-abortion stance.

Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in this? He vetoes a bill that may save real, living and breathing lives because he does not want “to micromanage the behavior of adults”, yet he wants “to micromanage the behavior of adults” by outlawing abortion. What about an “information and education campaign” to dissuade folks of all ages to avoid unwanted pregnancies? Plus doesn’t “pro-life” include all lives? Apparently not to our governor.

This is just one of many examples of why this guy should never be president. C'mon Republicans, you have to have someone better than this guy. If you don't, then there is no hope for your party and our great country.