Unfettered Blather

The industry I currently provide services to is banking.

Yeah, absorb that for a moment.

I’m not terribly worried about everything that is going on yet. What worries me is that people are going to panic. It doesn’t help that the media is flashing the word “CRISIS” every five seconds. I really hate the media right now. I didn’t care for them when I had to work with them way back in my law enforcement days and they’ve done nothing to make me feel better about them since.

It seems like we just recovered from the Dot Com Bust and now this? What made the Dot Com Bust so painful though was the constant talk from the media about how bad the economy was. People panicked then and we had this constant cycle of low consumer confidence followed by layoffs as everyone refused to spend money. It was this terribly vicious cycle.

On the flip side I keep hearing about how it will be harder to get credit. Good! There are so many reasons why that is not a bad thing! One of the reasons we’re in this mess is that people are more than happy to borrow today and not worry if they can pay tomorrow. I hope that no matter how bad things get or whether or not the government can “fix” it we can at least learn some valuable lessons from it.

On the other flip side (three sided coin I guess) I am so not impressed with our congress. Nancy Pelosi can blow me, seriously. You give a partisan speech and tick off the people you need to work with them blame them for voting against the bill when the Democrats had 40% of their own membership vote against it as well. That is outstanding “leadership”. I’ve had this perception that the two party system has devolved from being forced to reach compromises to just a bunch of stonewalling and hissy fits until one side gets their way. It’s really sad that they cannot even work together for the good of the American people.

The Democrats cannot ignore their own part in creating this crisis. I love the focus on how the Republicans caused all this, as if the Dems are completely without blame. Do they think no one has Google? Furthermore, if the Republicans, and Democrats, who voted against the bill thought this was a bad plan then what is the alternative? It’s not that I think the bailout bill is a great plan, I simply think that some plan is better than no plan. If you’re intention is to “let the market work it out”, then say so. Honestly, we need to vote out every “professional” politician regardless of party. At the very least, the two day recess they’re taking is just shameful.

“Why is this a big deal, these girls are talented so why the fuss?”

I’ve seen this tossed about frequently in the debate over China’s underaged gymnasts.

Let me clarify a point first so we can move forward with the heart of the issue.

The gymnists are not old enough to compete. To continue to perpetuate this farce based on conjecture is disrespectful to the collective intelligence of the sports community and everyone’s common sense. We’ve seen the pictures (I thought 13 was a stretch) and given the effort made to hide the story by the state media is only further evidence. They are underaged, get over it folks. Stop trying to save the face of people that do not deserve it.

A little primer of sportsmanship

I have to ask, are there no talented Chinese gymnasts within the age bracket that the rules define? This is an important question because it means the Chinese chose those they felt had the best chance of winning as their only consideration. While winning is the goal, how you win is more important especially in such an organized and officiated event.

Winning at any cost defines a bad winner and unsportsmanlike behavior. When you seek to break a rule to give yourself an advantage, then what rules are important? You have now entered a realm where rules are subjective as you can pick and choose to follow. More importantly it is dishonest. When you agree to abide by a set of rules and then refuse to do so it makes you little better than a common liar. It disrespects the other nations who abide by the rules because it makes it clear that being a good sport is of no concern to you. In order to offer a better chance at victory the Chinese have sacrificed credibility.

Then again, thats to be expected isn’t it? Winning allows them a propaganda opportunity to their public. The Chinese aren’t concerned with competition and show the true nature of their goals. Russia and the East Bloc countries routinely broke this rule during the cold war era and I see no reason to let China off the hook here either. I also fail to understand the logic of the apologists that seem determined to give China a free pass when they corrupt the games for state purposes. This clearly goes against what the Olympics were supposed to represent.

Naturally the IOC is launching and investigation but this boils down to little more than asking those perpetuating the lie to tell the truth so they can revoke the medals the state worked so hard to win at any cost. Anyone see a problem here?

This is the first in a series of short opinions on the Olympic games. I am not a fan of sports but the political firestorm and wide ranging opinions caused me to look at the fundamentals of some of these situations.

There has been a lot of debate and angry words, especially in the blog community over Beijing hosting the Olympic games these days. The arguments rarely evolve in to valid point/counterpoint situations but the debate is driven by a simple fact:

The Olympics should have never been hosted in China. Period.

Much of the debate stems from two basic and divergent viewpoints on the matter.

One states that you cannot hold the games in what is essentially a totalitarian system where mass abuse is rampant as a means to display the best and brightest in events based on sportsmanship.

The second view states that it doesn’t matter where you host the games because this is a world community and a worldwide event and this is often followed up with series of comments that states no nation is perfect.

In the end the debate is very simple. Do you believe it is right to lend the legitimacy of a worldwide event to a nation with a oppressive system of government. This may sound biased, and I am but an important fact here is being overlooked. Support it’s host or not the Olympics have been forced to rationalize the views of it’s host nation and thrust it’s politics in to the center of the world stage. It is distracting at the very least and the only logical reaction given the choice of host nation.

Did the Olympic committee think this wouldn’t happen? I am sure there are those that felt this was some form of progressive statement, but frankly one that damages the organization’s credibility.

There is some debate as to the validity of these outrages. If nations are so concerned with China’s policies, why do they continue to depend on them for cheap manufactured products so heavily. They complain about their actions, but feed their market to turn a higher profit.

The world cannot “make nice” with China one day to host the Olympics and then go back to being at loggerheads with them the next. This is dishonesty and disrespectful to the policies of the nations and the people participating in the event. I fail to see what benefit the Olympics will provide to the world when they operate under these false pretenses.

The Olympic committee has made some serious concessions to the Chinese government including allowing certain forms of censorship. This is a serious compromise to nations that consider freedom to be essential to their existence. It is a betrayal of ethics.

China’s questionable and downright dishonest behavior should also come as no surprise. It is a communist system and such thing have happened in the past when the cold war was in full swing. It also displays the differences in the nations goals. China’s government will do anything to build an image and dominate the games including using underage competititors. Using fake singers because the small girl with the talent wasn’t deemed cute enough to “represent” China is also acceptable, actions that would have any western media outlet crucified on the weekend talk shows. Many turn a blind eye to this and those that do are berated.

A large portion of the media is also turning a blind eye to these very basic ethical issues.

We have an image problem with China. At some point we are going to have to determine if they are an emerging nation and look the other way to their motives or simply another oppressive regime that persecutes and sells weapons to nations like Iran and North Korea. We know the answer to this and we need to face facts. The Olympics have highlighted the double standard and the fuss and bickering over this only proves the point. The Olympic committee would do well to choose a nation with a track record that isn’t divergent from the principles of the vast majority of the participants so the games can be the focus.

There is a reason for meeting on neutral ground and Beijing will go down as an Olympics filled with contention. That will be the legacy no matter how many seek to drown out the fact.

When they do a report on the heat, it’s been a slow news day. Especially this summer when we’ve rarely had days that went above 100 degrees. Granted, we’ve had some record setting days, but the summer overall hasn’t been so bad.

Not the post I planned on writing today, but there is something about the news reporting on the heat in Texas that appeals to my wry sense of humor. Next up, Alaska will be reporting on how cold it gets in the winter up there.

“A new definition of what diversity means for everybody?”

I found this sitting on Yahoo’s front page recently and frankly I don’t see why.

No, just another person playing pretend.

This situation isn’t surprising. Tom Beatie is a woman, she can trick her body all she likes but why are we supposed to think this redefines anything. Because Oprah is peddling these bullpies? Testosterone and estrogen are balanced and at play in all individuals, I’m sure if I inject abnormal levels of various chemicals in my body to alter it then I haven’t fooled nature or those around me. The very fact this individual can become pregnant despite the outward changes brought on by chemical and surgical means only proves the fact that they are pretending to be what they are not.

If you are gay, thats fine, there is acceptance among gay people that they are attracted to the same sex, but this however is just patent nonsense. This is a woman just pretending to physically be a man but then opts to use her female abilites she was born with while keeping up the facade. She isn’t having her and her “wife’s” baby, they used artifical means to create a child through the natural process. This isn’t a man giving birth, its a woman following her biological abilities and trying to fool everyone.

You know, were I gay, this would be rather insulting. Gay people I know don’t pretend to actually the opposite sex, they have a culture that doesn’t place much importance on pretending to actually be male or female because to most of the gays I know, the external wasn’t the issue. In effect, most gays accept their physical and emotional differences but most accept they are genetic male or female with different attractions. I’ve met lesbians who have opted to have children but they never denied their capabilities.

This is just fantasy and pretending its a new definition of humanity is complete nonsense, this is biological make-believe.

I believe the issue of being gay and gay rights needs to stay in the realm of personal choice and the mental/emotional aspect based on science and psychology, this is just a farce that benefits nobody except those looking for a circus act.