The Land of the Fee

America is now the land of the fee. Not the free, I did not make a typing mistake, I mean fee. Have you not noticed how everything now has additional fees. The airline industry is the most notable - luggage fees, charging for meals, better seats, blankets, using toilets, pillows, and sometimes even for using credit cards to pay for your tickets. Other companies want to charge us for paying our bills online or using our debit cards. Fees to feed their ever growing coffers.

I prefer to be charged a specific price and know what I am getting. I do not want to bargain. I do not want added anxiety in my life because if I do not pay a fee I am going to to get lesser service or be treated more badly by the provider - or not know what I am getting. Why would I?

I learned long ago nothing is ever really free, and now it seems like everything can be better for an additional fee. Or simply paying more.

Everything costs more these days. (Bought gas lately?) Why is that? Are we all getting paid more money? I do not think so. I am thinking those who already have a lot of money are just transferring more among themselves. They skin us while skimming as much off the top as they can. The rich are getting richer and poor getting poorer, so it has to be something like that doesn't it?

 I really would like someone to explain it all to me. I know I should have studied something practical in school - economics, law, or business. but I didn't. I chose and still do prefer art. I do not prefer being subjected into a forced poverty over increasing fees and prices when there is no value added service. In fact paying more for less. Soon I'll paying a lot for nothing - though sometimes I think that is the case already here in the land of the fee.

Living In the Past

So did you watch the superbowl? Maybe just the ads huh?  The whole superbowl spectacle is just a celebration of living in the past. A big money event groomed for the most wealthy and tailored to make the rest of us pine for Doritos. "Let them eat chips"!

Face up to it football should hardly be called a game. It is a concussion inducing bunch of widely scattered moments in between which nothing happens. The greatest thing in football is the no huddle offense. It will be stopped though because it reduces the amount of time for ads. I have a lot against ads, but have been known to be persuaded by clever ones. Hmmm, none of those this year. I mean the whole idea behind advertising is to make us spend money on things we do not need to keep our economy alive. Oh yes and to help the rich get richer as we go further in debt.

When the world feels they have deluged us with enough ads, they give us celebrity. Madonna! The sound was awful and the performance akin to a badly made spaghetti gladiator film. Madonna is over and living on her laurels. I also bet we could have probably fed a few million people a nice meal for what that show cost. Priorities should endure through time and we cannot let media corrupt them.

So am I a curmudgeon of the highest order? Perhaps. Stop wasting money, stop living in the past, and stop exploiting every last second of time in an effort to persuade me that I too am living the good life. I am not. Are you?

 Okay I do live in the past a bit

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Noise or Sound?

I had a flashback to my more youthful thinking the other day when I read the commentary of an article about cricket. In it the author stated that the goal of modern popular culture is to remove boring from our lives. So true.

Popular culture also is carefully constructed to make us feel inferior unless we have large amounts of money to spend - it does so with noise and clutter. Media and all of culture with its upbeat sensationalism is actually designed to keep us down. How can we complain when so much wonderful is all around us and so much is going on around us and battering our brains (which they have easy access to through our ears)?

Popular culture also removes individuality creating an implied consent for all that goes on to keep us fat and happy with our beer and Doritos or whatever. If we were not fat, happy and excited about the trivial we might actually start thinking. In recent years the World Wide Web has also been doing this same sort of induction. This bastion of purported freedom is now just too much information that seems too important too ignore coming at you too fast. It is mostly all just noise.

Why so much effort to have us not think about more important things than consumerism? If we did think the whole house of cards (i.e. our capitalist society) might crumble before the one percent's and their gatekeeper eyes.

I do not think cricket is boring. I enjoy a moment and embrace the sound of silence and all it offers - particularly time to think. It is through periods silence we will gain voices, realize what is important, learn to communicate with each other in meaningful ways and  create a better world.

Moral Compass

I saw an ad for a moral compass the other day. I was saddened by the fact that they were only available in specialized versions and at a very high price. I comforted myself with the thought that those who really need them could afford them.

I did wonder though how sales were. I pondered that in this economy they might be quite brisk - in the same sort of way escapist entertainment product sales tend to increase when things are, well bad. My thinking is that the morally correct decisions one must make in these times are bit more challenging - so a compass which points you in the right direction might be just the ticket. Couple that with the fact that they do not require any technical skill to operate, and it should be a winning product. The shrewd Toby in me was ready to proclaim that were I savvy or rich I would buy stock in the company that sells them. This a tip I would pass on to all of you my readers.

I then thought a bit further and realized that actually there are few if any customers for such a product. The need is there. The features are there. The benefits are there. What is not there is the willingness of the people to actually use and heed them. In fact success in this world might be better predicated on having one, reading it, and then doing the opposite. Another great disappointment, but perhaps the reason I should have one.

By the way, this post was not inspired by the upcoming election in the US, any world events, or any personal interactions with other human beings.

Near Poor

A new term in the lexicon, the "near poor". It is term that describes a  lot of us out here (do you hear me Mr. President?) and seems to have evolved out of a new definition of what is poverty. It takes into account the impact taxes, medical care and the cost of living in your particular area and measures that against a new poverty threshold. The NY Times estimated that 34% of the elderly fall into this newly defined standard. A staggering number I think.

Some folks do not like the term. It is too emotionally charged with the images it conjures up. I am sure others want to quibble with what is defined as poverty as well. Remember the rich want to get richer and for that to happen the poor seemingly must get poorer. That old income gap appearing again. Perhaps we should heed the warning that so many Brits do everyday - "Mind the Gap".

My opinion, a label is a label. The point of labels is to try and pigeonhole all of us into something. I think the term near poor works pretty well to describe those of us who should we hit some unexpected expense will really suffer. We are nearly poor then aren't we?

Facts are facts. Just like a Barbie doll you can dress them up in any clothes you like, but clothes do not make the man or the woman. Reality handles that.

Happy Xmas, War Is Over

As I write this the war in Iraq has officially ended. A flag ceremony there made it official. The flag is wrapped and encased as is the tradition. (How sad there is a tradition to end a war - must mean there have been too many of them).


Funny how wars end. Funnier more so how they start. These are topics though for greater mind than me to ponder and debate. The main thing for me is that it is over. 


A war ending is perhaps one of the greatest and most meaningful events for me. Senseless killing, violence, greed and waste hopefully coming to end for a bit of time. According to some figures I read (but never checked out) the war in Iraq war has resulted in 4,500 American dead, 32,000 wounded and cost more than 800 billion dollars. To me those numbers are mind boggling - see why greater minds than me have to look at the deeper issues - I cannot even comprehend that we would send that many people to die, have their lives ruined and and spend that amount of money for whatever reasons. And I am not even taking into account the Iraqi dead, wounded and social costs there.


I never understood war. Never. Vowed at a very early age I would never allow myself to be forcibly sent to fight in one.  I still believe that, only now with more conviction. I knew very young that it was wrong.  January 27, 1973 forced conscription ended in the United States - a day and act I have always been grateful for. In March of that year the Vietnam war ended. Another great day. Do not remember any flag ceremony though.


This holiday pay tribute to those who have fought in the wars we have waged. They deserve our appreciation and support. The greedy bastards who start and fuels wars do not.


Merry Xmas, War is Over. (hopefully this link will remain active for you to hear John Lennon my favorite holiday song)

Happy Hiding During the Holidays

I always think of going into hiding this time of year.

Even more so now that I have read that Black Friday sales were "better" than expected. (Wonder if that included pepper spray? Only kidding - but how sad is that? - Are we really losing our grip on reality so badly that we are willing to fight in the real world to be able to do so in the game world?  I have now have yet another reason for going into hiding it seems.)

Why do I hide? Simple. The pressure to consume and buy without rational thought along with the incumbent guilt for not doing so.  The forced pressure to give. I have read the surveys that say people will spend money on toys for their kids rather than for food - because it is vital to keep the kids happy. I tend to think that perpetuating fantasy in this way and not facing reality is problem adults face because they were not taught how to do so as kids. A perpetuating myth that everything is going to be all right continues to linger and endure. You already know how I feel about false optimism. (Yes I will be a member of the one percent someday.)

I am not bah humbug. I know I do not have anywhere near the money to give to everyone who seems to be asking. I am not even exchanging gifts this year. I'll be a pariah of the holidays, but I am facing my reality. Looking at what is happening in the world and understanding is a valuable gift too. That ability is a great gift - and one I will use many times over (as opposed to stuffing it in a drawer or re-gifting it). A song for the holidays.