Nonpopulist Rules for Life: Think for Yourself

"The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitable he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is apt to spread discontent among those who are.”

~ H.L. Mencken

This quote is a prefect example of why I like quotes so much. Sometimes a quote hits so squarely or rings so truly for you that it gives you a confidence. The right quote at the right time can crystallize jumbled up thoughts or notions from which you have been too distracted to make sense of and help order things correctly in your mind. I have decided this quote sums up how I feel about government and my current attitude concerning the entity I feel as though I should make it a personal mantra. I am that man from the first part of the quote and always hope to be. The second part of the quote I have flip flopped in stages- sometimes as the man tries to change and sometimes spreading discontent. As we continue to give up freedoms for a false sense of security or so no one gets left behind (health care) and pay more taxes for all of it all one has to do it take a step back, a deep breath, and focus on what is happening to see we are being bent over as a nation.

Hell, I am not always right. No one has it all right all of the time. It is in the seeking to be right and to further our own understanding and hone our perspective that we earn our right to speak, though.

Nonpopulist's Browsings of the Day/Week

Miller High Life, the Nonpopulist's beer of choice

The top thirty TV Series of the 2000's as listed by the A.V. Club. Lists are hard to make, and I guess they are sort of easy to make at that same time. I like this list better than the one that follows. The Shield and The Wire are in the top ten which is correct. Breaking Bad should be lower. One thing I notice is the number of HBO shows in the list which is correct, including two of my personal favorites Eastbound and Down and Flight of the Conchords. Good list overall. [The AV Club]

A list of the best music of the 2000's. I like about 7 of the 50 on the list. [The AV Club]

Quailty wins out? Really, Zucker? On NBC? Here's the list of things I watch on your network: 1. The Tonight Show with CONAN O'BRIEN (get bent Leno) 2. Sunday Night Football and Football Night in America 3. The four SCRIPTED comedies on Thursday night. [The Live Feed]

The push by Ron Paul and many others in Congress still has legs. It is at least moving past this one committee. Notice to the Federal Reserve: Begin shredding all documents now. Do not procrastinate.[MSNBC]

Oprah is going off the air in 2011. What am I, a middle-aged white woman? Why do I care? I haven't watched Oprah since I turned on the TV after school one day and that was the channel it happen to be on. In my opinion she is a transcendental nincompoop. [The Live Feed]
More after the break, bitches.

Healthcare Dissent Makes Me Proud

Sometimes the general sentiment of America going down the tubes, our country being lazy and stupid, and disgust at our neo-imperialism can get your psyche-Americana to a low level. We have found some pride, though. This country has found a little common ground, and the result is a beautiful thing.
Town Hall events have taken root all across the country. I'm not being sarcastic at all when I say I see the videos of people in a grassroots movement to tell the government they are screwing up and it warms my heart. It almost brings a tear to my eye. I'm reminded of the Public Enemy line, "One out of one million residents, being dissident, who ain't kissing it." That brings us to another one of the Nonpopulist's Rules for Life- Dissent. Don't take things at face value and believe what you're told all of the time. Hold everything under the magnifying glass. If we were to believe Obama and his advisors we should just let them push HR 3200, the healthcare reform bill, through with no question because it is "what America needs." We need it like I need to sit on a cactus.
Here's a sample of just a few of the things that most Americans would not like in HR 3200.
Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed! 3 (2) ANNUAL LIMITATION.— 4 (A) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—The cost-sharing incurred under the essential benefits package with respect to an individual (or family) for a year does not exceed the applicable level specified in subparagraph (B). 9 (B) APPLICABLE LEVEL.—The applicable level specified in this subparagraph for Y1 is $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family. Such levels shall be increased (rounded to the nearest $100) for each subsequent year by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (United States city average) applicable to such year.
Editor's Note: No thanks.
Some more:
Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard. 5 ‘‘(D) enable the real-time (or near real-time) determination of an individual’s financial responsibility at the point of service and, to the extent possible, prior to service, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card;
Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
21 ‘‘(C) enable electronic funds transfers, in order to allow automated reconciliation with the related health care payment and remittance advice;
Ed. Note: Ha, ha, ha, yeh, right.
Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process) SEC. 123. HEALTH BENEFITS ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) ESTABLISHMENT. (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a private-public advisory committee which shall be a panel of medical and other experts to be known as the Health Benefits Advisory Committee to recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced, and premium plans. (2) CHAIR.—The Surgeon General shall be a 20 member and the chair of the Health Benefits Advisory Committee.
Ed. Note: Yes, that's exactly what will fix healthcare, a beauracrat deciding things.
Anyway, full text of the bill is right here.

Global Warming

Global warming, in my opinion is a idea that has yet to be proven. I tend not to agree that it is fact, but I leave a sliver a leeway open in case I may be proven wrong. Even though I like him in movies I'm not going to listen to Leonardo DiCaprio on the subject either. I mean, he is the hard luck case from the later seasons of Growing Pains, not a scientist. Anyways, you can get a group of scientists to prove anything you want if you're signing the checks. The just look at you and say, "Yes, boss, fruit flies can cure cancer if you eat enough of them." I think there are multi-year weather patterns that are affecting the"evidence" scientists are currently pointing to as being global warming in action. Anyway, here's a story where a friend pointed out a good quote to me.

“Plimer presents the proposition that anthropogenic global warming is little more than a con trick on the public perpetrated by fundamentalist environmentalists and callously adopted by politicians and government officials who love nothing more than an issue that causes public anxiety.”
All this leads me to yet another one of the Nonpopulist's Rules for Life: Don't believe something just because someone famous says it.

More on What I Take Nonpopulist to Mean

One may take "nonpopulist" to mean that I dislike everything that is popular. Not true. Not everything that I like is unpopular. I don't like or dislike something just to stay in line with what I think popular opinion maybe. I live and think outside of that. Sometimes lines are blurred, but what is consistent is I base my likes, dislikes, opinions, and dispositions on individual merit with analytical assimilation of its value. I think.

The Nonpopulist's Rules for Life

Another one of The Nonpopulist's Rules for Life: Learn from and appreciate other cultures. Being an American, I have a disadvantage or two when it comes to this rule. #1. Americans are taught to hate or dislike people who are different from them from an early age, even other Americans of a different ethnicity. Yeh, I said it because it still happens a lot. #2. The respect we do give other cultures and ethnicities is 95% lip service. You may say, it's Black History Month, let's learn something or I like Mexican food, but it's really about realizing that your way of life is no better than their way of life and valuing individuals. I was lucky enough to get to hang around some Koreans this weekend. We played badminton, swam, and cooked out. They were cool guys even though I could tell they felt uncomfortable at times, we all got along, well and it wasn't forced. Now they have invited me and the friend that introduced to me them for a Korean style dinner in a week or two. It's going to be cool. I tried kimchi this weekend, how much worse can it get?

The Nonpopulist's Rules for Life

I'll be listing rules for the Nonpopulist way of living from time to time as the fancy strikes me. Here's an important one: Be eclectic. Enjoy bohemian interests from diverse sources. I discovered this song when I was in high school in the late 1990's while listening to am radio because that was all I could get in my 1987 Toyota Van/Wagon which the next year became the Toyota Previa. Rabbit trail Rabbit trail rabbit trail. It's called "The Straight Life" by Bobby Goldsboro. And it's bad ass! **grabs a woman's ass and puffs a cig**



Or if you prefer a live performance...