tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72382909346619247802024-02-19T00:27:30.584-08:00The Karson ReportJoe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.comBlogger518125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-50295123922702259542020-03-18T06:51:00.000-07:002020-03-19T08:47:41.772-07:00<br />
Most of the major sports in the U.S. have been shut down, but the Iditarod is still in progress. The "Last Great Race" has me thinking about dogs. Here's a story, from one of my short-story collections, inspired by an experience I had while living in the Alaska interior.<br />
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<b> DOG STORY</b><br />
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Boomer walked through the snow thinking about Suzy. He had been thinking about Suzy all day: those blue eyes with the long, soft lashes and, of course, the tail. Mostly it was the tail--fat and fluffy, just the way Boomer liked them. Suzy had come into heat two days ago and broken the chain that kept her in the dog yard with the other sled dogs. Now she was alone and free up in the hills above the frozen river. She was a wily old bitch and her owner had failed in all his attempts to lure her back. Boomer would have no trouble finding her--just follow the furrow left in the snow by the trailing length of chain and inhale that delicious scent.<br />
Boomer headed up the hill with his nose down in the furrow. So intent was Boomer in following the trail up to Suzy that he didn't notice the two wolves approaching across the side of the hill. Suddenly there was a new but familiar scent--Boomer looked up at the wolves standing in front of him. One was a large animal and the other young or stunted. They were mangy, sneaky-looking brutes with grinning fangs and tails that arched down between their legs.<br />
Shit! thought Boomer, just my luck. Boomer was a good-sized, healthy Labrador, and he knew that he had a chance against one wolf in the middle of winter when they were weak from lack of food. These guys looked pretty bad off, but with two, even that small one, there wasn't much hope.<br />
"Hey, wimp, where you think you're going?" said the bigger wolf.<br />
"Wimp," said the smaller one.<br />
"If you're thinking of visiting that sweet little husky up there you can just forget it--we'll be handling that."<br />
"Yeah, <i>we'll</i> handle it," repeated the small wolf. He was drooling terribly.<br />
What a disgusting runt, thought Boomer. If his big friend gives him a turn at all, that fool will probably lock up inside Suzy, and they'll both freeze to death before I can get a little myself.<br />
"Besides," continued the big wolf, "she's not your type. She's a working girl--from the other side of the tracks, just like us guys." The wolves looked at each other and snickered.<br />
Boomer hated that old line of crap. He flushed grouse for his master in the fall, he barked when strangers came around. That was work. Boomer growled.<br />
"Ooh, tough guy! Listen, you better just trot your little housebroken ass home and be thankful we're in a hurry. If you're still around when we finish with the bitch, we're going to kick your butt good. Dipshit!"<br />
"Dipshit!" said the runt.<br />
Boomer growled again and took a step toward the little wolf who jumped back. That felt good. But the bigger wolf started coming at him, and there was nothing to do but retreat down the hill. It was humiliating. Boomer gave a last half-hearted growl over his shoulder and headed home.<br />
Working his way down the hill, Boomer listened to the taunts of the wolves as they swaggered off. "Maybe if you sit up and beg like a good little doggie, your master will give you a biscuit." "Curl up by your smelly stove and lick yourself!" "Yeah, lick yourself!" "Go fetch a stick, sucker!"<br />
It was hard to take, but soon Boomer would be back at the cabin, and his rug by the stove <i>was</i> starting to sound pretty good. The boss had shot a moose a few days ago, and if he didn't fuck up for a while, maybe there'd be a bone in it for him.Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-30157068281993800722017-10-08T11:27:00.000-07:002017-10-08T11:27:12.345-07:00Waiting For The Master Race To Master SomethingThere is one thing that most of the clowns marching around with swastikas and playing big bad Nazi have in common--it's about all they know how to do. These are among the most useless people in the country. Learning to do something and excelling at it is difficult. Chanting slogans and hating people is easy.<br />
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Considering the disproportionate number of contributions that immigrants and minorities have made to our society, it's easy to see why these losers need a false sense of superiority to feel any self-esteem whatsoever. It's all they've got. When was the last time you saw a play or read a good book by a white supremacist? When was the last time a neo-Nazi painted a masterpiece or cured a disease?<br />
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I wonder how many Louis Armstrongs and Langston Hughes' might have been lost to race riots or lynchings, how many budding Gershwins, Einsteins, and Salks perished in Hitlers gas chambers. There will probably always be racists and xenophobes in this country eager to blame anyone different than themselves for their own shortcomings. Me? I'm thankful that we didn't have to wait for the Klan to develop jazz, or for members of the Aryan Nation to discover a polio vaccine and the Theory of Relativity.Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-88907066950823750922017-09-16T12:10:00.000-07:002017-09-16T12:10:34.257-07:00LOGICOne of the great things about <i>logic</i> is that, like mathematics, it is independent of of the climate, people's opinions, and anything else in the world. It's a useful tool for reducing seemingly complex problems to simple truths:<br />
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1. Humans have <i>motives</i> for what they do.<br />
2. Do climate scientists with diverse national, ethnic, religious, and political backgrounds have a motive for creating a global-warming hoax?<br />
3. Do polluting corporations and the politicians they finance have a motive for claiming that global warming is a hoax?<br />
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Have a nice day.<br />
<br />Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-37801130216116901862017-04-02T10:05:00.000-07:002017-04-02T10:05:39.905-07:00Slippery SlopeAs a part-time public school teacher, I'd like to thank Secretary DeVos and those members of the Alaska State Legislature who are making the effort to put Creation Theory into our science classes. It's a slippery slope. Keep Creation Theory out of science classes, and before you know it we'll be keeping Stork Theory out of sex education classes.<br />
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<br />Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-33130372406351889732017-03-24T11:03:00.000-07:002017-03-24T11:03:10.582-07:00Still Crushed Under Plymouth RockQ. Why is this the only civilized country without universal healthcare?<br />
A. Because it's the only country founded by radical Calvinists, the descendants of whom can't sleep at night for fear that someone might be getting something for nothing. They would rather see millions, including <i>themselves</i>, suffer than allow one single person to scam the system and get something he doesn't deserve.<br />
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Okay. This is America, and our Pilgrim legacy demands free-enterprise medicine. No one is gettin' healthcare without<i> payin'</i> for it! But how about this: Instead of paying monthly premiums to useless insurance companies, why not make the payments to your local medical provider? When you're sick, you're taken care of. When you're well, the money goes to nurses' salaries, hospital maintenance, new medical equipment, etc. rather than lining the pockets of this guy:<br />
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"Hi, I'm Mark Bartolini. Remember me? I appeared in the <i>Report</i> back on Jan. 4th--check it out. As the CEO of Aetna Health Insurance, I take your hard-earned money and use it to pay myself $48,000.00 per day. Have a nice day--I'm sure <i>I</i> will!"<br />
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<br />Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-33516928337200451072017-03-22T11:48:00.000-07:002017-03-22T11:48:55.837-07:00Sorry, But Here's One More Thing That You MUST BoycottGiven the current administration's disregard for the environment and an emperor lacking both clothes <i>and </i>taste (the presidential palate tends toward the world's most expensive cuts of meat cooked well-done and slathered in ketchup), there is faint hope for an official ban on the twin horrors of farmed and GMO ("Frankenfish") salmon.<br />
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It's up to the public at large to BOYCOTT these two species of "salmon." (Alaskans, including women, would be shorn of their beards and plaid shirts before purchasing these abominations.) Despite the threat to the environment, the fishing industry, and consumer health, these products are probably already in your fish store or supermarket. Tell your local fishmonger that you will only buy REAL salmon and that if he insists on selling Frankenfish, he might get a visit from a couple of those guys he's seen on The Deadliest Catch--and, trust me, these are not always guys that you might wish to encounter on dry land.<br />
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Like Big Oil, Big Fish doesn't care about the planet or its people. That's why we have to hit these folks in the only place that matters to them--their wallets!<br />
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Please, resist the effort to turn salmon into the same tasteless, unhealthy, crap that passes for chicken and beef in most supermarkets. Buy only the REAL THING. If you're not eating wild-caught salmon, you're not eating salmon.<br />
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We already have REAL salmon. If genetic engineers want to invent something useful, how about an avocado without the pit or a turkey with more drumsticks-- OR AN AGRI-BUSINESS EXECUTIVE WITH A CONSCIENCE!<br />
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<br />Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-49721857354055251802017-03-19T12:33:00.000-07:002017-03-19T12:33:07.998-07:00DeVos, Pence, And Sessions: A Holy Trinity For Trashing The ConstitutionMike Pence and Betsy DeVos have been outspoken in their opposition to the strict separation of Church and state established by the U.S. Constitution. They both believe that their religion supersedes the law.<br />
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This is troubling enough. But their radical views are shared by Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, the man entrusted with our nation's highest office for--<i>enforcing the law!</i><br />
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Sessions claims that the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment of the Constitution has been "overinterpreted." (The Attorney General speaking in tongues?) That it is an "extra-constitutional doctrine" and "a recent thing that is unhistorical and unconstitutional."<br />
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Really, Jeff? Let's <i>look</i> at some Constitutional doctrine and history:<br />
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CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION--The U.S Constitution.<br />
"The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."--John Adams<br />
"I am for freedom of religion and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another."--Thomas Jefferson<br />
"The civil government functions with complete success by the total separation of the Church from the State."--James Madison<br />
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Sessions has gone so far as to mix religion with policy by declaring Trump's illegal Muslim ban to be "Biblical."<br />
Mr. Sessions, the test for legality in this country is the Constitution--not the Bible. Upholding the Constitution is your job. If that job conflicts with your religious views, perhaps you would be happier in some other line of work. I'm sure it could be arranged.<br />
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<br />Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-5338895945148941962017-03-18T10:08:00.000-07:002017-03-18T10:08:14.987-07:00Attention Patriots:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This week we celebrated the birthday of James Madison, Founding Father and our fourth President. Present-day patriots, who claim the words of the Founders for support, should heed those of Madison.<br />
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"The separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."<br />
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"The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief, nor shall any national religion be established."<br />
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"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."<br />
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"The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended."<br />
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"To the press alone, the world is indebted for all the triumphs gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression."<br />
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"The executive has no right to decide whether there is or is not cause for declaring war."<br />
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"War should only be declared by the authority of the people, instead of the government which is to reap its fruits."Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-89350138977847928572017-03-17T07:30:00.000-07:002017-03-17T07:30:01.815-07:00Snakes--Are They Really So Bad?Happy St. Patrick's Day--the holiday celebrating the man who drove the snakes from Ireland in exchange for converting the island to Christianity.<br />
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I don't know if this transaction can be accomplished in <i>reverse</i>, but as a resident of America's only snake-free state, I sometimes fantasize about it.<br />
<span id="goog_2082008591"></span><span id="goog_2082008592"></span>.<br />
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<br />Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-2929208851740257832017-03-12T11:25:00.000-07:002017-03-12T11:25:53.135-07:00American School Children Denied 24 Hours A Day, 7 Days A Week Non-Stop Prayer. The Persecution Continues!To Betsy DeVos and her fellow evangelists who have either neglected to read the Constitution or chosen to ignore it:<br />
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Let's do some math.<br />
Kids in America attend public school approximately 30 hours out of the 168-hour, 7-day week. Considering official vacations and unexpected absences, this means that on the worst possible week for school prayer, your kids still have 138 out-of-school hours to pray--an average of 19.7 hrs./day or 82% of their free time that can be devoted to full-voiced communion, recitation, chanting, ululation, genuflecting, speaking in tongues, snake-handling, gargling with poison, self-flagellation, or any other outward display of worship without risk of offense to others.<br />
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If your sons or daughters <i>still</i> need to cut into school hours for sufficient prayer time, they are probably beyond being helped by even divine intervention<br />
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Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-91028429077481483232017-03-10T11:04:00.000-08:002017-03-10T11:04:18.560-08:00Rogue Enough Yet?<div>
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I'd like to offer a challenge to the leadership of the NRA:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For eight years, the NRA rallied to your claim that President Obama was "the greatest threat to gun ownership in American history"--even though he did nothing during that time to restrict gun ownership. <i>Nothing</i>. He never signed one single bill restricting gun ownership. No guns were confiscated under his presidency.</div>
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Clearly, your members will believe anything you tell them. How about telling them that there is more to the U.S. Constitution than the Second Amendment? There are twenty-six other amendments and the current administration in DC is doing an excellent job of trampling on nearly all of them.</div>
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Your organization wields a tremendous amount of influence. Could you possibly address this <i>real</i> threat to our freedom with some of the passion you have exercised in tackling the non-existent threats to gun ownership? Maybe something along the lines of giving up the <i>Bill of Rights</i> "when they pry it from my cold, dead hands." Do you think you could do that, huh?</div>
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The NRA has presented itself as protection against a government "gone rogue." Okay. The President of the United States is a paranoid, delusional megalomaniac and pathological liar so detached from reality that he is still campaigning two months after being elected. His closest advisors, including the Jewish ones (!), are Nazis. The head of EPA wants to abolish the EPA, the Secretary of State is an oil tycoon with ties to Russia, the country's chief law-enforcement officer just committed felonies, the Secretary of the Treasury is a notorious Wall Street predator once celebrated as the "Foreclosure King," the Secretary of Education wants to turn the U.S. into an Iranian-style theocracy, the head of Housing and Urban Renewal thinks that his black ancestors arrived in America on a holiday cruise, and Congress has officially declared healthcare to be a luxury reserved for the rich.</div>
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IS THAT FUCKING ROGUE ENOUGH FOR YOU?</div>
Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-38206393278381470202017-03-05T11:17:00.000-08:002017-03-05T11:17:14.572-08:00SundayWhat's with the Catholic Church these days? Back when popes were racist, sexist, homophobic, imperialists, they were <i>infallible</i>.<br />
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Now that we have a pope who supports LGBTQ rights, religious freedom, income equality, environmentalism, climate science, and Evolution, he's just another guy with an opinion.<br />
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Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-66925439348091383072017-03-04T11:29:00.000-08:002017-03-04T11:39:28.168-08:00Sole Music: When Bad Music Happens To Good PeopleI woke up this morning humming a horrible pop song that I must have accidentally heard somewhere. Ever happen to you? Have you ever found yourself humming some mindless jingle or a song that you actually hate?<br />
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I am constantly struck by the similarity between hearing bad music and stepping in shit--you pick up the stuff by accident, and then can't get rid of it.<br />
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Lately, I feel as though I'm walking through the musical countryside in Vibram-sole boots.<br />
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Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-43875636468075589792017-03-02T09:13:00.000-08:002017-03-02T11:10:19.432-08:00Contemplating Upon Some Quotes During A March Blizzard In Juneau . . .<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"March comes in like a lion, leaves like a lamb" Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Liars should have good memories" Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (35-100 )</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I have a plan, a very secret plan to defeat ISIS in thirty days." Donald Trump (1946-)</td></tr>
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<br />Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-77911099750668239852017-03-01T11:10:00.000-08:002017-03-01T11:11:47.655-08:00Riches To Rags, Alaska's How-To FormulaQ. What happens if you turn a government over to anti-science religious fanatics, extreme right-wing ideologues, and corporate stooges? <br />
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I live in Alaska. We tried that here, so I can tell you.<br />
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A. You get the biggest crisis in your history.<br />
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Under the leadership of the above-mentioned lawmakers, Alaska went from being the nation's wealthiest state to a financial basket-case facing a deficit in the billions, and cuts to education, infrastructure, employment, healthcare, social services, and everything else that matters.<br />
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This needs to be a warning to the rest of the country. The people who did this to Alaska are doing it to America. Our new administration in DC is dismantling everything that has served us well in the past--and replacing it with whatever puts more money into the pockets of our richest 1%, or serves ultra-conservative ideologues that care only about their own agenda. As in Alaska, <i>this is leading to disaster on every level</i>.<br />
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The solution is in the hands of We The Voters. No administration can succeed without the support of Congress. If your representatives support the <i>radical high-jacking of our democracy</i> currently taking place in DC, confront them--AND VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE.<br />
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Something needs to be done. If it doesn't happen at the ballot box, it's going to happen in the street. <i>And it's not going to be pretty.</i> Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-23882598259788071392017-02-26T11:54:00.000-08:002017-02-26T11:54:29.981-08:00Sunday SoliloquySunday, time for some more thoughts on religion.<br />
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We are experiencing an increasing number of natural disasters. The "leftist scientists" predict that it's going to get worse.<br />
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This means that I will continue to be baffled by images of pious survivors standing amidst the rubble of their destroyed homes and praising God for . . . . <i>killing their neighbors instead of themselves?</i>Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-73383436183575063522017-02-25T10:57:00.000-08:002017-02-25T10:57:35.995-08:00Generation Zzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . .Einstein's predictions in the world of physics were earth-shaking, but I wonder if this might not be his most prophetic legacy:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I fear the day technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots"</td></tr>
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<br />Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-80899589487298865202017-02-22T10:58:00.000-08:002017-02-22T14:42:08.593-08:00Pin-UpHere's a copy of the one "pin-up" hanging in my bachelor pad. Today is the birthday of Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950), the poet who gave us:<br />
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"I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for death."</div>
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Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-47192979590616241002017-02-20T11:34:00.000-08:002017-02-20T12:46:25.730-08:00Washington And Lincoln Are Spinning Today Faster Than Sean Spicer At A Press ConferenceMr. Trump, here's something you could do to convince the world that you were really elected:<br />
YOU COULD STOP CAMPAIGNING!Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-41015478146865175632017-02-19T12:15:00.000-08:002017-02-19T12:15:18.842-08:00Religious RuminationsSunday, time again for some thoughts on religion.<br />
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The persistence with which people cling to the religion of their families has always baffled me. If you are born into a Catholic family, you <i>are</i> Catholic--if a Lutheran family, you <i>are </i>Lutheran. It's as if religion were inherited like the color of your hair or eyes.<br />
How can you inherit <i>beliefs</i>?Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-65772069666787891162017-02-18T10:32:00.000-08:002017-02-18T12:55:13.741-08:00Last GaspsThe main difference between the conservative and progressive mind-set involves the ability to accept <i>change</i>. Right now, we are facing two big changes in America:<br />
1. The end of the fossil-fuel era<br />
2. The end of the WASP era<br />
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The current rise of anti-science reaction and racism are simply last gasps against the inevitable.<br />
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At the start of the 20th Century, blacksmiths became mechanics and financiers moved their money from timber to oil. The world changes and you can either change with it or be left behind. Reactionaries of the period who clung to the horse-and-buggy were left behind.<br />
At the start of the 21st Century, oil-well riggers might have to become wind-turbine riggers and wise speculators will move their money from coal and oil to solar energy. Reactionary fossil-fuel investors might still make some quick bucks for a while, but they are ultimately pissing in the wind that will power our future generators.<br />
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"Alt-right" extremists clinging to <i>their</i> fading era? I suggest that they trade in their copies of <i>Mein Kampf </i>for hummus recipes and salsa-dancing instructions.<br />
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Sorry, but the times they are a-changin'Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-73177441192912753102017-02-14T10:16:00.000-08:002017-02-14T10:16:43.364-08:00My God Can Beat Up Your God<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"People killing each other over who has the better imaginary friend."<br />
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This is Napolean Bonaparte's definition of a religious war. Napolean knew a thing or two about war, and he understood the <i>insanity </i>of religious war. I wish that our new ideologues in Washington did.<br />
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Steve Bannon and his alt-right thugs are goose-stepping us into what they see as a glorious showdown between Christianity and Islam--a Ninth Crusade.<br />
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Our own, homegrown jihadists are a greater threat to this nation than ISIL could ever hope to be. They are willing to trample the Constitution and destroy every principle our American democracy was founded upon to prove that they have the "better imaginary friend." We are being dragged toward the possible killing of millions because some little boys with their toys want to show the world that Jesus can kick Allah's ass.<br />
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These lunatics have to be stopped.Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-15039006606615914562017-02-13T11:28:00.000-08:002017-02-13T11:28:11.149-08:00And The Prize For Dumbest Member Of Congress Goes To . . .It's a crowded field. My own lone representative, who has distinguished himself by referring to gay men as "butt-fuckers" in a <i>high-school commencement speech, </i>and threatened a female environmentalist on the floor of Congress with a club made from a walrus penis, is clearly in the running. No list would be complete without Sheila Jackson who is proud to be serving in a "four-hundred-year-old government" and happy to see "the two Vietnams living peacefully side by side, north and south." We can thank Sen. Hank Thompson for warning us that a new military base on Guam would put too much weight on one side of the island and cause it to "capsize." And, of course, there's the pride of Oklahoma, Sen. Inhofe, a serious contender after famously disproving global warming by making a snowball.<br />
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I don't think that anyone will ever surpass Michele Bachmann, who praised the Founding Fathers for putting an end to slavery. But among the current crop of lawmakers, the prize must go to . . .<br />
REP. ROB McCASKILL (R. TEXAS)<br />
Rob has responded to satirical Borowitz Reports as if they were real news and to the "Bowling Green Massacre" as if it were a real event. He is cheering on Betty DeVos to "eliminate leftist science" from our schools, and has declared global warming "beneficial"--while damning it as a hoax (?!) McCaskill vehemently supports Trump's election and inaugural delusions, adding his own purely fictitious "stats" about both abortion and Muslim immigration. Naturally, he's Congress' biggest fan of Vladimir Putin.<br />
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But last Friday, McCaskill really outdid himself with:<br />
"I can't wait for the next 9/11 so leftist 9th Circuit ruling judges will wish they didn't roll over for our enemies wishing death to America."<br />
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By being too stupid to keep his twisted thoughts to himself, McCaskill has given us a glimpse of how badly some right-wing extremists in Washington want to provoke a holy war against Islam--a war that would deliver us right into the hands of the Trump/Bannon agenda for an emergency, fascist takeover of America.<br />
Mr. McCaskill is the real "death to America." If his words don't scare the hell out of you, they should. Maybe they will scare his 238 Democrat and Independent colleagues into <i>standing up and offering the resistance needed to save our country.</i>Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-68526811833172673872017-02-12T10:58:00.000-08:002017-02-12T10:58:38.035-08:00Religious ReflectionsReserving Sunday again for theological questions, here's a couple:<br />
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Were there dachshunds on the Ark?<br />
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Why can a woman become a saint but not a priest?<br />
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<br />Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238290934661924780.post-87861547992806749482017-02-11T11:21:00.000-08:002017-02-11T11:21:36.527-08:00Don't Push ItIt's official. After much debate, I'm proud to announce that Alaska will now celebrate Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day. An excellent idea and overdue. Still, it's strange that there's been such controversy over the naming of that day while I've never heard any concern over something else named for a 15th Century Italian explorer--our country!<br />
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Amerigo Vespucci may not have been the most prolific explorer or the first European to visit the New World, but he was definitely the best PR man. By relentlessly glorifying his own exploits, he was able to put his name on two of the world's seven continents. <i>Non male!</i><br />
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So, will we remain <i>America</i>, or will this re-naming campaign catch up with Vespucci as it has with Columbus? It may someday, but for right now maybe we should just settle for what we've got.<br />
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Joe Karsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517793185588969213noreply@blogger.com0