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January 10, 2009 Newsletter
"We're Practically Giving Them Away!" Plus: So You REALLY Want Socialized Medicine? And More
Billy Mays and "the Sham-Wow Guy," eat your hearts out: Ron Popiel is still the greatest TV saleman ever with the best ad slogan ever. Thanks to Mr. Popiel, I got my newsletter title for this week! And, thanks to the #%@*&! US government, I have my cause celebre for this week, HR 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvment Act of 2008, which Bush signed last August. So, who wouldn't want consumers to be "safe"? After all, this retroactive law makes it against the law to SELL ANY old toys, clothes, shoes, etc. containing a certain level of lead or phthalmates to children under 12 under any circumstances from February 10 until the law is repealed or the government is! (I say if they keep this up, that won't be long in coming!) Well, I've had it with this "safety" BS, because that is what it is: BS! with a Capital B and a Capital S! Why? Because it will cost thousands of increasingly worthless fiat dollars to test small to medium batches of single toys sold by thrift stores, consignment outfits, the Salvation Army and Goodwill and other charities (such as our local "Helping Hands" store, which provides money to our local SPCA-type charity which provides unwanted pets to good homes...when even cats and dogs and hamsters will suffer under this idiot law, not to mention children, someone has to do something! And maybe I can be that someone in a small way).
Whenever THEY pass a law the first question you must ask is: Cui Bono? WHO BENEFITS!?! And what better way for THEM to benefit against US is using that shop-worn pretext, "It's for the children! Think of the children!" And, oh yeah, the ever popular notion that "this will sock those damned Chinamen in the nose. That'll show those baby and pet killers!" (Gee, does Lou Dobbs support this BS?) It is under these two pretexts that American consumers will fall for this crap. Then there is the final pretext: these toys and clothes sold in the US were "detrimental to minority children"...it is always minority children who suffer because of toy-maker intransigence! But of course that is part of the conspiracy to make black and Hispanic children "stupid." Right? And let's not forget white trash children, too...we all know rednecks buy all their children's toys that were made in China at Wal-Mart!
Cut the crap, already! You're killing me with kindness!
Well, first, who doesn't benefit. Consumers who want to buy "cheap, plastic Chinese-made toys," for one, because they can't afford "cheap, plastic American-made" toys. Manufacturers, for another...and you wonder why all these companies are relocating to China? Ever think regulations had something to do with it? Obama, I wouldn't complain about loss of jobs if I were you, because your self-righteous neo-lib buddies are the ones who sponsored this nonsense! Schools, for another. Just think, in order to save "minority" or "white trash" children from lead-based "stupidity," this law makes it financially unfeasable for schools public and especially private to test their old telescopes and microscopes and chemistry sets and scalples and textbooks and lunchboxes and eating utensils at their school cafeterias and...oh yeah!...computers and calculators! So that, this way, public and private schools can either go broke testing these education items, or "teach creationism," which doesn't require any of these scientific instruments, just the family Bible! (NO purchase necessary!), or "teach feel-good fuzzy hug-a-tree" BS or "count on your fingers" mathematics (because now calculators and Cuissinard materials are banned, as well as number charts, multiplication table charts, addition-subtraction facts charts, etc.) Now, schools will have to burn those old maps and charts and history time lines. (I guess that's a hidden benefit to us wood-stove users...free burning materials!). Old Phonics Charts, be damned (besides, THEY don't want you to learn properly how to read anyway). Burn 'dem "Dick and Jane" books (I guess they don't want sight-reading taught either!), and "Jessica has Two Mommies" (or whoever it is that has two mommies), too (which means the law helps blacks but hurts gays? Do these idiots have no shame?). Finally, that basically gets rid of PE programs, Art programs, Special Ed programs, Music programs and Band (that is, music programs for rural schools), Home Ec programs (plastic banned measuring spoons and the like, as well as "lead-based" sewing patterns!)...oh, heck, why don't they just end mandatory education! In other words, let's turn back to 1723, when only the rich could afford school. That way, we can "save the children" and make them "stupid" at the same time. Talk about "Outcome Based Education"!
And, of course, everyone who survives a death in the family won't benefit, because now when they go to raise money for burial expenses via yard sale, some Consumer Product Safety goon will show up making sure everything for sale is "compliant." Thrift stores--which also sell to minority and "white trash" families--will have to close, even those that are charity-based like our "Helping Hands." And will nationwide charity outfits like GoodWill or the Salvation Army or Toys for Tots and other 501c3 groups have to shut down as well?
Finally, just who does benefit? You better believe the government does, because now they have to hire all these "testers" to "test" the level of lead and phthalmates in just about everything (because just about everything can be construed to be for "children under 12" these days), and they'll have to hire more Consumer Product Safety goons, on and off the books (you know, snoops from the Church Lady School of Self-Righteous Biddies), so that what we don't spend on toys we can spend on taxes instead! Futher, big box stores benefit, because these are the only outfits that can afford to have these items tested, as they are going to be tested in huge batches, not small batches or single items as small and informal outfits buy in distribution. It wouldn't surprise me if Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, and the like bribed cetain Congress critters to sponsor this piece of garbage. (Note: who was the ONLY Representative to vote against this travesty? RON PAUL!). The lovers of oligarchy love this bill as well, because it screws the poor and middle-class, especially those with the entreprenueral spirit who sell "banned" toys and whatnot on the Internet. Oligarchs can't have that good ol' American entreprenueral spirit going on, which made this country great, because the last thing THEY want is for this country to be great! It will probably effectively shut down E-Bay. Finally, it benefits the porn industry...this way, children can buy all the porn they want because, as we all know, the porn industry can NEVER be construed to be "for the children."
Now, I've looked at the bill and its definitions. The bill prohibits selling and reselling these banned toys etc. as well as "distributing for trade." (section 216, page 41) It does NOT, however, appear to ban GIVING THEM AWAY for DONATIONS! (Of course, you should check with local officials or those with more knowledge about this. Don't take my word for it.) Naturally those in the business of earning their sole income form selling these items will balk at this, just as we balked at giving our honey away at art/craft fairs after the Health Inspector forbade us selling our non-health-department-approved honey. But this is an option, particularly since these folks aren't going to want to pay the disposal fees they will have to pay to get rid of these items. Another option is "the underground economy," which is growing by leaps and bounds in this country, thanks to smart minds tired of BS regulations and idiots in the FedGov who insist on turning this country into their third world shooting gallery and feudal fiefdom. A third option is really giving them away to charities that send toys and whatnot to really needy folks around the world, but naturally you want to make sure that there really is nothing toxic in these items...clothing that has never made you sick, toys that never made your kids sick, etc.
So You REALLY Want Socialized Medicine? And More
It is obvious that the USA needs to do something to make health care more affordable for those who do not have Congressional-Medical-Care-type health insrance packages, which, is to say, 99% of the US population! There are supposedly 46 million uninsured Americans (I am one of them). But even most of those with insurance, my husband for instance, have high deductibles, high co-pays, and little in the way of catastrophic illnesses or chronic illnesses are adequately covered. Even with insurance through work, if he gets cancer, we are financially wiped out. Period. If I GET CANCER...well, either put me on an ice floe for the polar bears, or get me to the nearest decent third world medical facility, because there is no reason for a family to be financially destroyed because a family member get a catastrophic illness. Only in America... However, I AM NOT ADVOCATING any form of socialized medicine, including "single payer" (that is, the government, that is, the taxpayer!). We all know stories about how much better health care is in Europe or Canada or Japan or any other westernized country. Even my parents...when visiting Spain many years ago my mother ate something and got violently ill, having to spend a few days at a hospital in Spain. They were concerned because Spain, coming just off the rule of fascist Francisco Franco (it was about a year after his deposement), was in bad shape economically and poor by Europe standards, so they thought the hospital might be some kind of third world hell hole. It wasn't; she got good care for little money. We have also heard stories about how long the wait time is in these socialized medicine countries for surgeries and the like, about how in Britain it is sometimes almost impossible to find an available dentist. But that is no reason to oppose socialized medicine. In fact I would support it if it meant the taxpayers would not have to foot the bill. But that is impossible, so... Still, the real reason I oppose socialized medicine is this: what the government gives, the government can take away! I have this question for anyone who lives in a western-styled first world country: because your economy is feeling the strains of being tied to the US economy and the US dollar, and your banks are failing as well as ours, and your companies are calling for "bailouts" as well as ours, just how long do you think you will get your health care entitlements? Do you honestly think that just because you need brain surgery costing the equivalent of 200,000 dollars that, if your government's budget collapses and entitlements must be cut back, that the government is going to hold off cutting back just for your benefit? For those who are totally dependent on government are slaves to the government. And they thought they were free...
And I know some of you are awaiting my commentary on Gaza. Those of you who have read my thoughts on what Israel is doing to the Palestinians already know what I am going to write, which of course denounces Israel for this ridiculous collective punishment for the actions of a few Hamas jackasses. Some call it an eye for an eye and one called it an eye for an eyelash. I call it "both sides exhibiting the sure sign of BEING INSANE"! I cannot support the claims of Israel-firsters who claim Israel is only defending itself, nor can I support those who only take the side of the Palestinians, either. Sorry, but no one put a gun to Hamas's head and forced them to send Qassam rockets into Sderot (a Sephardic Jewish community, BTW, mostly from Morocco), just like no one put a gun to Livni's and Olmert's heads and forced them to make a real fine showing of committing genocide. There can be peace if they want it but clearly BOTH THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT AND HAMAS ARE INSANE, because they keep doing the same things over and over again expecting different results! Then there are those who claim it isn't Hamas but the Mossad shooting the rockets. Prove it. Then there is this commentary by Joel Skousen which (though you may have to pay for it) is worth reading...I got it free from the same Barry Chamish I lambasted in my last newsletter, through his newsletter, which is free. Skousen basically claims that there is no peace in this part of the Middle East because THEY are paying both sides and arming both sides to create chaos for THEIR benefit there. Skousen makes the very interesting claim that Israel was created exactly where it was created precisely to ensure Arabs and Jews killed each other, with some Palestinian Christians getting in the way. Hegel would be very proud: create the problem (centuries of persecution of Jews and what to do about it), analyze the problem for a solution (a Jewish state), and create the solution (a Jewish state in the Holy Land creating a "crusader" option to wipe out Islam, on the heels of what some consider a conspiracy using Hitler to genocide the European Jews for THEIR (mostly Jewish-Talmudic?) benefit. And so it goes, Kurt Vonnegut used to say. The argument that both Israel and the Palestinian groups are lackeys for the hidden "masters of the universe" makes sense, but still...no one is putting guns to their heads. No Islamics have to "wipe out infidels" and no Jews have to follow the Talmud's proscription to enslave Gentiles. But noooo...the lunatics just have to run the asylum!
So I'm gonna do what I would usually do in this situation: pray for the Palestinian Christians, above all others, who are seemingly getting it from both sides but now espeically from Israel (in fact if I was a conspiracy nut I'd say this invasion was precisely to wipe out Christianity in Gaza, and Hamas is a pretext), boycott Israeli-made goods (and did you know it was "against the law" to boycott Israel?), denounce Christian Zionism for the heresy that it is on my Bible blog, because these false prophets are the ones mainly responsible for the Israel-first attitude of most American Christians, implore people to stop believing USA MSM propaganda about Gaza (with kuddoos to CNN for actually telling the truth that Israel was the first one to violate the Novemeber cease-fire...video is below), and start reading more alternative and especially foreign media sources, such as the Asia Times. They ain't beholden to Israel in most of Asia (including, amazingly, Japan, which almost always goes along with the US).
CNN Confirms Israel broke the ceasefire first
I will be back next week...
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