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Politics, Rude Limericks, Bad Jokes, Questionable Photos and Other things of Questionable Taste. If you don't have an open mind or are easily offended I would suggest skipping this page. Anybody who would like to send in something for this page, short of treason or the like, I,ll be glad to put it up. First off, Merry Christmas, and a bit of Christmas poetry: Rio Grande Yule by Bruce Moffitt Deck the halls with boughs of holly Rattlesnakes and spiders jolly Scorpions and not much snow Its Christmas in New Mexico Tequila punch for old Saint Nick Will let him run his rounds right quick Tonight he's usin' Pancho's pickup He lost old Rudolph in a stickup All us vatos goin' to party Eat tamales, drink real hearty Shoot up half the neighborhood And pass out under a cottonwood In the morning comes the crudo We'll drink more beer and eat Menudo Then we'll all sing Ya-te-hay And stow it for another day Before a nice picture of an old friend, in these times of wierd happenings please enjoy a bit of politics that is bound to be controversial: I am pleased to see that the four year disaster has come to a end, however strange the end may be unfolding. The majority of the American people have stood up and said that they do not want a President of the United States who: (1) Will not disclose his financial dealings as every recent president has. A lot of debt comes with a lot of leverage. Who holds this leverage? (2) Blatently practices nepotism. These hires are not overly competent, but they will do what he says. (3) Takes the word of a foreign dictator over information given to him by the intellegence services of the United States. (4) Denies the expertise of the scientific establishment of the United States. Considers his knowledge superior to theirs. (5) Probably commits fraud in his real estate dealings. If a property has a low valuation for tax purposes and a high value on loan applications at the same time, it is fraud. (6) Totally blows the response to a global pandemic. When a strong, coordinated federal response is needed to a global threat he kicks the ball down to the states, causing chaos in supply lines, data collection and general operations. Claims no responsibility for this lack of federal action which engenders much death and suffering. (7) Who denigrates NATO and our long standing allies in the free world. Badmouths the leaders of France, Germany, the UK and other major players on the world stage. (8) Brags about "Love Letters" from Kim Jong Un, North Korea's bloodthirsty dictator. Kim soon returns to working on his country's quite effective nuclear weapons program without even a farewell kiss. (9) Is impeached for holding up defense monies appropriated by Congress so he can use them as leverage to force an allie to dig up dirt on a political opponent. (10) Has gutted scientific advisory boards, Attorney General positions and the security services of the United States. Places inexperienced political syncophants in important positions of power throughout the government. (11) Has an affair with a sex worker while his wife is at home with their newborn child and is caught paying the sex worker off for her silence. (12) Who is a liar and is a poor loser. This however is in the past. We now need to look to the future. Though the majority of the American people rejected this man for president, it is frightening there were over 70 million Americans that thought a man with the above qualities was fit to be President of the United States. Personally, I find this incomprehensible. The Presidency should be an honorable position, held by an honorable man. The above traits indicate a man who is thoroughly dishonorable. If there is anyone from our class who voted for this man for President and reads this I would greatly appreciate a short note explaining why they voted for him. I would be glad to add it to this screed to maybe help explain this phenomenon. Democracy is a fragile thing. It would be a shame to lose it due to ignorance or blind alligiance to a political party or personality cult. Now that I have that off my mind, how about a photo of an old friend from many years ago? Much easier on the mind and the eyes.  You don't make friends, you recognize them. - Sonny Barger Maybe a limerick: Last year's Song of Age At four score a decade and eight My age is becoming a weight It keeps me from walking As fast as I'm talking But it makes me much safer to date Or a bit of philosophy: Hogamus Higamus Men are polygamous Higamus Hogamus Women Monagamous Look what I was sent:  Here is Louie's in all its glory!  Oscar's of National City  And a view down Third Avenue Then maybe a much ruder limerick: Ode to an Anus What a wonderful thing is an anus, Though of muscles its probably the plainest. But it opens and shuts, Just back of your nuts, And without it your socks would be famous! On a bit of a lighter note, remember when?  The masses are asses and the majority is always wrong. - Alex Taylor, Australia Now, a bit of political raving? (Here, I wish to emphasize that the following are my personal observations, and are connected in no way with any other CV58 classmates or organizations.) At this time we find ourselves at an interesting intersection of science, religion and politics. The mighty ship of state is being steered by an ignorant buffoon. I have always considered lying to be a fatal stain on a person's character. The President of the United States is a serial liar. Not only that, but he is a poor liar. A good liar does not lie about things that can easily be found to be lies. Our President does. Another serious stain on a persons character is a propensity to bullshit. The President of the United States is an inveterate bullshitter. The United States has what is still probably the finest scientific establishment on Earth. The President denigrates it. We have led the world in the search for answers to the very real problem of the warming and destabilisation of the Earth's climate. The President ignores the conclusions of the vast majority of his own scientists and refuses to even admit there is a problem. (See letter at AAAS Letter) When speaking to the press a spokesperson for the President uses the term "alternate facts" and is not immediatly fired! Is this blatant ignorance or is it just a blatant concession to the energy boys and the corporate folk? It is inexcusable either way. In his personal life, the President is a racist, a narcissist, a misogynist, a homophobe and a slob. Have you ever seen anyone else drive a golf cart across a green? It is telling that the conservatives and the religious folk don't seem to give a damn about the failings of this man. It shows that these people are interested in only power and don't care about their highly touted ideals or the American people. It was a dark time when the reactionary white Southern politicians saw how the Jerry Falwell type religious folk got the ignorant together in great groups and these groups were sufficiently gullible to believe what they were told, no matter how ridiculous it was, and even gave money to those who were misleading them, lots of money. The methodology also worked for the politicians, and our country is being led by the product of this unholy alliance. It's success is a stinging rebuke to the educational system of our country. This is a well thought out and slow moving coup de etat by some well organized and totally immoral power hungry people. If the citizens of the United States are so ignorant that they cannot discern bullshit when it is served copiously and out in the open, we are in for some very ill times. Moffitt, June, 2018 Well, the voters have spoken, and they have displayed just how well lies and political smear ads work if they are lavishly funded. The boys who brought you the melt-down which Bush finished his term with are back and with more power to obstruct any real gains. The populace learned nothing from having their net worth savaged and the bankers and Wall Street boys take their money and sneer at them. "Too big to fail" is another way of saying "we are more powerful than you are" and the dirty tricks boys just proved it with the corporate wisdom of the Citizens United decision. We are in for some rough times, but we can't say we didn't ask for it. Moffitt, Dec 2010 The mid-term elections are coming up. Obama has had almost two years in office, and has managed to do quite well in the face of unrelenting right wing obstructionism, corporate self-serving and a congress that is centered on its members personal power and is to a large degree bought and sold by the big money boys. He has managed to defuse the global financial crisis that was caused before his time by the virulent greed of the banks and insurance folk and was poised to bring total chaos to the world's financial structure. He has managed to take a strong step forward to take the healthcare system out of the hands of the big companies that were milking it for profits and return some control of it to the people. He has begun to wind down the war in Iraq that he was left, so far without the total collapse of the country and its government. The book on Afganistan is still even more open, but at least we are now paying attention to it. The disastrous BP deepwater oil spill has been capped, and although the government response left much to be desired, it was not as bad as the response to Katrina, and BP is still on the financial hook. The response to all of this has been interesting. As to the economy, many are mad because Obama has not been able to bring the economy up to its past performance in only two years. This is a long term structural problem all over the world, and is not going away quickly no matter what Obama or anyone else does. Many are mad that we are not completely out of Iraq and Afganistan, but again these are problems that were created several years ago, and are not going away easily. After years of financial mis-dealings based on greed in the housing sector it will be a long recovery, but many seem to expect immediate recovery and back to the "bubble". Even at this moment, new allegations of ongoing fraud and mis-management by the big banks and mortgage folk are surfacing. This should bring outrage from the population, and a strong backlash against the politicians aligned with these people, but it hasn't seemed to so far. Maybe by election time. As we go into this election, there are some very disturbing trends. There seems to be no backlash when politicians blatantly lie. These lies include claiming military decorations that were never received, untrue claims to have worked undercover for various law enforcement agencies, lies resembling the Swift Boat ads about another politician's accomplishments, lies about the effects of policies such as gun control, and lies about scientific matters. As an illustration of the latter variety of lie, many politicians, at the behest of their energy boy owners, have claimed that there is no consensus among main-stream scientists that global climate change is real, poses a serious threat and is anthropogenic. If you have any question as to whether these claims are lies, I urge you to read This is a letter from the American Association for the Advancement of Science to members of Congress and states the general consensus of the American scientific establisment quite concisely. The ignorance being displayed is also disheartening. Palin is blatantly ignorant, yet there are people that actually take her seriously. A fair percentage of the population believes that Sadam Hussien had significant WMD's, or that he had something to do with the 9/11 attacks. A member of the Albuquerque Public School Board recently said to the Press that the AIDS virus could pass through the latex of a condom, and that he had read that on an "abstinence only" website. He should have been summarily dismissed from the Board for his ignorance, but he wasn't. People like Limbaugh and Beck have based their careers on the dissemination of false information, mostly of a right wing orientation, and many people believe what these radio show people say without question. There are significant numbers of our citizens that believe that Obama is not a US citizen, or that he is a Muslim. There are still even people that think that the universe was created 6000 years ago, and that fossils are the "Debble's own workin's"! Ignorance on this scale bodes ill for our country. Another recent development is a disastrous Supreme Court decision that equates corporations to citizens and allows corporate interests to fund political ads through hidden "committees and groups" that can run these ads for corporate agendas and corporate shills in the Congress. It takes a bit of attention, but try to discriminate between the ads of your local politicians and ads run for the party by entities that may be funded by Big Oil, Coal People, Insurance Folk, Big Banks and all them folk that are happy to be with no regulation and a free rein to lie to you, then rip you off. As history goes, don't forget the Saving and Loan scam, and the Keating Five that included McCain. Beware of anything that might have a tie to people like Karl Rove and his obscene crew. There are some truly evil creatures around and about. Beware. When you go to the polls, think. Don't just vote because that is the way your daddy voted, it is a different world out there now. Don't just vote your personal self-interest, also try to think about what might be best for your country. Try not to vote your prejudices, be they toward blacks, whites, Latinos, gays or whatever. Think about what you are doing, try to spot the lies you have been told. Use your education and experience. Don't go for instant fixes, these are long term problems we face, and long term problems take long term solutions. Above all, do vote, and do think carefully about how you vote. I don't want to sound like I am preaching, but if I am preaching, I hope I am preaching to the choir. We live in perilous times and the trajectory of our future is in our hands. I wish us all luck. Moffitt, October, 2010 We have major problems in this country that transend partisan politics. The president of our country is an ignorant man, a carpetbagger and a recently proclaimed convert to fundamentalist Christianity. He has cultivated as his support base the most ignorant major sector of the population, the fundamentalist Christians. He allows this intrusion of religion into the politics of our nation to affect decisions at the highest level. This president has lied to the American people to get them into a war that was intrinsically unwinnable from the start, and has so mismanaged the war as to turn it into a disaster. As a result of this war, the entire political structure of the Middle East has been destabilized. The international prestige of the United States has never been at such a low ebb. The assistant to the Vice President has been found guilty of lying to the FBI and a grand jury regarding matters that pertain to lies told by the president in the runup to the Iraq war. His bosses seem content to let him take the fall. Rumor has it the President may even try to pardon him, if he thinks he can get away with it. Our national debt has grown to huge proportions under this regime, our balance of trade is a disaster to be visited upon coming generations, and our economy is at the mercy of other countries. When the Chinese stock market hiccuped, ours dropped by over 400 points. The oil people have us by the soft parts. When the US needed an energy policy, the administration called in the oil boys, and then would not even cop to it! They refuse to acknowledge the serious threat posed by anthropogenic climate change, saying a response might be bad for the economy, and leaving future administrations to deal with it. Our manufacturing base is eroding, driven overseas by the specter of short range corporate profits. Exorbitant CEO and managerial compensation schemes exacerbate this problem considerably. This administration has also dumbed down the scientific advisory capabilities of the government, appointing members to scientific advisory panels for their political and religious beliefs and not for their scientific expertise. Their religious beliefs have affected broad swaths of the US and the world, including access to family planning on an international scale, access to abortion and contaceptives, and they have even interfered with the FDA process of making drugs available to the American people. I don't know the answers to most of these problems. Some, like the Iraq war don't appear to have solutions, short of getting out any way possible and letting chaos decend. Energy problems and global climate change can be affected by strong action, but this administration doesn't have the balls to do anything that might annoy the corporate purse-holders. I deeply hope that a statesman arises before the coming elections, regardless of the party he or she may belong to. Between ending the war, rationalizing the position of the US in relation to the rest of the world, setting some manner of realistic energy policy, removing the power of the religious fundamentalists in our government and trying to manage the usual problems, the next president will have a heaping plate of woe left on his desk by this rogue cabal. I don't mean to rant and rail, but this weighs on my mind. I hope it is not as bleak as I see it, but I suspect we be in real deep shit. June 2008 Sad to say, at the moment it is about as bleak as I thought it might be. The present administration is paralyzed, Congress cannot get its act together in any meaningful way, and all concerned say that they need a few hundred billion to go to the Wall Street folk to get them, and us, out of this mess they have gotten us into. The emphasis on free markets and no regulation that the present cabal has pushed has done nothing but let the greedy ones game the system to thier own benefit, and in doing so have pushed both our markets and those of much of the world into chaos. I hope that the thinking people among us will recognize the present regime for what it is, and vote to return Bush, Rove, Cheney, Libby and the rest of the present power structure to the dark place they crawled out of. October 2008 Wow- It worked. Hello Obama. If this country had elected those neo-con guys again, we were into some real grief. I was hoping above hope that the country could not do a hyper-stupid like 2004, but having seen our country do something that stupid once, worry, worry, worry. Obama is young and intelligent, great change; a decent orator, again a great change; and has gathered together not only a world class campaign organization, but has also gathered world class scientific and economic teams to advise him. What a great change from the present administration that seems to revel in ignorance and small, politically and religiously biased advisatory teams. There are valid charges of treason and malfeasance in office that should be leveled against this last administration, but the Congress has not had the balls to call them to account, and as a last, cynical gesture of contempt for the American people, I expect Bush to proactively pardon Cheny, Rumsfield, Gonzales and the rest of the crew, and as a last final insult, he will probably pardon himself as well. Give Obama your full support. We are in deep shit, I wish him luck. There was, however, a dark thing that happened in this last election. How did the people of California let the old, cold religious folk and the Mormons who, to their shame, put up a bunch of money, get Prop. 8 to pass? I assume none of our people supported this vile deed, but there were enough of the Californios that voted for it to let it pass. A foul vote. I find it embarrasing that an enlightened state like California could do this. If anyone who reads this voted for this poor-ass thing, feel shame. For fun, check out Alaska. The old oil boy favorite, Ted Stevens, has been found guilty of several felonies, relating to malfeasiance in office, and he is possibly going to be elected again to the Senate. Nothing like voting for an honest politician! I met him back in the 60's. Saw him lay a bald-faced lie on the AAAS, and watched the oil boys snicker. I would love to get up in the morning, cook myself pancakes and eggs, and think of him in a small cold cell eating green balogna and white bread for breakfast. Twenty years too late, but better late than never. Nov. 10, 08
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