"545"

I got an email from my Dad yesterday. He forwarded it, which is not something he normally does, so I read it. The email is going around citing that Charley Reese, a journalist for the Orlando Sentinel Star newspaper and 49 year veteran journalist, wrote the following as his "last" column. It was actually written in 1985. Here's Charley Reese: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Reese, a bad mother-fucker.

Anyway, his article, and clarity through his career, are really though provoking. The new email going around citing that he wrote this as his last column, in attempts to get us all "up-in-arms", is hopefully a product of some revolution; new emerging thoughts, formerly shared by a few daring souls in the dark corners, now coming to the forefront of American lives, en force. A revolution of thought --and action-- that should be happening-- but, other than some protests and opinions, is not happening....yet. But there have been rumblings .....here's the article (some names and events are outdated. Just replace them with whomever holds the current position and whatever war we happen to be in at the moment. It's all the same game anyway...):

THE 545 PEOPLE
RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL
OF AMERICA'S WOES

BY CHARLEY REESE

"Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 235 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all but the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislation's responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Don't you see how the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of Tip O'Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating appropriations and taxes.

O'neill is the speaker of the House. He is the leader of the majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetos it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in Lebanon, it's because they want them in Lebanon.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take it.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. They and they alone have the power. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees."



"Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. They and they alone have the power. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees."



Their bosses are all of us, of course.


~ZFJ

Frequent Flyer

Hi.

We've been all around town flyering for our show on the 31st!! Yay!! Everyone in this town likes and utilizes flyers to advertise their respective crafts...they're everywhere. A good, well-designed, catchy flyer is definitely a must-have and you're not "cool" if you don't have a good flyer. Got to have a good flyer....I mean, they're on bulletin boards, at the entrances of restaurants and clubs...they're online (of course), why, they're even sometimes under the windshield wiper of your car!

Anyway, I've been trying to get approval to hang one up on one of the community bulletin boards in the health club I frequent (ok, okay. maybe I don't frequent it...). It'll be really cool to hang one up there, if I get the approval that is. See, from my recent experiences, I've come to the conclusion that hanging a flyer at the health club is a huge deal. Last week, during a scintillating run on the treadmill, I hatched an evil plan. See, if I were to hang a flyer on the bulletin board in the hallway en route to the workout rooms, then everyone who walked by it would be forced, by default of having to walk by that area, to see it.

Aaaaahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa!! Yet another plan was born....So, after the run, I asked the nice girl at the front desk if I could hang a flyer on one of the three available bulletin boards. She replied with "Duuh, I don't know the policy for that...I'd have to ask the manager..." The policy???

Wow. Okay...I said "Don't worry about it, I'll check back at a later date.", still keeping my diabolical plan fresh in my mind as I departed. A few days later after finishing another workout, the whole time continuing to nurture my evil plan of "force-feeding" my flyer unto the eyes of all the health club patrons. Upon completion of the workout, I approach the kid at the front desk with the half sleeve tattoo (very personable guy by the way) and ask if I can hang the flyer. He replies (very nicely and "gate-keeper-esq") with, "Hmmmm...good question. I'm not sure what the policy is for that. I can check with Brenda to see if she would approve that...". I say "Ok. Sounds good. Maybe I can talk with Brenda myself? What does she look like? When is she here normally?" He replies, "She usually is here in the mornings...she wears a hat backwards usually." etc etc. I go, "OK man, thanks. I'll see if I can catch up with her". So yesterday I visited the health club again, finished a workout and asked the girl at the desk if Brenda was there. She informed me that Brenda had just left.

Fuck. At this point I began to fear that my plan would not come to fruition as I had once hoped.

The girl at the desk (different from the first girl by the way) asked what I wanted to talk with Brenda about and I explained that I wanted to hang a flyer up on one of the bulletin boards. She replied with "Oh. Ok. Well....can you bring in the flyer and I can get it to Brenda? I need to see if she will approve it and then, hopefully, you can put it up on that bulletin board over there" (she points to a lonely, non-featured bulletin board right near the door rather than the prime real estate right in the hallway to the workout room). My heart sank a bit as I realized that, even if I get approval to hang up the flyer, it will not be in the most visible spot within the health club and therefore will spare some of the members from seeing it. Fuck. Shit.

Anyway, I brought in the flyer, handed it to the girl and asked if I should follow up to check the status of the approval process. She politely (possibly even bubble-ey) informed me that, when I come to the club next time, it will either be hung up....or not.

Shit.


Well, either way readers, I'm really hoping that I get approval to hang that fucking flyer up there. Considering the process, and the "ringer", they've put me through, I would feel especially accomplished if I see that pretty lil' flyer on that bulletin board.


~ZFJ

Even if you choose not to decide, you have still chosen...

Hi!

Have you ever reflected on the choices you make? Considered the relative "weight" they all have?

Well, I had quite a time at the grocery store today choosing between the Schick "Hydro Blast 5" razor, the "Xtreme3 Fitstyle Refresh"(also from Schick), and the "Mach 3 Turbo" razor from the Gillette corporation. Ultimately, I chose the Mach 3 Turbo, based mostly on my familiarity with that particular razor. This process of choosing made me reflect on how important choices are in our lives. The razor choice is one that you make based on how you want to feel. I mean, the Hydro Blast 5 (better than models 1,2,3 & 4 by the way) makes me feel as if I'm going to get a hydro blast to my face, back and neck when I'm shaving (which by-the-fucking-way I have to do regularly now as the "Angel Of Death"). The Hydro Blast 5 sounds...."comforting". But not bad-ass. I, being the hard-charger that I am, like to feel bad-ass when shaving. When I use my Mach 3 Turbo (Previous Mach 3 models have included the Mach 3 "2-cylinder" and the Mach 3 "4-cylinder", both colossal marketing failures), I feel like a smooth-faced fighter pilot who's prowess in military tactics and airborne warfare is exceed only by his good looks and smooth-faced appearance. And he gets the girl. Every time. Big time.

Anyway, the decision process I faced today served as the catalyst for my thoughts on the weight of our choices in life. You know? Every choice shapes the course of the next few seconds, the next few minutes, the day, the week, the year......ANY choice has weight. The new route we take home....the song we didn't write....the food we eat.....the things we drink....every little choice shapes something in our lives, and others lives. But, as most of you would agree, few choices carry as much weight as:

Choosing bath towels that will ACTUALLY remove the water from your skin, rather than just "moving" it around.

Almost nothing consumes my life more than this right now. See, after searching for quite some time, I recently bought some new towels. They're 100% cotton. They're the "no frills" type of towels --supposedly. One of them is tiger striped design. These towels are "the ones" that felt as if they would fucking evaporate the water off your skin with one fell swoop. I fondled hundreds of towels to eventually arrive at these. Why, I even carefully avoided the lures of the "Ultra Comfort 3000" brand towels that claim to be "ultra" absorbent,organic and also 100% cotton. Ultra pricey too, but they do offer a tiger striped model. I thought it was all just another marketing ploy with slick lingo and convincing packaging, so I went for middle-of-the-road towels. Towels that currently, after quite a few uses, seem to only "move" the water around rather than remove it. Has my choice to save a few bucks cost me a good portion of my sanity??? Did I choose poorly simply by over-thinking my options??? Are the "Ultra Comfort 3000" towels really that good?????? Are they actually the ones I've been seeking all this time?

Anyway, I chose, based on my research and life experience, and I chose poorly dear readers. And believe me, that choice is weighing heavily on me.....As of this writing, I am even second guessing my Mach 3 Turbo choice and feeling like I should have gotten the Xtreme3 Fitstyle Refresh razor.


In conclusion dear reader, I implore you to remember that every little thing you choose will shape your life...somehow.


~ZFJ