Old Geezers Out to Lunch

Old Geezers Out to Lunch
The Geezers Emeritus through history: The Mathematician™, Dr. Golf™, The Professor™, and Mercurious™

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Geezers Are Still Alive in 2015

One Geezer's  New Year's hope:  May these two, and everything they
stand for, vanish from the earth for all time. 
The Geezers were brought to tears of emotion recently, as a few people have said they've actually missed seeing the ramblings of various Geezers on these pages over the last month or two. The reality is that we've been dealing with other things— family illnesses, work disruptions, business travel, etc—that have caused us to shirk our duty to the 4.65 million rabid regular readers of Old Geezers Out to Lunch. It's not that we've been jailed, or fallen ill, or have any other excuse other than middle-aged laziness.

We apologize, and want to reassure you that all Geezers are alive and well. And over the holidays we were also in frequent discussion with one another on a variety of subjects of critical social and psychological concern. While none of these discussions have yet yielded a fully conceived essay, rest assured that we haven't yet slipped into mental decrepitude and that we do continue to consider the important issues of our time with the unparalleled wisdom of the sages.

So for today, we'll simply give you a hodge-podge of recent topics one or more of the Geezers have been noodling on recently. Sooner or later, we'll get off the dime and actually discuss one or more of these at some length.

• So what gives with radical Islam?  Do they indeed have a death wish?  It's one thing to fight the good fight within the geographic boundaries of an Islamic nation—on some level, many of us can even sympathize with some of that anti-imperial sentiment.  But initiating attacks in London, Paris, Toronto etc.,  etc. seems like it only will ensure that genuine global anti-Islam xenophobia ensues. The strategy seems most likely to bring the utter downfall of Islam, not its triumph or even its survival. And while I really don't feel all that fond of French satirists (generally they're not very funny), in this case I actually find myself in philosophical support.  "Mohammed, Mohammed, Mohammed, Mohammed, Mohammed...."

Father Time: the original Geezer
• What is the reason that time seems to accelerate as we get older?  This has been a source of lengthy discussion recently among the core Geezers in recent days. We all seem to agree that the years seem to zip by with increasing speed the older we get...but why the hell is this so? Theories abound, certainty is nowhere at hand.

• What the heck is with all the wearable, self-absorbed technology?  Fit-Bits, Google Glasses, Apple Watches. Selfie photos produced and distributed by just about everybody under the sun. Is this another manifestation of our narcissistic times, or a necessary step along the road to becoming a man/machine cyborg species?

• How will the GOP pull themselves together? Yeah, they've retaken Congress, lock-stock and barrel. But they are still led by the orange-skinned John Boehner, who seems pretty unpopular even among fellow Republicans. And a recent NY Times discussed the fact that the presidential frontrunners—Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee, who have genuine reasonableness in their characters—are already in the process of re-selling their souls in order to get nominated. Do we really need another quivery Democrat in office? 'Cause that's where the GOP is taking us.  Not even I'm excited about that possibility, pinko liberal though I am.

• Will the Supreme Court show some intelligence this year?  At issue is the question of the rights of gay couples, and the attitude of states like Louisiana which still, despite all logic and evidence,  believe in their rights to hold modern-day Jim Crow laws now directed at gay people.  Honestly:  in the relatively short time that many states  have now changed their laws 180-degrees, absolutely no social catastrophe has befallen us, anywhere. This is not the most courageous Supreme Court though, so stay tuned for more creative spinelessness—if not on this issue, then on the various questions regarding reproductive rights in places like Texas.

• Will Congress continue to stick its collective nose up the rear-end of Big Money?  About the only good thing to come out of the 2008-2009 economic recession was the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Since then, Congress has pretty steadily offered its bare butt whenever the investment community has whined and asked for repeal of laws requiring it to behave, well, ethically. 2008 saw us pretty damned close to complete global meltdown, and another failure to heed the lessons won't just affect huge corporations. If you have any money at all tucked away in a 401k or other investment location, can you really afford to see 40-60% of it evaporate again because Big Money returns to its greedy ways?  This is why we need people like Elizabeth Warren. Very few people in Congress have the courage to hold Wall Street accountable to the people who actually support it.

That, and more, in the weeks and months to come.

8 comments:

  1. What is wrong with me? I read that as the rear end of Big Monkey half a dozen times before I snapped to.

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  2. It's great to see the lights blinker on at the Geezers frequency. We've missed you.
    Answers to your questions-and they are good ones-follow.
    A-Radical Islam is poison, like most radical fundamentalism. Yes they do have a death wish. They are a culture of death.
    B-That is one of the eternal mysteries, but I too sense its unrelenting grasp. No wonder one of the wisdom of the ages is "tempis fugit."
    C-wearable gadgits-don't you think it is more about marketing than life improvement. Admittedly there is data that might be helpful, but who has time to ponder it all. See the question above. It is flying rapidly without biometric data to mine.
    D-The GOP will do a shudder in the next couple of years. I suspect they are not yet ready to return to a position within the bounds of respectability.
    E-Hard to tell about this court. They are a curious study though leaning toward corporately held.
    F-Yes. That is their new address.

    Thanks for flickering back on.

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  3. Would love to spend time here. Good to have you back, and fighting fit by the sound of things.

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  4. Amen to your last comment about holding Wall Street accountable. Hope all is working out for you on the homefront

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  5. I am deeply interested how you will handle these topics (ah, and there is quite a lot of research on why time seems to be flying by when we get older - though, being timeless, I reject even the notion of getting older). A bit of that precious stuff 'time' seems to me well spent on reading your blog.
    With kind regards, number 4.650 001 of your (r)avid readers.

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    1. Not that you think I didn't use the spectacles I don't have: in Northern Germany (were I was born, now living in Berlin) we had the 2. consonant shift (about 500 - 800 AD) e.g. from "asächs. self (nd. sülv) : ahd. dt. selb". Meaning the "b" in "rabid" might in some cases (had I but world enough and time to prove it) been changed from the "v" in "avid", uh, mumble, mumble....

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  6. I am overjoyed at the prospect and pleasure of your renewed online company. So glad you're alive, well and have questions to examine!

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