Senate Votes on Health Care July 25, 2017

“The Mother of All Votes”

I’m not sure if this is true but someone told me Donald sent out this tweet then took it down: 

“We had a vote on health care, it was great, very close vote, 50-50, then I asked for a recount, all Republicans voted for it which is 100% so final vote was 100 votes yea and no votes against, maybe one or two, final vote was something like 96-4 only disgruntled employees Sessions and Comey, you know, not doing their job they voted “no” to get back at me everybody else voted yes final vote 108 to 2 most votes ever amazing win for WH.  Sad, fake news, cofefe!"  

It is not clear as of this writing why he took it down but when more information comes to light, you’ll be the first to know.

I and Me

EASY ENGLISH: LESSON 1

   "I AND ME"

I am a teacher who can teach anybody anything.  I can teach a dog to talk and an elephant to fly.  

As hard as it may be to believe, I am now going to teach you something too.  I am going to explain the difference between “I” and “me”. 

This is a very difficult task, no doubt about it.  For years and years teachers have tried to impress upon young students’ mind this grammatical distinction.  

All these thousands of teachers failed time after time. 

The difference between me and them (or is it them and me?) and “me” and “I” is really quite simple.  It’s just that many students prefer using the wrong word.  It is a game of rebellious nonsense to them, like walking backwards instead of forward. 

This is okay because I will prove to you anybody can be wrong! (even teachers.)  Some kids work at being wrong harder than others so you should not feel jealous or sad when they don’t get it and you do.  You are smart! 

NEVER BE JEALOUS!

Never be jealous of dummies because they need to be wrong all the time and they get real good at it through hours and hours of practice.  Normal kids cannot keep up.  

Even for smart kids, the difference between “I” and “me” is a real challenge!  They have to be very careful or they might use the right word by mistake. 

To avoid that from happening, both smart kids and dumb kids must practice being wrong no matter what the sentence is.  With enough practice,  they will always use “me” instead of “I” and “I” instead of “me”.  

It’s an art form at which kids excel beyond all expectations!  Do not be jealous if you already know the difference between "I" and "me" and wish to unlearn your knowledge to be more like them, the dummies.  They are unique and resist imitation copycatting.

A CONFESSION

 

To be perfectly honest, when I was a kid I myself was often confused by when to use “I” and when to use “me”.  None of these Grammar Rules and cute Grammar Rhymes really stick, you know?  

Teachers have explained the grammatical rule to me so many times they have turned blue in the face . . . but my memory loves to play tricks and refuses to cooperate!  

It’s pretty easy to get to the point of not knowing which is correct, “I” or “me”, so then you have to guess.  Nine times out of ten you will guess wrong because the long odds do not favor the gambler.  

Even the one-time-out-of-ten you manage to guess right, you probably won’t be sure if you are right or not . . . so you might as well have been wrong!

THE OLD WAY AND THE NEW WAY

That was the old way of teaching.  Now I am going to use the new way invented by me, myself, and I since all three of us worked together. 

I am going to explain to you when to use “I” and when to use “me”.  For clarity’s sake before we begin, I am now talking about the real you.  I am not talking about me. 

This can be confusing when talking about these two words and whether me the author really means “you” as a person or “you” as a word meaning "anybody".  

"You" should not talk with your mouth full of food is you-anybody, see?    

“You better not talk back to your Pa or you’ll get whacked” is also an anybody-you since all kids can be part of  this kind of “you”.  

All of them have a Pa that can do some right smart whacking and smacking when he’s got a mind to. (more about Pa the Smacker later.)  

Are you with me so far?
  

CLARIFYING THE OBVIOUS

I will try to let you know which is which so you will not get confused like you would if I did not tell you when I meant the real “you” and not the anybody-you.  

I think you will find clarifications like these are very helpful.  (“Me think” is no good.)

Okay, Lesson 2:  use “I” whenever you are talking about yourself.  I don’t mean I should use my name that goes with “I” just because I am writing this down.  

(I am currently incognito with a bad case of urgent legal need for underground pseudonymious concealment and so not my usual open and sunny self.)  

Remember, you should use the pronoun “I” that goes with “you” when you are reading this which is why I wrote “you” and not “I”.  Person 1 to person 2 is a two-way bridge. Words can be people but they can be pronouns too!  

THE PRONOUN BLUES

“I” is called a pronoun.  So is “you” so both you and I are pronouns.  The "P" word is not a bad word.  Do not start a fight if someone comes up to you and says “Hey, I do not like your pronoun”.  They are idiots!  Tell them to get lost or go jump in a lake. 

However, if the teacher reads what you write and she tells you she doesn’t like your pronoun, do not tell her to get lost or jump in the lake because she will put you in a can of hot soup.  

Just say “Yes ma’am”, “No ma’am”, “You’re right, ma’am” and keep agreeing with everything she says so she will keep her can of hot soup to herself!

JOHN MEETS SALLY

Example 2: let us say your name is John or Sally or both.  If you are John (pretend along with me here) instead of saying “John like chocolate”, say “I like chocolate”. 

See how easy it is?  If you are Sally (play along) instead of saying “Sally like chocolate”, say “I like chocolate”.

Notice that both John and Sally like chocolate and this probably means they like each other.  It’s possible that John likes other neat stuff about Sally besides her chocolate but Sally ain’t gonna give John any of her chocolate until John acts more like a gentleman.

If you are LGBT then don’t worry too much about these gender-biased names but choose any name you prefer. For that matter don’t bother to worry about “you”, “I”, and “me” at all because you’ve got bigger problems to fry anyway.      

REVIEW OF LESSON ONE

In lesson one it was brilliantly explained “I” is a pronoun and “you” is the opposite of “I”. (Another way to say this is “We is opposites” but that’s a lesson for another day.)

I also conclusively demonstrated that using names like John and Sally will help you understand who is who and why they like each other’s chocolate. 

Lastly, I explained it is best to agree with the teacher all the time so you do not have hot soup for lunch.  If your teacher asks you for your phone number so she can call home to rat you out, pretend you cannot remember your phone number. 

END OF REVIEW / START OF LESSON TWO

Lesson Three: I am now going to explain when to use the fake pronoun "me” instead of the real pronoun “I”.  This is where the fun begins!  Luckily, the answer is really easy, so easy even a parrot can learn to talk English.  

Rule #1: use “me” whenever it is wrong to use “I”.  

For example, “My friends and I like standing on the beach” is 100% correct.  

It would be wrong to use “me” in this sentence because “I” is right or I “are” right if you prefer.  

Do not use “me” in place of where “I” is standing on the beach because “I” is going to kick your ass if you try and take my spot.    

“Me is going to kick your ass” should not sound right to your ears because “I” (not “me”) is going to do the ass-kicking.  Get it?  "I" is an ass-kicking pronoun!

MORE CLARIFYING EXAMPLES

Example 13: “I love school” is right.  “Me love school” is not right.  If you hate school then neither is right but remember these are just pretend sentences.    

Example 14: “I love chocolate” is right.  “Me love chocolate” is wrong.  If you hate chocolate then neither is right but they are both wrong only because you don’t like chocolate and not because “I” got knocked over by “me”. 

“Me” cannot knock over “I” when “I” is in the right because “me” is not strong enough to replace right with might.  Note that by changing the “r” to “m” you get a brand new word which is rather neat! 

Anyway, remember what I am telling you: 
If “I” feels right then pretend you never heard of “me” because “me” can never replace “I”. (Write “me is not the  pronoun I” 1,000 times if you are afraid you will forget!)  

   

LESSON NINE: WHEN TO USE “ME”

Let’s say I am going to write a letter to you and then you are going to write a letter back.  Where is your letter going to go?  That is when you use “me” because you are going to write the letter to me.  It’s really just that simple! 

You are not going to write the letter to “I” because “I” is the pronoun and it can write to you but it cannot write to itself: “I is going to write me” makes almost no sense except maybe to second language learners.     

“I” can only write to another person--you--and you can only write to another person

(me).  You must write to me! 

EXAMPLE 24

Example 24: “My brother and me ate two green apples.”  

This is wrong and will give your teacher fits which she will take out on you and your classmates in subtle and not so subtle ways.  

If you can say “I ate two green apples” then it does not matter how many brothers you have because you need to stick to the apple-eating pronoun “I” like glue. 

Suppose you have five brothers.  “My five brothers and I ate two green apples” is still right.  “Me” did not do anything because me wasn’t even there. 

Now, if one of your five brothers gave you an apple then you can say “My brother gave me an apple” or “my brother gave an apple to me” but you cannot say it if your brother gave you an orange or did not give you anything but hogged the whole apple himself. 

Remember, I am not asking you to tell me if this sentence is really true or really not true in real life.  I do not care how many brothers or sisters or cousins you have.  

Instead, I want you to pretend the sentence is true and tell me if “I” or “me” makes it better true or worse true in terms of true-blue grammar true.

LAST RULE

Last Rule you'll ever need to know: 
Use “me” when something happens to you or somebody gives you something or you should happen to see the word “to” bobbing and floating along in the sentence and coming your way: “She is going to give the gift to me.” 

Get it?  Sally is not going to give the gift to you as “I” but to you as “me”.  

“She is going to give the gift to “I” makes no sense unless maybe if she is planning to trick you and take your gift and give it to herself rather than to you.  

Girls are generally more honest than boys so this is highly unlikely although not out of the question entirely, especially if you have done something bad to Sally (which she did not want you to do) in which case you should not expect a gift from her to either one of you, I mean either “I” or “me”, at all. 

LET THE LIGHT SHINE!

You were probably confused at the beginning but I have a good feeling by now you really understand the difference and know when to use “I” and when to use “me”.  

Make up some imaginary sentences of your own to prove this to yourself and if you get confused remember these three basic rules:

1)    I” is a pronoun.  Do not use “me” when “I” is already there pronouning itself.     

2)    Use “me” if using “I” is wrong or when you see the word “to” a-coming.

3)     I forget what idea number 3 is but it is probably related to ideas 1 and 2.  

      If you can figure out what idea 3 is, write it down and mail it to me.  I will be very happy that you learned this very-important difference which often eludes even the best of us.

A HAPPY END

You will never be confused by these two words “I” and “me” ever again!  

If you should forget, just remember to ask: “What difference does it make to me?” and answer “I think it makes a world of difference because I don’t want me to end up in a can of hot soup!”  

Brought to you by: 
The Committee to Bring an Enlightened Understanding of the Difference Between "I and Me" and "You and Me" Which Together We Are.

(Signed) 
Committee Chairperson,

Chicken Little Feet

Next time: the very important difference between verbs and gerunds where the author knocks both grammatical units-of-meaning right out of the park.  Stay tuned!

A LITTLE ZAP SAVES THE COUNTRY

            After devoting much of my life to serious academic study, I have reached a conclusion about what this country needs most in order to make continued progress in all spheres of its multi-dimensional and institutional democracy: a buzzer.

            Yes, a buzzer.  And not just any kind of buzzer but a very special buzzer.  You see, this buzzer would give off a tiny electric shock and would be used only under the following conditions: whenever any person, male or female, black or white, young or old, said or did anything that was full of prejudice, that person would have to wear a buzzer!  Every new act of prejudice would automatically lead to the buzzer delivering a small zap.

            Moreover, even the president would have to wear one.  The next time he goes to say “it’s okay to bomb people of a different color” anybody in the country could reach for a buzzer and give him a little shock of electricity.  Eventually some may succumb to the temptation to over-zap him, but this buzzer would be so technologically advanced that it will not allow for that: only a genuine act of prejudice gets zapped!

            Check out how history might have been different had we all been wearing buzzers a long time ago:  

There’s the Grand Wizard of the KKK and he’s about to light a torch and deliver another hate-filled speech demanding violence against Black people when, all of a sudden, out of the blue ZAP! he gets a major shot of electricity since mass-zapping would be allowed for persons who are particularly obnoxious in their  prejudices . . .           

There’s the mighty growers of California’s vineyards and agricultural lands--the land and yearly output of foodstuffs is literally worth billions--and a whole roomful of growers around a big conference table are sitting and saying “Oh those Mexicans don’t deserve any higher pay because . . .” when big multi-wired units of zap energy unload their electric charges and every one of them growers would get ZAPPED!! 

            Why that room would be so charged with electrical energy it would be dangerous for a stranger to try and to walk through it!

            Or how about some of those Black Muslims when they screech that idiotic crap at us like they’re holy saints and all non-Blacks and non-Muslims are pieces of dirt?  I mean, LIGHTING BOLT-SIZE ZAPPERS would be crashing all about them, not from the little electric zapper, but from the Almighty Himself who detests liars and hypocrites more than any other kind of deceitful fools! 

            A Black Muslim says “All white men are the devil” and as soon as anyone says “that’s not true” or “that remark contains prejudice” what do the Black Muslims do?  Like all reactionary elements before them, they accuse the other party of being the racist.  Now why is that?  How racist is the party of the prophet Muhammad if that kind of twisted, inverted, and sick piece of reasoning passes mustard? 

            Well, if someone says the Black Muslims don’t believe that, they used to be that way but not anymore, how about letting us hear one of their spokesmen say so?  Or is that too minor a philosophical shift--from virulent racism to something only slightly more tolerant--to bear mentioning in public?  

Would they be ashamed to say something like: “Not all members of a group are the same; there’s good and bad in every group; you can’t judge a whole group by the actions of a single member . . .”

             . . . and so forth, ideas most of us are all very comfortable with--would it too insulting to Islam to say something like that?  I mean, even Malcolm X talked about how on his trip to Mecca he broke bread with a man- whom he came to look upon as a brother- who had blue eyes and blond hair.  

Or are the prejudices of Black Muslims a form of racism particular to our own nation alone?  I mean, do they agree or disagree-- accept or reject-- what Malcolm X was telling them when he made this statement?

            Some may think that as a matter of religious toleration, we must put up with this Black Muslim racism.  I, for one, most vigorously disagree.  Americans should never tolerate racism but actively combat it, as the people of any democratic nation must. 

            The Grand Wizard of the KKK should be opposed because he is a racist, not because he is a member of a Christian denomination.  We are not opposing the religion but the racism.  There is a world of difference between these two approaches.  

Louis Farrakahn is a racist and his racism must be condemned as we would anyone else for uttering such racist remarks, regardless of what religion they proclaim, or none at all.   

            The Grand Wizard and the leader of the Black Muslims are, if you’ll pardon the literary idiom, one and the same person or at least cut from the same cloth and drifting into the same sea of chaos that the insane bitter dregs of racism always bring to the deteriorating minds of those who prefer violence to peace and hate to love.    

            Let them wear the buzzer and let the people decide who gets zapped the more often!

-Roger R.

San Jose, California

October 26, 2002

Deep Stream of Greed

                                   The Return of Socrates’ Poison

As an American historian, I do believe that a deep stream of greed, exploitation, and corruption best explains much of the last 500 years.  Human nature being what it is, a relatively small percentage of greedy men and women has sometimes given in to the worst of human vices and traits. 

Their hypocrisy, deceptions, lies, and crimes knew no bounds and so they ended up doing damage to their societies vastly disproportionate to their actual numbers. 

Their words and actions were grotesque, despicable, and wholly indefensible, both spiritually and morally.  Lying to deceive, lying to cheat and rob, lying to accumulate stolen riches became the way evil men gained power. 

They became powerful enough and destructive enough to leave their permanent imprint on humankind’s historical development nearly everywhere. 

Humanity has a proud history of honest labor, social productivity, and individual creativity, accompanied by much artistic, intellectual, and scientific progress.  Humanity also has, unfortunately, a sad history of oppression involving violence, death, and destruction. 

We human beings as a species are so “two-sided” (and to such an extreme extent) that we are historically schizophrenic; Humanity is Good and Humanity is Evil at one and the same time.  It sounds bizarre to say but if the shoe fits . . . 

The truth is that there has always been more non-violent “good people” than violent “bad people” but the destructive behavior of the minority has a disproportionately negative effect and can ruin many thousands of lives. 

Good qualities such as humility and modesty, honesty and loyalty, courage and kindness sometimes seem unable to hold their own with the wickedness of the few who surrendered virtue in favor of unseemly vices. 

Once on the wrong path, they initiate and profit from the rapidly expanding concentric circles of confusion and chaos that emanate from their destructive ways.  Super-selfish persons create hardship and tragedy with their immoral and irrational acts that go far beyond their mere numbers. 

For many decades and in many places, students have been taught history from the perspective of these robber barons, these murderous conquerors, these enslaving exploiters who robbed people of their lands and resources. 

Students have been taught rationalizations for such evil acts rather than those historical truths that sustain and inspire honest, decent people.  

Many of these devastating social practices came from Europe and the so-called “Western” cultures: or rather, from the rich elites of these nations, from the wealthy of America.  Their greed is a poison that has been infecting the whole world for nearly a half-millennium. 

Now the poison is starting to spread closer to home: it has infected the home roost and is adding its toxic effect to everything and everyone.  The poison will reach the heart of the whole nation eventually and these upper classes must soon realize they have fatally poisoned themselves as well.

The rich will hire anyone to come up with “a better solution” to hide their wealth and how they acquired it, but the new age of technology leaves them more exposed than ever before.  Truth has daily a thousand new doorways through which to surge, while the rich are desperately slamming doors behind them to try and protect their time-honored generation-by-generation cover-up lies. 

Now the poison is moving into the body politic, like hemlock slowly creeping up Socrates’ legs.  The fatal effect on this great philosopher started in his farthest extremities and slowly moved toward his heart, paralyzing him as the poison spread.  So, too, is the historic poison of greed spreading upward toward the heart of capitalism. 

The capitalist class has always had one enemy it could never defeat: itself.  Or did they forget that?  Its stupidity, its arrogance; its violence, its death; its corruption and its greed; its lies and its insanity are all impossible-to-hide traits telling us who they are, where they are, and what they are hiding. 

They stole everything they could get their hands on from the less fortunate for generation after generation, century after century—did they really believe they could avoid a day of reckoning forever?  That day is well-nigh on us!  A new time draws closer.  The chance to overcome their crooked scales of justice is just around the corner and drawing ever nearer—now, even as we speak!  

CALL TO RESIST THE USURPER

I call on all Americans who cherish democracy to engage in non-violent resistance in open opposition to the new administration. 

A majority of the American people did not vote for him.  His presidency is illegitimate in that sense, the bastard child of an unspeakably despicable Electoral College by which the popular will was thwarted.

For many weeks I have wrestled with this grave issue of conscience regarding the obligations of an American citizen: whether to respect the outcome of an election no matter who the victor.

After much soul searching, I have come to the only honest and honorable path left open: I do not recognize him as the legitimate president. 

I consider him an impostor, a pretender, and the leader of a coup against American democracy.

I will not pledge allegiance to him but pledge my loyalty instead to the Constitution.  We must oppose this sabotaging of the American election through the manipulation of Big Money. 

We must oppose a money-corrupted electoral system with all the strength in our possession: moral, physical, intellectual, and spiritual.    

He is not my president nor do I recognize his right to be president.  If non-violent resistance, including civil disobedience, proves inadequate to the task of removing him from office, the time may come when other strategies must be considered but the resistance must go on.  

His elite squad of billionaires now possesses far more political and economic power than the richest kings and queens, oligarchs and plutocrats of times past.  And yet it is we the people who are ultimately sovereign and represent true American democracy, equality, and justice. 

It is time for Americans to recognize how they are continuously behind in this contest between the wishes of the wealthiest elite and the needs and desires of ordinary people. 

The richest families have the power, the control, the monopoly of policy decision-making, and all the rest.  They can now give unlimited amounts of money to influence the outcome of any election. 

This situation has become intolerable.  It cannot be allowed to exist indefinitely like a festering wound upon the body politic. 

From Occupation America to Black Lives Matter, from the Rainbow Coalition to the Women’s Rights Movement, from every progressive group for change and hope, we must organize anew to fight the greatest menace of our times to American social, moral, and political values.

We need emails, letters, phone calls, letters-to-editors, social media postings, demonstrations, petitions, picket signs and every other kind of protest strategy to bring about change and move the nation in a new direction. 

The enemy is at the gates; nay, the enemy has entered the gates.  The richest billionaires have captured the capital city of the United States. 

They have installed their little fuehrer in the highest position of the land knowing that Dictator Donald will do their bidding. 

The working people of America will be further victimized by the Republican juggernaut.  We must not sit idly by and wait for the other shoe to drop.

It is time to organize and to fight for our rights and for American justice!! 

Do not let the usurper go unchallenged!!     

We have lived through a Revolution that founded a nation, a Civil War that ended slavery, recovered from the Great Depression and emerged victorious from two World Wars. 

However dark the moment, however far away the bright light of morning, we the American people have proven our resiliency and commitment to democracy many times over.   

We are called upon once again to face this latest challenge to American freedom. 

We are called upon to repudiate this grotesque caricature of the people’s story. 

We are called upon to recognize and resist this grave danger to our values of American freedom and democracy, warped and twisted to satisfy the selfish ends of billionaires.    

We are called upon as Americans to stand up and fight not only for our own rights but also the rights of others.  We must stand up and protest, stand up and fight for our country.  Let not 2017 be the year that the story of American democracy in the United States came to an end.

Let the year 2017 signal instead a bold new mass movement among the American people to maintain, preserve, and expand their democratic rights to every nook and cranny of the nation. 

Let us prepare to fight for our rights to live as free Americans!!