Bubba's Blog
Who is Bubba?
Bubba the Blogster is the resident truth‑teller of Andrew Ostrowski.com — a retired public servant who’s seen enough of the world to know what’s real and what’s nonsense. He’s tough, he’s direct, and he’s got a mouth that can handle anything you throw at him.
Bubba’s background gives him a unique vantage point: part streetwise survivor, part philosopher, and part no‑nonsense commentator. He’s not here to impress anyone — he’s here to explain the world exactly 'like it is,' using plain language, sharp instincts, and a perspective shaped by experience rather than ideology.
He’s the kind of voice you want when the world gets noisy. He’s the seal you trust when you want the truth without the spin. He’s Bubba — and he’s got something to say.
Speak(un)easy
By Bubba
No secret room behind a wall to buy drinks. The more I hear congressman John Fetterman, (D) PA, speak, the more I think we need more of this kind of congressman. He is a straight shooter, tells it like it is. If that means praising the president, who is a Republican, he does. Is it no wonder then that 69% of PA Dems want him out? It only goes to confirm the fact that most congressmen don't care two $#$&# about objective good, only what their party supports. It's terrible. Why even support your local congressman? Total waste. Unfortunately, Fetterman is behind the 8 ball. And we keep hearing the insulting ignorant question he's being asked, "Are you turning Republican?" That kind of asker-ignorance is just as bad. When are people going to realize and appreciate a person standing up for truth, not necessarily their political party? Perhaps a lost cause...
Nostalgia by the Numbers: Little Ricky
By Michael Cohen, CFE, CPA, MBA, Guest Writer
I recently watched an episode of I Love Lucy that featured Little Ricky masterfully playing the drums after overcoming a case of stage fright. We know the beloved cast are all gone, with the exception of Little Ricky that is. So, I was curious to know what became of Keith Thibodeaux, the actor who portrayed Little Ricky beginning in season six. To my delight, I was able to pick up a copy of Keith’s memoir 'Life After Lucy' at my local library. I appreciated the memoir for Keith’s candid look of his time with Lucy and Desi on and off the set and for its raw candor of his life after the series ended.
Let’s explore Little Ricky by the numbers. On January 19, 1953, Little Ricky Ricardo was 'born.' It became the most watched tv episode of its time – estimated at 44 million viewers – a record it held for three years until it was surpassed by Elvis’s first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. By remarkable coincidence, Lucille Ball gave birth in real life to Desi Jr. that very same day!
At first, Little Ricky was portrayed by various twin infants and toddlers. But then in season six, Little Ricky’s age was accelerated to five years of age “to accommodate more interesting script situations.”(1) Keith Thibodeaux, a child drummer prodigy, won the role after he and Desi Arnaz took turns playing the drums at an audition. Keith recalls hearing Lucille Ball excitedly saying “This is the kid! This is him! This is Little Ricky!”(2)
On March 16, 1956, Keith’s father Lionel signed a seven-year contract with Desilu Productions on Keith’s behalf. An image of the actual contract is presented in the memoir in its entirety.(3) Keith’s salary commenced at $300 a week in year 1 (1956) culminating at $1,000 per week at the end of the contract period in year 7 (1962). As stipulated in the contract, “it is understood that he will be paid for 40 weeks each year whether we require his services or not,” but Desilu reserved the option to terminate Keith’s contract at the close of each year.
• Year 1 (1956): $300 per week
• Year 2 (1957): $350 per week
• Year 3 (1958): $400 per week
• Year 4 (1959): $500 per week
• Year 5 (1960): $600 per week
• Year 6 (1961): $800 per week
• Year 7 (1962): $1,000 per week
Since “Dad says that my salary topped out at $800 per week before my Desilu stint finally ended”(4) one could surmise that Desilu terminated Keith’s contract at the conclusion of the sixth year of his contract (1961).
Beginning in 1938, new child labor laws were enacted in California due largely to the controversy over the earnings of the well-known child actor Jackie Coogan.(5) The 'Jackie Coogan law' required that a trust fund be set up for a child under the age of 21.
In December 1971, “I turned 21 and finally received the money from the trust fund that had been established for me in my I Love Lucy days”.(6) Keith bought a brand-new yellow Datsun sports convertible for $3,900 and a new set of Pearl drums. “The rest of the money I blew on clothes, drugs, and whatever I wanted,” and within two weeks Keith “went through the whole $8,000.” “That’s how long it took for the legacy of my child star days to evaporate.”(7)
When Keith learned it was only $8,000, he was disappointed but “simply assumed the amount was correct.”(8) Keith later “wondered why it was not more and tried to get in touch with some of the banks in California responsible for the fund. But trying to go back so many years to find answers proved futile.”(9)
According to my calculations, Keith grossed no less than $120,000 from Desilu from 1956 – 1961. Since the trust funds had been invested in bonds(10), the net amount that was deposited into the trust likely approximated $5,000. And so, it appears to me that approximately 96% of Keith’s gross earnings from Desilu had been paid out in trustee fees, taxes, commissions, support, care, and maintenance of a minor. Yikes!
It is no wonder the Jackie Coogan law in California was later reformed to provide minors with greater protections. The current version of the Jackie Coogan law requires that no less than 15% of the minor’s gross earnings be set aside in a 'Coogan trust.' Using this current standard of 15% would have provided Keith with no less than $18,000 – more than twice the $8,000 Keith received in 1971! Keith laments that he never received an accounting of the funds.(11) Why not?! Someone has some "splainin” to do!
The footnotes reference Life After Lucy – The True Story of Keith Thibodeaux
(1)Page 30, (2)Page 24, (3)Page 28 – 29, (4)Page 67, (5)Page 32, (6)Page 154, (7)Page 155, (8)Page 156, (9)Page 156, (10)Page 155, (11)Page 155
A celestial star-studded chat with the next Albert Einstein
By Andrew Ostrowski w/Professor Nikodem Poplawski, Ph.D., Distinguished Lecturer University of New Haven
Exactly nine years ago I had the honor of interviewing the person Forbes Magazine named as one of five scientists most likely to become the next Albert Einstein. At that time, black holes were just a theory, with this scientist theorizing that our Universe may be sitting inside of one. In March of 2026, major news announced that indeed it was now a fact: we are living inside of a black hole! Presented here is my interview of Professor Nikodem Poplawski, world-renowned theoretical physicist, lecturer, and research scholar at the University of New Haven. The full online version can be found here.
Andrew Ostrowski: Doctor Poplawski, we sincerely thank you for sharing with us just a slice of your life. Take us back to your early youth. Growing up, who inspired you, how did you progress along your intellectual “journey to the stars?”
Nikodem Poplawski: I have been always curious about the world around me. My interests in science were growing thanks to my parents who are artists and were supporting my explorations in physics, astronomy, chemistry, and math. Before high school, I learned the basics of calculus and admired its elegance. When I was 17, I learned advanced mechanics and Einstein’s general theory of relativity. I was amazed to the point that I already knew I would become a theoretical physicist, researching space, time, matter, and gravitation. As a doctoral student in the U.S., I developed my viewpoint on physics, similar to that of Paul Dirac, which emphasizes its aesthetic beauty.
AO: Whether it’s National Geographic magazine, the popular T.V. series Through the Wormhole, or being named by Forbes Magazine as one of only five scientists in the world most likely to become the next Albert Einstein, how has all the media exposure affected you personally?
NP: I was quite surprised and happy to see my name there. Albert Einstein is my hero. I also tell my students that he is my great grand mentor: a mentor of the advisor of my master’s thesis advisor in Poland. I am proud to be Polish, born in Toruń, the city of Copernicus. My science goal is to make a scientific breakthrough in our understanding of the Cosmos. I always look for bright students, passionate about physics as much as I am, so I could share with them the beauty of the Universe.
AO: Browsing your website, your output nearly runs the gamut of theoretical physics. But is there such a point where contemplative theory reaches its limit and proven fact takes over? Or, hypothetically, should there be no such point?
NP: I am a theoretical physicist. However, physics is an experimental science. What cannot be proven experimentally or observationally is not physics. My theory that our Universe originated in a black hole (explained below) can be tested by measuring the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation which comes to us from all directions in the sky and which is a “footprint” left by the Universe when it was smaller and hotter. Last year I published an article showing that black hole cosmology is consistent with these measurements. However, I think that as we know more about the Universe, we will be facing new questions, and maybe there is a limit of what we can understand physically.
AO: Undoubtedly principal among all of your theories is the existence of black holes. Can you give us a crash-course in precisely what these celestial behemoths are and what goes on inside them?
NP: Very massive stars and centers of galaxies end up as black holes: regions of space from which nothing, not even light, can escape. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, all matter in a black hole goes to a central point where the density is infinite, which means that the theory is incomplete and we really do not know what is happening there. However, including quantum-mechanics, which is the behavior of atomic/subatomic particles, makes gravity repulsive at extremely high densities. The matter in a black hole instead collapses, stops collapsing, undergoes a Big Bounce like a compressed spring, and then starts rapidly expanding. The interior of a black hole becomes a new, growing, baby universe. We cannot see it unless we go into the black hole. Accordingly, our Universe could have been formed in a Big Bounce instead of a Big Bang.
AO: As science progresses, especially given the “Bang and Bounce” theories, inevitably the question of Man’s existence arises. In light of this, how do you handle the ultimate question: Is there a God?
NP: I would answer this question with a question: “How do you define God?” I believe that the Laws of Physics that describe our Universe are simple, beautiful and universal. They are the Absolute, and I could call them God.
AO: Getting back to business, what theory do you cherish as your greatest, and, can you briefly share with us the topic of your latest research work?
NP: My favorite theory in physics is Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Most physicists believe that this theory needs to be changed to make it consistent with quantum mechanics, describing systems by wave functions which give probabilities of where a particle could be and what state it could be in. When measured, a particle randomly chooses a state, and its wave function “collapses,” however, no one knows why or how. I believe quantum mechanics must include gravity and thus be modified to become consistent with the theory of relativity. Gravitization of quantum mechanics to explain wave function collapse is my latest research.
Land Rovers
By Bubba
No, not cars, it's about the philosophical issue pertaining to what constitutes ownership of a land. Who is to say that the American Indian was some sort of lower rung in the civilized structure therefore if was 'okay' to drive them off the land they lived on? You've heard of The Trail of Tears. We corralled them into what we called 'reservations' as if to be respectful of them. Then we wonder why the American Indian has the highest rate of alcoholism.
Another land issue may be seen with Ukraine. First, what Putin did was clearly terrible. Invading a longstanding country is a no-no. What I like to do to be objective is to look at blood lines of the inhabitants of regions. All of the peripheral countries surrounding the former USSR have common denominator blood lines. As opposed to, for example, peoples of France and Germany and Italy, who have completely different blood lines. So, their countries have authentic biological distinctions between people due to this. Now, the question one can put forward is, in regions where blood lines are common, does one country have the ethical right to merge into another? That's one of Putin's reasons. The issue is, Ukraine had been independent for ages now with its own identity just like the other former satellites of the USSR. Again, weighing this issue ethically, in my opinion if a country like Ukraine had been independent for many years now, that independence should be honored. Look at the African countries south of the Sahara, same situation. Or some far Eastern countries too where blood lines are common. I find it ironic how American sentiment seems always in favor of the invadee, while clearly forgetting that this country was the invader at one time.
Ah, getting back to the American Indian. Thanksgiving. Everybody associates this day with visions of Plymouth pilgrims in tall hats breaking bread with primitive native Indians back in 1621. Even our elementary schools have promoted this scenario to the kids for ages. Nobody questions it, nobody cares to. But a closer inspection of actual historic events from the early 17th century may turn up some unpopular facts. Did you know that the real first Thanksgiving was way earlier than what the history books tell us? When Jamestown was settled in 1607, we broke bread with the native Powhatan Indians. But we drastically encroached upon their land, taking it from them to plant tobacco crops, thus forcing them to war on the settlement, and wiping out the colony. Of course, how could such a blemish sustain our great, honorable feast of Thanksgiving? How could we honor the first Thanksgiving if Indians killed us? Upcoming American society, eager to fill their coffers with stories of honor and justification for independence in a post-American Revolution, no doubt used a bit of 'fake news' to glorify themselves by using the 1621 date at Plymouth as our first Thanksgiving. It’s the same reason why we now know for a fact that European explorers reached our shores centuries before Columbus did but got suppressed because they didn’t fit the mold to be framed on our walls. This Thanksgiving, enjoy that turkey, or is it all really jive-turkey?
Sensibly Saving the Animals
By Bubba
"How can you be so obtuse?" Borrowing that famous line from The Shawshank Redemption, out of all the sensibly minded people who engaged themselves in the Save the Animals fundraiser so far, odds are that there should be one person who has an obtuse understanding of the whole objective. And, the odds-makers have it!
Being that the fundraising campaign was a coast-to-coast effort, I recently chatted with an Ohio newspaper reporter and found myself having to take a kindergarten approach to clarifying the campaign, above and beyond what was plain to see. "You're promoting your websites and I need to know the recipient who's receiving the money," said he.
Let's apply that Shawshank quote here. Why is money the primary focus of this reporter? How about elevating the intellect to realize a more profound focus? Yes, the donor, I explained, is providing funds to help animals everywhere. She is a prominent philanthropist. But "dive a bit deeper" in intellect, as I told this reporter, to realize the important point is not who she donates to or even how much she donates, as she can easily do it without any public involvement. That's the key, public involvement! The most important point, the big goal, of this fundraiser is to engage people so they are more proactive when they see a homeless animal. Let's be real, to what extent does the average person walking down the street help a feral cat seen rummaging for scraps in somebody's garbage can? Little to no extent! Presently, people make donations to animal shelters which is great, but it's not the ideal solution. Ideally, every single person should actively be engaged in helping a homeless animal, actively! Writing a check and mailing it to your local shelter ranks around a level 6 out of 10 in best practices. How about practicing a 9 out of 10 approach? By giving people the creative task of navigating to a website, this fundraiser is designed to get them more involved and hopefully by doing so, to retain in memory the need to help animals. Imagine if every single person who came across a street-surviving cat actually went back into their house, opened the refrigerator, and took a few slices of bologna or some Swiss cheese and went back outside to feed this animal so it is nourished? That's our objective, we want engagement. That's why it's a no-cost fundraiser, the donor just wants to get people engaged by giving them a fun task to do. The website clicking is merely a vehicular process; the websites themselves are not being promoted. It's then up to the donor what organizations she gives to based on the number of visits to the sites.
Yes, it's an unusually unique approach so it's totally understandable that it may take an extra three seconds to comprehend. "But, come on, think!" as I almost voiced to this reporter.
We're glad that the vast majority of people, including newspaper columnists, fully grasped the objective and agreed that it was a very creative approach to get people engaged long-term, as a task that they enjoyed and retained in memory, so as to encourage continued help any time they spotted a homeless animal.
Just Skip It
By Bubba
I was talking to an 18-year-old senior attending a NYC public high school on Staten Island. She said she couldn't graduate in June because she did not complete 3 classes. When I asked why, she said she just didn't bother going to class or taking tests.
What? After some research, did you know that 1 out of every 3 students in NYC public schools routinely skip classes? 33%! Apparently they have a policy where the student gets an 'NX' for an incomplete grade rather than an F, with a chance to come back and complete the course, and get this, in a skimpy two-week program. That's what this girl nonchalantly told me she's doing now in September. The policy is apparently defended by liberals claiming that allowing leniency and recovery reduces the chances of a kid hitting skid row and becoming criminal due to failing out of high school.
Can you believe this? What's going to happen when these students attempt to enter the real job world in just a few years, or for that matter anything that requires motivation and effort? How is a student who is allowed to skip class and automatically pass it later by taking a two-week crash course going to respond to a typical 9-5 job requiring punctuality and attendance? The answer is obvious. And today's kids are going to be tomorrow's leaders? No need to glance into a crystal ball to see that outcome.
More importantly, where's the discipline and responsibility being promoted by the NYC Department of Education, which is just as important as the actual subjects?
This school or any of the other schools never used to be like that. In my parochial high school, if a kid didn't show up for class the school would go ballistic with calls to the house and strict discipline. Not only was the school keen on proper learning, it was also looking out for the kid's future welfare by instilling a sense of responsibility.
What an absolute disaster, perhaps brought on by liberal politicians looking to win the younger vote? Go figure.
A Citizen’s Complaint
By Loraine Jones, Guest Writer
We should have a legitimate consumer agency working for Americans. It needs to address things such as credit scores which only exist to gauge people. They have ridiculous rules like if you miss one payment, then your score is screwed for 3 or 5 years!!!! Or if you have a bad credit score, then your auto insurance needs to be much higher. One has nothing to do with the other. There is so much more where we are being screwed.
Property taxes are also a big one. There should be NO credit scores or property taxes or HOAs. They are killing people. I always wanted to start an actual consumer agency and after seeing the success of Doge, Vance's fraud operation, etc. it is possible with Trump and only Trump. I always wanted to broach this. Also, no taxes on social security or retirement money or IRAs, or any unrealized gains. Remember, that Kamala wanted to tax unrealized gains. What a %^$@#! Just so Dems can line their own pockets, etc. EVIL. I also feel that Socialism is just an offshoot of Communism. A steppingstone. Yet, everyone I know disagrees with me.
There should be a movement and a new agency devoted to getting rid of all these rules and laws that banks and governments created for the sole purpose of stealing and cheating the American taxpayer. Trump did great with Doge and Fraud, etc. but a group devoted to all these things set up in our country to cheat taxpayers should be up there at the top.
Trump just signed another bill into law. If a college graduate from a university is making the same amount of money as a high school student, then the college loses money from the federal government for that degree program. It has to be for more than one year - like 2 or 3 years. Yippee!!!!!! Trump is on a roll. College students go into debt and bought a bad product that was not worth it. Burnt money. This has to do with student loans. If you get a student loan and not getting a decent job, then it is considered a bad product provided by the college according to this new bill.
Communication Breakdowns
By Bubba
Ever have a vocal or written conversation with someone who, when you ask a question or two to expose the underlying point of the topic which may be contrary to the person, completely pivots off your question and instead attempts to reinforce their position? It's terribly noticeable.
Recently discussing the technology front with a European acquaintance found me scratching my head, or 'talking to the wall' as they say, when my exposing questions to the person went unanswered. It was like a civilian form of a politician's M.O. "Answer the question, Claire!" to borrow that line from one of my favorite films, The Breakfast Club. I'm not sure if the underlying cause of this phenomenon is tactfulness, selfishness, or just plain ignorance.
Yet another anomaly is with group communications via email and text. Ever send out an 'en masse' communiqué to a slew of relatives and friends only to receive a few responses? Relatives and friends, mind you. People that we assume have a degree of brotherhood. According to AI, apparently this is another phenomenon: Most people will not reply to a sender if they are part of a group that got the email, as if to say that they as a recipient are not singled out so there's no need to reply. Odd? To the logical minded, if the sender didn't care to send it to such a recipient, that recipient wouldn't have received it! It's as if some of your relatives and friends are no different than strangers on the street.
Yet another communication breakdown will find the exact same message being sent by two people resulting in far more responses being sent to one sender rather than the other. Huh, now why is that? It's the exact same message remember. One can only conclude that people are biased. They tend to favor communicating with some people over other people, again, even though the communication is exactly the same.
What's sad about our communication breakdowns is not so much that it affects the discouraged sender, but that the ignorant recipients don't even realize their ignorance.
Step Aside McDonald's
By Lesław Strybel, Guest Writer
I would like to offer this article as a tribute to my father, Robert Strybel, who passed away in August of 2025.
Years before McDonald’s became a household term, in Baltimore back in 1921, Polish immigrant Jan (John) Kafka had already set up a local fast-food chain called “Polock Johnny’s.” On into the 21st century, his granddaughter Margie Kafka was still serving his trademark sandwich.
The mainstream’s lack of our own fast food could be its limited exposure and promotion. Also, many Polish favorites like gołąbki, bigos, even fried pierogi slathered with sour cream are too messy to be street foods. Here then are some suggestions that might qualify as both short-order fast foods or even stroll and munch street foods:
• Kiełbasa in a bun – This is Baltimore’s popular, original Polish fast food. Serve with brown mustard in a rye or wholewheat bun.
• Battered kiełbasa on a stick – Run a thin wooden skewer through a thinner, hot-dog-size smoked kiełbasa lengthwise, dust with flour, dip in slightly thicker than usual crêpe batter and fry in oil to a nice golden brown. Provide brown mustard or horseradish for dipping.
• Battered-fried Polish mushrooms – Choose large, more flat than pointed, fresh white mushroom caps. Gently flatten with spatula without breaking. Dust on both sides with flour, dip in thickish naleśniki (crêpe) batter and deep fry to a nice golden brown. Re-hydrated, cooked dried mushroom caps, battered and deep fried, might become an interesting alternative to French-fried onion rings. Fresh mushroom caps can also be breaded and deep fried to a nice golden brown.
• Mini-pierogi – Since cutting normal-sized pierogi with the side of a plastic fork is not very convenient, perhaps tiny bite-sized pierogi would be better suited to a fast-food format.
• Deep-fried mini-pierogi – Rather than being boiled or boiled and fried, the tiny pierogi mentioned above can also be deep-fried to a nice golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper before serving.
• Polish pasties – Paszteciki, hot, filled, savory, hand-held pastries, are an immediate hit with Americans who have tried them and seem ideally suited to the fast-food scene. Pasties filled with meat, meat and mushrooms, just mushrooms, sauerkraut and mushrooms and the especially delicious, vegetarian dill-flavored rice/egg/onion vegetarian filling are sure to go over.
• Hot Apple-Beety (drink) – Hot clear red barszcz is the perfect go-together with paszteciki, but beets are not a favorite food of most American young people, to whom fast food is largely addressed. Perhaps a bit of marketing is required to re-orient their habits. A strongly apple-flavored beet drink like Hortex or Krakus brand Barszczyk might be the answer if offered under some catchy name like the above (alluding to the popular American dessert known as Apple Betty or apple crumble).
• Pork cutlet in a bun – Poland’s popular boneless kotlet schabowy (well-pounded, breaded and fried) pork cutlet, served with an equal-size tomato slice in a rye-bread or wholewheat bun, slathered, with mustard sauce (app. 1 t brown mustard like Sarepska or Düsselfdorf per 1 c mayo).
• Polish burger – Thick Polish-style kotlet mielony (ground pork & beef patty or flattened meatball) served in a rye or wholewheat bun with mustard or, possibly, sour-cream-laced sliced cucumbers, in the sandwich or on the side.
• Polish mushroom burger – A fried, breaded patty made of ground butter-fried, fresh mushrooms and onions (bound together with egg and bread crumbs and seasoned with salt, pepper and dill) might be an interesting alternative for the growing number of vegetarians in the crowd.
• Bigos in a bowl – Perhaps one dish served in a bowl (just as chili is) would not be a bad idea, and bigos is the likely choice. Even if today’s younger Americans are not generally crazy about sauerkraut, not only teenagers frequent fast-food places. Another favorite could be Polish pork or pork and beef meatballs in mushroom gravy, served with mashed potatoes or buckwheat groats and that classic Polish salad – sliced cucumbers laced with sour cream.
• Pączki – Polish doughnuts would be a natural dessert on the fast-food circuit.
DSA: Do Your Homework
By Bubba
Hey stupid, enroll in a history class and learn how this country got to be successful.
That's what I'd say to any proponent of the Democratic Socialists of America. Morons, they're like dopey college kids with no realization of history, just brain-locked into this new fad that seems 'cool'.
History clearly tells us that tycoons like Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford were directly responsible as impetus igniters for others to strive for wealth. It's because of rich people, as weird as this sounds, that jobs opened up and the economy boomed. Capitalism therefore is responsible for this country's greatness. Are there poor people on the streets? Yes, and this is unfortunately a casualty that needs to be fixed.
Looking at Socialist countries on the other hand will reveal that, because the government keeps its people on a level ground with no rich, no poor, in actuality this decreases incentive and drive, resulting in a stagnant society with little growth. People aren't pressured into making money to live because the government provides, and are content with just getting by with government sustenance.
Capitalism has its problems, yes. But Socialism, arguably, can be far worse because although everybody is on equal economic ground, it discourages personal growth which, as proven in this country, actually spurs on drive and incentive. Again, if you don't need to work because the government is supporting you, you won't work. And therefore growth suffers.
Some people simply need to go back to school.
Steve from NJ just sent in a lengthy reply to share. Extracting his main point:
Steve: ...yes but it all has to do with mano vs. mano. The US also has to stack up against foreign countries so it had better pay its bills, something like several trillion dollars. That means people need to work and spend.
Thanks Steve! On that note about resources, I agree, reality tells us that the world has x amount of resources but xx amount of people. So we invent a monetary system which dictates how much of these resources each person can have. Hence, the rich have more. Although Socialism looks nice on paper because it fairly distributes these resources, reality proves that Man grows its culture better by having free enterprise to take disproportional amounts of these resources. Sadly, as mentioned earlier, because of resource limitations, that means somebody starves. So it's a choice of fairly distributing resources/wealth (aka Socialism) versus allowing free reign on these resources by a richer take more approach (aka Capitalism). All these DSAs are thinking of things in the short run, but in the long run, Capitalism is the better choice. Just look at the past 250 years of this country as proof.
Ideology: Not for Sale
By Bubba
Several of you chimed in noting the Iran issue's similarity to the Hamas war, and so I dug up an old Q&A (below) from Frank on that...looks like ditto to the Iran war.
Key points are in boldface. In a nutshell, what most people don't understand is that when you have two vastly different ideologies (in this case Western vs. Fundamentalist) one side enters a ceasefire negotiation thinking that the other side thinks the same as they do. They shake hands and expect a mutual give and take. Not happening! Rather, ideology rules and can't be sold! That's why, as detailed in the below answer to Frank, one culture should never assume that another culture thinks the same. For example, in WW2, the average Joe would think it's crazy for a Japanese pilot to intentionally crash his plane into an allied aircraft carrier. But to the average Japanese, it's perfectly okay and honorable.
So, with Iran, don't expect a peace deal. And it's not a question of who's right and who's wrong. Rather, it's all about ideology.
It's All About Ideology
Q: Israel and Palestine have been at this battle since my boy was in diapers, now he's getting to be an old man. I have a two-part question. First, why doesn't the United Nations step in to cut a long-lasting deal over the land? Second, why aren't the Palestinian people rising up to oust Hamas in favor of a democracy? - Frank, NY
A: Thanks for your inquiry on this, Frank. For starters, I think it's fair to say that the United Nations has proven to be a useless entity. Its purpose was to be a union of countries standing together for the betterment of the whole. But, time and time again, war across the globe has raged on and instead of saving lives, they sit in a room and...talk talk talk. Secondly, Palestinians are more or less subservient to Hamas, and to an extent, Hezbollah. These two 'H' groups are equivalent to cartels or mafia having a stronghold on them. That's the big problem. If the two 'H's' were taken out of the equation, there might be hope for a two-state solution.
But here's where the true heart of the issue lies, a sort of double dilemma: Western minds may misunderstand the real causal factor of the Mid East turmoil: ideology. Western minds may tend to apply judgement in a conflict based on their own value system of right and wrong, good and evil. However, peoples in other regions of the world may have different value systems. What we see as definitively wrong, another society or group may not. Look at the Aztecs. Human sacrifice was a normal routine in society. To Cortes, who conquered them, such practice was outlandish. To the average Aztec however, the ritual was not deemed to be wrong in their value system. Now, the ultimate question is, shouldn't Natural Law, which is based on the commonality of human nature, be universal? Sadly, it's not, and that's why peoples can be outraged at the actions of other peoples, and vice versa. Personally, in the Mid East conflict, I would consider any degree of innocent civilian death to be clearly wrong. In addition to this viewpoint, I would also seek to learn the 'why's' behind why certain bands of people do what they do, to fully grasp the issue. Unfortunately, not too many observers take that second step to ask why. When it comes to reacting to an incident, we're not talking about lone wolves where it would be easy to understand why a single person committed a murderous rampage, possibly because they went nuts or were brought up badly, but rather, there could possibly be thousands if not millions of people whose value system may judge certain actions quite differently than we do. Unfortunately, most people tend to be on auto-pilot when judging moral and ethical issues in cultures outside of their own simply because they are living in a culture that has contributed to their belief system, case in point, Cortes v. the Aztecs, when it may serve their intellect better if they asked the 'why' question when evaluating actions caused by ideological differences.
Can some of the world's ideologies, fueled by religion, be obstructive to peace? The answer might be yes, sadly. Although religion has many benefits, unfortunately it has a negative aspect as well. Because religion is an unproven mystery, anyone can gear their thoughts and actions to justify them with their faith. There is no definitive proven set of rules when it comes to religion, just what we think there should be. That's the big problem. So, as you know throughout history, we've seen people killing others in the name of religion, then sleeping soundly at night with no feeling of wrongdoing. How do you stop this protocol from happening? It may be almost impossible, again, given that religion is an unproven mystery, continuing to be interpreted in as many ways as imaginable. Perhaps only the evolution of time in mental advancement will elevate thinking so as to correlate spirituality with life instead of death, where human reasoning and rationale acknowledge the mystery of religion instead of being usurped by it.
When you see an incident or a conflict, keep asking the question: Why do people do what they do? Overlooking the 'why' question is a terrible and ignorant mental dilemma, compounding the terribly tragic deaths occurring in war. So essentially what we are witnessing in the Mid East is a longstanding land-rights dispute by three groups of people, Israelis, Palestinians, and the hardliner H's, each having opposing value systems to varying degrees. That is a recipe for disaster anywhere it occurs. Having been to the region a few times, seeing its people and talking with them, I sincerely believe Israelis and Palestinians want to coexist peacefully. I grieve for both Israelis and Palestinians who are the real victims of these two extremist H-groups. Unfortunately, just looking at the history of this age-old conflict, only the evolution of time will tell if the commonality of cultural value systems outweighs the differences so as to share life in peace.
Common Sense
By Bubba
60 Minutes had an interesting segment on tonight. BTW, they now have about a dozen anchors greeting you when the show opens, as opposed to the fab four they used to have. Seems like overkill.
Anyway, they interviewed three Catholic Cardinals about the apparent strong condemnation that Pope Leo is giving Trump over immigration and the Iran war. Unlike past Popes, the story focused on this new bravado. Great news of course, we need more back and forth discourse between church and state!
What really bothers me however, finding myself talking back to the TV screen, was that all of these spiritual people, as thoughtful and encouraging as they are of course, fail to give solutions to problems. Instead, they just echo the mantra...peace, peace, peace.
I'm sorry but if anyone in the public eye wants to disagree with secular authority actions like ICE, Gaza, Iran, immigration, they should feel free, but they must state a solution to the problem. Sadly, they don't.
Oddly enough, I don't hear religious leaders offering condemnation of the Crusades. As we know, the Crusades captured the Holy Land by warring against the Muslims, which included the often quiet fact of butchering Muslim women and children as well.
As I mentioned before, we can learn a lot from King Arthur and the walled city of Camelot. Walled of course, not because his administration was prejudicial bigots, but because they accepted the reality that bad people are out there and they didn't want them invading the good city. Why then not a walled America?
In reality, rather than disagree with a leader's think-tank and offer no solution, it may be wiser to objectively evaluate a situation and understand the choices a leader is faced with. Sometimes one must choose the lesser of the two evils. With Iran, do we want such a regime to continue killing its own people and threatening others with a nuke? Or, should we ask them to surrender, and if refused, annihilate the regime which will probably mean civilian deaths like in Hiroshima?
Mindless responses to serious actions is really immature. As much as peace via prayer is the ultimate goal we all should strive for, perhaps as a last resort we can take a quote from the great noble holy King Arthur: "There's a peace that's only to be found on the other side of war."
Living in a Bubble
By Bubba
Steve from Cheektowaga, NY responds:
These Islamic extremist clowns should cash in their chips while they have some. Why not shake hands and make a deal and live happily ever after?
A: Thanks Steve. I say this about our judicial system too, the severity of the laws that are made are proportional to the crimes committed, but these laws are made as if normal, rational people committed them, which is incorrect. Half of the people that commit horrendous crimes aren't normal and rational, so their punishment is therefore disproportional.
In the same vein, here we are expecting to negotiate with the Iranian regime. Again, disproportional! Such an act of talks and deals would be proportional if both parties were rational and civilized. They obviously are not, given their barbaric actions for the past 46 years.
We made this mistake in Gaza with Hamas as well. You don't make deals and have expectations where there are disproportional ideologies. It's apples and oranges.
Both Gaza and Iran should have been over within a matter of days. It's all a matter of approaching something with rationale and reality, not expectation thinking your opponent thinks the same as you.
I used to think the spectrum graph of all human rationale and reasoning was only slightly different across all peoples. I was mistaken. I now realize, if you drew a wave graph, the differences are dramatic, with tidal wave highs and lows distinguishing culture from culture. Would you believe there are still cultures who believe in cannibalism?
When will we learn we're not all living in a bubble?
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