Would Tony Do It Better...

Hubgram

News and Views

May 24, 2006



Tony would be better!



Growing up on the Mean Streets of New York had its advantages!



I am now thinking of Father’s Day and, being a New Yorker, thinking of Father’s Day causes me to think of god-fathers and that leads for some reason to Tony Soprano, a pretty representative God Father of the Organized Crime variety….and I ask myself,

if Tony was running things, would they be this screwed up?



And I have to admit that if Tony was running things in Washington, I guarantee that they would be running a lot more smoothly. And if Tony was at the helm, there would be no no-bid contracts because he would know what he and his compadres were paying and there would be no double-dealing!



I mean Tony may not be the nicest guy in the world, but he does keep his goons in line and he does get things done. Maybe not in the prettiest way, but I guarantee that the clean-up in New Orleans would have been ahead of schedule…



As bad as Tony is pictured, he is also still a family man… Think about it. He has a mother and sister and uncle who were only out to screw Tony one way or the other; yet, in full knowledge of what they were trying to do, he still paid them respect. He still took care of them. That’s more than this government is doing for the people that the government swore to protect.



Would Tony have let those guys from overseas get all the good jobs? I doubt it. Would he allow his organization to run at a growing deficit every month? Hell no! Would Tony allow the environment to be destroyed? No way! Despite what you say is bad about Tony, he loves and respects Nature. You can see it when he sits down and looks over all he presides over and feels pride and contentment.



And Tony is smart—something we don’t often take into consideration. He’s not going to let his organization be swayed by a neighboring organization to take the heat for a bad decision or to clean up somebody else’s mess. Do you think he would threaten Iraq; or Persia? Damn right! He might extol a little black mail but he always leaves a little on the table. Because in his lexicon it’s alright to take but always leave a little on the table. Maybe these greedy SOB’s at the top should take a lesson from Tony’s book of management. They might last longer and go further!...



Moreover, he doesn't go to bed after sending his guys into battle without thinking or worrying about the consequences. I mean, afterall, he goes to a shrink to discuss what he is thinking and doing. This is a person who reflects on his actions and wonders whether he is doing the right thing. This is the measure of a person who can take corrective action and has no pride of authorship--a quality that you would like to have in the guy running things...



Sure, he's frustrated. Sure, he has problems but he is the first to admit it.

And he doesn't get so distanced from reality that he loses sight of it and tries to snooker the rest of his family with lie after lie.



Anyway, if I had my druthers, I would rather go with a guy who knows good food and knows what he doesn’t know, than someone who speaks with God but gets the words scrambled.…



What do you think?



Les Aaron

Veterans Savaged Again!

Hubgram
News and Views
May 23, 2006
___________________________________



Veterans Records Stolen!...

The story made the news yesterday evening.
And it didn't seem to make sense.
Apparently, a VA official took 26 million files home and those files were stolen
when somebody came into the home and robbed the records.

Wow! They actually published such a story--but what's even more alarming is that they expect the public to believe it.

Let the questions begin:

Why was an official allowed to take records home? And if that was conventional policy, why was he allowed to take 26 million records which has to be a large part of the VA's total universe? To allow this to happen indicates not only that security is poor, it seems patently non-existent..

Then, according to the individual who came forward, why would somebody break into his home and just take the computer and the files and leave everything else?

I'm sorry, this story doesn't seem to lack credibility.

What that indicates is that somebody from the outside with no involvement to the employee knew that this person had some valuable files and that those files would have great value on the open market. It also meant that this was not an ordinary criminal; that it was somebody who was not interested in the ordinary loot stolen in such incidents--the TV, the stereo, jewelry; none of which were apparently disturbed but only in the VA records. The probabilities of all of these things being true are remote..


Pardon the expression, it sounds more like an opportunity to rip off your employer and make a big haul with no "heavy-lifting."

. But this is just not any employer. This is the VA. It's records refer to those who have already given more than should be expected of anyone. Now, they face another problem that will not go away.

And to paraphrase the government's answer: Veterans need to be vigilant! ANd they will pretty much be responsible for what happens to their records.

Admittedly, this is the VA's first response and it will change; but it is a damned poor one. Instead of consoling these veterans that they don't have to worrry; that the government will take care of this (since they were responsible for it in the first place), the veterans now have another worry added to their plate.

For as sure as night follows day, whoever stole these records did so intentionally. They knew that they had a license to make money with these records and, unquestionably, they are going to turn this into profit at the veterans' expense..

There are international groups who do nothing else but seek out records of the innocent so that they can scam them, steal money from their accounts and in every way possible, invade their privacy.

To my way of thinking, knowing what is going on in the world today, the VA must be held responsible here for its abysmal record protection. . They should have instituted safeguards so that no employee could remove records from VA headquarters. The government should have instituted protections for its veterans so that they wouldn't be subjected to additional stress.
This is a given. And if I were in the shoes to adjudicate this problem, heads would roll including the head of the Agency for having such poor security in their facility.

Veterans do not deserve to be tormented for something that the government did or failed to do. They have already been subjected to cuts in benefits and closings of VA hospitals not to mention whatever problems they have inherited from their duty assignments. It is simply not fair that we burden them again!
Moreover, security for government agencies has to fall under the newly formed mega-agency, Homeland Security. It is another failing grade for this embattled agency that seems to have not improved protection but only added to an uncontrollable bureaucracy.
Les Aaron
the Armchair Curmudgeon

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"SMOKE AND MIRRORS"

HUBGRAM

May 21, 2006
News and Views


Smoke and Mirrors At the Highest Level?

Americans have been polarized by the Immigrant issues. And this issue has occupied the headlines now for weeks.

And that is good news at least for some: The occupants of the White House.
Questions prompt questions. We might ask:
While the Immigration Issue has exploded, why now? Why has this sudden interest in the border problem defused all other discussion of issues?

Why are people so polarized about Immigration when they seem willing to settle over the War, unemployment, “off-shoring,” poisoning of the environment, escalating gasoline prices, corruption at the highest levels, eavesdropping and on and on?

Despite the fact that voters on both sides of the issue have vociferously defended their positions, the Latino question has completely snuffed out discussion on everything else. Among the most hotly contested debates center on whether the Latinos who have crossed the border illegally should be granted amnesty? That is the bottom line.

Collateral issues abound: Should those who are illegally here be accorded the same rights as those who have painstakingly abided by the law? Should our borders be protected by the National Guard? Or is that a violation of Posse Comitatus? Should we build a wall to prevent still others from crossing illegally? Is Vincente Fox right? Do we really do have an obligation to our neighbors south of the border? All issues that have Americans spewing forth invective as never before.

Nevertheless, while this issue is a major issue, is it more important than all of the other issues that have been swept aside? And interestingly enough hasn’t this debate been a godsend to the White House occupants under siege? And could it have been orchestrated for the purpose of diverting attention from more smoldering issues?

In fact, since this hype began, we’ve heard little about eavesdropping investigations, “leaks,” money laundering, manipulation, illegal gifts to Congressmen and women, influence peddling and all other forms of corruption and dishonesty at the highest levels of government—a far cry from the promise of A Contract With America, Newt Gingrich’s promise to the American people about what would happen when Republicans took office.

In short, the Republicans couldn’t have had it better under the circumstances which nevertheless forces us to posit the question as to whether the entire Mexican problem being raised right now was a sophisticated set piece orchestrated by a White House under fire. Were we deliberately “conned” in order to refocus the debate away from the sins and misdemeanors of a White House under intense media scrutiny?

On might immediately dismiss such an argument if we didn’t have chapter and verse on such tactics propagated by the likes of Donald Segretti, Lee Atwater, Dick Armey and Newt Gingrich and an army of others who would resort to any strategy to make Republicans look good at the expense of Democrats—who were accused of everything from excelling in the Black Arts to the Great Flood!

In view of what happened, it is not out of line to suspect the Republican Juggernaut of virtually any and all tactics to remove attention from themselves during these days when Bush’s poll numbers are falling faster than grand-ma’s chest when her bra gives out.

Whatever the reason, the greater the focus on the border, the less the focus on the White House’s troubles.

Perhaps this is giving the White House too much credit, but probably keeping themselves off camera right now is probably the greatest thing that could have happened to a government under attack from every quarter and allows the White House time to rebuild its arguments and regain support from its loyalist minions.

It remains to be seen as we enter a new hurricane season, mid-term elections, and increasing challenges both here and abroad, whether the Mexican issue will be just the forerunner of an explosion of feeling from the American people who refuse to be put off any longer by smoke screens.

Les Aaron .

Misplace Priorities?

HUBGRAM

It makes you wonder....

The outrage is building. People are starting to really get angry.
Shortly, we expect that there will be out-and-out protest.
No, I am not talking about protests over the War....the impasse at the Mexican border or the loss of jobs. What I am referring to is the Divinci Code.

When you think about it, people in this country are showing more their personal emotions over a fiction story than they are over real world facts. This gives reason for pause. With things going to hell all around us, most people are more concerned about the portrayal of Jesus having a wife and a child more than they are about whether we have a world left should Bush decide to go to war over Iran.

This truly is cause for shaking one's head.

And the obvious question is "why?" Why are we so concerned over a fictional account of something that happened over 2,000 years ago than we are over what is happening today that is real?

Somewhere along the line, it seems as if Americans have lost their moorings.
They will watch programs hour after hour about athletes taking steroids, but they don't want to know anything about politics that is a key determinant of what happens in their lives. Bush, want to go to war with Iraq? . Okay. We're with you. You want to teach those Persians a lesson or two? . You have our blessing....just don't interfere with the game...

They are more concerned over the fact that Brittany may be getting a divorce than they are about whether gasoline goes up to four dollars a gallon. And by the way, not too many people have proven willing to give up their "tanks" even though they are now paying 90 dollars and change to fill them up.

From all of this, it would seem that somewhere along the way we have gotten our priorities out of whack. Things that should be important are being back-burnered to things that aren't important.

Our behavior is starting to resemble rats lost in a maze and the obvious question is why? Instead of finding out why are addicted to abs of steel over building our minds, we should ask ourselves where have we gone wrong.

Are we suffering some kind of national malaise after 9/11 similar to what Vets experience after returning from Iraq? We don't seem to have a clue. In fact, we don't seem to care.
All we know is that we want what we want when we want it. And as long as nobody stops us from doing the things we want to do or believe in, we don't want to get involved. Perhaps that's the reason: We believe in the bible and the current investigations into rumor and cause is telling us everything we don't want to hear. And that's the reason people are becoming upset with a movie based upon a fictional book. It's an interesting perspective and may explain why fiction has become more important than fact. And one of the reason our priorities have gotten scrambled. in the process.

Add to that tendency, the fact that we are not regarded as particularly introspective, we might be able to go on like this til the walls come crumbling down.

In any event, the Great Priority Inversion is something to commit to records for the Archeologists to ponder when they uncover what was left of Iran, Iraq and the United States another two thousand years down the road.

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon