Columnists

So far, Joe Biden's presidency has been a success. Most voters continue to believe that Biden has done an excellent job handling the pandemic and the economy. As we might expect, Democrats are far more likely to approve of Biden than are Republicans. -more-

Let's Bill Billionaire Bezos and Other Big-buck Bozos

On July 20, Amazon honcho Jeff Bezos—a Master of the Universe with a net worth of $202 billion according to Forbes’ “Real-Time Billionaires List"—was not just the richest man on Earth, he also became the richest person in space.

Bezos was July's second billionaire astronaut. Music and airline magnate Sir Richard Branson (worth a piddling $5 billion) had become history's first billionaut just nine days earlier. (Tesla Titan and former Saturday Night Live guest host Elon Musk—net worth: $160 billion—plans to blast into space as well, with his eyes set on colonizing Mars.)

Meanwhile, there are a lot of serious problems erupting down on Earth that are not being addressed by these self-absorbed, star-gazing, macho-moneybag stunt-meisters. That's why Public Citizen has come up with an immodest proposal.

As Public Citizen president Robert Weissman explains, under PC's proposed Terra Tariff, "billionauts returning from orbit must plunk down 10% of their net worth as a landing fee to return to Earth. Let's call it the 'Billionaire Astronaut Reentry Fee'—BARF, for short." The BARF would apply only to billionauts, Weissman clarified, "not to sub-billionaire passengers or crew." (Note: despite his ginormous wealth, Bezos has managed to avoid paying federal taxes.)

For Bezos, the BARF would be $20.2 billion—which sounds like a lot but it's actually less than the increase in Bezos' net worth in just the past three months.

Public Citizen calculates that the Bezos BARF could raise nearly enough money to vaccinate enough people to end the global COVID-19 pandemic. So, if these costly and polluting billionaire blast-offs make you feel like you want to BARF, add your name here. -more-

It is hard in today's culture containing many fear-inducing things to prevent oneself from having symptoms of paranoia.

In modern times, it seems that paranoia is prevalent. Finding someone who isn't paranoid--that's a rare find. It would be someone who does not have any real difficulties in her or his life. Perhaps a toddler whose mind has yet to be corrupted by parents. Or maybe a dog who has Buddha Nature. Even most Zen students and teachers seem find it prudent to employ caution about the world. I've been to a Zen monastery that had a sign saying the premises are monitored by video cameras. This is because, above all, successful meditation practitioners are connected to reality. And the reality is, things are scary.

These are insane times, and if you are not affected by this, something is probably wrong with you. -more-

Just for fun, here is the actual derivation of the word “bubkes.” -more-

The Week's Best Names in the News

Here are some plop-dazed name-faves that made it into print this week: A weightlifter from Tonga, a 70-year-old lady astronaut, a Tour de France cyclist, a SF Symphony conductor, a basket-ball-juggling Spelling Bee champ and her father. In that order: Kuinini "Nini" Manumua, Wally Funk, Sepp Kuss, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Zaila Avant-garde, and Jawara Spacetime.

Oddest Phone Message of the Month

Someone left a recorded message on my phone that simply announced: "There is no one here to take your call."

False Acronyms

BART is a true acronym. ICYMI is not an acronym.

A true acronym forms a pronounceable word. If it can't be pronounced as a word, it's not an acronym.

There's not a word for this in the English language. So let's create one.

Henceforth, an inaccurately named acronym shall be called an "inacronym."

Telecom Giant Living in Terror of Electronic Radiation?

AT&T, one of the biggest players in the TeleCom gameplan to roll out millions of 5G microwave transmitters across the US, apparently has a double standard when it comes to exposing citizens to unregulated electromagnetic radiation. Visitors to the AT&T office at 1612 Solano Avenue will discover an array of warning signs plastered over the front entrance. -more-

This week's essay follows two different paths of thought, and I hope it is followable. I'm speaking of our own attitudes as mental health consumers and I'm speaking of the problems that come about through use of force on mentally ill consumers. Here it is...



Your world, consisting of stimuli reaching your mind and body, and how you process these stimuli, is partly a product of attitude. However, when someone does harm to you, you did not bring this on yourself. Attitude is only one of many factors that determine what we experience.

If we suffer from psychiatric illness, it skews how we perceive our surroundings, and how we perceive everything. This is not attitude; this is a medically caused condition affecting the mind.

Most "normal" people do not see things accurately. It takes a lot of work to teach the mind to work well and to have clarity of perceptions. And this is applicable to both mentally ill people and to the non-afflicted. People see what they expect to see, whether accurate or not. The difference with a mentally ill person is where the brain has a gross malfunction, one that might be harmful to the brain itself. (It is believed by many people that untreated psychosis, if it takes place a long time, causes loss of gray matter. This, belief, however, may not be definitively proven.) -more-

I am a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam (1987-1988) as well as Germany and Okinawa. I agree with President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all our troops from Afghanistan, America’s longest-running war or the “forever war” as some have dubbed it. Briefly, here’s why:

Maintaining the status quo there is no longer worth the time, cost, and most importantly, the risk to the American troops that would be needed to hold things together. As Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), a former ranger and veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, aptly put it, "If there was a military solution to the war, we would've found it years ago.” -more-