As IF Times

link Val Kilmer Fights Over Words in Bid to Convert New Mexico Ranch to B&B – WSJ.com.

This is the flip side of the free speech privilege.  Certainly you can say what you want in America for the most part, but people should know that there are consequences to what you say.  Hollywood celebrities are accustomed to having their pronouncements accepted as gospel by their adoring fans, agents and acolytes, but the fact is, much of what they say is plainly stupid, offensive or both and as in this case, people not in the fan circle may not be amused.  If you call your neighbours red neck drunks, don’t expect kisses blown at you if you meet them at the bar.  Whereas a witty wisecrack will get you a  mention in TMZ, in real life, it could get you a purple nerple.

Free speech means that opinions are offered for public consumption whether or not they have any basis of fact or redeeming value.  This blog is an example.   Hopefully the general public will over time be able to discern the nuggets of genuine thought from the verbal inanity that constitutes most of what passes as wisdom offered by ‘celebrities’.  By coincidence, I happened  to be browsing through a local bookstore recently and was amused to see weighty tomes of deep thought offered by the likes of Russell Brand, Steven Colbert and Jesse Ventura.  This should be an inspiration to all that in a free, capitalist society, even the likes of these people can convince a publisher to package their world views for public consumption.  As if the world is remotely interested.  We’re all awaiting the lucky publisher of Pee Wee Herman’s views on regressive taxation as well.

Can anyone imagine such pearls of wisdom being acceptable in places like Iran or China?   Anyone who argues that the western model of society is broken and that we should aim  to emulate  the socialist regimes of Cuba or Venezuela should attempt to have their lofty opinions published in those countries.  It’s altogether different  to have your thoughts exposed to an informed audience than it is to pander to a naive or uniformed fan base.  What most of these vocal celebs fail to grasp is that amusing people is not the same as enlightening people.  To paraphrase the inscription on the rear view mirrors of cars, “your opinions may matter less than you think”.

So, getting back to our hero Val, some intemperate comments made  about his neighbors in the past have come back to bite him.   All they’re asking for is an apology.  Frankly, I’d be surprised if anyone on the committee has lost a minute of  sleep over Kilmer’s past comments.  I think they’re just tired of ‘celebrites’ dissing the little folk without thought to consequences.  Come on Val, you’re an actor, act like you’re sorry.  That way you can believe that anyone really cares what you think.

link Our own extinction is forecast, but he’s going by dead reckoning | Herald Sun.

For the benefit of those 3 people hanging on to every pronouncement from this Professor Frank Fenner guy, the forecast of imminent extinction of homo sapiens is actually great news.  I can’t even begin to enumerate the useless industries that will go to zero and the corresponding businesses that will emerge as a result.

Firstly and foremost, the whole bustling business of global warming will collapse.  Since the end is only a hundred or so years out, there’s no need to preserve the planet, man won’t be around anyway.  Of course the immediate impact will be to thrust thousands upon thousands of lawyers and politicians out of work since we won’t need laws to protect the environment.  Sadly, protest sign makers and people who make a living transporting protesters back and forth will see their businesses go extinct as well.

The entire tax system can be revamped since no longer will we have to ding people to pay for infrastructure.  Existing bridges and roads will probably last most of the way to the next hundred years and if not, it won’t matter.  The real estate market may suffer a bit since no one will bother to buy something that will have no demand in a finite time.  The exception of course is waterfront property.  Even with the clock ticking, people still want the ocean view.  The banking business will go to zero, since no one’s going to bother to repay any loans.  The smart guys will try to get 110 year no interest mortgages with a balloon payment at the end.

While the first thought is that society will become more hedonistic and violent since a finite end is in place, the opposite may be true.  The religion racket will be huge since with everyone rushing to get to the next place, they’ll all want to get as good a spot as possible.  Naturally, all kinds of programs will be sold to allow people to get those coveted positions.  Living a benign life will probably score you some good spots in the next one.   Of course, there will always be those that won’t comply with the civility expected by society, but rather than having to waste time and  money incarcerating them, they’ll just all be shot.  Who has time to look after miscreants when the end is just over the horizon?

The popular obsessions  of navel gazing and celebrity worship will end along with the inane TV shows dedicated to them.  We won’t care about Tiger’s 24th love child or Kim Kardashian’s new diet. No more Ryan Seacrest. Everyone will be more focused on self amusement, not just in the prurient way, but in pursuits that really matter to themselves.  Golf will never be more popular.  Liquor sales will skyrocket.

History books and in fact all kinds of scholarly archives can be ignored since they will all be irrelevant.  Think of all the libraries and museums that can be emptied out and converted to low income housing.  The professions of archaeologists and historians will become effete pastimes like macrame or flower pressing since there is no need to discover where we came from.  Fortune telling may suffer a bit as well since “you have a bright future” is off the table. 

The best thing that will happen is that we will not have to listen to the bleatings of professional doomsayers and handwringers anymore like this Fenner guy and of course Al, buy a waterfront home because water levels will rise, Gore.  Ok they were right, shut up already.

link Watchdog questions mysterious S.C. candidate Alvin Greene – On Politics: Covering the US Congress, Governors, and the 2010 Election – USATODAY.com.

This is a strange story, something you’d have to scratch your head over because it sounds preposterous.  Apparently the recently elected Democratic nominee for the state of South Carolina does not pass the smell test of….the Democrats.  It appears that the candidate the party was actively backing actually lost to this gentleman, Alvin Greene.  Now, upon digging into his background and unhappy with the findings, the party is appalled that Greene will represent them against the Republican contender.  It seems that being charged for lewd behavior and having no money to speak of didn’t deter voters for pulling the lever for him in the recent ballot, but it’s certainly an affront to the party.

With an irony amusingly lost on the people who are now complaining, we see that Greene is being asked to stand down because he is unqualified and an inappropriate candidate for his position.  So now, the party is essentially repudiating the votes of the public because “they weren’t informed” about the candidate before they voted, or more precisely, they didn’t vote the right guy in.  Karma is a bitch.  As we all know, having no experience has not been an obstacle to past candidates.

Not that Democrats are the only party with idiots who have legal questions surrounding them, the Republicans have their fair share too, we are talking politicians after all.  But it’s as if Greene is going to be the worst of a lot which includes some sketchy or legally dodgy behavior including:

Chris Dodd - questionable links to Countrywide Mortgage

Charlie Rangel – tax and asset amnesia

Rod Blagojevich – influence selling

Elliot Spitzer – affection buying

Tim Geithner – tax confusion

John Edwards – paternity confusion

And that’s not even mentioning the characters of ex-Presidents and vice-Presidents.  So what are they worried about?  That Greene will embarrass them? The really fun part will be the party brass spinning  the idea to their voting public that they were dumb enough to vote for the wrong guy.  In a recent development in New York, a judge has somehow allocated not one, not two but six votes per person to ‘even out’  the playing field there:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100615/ap_on_el_st_lo/us_voting_rights_election

 Democracy works well but only if it’s planned correctly.