The Costco Syndrome... Is America's addiction to more changing us forever?

Something has gone seriously wrong in the world. It hit me the other day as I was being tortured by my monthly pilgrimage to the America's modern day mecca.  That place where all men cringe because they know there is no chance they are going to return home without being at least $100.00 poorer. Yes, I went to Costco.  Home of biggest memory foam mattresses in America and an almost fatal disease that has infected all our land. I call it the Costco Syndrome. If you are like me, you grew up in a fairly modest home where you kept everything you owned at, or in your house. The garage was used primarily for stuff you used outside the home, like lawnmowers, tools, and fishing poles.  Oh yeah, you put your car there too, and maybe even a boat. But then along came what we now call the big box retailers.  Price Club, Sam’s Club and of course, the ubiquitous Costco. And once that happened, America was changed forever.  No longer did we shop for what we needed today or even tomorrow.  Instead we found ourselves shopping for next month, and the month after that. How else to explain buying a years supply of pancake mix or a box of cereal that could feed a small country? This is how the big box mindset has impacted our lives. No longer content to buy a four pack of toilet paper, we’ve made a decision that we need to have somewhere between 30 and 48 rolls of that soft Charmin stuff on hand everyday.  The problem is that we have to put those rolls somewhere. So we started using our closets for storage instead of clothes.  Once those closets were no longer big enough, considering we were also storing a year’s supply of Kleenex, paper towels and dishwashing liquid, we had to buy bigger homes. But then one day those bigger homes, the ones with 27 bathrooms to hold all that extra toilet paper and their three car garages, were no longer big enough, so we started renting storage units.  Are you getting this?  We rented off site storage units where we could put the stuff of our lives, so we could buy more and bigger stuff from the Costco/Sam’s Club cabal that cluttered our homes even more to be prepared for next month. Before we knew it we were buying olive oil in gallon jugs, pumpkin pies the size of Texas, toothpaste in the convenient 20 pack and enough frozen tequila lime chicken wings to feed a small country for a month. And all of that has come at a price that is continuing to impact us every day of our lives. Maxed out credit lines, overstuffed closets and expanding waistlines can all be traced back to the Costco Syndrome and our need to be prepared not just for tomorrow, but infinity and beyond. Hey, I could be wrong, but think about it next week as you are waiting in line for the greatest hot dog and soda deal in the country at $1.50.

Three Men Get into a Taxi... Does Fareed Zakaria have a point about our elections?

There's a joke that is very popular in Mexico and it goes something like this... Three guys are in a taxi on their way to the airport and they begin to talk about elections and whose country is the best.  The first guy, and American, says that in his country, the greatest democracy in the world, after everyone votes, the people know the results after only a few hours, or days, at most. The second guy, from China, boasts that that's nothing.  In China he says, with a billion people, they have gigantic computers that count the votes and they no the winner the minute the polls close, which is clearly better than America. Scoffing at this, the third guy, from Mexico chimes in... That's nothing he says, puffing out his chest with pride... in my country millions of people vote in every election and you know what?  We know the results a month ahead of time! With this in the back of my mind, I was surprised Sunday morning to hear Fareed Zakaria on his GPS Show reference Mexico as a place where the United States can look for guidance in how to run an election. Here's what he said... Imagine a country on Election Day where you know the results the instant the polls close. The votes are counted electronically, every district and state has the same rules and the same organized voting procedure. It is managed by a nonpartisan independent party. Sounds like the greatest democracy in the world, right? Try Mexico or France, Germany, Brazil, certainly not the United States of America. American has one of the world's most antique, politicized and dysfunctional procedures for its elections. A crazy, quilt patchwork of state and local laws with partisan officials making key decisions and ancient technology that often breaks down. There are no national standards. American voters in more than a dozen states, for example, don't need identification, but even India, with a GDP just 12 percent that of ours, is implementing a national biometric database for 1.2 billion voters. The nascent democracy in Iraq famously dipped voters' fingers in purple to ensure they didn't vote again. Why are we do behind the curve? The conservative columnist, David Frum, recently wrote an excellent article for CNN.com and he tells a story about the 2000 presidential election. The City of St. Louis, Missouri, had outdated voting equipment so there were long delays in voting. But St. Louis was heavily Democratic so Al Gore's campaign asked a judge to extend voting by three hours. The judge agreed, but then George W. Bush's campaign protested and the judge was overruled. Meanwhile, voting had already continued 45 minutes past the legal time. Is that how elections should work in the world's greatest democracy? In most other countries, an independent national body would make the big decisions, there would be nonpartisan observers at the polls and, of course, there would be modern, functioning equipment. Even Venezuela, which had elections last month, had electronic voting booths with biometric technology across the country. We've been criticized around the world for this. I saw a scathing, 116-page report about our electoral process published by, of all places, Russia. Here's the Wall Street Journal's translation of it, "The electoral system and electoral of the United States are contradictory, archaic, and moreover do not meet the democratic principles that the U.S. proclaims are fundamental to its foreign and domestic policy." I hate to say it, but Moscow has a point. On the other hand, we do have one thing the Russians don't, actual free elections. This election season, we've seen attempts to shorten the early voting period to further one party's chances of victory. Our ballots can be as long as a dozen pages. In some places, they're paper ballots and, in some, they're electronic. And Election Day always falls on a Tuesday, a working day. Every four years, we see the chaos of American elections, but nothing changes. This week, international election observers were banned from nine states. Some of these men and women were threatened with arrest. Maybe we should learning from election officials from abroad not trying to throw them into jail. I will tell you that in Mexico's case, as the joke implies, there are some problems. But there are some strengths as well.  If you are going to vote, you need a national elector card provided by that non partisan group Zakaria referenced.  Your finger, after you vote, is inked like in many countries, to prevent double voting.  You will also see poll watchers at almost every precinct from the major political parties working to ensure that everyone who is entitled to vote gets that opportunity. Finally, Mexico votes on a Sunday, when most people do not work and can more easily get to the polls and not miss a day of work.  The winner is then announced that evening at 10:00pm. Do they have it all figured out?  No they don't, and neither do any of those other countries listed above.  But maybe, just maybe, the United States can look across the global spectrum and come up with a system that is better for us, mixing the strengths of some of these places. We've got to do something... because a system that is controlled by whichever party wins the various Secretary of State office elections across this country is ripe for partisan abuse. Right now the world is laughing at us.  As we admonish the rest of the world to become more democratic like us, they are asking why.  Why should they allow political parties to take control of their public airwaves for six months every two years, broadcast lie after lie, and then send people to stand in sometimes, five hours lines, for the right to cast a vote that may take days, or weeks to count, if it is even counted at all?

Dear Sean Hannity... welcome to the party...

Dear Mr. Hannity, I try not to be overly political. Yes I supported and even worked to elect Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008, but I try to see the other side of the equation. Some days I am better at that than others and believe it or not, I have voted for, and even worked for Republican candidates in the past. Like many, I believe issues are important and disdain politicians when they are fungible on their views simply for political gain. Which brings me to my subject today, immigration. Mr Hannity, you are a well known FOX News personality and popular conservative radio host.  Apart from Rush Limbaugh, you are the best known media figure in conservative circles and have been front and center in the conservative wars against Barack Obama, the liberal media and the progressive agenda. Which makes what happened yesterday all the more remarkable. You sir, the darling of the right-wing of the Republican Party, the man Dems love to hate for what they see as his extreme views, have "evolved" on immigration. What's perhaps most amazing is that you have embraced a pathway to legalization that you have always derided as amnesty and a reward to lawbreakers. I'm stunned. Stunned, because for years you have been dismissive of any attempts to realistically deal with the millions of undocumented people living in our country.  Short of building a wall and deportations, you, and your network have had no constructive ideas on the subject and have frequently, along with the guests you have had on your shows, fanned the worst flames of anti-immigrant xenophobia. Yet for some reason, you've evolved. Well welcome to the party Sean. Pardon me while I wipe the sarcastic look off my face. You see, it would not be so bad, I mean after all, us realists knew for years that the GOP was going to have to get to this point, except that you and your guests are so often spiteful of President Obama when he changes his views, or evolves.  You were especially disdainful when he in fact used the term "evolved" for his position on gay marriage. So let me ask you a question Mr. Hannity... when did this evolution take place?  And what changed for you? Is there any possibility at all that this evolution, announced 2 days after the GOP lost a winnable election for the presidency and gave up seats in the Senate, had anything to do with those results? Is it possible that you came to this need to evolve after looking at the demographics of the election results and, like some of the other ilk in the GOP, concluded that without some "evolution" you guys would soon be about as relevant as the old Whig Party? Or is it the product of a long process of reflection, prayer and study? Seriously, I'd like to know. Because like you, I wonder whether people who change their positions overnight are just doing so for political expediency.  The type of political expediency that represents all that is bad about politics here in the United States and which you frequently decry as unprincipled on your shows. In all seriousness Sean, we're glad to have you on board.  Even if it was solely for naked political ambition, it's the right thing to do. Sincerely, Dave

America lost before the voting began...

A quick reading of the results of yesterdays election would say that Barack Obama won and Mitt Romney lost. But the truth is that the American people lost and the results were in far before anyone voted and sat down last night in anticipation of seeing their candidate elected to the presidency. In the famous words of Bernie Mac, listen up America, we lost.  But not for the reasons you might think. We lost because money won.  That’s right America, money won! Let me explain. The cost for this years presidential contest was over 2 billion, not million, dollars.  70 million dollars was spent to win a Senate seat in Massachusetts, 55 million for a seat in Texas, 30 million for the Wisconsin seat and over 40 million dollars was spent by the candidates for the Senate seat in Montana.  Montana?  There are less than a million people living in the state and you need 40 mil to campaign there? How about over 21 million to win a seat in congress for candidates from Florida or 20 million for the Speaker of the House to be reelected in Ohio. The influence of big money from individuals and corporations on both sides of the political spectrum has damaged our system perhaps, beyond repair. The question is whether America will rise up and demand the kind of change necessary to return the political system to the people. I am not encouraged. All recent attempts by politicians, individuals and even state governments to limit the amounts of money spent on races have been met by a chorus of naysayers screaming about first amendment rights of free speech.   When a group gets a law passed limiting spending, the lawsuits begin almost immediately.  Think Citizens United, McCain-Feingold or the still being litigated campaign finance law from Montana. Ideas for publicly funded elections have been derided as European hoighty-toightyness. Calls for public openness of political donors in real time have routinely been met with derision by the recipients, and donors, of these exorbitant large sums. As you and I, the John Q. Public people, express our open disdain almost daily during these campaigns, we are totally ignored.   Have you taken a look at your Facebook page today?  There are so many people thanking God that the commercials are over, it’s incredible. The little girl crying on You Tube who was sick of Bronc Obama and Mitt Romney was just expressing what most of us have felt everyday the last few months.  Monday I went to my mail box and it took me 10 minutes to sort through all political ads just to find my two pieces of actual mail. Yet in spite of this disgust and the total corruption of our political system, we the people refuse to demand change and hold our political representatives feet to the fire. America, we did not lose last night when Barack Obama was elected and we would not have lost had Mitt Romney prevailed. We had already lost when we willfully refused to put any limits on the amount of money that could be spent to win an election in this great country. Somehow I doubt this is what our founders envisioned when they penned the First Amendment giving us the right of free speech. What say you?

Buffalo Beer Week 2012... A visit with Tim Herzog of Flying Bison Brewing Company

Tim Herzog, Founder and General Manager, Flying Bison Brewing Company It’s the final weekend of Buffalo Beer Week 2012. Recently I had the privilege to visit Buffalo and one of the stops I made was to the Flying Bison Brewing Company, home to Flying Bison Beer.  Located on Ontario Street in central Buffalo, Flying Bison is the only brewer that calls Buffalo home. As we approached, I was surprised at how small the place looked.  You grow up in Southern California and you get used to breweries looking huge.  Think Budweiser in Van Nuys, or Miller in Azusa.  What I experienced in Buffalo was in fact a small business, run by a guy, Tim Herzog, who loves beer and just wants to produce a great product and make enough money to keep doing it. As I talked with Tim, he took me through all the particulars of beer brewing.  Beer is the third most popular drink in the world, behind only water and tea.  Four ingredients make up the base for every good beer.  Water, a starch in this case barley, hops, and yeast. Perhaps the most important is water.  Tim showed me how they filter and refilter their water to remove all outside tastes and impurities, and listening, I was reminded how important good water is to good coffee and it all started to make sense.  Clearly the old commercial from Olympia Brewing Company in Washington was accurate.  In beer, it’s the water, and a lot more. That a lot more, is where Tim comes in. Flying Bison uses roasted barley as their starch.   Here’s a good rule of thumb for you…. dark roast equals dark beer with the deepest roasts going into the dark stout beers you see on the shelves these days. Next up are the hops and this is where your beer gets its taste and that nice head of foam.  Hops come from two main regions in the world, Germany and the Pacific Northwest of the United States.   The last ingredient, yeast is what turns the fermenting starch into alcohol.  Quite simply, no yeast, no beer. But those are just the physical ingredients. Struggling to make it as a small brewer, I listened as Tim graciously answered every question I had, whether it was about his brewing capacity [about 4000 barrels a year, compared to Miller at 40 million a year] or the origin of the growler [a grumpy old man’s empty wooden lunch pail], a popular method to buy tap beer in Buffalo. An early day growler, used to buy your favorite draft beer to go. I learned about prohibition and how on the day it was repealed, the Anheuser-Busch Company, brewers of Budweiser, somehow were able to deliver a case of beer to the White House.  Since Busch was brewing in what at that time was the frontier of America, in sparsely populated St. Louis, he attracted much less attention from the authorities than did the eastern brewers in places like Buffalo.  Maybe that explains how Busch was able to get his beer brewed, fermented and delivered in one day.  Clearly Tim, founder of the New York State Craft Beer Association knows his beer as evidenced by his many years in the profession and his recognition as a certified national beer tasting judge. But what struck me most was the love Tim has for beer.  As I walked and talked with him I realized I was talking to a guy uncommonly committed to a good quality brew in a city that loves beer. I learned that first hand that when he opened a line from a keg and gave me a taste of something special.  He’s brewing an Altbier in the German tradition for Buffalo Beer Week 2012.   Smooth and crisp, this beer was special, unlike anything I’ve ever had.  And perhaps that’s because there are few brewers here in the US trying this.  Tim was so excited about sharing this beer… it was clearly the water for chocolate moment where you realized that his beer was being made with not just blood, sweat, and tears, but love by this gracious man from Buffalo. Anyone can put together the big four... water, barley, hops and yeast and make beer.  It takes a craftsman to blend them together and make something great.  It takes a craftsman to handle that "a lot more" part of beer brewing, and Tim is clearly up to the task. As I sampled a few of his other beers, and a wonderful orange cream soda on tap, I had one last question.  How did Tim feel about home brewers.  He smiled, and told me to look around because I was looking at the results of home brewing. Flying Bison Beer was home brewed before it moved into its 10,000 square foot brewery.  All the recipes they used, were Tim’s when he was home brewing.  Not only was he the general manager of Flying Bison Brewing, he was the founder. As Buffalo closes out Beer Week 2012, Buffalonians would be well advised to find somewhere to try a pint, or fill a growler, of some Rusty Chain, Aviator Red, or that new Altbier from Tim Herzog and the crew of Flying Bison Brewing Company.