Here is the afternoon headline "US will give $85 million to aid Palestinians"
Now I do not want to see anyone suffer, but that seems a lot like giving aid and comfort to the enemies of our only reliable Mideastern ally.
These Gaza schmucks are the ones who 1) voted Hamas into power and 2) let them start the fight with Israel. Hello - The consequences of shooting rockets over the border are fairly well established in history. The Palestinians are reaping what they sowed. Can it get more stupid?
Answer, yes. The US government - which has already demonstrated to the world that supposedly smart people can act stupidly to a degree that challenges credulity - wants to give the poor Pallys more money.
Doesn't anyone up there realize that recipients see money as a reward for behavior?
And While we are asking questions, I would like to know:when is the US going to help the US taxpayer?
12/30/2008
12/26/2008
Happy Boxing Day
Traditionally, the day after Christmas was observed by giving gifts to the less fortunate. These days, it is a media-sponsored shopping day - where you stand in line to return the crappy gifts you got for Christmas.
If we get any crappy gifts, we save them for New Years Eve.
For the past twenty-odd years, ten of us - couples from the old neighborhood - have gotten together at the Clooneys for the annual rite of passage from old year to new year. We have drinks and dinner. George presides over the grading of our predictions from the past year. The winner gets a bottle of wine for a prize. Then he reads all of our new predictions for the coming year. Last year, when George predicted that oil woud drop below $75 a barrel. We all laughed.
A few of us predicted Obama's successful run, but nobody saw Sarah Palin coming. And no one really thought that we would be in a bad recession (or we definitely would have spent more money on frivolous things).
After predictions we have the White Elephant Yankee Swap. We are all charged to bring a wrapped, unwanted item that we got as a gift. Then, in fine Yankee Swap tradition, we draw numbers and choose from the pile of crappy gifts. The "gifts" range from bizarre noisy gadgets (e.g., a rotating santa claus that repeatedly plays some chinese melody) to the just plain ugly (a plastic fish that sings "On the dock of the bay," when you touch it's head).
It is a cut-throat game between competitive New York types (There are only 2 Boston area natives in the group), bringing out the worst in us, but it is kind of fun. We permit ourselves to be politically incorrect (laughing uproariously at gifts which reveal at the bad taste of less sophisticated gift givers) and we can be mean-spirited in a harmless way.
At the end, each of us ends-up with a crappy gift/stolen treasure. Clooney reminds us each year of the two rules: One, you must not dispose of the crappy gift until you are off his property; and two, you cannot save your crappy gift to bring again next year.
Then it is midnight; we all watch the ball in Times Square fall on TV. We drink some champagne, kiss all the members of the opposite sex and go home at 12:05. We are all in our sixties and cannot stay-up all night partying - like we did years ago.
The next day, we take the crappy gifts that we got from the white elephant swap to the dump. We call it "recycling;" more noble than re-gifting, don't you agree?
If we get any crappy gifts, we save them for New Years Eve.
For the past twenty-odd years, ten of us - couples from the old neighborhood - have gotten together at the Clooneys for the annual rite of passage from old year to new year. We have drinks and dinner. George presides over the grading of our predictions from the past year. The winner gets a bottle of wine for a prize. Then he reads all of our new predictions for the coming year. Last year, when George predicted that oil woud drop below $75 a barrel. We all laughed.
A few of us predicted Obama's successful run, but nobody saw Sarah Palin coming. And no one really thought that we would be in a bad recession (or we definitely would have spent more money on frivolous things).
After predictions we have the White Elephant Yankee Swap. We are all charged to bring a wrapped, unwanted item that we got as a gift. Then, in fine Yankee Swap tradition, we draw numbers and choose from the pile of crappy gifts. The "gifts" range from bizarre noisy gadgets (e.g., a rotating santa claus that repeatedly plays some chinese melody) to the just plain ugly (a plastic fish that sings "On the dock of the bay," when you touch it's head).
It is a cut-throat game between competitive New York types (There are only 2 Boston area natives in the group), bringing out the worst in us, but it is kind of fun. We permit ourselves to be politically incorrect (laughing uproariously at gifts which reveal at the bad taste of less sophisticated gift givers) and we can be mean-spirited in a harmless way.
At the end, each of us ends-up with a crappy gift/stolen treasure. Clooney reminds us each year of the two rules: One, you must not dispose of the crappy gift until you are off his property; and two, you cannot save your crappy gift to bring again next year.
Then it is midnight; we all watch the ball in Times Square fall on TV. We drink some champagne, kiss all the members of the opposite sex and go home at 12:05. We are all in our sixties and cannot stay-up all night partying - like we did years ago.
The next day, we take the crappy gifts that we got from the white elephant swap to the dump. We call it "recycling;" more noble than re-gifting, don't you agree?
12/25/2008
Merry Christmas
It is 50 degrees outside. Holy climate change, Batman.
If you haven't got our snail-mailed Christmas Card yet (and that includes 99% of you - please be assured that we do wish you the best wishes for the season regardless of your religion, gender orientation, handicap, political ambition, zip code or race.
On the list of real Procrastinators, my name is very near the top. That is why there was no Christmas letter this year, nor last year... come to think of it. Maybe I will get it finished and call it a New Year letter...
Yeah, well, maybe next year....
If you haven't got our snail-mailed Christmas Card yet (and that includes 99% of you - please be assured that we do wish you the best wishes for the season regardless of your religion, gender orientation, handicap, political ambition, zip code or race.
On the list of real Procrastinators, my name is very near the top. That is why there was no Christmas letter this year, nor last year... come to think of it. Maybe I will get it finished and call it a New Year letter...
Yeah, well, maybe next year....
12/21/2008
Winter Wonderland
The snow looks beautiful outside, covering everything with another blanket of fluffy snow. Everyone is in a panic because it has been snowing off and on since noon on Friday and a new storm ( a northeaster) has barreled up the coast to join the desultory low pressure area that has been coming from the west. Holy global warming batman they think we could get another 8 inches.
Honk honk: They're baaak. Due to the wicked bad arctic melting, they have called off school for the next few weeks. We need to watch the grand kids Monday and Tuesday, so their working parents can keep earning the rent money. Probably Wednesday too. Good thing I have a part time job, eh?
Well, Let it snow....I need to go and check to see if we have enough beer....
Honk honk: They're baaak. Due to the wicked bad arctic melting, they have called off school for the next few weeks. We need to watch the grand kids Monday and Tuesday, so their working parents can keep earning the rent money. Probably Wednesday too. Good thing I have a part time job, eh?
Well, Let it snow....I need to go and check to see if we have enough beer....
12/19/2008
The Curse of Global Warming
This forum has been out of service due to Global Warming.
The man-made increase in greenhouse gasses that brought 8" of snow to places like New Orleans and Dallas last week also generated a wicked Ice storm that hit Worcester County here in Massachusetts.
Last Friday we got a call from our daughter who lives near Worcester. "We are trapped in the house with no heat or electricity. There are power lines and tree limbs all over the street. And I can't talk long because my cell phone battery is running low and I can't re-charge it. Can we come and stay with you?"
That was the first news I heard of the storm which had deposited freezing rain on tree limbs which became so heavy that they snapped and brought any wires down with them. The breaking limbs sounded like gunshots in a war zone.
Fortunately, with help from neighbors, the they were able to get heavy tree limbs out of the way so they could make their way out and escape the cold, dark cave that the house had become. They packed the contents of their dead refrigerator into plastic tubs along with some clothes and came to our house to wait for power to be restored.
So for the past week, we have been hosting the four refugees, turning my computer space, into a bedroom for the 2 active grandsons ages 8 and 6. It has been fun at times and challenging also - especially if one needs some quiet moments to write one's blog.
Last night, one full week later, they got news that electricity was back on. This morning, they returned home. Ergo, I have my writing space and the chaos is diminished.
The experience reminds us how illusionary is the safety and security of modern life. We take power, fresh water and heat for granted. We expect the supermarket and ATM machines to be available 24x7. As the Katrina debacle in New Orleans demonstrated a few years ago, we realize that we all are, in fact, a mere 36 hours from becoming savages.
It also underscores another fact of human existence: unless it is happening to us, we tend to be insensitive to the plight of others.
All is well for now. Perhaps some semblance of normalcy will return...
Wait! What is this on the news? Another 12 inches of snow this afternoon?
Curse you, global warming!
The man-made increase in greenhouse gasses that brought 8" of snow to places like New Orleans and Dallas last week also generated a wicked Ice storm that hit Worcester County here in Massachusetts.
Last Friday we got a call from our daughter who lives near Worcester. "We are trapped in the house with no heat or electricity. There are power lines and tree limbs all over the street. And I can't talk long because my cell phone battery is running low and I can't re-charge it. Can we come and stay with you?"
That was the first news I heard of the storm which had deposited freezing rain on tree limbs which became so heavy that they snapped and brought any wires down with them. The breaking limbs sounded like gunshots in a war zone.
Fortunately, with help from neighbors, the they were able to get heavy tree limbs out of the way so they could make their way out and escape the cold, dark cave that the house had become. They packed the contents of their dead refrigerator into plastic tubs along with some clothes and came to our house to wait for power to be restored.
So for the past week, we have been hosting the four refugees, turning my computer space, into a bedroom for the 2 active grandsons ages 8 and 6. It has been fun at times and challenging also - especially if one needs some quiet moments to write one's blog.
Last night, one full week later, they got news that electricity was back on. This morning, they returned home. Ergo, I have my writing space and the chaos is diminished.
The experience reminds us how illusionary is the safety and security of modern life. We take power, fresh water and heat for granted. We expect the supermarket and ATM machines to be available 24x7. As the Katrina debacle in New Orleans demonstrated a few years ago, we realize that we all are, in fact, a mere 36 hours from becoming savages.
It also underscores another fact of human existence: unless it is happening to us, we tend to be insensitive to the plight of others.
All is well for now. Perhaps some semblance of normalcy will return...
Wait! What is this on the news? Another 12 inches of snow this afternoon?
Curse you, global warming!
11/18/2008
Post Colonoscopy post
Don't worry, I am not posting the video of my latest encounter with The Rear Admiral. Katie Courec already scooped the field of gastroenterologic porn. You might go to You-tube if you are looking for that sort of entertainment.
Lately, I have been thinking about things that we really need to make life bearable. With all the dire warnings about the failing economy and hard times, it's clear that the government needs to spend money more wisely.
I am not a fan of earmarks, but there is one area of medicine that I think deserves a hefty government subsidy: Finding a colonsocopy prep that doesn't taste like elephant ass.
Lately, I have been thinking about things that we really need to make life bearable. With all the dire warnings about the failing economy and hard times, it's clear that the government needs to spend money more wisely.
I am not a fan of earmarks, but there is one area of medicine that I think deserves a hefty government subsidy: Finding a colonsocopy prep that doesn't taste like elephant ass.
11/10/2008
Click
Like most of my fellow Americans I do not believe that we need government censorship. The recent interest in "The Fairness Doctrine" has thrown some of the local right wing talk show hosts into a state of screechy fear.
The righties are always blathering about the Liberal bias of "the mainstream media." So when they (quite accurately) observe that the major outlets of news and entertainment tend to slant liberal, they are always full of righteous (and somewhat pompous) indignation. In other words, they see a vast left wing conspiracy.
But if the majority of the most-watched news networks and programming are aimed at the vast (Liberal) majority of viewers, it would seem that the benefactors of the Fairness Doctrine would be the under-represented Conservatives. How is my logic flawed?
Despite the constant and eternal drumbeat of negativity towards anything not-conservative (ie, America hating Democrats), these pompous pundits worry that the fairness doctrine will put them out of business. Supporters hurry to defend the one-sided rants of these talk show hosts by citing the ubiquity of the mainstream. Note that Limbaugh and Savage and lessor known imitators seldom have guests - especially not anyone who can present an intellectual defense of an opposing position. Instead they entertain the loyal listeners with soundbites clipped out-of-context to which they mount their mocking attacks.
The public does not need the government to tell us what to listen to on the radio or TV. The FCC certainly has a legitimate role to ensure that the airwaves are not being used to promote illegal activities or to incite the public to acts of violence. But I do not want the government shutting-down Rush Limbaugh or Michael Savage in the name of the fairness doctrine.
Air America the anti- right wing network failed because it didn't attract enough listeners/sponsors. That is the American way - we abandon those who fail to entertain us.
My personal vote has been registered via my radio dial. I no longer listen to the local talk shows. The traditional role of talk radio as a place where one might hear a balanced perspective has been replaced by ego-maniacs on a mission. Not entertaining.
click
The righties are always blathering about the Liberal bias of "the mainstream media." So when they (quite accurately) observe that the major outlets of news and entertainment tend to slant liberal, they are always full of righteous (and somewhat pompous) indignation. In other words, they see a vast left wing conspiracy.
But if the majority of the most-watched news networks and programming are aimed at the vast (Liberal) majority of viewers, it would seem that the benefactors of the Fairness Doctrine would be the under-represented Conservatives. How is my logic flawed?
Despite the constant and eternal drumbeat of negativity towards anything not-conservative (ie, America hating Democrats), these pompous pundits worry that the fairness doctrine will put them out of business. Supporters hurry to defend the one-sided rants of these talk show hosts by citing the ubiquity of the mainstream. Note that Limbaugh and Savage and lessor known imitators seldom have guests - especially not anyone who can present an intellectual defense of an opposing position. Instead they entertain the loyal listeners with soundbites clipped out-of-context to which they mount their mocking attacks.
The public does not need the government to tell us what to listen to on the radio or TV. The FCC certainly has a legitimate role to ensure that the airwaves are not being used to promote illegal activities or to incite the public to acts of violence. But I do not want the government shutting-down Rush Limbaugh or Michael Savage in the name of the fairness doctrine.
Air America the anti- right wing network failed because it didn't attract enough listeners/sponsors. That is the American way - we abandon those who fail to entertain us.
My personal vote has been registered via my radio dial. I no longer listen to the local talk shows. The traditional role of talk radio as a place where one might hear a balanced perspective has been replaced by ego-maniacs on a mission. Not entertaining.
click
11/02/2008
McCain was on SNL last night. This time he was pretty good. Cindy also made an appearance. I got the impression that he figured "What the hell; I've got nothing to lose." He seemed to enjoy doing the skit with fake Sara Palin (Tina Fey).
Somewhere you will probably see a clip of last night's host Ben Aflec, stating that he supports John McCain for president. The clip will probably not include Aflec's build-up where he notes that every candidate that he has ever publicly supported from Dukakis to Gore to Kerry has lost. So in that spirit he hopes to ensure an Obama victory by publicly coming-out for McCain.
Barney Frank has an ad that shows a daisy chain of elephants mounting each other from the rear. He should fire the company that came up with that one. He totally blames the Republicans for the Wall street meltdown. He promises to clean up the mess when he is re-elected.
Well, this effing election thing is almost over. No October surprise. Gas is $2.56 per gallon. People are shopping for SUV's again. What a world.
Sign at the local Starbucks: "POLITICS Poly = many Tics=Blood-sucking parasites"
Well said.
Somewhere you will probably see a clip of last night's host Ben Aflec, stating that he supports John McCain for president. The clip will probably not include Aflec's build-up where he notes that every candidate that he has ever publicly supported from Dukakis to Gore to Kerry has lost. So in that spirit he hopes to ensure an Obama victory by publicly coming-out for McCain.
Barney Frank has an ad that shows a daisy chain of elephants mounting each other from the rear. He should fire the company that came up with that one. He totally blames the Republicans for the Wall street meltdown. He promises to clean up the mess when he is re-elected.
Well, this effing election thing is almost over. No October surprise. Gas is $2.56 per gallon. People are shopping for SUV's again. What a world.
Sign at the local Starbucks: "POLITICS Poly = many Tics=Blood-sucking parasites"
Well said.
10/31/2008
Hallowe'en Thoughts
Obama's expensive infomercial on Wednesday night was a yawn. Instead of a hard-hitting 5 minute spot, it was a rehash of everything we already know. After what seemed like 2 hours, I shut it off to go and sort my socks. What a colossal waste of campaign contributions - that could have been more effectively spent buying votes through ACORN :-)
If there was ever a subliminal advertising spot designed to convince people not to waste their hard earned money on contributions to political campaigns, this had to be it.
Seriously folks, next time you are tempted to write a check for your fave candidate, you must realize that you are actually funding those nasty TV ads and dumbass feel-good spots that we all mock and deride. They take your hard-earned money and waste it with idiotic attacks and self-serving video masturbation.
This is all designed to make you forget that the American Presidential nomination and election process somehow manages to disqualify anyone who would actually be a great leader. We always end up with two candidates, neither of whom would be trusted to properly run your town's recycling and disposal facility (Dump), never mind becoming head honcho of the freaking nation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One that same vein, the poor schmuck who is running against John Kerry was in the news yesterday. Jeff Beatty, largely unknown Republican, who has been waging a fruitless campaign to try to knock-off John Kerry in the US senatorial election, finally gets a little press coverage in the Boston Globe. Not because of his political positions, but because his hapless campaign paid a fundraising outfit 96% of every dollar raised on his behalf. This is not money spent on campaign expenses, posters, ads or anything that might help the candidate. This was the cost of raising the money. Paying the guys who solicited just enough money to pay their own costs. Talk about a black hole!
Even Kerry would not be that clueless. This is sad. People give money to politicians thinking that they are helping some noble effort. Yet, the recipients have so little respect for the earned dollar that they squander the money in stupid ways. Next time you are tempted to do something charitable with your money, you would be better off going down to the corner bar, and buying rounds of drinks for total strangers. At least then your money would be doing some good. And you would have a few more friends.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My conservative friends probably see tonight's festivities as just one more step in the American dance toward Socialism. The slide down a slippery slope will be manifested in the gatherings of youth, who will be dressed in masks and costume and who will go around banging on their neighbors' doors, demanding treats and threatening dire tricks to be played upon the unwilling. Assets will be confiscated. Kid-hating elderly will turn off their lights and cower in their beds. Evil spirits will laugh at our shrinking nest eggs. It is training for the little goblins and pirates to grow into young Marxists who will come to believe that what's yours is also theirs.
Scary thoughts. Some of us will dull the pain with a few beers to help us sleep through it all.
If there was ever a subliminal advertising spot designed to convince people not to waste their hard earned money on contributions to political campaigns, this had to be it.
Seriously folks, next time you are tempted to write a check for your fave candidate, you must realize that you are actually funding those nasty TV ads and dumbass feel-good spots that we all mock and deride. They take your hard-earned money and waste it with idiotic attacks and self-serving video masturbation.
This is all designed to make you forget that the American Presidential nomination and election process somehow manages to disqualify anyone who would actually be a great leader. We always end up with two candidates, neither of whom would be trusted to properly run your town's recycling and disposal facility (Dump), never mind becoming head honcho of the freaking nation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One that same vein, the poor schmuck who is running against John Kerry was in the news yesterday. Jeff Beatty, largely unknown Republican, who has been waging a fruitless campaign to try to knock-off John Kerry in the US senatorial election, finally gets a little press coverage in the Boston Globe. Not because of his political positions, but because his hapless campaign paid a fundraising outfit 96% of every dollar raised on his behalf. This is not money spent on campaign expenses, posters, ads or anything that might help the candidate. This was the cost of raising the money. Paying the guys who solicited just enough money to pay their own costs. Talk about a black hole!
Even Kerry would not be that clueless. This is sad. People give money to politicians thinking that they are helping some noble effort. Yet, the recipients have so little respect for the earned dollar that they squander the money in stupid ways. Next time you are tempted to do something charitable with your money, you would be better off going down to the corner bar, and buying rounds of drinks for total strangers. At least then your money would be doing some good. And you would have a few more friends.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My conservative friends probably see tonight's festivities as just one more step in the American dance toward Socialism. The slide down a slippery slope will be manifested in the gatherings of youth, who will be dressed in masks and costume and who will go around banging on their neighbors' doors, demanding treats and threatening dire tricks to be played upon the unwilling. Assets will be confiscated. Kid-hating elderly will turn off their lights and cower in their beds. Evil spirits will laugh at our shrinking nest eggs. It is training for the little goblins and pirates to grow into young Marxists who will come to believe that what's yours is also theirs.
Scary thoughts. Some of us will dull the pain with a few beers to help us sleep through it all.
10/25/2008
Being Right can be Disappointing.
McCain/Palin voter support seems to be slipping away gradually like leaves from a maple tree in Autumn. Although no one openly agrees with polling results that favor the opposition, hardass conservatives must be munching Rolaids these days.
Their candidate has not galvanized the red states, the stock market declines are making voters wonder whether unfettered greed (i.e., Capitalism) is really the best system for America, and the camel is in the tent which is sliding down a slippery slope. Dark days are certainly ahead...
But the majority of you Maalox drinkers should have heart. President Obama will not be raising your taxes. It is those poor shmucks who are earning over one million USD per year that he will be targeting.
Think of poor Tina Fey, whose career stock has risen with her recent return to SNL, playing Sarah Palin, will burst like the housing bubble.
I suggest that Republican loyalists would do well do pray that Obama remains healthy during the next term or two.
Their candidate has not galvanized the red states, the stock market declines are making voters wonder whether unfettered greed (i.e., Capitalism) is really the best system for America, and the camel is in the tent which is sliding down a slippery slope. Dark days are certainly ahead...
But the majority of you Maalox drinkers should have heart. President Obama will not be raising your taxes. It is those poor shmucks who are earning over one million USD per year that he will be targeting.
Think of poor Tina Fey, whose career stock has risen with her recent return to SNL, playing Sarah Palin, will burst like the housing bubble.
I suggest that Republican loyalists would do well do pray that Obama remains healthy during the next term or two.
10/19/2008
Game 7
After giving up and going to bed at 11pm in game 5 and missing the Red Sox comeback from a 7-0 deficit, I realize I am considered a fairweather fan, but here I am again watching game 7 in the 4th inning with my guys ahead.
This is how I entertain myself during the repetitive ads all of which I have seen 30 times already. I cannot figure out how the ad guys have convinced the sponsors that if you show the same ad 30 times the viewers will not start using the time to check on desparate housewives or to go get a beer or update their blogs.)
I feel sorry for those dads who are watching the game with their sons - especially the younger ones -with the Viagra ads. How the heck do you explain floppy weiner to an eight year old?
Worst ads : The dumabass car ad with Brook Shield, They're here! any ad with that punkass asten kutcher, the aforementioned erectile disfunction products and the super dumb phone ad where the guy calls his daughter "dude".
The best one is the e-trade kid who used his profits to rent a clown. And the Verizon dead zone at the motel.
5th inning oh crap we're losing 2-1!
7th Inning still losing. Aybar home run makes it 3-1 Curse them
9th Inning the Sox cannot score with men on base and thus lose the effing game.
Thank goodness. Now I can get some sleep
This is how I entertain myself during the repetitive ads all of which I have seen 30 times already. I cannot figure out how the ad guys have convinced the sponsors that if you show the same ad 30 times the viewers will not start using the time to check on desparate housewives or to go get a beer or update their blogs.)
I feel sorry for those dads who are watching the game with their sons - especially the younger ones -with the Viagra ads. How the heck do you explain floppy weiner to an eight year old?
Worst ads : The dumabass car ad with Brook Shield, They're here! any ad with that punkass asten kutcher, the aforementioned erectile disfunction products and the super dumb phone ad where the guy calls his daughter "dude".
The best one is the e-trade kid who used his profits to rent a clown. And the Verizon dead zone at the motel.
5th inning oh crap we're losing 2-1!
7th Inning still losing. Aybar home run makes it 3-1 Curse them
9th Inning the Sox cannot score with men on base and thus lose the effing game.
Thank goodness. Now I can get some sleep
10/16/2008
Still Undecided After Final Debate
The presidential debate last night was the most revealing dialogue that we have seen to date. The moderator Bob Shieffer did a fine job, and if I may say so, looked somewhat presidential himself.
I liked the format, with the two candidates sitting at the table with plenty of time to answer the questions. This time McCain looked at Obama when he criticized. Obama smiled at McCain's attacks the way you do when your aging Uncle Jimmy starts his crazy rants.
I thought Obama squandered some great opportunities to put our minds at ease about some of the dark allegations about his past associates (e.g., Rev Wright, Resco) but he did credibly discuss his role as Counsel with ACORN which has been flogged by the conservative talk shows ad nauseum.
He seemed calm and collected, while McCain seemed furtive, nervous, robotic and a bit giggly. (Not good presidential qualities). This performance was unsettling to me, because this very morning, I had resolved to vote for McCain on the sole basis of his plan to allow $10,000 in distributions from IRA's to be free from taxes for two years.
Now, I am undecided again. Maybe I should write-in for Bob Shieffer.
In the WSJ today, Danial Henninger writes a great column (McCain's Katrina)
He draws an excellent analogy between the FEMA response to Katrina and McCain's impotence in the "Hurricane Fannie" affair.
However, I think he omitted the most damaging part of the story. When House and Senate representatives added another billion dollars in earmarks to the "emergency" bailout bill, they demonstrated the worst of cynical "business as usual' Washington politics.
It was McCain's moment to "name names" of the miscreant earmarkers and to demonstrate his skill at getting things done. Instead of being the tough crusader against such pork barrel spending, McCain meekly voted for the bill without even commenting on it.
For me, this Homer Simpson moment erased much of McCain's credibility as the self-annointed guy who can fix things.
The Sox are going down in flames, the Patriots glory days are history, and the economy is on a feeding tube. The only good news is that this effing election is almost over.
I liked the format, with the two candidates sitting at the table with plenty of time to answer the questions. This time McCain looked at Obama when he criticized. Obama smiled at McCain's attacks the way you do when your aging Uncle Jimmy starts his crazy rants.
I thought Obama squandered some great opportunities to put our minds at ease about some of the dark allegations about his past associates (e.g., Rev Wright, Resco) but he did credibly discuss his role as Counsel with ACORN which has been flogged by the conservative talk shows ad nauseum.
He seemed calm and collected, while McCain seemed furtive, nervous, robotic and a bit giggly. (Not good presidential qualities). This performance was unsettling to me, because this very morning, I had resolved to vote for McCain on the sole basis of his plan to allow $10,000 in distributions from IRA's to be free from taxes for two years.
Now, I am undecided again. Maybe I should write-in for Bob Shieffer.
In the WSJ today, Danial Henninger writes a great column (McCain's Katrina)
He draws an excellent analogy between the FEMA response to Katrina and McCain's impotence in the "Hurricane Fannie" affair.
However, I think he omitted the most damaging part of the story. When House and Senate representatives added another billion dollars in earmarks to the "emergency" bailout bill, they demonstrated the worst of cynical "business as usual' Washington politics.
It was McCain's moment to "name names" of the miscreant earmarkers and to demonstrate his skill at getting things done. Instead of being the tough crusader against such pork barrel spending, McCain meekly voted for the bill without even commenting on it.
For me, this Homer Simpson moment erased much of McCain's credibility as the self-annointed guy who can fix things.
The Sox are going down in flames, the Patriots glory days are history, and the economy is on a feeding tube. The only good news is that this effing election is almost over.
10/01/2008
The Bailout
Note to readers: Sorry for those of you who have come to depend on my analytical brilliance to decide how you feel about issues of the day, but my PC crapped-out the other day and I have been challenged to find time and opportunity to post. My part-time workplace actually blocks computer access to most Internet sites, and I do not have a "back-up" 'puter ready to go. Today I am using my wife's laptop which I find awkward and clunky. Still, the show must go on!
The stock market has been volatile and the news is grim. Stories of people losing their life savings and businesses threatening to lay people off are now the daily staple of media reports.
In the news today there was a story about a woman who had invested all her money in Wachovia Bank stock. She lived in her own home in an affluent suburb, and was living a good life funded entirely on stock dividends. Now she is living in her son's basement.
People like me - who have already given up full time jobs in favor of retirement - are worried that our dwindling nest-eggs could disappear entirely - and we too will be forced to live in our children's basements. (I have even stashed a couple of hundred bucks in a sock just in case the ATM system fails and I need beer money).
It is not fun to be dependent on a fixed income, (especially if you are not getting fat trust fund checks like Paris Hilton ) or, working a part-time retail hellhole job making small money and putting-up with the odious public.
But, gentle readers, be not discouraged. Life will go on. Business cycles are an historic fact of life and this too shall pass. We will survive this crisis somehow. It will not be fun, but that doesn't mean that you cannot have any fun. As we work our way through these coming hard times I shall share some of my cost-cutting secrets with you my loyal readers - all four of you!
Now to the hard analysis of the bail-out:
This meltdown of credit markets can be traced directly back to the affirmative action goals of the federal government, which mandated that lenders give mortgage loans to people who could not afford them unless the equity value of the property kept rising. Freddie and Fannie were forced to guarantee these shaky loans.....
Combine the government's social engineering experiment with the greed and chicanery of the investment banks and mortgage companies and you get a trillion dollars betting that the houses that were held as collateral in these contracts would increase in value indefinitely, and nobody would lose. Well they didn't, and lots of people lost a lot; then the walls came tumbling down....
The solution:
Much as it will hurt, the government needs to let the businesses that risked their survival on bad loans fail. People will lose jobs. The gov't needs to help small businesses by extending credit to them, but not buying bad debt.
I will lose my stockholder equity in companies like AIG. I hate that, but hey I knew it was a gamble. There should not be guarantees for gamblers.
The people who bought houses that they couldn't afford are no worse off than they were before, and they have had a nice house to live in for a while. The leadership of the failed companies cannot be allowed to walk away with money when everyone else loses. Contract shmontract. Employees of failed companies will need to find work elsewhere. Government representatives who guessed wrong and made the situation worse must resign (and it would be nice if they took the blame in the manner of Japanese tradition of honor (sepicu).
The stock market has been volatile and the news is grim. Stories of people losing their life savings and businesses threatening to lay people off are now the daily staple of media reports.
In the news today there was a story about a woman who had invested all her money in Wachovia Bank stock. She lived in her own home in an affluent suburb, and was living a good life funded entirely on stock dividends. Now she is living in her son's basement.
People like me - who have already given up full time jobs in favor of retirement - are worried that our dwindling nest-eggs could disappear entirely - and we too will be forced to live in our children's basements. (I have even stashed a couple of hundred bucks in a sock just in case the ATM system fails and I need beer money).
It is not fun to be dependent on a fixed income, (especially if you are not getting fat trust fund checks like Paris Hilton ) or, working a part-time retail hellhole job making small money and putting-up with the odious public.
But, gentle readers, be not discouraged. Life will go on. Business cycles are an historic fact of life and this too shall pass. We will survive this crisis somehow. It will not be fun, but that doesn't mean that you cannot have any fun. As we work our way through these coming hard times I shall share some of my cost-cutting secrets with you my loyal readers - all four of you!
Now to the hard analysis of the bail-out:
This meltdown of credit markets can be traced directly back to the affirmative action goals of the federal government, which mandated that lenders give mortgage loans to people who could not afford them unless the equity value of the property kept rising. Freddie and Fannie were forced to guarantee these shaky loans.....
Combine the government's social engineering experiment with the greed and chicanery of the investment banks and mortgage companies and you get a trillion dollars betting that the houses that were held as collateral in these contracts would increase in value indefinitely, and nobody would lose. Well they didn't, and lots of people lost a lot; then the walls came tumbling down....
The solution:
Much as it will hurt, the government needs to let the businesses that risked their survival on bad loans fail. People will lose jobs. The gov't needs to help small businesses by extending credit to them, but not buying bad debt.
I will lose my stockholder equity in companies like AIG. I hate that, but hey I knew it was a gamble. There should not be guarantees for gamblers.
The people who bought houses that they couldn't afford are no worse off than they were before, and they have had a nice house to live in for a while. The leadership of the failed companies cannot be allowed to walk away with money when everyone else loses. Contract shmontract. Employees of failed companies will need to find work elsewhere. Government representatives who guessed wrong and made the situation worse must resign (and it would be nice if they took the blame in the manner of Japanese tradition of honor (sepicu).
9/26/2008
The Way I saw It
During the debate tonight Obama beat the snot out of McCain. McCain was like a little girl - not able to look Obama in the eye, how can he claim that he looked Putin in the eye? Or that he would face up to other world leaders?
Obama seemed presidential. He clarified every accusation despite the feeble attempts by McCain to continue to distort and mischaracterise his position.
Neither of them addressed the current fiscal crisis in any meaningful way that would invite a voter to think that they had a real handle on the situation. This is indeed distressing. Where is Ross Perot when you need him with his charts and graphs?
McCain failed to make a convincing case for his tax cuts to people making more than 250,000 per year nor did he address Obama's stilleto puncture of the Business Tax rate loophole balloon. On the other hand Obama did not provide any mathmatical support to tell us where all the money would come from to support his programs.
McCain's point about South Koreans being an average of 3" taller than North Koreans made about as much sense as Obama trotting-out his Kenyan roots and the diminished capacity of the USA to attract immigrants. Maybe I was dozing off and missed those points.
Obama seemed presidential. He clarified every accusation despite the feeble attempts by McCain to continue to distort and mischaracterise his position.
Neither of them addressed the current fiscal crisis in any meaningful way that would invite a voter to think that they had a real handle on the situation. This is indeed distressing. Where is Ross Perot when you need him with his charts and graphs?
McCain failed to make a convincing case for his tax cuts to people making more than 250,000 per year nor did he address Obama's stilleto puncture of the Business Tax rate loophole balloon. On the other hand Obama did not provide any mathmatical support to tell us where all the money would come from to support his programs.
McCain's point about South Koreans being an average of 3" taller than North Koreans made about as much sense as Obama trotting-out his Kenyan roots and the diminished capacity of the USA to attract immigrants. Maybe I was dozing off and missed those points.
9/12/2008
Beyond Stupid
Anyone who thinks the "lipstick slur" was anything other than a fiendishly funny line, needs to get their panties out of their wedge and have their sense of humor recharged.
You probably laughed when Sarah sneered about Obama's experience as a community organizer with no responsibilities, which was very offensive to many of the Republican community organizers out there. Wait a minute. Oh lordy, never mind. I've just been informed that there are Zero Republican community organizers out there. Whew!
For those who still don't get it, Why would calling her a pig make sense?
That would be stupider than asking the guy in the wheelchair to stand up and take a bow...
Someone was right when they said things are getting "beyond stupid."
You probably laughed when Sarah sneered about Obama's experience as a community organizer with no responsibilities, which was very offensive to many of the Republican community organizers out there. Wait a minute. Oh lordy, never mind. I've just been informed that there are Zero Republican community organizers out there. Whew!
For those who still don't get it, Why would calling her a pig make sense?
That would be stupider than asking the guy in the wheelchair to stand up and take a bow...
Someone was right when they said things are getting "beyond stupid."
9/01/2008
Geena Davis Where are You?
Well McCain's new VP nominee is a babe. And someday I think she could be a real contender: she has guts, ethical chops, apparent leadership abilities and she is wonderfully photogenic. I hate her Midwestern schoolmarm voice and her Fargo accent, but she may overcome these annoyances, someday.
This year, McCain needs someone who can step into the job... just in case.
Lets face it, if you were running a dead pool on the nominees, McCain would be everyone's favorite as the candidate most likely to kick the bucket...
After all his gasbagging about experience and readiness to lead, I think McCain 'crapped the rug' with this pick. Apparently, he could not find one honest, experienced republican who he thought was ready to step into the oval office, who was not corrupt or unfaithful to his spouse...
Yes Ms Palin has executive experience - as mother of 5 and 2 years as Gov. (Just like George W. Bush who was Gov. of Texas -Lord knows that experience proved invaluable in the ruination of our economy and world standing during the past 8 yrs.)
A few years ago we watched and enjoyed a TV program called "Commander in Chief" starring Geena Davis as the "token" woman VP who was sworn in when the President unexpectedly dies. The new Commander did pretty well in that role, despite being considered a lightweight by all her detractors.
Let us hope that life does not imitate art, this time.
This year, McCain needs someone who can step into the job... just in case.
Lets face it, if you were running a dead pool on the nominees, McCain would be everyone's favorite as the candidate most likely to kick the bucket...
After all his gasbagging about experience and readiness to lead, I think McCain 'crapped the rug' with this pick. Apparently, he could not find one honest, experienced republican who he thought was ready to step into the oval office, who was not corrupt or unfaithful to his spouse...
Yes Ms Palin has executive experience - as mother of 5 and 2 years as Gov. (Just like George W. Bush who was Gov. of Texas -Lord knows that experience proved invaluable in the ruination of our economy and world standing during the past 8 yrs.)
A few years ago we watched and enjoyed a TV program called "Commander in Chief" starring Geena Davis as the "token" woman VP who was sworn in when the President unexpectedly dies. The new Commander did pretty well in that role, despite being considered a lightweight by all her detractors.
Let us hope that life does not imitate art, this time.
8/22/2008
Returning to The Hellhole?
It is with mixed emotion that I report that I have recently returned to the world of commerce. After a three year extended sabbatical which was characterized by unpaid unemployment - leisure mornings spent reading the Globe and WSJ, thinking about world affairs, monitoring the status of our nest egg, updating my memoirs, unhurried lunches with friends and delicious afternoon naps - I have reluctantly returned to the workforce. Part time.
What, you ask, would prompt a sane person to leave such an idyllic, free and unsupervised state? Am I seeking material for a new sitcom? Has my wife's recent retirement and increased surveillance put a damper on my freedoms? Has the rising cost of food and fuel impinged upon my available pool of discretionary spending money? Was I bored? Did they make an offer I could not refuse? Am I trying to impress Jody Foster?
Who can say? Even today, as I ponder my own motivation, I am unclear about the forces which have impelled me to seek (and accept) a job which requires me to bathe, dress in clean clothes and to be present in an office at a designated time. Why does any human being do that?
The answer is probably lurking somewhere in that theory of human motivation that is described in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. In summary, it says we are never satisfied with our present condition.
So, now I have some new situations and people to mock and deride. Managers, supervisors, co-workers - oh and let us not forget the most deliciously perverse creatures who walk the Earth - Customers! Yes, friends, a whole new world is open before us: let us laugh at it together.
One disclaimer: My advisers have counseled me not to reveal the actual identity of my new workplace or the actual people that infest it. There are at least two good reasons for this:
#1) I don't want to get fired until I am good and ready #2) The jury has not decided if it is a hellhole yet.
I know that you are saying to yourself, "Of course it's a hellhole, you numbnuts!" But I try not to jump to conclusions.
Stay tuned. I need to go now and get ready for work.
What, you ask, would prompt a sane person to leave such an idyllic, free and unsupervised state? Am I seeking material for a new sitcom? Has my wife's recent retirement and increased surveillance put a damper on my freedoms? Has the rising cost of food and fuel impinged upon my available pool of discretionary spending money? Was I bored? Did they make an offer I could not refuse? Am I trying to impress Jody Foster?
Who can say? Even today, as I ponder my own motivation, I am unclear about the forces which have impelled me to seek (and accept) a job which requires me to bathe, dress in clean clothes and to be present in an office at a designated time. Why does any human being do that?
The answer is probably lurking somewhere in that theory of human motivation that is described in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. In summary, it says we are never satisfied with our present condition.
So, now I have some new situations and people to mock and deride. Managers, supervisors, co-workers - oh and let us not forget the most deliciously perverse creatures who walk the Earth - Customers! Yes, friends, a whole new world is open before us: let us laugh at it together.
One disclaimer: My advisers have counseled me not to reveal the actual identity of my new workplace or the actual people that infest it. There are at least two good reasons for this:
#1) I don't want to get fired until I am good and ready #2) The jury has not decided if it is a hellhole yet.
I know that you are saying to yourself, "Of course it's a hellhole, you numbnuts!" But I try not to jump to conclusions.
Stay tuned. I need to go now and get ready for work.
8/16/2008
Why I Don't Get a Charitable Deduction
When clean cut young kids come to the front door asking for donations to help the environment/cure the disease de jour/or to help elect a political candidate, I try to be polite, but I always send them away emptyhanded. Throughout most of my working career, I steadfastly resisted the constant requests for "sponsorship" walks/rides/runs - United Way Nazis - or outright contributions to a coworkers' pet projects (The chief exception is, of course, Girl Scout Cookies - which has always seemed to me to be a worthy cause.)
These refusals to donate may have been seen as the skinflintyness of a cheap bastard, but that is not the case. I do not like people taking advantage of my good will and presumed affluence as a springboard for socialized extortion to support their causes. Also, I am a skeptic who believes that such donations - however well intentioned - are simply a big waste. Some might argue that there is a "feel-good" value to giving $25 to help the starving children in Darfur, but I argue that practically none of that money is spent on food.
In fact, most of the money that is donated to ANY charity goes for overhead - Advertising, Salaries and Lunches for the executives. One exception: The Boston Globe Santa, which collects money to buy gifts for poor kids at Christmas. They promise that 100% of the donations are used to that purpose. The Globe eats the overhead costs. Good for them. These are the only charities that I will give to.
Some people are proud of their political contributions, which mostly go to pay for more attack ads and - of course - funding the campaigns to request more contributions. Or in some cases, to pay-off the gal that the candidate was having an affair with. It seems, John Edwards has emerges as the current leading poster boy for corrupt lying lawyer politicians (Bill Clinton, you are not alone!)
I recall that last year, Edwards had to take the heat for his famous $400 haircut.
This type of excess is typical of non-profit organizations, whose management is not subject to the same scrutiny as public corporations. They prey on the little old ladies from Pasadena who think their $15 is going to cure cancer, or to help a disabled veteran when it is actually going to be dumped into the marketing kitty to fund even more heartfelt requests for donations via junk mail, or worse to pay off the bimbo on the side.
Most of your charity walks and rides are just phony events which have been cleverly designed to fool good-hearted people. Fiendishly clever, the organizers realize that most people want to feel good, so they recruit walkers/runners/riders to go out and solicit sponsorships from their friends and relatives. They count on the fact that many of the participants have a relative or friend who was afflicted by the disease. They will become evangelists.
So, when they come to you in the office asking for a small contribution, you would have to be a hard hearted asshole to say, "You are a dupe. None of this money will go into research; it goes to advertising and executive salaries." Much easier to just give them $20.
Take the 3 day Avon walk for breast cancer as an example. The participants go around to their office colleagues and solicit donations. Most of them must personally invest several hundred dollars for the Tent, food and gear to make them comfortable for two overnights. The event itself is meaningless, except for the participants, who get a great rush from the camaraderie and fun of the 3 day camping trip. What does this have to do with breast cancer? Nothing. Most of the money goes to the organizers of the event. If the participants would just take their tent and gear money and donate it to someone who has breast cancer, the money might just help someone.
As I say, I am a skeptic. I can't prove it but I will bet you that if you look into it you will find that less than ten percent and certainly no more than 30% of donated money actually finds its way to fund the real purpose of the donation, which is research. Prove me wrong.
These refusals to donate may have been seen as the skinflintyness of a cheap bastard, but that is not the case. I do not like people taking advantage of my good will and presumed affluence as a springboard for socialized extortion to support their causes. Also, I am a skeptic who believes that such donations - however well intentioned - are simply a big waste. Some might argue that there is a "feel-good" value to giving $25 to help the starving children in Darfur, but I argue that practically none of that money is spent on food.
In fact, most of the money that is donated to ANY charity goes for overhead - Advertising, Salaries and Lunches for the executives. One exception: The Boston Globe Santa, which collects money to buy gifts for poor kids at Christmas. They promise that 100% of the donations are used to that purpose. The Globe eats the overhead costs. Good for them. These are the only charities that I will give to.
Some people are proud of their political contributions, which mostly go to pay for more attack ads and - of course - funding the campaigns to request more contributions. Or in some cases, to pay-off the gal that the candidate was having an affair with. It seems, John Edwards has emerges as the current leading poster boy for corrupt lying lawyer politicians (Bill Clinton, you are not alone!)
I recall that last year, Edwards had to take the heat for his famous $400 haircut.
This type of excess is typical of non-profit organizations, whose management is not subject to the same scrutiny as public corporations. They prey on the little old ladies from Pasadena who think their $15 is going to cure cancer, or to help a disabled veteran when it is actually going to be dumped into the marketing kitty to fund even more heartfelt requests for donations via junk mail, or worse to pay off the bimbo on the side.
Most of your charity walks and rides are just phony events which have been cleverly designed to fool good-hearted people. Fiendishly clever, the organizers realize that most people want to feel good, so they recruit walkers/runners/riders to go out and solicit sponsorships from their friends and relatives. They count on the fact that many of the participants have a relative or friend who was afflicted by the disease. They will become evangelists.
So, when they come to you in the office asking for a small contribution, you would have to be a hard hearted asshole to say, "You are a dupe. None of this money will go into research; it goes to advertising and executive salaries." Much easier to just give them $20.
Take the 3 day Avon walk for breast cancer as an example. The participants go around to their office colleagues and solicit donations. Most of them must personally invest several hundred dollars for the Tent, food and gear to make them comfortable for two overnights. The event itself is meaningless, except for the participants, who get a great rush from the camaraderie and fun of the 3 day camping trip. What does this have to do with breast cancer? Nothing. Most of the money goes to the organizers of the event. If the participants would just take their tent and gear money and donate it to someone who has breast cancer, the money might just help someone.
As I say, I am a skeptic. I can't prove it but I will bet you that if you look into it you will find that less than ten percent and certainly no more than 30% of donated money actually finds its way to fund the real purpose of the donation, which is research. Prove me wrong.
8/15/2008
Yawn
At the local Starbucks where I do most of my research in human behavior, I notice that some people are yawning as they stand in line. Often they mention that they are tired from staying up watching re-broadcasts of Olympic events from China.
The only event I watched (briefly) was the US girls beach volleyball against the (anatomically challenged) Japanese team. I just cannot get interested in most Olympic sports. Watching the swimming events is even more tedious than the previous most-boring-sports-event on my list: Soccer. Let's face it, most of these athletic competitions are fun to do but a yawn for the spectators who are not relatives of the participants.
You know how I feel about Professional sports workers. I feel that the Olympic games have become the same genre of non-sport. These athletes are not about playing, they are deadly serious about winning, because they are all preparing for their careers! Games shmames! I think its a shame.
In the old days the US had a moral high road by only allowing amateurs to compete; now it's just like an all star game. excuse me, I can't keep from yawning.
The only event I watched (briefly) was the US girls beach volleyball against the (anatomically challenged) Japanese team. I just cannot get interested in most Olympic sports. Watching the swimming events is even more tedious than the previous most-boring-sports-event on my list: Soccer. Let's face it, most of these athletic competitions are fun to do but a yawn for the spectators who are not relatives of the participants.
You know how I feel about Professional sports workers. I feel that the Olympic games have become the same genre of non-sport. These athletes are not about playing, they are deadly serious about winning, because they are all preparing for their careers! Games shmames! I think its a shame.
In the old days the US had a moral high road by only allowing amateurs to compete; now it's just like an all star game.
8/10/2008
More Bothersome News
Many former supporters were disappointed this week to learn that John Edwards now admits that the rumors about him shtupping the photojournalist were in fact true and not trash journalist lies, as he asserted a thousand times. All the little old ladies that sent in their $20 contributions are undoubtedly proud that their money went to pay-off the shtuppee to the tune of more than $100,000 for some home video quality work.
But I'm sure he is now telling the whole Truth. Those among us who believe that he fathered her baby are just wrong. He is totally willing to be tested. Umm, wait a min. It seems he will (conveniently) not be able to prove his new found veracity, since the mom refuses to have the paternity test.
Some of us were gullible enough to think that no one would be so stupid as to think that they could pull a Bill Clinton and get away with it in the kleiglights of the cable TV era; we must humbly acknowledge that such stupidity does exist in politicians.
Drudge and Limbaugh and some of the other neocons were right about this scandal many months ago. How come that mainstream press didn't know about it? Or was it an inconvenient truth?
But I'm sure he is now telling the whole Truth. Those among us who believe that he fathered her baby are just wrong. He is totally willing to be tested. Umm, wait a min. It seems he will (conveniently) not be able to prove his new found veracity, since the mom refuses to have the paternity test.
Some of us were gullible enough to think that no one would be so stupid as to think that they could pull a Bill Clinton and get away with it in the kleiglights of the cable TV era; we must humbly acknowledge that such stupidity does exist in politicians.
Drudge and Limbaugh and some of the other neocons were right about this scandal many months ago. How come that mainstream press didn't know about it? Or was it an inconvenient truth?
8/06/2008
Bothersome News Items
There are a couple of stories in the news lately which are seemingly unrelated but intriguing.
The first story is about a guy who calls himself Clark Rockefeller, and after being in the news for 10 days, no one can figure out who he really is. Rockefeller became news because he allegedly kidnapped his own 7 year old daughter in Boston and sparked an "Amber alert" last week. He was captured in Baltimore a few days ago.
The most intriguing thing about him is the fact that he has managed to maintain a level of anonymity that I would have believed to be impossible in this information intensive society. No drivers license, no social security number, no job, no past.
He "forgets" what happened before 1992, but does not claim clinical amnesia. How do you do that? I know what many of you are thinking: "Lets waterboard the bastard and find out what he knows." Maybe Keifer Sutherland should "interrogate" him? A bullet in the kneecap would undoubtedly bring back a few pertinent memories. Detectives in LA have declared him a person of interest with a potential link to a col murder case in California. Others think he might be the mysterious German Exchange student who dropped oout of sight in Connecticut. Undoubtedly, he will eventually be linked to the Jonbenet Ramsay case. And before long the media circus tent will be both large and noisy.
He has steadfastly refused to provide any explanation about his past or where his money comes from. Reportedly he uses gold coins to fund his activities. (Doesn't that attract attention?)
So far, none of the people in charge can figure out who he is. He says that he cannot remember his past further back than his marriage in 1992. As the SNL church lady would say, "How convenient."
I find it incredible that someone can exist among us without the government's (nor the media's) ability to trace their whereabouts or activities. If he can do it, so can crooks, rapists and terrorists. I find this a bit disturbing.
In the old TV series "The Fugitive" Dr. Kimball was able to exist on the fringes of society, keeping a low profile supporting himself by taking menial jobs. But this guy Rockefeller was no shrinking violet - a Director at the exclusive Algonquin club in Boston, reportedly participated in local theater productions. Yet there are few pictures of him that have come to light. Judging from the newspapers Even his wife could only produce one photo. until the mug shot was released.
The second story is about the Anthrax researcher. The Government lays out the case against Anthrax researcher Dr. Bruce Ivins. They say he (conveniently) committed suicide as the prosecutors were closing-in. Others are questioning whether the feds were targeting the right guy this time After the government's ongoing series of fuck-ups and cover ups, we remain confused, bothered and bewildered by the conflicting stories and our basic distrust of our own security agencies.
I think the bothersome thread of these news items is that the stories remind us of the fragility of our sense of order and safety. If this guy Rockefeller can move untraced in our society, so can a lot of other bad guys. The Anthrax case is equally disturbing not only because of the helplessness we feel to biological attack, but also that it took so long to come up with mainly circumstantial evidence. I'm as much a proponent of the ideals of liberty, right to privacy, etc. as the next guy, but there are some adult realities that need to be acknowledged.
A very small number of individuals can disrupt society in a dramatic way.
witness how a few flat tires and fender benders on the city highways can tie-up traffic for hours. One bad accident on route 95 can ruin the day for thousands of people. Back in September 2001, nineteen bad guys were responsible for over 3000 deaths and the inconvenience to a minimum of 2 million people every day - everyone who has passed through any US airport - since Sept 11. How about the two Washington D.C. area snipers who paralyzed the whole region for weeks, randomly shooting people while they refueled their cars or emerged from grocery stores?
These incidents illustrate how a few malevolent actors can bring mass chaos in a free society. The irony is that each such act tends to make us choose safety over liberty. The citizens of an open society deserve both security and freedom.
The essential problem is that we do not know where to turn for the Truth. Despite all the information that is available to us, we still cannot discern the truth because we cannot trust the source. The traditional source for truth has been scientists and journalists. But not anymore. We don't trust these purveyors of facts these days, unless they are on our philosophical/political wavelength.
The bothersome Reality of modern society: Facts are what you/I agree on. Truth exists in the mind of the beholder.
The first story is about a guy who calls himself Clark Rockefeller, and after being in the news for 10 days, no one can figure out who he really is. Rockefeller became news because he allegedly kidnapped his own 7 year old daughter in Boston and sparked an "Amber alert" last week. He was captured in Baltimore a few days ago.
The most intriguing thing about him is the fact that he has managed to maintain a level of anonymity that I would have believed to be impossible in this information intensive society. No drivers license, no social security number, no job, no past.
He "forgets" what happened before 1992, but does not claim clinical amnesia. How do you do that? I know what many of you are thinking: "Lets waterboard the bastard and find out what he knows." Maybe Keifer Sutherland should "interrogate" him? A bullet in the kneecap would undoubtedly bring back a few pertinent memories. Detectives in LA have declared him a person of interest with a potential link to a col murder case in California. Others think he might be the mysterious German Exchange student who dropped oout of sight in Connecticut. Undoubtedly, he will eventually be linked to the Jonbenet Ramsay case. And before long the media circus tent will be both large and noisy.
He has steadfastly refused to provide any explanation about his past or where his money comes from. Reportedly he uses gold coins to fund his activities. (Doesn't that attract attention?)
So far, none of the people in charge can figure out who he is. He says that he cannot remember his past further back than his marriage in 1992. As the SNL church lady would say, "How convenient."
I find it incredible that someone can exist among us without the government's (nor the media's) ability to trace their whereabouts or activities. If he can do it, so can crooks, rapists and terrorists. I find this a bit disturbing.
In the old TV series "The Fugitive" Dr. Kimball was able to exist on the fringes of society, keeping a low profile supporting himself by taking menial jobs. But this guy Rockefeller was no shrinking violet - a Director at the exclusive Algonquin club in Boston, reportedly participated in local theater productions. Yet there are few pictures of him that have come to light. Judging from the newspapers Even his wife could only produce one photo. until the mug shot was released.
The second story is about the Anthrax researcher. The Government lays out the case against Anthrax researcher Dr. Bruce Ivins. They say he (conveniently) committed suicide as the prosecutors were closing-in. Others are questioning whether the feds were targeting the right guy this time After the government's ongoing series of fuck-ups and cover ups, we remain confused, bothered and bewildered by the conflicting stories and our basic distrust of our own security agencies.
I think the bothersome thread of these news items is that the stories remind us of the fragility of our sense of order and safety. If this guy Rockefeller can move untraced in our society, so can a lot of other bad guys. The Anthrax case is equally disturbing not only because of the helplessness we feel to biological attack, but also that it took so long to come up with mainly circumstantial evidence. I'm as much a proponent of the ideals of liberty, right to privacy, etc. as the next guy, but there are some adult realities that need to be acknowledged.
A very small number of individuals can disrupt society in a dramatic way.
witness how a few flat tires and fender benders on the city highways can tie-up traffic for hours. One bad accident on route 95 can ruin the day for thousands of people. Back in September 2001, nineteen bad guys were responsible for over 3000 deaths and the inconvenience to a minimum of 2 million people every day - everyone who has passed through any US airport - since Sept 11. How about the two Washington D.C. area snipers who paralyzed the whole region for weeks, randomly shooting people while they refueled their cars or emerged from grocery stores?
These incidents illustrate how a few malevolent actors can bring mass chaos in a free society. The irony is that each such act tends to make us choose safety over liberty. The citizens of an open society deserve both security and freedom.
The essential problem is that we do not know where to turn for the Truth. Despite all the information that is available to us, we still cannot discern the truth because we cannot trust the source. The traditional source for truth has been scientists and journalists. But not anymore. We don't trust these purveyors of facts these days, unless they are on our philosophical/political wavelength.
The bothersome Reality of modern society: Facts are what you/I agree on. Truth exists in the mind of the beholder.
Celebrity Presidential Candidates
The "old white dude" used Paris in his Obama attack ad, now she has an ad of her own...
Click here
or go to http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d
This made me laugh out loud.
Click here
or go to http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d
This made me laugh out loud.
8/05/2008
Climbing Molehills Because They are There
One of the front page stories in the news today is about the 11 climbers who were killed by an avalanche on K2 in Pakistan. This may seem a tad cold, but I say "So what"?
I do not take pleasure in the news of any one's death*, but there is a difference between people who are victims of circumstances (disease, wars, violence) and those who risk their lives for thrills.
Of the 11 who died, I do have the most compassion for the two Nepalese who were undoubtedly Sherpa guides and actually working for a living, probably lugging the champagne glasses and photographic equipment.
It is difficult to pretend that it is a tragedy when people who get their kicks from betting against gravity happen to lose the bet. These were self absorbed people who spent their time and inherited money spreading maps on the mahogany decks of their yachts, frivolously preparing to climb mountains. Leaving families and friends because of the spiritual fulfillment one gets getting to the top. By the way, all of the dead had actually made it to the top - they died during the descent.
You may think that I am bitterly envious of those beautiful, rich people who are still alive and can afford to climb mountains and take boat trips to tax free shelters in the Caribbean - instead of being a boat less, overweight pensioner who spends his time chasing rabbits, moles and squirrels away from his garden and surfing the Internets in hopes of finding a cure for chronic NRI (Nagging Rectal Itch).
OK, Guilty as charged. I am capable of being just as useless as the next guy - maybe even useless-er. Just because my current path is to tread upon on those pesky molehills doesn't mean I couldn't be a rich thrill-seeker too if I could afford it. Gravity shmavity! is my motto.
Being at sea level gives one a perspective that mountain climbers do not see. Our horizon is limited by line of sight. But if our safety rope breaks, the fall is generally not fatal.
*Exception: Whoever invented the leaf blower - The noisiest, most annoying contraption on the planet.
I do not take pleasure in the news of any one's death*, but there is a difference between people who are victims of circumstances (disease, wars, violence) and those who risk their lives for thrills.
Of the 11 who died, I do have the most compassion for the two Nepalese who were undoubtedly Sherpa guides and actually working for a living, probably lugging the champagne glasses and photographic equipment.
It is difficult to pretend that it is a tragedy when people who get their kicks from betting against gravity happen to lose the bet. These were self absorbed people who spent their time and inherited money spreading maps on the mahogany decks of their yachts, frivolously preparing to climb mountains. Leaving families and friends because of the spiritual fulfillment one gets getting to the top. By the way, all of the dead had actually made it to the top - they died during the descent.
You may think that I am bitterly envious of those beautiful, rich people who are still alive and can afford to climb mountains and take boat trips to tax free shelters in the Caribbean - instead of being a boat less, overweight pensioner who spends his time chasing rabbits, moles and squirrels away from his garden and surfing the Internets in hopes of finding a cure for chronic NRI (Nagging Rectal Itch).
OK, Guilty as charged. I am capable of being just as useless as the next guy - maybe even useless-er. Just because my current path is to tread upon on those pesky molehills doesn't mean I couldn't be a rich thrill-seeker too if I could afford it. Gravity shmavity! is my motto.
Being at sea level gives one a perspective that mountain climbers do not see. Our horizon is limited by line of sight. But if our safety rope breaks, the fall is generally not fatal.
*Exception: Whoever invented the leaf blower - The noisiest, most annoying contraption on the planet.
8/01/2008
No Farewell Party for Manny
Local baseball fans - among whom I am distinctly of the "fair weather" variety - woke up today to the UN-surprising news that Red Sox employee Manny Ramirez was gone, like a foul ball hit out of the park.
We - who understand that baseball is just a job after all - will miss him. He was a pain in the ass prima donna who could hit clutch home runs and fer goshsakes win games when it counted. He was disruptive and lazy and his fielding abilities were less than big league. He looked more like a rap musician than a baseball worker with his long dreadlocks and baggy clown pants. But darn it, he was entertaining.
We have all worked with people like Manny. We might have had to work a bit harder while our coworker was slacking off. Or we might have felt that someone else was getting more attention for his antics than his performance in the field. The Manny on our team may have been annoying at times but then they would do something marvelous: getting the contract that would mean more revenue for our company or solving a costly problem. Just like Manny with his world series game winning performance in the clutch.
At their farewell parties, we sincerely wish them well and try to remember their deeds of greatness. Then we go home and forget about them.
Manny's singular value to the Red Sox was that he is a great slugger who can save the day. I think we will miss him before this season is over. For a little while.
The fact is (despite our hubris) most of us are quite replaceable. Each of us creates our own legacy in our work life. But regardless of our accomplishments, whether we were Airline CEO's, Hall of Fame sluggers or systems analysts, the mark we make amounts to footprints in the sand: washed away by the next tide - or even the next wave, gone and forgotten.
Like Manny, Nomar, Johnny Damon, Babe Ruth - there comes a time when We have stayed too long at the party and it is time to be moving on down the road, with the fresh opportunity to re-create ourselves on a new team. Too many cliches, you say? Well sorry, they just seemed to be appropriate.
The Red Sox suits may seem smart, letting Manny go after getting the best he had, but we felt that way about Roger Clemens too.
We - who understand that baseball is just a job after all - will miss him. He was a pain in the ass prima donna who could hit clutch home runs and fer goshsakes win games when it counted. He was disruptive and lazy and his fielding abilities were less than big league. He looked more like a rap musician than a baseball worker with his long dreadlocks and baggy clown pants. But darn it, he was entertaining.
We have all worked with people like Manny. We might have had to work a bit harder while our coworker was slacking off. Or we might have felt that someone else was getting more attention for his antics than his performance in the field. The Manny on our team may have been annoying at times but then they would do something marvelous: getting the contract that would mean more revenue for our company or solving a costly problem. Just like Manny with his world series game winning performance in the clutch.
At their farewell parties, we sincerely wish them well and try to remember their deeds of greatness. Then we go home and forget about them.
Manny's singular value to the Red Sox was that he is a great slugger who can save the day. I think we will miss him before this season is over. For a little while.
The fact is (despite our hubris) most of us are quite replaceable. Each of us creates our own legacy in our work life. But regardless of our accomplishments, whether we were Airline CEO's, Hall of Fame sluggers or systems analysts, the mark we make amounts to footprints in the sand: washed away by the next tide - or even the next wave, gone and forgotten.
Like Manny, Nomar, Johnny Damon, Babe Ruth - there comes a time when We have stayed too long at the party and it is time to be moving on down the road, with the fresh opportunity to re-create ourselves on a new team. Too many cliches, you say? Well sorry, they just seemed to be appropriate.
The Red Sox suits may seem smart, letting Manny go after getting the best he had, but we felt that way about Roger Clemens too.
7/30/2008
Start of a Trend?
I have been justifiably hard on the people who run airlines and their careless attitude towards the comfort and satisfaction of their customers. I have reserved the most bitter scorn for the overpaid executives who would prefer to layoff the working stiffs and cut service rather than take a cut in their own compensation.
So I must take a moment and recognize at least one CEO making a move in the right direction.
The new honcho at JetBlue, David Barger, has taken a personal pay cut of 50% for six months. $250K instead of 500k the article says. If my math is correct, that is actually more like a 25% cut in his annual pay. Still, it is a gesture worthy of note. These guys get huge bonuses when business is good. It is typical for a C-level manager to take full credit - and perks - when business is good. But when things are bad they blame slow demand, weather, sunspots, price of gasoline, seasonal trends, etc. I kinda like a guy who acknowledges that the boss should get dinged along with everyone else.
I doubt that this is going to spark a new trend in responsible CEO salaries, but you never know...
So I must take a moment and recognize at least one CEO making a move in the right direction.
The new honcho at JetBlue, David Barger, has taken a personal pay cut of 50% for six months. $250K instead of 500k the article says. If my math is correct, that is actually more like a 25% cut in his annual pay. Still, it is a gesture worthy of note. These guys get huge bonuses when business is good. It is typical for a C-level manager to take full credit - and perks - when business is good. But when things are bad they blame slow demand, weather, sunspots, price of gasoline, seasonal trends, etc. I kinda like a guy who acknowledges that the boss should get dinged along with everyone else.
I doubt that this is going to spark a new trend in responsible CEO salaries, but you never know...
7/04/2008
Independence Day Musings
IN an op-ed column published in yesterday's Wall St Journal titled "Why We Went to War in Iraq." Douglas Feith, unrepentant neocon who is incidentally humping a new book, lays out the 5 major reasons that Bush decided to invade Iraq.
I think many of us who regret what has happened in Iraq would have to admit that we shared the post-9-11 mood of vulnerability and outrage. While we were not persuaded that Saddam was a clear and present danger to the USA, we saw his behavior as immediately dangerous to our ally, Israel. He had thumbed his nose at UN resolutions for years, was misusing the oil for food program, and was openly claiming to have WMD's ready to use, and threatening to acquire nuclear weapons. It certainly was my opinion that something had to be done.
In the months following the Trade Center Attacks on 9-11, I had been reading books like Huntington's "The Clash of Civilizations" and was influenced by "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq" by ex CIA analyst Kenneth Pollack. By the time Bush started rattling the saber, I was ready to sign up myself.
How easy it is to forget that we were unified as a country on that score. Today we blame it all on Bush, but i think we should take a moment and recognize that if a few parameters had been changed (eg, control of the looting, more involvement by UN, discovery of WMD's) it might seem like a different game. We know he had the Chemical weapons because we gave them to him; even today no one knows where they went to.
Although Mr Feith still thinks we had no choice other than to bring Saddam down, he does not argue that the post invasion administration was done well. Those mistakes have ruined many lives civilian and military, has wasted billions of US treasure, and has also exacerbated an ideological polarization within our own country.
Today we celebrate Independence Day. We stand in awe of those brave men who signed that letter to the king, in full realization that they might be sacrificing everything for the concept of liberty.
Few of us today can claim to share that level of commitment to an idea. Who will stand in awe of us?
I think many of us who regret what has happened in Iraq would have to admit that we shared the post-9-11 mood of vulnerability and outrage. While we were not persuaded that Saddam was a clear and present danger to the USA, we saw his behavior as immediately dangerous to our ally, Israel. He had thumbed his nose at UN resolutions for years, was misusing the oil for food program, and was openly claiming to have WMD's ready to use, and threatening to acquire nuclear weapons. It certainly was my opinion that something had to be done.
In the months following the Trade Center Attacks on 9-11, I had been reading books like Huntington's "The Clash of Civilizations" and was influenced by "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq" by ex CIA analyst Kenneth Pollack. By the time Bush started rattling the saber, I was ready to sign up myself.
How easy it is to forget that we were unified as a country on that score. Today we blame it all on Bush, but i think we should take a moment and recognize that if a few parameters had been changed (eg, control of the looting, more involvement by UN, discovery of WMD's) it might seem like a different game. We know he had the Chemical weapons because we gave them to him; even today no one knows where they went to.
Although Mr Feith still thinks we had no choice other than to bring Saddam down, he does not argue that the post invasion administration was done well. Those mistakes have ruined many lives civilian and military, has wasted billions of US treasure, and has also exacerbated an ideological polarization within our own country.
Today we celebrate Independence Day. We stand in awe of those brave men who signed that letter to the king, in full realization that they might be sacrificing everything for the concept of liberty.
Few of us today can claim to share that level of commitment to an idea. Who will stand in awe of us?
7/01/2008
The Turnaround Begins Now
Fans and critics alike will be pleased to know that the check has finally arrived.
Today, I will go to Sears and purchase a new lawn mower, made (or at least, assembled) in the USA. We will fill our gas tanks and buy locally grown foods at the market. We will buy a book written by an American author. Perhaps a case of Sierra Nevada. A California Chardonnay or maybe a nice Zinfandel.
I think that should get the Economy kick started...
Today, I will go to Sears and purchase a new lawn mower, made (or at least, assembled) in the USA. We will fill our gas tanks and buy locally grown foods at the market. We will buy a book written by an American author. Perhaps a case of Sierra Nevada. A California Chardonnay or maybe a nice Zinfandel.
I think that should get the Economy kick started...
6/30/2008
Clark's Outrageous Comment
In logic, conflation is the error of treating two distinct concepts as if they were one. We witnessed a perfect example of this in the press treatment of the Wesley Clark statement regarding John McCain. Asked on the Sunday morning program Face The Nation, hosted by Bob Sheiffer whether John McCain's military experience qualified him to become president, General Clark (a pro military guy himself) responded that flying jets, getting shot down, being a POW were not necessarily presidential qualifications.
The aghast Sheiffer demanded an explanation, wherein Clark explained the differences between policy setting, planning and administration and following orders. He never disparaged McCain's courage, patriotism, or honesty.
McCain's people were outraged. How could anyone question McCain's military record? By yesterday evening, Obama was distancing himself from Clark.
I am perplexed. Why can't Obama (or some journalist) simply point out that Clark never attacked McCain's patriotism or courage? The comments about the qualifications for president were restricted to whether combat military service was pertinent to the job as commander in chief. (If so, maybe they should have nominated Colin Powell.)
But some conservatives have been very successful in raising conflation to a conversational art. Let anyone utter a word of dissention from the party line and their patriotism is called into question. This flap is proof that the mix of disinformation and moral clarity creates a potent brew.
The aghast Sheiffer demanded an explanation, wherein Clark explained the differences between policy setting, planning and administration and following orders. He never disparaged McCain's courage, patriotism, or honesty.
McCain's people were outraged. How could anyone question McCain's military record? By yesterday evening, Obama was distancing himself from Clark.
I am perplexed. Why can't Obama (or some journalist) simply point out that Clark never attacked McCain's patriotism or courage? The comments about the qualifications for president were restricted to whether combat military service was pertinent to the job as commander in chief. (If so, maybe they should have nominated Colin Powell.)
But some conservatives have been very successful in raising conflation to a conversational art. Let anyone utter a word of dissention from the party line and their patriotism is called into question. This flap is proof that the mix of disinformation and moral clarity creates a potent brew.
Wisdom of Age
Boy, the guy who said, "You should never cook bacon while naked," really knew what he was talking about.
6/29/2008
Rationalizing Happiness
Another birthday has rolled around on the two digit odometer of my life. I do not mention it to make you feel guilty that you didn't send me a card or a gift, honestly. It is not a big birthday, but one of those tweener anniversaries. Last year's birthday (my 65th) is probably the last one I will actually "celebrate" with any sense of party-worthiness. From here on I will simply "observe" the day as a reason to demand bacon for breakfast - with no feeling of celebration, rather a vague sense of doom as I mark one year closer to the ultimate afternoon nap. This is not morbid thinking; this is just Reality 101.
When my friends and I get together for lunch these days, we toast each others' health - and we really mean it! These days some of us are clinking iced tea and soda glasses instead of those heady steins of dark beer or martinis. Alcohol doesn't agree with some of our meds. But we are nonetheless happy to be alive and out in the company of friends to enjoy a meal and some conversation.
Frequently, at lunch the talk turns to politics. We are all tending to be argumentative in our old age (and to hell with anyone who doesn't like it.) Family members call us curmudgeons; we call them ungrateful little snots.
My conservative leaning lunch mates tend to be frustrated with the relentlessness of progress. The mainstream (Communists and anarchists) press reports are full of lies and spin; special interest conservative news outlets warn of perils and slippery slopes. Their gloomy effect is far-reaching - peaked by news of another hapless pregnant girl who elects to end an unwanted pregnancy, another proposed tax measure, or any effort to change things. They want to keep things as they were. Dissent is viewed as treason.
. . .
Conservatives have always seemed grumpy to me. So I was interested in a small piece in the Globe today that cited recent studies that found conservatives tended to think of themselves as happy. In summary:
"The conservative-happiness relationship was not explained by differences in demographics or thoughtfulness but was largely explained by conservatives' greater rationalization of inequality, including belief in a meritocratic world. According to the authors, such beliefs serve a "palliative function" or act as an "emotional buffer" when confronted with inequality."
Now this seems to make sense. If you believe in a meritocracy, you probably have deluded yourself into believing that you've earned everything you've got; you are not simply the beneficiary of a lucky DNA roll that permitted you to be smart, good looking and white.
When my friends and I get together for lunch these days, we toast each others' health - and we really mean it! These days some of us are clinking iced tea and soda glasses instead of those heady steins of dark beer or martinis. Alcohol doesn't agree with some of our meds. But we are nonetheless happy to be alive and out in the company of friends to enjoy a meal and some conversation.
Frequently, at lunch the talk turns to politics. We are all tending to be argumentative in our old age (and to hell with anyone who doesn't like it.) Family members call us curmudgeons; we call them ungrateful little snots.
My conservative leaning lunch mates tend to be frustrated with the relentlessness of progress. The mainstream (Communists and anarchists) press reports are full of lies and spin; special interest conservative news outlets warn of perils and slippery slopes. Their gloomy effect is far-reaching - peaked by news of another hapless pregnant girl who elects to end an unwanted pregnancy, another proposed tax measure, or any effort to change things. They want to keep things as they were. Dissent is viewed as treason.
. . .
Conservatives have always seemed grumpy to me. So I was interested in a small piece in the Globe today that cited recent studies that found conservatives tended to think of themselves as happy. In summary:
"The conservative-happiness relationship was not explained by differences in demographics or thoughtfulness but was largely explained by conservatives' greater rationalization of inequality, including belief in a meritocratic world. According to the authors, such beliefs serve a "palliative function" or act as an "emotional buffer" when confronted with inequality."
Now this seems to make sense. If you believe in a meritocracy, you probably have deluded yourself into believing that you've earned everything you've got; you are not simply the beneficiary of a lucky DNA roll that permitted you to be smart, good looking and white.
6/24/2008
Where's My Check Part 2
Ok, I got an official looking envelope from the US treasury, yesterday. It was addressed to both of us, with the last 4 digits of our taxpayer number, so there was no doubt what it contained.
I had just received the quarterly real estate tax bill the day before, and unexpected auto repairs last week had nearly depleted our discretionary expense account. The timing couldn't be better.
The government envelope had been wedged between sheaves of drenched junk mail, so, despite the torrential rains, it remained relatively dry. I rejoiced in anticipation of the long-awaited economic stimulus bonus check that would help turn our economy around to save our retirement nest egg.
Not that the mail carrier cared. He was one of those bitter, unfriendly civil servants who hate their jobs and spend most of their time on the job calculating the number of days to go until they can retire. Whenever it rains, I noticed that he never makes the slightest effort to keep the mail covered. He just walks a normal pace to each house on the street with the mail held out, unprotected, looking miffed because he was out slogging in the rain, hungry and cold, while we - the affluent residents of his route are probably languishing inside our pricey dry McMansions, not working, making grilled cheese sandwiches and watching The View.
Into each mailbox, he angrily stuffs the clutch of soggy catalogs and bills. Maybe he thinks he is living up to the Post Office credo of reliable, relentless service through rain, sleet, whatever.
Maybe he grudgingly feels he is doing a service, but I would rather wait for a nice day and get dry mail, instead of "[bleep] you - here's your [bleeping] wet mail!" But the excitement of getting my stimulus check wiped out any trivial annoyance over minor aggravations such as wet mail.
When I opened the envelope to find a letter and no check, my high expectations were crushed like a Corvair in a junkyard. Here's what the letter said:
"The check is in the mail" The letter was dated June 23 and it said that the check was scheduled for June 27 - but may take six weeks...don't call until then.
Now, I know most of you have given up trying to figure out why the government does what it does, but I still demand rationality. Was this letter supposed to give me some useful information? Or was it just another waste of taxpayer money?
And, where the hell is my check?
I had just received the quarterly real estate tax bill the day before, and unexpected auto repairs last week had nearly depleted our discretionary expense account. The timing couldn't be better.
The government envelope had been wedged between sheaves of drenched junk mail, so, despite the torrential rains, it remained relatively dry. I rejoiced in anticipation of the long-awaited economic stimulus bonus check that would help turn our economy around to save our retirement nest egg.
Not that the mail carrier cared. He was one of those bitter, unfriendly civil servants who hate their jobs and spend most of their time on the job calculating the number of days to go until they can retire. Whenever it rains, I noticed that he never makes the slightest effort to keep the mail covered. He just walks a normal pace to each house on the street with the mail held out, unprotected, looking miffed because he was out slogging in the rain, hungry and cold, while we - the affluent residents of his route are probably languishing inside our pricey dry McMansions, not working, making grilled cheese sandwiches and watching The View.
Into each mailbox, he angrily stuffs the clutch of soggy catalogs and bills. Maybe he thinks he is living up to the Post Office credo of reliable, relentless service through rain, sleet, whatever.
Maybe he grudgingly feels he is doing a service, but I would rather wait for a nice day and get dry mail, instead of "[bleep] you - here's your [bleeping] wet mail!" But the excitement of getting my stimulus check wiped out any trivial annoyance over minor aggravations such as wet mail.
When I opened the envelope to find a letter and no check, my high expectations were crushed like a Corvair in a junkyard. Here's what the letter said:
"The check is in the mail" The letter was dated June 23 and it said that the check was scheduled for June 27 - but may take six weeks...don't call until then.
Now, I know most of you have given up trying to figure out why the government does what it does, but I still demand rationality. Was this letter supposed to give me some useful information? Or was it just another waste of taxpayer money?
And, where the hell is my check?
6/21/2008
New Brave World
I was moved (again) by Peggy Noonan's recent WSJ essay "Brave New World" which impressed me as an intelligent and honest analysis of the choices we have in the next election. If you read nothing else about politics, you should read this essay. http://www.wsj.com/article/SB121330247663568945.html
In November, Americans will go to the polls with a clear choice. McCain represents Old America; Obama represents New America. The individuals themselves do not matter, so we should not get hung-up on the personalities. The president is not the Emperor. If the congress has any gonads at all, the president cannot do anything that is contrary to the will of the people.
My liberal friends (most of the people I associate with) like to blame everything that has gone wrong in the last 7 years on George Bush. I find this a bit too simplistic. There are many conspiritors afoot.
Bush lied and people died, is a clever reduction, but it does not square with the real situation. The democratic majority could have voted against funding the war in Iraq and it would have been over long ago. But they didn't. They drove the getaway car, and that makes them accessories just as if they had committed the crime with their own hands.
My conservative friends are quick to point out that things are not as bad as they would have been under Al Gore or John Kerry. I am inclined to agree with them, and I will admit that I voted for Bush both times. In retrospect I think my vote for dubya was more against the other guys. I was voting against the guys who had spent their lives working in the Washington machine. I did not trust them to have the intestinal fortitude to stand-up against their powerful special interest sponsors.
Perhaps this is just revisionist. I am acutely aware of the human tendency to justify past choices, even when they turn out to be disasterous.
Back to Peggy's thesis. I think she has nailed it with her description of the issues and choice at stake - New America vs Old America.
Unfortunately for her camp, she has clearly made the case that guarantees an Obama victory. She romantically characterizes what Old America stands for, forgetting the inconvenient truths of Traditional America - which was fine if you were white, good looking, and lucky enough to have Ozzie and Harriet for parents. Most of the people who will be voting in the next election don't identify with that shining vision - or memory.
Do we still have time to impeach Bush for poisoning the tomatoes?
6/15/2008
A License to Annoy
Hmm. I'm reading the AP News bulletin with a distinctly non-newsy headline that shouts: " Companies get OK to annoy polar bears ." The story is a ruling by The Fish and Wildlife Service that allows seven oil companies to drill in the arctic without worrying about harassing lawsuits from tree-huggers that they are disturbing the habitat of a useless species of wild bear.
Such a headline is certainly disturbing because it violates the fundamental assumption that news is about facts. The headline should have said "Ruling allows oil companies to explore near bear populations "
The injection of the reporter's or some special interest spokesman's value judgements into the story (and indeed the lead) is an increasing annoyance to those of us who read newspapers hoping to discern the truth about events. Isn't there a section in the paper for Opinions, where it may be relevant to discuss how one measures the level of annoyance exhibited by bears.
Even more exasperating for neutral-leaning readers is the information:
The seven companies will be required to map out the locations of polar bear dens, train their employees about the bears' habits and take other measures to minimize clashes with them. In exchange, the companies are legally protected if their operations unintentionally harm the bears. Any bear deaths would still warrant an investigation and could result in penalty under the law.
Administration and industry officials said oil companies enjoyed similar status in the Chukchi Sea from 1991 to 1996 and in the Beaufort Sea since 1993 and there was no effect on polar bear populations.
There is no evidence of a polar bear being killed by oil and gas activities in Alaska since 1993, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Since 1960, when the hunt for oil and gas began in Alaska, only two fatalities of polar bears have been linked to oil and gas activities in the state, the service said.
Such a headline is certainly disturbing because it violates the fundamental assumption that news is about facts. The headline should have said "Ruling allows oil companies to explore near bear populations "
The injection of the reporter's or some special interest spokesman's value judgements into the story (and indeed the lead) is an increasing annoyance to those of us who read newspapers hoping to discern the truth about events. Isn't there a section in the paper for Opinions, where it may be relevant to discuss how one measures the level of annoyance exhibited by bears.
Even more exasperating for neutral-leaning readers is the information:
The seven companies will be required to map out the locations of polar bear dens, train their employees about the bears' habits and take other measures to minimize clashes with them. In exchange, the companies are legally protected if their operations unintentionally harm the bears. Any bear deaths would still warrant an investigation and could result in penalty under the law.
Administration and industry officials said oil companies enjoyed similar status in the Chukchi Sea from 1991 to 1996 and in the Beaufort Sea since 1993 and there was no effect on polar bear populations.
There is no evidence of a polar bear being killed by oil and gas activities in Alaska since 1993, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Since 1960, when the hunt for oil and gas began in Alaska, only two fatalities of polar bears have been linked to oil and gas activities in the state, the service said.
Seems to me like a rational approach to minimizing the impact on the indigenous wildlife while moving ahead with progress. Yet the headline shouted the opinion of a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, who called the ruling "... a blank check to harass the polar bear in the Chukchi Sea."
So, even if the trade-off is between annoying a few bears and $6 a gallon gasoline, I think it should be arcticly clear which side I am on.
6/13/2008
Another Reason to Stay on the Sofa
The recent news that the food services at Fenway Park could be dangerous to your health comes as no surprise to your faithful, germaphobic hellhole escapee. See this link for story.
I just hope the baseball workers (aka: players) dont eat the food that is sold to fans. We wouldn't want yet another reason for them to go on strike.
Your frugal, germaphobic, escapee blogger has been priced-out of the professional entertainment market for many years, not just since becoming a fixed-income pensioner. Not to mention that his widening posterior has been sized-out by the tiny seats in Fenway coach class.
There was an op-ed piece in the paper the other day, calling for a cap on the price of "resold" tickets. The writer thought that scalpers should be prohibited from selling the ticket at more than twice the face value of the ticket. I do not see the logic of such an arbitrary position. Either the price should be enforced exactly at face value or whatever the market will bear. And do we really want the government to nationalize and regulate the resold ticket industry?
If some wealthy moron wants to pay $10,000 for a ticket to watch a bunch of spoiled, overpaid baseball workers, why should we care?
==============
Speaking of the risk of plagues killing multitudes of people, I recently saw the Sci Fi (Will Smith) movie "I Am Legend" which has been out on DVD for a few months.
Based on the book by Richard Matheson, it is an updated remake of the excellent 1971 Charlton Heston movie which was titled "The Omega Man."
The story is about survival and loneliness after a catastrophic man-made plague. In the original story the world population is decimated by the results of a biological warfare conflict. In the updated version, a genetically tweaked virus becomes a cure for cancer, but mutates into a form of human rabies.
Those who survive become light-phobic vampires. OK, I didn't think I would like it either, but I am mentioning it here, because I did like it. And the special effects are stunning. And the fresh prince has come a long way since "Independence Day."
Not that you should give a crap what I think, but I give it four stars.
I just hope the baseball workers (aka: players) dont eat the food that is sold to fans. We wouldn't want yet another reason for them to go on strike.
Your frugal, germaphobic, escapee blogger has been priced-out of the professional entertainment market for many years, not just since becoming a fixed-income pensioner. Not to mention that his widening posterior has been sized-out by the tiny seats in Fenway coach class.
There was an op-ed piece in the paper the other day, calling for a cap on the price of "resold" tickets. The writer thought that scalpers should be prohibited from selling the ticket at more than twice the face value of the ticket. I do not see the logic of such an arbitrary position. Either the price should be enforced exactly at face value or whatever the market will bear. And do we really want the government to nationalize and regulate the resold ticket industry?
If some wealthy moron wants to pay $10,000 for a ticket to watch a bunch of spoiled, overpaid baseball workers, why should we care?
==============
Speaking of the risk of plagues killing multitudes of people, I recently saw the Sci Fi (Will Smith) movie "I Am Legend" which has been out on DVD for a few months.
Based on the book by Richard Matheson, it is an updated remake of the excellent 1971 Charlton Heston movie which was titled "The Omega Man."
The story is about survival and loneliness after a catastrophic man-made plague. In the original story the world population is decimated by the results of a biological warfare conflict. In the updated version, a genetically tweaked virus becomes a cure for cancer, but mutates into a form of human rabies.
Those who survive become light-phobic vampires. OK, I didn't think I would like it either, but I am mentioning it here, because I did like it. And the special effects are stunning. And the fresh prince has come a long way since "Independence Day."
Not that you should give a crap what I think, but I give it four stars.
6/11/2008
More Reasons to 'Grow Your Own'
Killer Tomatoes
The latest assault on our health and wallets is salmonella and tomatoes. Shades of last year's spinach contamination - if everyone is like me, you probably don't feel the same way about spinach since fall of 2006. How would you like to be an ex-spinach farmer who borrowed heavily to shift his crop to cultivation of tomatoes?
Not a Farmers Daughter Joke.
It could be worse: In Afghanistan, many of the poppy farmers are complaining that the recent government crackdown on poppy growing has cost them dearly. With no crop, they have no way to pay back the money they borrowed from the Taliban. The Taliban - much like the Mafia - tells them "It's just business" and makes them an offer that they literally cannot refuse. "Give us your young attractive daughter and we'll call it square." See Opium Brides
The latest assault on our health and wallets is salmonella and tomatoes. Shades of last year's spinach contamination - if everyone is like me, you probably don't feel the same way about spinach since fall of 2006. How would you like to be an ex-spinach farmer who borrowed heavily to shift his crop to cultivation of tomatoes?
Not a Farmers Daughter Joke.
It could be worse: In Afghanistan, many of the poppy farmers are complaining that the recent government crackdown on poppy growing has cost them dearly. With no crop, they have no way to pay back the money they borrowed from the Taliban. The Taliban - much like the Mafia - tells them "It's just business" and makes them an offer that they literally cannot refuse. "Give us your young attractive daughter and we'll call it square." See Opium Brides
6/08/2008
Fathers Day Gift Planning
I am seeing all these absolutely dumbass ideas about what people ought to get for their dads on Fathers day. Most of these are written by staff writers who were told "write something for fathers day" so they came up with "The ten best Fathers day gifts" or "what dad really wants on fathers day." It's all crap and any one who gets their ideas from these lame-assed ads should be embarrassed.
No kids, I do not want "the Beer of The month" for fathers day - nor does anyone who really likes beer. To me, it would be the same as sending dad a pair of socks every month. Don't other dads like to pick out their own socks? I do. And I prefer to select my favorite beer - which is technically an ale - Sierra Nevada. Why would I want randomly selected beers picked by some skinny Gen-X dude who thinks Green Day is a good band? Or worse, some millenium shavetail with a taste for Belgium wheat beers and bleeding heart tattoos snaking up their necks.
No thanks. I spent a lifetime in a costly and far reaching search for the beer that would become my brand. You want to give me beer, give me my favorite brand, not some trendy boutique brew.
No kids, I do not want "the Beer of The month" for fathers day - nor does anyone who really likes beer. To me, it would be the same as sending dad a pair of socks every month. Don't other dads like to pick out their own socks? I do. And I prefer to select my favorite beer - which is technically an ale - Sierra Nevada. Why would I want randomly selected beers picked by some skinny Gen-X dude who thinks Green Day is a good band? Or worse, some millenium shavetail with a taste for Belgium wheat beers and bleeding heart tattoos snaking up their necks.
No thanks. I spent a lifetime in a costly and far reaching search for the beer that would become my brand. You want to give me beer, give me my favorite brand, not some trendy boutique brew.
6/07/2008
A Toast To the Voters
Peggy Noonan doesn't like the Clintons, and figuratively raises her glass to salute the Democrats for rejecting her as the nominee for President in this article which appears in today's WSJ.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121269958227749853.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121269958227749853.html
6/05/2008
Where's My Check?
Here it is the first week in June and I want to know: where's my check?
Has anyone got their so-called economic stimulus money yet? What did you do with it?
I had originally thought I would use the money for a new lawnmower - made in America and all that. I figured it would be a win-win deal.
They say that Gods laughs at our plans. (Meanspirited of him, don't you think?) Perhaps you think it paranoid of me to suggest that God has driven the price of sweet crude to record heights for the sole purpose of thwarting my intention to buy a new lawnmower, but I'm just saying it looks pretty suspicious to me. The cost of almost everything is suddenly higher. (The one bright light: the cost of my favorite product - K-Y Warming Jelly - has stayed stable.)
But you cannot run a Grand Caravan on personal lubricant. And those rip-off artists at the dealer service center have reamed me to the tune of $900.00 (USD) to fix my brakes, a vacuum hose, and to install front-end anti-sway bar bushings. A fill-up now costs $65.00.
I hear some metaphysical chuckle in my inner-ear about my new plan: to use the government money to pay my Visa bill. Now, if the government goes belly-up before I get the check, I will know for sure that God is out to get me.
Has anyone got their so-called economic stimulus money yet? What did you do with it?
I had originally thought I would use the money for a new lawnmower - made in America and all that. I figured it would be a win-win deal.
They say that Gods laughs at our plans. (Meanspirited of him, don't you think?) Perhaps you think it paranoid of me to suggest that God has driven the price of sweet crude to record heights for the sole purpose of thwarting my intention to buy a new lawnmower, but I'm just saying it looks pretty suspicious to me. The cost of almost everything is suddenly higher. (The one bright light: the cost of my favorite product - K-Y Warming Jelly - has stayed stable.)
But you cannot run a Grand Caravan on personal lubricant. And those rip-off artists at the dealer service center have reamed me to the tune of $900.00 (USD) to fix my brakes, a vacuum hose, and to install front-end anti-sway bar bushings. A fill-up now costs $65.00.
I hear some metaphysical chuckle in my inner-ear about my new plan: to use the government money to pay my Visa bill. Now, if the government goes belly-up before I get the check, I will know for sure that God is out to get me.
5/28/2008
Reasons Not To Buy Scott McClellan's Kiss and Tell Book
The former Press Secretary has written a book. I am not going to buy it and you probably shouldn't either.
Anyone that could write the following paragraph deserves to be ignored:
"Our lack of candor and honesty in making the case for war would later provoke a partisan response from our opponents that, in its own way, further distorted and obscured a more nuanced reality. Another cycle of deception would cloud the public's ability to see larger, underlying important truths that are critical to understand in order to avoid the same problems in the future. "
Huh?
Any half-decent editor would have simplified the wording:
"When the Democrat-America-Haters realized that we had lied about the threat in Iraq, they were really pissed. It forced us to react as if they were the enemy. It was all their fault. "
As President Bush might have said, "Helluva job, Scotty."
Anyone that could write the following paragraph deserves to be ignored:
"Our lack of candor and honesty in making the case for war would later provoke a partisan response from our opponents that, in its own way, further distorted and obscured a more nuanced reality. Another cycle of deception would cloud the public's ability to see larger, underlying important truths that are critical to understand in order to avoid the same problems in the future. "
Huh?
Any half-decent editor would have simplified the wording:
"When the Democrat-America-Haters realized that we had lied about the threat in Iraq, they were really pissed. It forced us to react as if they were the enemy. It was all their fault. "
As President Bush might have said, "Helluva job, Scotty."
5/24/2008
Beware The Ides of June
Hillary Clinton may have revealed her real strategy yesterday when she attempted to justify her perseverance in the presidential campaign, despite the virtual mathematical certainty that she cannot get enough delegates to win:
"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California Primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. "
This remark was not well received. There was a furious round of outrage by the Obama camp. Later in the day, Hillary sort of apologized - to those who chose to misconstrue her remark.
When I first heard this quote, I wondered, what's the fuss? She is just saying "It ain't over until the real votes are counted."
Naive me. After listening to the nuance police on TV, now I realize that this was actually a very subtle RFP for a hired hit job on Barak. People who hate the Clintons believe them to be capable of any, I repeat any, act, however ruthless, in order to fulfill their ambitions. Imus calls Hillary Satan. And Bill has already proven that he would risk everything for Oval Office blowjobs from a talkative young intern.
I did not initially find Hillary's statements to be inflammatory because I had already heard the same rationale from more than one talking head using the Bobby Kennedy example: Stuff happens, they say. It may be unseemly for her to make the point, but the context was in answer to a question during a round table discussion, not a rhetorical call-for-action in a stump speech.
Logic has no authority in this matter. The jar is open, and whether she meant it or not, the spectre of political assassination is floating in the air. Now she (and we) will have to endure another month of shukking and jiving in the spotlight about what-she-said and what-she-meant. Conspiracy lovers will have a(nother) field day.
The naive among us think that political assassinations are events that happen in other, primitive societies. The realists among us realize that it can (and did) happen here. The darkly imaginative anti-Clintonistas among us might be thinking: first strike.
"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California Primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. "
This remark was not well received. There was a furious round of outrage by the Obama camp. Later in the day, Hillary sort of apologized - to those who chose to misconstrue her remark.
When I first heard this quote, I wondered, what's the fuss? She is just saying "It ain't over until the real votes are counted."
Naive me. After listening to the nuance police on TV, now I realize that this was actually a very subtle RFP for a hired hit job on Barak. People who hate the Clintons believe them to be capable of any, I repeat any, act, however ruthless, in order to fulfill their ambitions. Imus calls Hillary Satan. And Bill has already proven that he would risk everything for Oval Office blowjobs from a talkative young intern.
I did not initially find Hillary's statements to be inflammatory because I had already heard the same rationale from more than one talking head using the Bobby Kennedy example: Stuff happens, they say. It may be unseemly for her to make the point, but the context was in answer to a question during a round table discussion, not a rhetorical call-for-action in a stump speech.
Logic has no authority in this matter. The jar is open, and whether she meant it or not, the spectre of political assassination is floating in the air. Now she (and we) will have to endure another month of shukking and jiving in the spotlight about what-she-said and what-she-meant. Conspiracy lovers will have a(nother) field day.
The naive among us think that political assassinations are events that happen in other, primitive societies. The realists among us realize that it can (and did) happen here. The darkly imaginative anti-Clintonistas among us might be thinking: first strike.
5/23/2008
Post-Vacation Blues
Actually, I never noticed this before, but after a month in paradise, real life seems – well - disappointing. I feel like the classic dipsomaniac who is trying to recover from a month-long bender. The overload of sensory delights, followed by sudden withdrawal, has created a type of post-traumatic stress.
You are probably saying to yourself, other than the air travel experience where is the trauma? Well, my friend don’t you think it’s traumatic to know that you are more than 6,000 miles from Paradise? Who knows, maybe shrinks have a syndrome that describes the feeling (post-euphoric-stress?) that betakes people and imprisons them in a back-to-earth funk.
Or, maybe these blues are the natural reaction of a fixed-income retiree - who may, or may not, live another 20 years (God only knows) and who must subsist on the meager dole from Unka Sam - plus anticipated interest from investments in a volatile economy. Gas is going up, the value of my mansion is going down, my chances to find part time work are diminished and (according to spammer e-mails) my love-muscle is too disappointingly soft. I planted a dozen marigolds three days ago. Some varmint has beheaded 8 of them. I mowed the lawn last week and here it is again looking shaggy. I search for seeds of hope, but crows have eaten them.
This morning it occurred to me that life is like a job. God is the boss, and even he has a manual to tell you what to do, and especially how to feed his big ego. You need to show up every day and try to look good. A few basic rules: Be nice to others (unless you are serving in the military) and stop dreaming about shtupping the neighbor’s wife/donkey. I can go along with that. It’s the requisite level of ego gratification that troubles me. Kneeling, chanting, supplication. And the performance review…pretty intimidating.
Ah, perhaps I will find cause to Hope in the morning paper: Oprah is going on a 21 day vegan detox diet. Like that will somehow make her eternally thin. We all know that when you are fat, you will always be fat until you get sick and die. Diets are God’s way of making you stop eating the stuff you like for a few months. It’s like the boss - jerking you around for entertainment.
And here: Annotated color graphic of Ted Kennedy’s inoperable brain tumor spoils my breakfast. The suddenness of this dark diagnosis stuns us all – even the pundati on the radio who love to hate him. He looks thinner already.
Then there are the Hurricanes and tornadoes and Earthquakes. We are once again reminded of human impotence. Natural forces and perhaps even supernatural powers hold sway over us, sneak up on us, and devastate us. Some people call this type of universal suffering “God’s will.” Such thinking cannot help but depress us. What kind of eternity are we in for, if our God thinks it’s a good idea to devastate our lives to prove his existence?
You are probably saying to yourself, other than the air travel experience where is the trauma? Well, my friend don’t you think it’s traumatic to know that you are more than 6,000 miles from Paradise? Who knows, maybe shrinks have a syndrome that describes the feeling (post-euphoric-stress?) that betakes people and imprisons them in a back-to-earth funk.
Or, maybe these blues are the natural reaction of a fixed-income retiree - who may, or may not, live another 20 years (God only knows) and who must subsist on the meager dole from Unka Sam - plus anticipated interest from investments in a volatile economy. Gas is going up, the value of my mansion is going down, my chances to find part time work are diminished and (according to spammer e-mails) my love-muscle is too disappointingly soft. I planted a dozen marigolds three days ago. Some varmint has beheaded 8 of them. I mowed the lawn last week and here it is again looking shaggy. I search for seeds of hope, but crows have eaten them.
This morning it occurred to me that life is like a job. God is the boss, and even he has a manual to tell you what to do, and especially how to feed his big ego. You need to show up every day and try to look good. A few basic rules: Be nice to others (unless you are serving in the military) and stop dreaming about shtupping the neighbor’s wife/donkey. I can go along with that. It’s the requisite level of ego gratification that troubles me. Kneeling, chanting, supplication. And the performance review…pretty intimidating.
Ah, perhaps I will find cause to Hope in the morning paper: Oprah is going on a 21 day vegan detox diet. Like that will somehow make her eternally thin. We all know that when you are fat, you will always be fat until you get sick and die. Diets are God’s way of making you stop eating the stuff you like for a few months. It’s like the boss - jerking you around for entertainment.
And here: Annotated color graphic of Ted Kennedy’s inoperable brain tumor spoils my breakfast. The suddenness of this dark diagnosis stuns us all – even the pundati on the radio who love to hate him. He looks thinner already.
Then there are the Hurricanes and tornadoes and Earthquakes. We are once again reminded of human impotence. Natural forces and perhaps even supernatural powers hold sway over us, sneak up on us, and devastate us. Some people call this type of universal suffering “God’s will.” Such thinking cannot help but depress us. What kind of eternity are we in for, if our God thinks it’s a good idea to devastate our lives to prove his existence?
5/04/2008
No Country Redux
You probably think that you are one of the two or three people who read this blog. But I have news for you bucko: there are at least four people who read it, not counting me.
I know this because I have received anecdotal evidence from one of the "regulars" that he was talking with a female friend who read my "No Country for Old Men " post of last week.
She thinks I should stick to writing about work issues and leave politics to the pundati. As I understand it, she is a supporter of John McCain's creaking campaign, and she wishes that I would just STFU about how old McCain is.
It makes me happy to imagine that someone would read my musings and actually be annoyed because they are worried that my pearls of wisdom and insight might actually change someones mind - or vote.
Someone should tell her that this wisdom is lost to most surfers, so she needen't become distressed that wandering bubbas might find truth via the Google search engine. I think Google tends to "find" Internet postings that have a lot of commercial appeal. This is a problem for me, since, like John McCain, I do not believe in pandering to special interests. I do not "sell" ad space to gain revenue. I know what you are thinking: No one would advertise on a site that only gets four clicks a week. Maybe so.
Exploring the Internets can be harrowing. We writers frequently attempt to back-up our opinions with actual facts. In the old days, I suppose writers actually went to the library and looked stuff up. Hah, what a waste of time! Nowadays, professional opinionators need go no further than their handy desk top search engine. All Truth is out there on the Internets. If there isn't a Wikipedia entry on something, it probably isn't worth knowing - or believing.
The other day, I tried to see if Google would find one of the blogs that I posted with "tags" I searched "McCain, No Country for Old Men" and when I did not find my blog in the top 200 listings, I lost interest. Instead, I found this obvious ripoff of my previous entry which, remember, was dated two days earlier:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/no-country-for-old-men_b_99342.html
I would consider a plagiarism lawsuit against this Robert-sheer fellow, but that would involve talking to a lawyer. My daddy always said " Boy, don't never have no truck wit no lawyers. You gots to make you own justice." Well, sometimes justice is trumped by a desire to keep things simple. Besides, as my mother used to say, imitation is the highest form of compliment.
I know what you are thinking: The Sheer piece is so much better, well written and researched. Well, I think my mother would have said mine was better. Nah nah.
Speaking of Mothers, my wife tricked me into making breakfast this morning, suggesting that it was Mothers day. Hey, since I became an orphan, I don't pay any attention to the Hallmark Holidays. By the time I realized that it (Mothers Day) was actually next Sunday, my wily coyote bride of 40 years had already consumed the Land O Lakes Omega3 eggs, Banquet brown-and-serve sausages and buttered Arnold Oat Bran toast, and was sitting like a princess on the Sun-Shield screen porch quaffing her Starbucks Verona with that Mona Lisa smile on her face. (Maybe that will get me some Google hits).
editorial note: After pithy commentary on grammer and pronoun agreement by yet another faithful reader/commenter, I have re-written the earlier version. The comments have been removed to avoid confusion.
I know this because I have received anecdotal evidence from one of the "regulars" that he was talking with a female friend who read my "No Country for Old Men " post of last week.
She thinks I should stick to writing about work issues and leave politics to the pundati. As I understand it, she is a supporter of John McCain's creaking campaign, and she wishes that I would just STFU about how old McCain is.
It makes me happy to imagine that someone would read my musings and actually be annoyed because they are worried that my pearls of wisdom and insight might actually change someones mind - or vote.
Someone should tell her that this wisdom is lost to most surfers, so she needen't become distressed that wandering bubbas might find truth via the Google search engine. I think Google tends to "find" Internet postings that have a lot of commercial appeal. This is a problem for me, since, like John McCain, I do not believe in pandering to special interests. I do not "sell" ad space to gain revenue. I know what you are thinking: No one would advertise on a site that only gets four clicks a week. Maybe so.
Exploring the Internets can be harrowing. We writers frequently attempt to back-up our opinions with actual facts. In the old days, I suppose writers actually went to the library and looked stuff up. Hah, what a waste of time! Nowadays, professional opinionators need go no further than their handy desk top search engine. All Truth is out there on the Internets. If there isn't a Wikipedia entry on something, it probably isn't worth knowing - or believing.
The other day, I tried to see if Google would find one of the blogs that I posted with "tags" I searched "McCain, No Country for Old Men" and when I did not find my blog in the top 200 listings, I lost interest. Instead, I found this obvious ripoff of my previous entry which, remember, was dated two days earlier:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/no-country-for-old-men_b_99342.html
I would consider a plagiarism lawsuit against this Robert-sheer fellow, but that would involve talking to a lawyer. My daddy always said " Boy, don't never have no truck wit no lawyers. You gots to make you own justice." Well, sometimes justice is trumped by a desire to keep things simple. Besides, as my mother used to say, imitation is the highest form of compliment.
I know what you are thinking: The Sheer piece is so much better, well written and researched. Well, I think my mother would have said mine was better. Nah nah.
Speaking of Mothers, my wife tricked me into making breakfast this morning, suggesting that it was Mothers day. Hey, since I became an orphan, I don't pay any attention to the Hallmark Holidays. By the time I realized that it (Mothers Day) was actually next Sunday, my wily coyote bride of 40 years had already consumed the Land O Lakes Omega3 eggs, Banquet brown-and-serve sausages and buttered Arnold Oat Bran toast, and was sitting like a princess on the Sun-Shield screen porch quaffing her Starbucks Verona with that Mona Lisa smile on her face. (Maybe that will get me some Google hits).
editorial note: After pithy commentary on grammer and pronoun agreement by yet another faithful reader/commenter, I have re-written the earlier version. The comments have been removed to avoid confusion.
4/28/2008
Cacophonous Effusions
I really don't want this to turn into a political blog, but I have been distracted from my mission (to examine the meaning of work in our lives) by events that cannot be ignored. A faithful reader has written an e-mail actually complimenting me on the previous entry. This is seductively encouraging for a writer. Lucky for the rest of you that I shot my wad on that piece so now I must go back to reading the paper for ideas.
I enjoyed this Opinion column by Joseph Epstein in the WSJ today .
Mr Epstein has the perfect way of keeping sane - trying to find literary parallels while trying to make sense of the sound and the fury of the political campaign. I hope he won't mind if I quote a few lines, (since you probably are to lazy to click on the link and actually read it without a tease).
"So enraptured have I become by the political morality play of the Democratic primaries that, with much shame, I have returned to watching the McLaughlin Group on PBS on Saturday nights. This shameful recidivism has occurred after a rigidly self-imposed, three-year absence from the cacophonous effusions of Eleanor Clift, Pat Buchanan, Mort Zuckerman and the rest.
"The barking of these dogs as the caravan passes should be beneath a man who prefers to think himself cultivated. What do I care what they think, especially when I already know what they think? Like so many of the punditi of our day, they are all, as E. M. Forster termed it in his "Aspects of the Novel," "flat characters," by which he meant characters utterly predictable in their opinions, behavior, character – characters from whom one should expect no surprises. "
I wish I'd said that.
I enjoyed this Opinion column by Joseph Epstein in the WSJ today .
Mr Epstein has the perfect way of keeping sane - trying to find literary parallels while trying to make sense of the sound and the fury of the political campaign. I hope he won't mind if I quote a few lines, (since you probably are to lazy to click on the link and actually read it without a tease).
"So enraptured have I become by the political morality play of the Democratic primaries that, with much shame, I have returned to watching the McLaughlin Group on PBS on Saturday nights. This shameful recidivism has occurred after a rigidly self-imposed, three-year absence from the cacophonous effusions of Eleanor Clift, Pat Buchanan, Mort Zuckerman and the rest.
"The barking of these dogs as the caravan passes should be beneath a man who prefers to think himself cultivated. What do I care what they think, especially when I already know what they think? Like so many of the punditi of our day, they are all, as E. M. Forster termed it in his "Aspects of the Novel," "flat characters," by which he meant characters utterly predictable in their opinions, behavior, character – characters from whom one should expect no surprises. "
I wish I'd said that.
4/26/2008
No Country for Old Men
Why is every primary hyped by the media as "crucial"? Does anyone really think that the Indiana popularity contest between Obama and Clinton will settle anything?
The answer, of course, is: No.
The media creates issues to keep us interested, but, personally, I am zoning-out, the way you do when you have heard a radio commercial 100 times.
The conservative radio talk show guys are predictable and devious. They keep up their anti-Obama rants, hoping that Clinton will pull-off the nomination. They don't want to run against the Obama phenomena. They believe that Republicrat McCain - can beat Hillary in the general election.
Conservatives fear that Obama is "too liberal." Somehow, he will imperially decide to turn us all into godless communists or worse - to cancel the Bush tax cuts!
Maybe they are afraid that he is inclined to nominate Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton to the supreme court. Maybe Oprah as his Secretary of State. Mya Angelou as Poet Laureate and head of the CIA. Issue a presidential decree to guarantee reparations to all descendants of slaves... scary stuff, indeed.
This deeply rooted fear of the unknown scares the bejesus out of them. The TV guys keep running old clips of the pro-black pastor, as if he was running for office. Fact is, all three are unknowns: senators who don't have real jobs and who have never run anything.
The problem for the anti Obama republicans, is that they have a candidate who is said to be a nice guy (when he is not flying in a PTS rage), but who really cannot be counted upon to stick to any platform or agenda. Once a formidable man (who I voted for during the 2000 primaries), he is helpless without cue-cards and handlers these days. Watch him is one on one interviews, he is like a robot. He is being handled and managed by a team of lobbyists who make the trilateral commission look like a comic book invention. He gives me no confidence as a leader.
Undoubtedly, McCain will be swift-boated (remember the Keating 5?), skewered and battered. The Democrat nominee will destroy him in free for all debates. By the time we get to November, I think he would lose to either Hillary or Barak.
The presidency may be a power trip, but it sucks the life out of those who serve. Compare the pictures of past presidents on inauguration day and then a few years later, if you don't believe me.
At age 72, this guy is just too old and tired to be up to the job. John, we salute you for your service. Now it is time to get thee to the beach and stay there.
The only chance for Repubs to win in November is to have McCain bow-out for health reasons and for him to hand the torch to Romney.
The answer, of course, is: No.
The media creates issues to keep us interested, but, personally, I am zoning-out, the way you do when you have heard a radio commercial 100 times.
The conservative radio talk show guys are predictable and devious. They keep up their anti-Obama rants, hoping that Clinton will pull-off the nomination. They don't want to run against the Obama phenomena. They believe that Republicrat McCain - can beat Hillary in the general election.
Conservatives fear that Obama is "too liberal." Somehow, he will imperially decide to turn us all into godless communists or worse - to cancel the Bush tax cuts!
Maybe they are afraid that he is inclined to nominate Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton to the supreme court. Maybe Oprah as his Secretary of State. Mya Angelou as Poet Laureate and head of the CIA. Issue a presidential decree to guarantee reparations to all descendants of slaves... scary stuff, indeed.
This deeply rooted fear of the unknown scares the bejesus out of them. The TV guys keep running old clips of the pro-black pastor, as if he was running for office. Fact is, all three are unknowns: senators who don't have real jobs and who have never run anything.
The problem for the anti Obama republicans, is that they have a candidate who is said to be a nice guy (when he is not flying in a PTS rage), but who really cannot be counted upon to stick to any platform or agenda. Once a formidable man (who I voted for during the 2000 primaries), he is helpless without cue-cards and handlers these days. Watch him is one on one interviews, he is like a robot. He is being handled and managed by a team of lobbyists who make the trilateral commission look like a comic book invention. He gives me no confidence as a leader.
Undoubtedly, McCain will be swift-boated (remember the Keating 5?), skewered and battered. The Democrat nominee will destroy him in free for all debates. By the time we get to November, I think he would lose to either Hillary or Barak.
The presidency may be a power trip, but it sucks the life out of those who serve. Compare the pictures of past presidents on inauguration day and then a few years later, if you don't believe me.
At age 72, this guy is just too old and tired to be up to the job. John, we salute you for your service. Now it is time to get thee to the beach and stay there.
The only chance for Repubs to win in November is to have McCain bow-out for health reasons and for him to hand the torch to Romney.
4/08/2008
Let Them Eat Cake
It seems like I am not the only one who hates their air travel experience. Yesterday, the "news" was about how the dissatisfaction levels with air travelers as measured by complaints received by the FAA (not just random blog rants) had increased 60% over the previous year. Lost/pilfered bags, cramped seats, long lines, unconscionable delays were among the top complaints.
Three airlines went bankrupt last week.
Today, I'm reading about 9 skycaps who sued American Airlines at Logan airport to recover tips that the airline kept illegally. The skycaps - who are paid a sub-minimum wage of less than $6 because they are normally tipped - won their suit.
I mention this because this is one example of what is wrong with American business leadership. During the period when American Airlines is gouging the customer for $2 per bag, (which diminished the tips that the skycaps had enjoyed) the executives were pocketing that money in the form of multimillion dollar bonuses. This happened at the same time all AA employees were taking pay cuts. The executives were virtually stealing the money from the lowest paid employees and egregiously rewarding themselves.
It will be interesting to see how big the executive parachutes at the bankrupt airlines are... I'll bet none of them are standing in line for unemployment checks.
This is the same attitude that got the French aristocracy a free ticket to the Guillotine Express.
Three airlines went bankrupt last week.
Today, I'm reading about 9 skycaps who sued American Airlines at Logan airport to recover tips that the airline kept illegally. The skycaps - who are paid a sub-minimum wage of less than $6 because they are normally tipped - won their suit.
I mention this because this is one example of what is wrong with American business leadership. During the period when American Airlines is gouging the customer for $2 per bag, (which diminished the tips that the skycaps had enjoyed) the executives were pocketing that money in the form of multimillion dollar bonuses. This happened at the same time all AA employees were taking pay cuts. The executives were virtually stealing the money from the lowest paid employees and egregiously rewarding themselves.
It will be interesting to see how big the executive parachutes at the bankrupt airlines are... I'll bet none of them are standing in line for unemployment checks.
This is the same attitude that got the French aristocracy a free ticket to the Guillotine Express.
4/01/2008
Not April Fools
I hope you aren't expecting some lamo April Fool's joke entry today. Honestly, I think I'm getting too old and cranky for that sort of silliness. Too bad, I used to be a sketch.
We have returned from our glorious Hawaiian adventures. I always wanted to be one of those guys who you see in the airport at the arrival gate sporting a deep tan, wearing an Aloha shirt, shorts and sandals and a woven straw hat. But, noting the fact that I am still exceptionally pale, I decided that a travel ensemble of real shoes, socks, long pants and a muted colored shirt would look less goofy. I managed to elude autograph hounds and paparazzi.
Even with on-line check-in, it requires at least 15-20 hours of your life - waiting in the baggage check line, the security check line, at the departure gate, the line to get your seat, sitting while everyone boards, waiting for take-off, and then sitting cramped like a sardine for the 5 hour trip to LAX, then the waiting during the layover before boarding the crowded cramped 6 hour flight to Boston.
Everything about flying in coach is beyond suck. The airlines could care less if you are comfortable, or even happy. If you don't like it, maybe you should upgrade next time. If not, then tough darts. Someone else will be glad to take your place If you don't buy that cramped little seat with the blaring loudspeaker overhead and the reading light that doesn't work, and neither does the tray table...if fact the only thing that seems to work is the guy in front of you can recline his seat back to where you can stare at his bald spot...which you can see much better than the jumpy video of the in-flight movie - a remake of Bambi with claymation figures.
I'll bet none of those highly paid Airline execs has ever sat in coach on a four hour flight. Clearly, everything on the airplane is designed for people who are only 4 feet tall. No one could seriously expect real adults to fit in those tiny bathrooms. Every time you begin to dose off, some inane sadist interrupts you with a dumb message about some notable point of interest down on the ground which only a few people who are at the window seats on one side of the aircraft can see anyway.
What? You want food? Get your own! Earphones - Bring your own! Fresh air? Ha ha ha. They laugh at you.
It is hell, I tell you. Roasting for eternity in a fiery pit cannot be less pleasant than riding in coach in a modern aircraft. Except real Hell is forever, instead of only 15-20 hours.
Please do not tell me to "...just get over it, it is the price you have to pay to get somewhere." I say it is inhuman treatment and there ought to be a law against it.
Aside from the lack of bon in the voyage, we had a great vacation. More about which soon.
We have returned from our glorious Hawaiian adventures. I always wanted to be one of those guys who you see in the airport at the arrival gate sporting a deep tan, wearing an Aloha shirt, shorts and sandals and a woven straw hat. But, noting the fact that I am still exceptionally pale, I decided that a travel ensemble of real shoes, socks, long pants and a muted colored shirt would look less goofy. I managed to elude autograph hounds and paparazzi.
Even with on-line check-in, it requires at least 15-20 hours of your life - waiting in the baggage check line, the security check line, at the departure gate, the line to get your seat, sitting while everyone boards, waiting for take-off, and then sitting cramped like a sardine for the 5 hour trip to LAX, then the waiting during the layover before boarding the crowded cramped 6 hour flight to Boston.
Everything about flying in coach is beyond suck. The airlines could care less if you are comfortable, or even happy. If you don't like it, maybe you should upgrade next time. If not, then tough darts. Someone else will be glad to take your place If you don't buy that cramped little seat with the blaring loudspeaker overhead and the reading light that doesn't work, and neither does the tray table...if fact the only thing that seems to work is the guy in front of you can recline his seat back to where you can stare at his bald spot...which you can see much better than the jumpy video of the in-flight movie - a remake of Bambi with claymation figures.
I'll bet none of those highly paid Airline execs has ever sat in coach on a four hour flight. Clearly, everything on the airplane is designed for people who are only 4 feet tall. No one could seriously expect real adults to fit in those tiny bathrooms. Every time you begin to dose off, some inane sadist interrupts you with a dumb message about some notable point of interest down on the ground which only a few people who are at the window seats on one side of the aircraft can see anyway.
What? You want food? Get your own! Earphones - Bring your own! Fresh air? Ha ha ha. They laugh at you.
It is hell, I tell you. Roasting for eternity in a fiery pit cannot be less pleasant than riding in coach in a modern aircraft. Except real Hell is forever, instead of only 15-20 hours.
Please do not tell me to "...just get over it, it is the price you have to pay to get somewhere." I say it is inhuman treatment and there ought to be a law against it.
Aside from the lack of bon in the voyage, we had a great vacation. More about which soon.
3/27/2008
Decisions
Ok. Here it is Thursday. I'm on my way back from the beach. The tide was out and the winds were low today so the waves were gentle (less than 7 feet) and they let me swim in the ocean.
I could stay all day, except for the little detail about the blazing sun and my exceptionally pale complexion. Only a few more days here - we return to the mainland on Monday.
I seem to recall that my dermatologist firmly advised me to go and have a cold beer after spending 30 minutes in the bright light. But, I stopped in the library to get a new book - I have been reading too much fiction - I should check out the Mainland papers and see how my retirement fund is doing. Ah well what could go wrong?
Anyhow, I have an hour on this computer and I could spend it updating the blog... Or, I could go across the street to Pizzettas, where Happy Hour runs from noon to six o'clock, and I can get an icy pint of Kona Red Rock Pale Ale on draft there for $2.50. It's 86 degrees outside and the air conditioner here is not working too well. Hmmn what shall I do?
I could stay all day, except for the little detail about the blazing sun and my exceptionally pale complexion. Only a few more days here - we return to the mainland on Monday.
I seem to recall that my dermatologist firmly advised me to go and have a cold beer after spending 30 minutes in the bright light. But, I stopped in the library to get a new book - I have been reading too much fiction - I should check out the Mainland papers and see how my retirement fund is doing. Ah well what could go wrong?
Anyhow, I have an hour on this computer and I could spend it updating the blog... Or, I could go across the street to Pizzettas, where Happy Hour runs from noon to six o'clock, and I can get an icy pint of Kona Red Rock Pale Ale on draft there for $2.50. It's 86 degrees outside and the air conditioner here is not working too well. Hmmn what shall I do?
3/18/2008
They Don't Celebrate St. Paddy's Day in Paradise
Humph. Like I am the only guy on the Island wearing green socks yesterday, proudly displaying my Irish heritage and beer belly. The locals are not interested in St Patrick. There have never never been any serpents in this Garden Isle - hence the proliferation of wild chickens - and perhaps this fact leaves poor St Patrick as a non-hero in their eyes. I not see a shamrock or a touch o green anywhere. The bars we selling the same Mai Tai and Rum Runner specials, but no Harp or Guinness to be seen anywhere.
I did hear that there was an Irish Pub in Honolulu, but that's a long swim from here. Besides, my keeper only allows me to have 2 beers a day, so it's not like I can party with the other FFI's. (to use the acronym my friend George uses to refer to Fat-faced Irishmen). So I contented myself with a Sam Adams to wash down my Irish Mahimahi at dinner last night.
Today I am back to white socks, and I am not getting the same stares.
I did hear that there was an Irish Pub in Honolulu, but that's a long swim from here. Besides, my keeper only allows me to have 2 beers a day, so it's not like I can party with the other FFI's. (to use the acronym my friend George uses to refer to Fat-faced Irishmen). So I contented myself with a Sam Adams to wash down my Irish Mahimahi at dinner last night.
Today I am back to white socks, and I am not getting the same stares.
3/11/2008
Hot Enough for you?
Greetings from Kaua'i. We are taking refuge from the blasting sun in the Princeville Library, northern end of the island. We ate lunch at Hannalei Bay, the most beutiful beach I have ever seen - with a view of fabled Bali Hi from South Pacific. It is pronounced "Honalayee" - and is reputed to be the inspiration for the old Peter, Paul and Mary song called "Puff the Magic Dragon." The mountains lie like a sprawling dragon along to the west while you look out at 5 foot green rollers.
We are now 6 hours behind Boston. We are watching the closing stock market prices at breakfast.
The other day I was in the surf when the lifeguard whistled me in.
"There's a pretty strong rip in there." he said.
"Yah, I felt it. "
"So, you look like you are doing ok, but it would help if you moved over there..." he pointed to a part of the beach where the waves were less turbid, where the little kids were allowed to swim by themselves.
"Just so nobody sees you in there and thinks they can... you know, gets themselves in trouble..." he gives me a nice friendly grin.
I moved over and floated around in the 2 foot waves . I figured it was just his firendly way of telling me that he is tired of pulling blubbery drowning geezers out of the surf.
They are very worried about tourists drowning here. I guess they lose a few every month. It doesn't look good on their lifeguard resumes, I am sure.
We are having a great time. Stop hating us.
We are now 6 hours behind Boston. We are watching the closing stock market prices at breakfast.
The other day I was in the surf when the lifeguard whistled me in.
"There's a pretty strong rip in there." he said.
"Yah, I felt it. "
"So, you look like you are doing ok, but it would help if you moved over there..." he pointed to a part of the beach where the waves were less turbid, where the little kids were allowed to swim by themselves.
"Just so nobody sees you in there and thinks they can... you know, gets themselves in trouble..." he gives me a nice friendly grin.
I moved over and floated around in the 2 foot waves . I figured it was just his firendly way of telling me that he is tired of pulling blubbery drowning geezers out of the surf.
They are very worried about tourists drowning here. I guess they lose a few every month. It doesn't look good on their lifeguard resumes, I am sure.
We are having a great time. Stop hating us.
2/29/2008
Adventures in Paradise
So, I don't know when I will have access to a computer during the next several weeks, but in the event that you don't see any posts here for a while, I should explain.
We are off to Hawaii. It is a long and arduous trip from the east coast. 6 hrs to LAX, 2 hr layover, 6.5 hours to Lihue in Hawaii. The weather forecast calls for several inches of snow on the ground by tomorrow morning at Logan airport. We are nervous as cats and the cats are getting antsy wondering why we are so jumpy. We don't make eye contact with them because we feel guilty leaving them behind. They will be fine. Our neighbor is coming in daily to feed them.
Don't ask any more questions. I'll fill you in on everything when I get back
We are off to Hawaii. It is a long and arduous trip from the east coast. 6 hrs to LAX, 2 hr layover, 6.5 hours to Lihue in Hawaii. The weather forecast calls for several inches of snow on the ground by tomorrow morning at Logan airport. We are nervous as cats and the cats are getting antsy wondering why we are so jumpy. We don't make eye contact with them because we feel guilty leaving them behind. They will be fine. Our neighbor is coming in daily to feed them.
Don't ask any more questions. I'll fill you in on everything when I get back
2/25/2008
Digging in the Dirt for Truth
I got an email from one of my neocon fans yesterday that quoted another post on some arcane financial blog that hinted that Obama was a closet Muslim, Racist and a relative of bad boys in Africa. How many politicians would stand up to such scrutinty, I wonder. These are the same sources who were outraged at the innuendo of shady dealings with a lobbyist that were alleged in a NYT article about snow-white Juan McAmnesty.
It is difficult to vet every wild accusation, but the link
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obama.asp#church has responses to some of the rumor and innuendo that is being run up the flagpole.
I find it interesting that the usual Anti-any-thing-democrat factions are targeting Obama, because they fear that he would kick McCain's proud posterior in the general election, but that is politics, eh? They would rather see Mrs. Clinton as the Dem nominee, since most national polls have Hillary being tromped by Juan McAmnesty.
I also find it interesting that we are getting detailed info on his cousins and brothers, but no hard evidence on his deeds, which are after all, the critical measure of performance. I personally do not subscribe to nor do I take credit/blame for the actions and beliefs of my siblings or cousins, do you?
Finally, I find it odd that anti-Obama forces are looking for skeletons in the family closet when the most effective counter to Obama is his own record - or lack of it. Like John Kerry - who spent 20-odd years in the senate without accomplishing anything - Obama has done nothing to qualify him as President of The United States.
In other words he is just as qualified as McCain and Clinton!
It will be fun to see what dirt is dug up on Ralph Nader.
It is difficult to vet every wild accusation, but the link
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obama.asp#church has responses to some of the rumor and innuendo that is being run up the flagpole.
I find it interesting that the usual Anti-any-thing-democrat factions are targeting Obama, because they fear that he would kick McCain's proud posterior in the general election, but that is politics, eh? They would rather see Mrs. Clinton as the Dem nominee, since most national polls have Hillary being tromped by Juan McAmnesty.
I also find it interesting that we are getting detailed info on his cousins and brothers, but no hard evidence on his deeds, which are after all, the critical measure of performance. I personally do not subscribe to nor do I take credit/blame for the actions and beliefs of my siblings or cousins, do you?
Finally, I find it odd that anti-Obama forces are looking for skeletons in the family closet when the most effective counter to Obama is his own record - or lack of it. Like John Kerry - who spent 20-odd years in the senate without accomplishing anything - Obama has done nothing to qualify him as President of The United States.
In other words he is just as qualified as McCain and Clinton!
It will be fun to see what dirt is dug up on Ralph Nader.
2/21/2008
Your call is not that important to us
I am not anti-technology. However, I have always been critical of the world's worst application of digital technology: Interactive Voice Response (or IVR), which replaces phone-answering humans with automated voice messaging. The worst offender is Verizon - where you cannot talk to a human unless you spend at least ten minutes listening to your options as presented by a pleasant but digitally-mastered dominatrix.
Don't freaking lecture me about operational costs and efficiency. I am only interested in getting someone to give me some compensation for the hassles associated with my FIOS installation. And how come my Rebate Request is th only piece of mail that has been "lost" by USPS in my lifetime?
Your call is important to us, we apologize for the delay, but due to the heavy volume of calls we are making you wait - and possibly waste your valuable time - until for one of the few underpaid agents who probably don't speak your native tongue and who were not trained to handle your problem - can take your call. We apologize for the wait, but in truth, if we really cared, we would have hired more agents and trained them. This call may be monitored to check up on the agent to make sure they are not making personal calls to relatives in India. Thank you for your patience. [distorted Kenny G version of "Georgia on my Mind" plays in an endless loop]
I guess the attitude of management is "Outstanding Customer Service means making callers wait until they give-up in frustration. Hey the competition is just as bad, so, why should we give a crap? That's why we make the big bucks - we save money for the stockholders. Let the customers eat cake."
Thank you for your continued patience.
Don't freaking lecture me about operational costs and efficiency. I am only interested in getting someone to give me some compensation for the hassles associated with my FIOS installation. And how come my Rebate Request is th only piece of mail that has been "lost" by USPS in my lifetime?
Your call is important to us, we apologize for the delay, but due to the heavy volume of calls we are making you wait - and possibly waste your valuable time - until for one of the few underpaid agents who probably don't speak your native tongue and who were not trained to handle your problem - can take your call. We apologize for the wait, but in truth, if we really cared, we would have hired more agents and trained them. This call may be monitored to check up on the agent to make sure they are not making personal calls to relatives in India. Thank you for your patience. [distorted Kenny G version of "Georgia on my Mind" plays in an endless loop]
I guess the attitude of management is "Outstanding Customer Service means making callers wait until they give-up in frustration. Hey the competition is just as bad, so, why should we give a crap? That's why we make the big bucks - we save money for the stockholders. Let the customers eat cake."
Thank you for your continued patience.
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