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!
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