Macho Conservatives Bow to No Man

It is amusing to see how culturally sensitive the NeoCons are these days. Everywhere you look today they are yammering about Obama's break with US protocol, because he bowed too low to the Japanese royals.

Well, at least he didn't refer to them as "Your imperial Majesties," as Richard Nixon did during his 1971 meeting (in Alaska) with Hirohito and his wife. And he didn't puke on his host, like George H Bush did on the Japanese Prime Minister in 1992.

Conservatives would love to go back to the old days when guys like Obama would not even be admitted to the local country club, much less represent our nation as the Leader of the free world. They yearn for the days when people knew the rules and knew their place.

They were silent as GW Bush alienated everyone in the solar system with his swaggering cowboy approach to world politics. You are either with us or with the terrorists! Hey Fraulein, how about a little neck massage. Talk about embarrassing.

These macho keyboard warriors, most of whom have managed to evade any form of national service, ironically urge the most bellicose position for the US (which policy would be enforced by your son, not theirs) call themselves patriots and accuse anyone who disagrees with narrow views and their stiff-pants arrogance as "America haters." This is amusing because it is the neocons who actually despise the majority of their countrymen.

Instead of imagining a world where nations try to coexist, conservatives prefer the world filled with strife. The mantra "We're number one and the rest of you suck!" is a losing slogan for the next century. Sabre rattling and waterboarding will not stop terrorism.

"My flag must be higher than your flag," they say to the world. Apparently, they have not learned the lessons of history: all empires fall, the world must change, and conservatives because of their rigidity always lose to progressives in the end.

What conservatives fail to comprehend is that their view of a black and white, zero-sum, right and wrong world is flawed, because it leads logically to doomsday. If Obama errs a little by being too polite how much damage can that cause?

Doing Nothing is Definitely an Option

The other day Bill Clinton joined the chorus of talking heads that are lecturing us "Doing nothing (about healthcare reform) is not an option." The Democrats have recently voted to pass into law the 2000 page monstrosity that The Wall Street journal calls "the worst bill ever." Granted the WSJ is no fan of Obama-care, but sheesh, this statement gets my attention. "In a rational political world, this 1,990-page runaway train would have been derailed months ago..."

The political world is becoming increasingly un-rational. The Dem leadership have been scary in their monomaniacal pursuit of something called Health Care Reform. They say that they want to extend health care insurance to the uninsured, which is indeed a noble objective. 5 double spaced typewritten pages would be enough to describe the changes necessary to accomplish that goal.

The problem here is the flaw of all design-by-committee proposals. You know what they say about a camel being a horse which was designed by a committee. The problem with committees is that rationality becomes lost to politics. The initial goal, however worthy, is subordinated to the wishes of the most powerful person in the room. Votes based on principle or logic are changed to votes based on perceived approval by the person who is in power to dispense future favors. The larger the group, the less personal responsibility for outcomes is assumed by committee members.

Obama and Pelosi have been urging rapid action, yet have been incapable of defining the specific outcomes of the laws they would foist upon the public. This is insanity.

How anyone is supposed to make sense out of a law that is so big that my PC jammed-up trying to download the bill in PDF format? No, I haven't read it. But I am nervous about some of the problems that are being raised by the opponents of the current bill:
- Stiff penalties for electing not to be insured - substantial cash fines and even felonious jail time .
What happened to freedom? The goal of helping people who need help has been perverted to
totalitarianism. We know what is good for you. Submit, or else....
- Cost - It is unclear how the current bill will reduce healthcare costs for the majority of working and retired citizens. I fear that we will be charged more money for less access than we have now. How is that fair? Or rational?

Fortunately, the Senate has to vote on this bill before it becomes law. We can only hope that some force brings our solons to their senses. When I see the four Democratic candidates for Senate arguing for the plan because it is what Ted Kennedy would have wanted, it makes me nervous.

Today they are bickering over reproductive rights. They should be discussing how to simplify the problem of funding health insurance for citizens who need it and want it.

Politics As Usual

Here in Massachusetts, we are often forced to witness the ugly workings of cynical politics. Following the death of Ted Kennedy, there was a hue and cry from the local democrats that the world would certainly come to a disastrous end, if we waited until the special election in January to fill Kennedy's seat.


The Democratic Governor Deval Patrick saw the urgency and quickly appointed a party loyalist in an emergency measure to not suffer the 4 months of senatorial vacancy. The argument was that we absolutely needed a special appointee to represent our interests. (Some cynicals opined that Pres. Obama wanted to be assured of a filibuster proof voting bloc just in case the congress was able to get its act together on health care).


Last week we had to watch our most absentee senator in history (Kerry) is wandering around the world trying to upstage Hillery Clinton. How can he be away from his desk during this critical moment? What happened to the emergency? Have they no shame!
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Last night there was a debate among the 4 candidates for Ted Kennedy's seat. The election will be held in January 2010. I was disappointed that all of them assumed that all democratic voters wanted a Ted Kennedy clone in the senate. All the candidates were soft in illegal immigration, very supportive of President Obama's agenda and against the wars.

I actually have to agree with them about the wars. We can never succeed in Afghanistan or Iraq if our mission is to ensure democracy. It cannot happen. Thousands of years of tribal strife will not go away just because we hoisted an American flag over the embassy and installed a leader who seems to pass our leadership test. Our military mission should not be Daddy to the World. The military should not be wasted trying to spread democracy; Bush was right in his assertion that the original mission was accomplished. Afghanistan was purged of Al Quaida; Iraq does not have WMD's. The threat is over. What we are doing now is futile. Bring the troops home.
Just my opinion. Don't shoot me.

Unfuzzy math

I just did the math - $250 times 57 Million. Where $250 is the one-time gift that president Obama is proposing to send each social security recipient in lieu of a cost of living increase, and 57 million is the number of current SS recipients.

The answer is $14 Billion.

As one of those would-be recipients, I am compelled to ask "WTF?"

Much as I like the idea of a lagniappe, there is no logic to support this type of un-necessary government expense on the backs of working folks. $250 can't buy squat. It would make zero difference in my life style, other than incenting me to buy a case of good wine, probably French.

So how does it make sense, when the cost of living (measured by inflation) has actually gone down since last year?

Unless, you think that Obama might see this as a grand scheme to buy 57 million votes in the next election...hmmn.

Wait, I just did another calculation. Me and the missus together would get $500. Now you are talking real money.

But who, ultimately, will pay for this publicity stunt? Hmmn.

Good Idea going Bad?

With all the political blather about health care reform in the news, I remain skeptical that if the thousands of pages of legislative mumbo jumbo will result in a benefit to any tax-paying citizen - much less my family. The idea of helping poor folks get medical treatment at a reasonable cost seems like a good thing, but there must be a simpler way.

Since no one seems to know what the final proposal will say, I feel pretty certain that the result of "reform" will cost me more and reduce the level of service I am getting today.

I fear that the noble objective of "reform" will mutate to appeasement of the many special interests, and once again we will end-up with a costly set of new regulations that no one - including the people who vote on it - understands.

As they say down at the local gas station "If it's broke, and you don't know nuthin' 'bout 'chinery, don't mess with it."

Myth Informed

Pardon me if I am not in the mood to celebrate Columbus Day today. I know what you are thinking: Hey, when you are retired, every day is a holiday. Or, Perhaps you speculate that I am a bit dejected because I had the misfortune of watching losing performances by BOTH the Red Sox and the Patriots yesterday on TV.
While these are indeed valid observations on your part, they are not the reason for my non-celebratory mood. I am bummed-out by too much information.
One of the prevalent myths of my youth was the celebration of the birthday of of a valiant explorer seeking to find an efficient trade route to the East. While the rest of the world thought the world was pancake flat, Christopher Columbus persuaded the royals of Spain to subsidize his crazy idea of heading West to end-up in the East.In 1492, with his trusty ships, The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, he left Spain and did not fall off the edge of the Earth. He ended-up in the Caribbean. Thinking he had found the West Indies, he claimed discovery of a New World, called the indigenous peoples "Indians" showed them how to cook turkey in a deep fryer and traded a few beads in exchange for New Amsterdam.
(Ok, I never got good grades in history but I got most of the story right.)
It always seemed like a pretty good story to me. Courageous explorer, hero, visionary. Noble stuff.

But, now we discover that he was not such a nice guy. He was a self-serving tyrant (much like many of my former bosses). He did not prove the world was round since he did not actually find India (so the earth could technically have still been flat). Besides, it turns out that the flat-earth myth was invented in the 19th century by malevolent historians. During Columbus' time, scientists were well-aware that the earth was round. We were never taught that the Columbus agenda included bringing the gift of Christianity to the heathen, and that he subsequently gave the poor natives the most unwanted gift: smallpox (in return, sailors brought a nice little thank-you gift from the New World - syphilis which was hitherto unknown in Spain. You can google all these facts if you want. I find it depressing to learn that this fine hero of my youth was really wrong (and lost) most of the time.

Some modern descendants of the original inhabitants of the New World refuse to acknowledge Columbus as a hero and do not observe his birthday as a holiday. They decry the fact that this should be considered a day for Americans to celebrate. Perhaps I should go to the Casino today to say thank you for giving us New York.

You gotta have Hope

A lot of debate about the Nobel prize going to Obama . Some people think that the award was based on hopes and expectations. I dunno about you, but my hopes have been raised. Perhaps in the next round they'll award the Nobel in literature to someone who has never published anything longer than 800 words.

It could happen.

Ten Four

Some people still stay up late watching TV on Saturday nights hoping to find a laugh or two. Last night on SNL, the opening skit depicted President Obama (Fred Armison) addressing those right wing critics who portray him as an arrogant power monger who is bent on leading the country down the path of Socialism and/or Fascism.
The Armison-Obama character tries to clarify, citing a list of un-fulfilled promises, demonstrating that he has actually had very little impact of the lives of Americans. Closed Gitmo? No. Out of Iraq? No. Health care Reform? Hell no. And so-on. The clip will be viral in the news this week so keep an eye-out.

It is a double-whammy joke because it depicts his critics as hand wringing slippery slope Jeremiahs - and Obama as just another do-nothing politician. Pretty good satire and irony in the same package.

For those who speak twitter, It was LOL funny, but not rolling on the floor funny (ROTFL).

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Facts Are Stubborn Things

If you do an Internet search on the phrase "Facts are stubborn things" you will find that the cyberworld is full of conflicting information. You get about 60,000 hits. Within the first dozen citations, the quote is attributed to John Adams, Mark Twain, Ronald Regan, Lawrence Peters, and several unknown French guys. So much for stubborn facts, eh?

This, in a nutshell, is the problem for seekers of Truth ever since Al Gore invented the Internets. There is too much conflicting data, misinformation and outright malicious fabrication. As Lincoln observed, "It is easy to fool most of the people most of the time. "

Guys like Rush Limbaugh and John Stewart make their living maliciously distorting the words and deeds of anyone of the other side of their political ideology. They may think they are doing it for entertainment, but too many of their fans miss the humor and believe anything they hear from the lips of their guru.

We do not know who we can trust to tell the truth. The stubborn facts are buried deep in the mine and we do not have time to go in and dig them out ourselves. Google and other search engines are constantly gamed by special interests and clever marketers to make their interest-friendly results appear near the top of the list of returned hits.

Like me, most seekers-of-truth are in a hurry for enlightenment. So, we usually abandon our online research after viewing a few pages of search results. We click on the one or two that seem to agree with our preconceived notions. If the writing is intelligible, and it supports our point-of-view, we hyper-link it to verify our source. We shamelessly ignore contradictory data.

The problem remains:

“Facts are ventriloquists dummies. Sitting on a wise man's knee they may be made to utter words of wisdom; elsewhere, they say nothing, or talk nonsense, or indulge in sheer diabolism.” Aldous Huxley. At least, I think he was the one who said it.

The enemy of my enemy is my - huh?

Interesting news item today: Another long video rant was released yesterday. This one took aim at President Obama. "America has come in a new, hypocritical face. Smiling at us, but stabbing us with the same dagger that Bush used," said Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri in the message.

So now the conservative Obama haters in this country have finally found common ground - with Al-Quaida.

Death Panels

Today in the Boston Globe there was a seemingly innocuous item that clearly confirms the worst fears of neocons and their brethren skinheads who protest loudly against what they call the government takeover of health care because it would enable Obama to kill your grandmother legally.

The title of the piece "Seniors largely spared of swine flu threat" reported by AP (of course) was cynically designed to allay the fears that seniors (generally defined as those age 65 and above) might feel about the threat level Orange PANDEMIC THAT IS SWEEPING THE GLOBE.

The body of the story consisted mostly of quotes from the un-informed ramblings of geezers who just wanted somebody to talk to. But if you read it carefully (as your humble scribe is wont to do) there was one statement that jumped out like a zombie in a horror flick:

"Federal guidelines call for the new H1N1 vaccine to be given first to pregnant women, those who live with or care for children 6 months or younger, health care workers, people age 6 months through 24, and people with chronic health problems or compromised immune systems. Only after shots are offered to those groups will the vaccine be available to healthy adults 64 or younger. After that, seniors, age 65 or older, would be eligible."

Despite the fact that this is badly written prose, the message is crystal clear: this is exactly the sort of health care rationing that conservatives say leads down the slippery slope to the feared Death Panels. If they can do it with flu vaccine, they can do it with knee replacements and vitally-needed medicine like Viagra.


This kind of healthcare policy, based upon scientific medical research of potential risk is obviously one of Obama's stealth weapons to kill old people and further his Socialist Agenda.

You Lie!

Can't we all just get along? The flap over South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech on health care reform will not go away. Self righteous Dems are outraged by this unprecedented breach of decorum, (conveniently forgetting at least one incident in 2005 where George W was roundly jeered during one of his speeches.)

I am in the camp of those who APPROVE of audience reactions. I have long been a fan of those rowdy legislators in UK and Canada who loudly hiss and groan when the speechifying gets too bloviacious. Isn't disapproval every bit as legitimate as applause? If not, please tell me why not?

Let me be clear, I do NOT condone heckling, hectoring or attempts to drown out a speaker. I love the civil way they do it it UK. The representative from Northern Sussex asks whether the Prime Minister is planning to do anything about overcrowding in the schools of his district. The PM answers with some insipid declaration about no child will be left behind. At this point, the loyal opposition jeers for the requisite one-Mississippi, two Mississippi seconds, the gavel bangs and they shut-up to let the rep from the North continue his inquiry. "So the PM admits that he will continue his policy of abusing schoolchildren..." Laughter and groaning erupts in the hall for two seconds silenced by the gavel.

Now this is civilized debate, not the stilted and stuffy "decorum" practiced in the US House and Senate. Note that the British opposition would never say "You Lie!" More likely they would say, "It is well known that the president has a gift for not telling the Truth." You have to admit, the third person feels less offensive. And there is a sense of politics as a sort of professional sport.

In 2008 during a press conference in Iraq, an Arab journalist called President Bush a liar and threw both of his shoes at the surprised W (who deftly ducked the missiles). The shoe-throwing incident was considered humorous by the Bush-haters (ie, Democrats).

I'm pretty sure that the thinkers who wrote the US Bill of Rights would agree with me that the right to heckle, harass, throw objects at, or shout-down any speaker should NOT be guaranteed when the speaker legitimately has the floor. A little spirited booing and guffawing are definitely allowed.

This morning, the newspaper says that Senior Black Democratic leaders in congress are going to demand a public apology by Wilson. The implication is, of course, Wilson shouted because Obama is black. The other day, there was an article in the NYT discussing continued the racial divide in America. Co-author Barbara Erenreich writes "WHAT do you get when you combine the worst economic downturn since the Depression with the first black president? A surge of white racial resentment, loosely disguised as a populist revolt..." Now this is potent stuff because it makes a lot of sense - especially to those who see racism in every conflict of interest. If you don't agree with Obama it must be because he is black, right?

It is too easy to accuse others of latent racism, but it really doesn't stick. The real and pernicious problem going on here is extreme partisan idealism on both sides. Today we regard those who believe in different policy as blood enemies, not political opponents.

Republicans say that their suggestions and amendments to the health care reform have not been given consideration by the Democratic majority leaders. They are opposed to government run health care. The President was indeed not telling the whole truth about the illegal immigrant healthcare coverage, because the bill under consideration does not require any checks on the legal status of applicants.

A reasonable person might wish that the President be more specific about what health care reform means, and why the Republicans and Libertarians should not fear it. I myself LOL'd when the President said that the measures he was speaking about would not affect the deficit. His credibility with me sank a few fathoms on that one.

Anyhow, the thing is most of us think that it would be great if poor people could get health care insurance. Most of us do not think it should take over 1,000 pages to describe the legal changes that are needed to accomplish that end. If these guys can't do it in 5 double spaced pages, they should resign. It isn't rocket science.

Finally, the shoe-thrower in Iraq was released from prison today. He has an invitation from Hugo Chavez to come and live in Venezuela. I have a feeling we are going to see more of this guy. Twenty bucks for the person who can post a Utube video of al-Zaidi getting a pie in the face. That's the American way.

The subtle Joy of being Unstructured

I got an email from an former colleague who, like me, uses Linkedin as a career-related social networking site (real men do not use Facebook). He commented about the update that I had posted recently saying that I had left my part time job. I think he was a little bit surprised that someone would voluntarily leave a job during these hard times.

I replied:
"Yes I decided that job was not for me. The pay was $12 per hour and although I only worked 20 hours a week, I had to work 3 out of 4 Saturdays. It was mainly a retail mentality: people are interchangeable parts, no sense of humor or opinions appreciated by the management, autocratic bosses, archaic processes, demanding, but clueless customers, shall I go on? Besides, I wanted to take the Summer off to allow time to help my wife watch the grandsons 7 and 9, who were not going to camp this year. We had them for two or three overnights every week in July and August. They were exhausting to keep up with, but it was more fun than going to work, I assure you.

"IF (big if) I ever go back to work, it will be in some admin or professional organization, part-time, earning at least $20 an hour, no weekends, a buxom & attractive secretary, an office with a door and a lock (for privacy during 'conferences' with secretary.) No commute, no elevators, no staff meetings and no status reports.

"If that is too much to ask, then I will just stay retired: staying-up late watching TV, sleeping till nine every morning, having a leisurely breakfast (involving chicken and pork products), reading the paper, planning the rest of the day."

As I wrote these words, I began to realize that I am doing just fine without a job. I had often stated that a man needs work in his life. And I was convinced that I needed the structure and sociability of a formal workplace. But, as time passes I am becoming more comfortable with the prospect of full retirement and the subtle joy of not being structured.

For example, it is 10:40am and I am dressed; I have had my weekly shower and shave. I've fed the cats, read the Globe, eaten a bacon toast sandwich, drank 3 cups of Starbucks Cafe Verona, and spent a half hour answering email. If it wasn't raining, I probably would be outside, finishing my painting activities, but I am in no real hurry; I can finish next week (or the next). Later this afternoon, perhaps I will mosey down to the cheap haircut place and get a senior cut for $11.95 plus tip. (When I was working my haircuts at the fancy salon cost $35. (I did look good, but these days looking good is an unnecessary luxury). Most of the day will be amiably frittered and puttered away. I didn't get my morning walk because of the weather, but who knows - it might clear up.

Tomorrow, assuming a partly sunny day, I plan to go fishing with a buddy. Striped bass for dinner! Ok, if this outing is as bad as my last day of fishing , I may have to stop at the fish market on my way home.

Last week turned out to be pretty full too. Got my teeth cleaned, repaired a broken washer arm on the dishwasher, saw my children and grandchildren, went for walks every day, scraped and painted the east side of the house, cut down an overgrown yew that was blocking a window, spent Sunday at Little Compton, R.I. eating and drinking with friends, had a day-trip to York, Maine with my wife, did laundry, went to the dump, read a book, and so-on. Nothing remunerative or remarkable, but not so bad....


Hey, It's stopped raining, I gotta go take a walk.

Irony in the Details

Lately I've noticed that there is an ironic connection in disparate news fragments. If you saw the movie "3 days of the Condor" you might relate to my sense that there are subtle messages in the innocent seeming data that even the nitpickers among us usually overlook in their quest to find garmmar and spelling errors.

For example, if you closely read the section in the paper that is titled "Recent Bird Sightings" I'll bet that among those seemingly mundane counts of spotted grebes and lesser plovers there is a secret code which terrorist cells use to monitor troop movements and plot secret missions.

And those Legal Notices...did anyone ever actually read one? Surely these incomprehensible statements are part of some sort of evil scheme to overthrow all that we hold decent and holy.

Every day it seems they are printing another of those global pandemic charts. Are they trying to scare us? Some people insist that the new flu be referred to by the name H1N1 rather than "swine flu." Apparently, every time some talking head on TV mentions the "SWINE FLU" porkbelly futures go into the dumpster. So of course, all the lobbyists for pork products are writing letters to the editor decrying the use of the term "SWINE FLU" since you can't get it from eating bacon - thank God for that! The TV Doctors say that we should stop shaking hands, hugging and kissing. Just wash your hands, they say, and sneeze into your armpit and everything will be ok.


But back to my main point about patterns in recent news items:

First we have the open senate seat, left vacant by Senator Kennedy's recent death. Just before his untimely demise, Kennedy initiated a campaign to urge the state legislature to reverse a law that he, himself had promoted back when Kerry was running for president. At that time Mitt Romney (a Republican) was the duly elected Governor. At that time, Mass law held that if a US Senatorial seat became vacant, the Governor would appoint a temporary Senator to fill the vacancy, until such time as a special election could be arranged. fearing that Romney would appoint an odious Republican to the seat, Kennedy and others convinced the Democratic majority of state legislators to change the law, which they did. Ironically, there was no need of the change, since Kerry was defeated by George Bush in the general election.
Fast forwarding to the present day, we in Massachusetts now have a Democratic Governor (Deval Patrick), and a vacant Senatorial seat. (The special election will be January, 2010)
Now, the cynical hypocrites see that the original change was a 'mistake' that should be rectified quickly. John Kerry, the sudden senior Senator and shameless gadabout, has betaken himself away from Washington DC to urge local lawmakers to fix this mistake. During his impassioned speech, Kerry asserted that Mass needs to have representation. Someone on the other side noted that Kerry had missed 90% of the votes during his run for the Presidency. (Ouch, irony can be a painful petard) Furthermore, one cannot help observing that the late Senator Ted was debilitated for the past year, and had not been present for many votes and hearings. Summarizing: Democrats are just as bad as Republicans.

An unrelated Irony: In the Boston Globe today there was a letter to the editor complaining about a recent cartoon that mocked the hype surrounding the SWINE FLU pandemic. The letter writer, who identified himself as a "risk communications consultant", castigates the Globe for printing an "extraordinarily dangerous" cartoon that implied that the pandemic was a lot of hype. Hmm. Here, I was thinking that it was a good thing that the newspaper was printing opposing opinions. By the way, the humorous content of cartoons can be lost on one whose ox is getting gored. Pardon me if I sound cynical but I would bet a Boston Creme donut that the risk communications consultant is getting checks from the H1N1 Pandemic State of Fear lobby. Ironically, you are more likely to die in your SUV on the highway going to the doctor for your swine flu shot(s) than you are to die of the swine flu, even though you will probably contract it.

In a related item, someone should have told President Obama, ix-nay on the issing-kay during last night's prime time televised speech, which was (ironically) about healthcare. During those tedious pre- and post-speech bouts of handshaking, hugging and kissing, all I could think of was what a great way to spread the flu. Maybe it would be a good thing if no one was able to show-up to vote for a few weeks. Everytime they vote on something it costs us money.

I gotta go wash my hands.

Nitpicker Wanted

Perusing craigslist for suitable part-time employment, I came across an ad looking for a nitpicker . No kidding. There actually is a lucrative career opportunity for an experienced person.

Some of my critics might want to apply....

Obama's Socialist Agenda

I hope some of those who wanted to squelch the feared Obama Back-to-school speech are feeling a little bit embarrassed this morning. That would indicate that they are decent and smart enough to feel shame over their silly statements.

Their unbecoming shrieks of horror at the thought of The (duly elected) President's intention to address the school children of the nation were solely based upon a perverted interpretation of the press release. They were reacting (or should I say 'over-reacting') to what they thought he was going to say, not what he did say.

These same people - who have accused Obama and the liberal conspiracy of stomping on the first amendment - now think that it is OK to shut (and shout) down opponents based on what they might say.

They characterise themselves as 'Patriots', but really, they are the dis-loyal opposition to anything Obama. They confuse loyalty to an ideology with patriotism. Sadly they have stopped seeking truth, balance and fairness. Their credibility is in the trash bin.

Obama's message was very controversial: Stay in school; Don't give up; You can succeed.

If this is Socialism, sign me up.

Another Reason Why I Did Not Enter "The Best Tomato" Contest

One of the uninvited guests to my garden this years was this tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta as identified by its red horn is not to be confused with its equally voracious cousin - the tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) - which sports a black horn and slightly different markings. Often found together, they grow into large caterpillars - about the size of your middle finger. (The ultimate insult!)


It is an eating machine that defoliates plants and eats the fruit as well. It can cause a lot of damage in just a few days on tomato plants because it strips leaves that are needed to shade the ripening tomatoes.



The good news is that they have a natural enemy (other than the gardener). The enemy is a parasitic wasp that lays eggs on the caterpillar. The eggs hatch and start to feed on the caterpillar, killing it. The bottom picture is the same hornworm a few days later, covered with wasp cocoons. The crops are saved!

Finally, with the first frost date for Northeast gardens approaching quickly, we have managed to pick a few ripening tomatoes. I pick them when they first start to blush pink and let them ripen indoors. If I do not do this, the squirrels will come and take the red ones.

Homegrown tomatoes will fully ripen in 2-3 days inside in a warm place, unlike the tasteless things you buy at the supermarket, which have been bred for long shelf-life.

Unfortunately, there seems to be an inverse relationship between the attributes that give longer shelf-life and those that produce wonderful flavor.

Wimoweh

Ted Kennedy was a consummate politician . Having emerged from the shadow of his notable brethren, he was a popular senator (46 years in the senate) and a lightning rod for trouble and controversy.

My father was a staunch Democrat and Kennedy supporter, and he was proud to display the Christmas card we got from newly minted Senator Teddy back in the 60's. It stayed on the mantel long into the summer. Even then, I knew that holiday greeting had cost my father a few bucks in campaign contributions.

As I grew older, I grew away from party loyalty. I became disillusioned by the influence of special interests, and tired of schoolyard partisan bickering. I proudly declared myself an independent. But, in truth I had become cynical and about politicians and apathetic about politics. I felt then and still believe that most politicians are in it for the glory and gold, and regardless of their affiliation, they are not to be trusted. Any casual search of the news at any given time will affirm that my distrust is well placed.

I have not been happy with the representation of my state in the senate for many years. Rich guys like Kennedy and Kerry are old school politicians with no new ideas. Furthermore, they cannot identify with the lives of their constituents. Few of us can identify with guys who spend their weekends partying with the rich and famous, sailing on huge boats and who can do pretty much anything they want. Then, feeling guilty about their privilege, they cast their votes for the most socialistic measures (if they bother to go back to DC to vote.)

Despite this, I must relate that I have a special warm feeling for Ted Kennedy. In 1990, I was working for a company that had been acquired by a firm from California. The new management came into town and "cleaned house." I and a few dozen other managers came to work one morning to find ourselves laid off, with gray envelopes containing a severance agreement.

I had been working there for less than a year but the standard severance for lay-off was 1 month's pay. But the new management were surprised by the recent Kennedy sponsored "Plant Closing Law" which demanded that the employees get 30 days notice before a lay-off. Since we had already been terminated, the new company had to kick-in another month's pay. For that extra month, I had Ted Kennedy to thank.

The rest of them I would not trust to change the oil on my van. Someone should check to see where Hillary Clinton was last night. She was none too happy when Ted endorsed BO during the primary fights.

Why I didn't Enter the Best Tomato Contest this year

This is what home grown tomatoes are supposed to look like at this time of year
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This is what my tomatoes look like.














The weather in New England was not very good for tomato growing this year. During June and July we had the rainiest and coolest summer in memory. August has been seasonal but my poor golfball sized Jetstars need a lot of catching up if I am going to have ripe tomatoes before frost.

Like the folk singer says, "Thays only two things that money can't buy, and that's true love and home grown termaters." Amen to that.

Remembering Woodstock 1969

Man, who could forget that moment in history, forty years ago, when we gathered, half a million strong, for those few days of Peace, Love and Music? OK, so maybe I was not there, but I heard about it on the radio. Hey, my wife and I had jobs in those days; responsibilities - rent, careers, and a baby on-the-way.

It was actually a memorable summer for us - but, not because of any music concert. In July we had taken a cruise to Bermuda as a sort of delayed honeymoon. We were young, clean cut, and had probably never heard of Jimmi Hendrix or Janis Joplin. We were still under the musical influence of Bobby Darren and The Kingston Trio. The gathering at Woodstock would never have appeared on our radar. We were trying to break-in, not drop-out. We did not even know anyone that did drugs or practiced free love.

One of my musical memories was driving through the Sumner Tunnel in Boston and hearing an unfamiliar but haunting song that was playing loudly on someones 8 track tape. (In those days there was no radio reception in the tunnels). The vocal harmony was magnetic and thrilling to me, but I did not recognize the artists. It was only when the Woodstock movie came out, I was able to identify the group and the song - "Judy Blue Eyes" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and (I think) Young. Ok, I know what you are thinking, I was out of touch. So sue me.

When the story came out about Woodstock - 3 days of sharing close proximity with masses of drugged out hippies who had not bathed recently, dancing in the mud and blocking your view of the stage, standing in line for the few porta-potties with 399,000 other bursting bladders, I was secretly glad that I was not there. I say 'secretly', because as I later discovered everyone thought you were cool if you could claim to have been there. Only a clueless dolt would admit that a) he didn't go and b) did not regret missing it.

Most of the performers at Woodstock are probably dead by now, if not forgotten. And, most of the attendees who survived drugs and STD's would be at the age where they are in or close to retirement. For me, it is hard to believe that forty years have passed like an express train in the night.

I reported myself to the White House

Since the pre-election campaign, anything Barak Obama does is the stuff of imagination and wing-nut controversy. The recent attempt by the Obama administration to survey the American Street - specifically aimed at identifying misinformation about healthcare - was posted on the White House website. You probably saw it.

This request for rumors, of course, was predictably condemned by right wing blogs/talk radio as a brownshirt conspiracy to get neighbors to turn-in neighbors who held the 'wrong' views.

To me it just seemed like an efficient way to collect a list of rumors so that they could be addressed. Anyhow, when someone asks my opinion... they get it.

----- Original Message -----
From: DEN
To: flag@whitehouse.gov
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 08:45
Subject: rumors about healthcare


I am opposed to "improvement" in the healthcare system that will make it worse for those of us who have worked, contributed and retired assuming a certain level of access to healthcare. I believe that the other countries that have government-run healthcare systems, such as England and Canada have inferior programs to that which exists in the US for the majority of us in the middle class. Besides, these countries have a much tighter enforcement of immigration laws and they do not provide virtually free services for up to 20 million illegal immigrants - as we would.

I am absolutely opposed to lawmakers dictating a level of healthcare for me that they themselves do not participate in.
I believe no one should vote for a bill unless they have personally read it; I think this would slow down the spending of money that we do not have, and that would be a good thing.
I do not feel confident that the Obama healthcare plan is a real plan at all, and all we get are snippets of what might be in and what might be out, I feel uneasy about it.
I am an independent, voted for Obama, hoping for the best. I like the way he is handling foreign policy, but am fearful that the bailouts have been a huge waste of money. I am retired and have lost nearly 50% of my nestegg in recent downturn. I am still hopeful but getting more pessimistic with every news cycle.

Here are some of the scary stories that I have heard:

1) the Healthcare bill has provisions to attach citizens bank accounts and make withdrawals without notice
2) I will eventually be forced to change my healthcare plan to the government run plan, then I will be treated just like everyone who has never contributed to social security, or even paid taxes.
3) With 50 million people being added to the system, decisions about my health will be made on a purely economic basis. The government will decide who gets what services.
4) Young non-citizens will get preferred treatment over older citizens.
5) People who have retired under company pension plans will find that the plan that they expected to have will be involuntarily switched to the government(public) option at the discretion of the company.

I think the administration needs to address these and other concerns with honesty and concise language. President Obama has not proved to be a good spokesman for this program - he rambles all over the place when asked specific questions (It's probably just as well that the only thing anyone recalls from the failed healthcare press conference is the "Cambridge cops acted stupidly")

Yours truly,

=====================================

If I get in trouble, somebody please bail me out.

Why the Yankees Suck

I have never taken a course in Social Anthropology, but even an English Lit major can observe that most human behavior is instinctive. Discrimination is a natural (built-in) characteristic of our species - and indeed most mammals. We are, by nature, tribal.
We distrust strangers from other tribes. Xenophobia is a natural fear mechanism that has characterized social groups since the days of the cavemen. Granted, in more advanced (ie, educated) circles, we prefer to think we are civilized - i.e., as a society we teach our children to consciously suppress those inborn fears and tendencies in order to live peaceably with others.

I recall the lines from a 1960's Kingston Trio song titled The Merry Minuet

"The whole world is festering with unhappy souls.
The French hate the Germans. The Germans hate the Poles.
Italians hate Yugoslavs. South Africans hate the Dutch
and I don't like anybody very much!"


If you have ever played a team sport or rooted for a team, you have experienced the passion of "Us versus Them". We are bold, good-looking, talented and strong, whereas They are craven, weak and worthy of our scorn.

Rooting for athletic teams has been the international mechanism that allows the mass of non-playing people to give full vent to those primal urges of tribalism which we supress in our attempts to be "civilized." The term "Fan" is derivative of "Fanatic" implying the craziness that is implicit in such mindless loyalty to a bunch of sports workers who get paid to dress up in funny outfits and compete with each other for the entertainment of an audience. (Sometimes, in less civilized places, the audience joins in the fight).

Come to think of it, politics as a lot like professional sports - except for the funny outfits.

Beer Summit

Maybe someone thought it would be a nice photo op to have them sit all folksy at a white plastic table served beer by - a butler. If I were staging it, I would have had Biden lugging a small cooler of frosties on a golf cart.

But no. It was yet another lost opportunity either to have some fun, or to resolve the conflict. Almost like an Israeli - Palestinian peace talk, all the parties seemed to smile and nod their heads and then went back to business as usual.

I am ready to move on to some more meaty news topic, how about you?

Who are You Calling a Racist?

Race has become the big issue here in the MetroWest area with the Gates case getting so much play. Indeed it became a national issue when President Obama remarked on the case during his press conference. Today, everyone is breathlessly awaiting the outcome of the beer summit.

As an aging, technically overweight white guy, I have to say that I am getting weary of all the very successful thin black men continuing to blather about racial discrimination. It is unseemly. Some of them got their shot at success because a majority of white guys believe that justice demanded a level playing field. Affirmative action, EEO, and many other acronyms were devised to the end of giving a brother a chance. I never complained that my tax money was being used to give kids breakfast, or to support the METCO. Many people in our community hosted inner city kids and helped them financially and spiritually during their high school and college years.

So I am getting a little tired of being assumed to be a racist. It seems to me that there are a lot of successful black men and women out there. The majority of us voted for a black governor here in Massachusetts, and for a black president of the USA. Where is the racism in that? Yes, I know it is still out there. People still dislike Jews and Irish and Indians and Arabs... Prejudice exists in every culture. In the US, we have done just about everything governmentally that can be done to assure a level playing field. What is left to do now is for people to stop using discrimination as an excuse for not trying. No one liked Pakistanis or Koreans when they moved in, and because the stuck together and worked hard, many have done very well.

Folks, the fact is that in 2009, most of the white people I know do not judge others by the color of a person's skin; they judge them by the way they talk, the way they are dressed and the way they behave. These may be superficial characteristics, but this is reality. People of color are being judged today the same way we judge other white people.

Discrimination is real; but I do not believe it is based upon skin color these days for the majority of educated Americans. People like to quote MLK and focus on character. But, you can't judge character until you get to know someone. No one will bother to learn the content of another's character if they never get to meet them.

The point is that in the USA today, discrimination is a class thing, an education and an economic thing - as it always has been true for and among white folks. The real insidious aspect of perceived discrimination is when you believe that your failure is because of bias against you, there is a tendancy to use that as an excuse to give up. In my experience, talent trumps bias, nine out of ten times.
Time for a beer. Then a nap.

Don't Tase me Bro

Wow, talk about unintended consequences! A minor verbal scuffle between a white Cambridge police officer and a black Harvard University professor escalates to a national debate on racial attitudes. Even the White House got involved - much to Obama's chagrin.

In case you have been hiding in a cave for the past ten days (and who could blame you) the facts of the story might be summarized as follows:

1. Passerby witness observes two men who appear to be attempting to break into a house, calls 911. (The men are Professor Gates and his limo driver, both black, trying to unstick the front door of Gates' house.)
2. Officer Crowley arrives on scene, answering a suspected B&E call. Does not see suspects (now inside the house), calls for back-up and approaches the house.
3. There is an exchange of words between Officer Crowley and Prof Gates. The content of the discussion is a matter of disagreement. Prof. Gates claims that he never raised his voice and contended that Crowley was racially profiling him and refused to identify himself despite several requests, and that he was handcuffed and arrested without provocation. Crowley wrote in the police report that he did identify himself and that the Professor was acting in a belligerent manner, yelling and disturbing the peace. This account was substantiated by an assisting officer on the scene. At this point it is mainly a local story.
4. The next day, at the urging of Gates' attorney and the Mayor of Cambridge, the charges against Gates are dropped.
5. After a brief period of silence, Prof Gates goes on national TV to tell his side of the story. He calls Crowley a rogue cop and suggests that the officer should "beg his forgiveness."
6. At the end of a press conference intended to boost support for his Health care plan, Obama foolishly answers a question about the Gates affair. He says that he doesn't have all the facts, and that he might be "a little biased" because Gates is a personal friend, then he says that the "Cambridge Police acted stupidly."
7. The next day, the case is headline news (the Health care plan is all but dead - front page below the fold). NBC nightly news devotes 9 minutes to this lead story. The Cambridge Police Department holds its own press conference supporting Officer Crowley and his actions. The police chief expresses regret that the charges were dropped, because it lent credibility to the accusations of racial profiling.
8. The next day, the Policeman's Union voices full support for Crowley.
9. In subsequent days, it leaks out that there is a tape recording of part of the exchange between Crowley and Gates from the shoulder mike that the Office was using to report on the status of the situation. The tape has not been released, but is believed to exonerate Crowley.
10. Obama seeing the error of his involvement, calls Crowley to be sure that his remarks were not interpreted to imply that he was criticizing him or the department. He suggests that they get together with Gates for a beer to shoot the bull and show that there are no hard feelings. Crowley becomes local hero.
11. Jesse Jackson goes on TV to say that both parties may have over reacted. This is tantamount to throwing Gates "under the bus."
12. Prof Gates declares that the story is over, but asserts that there may be a teachable moment is the situation. He does not admit fault but agrees to meet with Obama and Crowley for a beer.
13. to be continued?

There are a number of reasons why this melodrama was so fascinating.

First of all, the incidence of racial profiling by police is not an anomaly for most blacks. Almost every black man in America has a personal story where they have been rousted and even roughed-up by a white cop without cause. Even Obama has mentioned this outrage in his autobiography. In the first few days after this incident, I along with most of the readers of the daily newspapers thought it was going to turn out to be another of these racial injustices - this time against a prominent scholar and esteemed member of the community, not some unknown teenager dressed like a gang member. Now, it looks like there was a little bit of "The prof who cried racist." Most white people don't think all white cops are racist, so we are glad to see that he is not another Mark Fuhrman (who was probably responsible for OJ getting off).

But most of all, the story is an illustration of how an event can be seen in different ways depending upon who is watching, and what their life experiences are. I think the Tie-breaker in this case was the photo of Prof Gates which was snapped by a neighbor who happened to have his camera/cell phone handy. The photo clearly shows a man yelling at cops. That image was worth 1,000 words. (BTW, The guy who took the photo sold it for $4,000). In most cases of He-said-he-said where there are no witnesses, we are forced to believe what our experience tells us is most likely true.

Finally, I can see that I never would have made a good policeman. If anyone got in my face while I was trying to do my job, I wouldn't care what color he was, I'd have Tased him.

Retirement - the final frontier

People who have been getting-up and going into an office or job site on a daily basis for thirty years or so, begin to develop fantasies about how it is going to be when they retire. They think that retirement is going to be like going to heaven without the inconvenience of dying.

We dream of Golfing or fishing every day, trips to the beach, see the latest movies, travel to foreign ports, road trips, more golf, more beer, naps ...

Actually, it's a fantasy. Achieving Nirvana is an elusive goal. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that technically I am free to go fishing or sleep all day - whatever I choose. But, like most aspects of life, there is a murkier side. The life of leisure costs money, more money than you or your accountant thought you would need. And there is never enough time...

Retirement 'specialists' tell you that you can live more cheaply after retirement. After you quit working you will no longer have any commuting costs, or the need for professionally cleaned and pressed clothes, or those exorbitant lunch expenses, right? Whe you retire you imagine you'll just wear the same clothes for at least week, make your own frugal lunches of egg salad or tuna sandwiches, and take long walks in the morning...


Not quite. I can verify that one quickly gets tired of those cheaply assembled meals. Sometimes it is raining and those long morning walks do not seem so necessary when the torrents are licking at your ankles.

The other thing you realize in retirement is that people think of you in a different way. You no longer have the excuse of the all important job to avoid the demands of family and friends. Suddenly, you realize that there are people who suddenly need you. Perhaps it is just the favor of a ride to the Dr.'s office or an occasional pick-up at the airport. These people would never have bothered to ask when you were working. If your grown kids live nearby, they think that being retired means that you have nothing to do. They don't realize that you are busy, so they load you up with babysitting requests - which you cannot refuse. Freedom to nap is severely limited when you have toddlers to monitor.

Now that you have the time to schedule lunches and even cocktails with working friends and fellow retirees, the calendar gets filled-up fast. But all these lunches and cocktails cost money, and you can't wear the same clothes for a week at a time if you are going to be social. You need to get a decent haircut every three or four weeks. And you want to take those trips you always deferred. No more 4 day get-a-ways; now you can stay as long as you want. (How about a month in Florida next Winter? Can I get a 'Hell, yes?')

Many people plan for retirement by socking away enough money in a retirement account to throw off enough interest to help fund their retirement expenses. We did that. But we did not foresee the meltdown of everything we hold sacred, and the erosion of the nest egg. We didn't consider the fact that we still need to buy new cars every 4 or 5 years, and fix the ones we have. The house seems to deteriorate faster after retirement, the grass and remaining hair seem to grow faster.

We thought that we had enough saved to travel to those places in Europe that we never got around to. Maybe sell the homestead and move to a nice coastal location and get a small boat. We could do that and still leave a little behind for the kids when we are gone. But the value of our property is down and so are the IRA balances.

So, instead of going to boat shows and touring Europe, I am mowing my own lawn, getting haircuts at the bargain place and touring nearbye Canada.

Mind you I am not complaining; I am merely noting that God seems to laugh at our plans. So, you might want to plan accordingly.

Sounds of Summer

This is the noisiest summer I can recall since the time our Siamese female was "in heat." (If this was a Family Guy episode the screen would flashback to a cameo of a young Siamese cat roaming about the house wailing until she finds the (neutered) male. She gets in front of him offering a good rut. He just sits there with a quizzical look on his face wondering what's for dinner... In the next scene, she has been taken to a breeder and is introduced to a big fat smiling stud, who knows exactly what to do. Fade to waves rolling-in. ) That was about ten years ago.


So, what happened to the once-quiet, "sleepy" suburbs? Maybe it just seemed quieter when I was a full time worker. In those days I would out of the house and locked in the daily commute with the radio turned-up by the time the landscape guys swarmed into the neighborhood with their infernal noise machines, or the tree cutters with their gas powered chain saws. And what tree job would be complete without the noisiest device ever to be invented by man - the wood chipper.


Around here, it has not been quiet in years. We live a few hundred yards away from the local railroad station so we get a regular dose of very loud horn blasting by all approaching Amtrak and freight trains. Railroad rules, we are told. Every house on this street - including ours - has had some sort of noisy building project that involved loudtalking men with hammers and saws. And their Boomboxes, of course. Oh, and let us not forget the ubiquitous compressor motor that runs all day.


The latest neighborhood construction job is particularly aggravating since it involves a custom stone wall made of New England Schist. This will not be like the silent wall of Robert Frosts memories - glacially rounded boulders that eventually succumb to gravity. No, this wall is built out of flat sections of sedimentary granite. Each stone is sawed from a larger piece and hammer trimmed, fitted and cemented well enough to survive a nuclear attack. The masons are diligent, working from 7:30am to dusk, which is past dinnertime hereabouts. The noise is irritating.

So that's why I am using these high tech earplugs so I can take a nap. Huh? did someone say something?

Damp-end

We are back from our foreign travels - pale, damp and wrinkled. We only saw the sun on three brief occasions since last Sunday. None of those days happened during our three day stay at Old Orchard Beach. It would have been a wash-out but we enjoyed being with kids and grand kids on the beach in the fog when it was not raining hard.

Wednesday, the sun broke out as we approached the Montpelier, VT environs. It stayed that way all the way to the Canadian-NY border. We took an enjoyable ferry ride across Lake Champlain to Plattsburg in full sunlight. In Canada, driving west on 202, we ran into a monster storm that looked like one of those Tornado Hunter videos, with low angry clouds and lots of lightning and thunder. Somehow, we arrived without any disasters.

The second time the sun came out was on Thursday morning. We had a nice walk around Hamilton Island in Ontario, right on the St Lawrence Seaway. Our excellent hosts sheltered and fed us for two days. Margaritas help raise the spirits when it is raining.
We returned via Syracuse, where we met friends (whom we originally met on our UK trip in 2006) for lunch. It was a brief but enjoyable reunion. It was sunny outside. Most of the ride back on I-90 was intermittent clouds and rain.

There was a lot of driving, but since we had expert routing information and only got lost a few times. OOB was the same as I remember it from my youth. Nice long beach with good waves and clean water. Typical of "vintage" vacation communities in New England - down to earth, affordable, not too pretentious (except the claim on the sign for Debby's Diner: "Best coffee East of the Mississippi river!"). And, where else would you find a hair salon named "Curl up and Dye" ?


We didn't watch the news or read any newspapers, but from the brief images I saw on the TV in one of the rest areas, I gather that Michael Jackson has faked his death so he could run off with the Governor of Alaska. Details to follow.

They all hate us anyhow

Randy Newman supplied the next line: "So let's drop the big one now."

I'm bemused by the anti-Obama claque's latest criticism, that President O is not urging the protesters in Iran to overthrow the government. Perhaps O has learned from the experience of George Bush Sr., in 1991 when he publically urged the Iraqis to overthrow Saddam. That did not work out any better than the US support for Chinese dissidents in 1989 in Tiananmen Square.

The right's panties are all in a twist because they actually believe that "attempted diplomacy" is a felony. I'm not sure what they suggest we do other than "not speaking to tyrants." That's pretty much been proven to be ineffective during the last 8 years. Maybe a softer approach will accomplish something.

In any event, I hope we have learned that we waste the lives and limbs of our troops when we send them to try and copy/paste democracy onto a theocratic society.

Gone Fishing - Update

4:50 AM
Dont look for me to post anything today; I'm going fishing. Stripers beware!

=================
(later that day)

"Home is the sailor, home from sea:
Her far-borne canvas furled
The ship pours shining on the quay
The plunder of the world. "
. . .
AE Houseman (RLS)

Old fisherman -
"On an East wind
The fish, will not be biting today
I dunno where they go
But me, I just mend my pots and nets
and drink gin."

Update - The fish they was not biting today; I came home with a sunburn and the smell of seaworms on my hands.

I love my new job

It has been a week since I started my new job. For those of you who have not been paying attention, the new job is: Full Retirement. No more part time job. No more showering and shaving every day. No more Mr. Nice. You are probably asking yourself, what's next? Are you going to morph into another grumpy old fart (like George and Lefty?) who wear the same Kohl's shorts every day because, well, who cares? Who spend the day researching the blogosphere to support your pedantic musings about how bad Obama is doing? Or who leave snarky comments on your blog?
No, faithful fans; I am not retiring to oblivion, I am retiring to Life.

Since retiring, I notice that the time goes by quickly, compared to the plodding days spent on a tedious payroll 'working for the Man', wasting valuable time sitting in snarled traffic, grinding-out your shift with snarling co-workers and growling management, watching the clock until finally fleeing to your car to escape the dreaded workplace.

I spent most of the day yesterday on a ladder, painting the South end of the house. It was long overdue, as I am sure the neighbors on that side will attest. Some of you are saying to yourself what is that dumbass thinking, going on ladders at his age? Cripes, you sound like my wife. Hey, is more risky driving on Route 128 in rush hour on the way to some hideous job than standing on a well positioned ladder with a bucket of paint.
Painting, unlike most professional work, is quite rewarding. Instead of spending an hour everyday in traffic and then 8 hrs sitting on your fat ass looking busy, then coming home and pounding-down a few scotches to feel clean again, you get to transform an unsightly panel of peeling clapboard into a freshly coated, seductively smooth surface which brings delight to the eyes.

Instead of a shuffled pile of paper forms and flowcharts, you can actually see and admire your results. No backbiting colleague can take credit for your efforts, no one criticizes your grammar or spelling. Pleasantly exhausted by your physical activity, you are rewarded for your labors by a thirst slaking Sierra Nevada, or two.
The painting of the garage invoked the spontaneous sense of victory such as might have been experienced at war's end, or at the culmination of a successful shuttle flight. There was the drama of danger (I wonder if this ladder can hold over 250lbs), new perspectives (hey, up here you can see over the fence...is that the neighbor sunbathing...topless?) the essence human conflict (should I break for a beer or finish this section?) and the agony of the feet (yikes, they are cramped and sore from standing on narrow rungs all day).

Once the job was completed, standing there, swigging my beer, I imagined a celebration in appreciation for my restrative artistic skills. Passers-by and neighbors alike, drawn from their tedious tasks, coming to admire my work, cheering and carrying me like a hero on their shoulders in delirious collective joy.

The other thing about painting is that it doesn't require a lot of brainpower. This leaves the mind free for what might be called imagination.

Murder in Wichita

The death of the Wichita doctor who was murdered on Sunday could have been written-off as the act of a lunatic if it were not for the presumably sane original founder of Operation Rescue who called him a "mass murderer." A subrosa hint of approval: The baby killer got what was coming to him.

The current leaders of anti-abortion groups were quick and mechanical in their statements that they did not condone such action. They are anxious to get this piece of bad publicity out of the headlines so they can re-focus their efforts on the opposition to Obama's SCOTUS nominee, Sonja Sotomayor. They correctly see this as a setback because it focuses the spotlight on their collective loony obsession.

The late-term abortion issue has been hijacked by anti-abortion terrorists who have created an effective campaign of fear and intimidation against the practice, with grisly stories and even pictures on their websites. I say it has been effective because they have scared almost every doctor/nurse/receptionist/hospital administrator out of the field. Tiller was one of three doctors who were still performing legal late term abortions.

But despite the sanctimonious rantings of the likes of Bill O'Reilly et al, it appears that Dr Tiller was not the evil "angel of death", as he has been popularly characterized. He complied with the Kansas law against third-trimester abortions and was acquitted on all charges brought against him.
His patients were not women who found pregnancy inconvenient, but women who found themselves in a horrible dilemma, women whose pregnancies were welcomed but, because of medical complications, would endanger their own life or where abnormalities would doom the baby to a life of pain and suffering. His patients were referred by conscientious doctors who believed that termination was the only viable alternative in such cases. These were acts of compassion. The whackos called it "murder."

Certainly no thinking person wants to encourage late term abortions; but sometimes they are necessary, justified and legal. Tiller was courageously providing a necessary service to these poor women who deserved sympathy, not mindless hectoring from ignorant borderline wack jobs.

Postscript 6/5/09 here is one of the best articles I've seen on this topic
From WSJ June 4

Torturous Logic

Enhanced Interrogation Technique (EIT) - this is the new euphemism and acronym so conservatives do not have to use the word "torture". I don't know of anyone who has undergone waterboarding who doesn't think it is torture. I understand that the US military does it to our own troops as part of Ranger training. I guess that justifies it in the minds of people like Sean Hannity. I am waiting for him to take advantage of Keith Obermann's offer to donate $1,000 to charity for every second that Hannity submits to the procedure.

In the heat of the debate over who knew about these techniques and how effective they were, let us not lose perspective. Back in 2003, we were expecting more terrorist attacks here in the US. It is not hard to imagine that the questioning of terror suspects might have been less genteel than we normally would expect for citizens suspected of shoplifting.

I tend to go along with John McCain's position that torture is not an effective way of eliciting truthful information, and it places us on a moral par with those enemies that have used these practices against our captured soldiers.

We have heard conflicting declarations from government experts about whether the rough interrogation practices of the Bush administration were directly responsible for at least one foiled attempt to create mass destruction in LA.

So, as usual, we are left with conflicting data and no one we can trust to tell us the truth. Thus we must rely on common sense. Ok, maybe one bullet in the kneecap -- we are still talking about Sean Hannity, right?

Penultimate Day Musings

Your humble scribe has made a career of searching and hoping to find one day the ideal job. But, alas, he has always been disappointed. He has worked at 27 different jobs in his life. He started hawking copies of the Boston Herald Traveler to commuters in Watertown Square as a lad. He went on to work numerous part-time/summer jobs after school. He fixed duplicating machines, worked as a painter, wrangled horses on a dude ranch, academic administrator, systems analyst, program manager for new product introduction, wrote resumes for people, and worked as a direct marketing database manager. He has unloaded trucks and stocked shelves, he has been paid for published essays, unpaid for poetry and has killed and eaten a moose single-handedly (Just wanted to see if you were still reading), and, most recently has been one of those unfortunate persons on whom god has played another of His cruel jokes - condemned to be a person who waits on the public.

If you have never had such a job - dealing with the public - you have no idea how loathsome and rude the public can be. If you worked in an office in some bureaucracy all your life, you probably thought your boss was a dick wad and most of your coworkers were evil backbiting shits - oh, and you are totally correct on that point - but now, throw-in an unfiltered rabble of customers to this mix, whose only qualification for your attention is that they are suspected of having money. Management insists that these walk-in, random people should be treated as if they were royalty, instead of ravenous doltish vultures with credit cards, which most of them are.

Don't misunderstand, I am not whining. I am merely pointing out that human beings tend to be nasty, brutish and short-tempered. The world consists of two basic types of people: people who provide service and people who consume service. If you are exclusively in the latter group, you probably have little respect for people in the former group, but I need to tell you, it is probably you who is the moron.

That poor menche that is wrestling with a badly-designed computer system to handle the vagaries of your desires is probably doing the best he or she can. And, even if they respond to you in an unpleasant manner (which you probably deserve) perhaps it is understandable if you consider that they have spent the whole morning dealing with inconsiderate assholes, and maybe they have exceeded the reasonable tolerance point for interfacing with people who think the world revolves around them.

Thank god, tomorrow is my last day. Suck on that, public!

The Pursuit of Happiness

The IDEAS section of today's Boston Globe had and interesting article discussing recent scientific research into what makes humans happy - and unhappy.

I know what you are thinking, Grasshopper: Happy = beer; and Unhappy = running out of beer.

But, the topic is not quite so simple. Most of us would assert that the pursuit of happiness is a constitutionally guaranteed right, despite the persistent nagging feeling that a lot of people are having more fun than we are. Even when something good happens, like a lottery hit, or we get something we have always wanted, the feeling of euphoria does not last very long. Delight fades to mere satisfaction which starts to rust almost immediately. Before we know it, we start to develop a new goal/dream/desire to add to our "To Do/Wish" list.

I have previously remarked on this phenomena of dissatisfaction with the status quo, which I have attributed to human nature. I believe it has been adequately explained by Abraham Maslow' s theory of human motivation - The hierarchy of needs - which everyone studied in college (Psychology 101). The pursuit of happiness is an ongoing process, because the things that make us happy keep changing.

No Grasshopper, I am not just talking about the pleasure one finds in strips of crisp bacon on buttered toast in the morning, or the ecstasy a frosty Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on a warm afternoon sitting on a screen porch with a cigar and a good spy novel. These are immutable moments of happiness, but sadly, they end all to soon.

The happiness we are talking about here is a lasting state of being. The research as discussed in the Ideas article shows that people are not very good at predicting what will bring them lasting happiness. The new boat or a bigger house usually involve unintended effects that diminish the sense of satisfaction. For example: moving to a bigger house may involve a migration to exurbia which entails a longer commute. The research seems to indicate that the unhappiness introduced by a longer, unpleasant commute seems to overshadow the joy of a bigger bathroom.

The ultimate determining factor of those who self report a sense of happiness is having a social network. (Maybe I need to reactivate my Facebook account.) Family, friendship, people to talk to - these are what make the difference.

So, there it is. Stop wasting your time trying to "be happy". You are doomed to never be totally satisfied. Go out and talk to your neighbors and call your mother.

The other side of this research is kind of interesting, too. People who ought to be very unhappy because they have suffered terrible trauma (such as loss of limbs or eyesight) seem not to be as bad off as we would predict. (read the article)

In other words, we suck at predicting the impact of future events of our state of being. In a 2006 survey, the Pew research org did a survey on happiness that is worth your review.

By the way, the pursuit of happiness was a phrase from the Declaration of Independence not the constitution. But you already knew that didn't you?

All this scholarship makes me thirsty. But, I seem to be out of beer :-(
Good thing I am friendly with the neighbors...

State of Fear

Yeah, back on line. Yeah, it cost me $300. Now I am scared to open any email with attachments or links. This is the big Achilles Heel of the internet - hackers can mess everything up. Security experts, like insurance salesman play on our worst fears. Makes you want to just stay in bed and pull the covers up.

I have recently finished re-reading Michael Crichton's State of Fear. The central action in the book is about a group of enviro-terrorists who go around fabricating fake catastrophic "events" to raise the level of fear about man-made global warming. I think Crichton makes an excellent case for those of us who are still skeptical about Al Gore's data - as proffered in "An Inconvenient Truth."

Published in 2004, the story is fictional, but the author did extensive research on the scientific reports and research data that was available at the time. The author -who died last year of apparently natural causes - warned about scientific consensus . Facts are facts, but consensus has almost always been proved wrong by improved observations.

You don't have to agree with all of the arguments made by characters in Crichton's book, but you might have trouble with some of the facts he cites. I do not wish to argue them here, because I think the bigger point that Crichton was making in the book was about the government-sponsored effort to keep the populace in a constant state of fear about things that individuals are helpless to control.


The objective of such a strategy is social control; it is easier to enforce rules which curtail liberties when the people are afraid. Especially if the demon is an unknown foreign power (like Russia or Iran for example) or the climate or even rogue asteroids.

The media thrives on fearful pronouncements and warnings, so do not expect them to dig into the alleged threats.

Now, to distract us from our deflated nest-eggs and the prospect of higher taxes, inflation and ineptitude in government, we have the prospect of swine flu pandemic. Not to worry - Uka Sam will help you. The check is in the mail. Maybe we should nuke Mexico?

Swine Flu and Other Viruses

You and I are in the wrong business, dude. We need to learn how to fix PC's.

I am writing at the public library today, because my PC is in the shop again. This time it was a virus that was pretending to be a security alert system. It obtrusively popped-up to "warn" me about potential attacks. The more I tried to ignore it, the more insistent it became, until I finally unplugged the foolish thing and took it in to Data Doctors. They were pleased to see me, and assured me that it was nothing that a few days scrubbing and $300 couldn't fix.

I am not sure how the virus got into my machine, or when. I disabled my Mcaffee virus blocker years ago, because it slowed my PC down to an unacceptable crawl. Besides that I was convinced that all the new viruses were aimed at the latest Microsoft Operation system. I'm still running XP. We never click on strange links or download anything. So, I hope that I did not pass anything along to people who I send email attachments to. More importantly, I hope I still have my documents when I get the PC back. (No, I have not backed up the files for several months. Thanks for asking.)

Have you noticed that the media are once again trying to create a state of fear about the prospect of a swine flu pandemic? I think this flu business is a marketing product of the pharmacy companies to make us run out to buy Tamiflu. So, have you got any?

Eye Trouble

There is an old joke where the employee calls in "sick".
Boss: What's wrong?
Employee: Eye trouble
Boss: Eye trouble? What do you mean?
Employee: Well, I just can't see working today.

That's how I feel these days.

I know what you are thinking: "What a wuss! You only work 20 hours a week, and you don't have to go in until mid morning, you get out before rush hour. No heavy lifting. No statistics. You get along with your coworkers. What's your problem, dude?"

Ok, here is the answer (and stop calling me 'dude', OK?):
Life is short. I have other things to do.

In past entries, I have referred to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as the best explanation for human motivation. In a nutshell, people are never satisfied with the status quo. (I believe a lot of people settle for status quo but continue to yearn for change.)

The present part time job satisfied a lot of the needs I had expressing before starting last August: A schedule, social interaction, being part of a team, making a few bucks...
All of these were accomplished. And it has been good for me, I will admit.

But, the restrictions of having a job are more than I want to live with at this point in my life. The company doesn't want employees to take long vacations, they expect you to show up on time every day that you are scheduled. This job required me to wear a dress shirt and tie (despite the fact that the many of the customers were slovenly, bad tempered and possessed the fashion consciousness of a 4 year old.) .

So, like a fickle hearted suitor, I proved that I could get the job and do the job --- and now I don't want the job anymore. Thus, I have notified my manager that he might consider finding a replacement as of June 1.

Please do not be concerned that my schedule will now have gaping holes. Somehow my calendar has become scribbled on with a prodigious list of things that need to be done around the house and grounds, not to mention a planned vacation to Maine and Canada.
My wife, who has been enjoying the footloose and free life of post-retirement, has been encouraging me take more time off to go places with her. We also have decided to spend a month in Florida next winter.

A few nights ago, we suddenly lost our favorite cat, our ten-year-old male Siamese, Jasmine-Ming. One minute he was fine; the next minute he was lying on the rug unable to walk and in yowling pain. The emergency vet said it was a blood clot, probably caused by a heart condition. The prognosis for recovery was poor; and we all (reluctantly) agreed that euthanasia was the best option. Finis.

This event underscores the fragility of life. Ming was "just a cat" but he was a family member just the same. Any minute, any one of us could be struck down by accident, stroke, fall, natural or man-caused disaster - heck a meteor could fall out of the sky and poof.

When it happens to me, I do not want to be sitting at a desk; I want to be fishing.

Failure is one of many options

I had an interview for a part time professional job a few weeks ago at a local academic research institute. I did well on 3 of the interviews; the 4Th turned out to be the proverbial interview from hell. It was one of the most uncomfortable hours of my adult life, being grilled by a potential colleague who believed that the successful candidate should have a PhD in Statistics or, at very least, to understand how to use those Excel spreadsheet stat functions that I never learned. I was given a piece of paper and asked to plot the curve of some data that were in an array. It was like an SAT exam question. I drew a happy face, hoping I could charm my way out of this sticky situation. She was not impressed. It was clear from her icy demeanor and Gitmo style interrogation methods that I was NOT what she was looking for. I am not exaggerating - I was actually water-boarded - and my copy of the "Statistics 101 for Dummies" was flushed down a toilet!


I'm sure she gave me a big fat F. I did not get an offer.

The good news is: I will not have the prospect of daily contact with a hostile, nitpicking micromanaging colleague to make my life miserable. Not to mention, parking would have been a nightmare. (I racked-up $33 in parking costs on my three visits, not to mention the probable brain damage during the statistics torture session.)


The experience has reminded me that life is short; and maybe a guy who has spent more than 30 years writing business requirements, specifying data conversions, designing reports and worrying about data integrity - maybe this guy should go sit on a beach and stop trying to get a real job.

St Patrick's Day 2009

Last year at this time, we were on the western side of Kauai. I noticed that St Paddy's Day is not a big deal over there, despite the similarities between Ireland and Hawaii. Both are ancient civilizations who still strongly believe in spirits and sprites. Hawaii, like Ireland, does not have indigenous snakes - who drove them out? St. Iniki?

Anyhow, to tell the truth, I would rather be in Hawaii today enjoying the 80 degree beaches, than here in Boston where it is currently 34 degrees. On the plus side, I have a sixer of Harp in the fridge and an invite tonight for GWP's home-corned beef for the annual dinner (which we missed last year).

How about a bit o' poetry to celebrate the day?

St. Patrick’s Day

Fake Irishmen wearing silly green ties
Calling with bad brogues
for a wee dram of green beer
In bars festooned with shamrocks
Pipes and cartoon leprechauns they
Sing-a-long to a verse of Danny Boy
Like tone deaf drunken goats,
They set the dogs to barking
With their droning tura-lura-lura

Amateurs: they end-up
puking on their Italian loafers
waking-up late for work
the next day in a hangover fog

Grandsons of the famines
Endure this minstrel show
With a mirthless grin
We stay to ourselves
Washing shots of Bushmills
Down with a beer
Glad not to be thinking
About the days
When Irish need not apply.

Yes We Can

I bought a package of underwear today at Sears. I only mention this because by the end of the day , the stock market jumped 379 points.

Could this be the start of the hoped-for rally that has been predicted? I am no economist but I am pretty sure that if everyone out there would just go to a retail store tomorrow and buy something, the economy will start to improve.

Look I bought $15 worth of underwear and the Dow went up 379 points.
Tomorrow, I'm going to shop for socks.

What are you doing to help?

Bail-out the Boomers

I have an alternative to some of those pork barrel projects that the Obama congress has recently approved as part of the Stimulus Plan. You know the ones I am referring to - that do nothing to stimulate the economy - like funding more social services and roads to nowhere and giving raises to bureaucrats

New law, Boomer Relief Bailout retroactive to Jan 2009: Anyone eligible for IRA distributions, whose taxable income from all sources is less that 250K per year will be allowed to take ordinary distributions up to $20,000 from an IRA/401K tax free!
The effect of this law would free-up money that many retirees are rat-holing because they are reluctant to expose it to IRS taxes. The Gov't wants to stimulate the economy, and this would inject billions of dollars into the economy now - instead of waiting for it to be distributed years down the road, squandered on nursing homes and depends.

In the long run this would cost a lot less than imposing new taxes on a beleaguered generation. This plan would also afford some relief to the low-middle income group (many of whom have already lost up to half of their retirement nest egg in the past 18 months.)

Many people would be eager to take out a "tax free" $20K and take a trip, put a down payment on a house, install replacement windows or buy a car!

This would help to save America! Are you listening John Kerry? Barney Frank? Ferris Beuller?