Boomer Musings

Did anyone see where my ball went?

2012-01-27T08:05:00.000-05:00

Golf is not my only passion but it is high up on my list of pleasures. Which is odd in a way since it is very frustrating for most of us amateurs. They tell me that only about 20% of amateurs break 90 (only 6% of women) on a regular basis. I don't know who "they" are so I don't know how true that is. But it puts me in that 20%.

It's frustrating because it seems like such an easy game. The ball is not moving when you try to hit it, for example. The fairways aren't all that narrow (though it sometimes seems that way) and the hole into which we try to put the ball is 2 and 1/2 times as wide.

The problem is that there is also plenty of room for mistakes. If the face of a club is a half degree open or closed when it strikes the ball, the ball could go twenty or more (usually more) yards to one side or the other. A half degree to the right or left off the putter and the ball could miss the hole by several feet on a long putt.

If you watch the pros, you understand how the game should be played. Most of these started playing at a very early age. Tiger Woods, for example, was already playing well when he was 5 years old. By the time he was ten, he was better than I am after 25 years of playing. The pros have a consistent swing and swing speed. Amateurs have swings that vary wildly in speed and shape. Well, the best amateurs approach the consistency of the pros but the average amateur? Nowhere near.

So we amateurs set our goals much lower. And we congratulate ourselves for shots that are just plain luck. What else can we do? Admit we had no idea what we did or how we did it? Not out loud, we won't. Heck, we say "great shot!" when one of us actually hits the ball anywhere near where it was intended.

Some of my golf buddies think I am a very good putter. I'm not. I actually am a poor putter. I have never really figured out how to read a green. It's just a guess on my part. But I get lucky a fair amount of time. And I am not averse to taking credit.

I have joined a group of golfers on Wednesdays at a nearby course who play at about the level I do. They are nice guys; pleasant, retired, winter residents. It's a no pressure game. The only gambling we've done is for quarters for closest to the pin on the par 3 holes. This week, only one of us even hit a green on just one of the four par 3's. No one hit the greens of the other three. And these are short holes; none are over 135 yards.

So, yes, it's a frustrating game. But so is life.

Why are the windows on that car fogged up?

2012-01-26T08:05:00.002-05:00

After reading Pearl's blog a couple of days ago, a re-run of an older post about going to the drive-in as a 12 year-old babysitting tag along, I was sent mentally spinning off into all the memories of the drive-in theater visits of my youth.

I went to a lot of drive-in movies. It was one of the few treats of my youth. The parental units would would gather the three of us kids up and toss them into the backseat of the `48 Ford sedan and take us to the drive-in just outside of town. This happened maybe only twice in each of the summers before I was whisked off to Florida in `56.

I do not remember any of the movies we saw. For one thing, I couldn't see over the front seat. For another, I was usually busy avoiding permanent damage inflicted by my brother. I think I would have rather have stayed home but I was never given that option.

After we moved to Florida, the opportunities for drive-in movie outings increased. Summer is, after all, 9 months long down here. But we didn't go very often. In fact, we only went a couple of times. This was because the only way to keep cool in a car in those days was to have the windows open. And if your windows are open at night in south Florida, there's a fair chance you will have all of your blood drained from your body by mosquitoes before the first movie was over.

I don't recall the movies we went to then, either. That would be because my father and mother chose the movies, not us kids. And their taste in movies never matched mine or my siblings'. I only remember slipping out of the car almost immediately after it was parked and heading for the playground up by the screen or hanging out at the concession stand, only returning to get popcorn and sodas at intermission. In order to protect ourselves from the mosquitoes, my brother and I would run behind the truck spraying some kind of insecticide as it road up and down between the rows. This would leave a protective layer of DDT on my bare skin and clothes (and my lungs). I could have stayed in the car and breathed in the fumes from the citronella coil which my father would light up and set on the dashboard. That coil didn't do much good except chase the mosquitoes toward the back seat.

It was later on, in my teens, when I found out what drive-in theaters were good for. I went more often then. Especially after I got my own car. And the occasional girlfriend. I learned a lot at the drive-in. A drive-in theater was a teen's no-tell motel. Girls who wouldn't let you come over when her parents were out would still go to a drive-in movie with you at the drop of a hat.

I still don't recall what movies I "saw" on those drive-in theater dates. But for much different reasons. Except one... while I was living in Orlando (long before Mickey Mouse owned it), I took a hot date to see "The Haunting" and actually watched it all the way through.

Scary movie.

The long and the short of it

2012-01-25T08:05:00.001-05:00

While in a discussion (debate? argument?) with someone, the concept of "fairness" was brought up. After much wrangling, we agreed that the concept is difficult to define and that much depends upon context or circumstances. We also agreed that human beings are often born with unfair advantages and/or disadvantages.

I am one of those who prefers the phrase "differently-abled" to the term "disabled". I have known way too many people labeled "disabled" who achieved some measure of success. The prime example of which would be Stephen Hawking. Mr. Hawking, as we all know, has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as "Lou Gerhig's disease". He was diagnosed with this crippler at age 21 while still in college at Cambridge. He was already recognized by his professors and mentors as a gifted intellect.

ALS is a nasty disease, robbing its victims of motor skills and mobility and finally killing them. At the time of Hawking's diagnosis in 1963), there was (and still is) no cure and he was given no more than a few short years to live.

But, in my discussion, my counterpart spoke first of height and how short people suffered discrimination based upon it. I thought that an interesting emphasis. I countered with the names of a number of short people who have achieved great success. Both short stature and tall instigate teasing when young. I consider myself neither short nor tall at 5'11" (~181 cm) but, of course, I was not always this height. For many of my formative years I was "undertall", as I like to say. Also known as "small for my age", this could (and did) provide opportunities for bullying. My brother was the opposite, always tall for his age, and was also my main bully. Things did not change much for me until after I turned 16 when I had a 7" growth spurt in one year. So I know something of the discrimination of the short but not so much of the discrimination of the tall.

My father knew of that. As a 6'4" adult in a time when doorways were closer to 6' in height, he often had to dip his head to enter a room. At least as I recall it. My father was a handy platform for me when watching parades; I would sit on his shoulders (up until I was 4 or 5) and have a magnificent view. My mother referred to him as "my giant". My mother was maybe 5'3". I referred to them as "Mutt and Jeff" (an old comic strip duo).

Perhaps height is some indicator of potential. We tend to elect tall people (but not always... see US Presidents by height). I am of average height and have been average in achievement, for example. Or, as I like to put it, I have achieved the height of mediocrity.

I play golf. A couple of days a week, I play with two guys who are short by any standard. Both are about 5' 4" and both hit the ball farther on average and play better than I do. But I was never athletic and these two were and are. Some of that may have to do with natural ability and some with biases regarding height. My theory is that they had to work harder because they had to overcome the perception their lack of height would limit them. While I was expected to perform better because of my height. Since I was small for my age at first, I was not expected to perform well and then, all of a sudden, I was expected to perform well. Since I was not given much opportunity in my early years (and, admittedly, didn't have much talent), I had less experience and ability than the average later on.

I still don't know what "fairness" is.

Love songs? Really?

2012-01-24T08:05:00.000-05:00

We like music at this house. Not the same kind of music, mind you, but music. I like a variety of music: classical, jazz, blues, rock and roll, oldies, swing, even a little country now and then. Faye likes R&B and soul and even some of what I like... as long as it is love songs. And I tend to make fun of them. I call them "stalker songs."

That's what they are in reality. You don't think so? Love songs tell you that the singer will always be there, will wait for you, will be right there (just look over your shoulder), regardless of who you're with. She (or he) knows you will not find happiness with someone else. Classic stalker attitude.

A lot of love songs are about unrequited love. A lot are about fighting with a partner. One of my favorites has these lyrics:

Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone.
Let's pretend that we're together, all alone.
I'll tell the man to turn the juke box way down low,
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go.
Whisper to me, tell me do you love me true,
Or is he holding you the way I do?
Tho' love is blind, make up your mind, I've got to know,
Should I hang up, or will you tell him he'll have to go?
You can't say the words I want to hear
While you're with another man,
If you want me, answer "yes" or "no,"
Darling, I will understand.

Ignoring the words we used to put in to make this dirty when I was a teen, it tells the story of a man whose girlfriend is clearly cheating on him. He knows it but he doesn't want to believe it. So he moons over her even while she is with some other guy. Is that healthy?

I read about a guy in California who saw too many romantic movies. He vowed to walk a couple hundred miles to reclaim his lost love. The media found out about it (because he did his best to let them know) and looked her up. She wanted nothing to do with him and was happy in the relationship she was now in.

I think love songs encourage that sort of thing by extolling the "virtues" of total devotion... even for a lover who clearly wants out of the relationship.

Perhaps it's because I had similar problems with my ex-wife. She insisted we belonged together, that she was going to "win me back", she stalked me, she tried to climb in my apartment window, she called me up in a drunken stupor at 3 AM... she made my life miserable. All the while she was sleeping with some other guy.

Relationships are just plain strange. There's the love/hate ones:

Break up to make up, that's all we do
First you love me then you hate me
That's a game for fools
Break up to make up that's all we do
First you love me then you hate me
That's a game for fools

And the ones where one partner knows the other is insane but doesn't care:

Well, I've got two lovers,
and I ain't ashamed.
Two lovers, and I love them both the same.
Two lovers, and I ain't ashamed, two
lovers and I love them both the same.

And then there's that jealousy thing:

Oh, Johnny get angry, Johnny get mad
Give me the biggest lecture I ever had
I want a brave man, I want a cave man
Johnny, show me that you care, really care for me

Which some people seem to find "adorable" but can lead to beatings and even murder.

Am I weird? Do I not "get" it?

I never have any fun anymore

2012-01-23T08:05:00.000-05:00

After reviewing what I have written in the past couple of weeks (and even further back), I have come to the conclusion that I am morose and depressing. I could say it's just my nature and that might even be true. But I wasn't always this way, I was once young, care-free, and happy. I was also quite humorous. People laughed with me, not at me, I mean... most of the time.

Along the way on this journey through life, I turned into a cranky old man. Yup, I emulated my father. He was the cranky old man on the block when he was in his thirties. I am strongly suspecting that it's genetic. My grandfather wasn't like this, he was a fun loving, skirt chasing, old ~~goat~~ rogue that drank a wee bit too much for my grandmother's taste. Maybe that's where my father's personality came from... his mother. Or because, unlike his father, he was a teetotaler. He only drank on New Year's Eve and his anniversary (the latter occasion always struck me as an odd time for a teetotaler to want a drink) and then only one mixed drink.

There might be another clue in the above. My descent into crankiness seems to have coincided with my middle-aged reduction of alcohol consumption.

They say we humans tend to "self medicate". We get depressed and have a drink to cheer up. Or we take illicit drugs to escape the boredom or depressive nature of reality. As Lee Marvin's character in "Cat Ballou" said... "I'll drink to that!" I wonder. Perhaps we just need the escape from reality from time to time.

When you think about it, reality is pretty depressing for most of us. We work all our lives until we are too old to and then we are told to retire and enjoy life. Life, at that point, is watching yourself crumble into old age and senility. I have known more than a few men who retired and then died within 5 or 10 years. They had nothing to keep them going.

That's not a problem for me. As I have said before, I was born to be retired. Doing nothing much has always been my goal.

When I was working, a co-worker once remarked about our graveyard shift, "Working nights is like having every day off... but you're sick all the time." That's a bit like retirement. I have every day off but my deteriorating knees, eyesight, and hearing doesn't let me take advantage of them.

I know, I know... I seem to play a lot of golf. But that really isn't fun unless you do it well and I don't do it well. But I'd miss it if I quit playing. And I have nothing in mind that could take its place.

Maybe I should take up drinking again. As I recall, I used to be very good at it.

Frankly, I am considering emigration to Ecuador

2012-01-21T08:05:00.000-05:00

Not that it would be any better there...

I am disgusted and angry. Not simply because I had a miserable day on the golf course Friday (which I did) but because I am appalled at people who think party loyalty is somehow intelligent. Who are willfully ignorant. Who refuse to even listen to the "other side." I am not simply talking about hard core Democrats but about hard core Republicans and hard core Libertarians and hard core any party or ideology you can think of.

A man yesterday started ranting about what he perceived the Republicans want to do. Most of which was wrong. He didn't want to acknowledge, or even hear about, what Democrats want to do, or are perceived to want to do. He didn't want to hear any opposing viewpoints. Nobody trusts any news source, it seems, but the ones who mostly (if not entirely) support their own ideology. This is why the Huffington Post has become some kind of legitimate news site instead of the Left Wing propaganda site it actually is.

On the other side, we have people who rely on Rush Limbaugh for news.

This is absolute insanity.

In 2000, I lived in "chad central"... West Palm Beach, FL. I thought I had seen the height of ignorance, political shenanigans, and propaganda in that election year. I was wrong. We now are so torn apart, so unwilling to listen or watch opposing viewpoints, so angry at each other over politics and class (read that as "rich vs poor") that we are destroying the country in the process.

I strongly believe I am witnessing the dismantling of a free country. And most of us seem be cheering it on as Romans once did the destruction of slaves, criminals, and Christians in the games.

Too smart for one's own good

2012-01-20T08:05:00.000-05:00

I like to think of myself as an intelligent man. That's an obvious conceit, is it not? Some of you who have been reading my posts, or know me personally, are likely chuckling about that conceit. But I have, over the years, been presented with proof of my intelligence. Namely, IQ test scores.

People tell me how smart I am. Usually, though, they add another term for donkey to the word. I prefer to think of myself as a "brilliant idiot." I have said and done some of the dumbest things throughout my life. I blurt out something that comes to mind, I break into a school on a lark (Age 12), I go on a car theft spree one night with a couple of new friends (15), I get so blitzed that my hangover is clear to the bosses eying me as management material (35), I ride a motorcycle without a helmet (and often drunk or stoned on drugs) for years in southern California traffic (early 20's), and so much more.

I am obviously not a genius. I just tested well. I am not sure I would want to be a genius. The other night on "Criminal Minds" (a great show, by the way) wherein the resident genius character, Dr. Spencer Reid (well played by Matthew Gray Gubler), becomes introspective after a chance meeting with another highly intelligent young man who has designed some innovative medical treatment (and started a company based on it). He recalls that he had a dream to find a cure for schizophrenia by the time he turned 25. It is tied in with a search for a serial killer emulating the Zodiac Killer. This serial killer is a genius and chess master, stereotypically shown as an awkward social loser. Serial killers are typically profiled as highly intelligent socially inept misfits stuck in demeaning low-end jobs. I suspect the police like this stereotype because it no shame to be outsmarted by the highly intelligent.

In any case, Dr. Reid's introspection reminded me of my own. That's one of the drawbacks of being smart... you realize how poorly you've performed, how you have not lived up to your perceived potential. You recognize your mistakes and failures immediately. We all have regrets, of course, that's not confined to the intelligent. But the smart ones among us seem to feel those regrets more strongly.

A friend I had in the Navy, Herb, was a certifiable genius I believe. There is a battery of tests you take when you first enter the military (sometimes before) for classification purposes. The first two are called GCT (General Classification Test) and ARI (Arithmetic evaluation) and the combined score of these was equated to IQ to a great degree. It shouldn't have been because they involved knowledge more than inherent intellect. But Herb (a high school dropout at 16) aced them. They each had a max score of 75 and Herb's combined score was 150. I have no idea what happened to Herb after he was cashiered out on an "administrative discharge". Herb was a "brilliant idiot" who could not stay out of trouble. He would go AWOL on a whim. He ignored rules that interfered with anything he wanted to do.

I wonder just how many other Herbs are out there?

You want money? Get a job, kid.

2012-01-19T08:05:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, this is an election year. And we are going through the agony of political primaries. We all want that "white knight" to come galloping along that we can all rally around but I'm too skeptical to think it will ever happen. And, if one did, I would be skeptical about him/her too.

But this isn't about politics, it's about something that has come up during the seemingly endless debates and soundbytes. At some point, one of the candidates offered that teens in general have a high unemployment rate and that minority teens at in the worst position. He suggested that they be given menial jobs, such as janitorial, so they can gain some skills that would be useful when they start looking for a career. I am paraphrasing, of course. It was vilified as insensitive and demeaning.

Then I started thinking about it and looked back into my own employment past.

I was a paperboy, an usher, handyman, a bellboy, a busboy, and did more than a few odd jobs in between these. All before I turned 19 and enlisted in the Navy. In the Navy, I did a lot of janitorial work... it was part of the overall duties of any sailor's (non-officer) life. We cleaned, scrubbed, swabbed, scraped, chipped, sanded, painted, and just did whatever we were told to do. That was in addition to our normally assigned duties for whatever rating we had (I was a Sonarman).

I don't recall ever thinking any of it was demeaning. I thought it was how you got spending money. In my house, you worked for just about everything you got except Christmas or birthday presents. Our allowances (when we got them) were in return for doing assigned chores. Shirk the chores and you got no allowance.

Maybe I was used to it. When I was 5 years old, my father owned a bicycle shop. Great for a kid, right? My first bike was an old rusted frame that I had to sand and paint. Yes, at age 5. My father put on the parts needed; bottom bracket, crank and pedals, axles, coaster brake, wheels, ties, seat, tires, handlebars, etc. I don't recall now if it had fenders. All I recall was that it was green (I was partial to green) and never had training wheels... my father didn't believe in them though he would happily sell them to anyone who asked. By the time I was 9, I could (and did more than once) build a bicycle from (used) parts. Still can.

My father felt people didn't appreciate anything they didn't work for.

The Funny Pages

2012-01-18T08:05:00.001-05:00

I have always been amused by the comics in the newspapers. No, silly, not the Op-Ed pages, the comic strips. Especially on Sundays. You see, when I was a lad back in the latter stages of the last Ice Age, Sunday was the only day they were in color and the only day some of them appeared at all in the newspaper my father preferred. I don't recall which paper that was, probably the New York Times since we lived on Long Island in a tiny (and charming, I'm sure) little hamlet called Farmingdale.

Each Sunday morning I would grab the "funny papers" from the kitchen table (after Dad had read them, of course), lie down on the living room rug next to the radio (which was the size of a medium chest of drawers) and scan the cartoons as the voices on the radio read them in character.

Nobody reads the "funnies" for me anymore. I can now do it all by myself. Usually. And I do not have to wait until Dad is done with them. They are delivered to my computer via email from GoComics.com for free. I don't even have to worry about getting that newsprint ink all over my fingers. I hate that stuff.

My list is simple:

The Born Loser
Drabble
Frank & Ernest
Get Fuzzy
Andy Capp
B.C.
Wizard of Id
Luann
Pickles
Broom Hilda
Momma
Rose is Rose
Herman
Calvin and Hobbes
Non Sequitur
Shoe

These are my favorites now. I miss a few that were available when I was a child: Alley Oop, the Katzenjammer Kids, Gasoline Alley, There Oughta Be a Law, Li'l Abner, the Phantom, Terry and the Pirates, the Little King, and a few others. Some are still available but they just aren't the same... or I'm not the same... doesn't matter. And, really, you just have to move on at some point, don't you?

It's nice to start the day with a chuckle or two, isn't it?

Readin' and emails

2012-01-17T08:05:00.001-05:00

The internet is a minefield of commercialism. If you buy something, anything, you will open yourself to "admail." That's my name for it; others may call it spam but, since it is voluntary (if you realize you could have opted out or can opt out at any time), I think it doesn't fit within the definition. To me, spam is unwanted email from anyone and anything. If you didn't opt out, you volunteered to get it. Quit complaining about it.

In any event, I bought a Nook Color e-reader sometime back and, when I registered it, I allowed them to pester me to buy books for it as well as notify me of updates, etc. I have even justified their ad campaign by purchasing two (count `em... 2) digital short stories ("Mile 81" by Stephen King and "Second Son" by Lee Child). So I do peruse these admails to see if they refer to anything I am actually interested in.

This one intrigued me. It advertised a child's book called "Underpants Thunderpants." Now, I was a child once... oh so many years ago... and a book title like that would have had me giggling immediately. And probably making noises with my armpit and then holding my nose.

Here, let me show you a blurb offered at their site...

"Underpants, thunderpants, look at them fly! Over the ocean, the jungle, and town - where will those undies come fluttering down?" When Dog leaves his underpants on the line during a thunderstorm, they take off on quite the adventure in this light-hearted book by Peter Bently.

The image this conjured up was akin to "Puss in Boots"... only it was "Bowser in Bloomers."

Childhood diseases

2012-01-16T08:05:00.001-05:00

I just read that India is finally eliminating poliomyelitis. It has been a year since a new case was diagnosed. If there are no new cases for the next two years, India could be certified as "polio free." There are only three other countries which are not yet polio free: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.

When I was young and living in Farmingdale, NY, polio was much on the mind. I knew a couple of kids who had polio. One little girl, about my age (6 or 7), rode the same school bus I did (when I rode it...). She had the metal and leather braces and the crutches and struggled to get on the bus (and off, too, I suppose.. her stop was after mine). I remember her being pretty, red-headed, friendly and upbeat. The other kid I knew of more than knew. He was homebound and was in an iron lung. He was not alone. Many of those who contracted polio needed an iron lung to survive, to breathe.

But Jonas Salk developed a polio vaccine and that was the beginning of the end of the threat in the United States and most of the world. That vaccine was in the form of a shot using dead polio virus. Later, Albert Sabin developed an oral vaccine using an attenuated (weakened but live) virus. I didn't get that oral vaccination until I enlisted in the Navy but I got the Salk vaccine in 4th grade.

By the time my son was born in 1970, there were vaccines for most childhood diseases. I had to get through them on my own. Measles, mumps, chicken pox, scarlet fever were just things you had to endure (or survive). And even though my son was vaccinated against measles, he still got them.

We take these vaccines today for granted. And we don't think about the virulence of the diseases they prevent. So now we have people who don't want to get their children vaccinated. They fear side effects that are both possible and proven not possible. If they saw the ravages of these diseases, as I and my parents did, they would not hesitate to have their children vaccinated. At least, I hope they wouldn't.

We owe how much?!!!!

2012-01-14T08:05:00.006-05:00

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

The debt ceiling is in the news again as I write this. Seems like this happens in shorter and shorter intervals. Actually, it doesn't just seem like it, the intervals are shorter. You would think that would tell the pols that we (meaning the government) are spending way too much. And no one in Congress seems to have the guts to cut any of it. About the only thing they'll do is cut the amount of increase to the various budgets.

I have a solution to the problem. Limit all department and other budget increases to the official cost of living increase. Not the actual cost of living increase (the one we actually have to deal with) but the one the government claims it is. It won't reduce the debt but it will slow the increase.

The only problem with this solution is it wouldn't pass either the House or the Senate. And, President Obama would not sign it. He might even veto any legislation that included it. It would severely limit their (the pols) ability to loot the treasury and dole it out to their buddies.

Paying for their mistakes

2012-01-13T08:05:00.001-05:00

I was thinking about an old joke... "to err is human... but to really foul things up, you need a computer." Which is true but a computer only magnifies the mistakes made by a human. They are good scapegoats, though, I must admit. I always blame mine.

That got me to thinking about something else. We say that people pay for their mistakes and I suppose that is basically true. I feel I've paid for mine anyway. But there are some folks who do not. Instead, others pay for them. I am talking about lawyers and mechanics here, not so much ex-wives and co-workers/bosses.

As some of you who have followed this blog know, I have been dealing with lawyers over a stipend owed my mother by the estate of her late boss... a lawyer. [link] Unlike most lawyers I have run into, he managed to retain a conscience and a sense of loyalty. Over the three years(!) that this has dragged on, I noticed something. When a letter was not written as the lawyer wanted (or as I had asked), it would be "revised" and that revision would cost me money. I, therefore, paid for the mistakes made by the lawyer or his employee. If the lawyer does something wrong and causes a complication, guess who pays? The client. I am beginning to think "client" is an ancient term meaning "one who pays through the nose."

And then I recalled all the times I have dealt with mechanics. When I was young, I did much of any repair work needed on my car. There were two reasons for this. The first was that I had no money to pay someone else to repair it and the second the car needed a lot of repairing. My first car was a `52 Studebaker purchased in 1963 for $80. At the time, any car that ran was worth at least $100 so I figured it was a bargain. It had a lot of problems so I learned a lot of things about repairing cars.

Eventually, however, you find it more convenient to let someone else repair your car. And change the oil and do other bits of routine maintenance. Because cars got more complex, more full of alien technology. That is when I first realized mechanics expected you to pay for their mistakes. No, not when they damaged something in the process of performing maintenance or making a repair. When they misdiagnosed the problem.

You bring your car to the mechanic with a problem. You describe the symptoms (as you do with your doctor), the mechanic (or "service writer" at dealerships) says "Yup, sounds like the carburetor" and promptly charges you a jillion dollars to rebuild it. Nowadays, of course, you don't have carburetors so they say "Yup, sounds like the engine's computer" and charge you a jillion dollars to replace it. But the principle is the same.

Sometime around 1982, I got smart and started insisting they write down the symptoms where they used to write "rebuild/replace [whatever]". then, when the problem was not solved by whatever they overcharged me for, I would bring the car back and demand they fix it at no extra charge. When they would protest, I would brandish the work order and insist, pointing out that they did not fix the problem and so I would not pay for the mistakes they made. It worked more often than not, I was surprised to find out.

Not that I am recommending this... because mechanics may have caught onto the trick. So don't blame me if they no longer fall for it.

It's Friday the 13th... I probably shouldn't have talked about car repairs...

Laughter amid the nuclear holocaust

2012-01-12T08:05:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry, I was sidetracked by unimportant non-essential trivial distractions and gave no thought whatsoever to today's blog post.

That is, I spent the evening watching a DVR'd copy of Dr. Strangelove (or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb). An amazingly funny movie about the end of civilization as we know it. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the movie (I expect that would be 3 or 4 people at most), it is a farce. Though the cast is full of first rate stars, it is really a showcase of Peter Seller's comedic talent.

Some of it takes me back to my Navy days. It had the checklist mentality down perfectly. It also reflected the fear of nuclear war with the (now former) Soviet Union that was prevalent at the time. For those of you too young to remember those days, it might seem silly but I can assure you it was seen as a very real possibility.

But the movie was spoof and hilarious. A kind of morbid humor at the time, it can now be viewed in a different light. Well, at least by me. Except when I think about Iran...

What will they (re)think of next?

2012-01-11T08:05:00.000-05:00

I am at about the mid-point in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom (Mars) series. This episode/book details the initial adventures of Ulysses Paxton who, like John Carter before him, is transported to Mars via some sort of astral projection at the point of near death after being horribly wounded on the battlefield in WWI.

This episode was published in 1928. What is most interesting about it is that Paxton falls into the hands of Ras Thavis, who is the "Master Mind of Mars." Ras Thavis is a scientist and doctor (of sorts) who has perfected the transplanation of organs, limbs, and even brains. You might realize that organ transplants didn't exist at the time of the novel's writing.

While we are far from brain transplants, we have advanced rapidly in the re-attachment of severed limbs and organ transplants.

As I read about Ras Thavis, it got me to thinking about a conversation I had with a woman at Paneras a week ago. We were discussing tablet computers and I remarked that I had first seen these on Star Trek - The Next Generation in the early or mid 90's. First, it was touch screen operation of the ship's computer terminals and controls. Then it was eReaders as the crew members would be reading novels on these little hand held devices. We didn't have anything resembling the thin laptop computers then, just portable ones. We didn't even have LCD monitors. Touch screens had existed back in the early days of PCs, though, but they were mushy (like gel filled plastic) and unreliable. You still pressed fairly hard, not merely touched or swiped your fingers across them.

Just as Verne predicted the nuclear powered submarine, science fiction has repeatedly predicted all sorts of advances in science. At the same time as it has shown the imagination's limits. After all, on Barsoom, they are still fighting with swords and have no TVs even though they have flying ships (which seem to resemble sailing ships) and guns.

This is why I am fascinated with science fiction and early science fiction in particular. And I wonder if those who thought up the iPad were also fans...

Say what?

2012-01-10T08:05:00.000-05:00

I was musing today about how we speak. There are various dialects in every language Since I am monolingual, I will stick to the only language I am nominally qualified to comment upon... English. Or, more accurately, American. I am aware, of course, that all languages have variations based on locality.

We have southern dialects, New England dialects, mid-western, and more. And, within these categories, we can break them down to states. In fact, to not have/use a dialect would be a rare thing. And each dialect has a connotation to it; a stereotypical user, if you will. Most of these stereotypes reflect prejudices or biases toward the region or state.

Then we have slang. There are different kinds of slang and these are often keyed to the dialect of the person engaging in the slang. Slang is hip. It is used to show one is "in", knowledgeable of the latest fads.

When I was a "surfer dude", for example, I used a number of slang words... "Gremmie" was a variation on gremlin and meant someone who irritated or got in the way. "Bitchin'" was a good thing, as in "what a bitchin' day!" I had to be a bit careful using that one as the maternal half of the parents wasn't appreciative of such words. But using the slang, or argot, of the fad showed I was "in", a part of the scene, one of the crowd.

There is overly formal speech, where one is most cautious about how one expresses oneself so that no misunderstanding can be inadvertently perceived. There's casual speech in which contractions and slang can be tossed about with abandon. I seem to drift between these two at random, not wanting to commit to either one exclusively.

Southern dialect is charming. Especially the more formal form spoken by southern belles. Redneck southern is not so charming and reminds one of the movie "Deliverance." It conjures up inbreeding and stupidity. And NASCAR fans. And missing teeth. Yes, a stereotype.

New Englanders speak slowly and carefully and are a bit inscrutable. There's a lot of "eyuhs" (or "ah yuhs") and cars are "cahs" (the "a" is pronounced like the"a" in "at"), I am most amused by the New Englander's pronunciation of "fork". Within New England, there are dialects that are specific to each state. Bostonites (Bastinites maybe) have their own unique variation too.

Californians used to claim they had no accent, no dialect. Then we found out about "Valley-speak." And there's that Okie remnant remaining in the so called "Inland Empire" and many of the farming regions. And have you noticed that country music singers and musicians all have some kind of country style accents? Even if they were born and raised in Chicago, San Francisco, or New York?

New York's dialect is interesting. There's a difference between the city of New York and the rest of the state. Except Long Island (normally pronounced by residents as "LawnGuyLand") which is much like the city's. And it's similar to what you would hear in New Jersey. But the "boroughs" of New York City have their own accents and dialects which set them apart.

I once thought that, with national TV, movies, and radio and mass communication that we'd all end up speaking without an accent, that we'd develop a more cohesive dialect. That we'd all eventually sound like the announcers and newscasters.

I was wrong. Couldna bin more wrong iffen I trahhed.

Trudging up that learning curve

2012-01-09T08:05:00.001-05:00

I finally succumbed to the hype and my own belief that these things are the future of computing; I purchased a tablet computer. Not an iPad but a Thrive. Why the Thrive? Well, why not? Seriously, it was because I am a tightwad and the Thrive had more features than any of the others, including the iPad. I fool myself by thinking I am seeking value when, in reality, I am cheap.

Now comes the truly difficult part... what am I going to do with this tablet? I like the concept of tablets. Easily carried, not strongly tied to an electrical outlet, lots of programs ("apps" to you) to run on it (many are free). Can I write posts for this blog? Can I comment on blogs and online news articles? Can I get comfortable with the tiny virtual keyboard? All this remains to be seen. At this point in time "I am only an egg." I have much to learn. As a friend remarked, it's a good thing we are retired and have all this free time. Of course I retorted that, with our advanced years and waning mental accuity, we'll need it. That learning curve has become very steep.

I find I have to learn how to navigate and operate within an alien operating system. This isn't Windows or OSx or Unix/linux, it is called Android. That word suggests robotic to me. Rather, a mix between human and machine. The human part is certainly there; there are inconsistancies in command and function. What is intuitive to one person may not be so to another. And when you add programs written by a myriad of different programmers, you have the opportunity for computing chaos. For example, within one provided application, Settings, you pop up screens pertaining to various functions and options. These screens can sometimes be dismissed by tapping on a blank screen area (sometimes) or (always) by tapping on another function or option. I would think the Settings app would be available on the main menu screen, but it isn't. It is found on the right hand (2nd) Apps screen. And its icon is dark and unobtrusive.

Not all websites (few of them really) are compatible with the Android browser (or other mobile devices). I cannot change certain things on my Scottrade website, for example. Not a big deal because the important functions work and I can get a quick glance at how much my investment stake is dwindling. Still, it's a little annoying not being able to change the scale of a chart from whatever it was the last time I changed it from my desktop or laptop. There are mobile apps for some of these webistes but most seem geared for the smartphones.

I went looking for an app that would work like Wordpad does on my PC and laptop. So far, I have found only one and it was geared for a phone. And it is limited to making a few notes or reminders. I need something with which to write a document which I can then transfer to my blog. Doing a search on the Android app market shows me a couple of candidates which I will have to try. But this is part of the problem; tablets are an offshoot of smartphones (a next step, if you will) and so it will take a little more time to separate the two.

I have found a text editor that seems workable but I failed to find a way to transfer the text to Blogger's editor. And so I trudge ever onward and upward.

Guns and butter

2012-01-07T08:05:00.001-05:00

We are on our way to a leaner military. This is a result of the mandated cuts that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction's failure to come to an agreement. That this was widely predicted has been ignored. So we have a potential $100 Billion in cuts to defense over the next ten years. This phase involves the first $450 Billion.

It's the old "guns and butter" dilemma. People think we spend too much on the military. And that is a common perception during peacetime and at the wind down of a war. We did this at the end of WWI, WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam... Each time we have had to rachet it up again because the next conflict happened.

Our military is like insurance. You pay for it and hope it isn't needed. And, like insurance, you gripe about the cost.

But I look around today and I see a repeat of the dismantling of the British Empire after WWII. In spite of the rhetoric of the Left, we do not have or maintain an empire. But what we do have is shrinking. Some of it because it is the natural ebb and flow of geo-political influence and some because people have come to believe we are the cause of evil in the world.

To cede our global superiority, we must trust the other major military superpower (Russia) and the emerging military superpower (China) to not have global empire ambitions.

After WWII and Korea, we tried to move away from a militaristic emphasis to a trade emphasis. We took advantage of our new superpower status to spread our economic power. We were quite successful. Mostly because we had an undamaged manufacturing base and much of the rest of the world didn't. The rest of the world looked to us for aid, for products, for markets. And we provided all of these. They also looked to us for security against the aggressive regime in the Soviet Union. And we provided that, too. It saved them a lot of bucks which they could then invest in their economic infrastructure.

And it ended up costing us more than we could imagine. It was expensive to be the world's policeman. And then we found ourselves in serious economic competition with the countries we helped re-establish themselves. With our former enemies who were now allies.

We are doing all the things we seemingly must do. And, in my opinion, the last things we must do. Reduce our ability to fight on two fronts and we will soon face conflicts on two fronts. Limit our ability to fight and we will soon find ourselves threatened.

Peace is not maintained by weakness and conciliation. Never has been and never will be.

If you favor butter over guns, you will soon find yourself without either.

Torn

2012-01-06T08:05:00.001-05:00

I am going through a period of angst. I use that word in the existentialist definition. I also use it in the traditional definition since they both work for what I am feeling. An unease, a mental discomfort. It might be because my golf game is poor lately and how I play has a profound effect on how I feel. Or vice versa. Who can tell?

A friend of mine organizes the golf group with which I play two days (Wednesday and Friday) a week. Another friend organizes the other group in which I play on Mondays. They are as unlike as any two people can be in their methods. One is meticulous and orderly... maybe to a fault; any change throws him and upsets him (which he does not take out on others but internalizes). The other uses a laissez-faire method. I am torn between them. Neither method quite suits me but I have no wish to interfere or to run a group. I would be much worse and I would likely be rigid and irritating while being irritated by any lack of cooperation. In many ways, I am a "control freak". I am also the opposite. This is why I shy away from leadership positions and also try to avoid being a follower.

In some ways, angst is my normal state of mind. Constantly torn between the desire to control everything around me and unwilling to even try.

That's probably why this blog has no direction.

If I ever had an idea, it would be overlooked

2012-01-05T08:05:00.002-05:00

I often wonder about how people think, how people interact, and how to properly pronounce "often." In the end, I am frustrated. I suppose I could have pursued a career in psychology or psychiatry if I had really wanted to know how the brain works but they (psychologists and psychiatrists) don't seem to know the answers either. At least not yet.

But my curiosity draws me to various articles about such things and one such is this one by John Stossel, "Ideas Have Sex, and We're Better for It". I also wonder whether the punctuation belongs inside or outside the quote marks in a trailing quote. But that's not the point.

Stossel learned this from a man named Matt Ridley, a British journalist.

Mr. Ridley is, it may come as no surprise, libertarian in a political sense and an optimist in an evolutionary sense.

While I was working in Jacksonville in the late 80's, my company was going through a bit of turmoil. For most of the years I worked for that company, I saw it as "bottom driven". That is, it allowed a sort of freedom to explore from its employees. Nowhere was that freedom greater than at Bell Labs. There, the employees were encouraged to pursue any idea that came to them even if it did not seem to have anything to do with telecommunications. Because, I think, they felt some other employee would find a way to adapt the concept into telecommunications. Of course, they also had projects given to them to pursue so it wasn't just an unguided chaotic think tank of sorts.

I didn't work at Bell Labs, that would have required at least an engineering degree. I was a lowly tech working in one of 140 or so long distance switch offices.

There had been some changes at the "top" and it was shaking us all up. Rumors of layoffs and actual layoffs were happening. What I saw happening was an attempt by the top brass to take control of the company and drive it from there. One of the things they came up with was "quality teams" which were supposed to examine problems in how things were done and find ways to resolve them. One of the "tools" used to do that was something called "brainstorming sessions" where people would blurt out ideas, however unrelated or weird, in the hopes that it would lead to a solution.

I was nominated for one of these teams. I took myself off it after a couple of meetings. Random thoughts unrelated to the problem were encouraged but not radical ones related to it. And especially not radical ones that exposed the problem's origination. At least in the problem we were working on. I felt finding the origin of the problem would help us find a solution to it. I found the "team leaders" discouraged that in favor of mechanical solutions. So I walked away from the "project." You could say I'm a quitter but I felt that the "think tank" concept was being distorted and that we were supposed to come up with something palatable to the "brass." I said so in my resignation letter. This did not make me popular.

Based on the Stossel column and what I have subsequently read of Mr. Ridley, I can buy into his concept. Let people freely exchange ideas and those ideas will "mate" and produce new ideas but don't interfere, don't filter or direct them, because that will slow or even block new ideas.

Gunsmoke

2012-01-04T08:05:00.000-05:00

For the last couple of days, I've been getting my fill of Gunsmoke reruns. I like the show, it's trite and outdated but I like it. The characters are as black and white as the film it was recorded on. The bad guys are bad and the good guys good and you can spot them as they ride up the street or walk into the Longbranch saloon. No complex characters, just 2 dimensional ones. The plots and stories are simple and 2 dimensional too. Just basic entertainment, no deep thinking required.

What I like best is finding characters played by actors who later became stars or prominent character actors. They aren't playing major characters either, often just small roles. If you watch enough of these shows, you see some of these come back in other roles. One time as gunfighter, another time as a settler, yet another as a drifter, sometime later as an outlaw. Denver Pyle comes to mind, he had 14 appearances on Gunsmoke.

I have a little problem watching the show since I keep seeing car/truck tire tracks in the dirt roads, and wonder why there are no ruts in the streets of Dodge City. And then there's the ladies in their fine dresses with the zippers in the back. Zippers didn't show up until the 1890's. Yeah, I looked it up.

Still, it's fun to watch the old shows...

A total blank in black and white

2012-01-03T08:10:00.000-05:00

Know what is scary? Seeing the clock showing 7:51 AM and having no idea what to post today. Yes, I've done it. I have failed to come up with a single notion to write about for today. Maybe, this being a new year and all, I should try posting short, pithy, blurbs on the human condition? No, I probably couldn't do that. I could but they would be pointless and dull.

Some of you might be thinking "`pointless and dull?' Isn't that what he posts all the time?" and, of course, you'd be right. It's what I do, what I have a special talent for.

But today is worse than ever. You see, yesterday the Encore Westerns channel had a Gunsmoke marathon. It played the oldest shows, back when it was a half hour show in monochrome. I think it stayed in black and white even after it went to an hour show.

I watched a lot of black and white TV. Still do. I like to guess at hair color while watching such shows. I either fooled myself or you could usually guess who was a dark blonde, a redhead, or whatever. I think there were a lot of redheads playing in those days. They show up better in B&W and the freckles don't show. Unless you saw them in person or in a color movie, you wouldn't know for sure. There weren't any glossy magazines like "People", even a lot of pictures in "Life" were in B&W.

There were a lot of B&W films then too. I guess color cost a lot more money. After awhile, we all thought life before the late 50's was pretty colorless. B&W came to define it. At least for me.

Will boys really be boys?

2012-01-02T08:05:00.000-05:00

The last few days before the end of the year, I came across a couple of articles regarding gender bias in toys. One involved a video of a 4 year-old (I think) girl going into a rant about pink toys and gender oriented toys.

The other was this opinion piece in the New Your Times [link] which stirs the pot a bit. Even though it's categorized as opinion, there is nowhere to comment. Deemed too touchy a subject?

It's all about nurture vs nature. A subject I have always been curious about. Being male, I was confronted by certain expectations as I grew up. These were obviously nurture oriented. And I think the nurture crowd have a strong case. I firmly believe we program children from at least the day they are born. Maybe even before... if we suspect or know the gender of the fetus. It's been going on since humans first gathered in clans, I suspect.

Nurture, or cultural pressure, is rampant and persistent. The cultural bias is everywhere you turn. Since parents were subjected to it from infancy, it is only "natural" that they would choose to follow it with their own children. And the ones who rebelled against the social conditioning as children would likely continue that rebellion as parents.

And is it harmful to let the child "choose" its own way? After all, what does a child know of its future wants and needs?

Is it good or bad? Is it better to wait until the child shows some interest and then cater to that interest? Or is it better to steer the child toward the cultural norms for its gender? Or (and this is the real question, I think) are both ways potentially harmful? We are, after all, both social creatures and individuals. This duality creates conflict by itself, don't you agree?

First post of the year

2012-01-01T08:05:00.002-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Shhhhh! I'm sleeping...

What will Iowa mean?

2011-12-31T08:05:00.000-05:00

I should like to write about something miraculous happening in the world of politics today but, alas, there is nothing even close to that. In fact, nothing but the usual political stories exist.

Ron Paul seems poised to make a splash in a few days in the Iowa caucuses. Do you understand the caucuses? Approximately 115,000 people (if the weather is good) of voting age gather in caucuses and decide who impressed them the most. You then count up these and you have what is called a "winner." Iowa has a total populace of 3,046,355 according to the 2010 census. Let's be conservative and say that a third of them are of voting age. So, out of a little over 1 million people, 10 percent of them might participate in these caucuses. Granted, they are not electing a president, merely offering their choice for the nominee of one of the two major political parties.

From this, Ron Paul says a message will be sent. I am not sure what the message could be. If he wins, could the message be that Iowans favor isolationism? Because that is, essentially, the essence of Mr. Paul's foreign policy. Could they be saying that "we don't care what the other states think of us"? I am at a loss as to what message Ron Paul is thinking of.

The Republican majority seems to be saying... "Can't we find someone other than Mitt Romney?" So maybe that is the message being sent. Mr Romney is not a bad candidate. He is intelligent, accomplished, and quite capable of being a good president. His only real baggage is he is of the Mormon faith (that and the Massachusetts health care reform... aka "Romneycare"). In a nation that prides itself on its religious tolerance, that should not be an issue. But our religious tolerance is merely a myth. A cherished one, no doubt of that, but a myth nonetheless. We just do not have legal sanctions based on religious belief. But we are as intolerant of non -mainstream religion as any other nation's people. We just haven't killed anyone over it in many years.

But Mitt Romney may not be conservative enough for some. I know that many hard line conservatives do not think he is. He seems to be favored by the establishment Republicans, the so-called "Country Club Republicans." The Tea Party Republicans appear to be at the heart of the anti-Romney movement. I sympathize with the Tea Partiers but I think they are forgetting that the main idea is not to find a strong conservative to run for president but to find a candidate that can beat the current president. If that person also happens to be a strong conservative then that is a bonus.

The Tea Party folks should concentrate in expanding their numbers in Congress (both House and Senate) and worry about the presidency at another time.

But I am shouting into the wind, aren't I?

Have a Happy New Year!

I'd rather stay in bed

2011-12-30T08:05:00.000-05:00

Winter has arrived. Well, our version of it anyway. You hearty folks who live anywhere north of here would call it fall or spring but it is winter to us. Yesterday morning at 7 AM, it was 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7.2 Celsius... which really sounds cold) when I went out to play golf.

I knew it was going to be cold so I layered up; long pants, thermal undershirt, polo shirt, sweater, and fleece jacket. Why layer up? Because it is better than a just a heavy jacket and because you can unlayer as the weather warms up a bit. Which it does here. By 11:30 it was around 70F (21C) when the round was over so I had shed the jacket and was ready for a bowl of chili.

Like I said, you likely think we're wimps here. Which is true when it comes to cool weather. But if we liked cool weather, we wouldn't be living down here. I have said it before; winter is when the temperatures drop below 70 degrees. I cannot deal with it.

I was not always this way. After all, I was born out on Long Island in New York state. The first 9 and a half years of my life were spent there. But I never liked the cold even then. When my parents moved us to Florida in 1956, I learned what environment human beings (at least this one) belonged in. We do not have natural fur coats (well, most of us anyway), we invented clothes to take the place of natural fur. And clothes are wonderful things, they can be taken off when not needed.

I have heard people say they would rather have cold then heat; that you can always add clothing but you can only take so much of it off. Sure... in public. Let those people move to Canada, Alaska, Montana, Minnesota, and Maine. I prefer to swelter. I got nothing against naked... in front of a fan blowing over a tub of ice.

Snippet of Life: Slip sliding away

2011-12-29T08:05:00.001-05:00

When one is young and stupid, one does young and stupid things. Like ride motorcycles without a helmet. And take drugs. And sometimes both at the same time. This is not exactly smart and one relies on the kindness of fate in those circumstances.

I cannot count the number of times I drank to excess at a friend's place and got on my motorcycle to head home when I found myself staring at headlights coming at me in my lane. Luckily, there was always an alley or street to escape into before the headlights and I merged.

Yet I did not dump my motorcycle on the street until years later and I was stone cold sober. Let me take us both back to that day...

I was working evenings at the phone company and taking classes at the local city college in the mornings. My first wife was also taking classes at that school but hers extended into the afternoon. I would often pick her up from class on my motorcycle if I had brought her to school in the morning.

On one cool early afternoon in the late fall, I headed down Florida Drive to pick her up. I was happily humming along at 55 (it's an open road with a 45 or 50 MPH limit, I forget) on a clear and pleasant day, wearing Levis, T-shirt, thermal undershirt, denim jacket, my rubber-soled work shoes. and an old Navy knit watch cap. About halfway down the road, with a big old UPS delivery truck a few car lengths behind me, a lady in a blue Caddy convertible turned left in front of me to head up toward Balboa Park. I had about a block in which to react.

I hit my rear brake a tad too hard. The rear tire broke loose and swung out to the right. This was not desirable so I backed off the brake. All I could see was the blue of that Caddy, a huge looking beast that seemed to be barely ambling through its turn. Everything was in slow motion. I felt the UPS truck behind me more than anything else, taking no time to find it in my mirrors. My attention was riveted on that Caddy. I hit the rear brake again. This time, the rear tire broke loose and went left. As it threatened to come around to perpendicular, I knew I would not survive a collision or the bike flipping over.

So I did the only rational thing; I pulled the handlebars toward me, forcing the bike to lay down as I hurtled toward the intersection and that *^&(*$ Caddy! I somehow managed to bring my right leg up and away from the bike as we hit the pavement together and slid toward the Caddy (which seemed to be almost standing still now but wasn't). I saw the bike move ahead of me and witnessed the sparks from the front highway peg and the right hand muffler... and smelled the gas that was now leaking out of the tank.

In the few fractions of a second as we both slid into the intersection just as the Caddy moved out of our way, I didn't see my life pass before my eyes but visions of a flaming motorcycle. That didn't happen, though, it just went through my mind. I never felt the asphalt eating through my jeans or jacket sleeve as I tried to slow myself down using my rubber soled shoes without flipping myself over.

And then we came to a stop. I got up. I went to my bike and lifted it upright and walked it off the roadway. The UPS truck drove by a couple of seconds later, he had slowed and stayed out of it all. I kicked the starter and the bike roared back to life and I continued on to the city college.

It wasn't until I got there that I found, and felt, the road rash on my elbow and right hip.

I healed quickly in those days.

Travels with Douglas

2011-12-28T08:05:00.001-05:00

I was out and about today ("off the leash" as Faye puts it) and saw a few things that tickled my fancy. I like my fancy tickled... it feels real good.

One of the things I saw was a marquee at a Taco Bell that said "Gift cards are available". That bothered me. Who would give a gift card for Taco Bell? If it's not the gift but the thought that counts, what would that thought be? It could be worse, I suppose, but Der Wienerschnitzel doesn't have a location in this area... or state.

I got my haircut today. I go to Leslie's Family Haircut Tropical Oasis. It's not exactly an oasis, just a building. She (Leslie, that is) is doing well even in this bad economy. People still have to get their hair cut, styled, dyed, permed, and/or whatever. And Leslie works her cute little butt off. She has two salons now, employs a good many people, and is economical. I only pay $8 (plus a $2 tip) for a "men's regular" haircut. Something we used to call a "trim." You can get a buzz cut for just $6 but I don't like crewcuts. Maybe next summer. This is why I love this town. Anywhere else I might pay $12 or more for a trim.

I skipped stopping by the "Tool Sale" tent. I'll get there one of these days. It's a place you can buy really crappy tools made poorly by slave labor in China for practically the loose change in your pocket. The stuff will hold up for one job, maybe two. I figure the price is more like rent. These tools are the kind even WalMart won't stock.

Still haven't bought my tablet computer yet. I figure to go for the Toshiba Thrive (sorry, Steven and Paul, I know you guys favor the iPad). Just waiting for a price break... which will happen 2 days after I give up waiting.

On the way home from getting my hair cut, I considered stopping into the local Kia dealer to check out a Sportage SUV. But my Buick was so quiet and smooth riding, I was past the dealership before I realized it. So... no new vehicle for me.

They say you are only as old as you feel...

2011-12-27T08:05:00.002-05:00

Do you get easily confused? I do. Especially when it comes to the universe (should we capitalize that word?) and its age. I've mentioned this before, as well as other things science tells us about the universe that mess with my... oh so... logical mind.

I came across this while perusing Google News. If you don't peruse Google News, you should. Or you should peruse someone else's news. In any case, you should peruse the news. It's good for you and I demand it.

Rare galaxy from 'Dawn of Time' photographed

This paragraph especially intrigued me...

"The blob-shaped galaxy, called GN-108036, is about 12.9 billion light-years away and appears as it existed just 750 million years after the universe began. The universe, for comparison, is about 13.7 billion years old."

So, I left a comment...
I have a question... perhaps a stupid one... I am assuming this galaxy is further out from the presumed origin point of the universe than our galaxy is and, therefore is perhaps about 750 million light years from the outer edge of the universe? So, if that point is some 12.9 billion light years from us (or our galaxy), wouldn't that mean our galaxy is rather recent or maybe .8 billion years old? And if that is so, why is the earth considered to be about 4.5 Billion years old? I get so confused...

You are smart folks, what do you think?

New Year's resolution

2011-12-26T08:05:00.000-05:00

At this time each year, many of us try to think up New Year's resolutions. And why not? What better time to make changes in one's life? Of course, anytime is a good time to make positive changes but a new year and a new leaf seem to go together exceptionally well.

We vow to lose weight, to be nicer to others, to give more to charity, to save toward a rainy day, and so on. And then we inevitably fail to follow through. This leads to depression and guilt. I think we secretly look forward to our failure to uphold these vows. Somehow, we like to wallow in guilt. It's probably an American thing.

So I usually do not make New Year's resolutions. It's not that I have faults that need to be addressed, though I am sure they are few and possibly endearing ones. It's just that I don't need additional failures in my life.

To be perfectly honest, I don't need to lose weight. That was taken care of back when I broke my kneecap. The pain alone ruined my appetite which resulted in a loss of 15 pounds in a couple of weeks. And I have not gained any of it back. I am nice to everyone who is nice to me and even some of those who aren't (because it drives them crazy). I suppose I could give more to charity, they certainly call me often enough and send me lots of mail trying to make me feel guilty but I suspect I would get even more calls and more mail asking for yet more. And that would cut into savings. Inflation is already taking a toll on that.

Instead, I will make just one resolution. I resolve to play golf as much as possible.

I think I can follow through on that one.

Merry Post Winter Solstice

2011-12-25T08:16:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!

The tax cut that isn't

2011-12-24T08:05:00.005-05:00

This was written before the House Republicans caved and agreed to accept the two month extension. Yes, I said "caved"... For a country looking for someone with principles, this may just be the final straw.

There's been quite a kerfuffle over the so called Obama "tax cut" for workers. This is the cut in the payroll tax (one of them, Social Security) by almost 30%. That is, from 6.2% to 4.2%. Sounds good, right? It is so important to the White House that the president vowed to veto it if the Keystone pipeline approval is included in the bill. That's right, keeping the pipeline on ice until 2013 is more important than the "tax cut for the middle class." I should say "was more important" because the veto threat disappeared when the Senate passed a bill with the pipeline approval and just a two month extension (not the year long one Obama demanded) of the payroll tax cut.

That cut being allowed to expire, it was said, would amount to a $1000 tax increase for people making $50,000 per year. And the Republicans are being presented as evil grinches who do not care about the middle class.

So let me explain what it actually means. Currently, you pay (if you are employed) 6.2% of your gross pay to Social Security. Up until recently this was called a "contribution" to Social Security where it would go into a "trust fund" and your subsequent benefits (when you reach 66) are calculated based on this "contribution" throughout your working life. The reality, of course, is the money you pay in goes to the people who are already receiving their Social Security benefits. The "trust fund" is mostly IOU's from Congress. (who has been borrowing from SS for decades now). But let's look at what that "tax cut" works out to be.

Let's say you make $50,000 per year before taxes. 2% of that is, indeed, $1000. But that is also before taxes. After taxes, it is less. Let's assume a 9% effective income tax rate. That means the $1000 is now $910. Then let's divide that by 52 (weeks in a year) and we have a whopping $17.50 per week. Or about the amount a family of four might spend to get a meal at McDonald's. Ok, the meal will likely be more than that.

But that $50,000 a year? How many people do you know that make that? Most people here in Paradise do not make that. They make less. Much less. My sister-in-law, for instance, who works for Publix Supermarkets, makes about $10 per hour. So that is $400 per week or $20800 a year. Her before income tax tax cut is $416 a year or $8 per week. Since she makes so little, she pays only a tiny percentage (about 6.2%) but that reduces the $8 to $7.50 a week.

Basically, this alleged tax cut is a lie. It has very little real impact on the people who do not make enough money to live and is undercutting Social Security at the same time.

Amazingly, for the first time in 3 years, the federal government has found it possible to give us Social Security recipients a cost of living (COLA) increase. We didn't have the money, they had said, for the first two years but now, in this coming election year, in spite of the payroll tax cut, there is money to give us a raise. Really? Never mind that this COLA increase will be wiped out by the increase in part B premiums which will kick in this next year also.

And what will happen if the House Republicans cave on this and a two month extension is passed? Well, we'll see yet another fight come late January and running up till the end of February just as we saw this month. And let's just suppose that fight results in an extension until the end of 2012. Will there be another fight to extend it yet another year? Because this economy is not going to turn around in 2012 and prices will still rise (as they have been doing throughout the last 3 years in spite of the government's denial of inflation). After two years, that "temporary" reduction will be seen as something permanent and anyone trying to end it will be blasted for "hiking taxes."

If you plan on voting for Obama in 2012, you are being flim-flammed... bamboozled... taken for a ride. You deserve what you get. I don't.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Apparently this post is a milestone. It is number 1000

How can they say that?

2011-12-23T08:05:00.000-05:00

There are phrases in common use that irritate me no end. Not simply ones that are grammatically incorrect, such as the poor grammar of my ex-wife who would say "The car needs washed." But ones which are clearly impossibilities.

The first is "changed the course of history." That is impossible. History has already happened, its course was recorded and it remains as it was. The only way to change it is to go back in time and do whatever it is differently. Assuming one could do that, we would be unaware that it had actually been changed. It's one of those time travel paradoxes science fiction writers love to play with.

The second is used primarily in golf tournaments by announcers. As a challenger sinks a putt that puts him one back from the leader, the announcer all too often says, "He's moved within a shot of the lead." Wrong. He has moved to one shot off the lead. To be "within one", a putt would have to be worth more than one stroke. And each stroke in golf is counted only as one. No more, no less.

There are other phrases which bug me but none so much as these two. To read or hear either one is, to me, like the sound of chalk screeching across the blackboard.

I coulda been a contender!

2011-12-22T08:05:00.000-05:00

I am a puzzle junkie. I suppose I have always been one. My earliest memories involve trying to figure things out. From the fairy tales and nursery rhymes I was told before I could read to the math problems and history I was taught in school and, always, to the questions on the tests I took throughout my (rather limited) schooling that measured and catalogued my progress.

I often say that I coasted through school, that I never felt truly challenged. The truth, I think, is that I shied away from real challenge and took the easy and soft path that led through the forest of life instead of the rocky and risky path that might have led to great success. Or, put another way, I was lazy. My teachers were always impressed by my ability to score well on tests. They thought I was very smart and often told me I "could do anything [I] wanted to if [I] set my mind to it." Unfortunately, I wanted to slip through life mostly unnoticed.

I like to say "I tested well" when asked how I got decent grades in school. I didn't study, I never "crammed" for a test. In fact, I rarely prepped at all. In class, I simply paid enough attention to remember what the teacher emphasized. When taking a test, the questions always seem to suggest the right answer to me. I didn't understand why but I took advantage of it.

Had I had a mentor, or a good counselor, I might have learned to push myself toward meaningful goals. If instead of telling me I could "do anything [I] wanted", I had been told I would never make the grade, I might have done something with my life.

Or maybe I wouldn't have listened and still taken that easy path to mediocrity.

Facing Climate Change

2011-12-21T08:05:00.000-05:00

People are riled up and divided over global warming. There are the deniers who do not believe there is global warming. Then there are the those who acknowledge that there may be global warming but who do not believe it is the fault of man. On the other side we have the True Believers who believe firmly in global warming and that it is man's use of fossil fuels that is causing it. I suppose there are also those who believe man has some impact on it and support the True Believers to some degree.

Where do I stand? I don't think it matters much what I believe. Each of the groups I described might take issue with me.

My position is that it is unlikely that we can do much about Climate Change (as it is now called) except look into ways to adapt to it. If we are in for an extended period of warming it can work to our advantage... if we accept it. And if we realize it is likely to be followed by an extended period of global cooling. After all, this is how it has happened throughout the history of our planet. We go through periods of cold (ice ages) and periods of warmth. of course, too much of either is bad for life. Some species are lost, some species increase their numbers. In mankind's history, crops change, civilizations rise and fall, famines come and go, and so on.

So while we are fighting over whether climate change is real and whether we caused it or not, only a few geniuses are likely considering how to survive it. These are the real geniuses of our time and we don't even know who they are. Or if they are out there at all.

Adventures in formatting

2011-12-20T08:05:00.002-05:00

I'd like to try my hand at a full humor post. I am no good at it, of course, so you will all suffer greatly but what is that to me? Maybe I shouldn't. My sense of humor drifts deeply into the macabre and might initiate investigations by various legal jurisdictions. And none of us like being investigated, do we? It's those cavity searches that bother me most... you'd think they'd at least buy me dinner.

So, instead, I will provide you folks with tablets and eReaders with a review (of sorts) of a useful utility called Calibre.

As I have mentioned sometime ago, I purchased a Nook color in a futile attempt to be "hip" and in the "now." And I have learned to love the thing. But, being ~~cheap~~... I mean "frugal", I tend to hang out a lot at the Gutenberg Project. There are so many older books that I have not yet read since I excelled at sleeping while undergoing the citizen indoctrination we euphemistically call "school" and the Gutenberg Project seems to have most of them available. And they support (and I quote) "ePub, Kindle, HTML and simple text formats."

My Nook uses ePub so I am set. I have since found that there is an Australian chapter of the Gutenberg Project called "Project Gutenberg Australia". They do things a little differently there. While still free for text and HTML, they charge a nominal fee for books formatted for eReaders. This is only fair, of course, because that entails someone labor's (or "labour" as the Aussies might put it) while the (presuming here) American chapter operates strictly on donation.

As I was looking for some of the various books of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series, I learned that some of the ones I am missing are available at the Australia site. To read them, I have three choices:

1. Purchase an ePub version
2. Read it in text or HTML format on my computer*
3. Find a way to convert to ePub format

If you have not read Burroughs' Mars series, I highly recommend it. But I digress...

Calibre makes it possible to convert a text or HTML file into an eReader format. It is easy to use and does a very good job. Since it is an Open Source, it is free (please donate though, as you should to the Gutenberg Project, if you find it useful) for personal use. Currently, Calibre only supports ePub, PDF, and RTF formats. I am sure at some point, a software wizard will add other formats. In the meantime, most readers support some common formats. See this chart. One of the reasons I waited to jump on the eReader bandwagon was the format issue. It is also affecting my current search for a tablet computer because I fully intend for whatever tablet I buy to also work as an eReader.

You can find a list of eBook converters here.

*I would read these on my computer but I have damaged more than a few keyboards as my head hit them when I fall asleep.

The Ashaninka

2011-12-19T08:05:00.000-05:00

The other day, while perusing the news, I came across an article about the Ashaninka of South America. It's a bit lengthy but not too. There are wonderful pictures of members of this culture, full of the beauty of the region and these people. I urge you to read the article. [link]

While reading the article many thoughts came to mind. Thoughts about how the first people came to the Americas and how they have been displaced by newer immigrants. If you follow the evolution of human beings, you realize that probably only Africa is the continent where humans were indigenous. You might also realize, while sad, that the displacement of tribes and cultures is the way we, as a species, evolve.

But it still hurts the soul to see it happening.

Elections and popularity

2011-12-17T08:05:00.001-05:00

My favorite "union thug", Mike, said something last week that's been nagging at me ever since. He was talking about voting, about the Republican candidates, and asking me who I was supporting; which one I wanted to win. I haven't made up my mind. In a time when the White House is pretty much for the Republicans' asking, the slate has been extraordinarily weak and fraught with problems. Republicans, for the last 50 years, have had an uphill battle They don't just have to fight the charges of the Democrats but also of most of the media.

I know, I know, the Left does not believe that, they think it's just the other way around. And, to be honest, I don't think it is quite as bad as Republicans generally believe. But it is bad. I decided that when I learned of the "major media" representatives meeting with the Al Gore campaign in 2000 to get an idea how to cover him. I did not learn of any similar meeting with the George Bush camp.

But let's get back to Mike and what he said... which was "Why not go with a winner? Obama."

I wasn't shocked, he's been sending me emails offering free "Re-Elect Obama" bumper stickers and full of union news about how evil Wal-Mart is. I know he supports Obama. Like I said, he's a union thug. I say that with love... Of course, when he recently had a problem with his sprinkler system, his first question was did anyone know of someone who worked cheaply that could fix it. I was not quick witted enough to suggest he call his nearest plumbers' union local and pay whatever it cost.

But it's the "go with a winner" comment that has been nagging at me. I realized many years, actually decades, ago that presidential elections were nothing more than popularity contests. In fact, most elections are. Very few voters seem to vote on issues and most of those votes are kneejerk reactions to what they've been told. It's understandable.

But think back to your earliest exposure to electioneering. Like me, that was probably electing the class president or the like. And how did you choose which candidate to vote for? If you knew them, it was the kid you liked. If you didn't know them, you likely went with their recommendation of someone who did. There were few issues to mull over because the post was ceremonial, not substantive.

We have a president that the majority think, according to polls, is taking the country in the wrong direction but his personal popularity is still pretty good. Think about that, the country is going downhill out of control but the public likes the guy behind the wheel anyway.

Go with a winner? Can't I please go with someone who wants what I want for the country? Someone who I can believe in?

Adventures with Comcast

2011-12-16T08:05:00.000-05:00

Last week, Thursday I believe, I noticed something as I went out to get the mail. I realized the cable strung between the utility pole on the south corner of my lot and the utility pole at the north end of the empty lot next to my house was rather low. Not the power line or the phone line, just the bottom cable. That cable belongs to Comcast. The story behind that cable is a long one but can be summed up in a few lines:

Me: Can I get service at [my address]?
Comcast: We have no service in that area.
Me: Will you be adding it soon?
Comcast: By the end of the first quarter of 2007 is the schedule.
Me: Thank you (and then signing up for Dish Network through the local phone company)

The cable to feed my block was run in 2 years later while I was being told by the local Comcast office that they had no idea when or if it would ever happen.

In any event, I went to Comcast Cable in May of this year after getting fed up with Direct TV (having switched to them after my Dish contract ran out) losing the signal whenever it rained (Dish would lose the signal if it was merely cloudy). The Comcast service is more reliable... though it has its moments. So I wanted to avoid an interruption of service if the cable was damaged.

I called the Comcast number. Which, of course, sends me to an out of state (maybe out of country) call center and explained the problem. The rep assured me they were concerned about providing great service and would send someone out the next morning to look into it. It being windy, I hoped it would not get damaged in the meantime.

No one showed up.

On Saturday, I sent a complaint to Comcast through their website, knowing I would not get a reply until Monday.

On Monday afternoon, I went up to the local Comcast office to pick up an HD DVR for the TV in our master bedroom. We had been using just the non-HD little digital box for that TV for some time and it was time. Meaning Faye wanted it.

While I was there, I mentioned no one had come out to look at the problem. I was immediately told that they "don't do that. The County takes care of that. You have to call the county." Holding my temper (but not very well), I explained that no one informed me of that when I called it in and that no tech had shown up to tell me that either. We bandied a few words back and forth and I left in my usual huff.

I called the county's main switchboard because I had no idea what department might handle the problem and Comcast hadn't offered me any names, numbers, or departments. The operator was very helpful and eventually found "Kristen" who told me she didn't think it was their job but that she would send someone out to take a look at it. Within an hour, I heard the sound of a power saw and went out to find that the county workers had just finished clearing the tree from the cable. I chatted with the county guy who said he didn't think it was the county's job because if it was an electrical cable, the power company took care of it and if it was the phone cable, the phone company would take care of it. Ergo, the cable company should have been responsible. But he had a crew working in the area and they weren't loaded down so they took care of it. I thanked him profusely while agreeing with him.

Later that evening, about 5, a Comcast tech pulled up in my driveway to look into that tree problem. I pointed out that the county took care of it and related my exchange with the local Comcast office and the county worker. Having been unable to successfully get that HD DVR to work, I asked him if he had a spare in his truck (he did) and if he would confirm the unit I was given was bad and replace it.

He said he could but that he would have to code it as a "trouble call" and I would be charged $40. I told him that was alright because I wouldn't pay it anyway since the unit in question had been given to me that day.

The unit, of course, was bad though he spent an hour trying to make it work anyway before he gave up and put the unit from his truck in service. That took another half hour to set up because the office hadn't done their job (which they couldn't until I called in even though I was not told I had to).

Everything is now in and working.

You might wish to skip the following (it's a bit long) which shows the email exchange between myself and the complaint/service center in Augusta and jump to the end of the post.
------------------------

We have received your e mail and thank you for using Comcast's online email support. One of our Comcast customer support representatives will get back to you. In the meantime, you may find our FAQ's helpful to resolve your inquiry so we invite you to visit Comcast Customer Central - FAQ. Or, for more immediate attention to your situation, try "Ask Comcast", a real time chat service, available by visiting Comcast Customer Central and clicking on the AskComcast link at the top of the page. We look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Your Comcast Support Team
[rec'd 12/10 3:37]

Thank you for contacting Comcast Cable Email Support. My name is Celemar
and I am glad to receive your email today.

I understand that a technician was supposed to be at your home on
Thursday however no one showed up. I know this is important to you to
ensure your cable service will not be interrupted. I sincerely apologize
for the inconvenience this has caused you. I would feel the same way if
I am in your place. Rest assured that your concern will be given
priority.

the rest deleted because it was merely "boilerplate" assuring me of their commitment and other superfluous chatter

I replied as follows:

If I may follow up? When I went to the local Comcast office to pick up a new
HD DVR to add to my bedroom TV, I mentioned the problem and asked why no one
had shown up. I was told that they "do not clear cables" that, if there is a
problem, I was supposed to have called the county (Highlands County here in
Florida) to deal with it. Had a tech come out on Friday and told me or my
wife that, I would have done so. However, after contacting the county
offices, I learned that they do NOT think that it is their job. However,
they did send someone out to take a look and they did clear the tree from
the line. The county worker told me at that time, he also was puzzled
because the local phone company clears theirs and the local power company
clears theirs.

At about 5 PM, a Comcast tech did show up about the tree and cable issue. I
told him it had been cleared by the county and then asked him if he could
confirm the HD DVR was not working. He told me they would have to charge me
for a trouble call (a $40 charge) to change the callout purpose. I will
contest that charge because the box that turned out to be bad was the one
the office had given me. Not only was the box bad but no one had authorized
it for use on my account and no one at the office told me I would need to
call in to do that. Had I called in (and I tried but the phone system at the
call center was impossible to speak through), it still would not have
resolved the problem because, as I said, the box was broken.

I am not pleased with Comcast service in this area.

I received the following response:
Thank you for contacting Comcast Cable. My name is Jacklyn. I will do my
best to provide you world class customer service by assisting you
regarding your cable and customer support concerns. I hope you are doing
great today.

I understand that you have issues with the reception of your cable box
and you have issues with the customer support. I know the importance of
ensuring that all services are coming through to enjoy the full features
of your service and experience excellent customer support to address
your concerns. It will be my pleasure to provide you with instructions
on how we may correct your cable box reception and how you may forward
us your feedback regarding the customer support. Rest assured that all
the necessary information you need will be provided, Douglas.

I sincerely apologize for any unpleasant experience you had recently
with your cable service and customer support. Thank you for bringing
this matter to our attention.

We need to hear about any unsatisfactory situations in order to correct
them and to enhance our level of customer service. We appreciate that
you took the time to help us keep our commitment to quality customer
care. Listed below are a few things to verify when you are unable to use
all the functions of your Comcast cable service.

[more superfluous chatter deleted]

If you are as sharp as I believe my readers are, you know that "Jacklyn" had no idea what she was talking about. So I replied thus:

I see the same level of competence abounds at Comcast everywhere. The box
now installed works fine. As I stated. This was a spare the tech had in his
truck. He replaced the bad unit I got from the local Comcast office.

No other problems exist now.

-------------------------
They actually replied to this, thanking me for choosing Comcast, yadda, yadda, yadda...

And we wonder why this country is on the ropes...

Identity non-crisis

2011-12-15T08:05:00.000-05:00

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
'Cause I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

The Who - Who Are You

In the mornings, most mornings, I peruse the news through Google. Why Google? Why not? There are plenty of other news feeds, places that gather the news for you and provide links to the stories, that are just as good. I just am comfortable with Google News.

As I scan the headlines, I click on various links to get more infomation. Today, I began to wonder why I click on certain ones and not others. Sometimes, it's the first headline of a grouping, sometimes it's a second, third, or fourth. One of the more obvious reasons I choose a certain link is because I recognize the newspaper or wire service or TV network and think it will give me sufficient detail on the matter. Some are familiar haunts; the Christian Science Monitor is a special favorite, as are the LA Times (for southern California news stories), the San Francisco Chronicle (for northern California stories). But I do not limit myself to these, I often go to CNN, FNC, Huffington Post, USA Today, Washington Post, Ny Times, as well as the BBC, the Guardian, and a few other foreign news sources.

The ones I enjoy most are the ones who allow and even encourage, commenting. I love to read the comments. They are not a reflection of the actual mood of the nation, of course, and I suspect there are "operatives" of the major political parties dropping "talking points" here and there and stirring things up. Maybe not, maybe there really are a lot of people who are just that passionate and see everything in political terms. Or maybe it's just that politics is so important these days. It doesn't seem to matter what the story is about, one is sure to find politics in the comments.

Some news stories, even human interest types, are bound to stir up political ire. But I also see it in science and space exploration, food stories, and many more subjects.

I have noticed a trend in the comments. A number of sites have adopted DISQUS (which I use) and a number have adopted some rival which uses Facebook for login. The DISQUS sites are very active but the ones that switched to the Facebook login are pretty dead. From this I gather that anonymity is preferred since most people use their real names for Facebook. This begs the question of why the news site went to the Facebook login. Did they want to reduce the commenting? Or did they intend to lessen the argumentary nature of the comments.

I have been active on the internet since the late 90's, mostly following various newsgroups (which are not news feeds, just discussions about various subjects). I started out using my full (and real) name and often mentioned where I lived. How naive of me to think that wouldn't come to haunt me. After getting some harassing phone calls (even had my number put on fax lists), and threats, I changed how I interacted. I dropped out for several weeks and then came back in using a pseudonym. That took the heat off but not entirely. I had to make other changes as well because some of these creeps are very clever and know how to parse header information.

I noticed something else happening when I changed my online identity, I had to change my online personality somewhat. My style of writing had to change, I had to be careful what phrases I used, even had to pay attention to the kinds of typos I was prone to make.

I am beginning to wonder if I am the person I once was.

Foolish wisdom

2011-12-14T08:05:00.001-05:00

There is an old saw that goes, "with age comes wisdom." I can safely say that it isn't a universal truth. I have aged and my wisdom is no better than it was when I was 12. On average, that is. It's just about different things. And, of course, I have reversed and/or modified my philosophical outlook on many things over the years.

At this point, I have come to the conclusion that wisdom is relative to the circumstances of the moment. Or, put another way, wisdom is in a constant state of change. What is wise at one moment may be foolish at another. What may have seemed wise yesterday can be revealed as foolish tomorrow... or even today.

Way back when I was in the Navy, in the first year of my enlistment, I was offered the opportunity to get into an officer program. I would have been been given a college education and, from there, gone to flight school. In return, I would have to give up 4 or 6 more years (that part was never clear to me) after college. I considered it as carefully as any 19 year old might. As any 19 year old who had already decided he had made a mistake enlisting in the service, that is. It seemed a wise choice at the time to turn it down. I didn't belong in the military, I felt, and I was probably right... at that point in time. I didn't feel I belonged in college either, which was the reason I had enlisted.

But it wasn't the wisest choice. Except in the circumstances of that point in time.

Now, of course, I know it was unwise to turn it down. I denied myself an opportunity that could have brought me great rewards. So you could say that I gained wisdom with my years. But wisdom doesn't always come with age. Trust me, I know a lot of foolish old men (and women), as I am sure some of you do.

Why am I boring you with all this?

Well, what else would I do with it?

Contradiction or affirmation?

2011-12-13T08:05:00.001-05:00

I read a heart warming article on Sunday in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel entitled "A lifetime of scientific discovery has reinforced man's faith in God" [read]. It's an interesting opinion piece about the guy who had a big hand in the recent discovery of a possible earth like planet called "Kepler-22b." He didn't think up the method used to discover planets in distant solar systems but he believed in the method thought up by man named William Borucki. They both worked at NASA. Borucki "came up with the transit method of studying planets, which involves measuring dips in the brightness of a star when a planet crosses in front of it. The planet itself is not seen, only its effect on the star."

In hindsight, of course, this makes perfect sense. But, apparently, it wasn't always obvious. That's where David Koch came in. He believed in the idea and he pushed it.

Koch suffers from ALS. And much of the opinion piece talks about this. It is interesting to me that Stephen Hawking also suffers from a disease related to ALS. But the main thrust of the story is Koch's belief in God. One might think it odd that a scientist who searches for life on other worlds. It was interesting also that most of the comments were about his belief.

I think we are at a point where we are stereotyping those who believe as much as we have stereotyped those who do not. From the comments, I get the impression that some see believers as fundamentalist with strict adherence to the biblical stories of creation and such. Conversely, non-believers are seen more as anti-theists than atheists. I suppose that is the nature of human beings, we like to "pigeonhole" things and people; simplify the complex. While doing that, many of us pretend that believers live in a "black and white" world while the non-believers claim to see the almost infinite shades of gray.

While I am atheist, I am impressed by this man's faith as he is slowly becoming less and less physically able to do things. We should all be so strong. And so willing to look beyond our beliefs (or lack thereof) in trying to understand the universe and each other.

I call it the "Flold"... achoo!

2011-12-12T08:05:00.000-05:00

You know that ugly flu/cold thing I got a few weeks ago? [link] Well, it's back. I have no idea why or how. It just decided to re-visit me on Friday evening. Faye and I had a dinner date with some friends and she had to go alone while I stayed at home and wallowed in self-pity and tissues.

It got me to thinking, though, about vaccines and viruses (virii?). I should think I was immune to a second attack within a month. I should have been safe for a year, or at least 6 months. It feels very similar to the first one, starting with a scratchy throat and nagging cough that threatens to turn your lungs inside out. Then the headache starts. And the drippy nose. The worst is knowing all you can do is try to minimize the impact of the symptoms while it runs its course.

In the meantime, I will be miserable.

Hope you all are better off than I am.

One man, one vote?

2011-12-10T08:05:00.000-05:00

( yes, I know women vote also)

While perusing the news feeds the other day, I came across this headline...

McConnell warns of popular vote 'catastrophic outcome' [read story]

For those of you who do not follow links and end up wandering off aimlessly (as I often do), let me sum up the article and the issue.

A movement has been gaining strength since the 2000 Election wherein the Electoral College would be reduced to a mere formality and replaced by a de facto popular vote. Someone, somewhere, realized that the states are not prevented by the U.S. Constitution from allocating their electoral votes according to the popular vote. If all the states chose to use a popular vote allocation system the Electoral College vote would merely be a "rubber stamp" of the popular vote.

A little history: Essentially, the Electoral College was established for a couple of reasons. To give the people living in smaller states more of a voice and to smooth out the process of national elections. It was, after all, a time before wire services and national news media. News traveled slowly.

The system also meant that candidates could not simply ignore the less populated states while campaigning and concentrate on the high population states. It's also why we have what are called "battleground states." The modern political environment has "Red" (Republican) and "Blue" (Democrat) states; states that go pretty solidly for one of the two major parties. A lot of people (some very smart ones) believe the system has become corrupted and that the Electoral College system is outmoded by advancements in communication.

I am also of that belief. We no longer need the Electoral College, it is outmoded. It is a provincial system. However, I do not like this plan to circumvent it. What I see happening is that not all states will "buy" into the plan. At some point, some states will realize they will exert more power by keeping the system as it was. This will leave us with a mixed system and political chaos. McConnell is right in this instance, though I'd stop short of calling the possible result a catastrophic one. We don't know that will happen. We don't know what will happen. But we can safely presume that things will not go according to plan. They never do.

The correct way to do this, within the framework of the Constitution, is by an amendment replacing the Electoral College with a popular vote. Doing it any other way would be simply ignoring the Constitution.

Are those teeth marks in your leg?

2011-12-09T08:05:00.000-05:00

When I was a young man of 18-19, I was a "surfer dude." It was not hard to be one. After all, I lived near the ocean, I was healthy, and I wasn't doing anything really important in life. Surfing was also the Big Thing in those days. Some friends brought me into it. I am no longer sure how. I was a night owl type when I turned 18 and slept most of the day when not in school (maybe even then, too) and not especially athletic or sports-minded.

Some friends managed to coax me out anyway. I came down to a beach and watched one day, was egged on and dared into trying it and got hooked. What actually happened was one friend loaned me a board (they were 9-10 feet long then, not these little things you see today, and heavier) and told me to try it. Naturally, the board got away from me at some point and I learned how not to retrieve it. When I went to grab the board, it got popped up by a small wave and smacked me in the mouth. First lesson: always have the waves at your back when you reach for a loose board.

Not one to let something get the best of me, I took up the sport in earnest.

I got tanned... very tanned. I bought a surfboard. I made a surfboard rack for my car (couldn't afford to buy one after buying the surfboard), I started listening to the Beachboys. It took me a few months to get reasonably proficient at catching waves and performing simple maneuvers. It took balance and agility; two things I lacked at the time. I got healthier, the healthiest I had ever been. And braver, too. I took risks. I gained confidence. I got fairly good at it.

I got a few bumps, bruises, and scratches along the way. Trying to walk over coral barefoot is not a lot of fun. Having a surfboard land on your head after being tossed up by a wave actually doesn't hurt... right away. The psychic pain of watching a borrowed surfboard fly off the roof of your car at 70 MPH is deep. Standing on south Florida beaches or roadways in your bare feet will blister your soles. These are lessons you learn along the way.

A couple of things never got comfortable for me. One of them is that there are creatures under the surface of the ocean who view you as possible food. I had seen a few of these. I had a friend who lost a swim fin to a barracuda. I saw sharks a little to close for comfort, even had one slide under my foot while I sat on my board off Canaveral Pier. Didn't see him (the water was very murky that day) but felt him. These things eventually kept me out of the ocean at night.

But at least I didn't have to deal with things like this:

Anomalocaris, lived about 500 Million years ago.

I have a sudden urge for...

2011-12-08T08:05:00.000-05:00

As I was watching one of my currently favored shows, I noted some product placement scenes. You know about product placement? It's where certain brand name items are placed in a contextual but prominent location. That is, for example, is shown on the kitchen counter or when a refrigerator is opened, a brand name of soda is displayed. Maybe several cans or bottles in the refrigerator, all lined up in such a way so the brand is clearly shown. I don't know about you but I don't line up anything in my refrigerator. Everything is just tossed in wherever it will fit with no regard which side is showing.

As I was growing up, there was a lot of talk about subliminal advertising. In those schemes, a momentary flash of a product would be shown during a movie or a TV show. It would be too fast to notice it interrupting the picture but slow enough for it to register on the subconscious. A movie theater, it was said, might flash the words "popcorn" or "soda" on the screen to subconsciously entice people to visit the refreshment counter.

Snopes reveals it never happened, that it's a myth.

Probably so. It would be hard for me to contradict Snopes. It wasn't supposed to work 100% of the time or on 100% of the people and I don't recall ever getting urges for any soda, popcorn, or candy while watching a movie. I always loaded up before sitting down for the first time.

But not too long ago, I became aware of the practice of product placement. That apparently works. Or at least the product makers believe it does. You see it constantly. I understand the makers of various products pay some big bucks to get favorable placement of their products onto TV shows and in movies. And the producers of those shows and movies are happy to take that money.

I don't believe I am influenced by the practice but how would I know for sure? I suspect I am not because I lean toward generic products. I am cheap and brand names are more expensive so I don't buy them very often. I purposely avoid buying them.

But what about you? Or your friends?

Remember Pearl Harbor!

2011-12-07T07:51:00.000-05:00

Seventy years ago tomorrow, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stood before Congress and delivered the following words...

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace."

There was more. And we seldom hear more than the first paragraph. It was the first day of the largest, most widespread, military confrontation the world had ever seen. We fixate on the attack on Pearl Harbor. But there was much more than that in the works that day and the next. More of the speech reveals this:

"Yesterday the Japanese government also launched as attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Wake Island.

And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island."

It's interesting, that last sentence, because we do not read or hear about it. An attack by the Japanese on that day was successfully repulsed. It must have been a faint hearted attack because the tiny atoll of Midway was not heavily defended at the time. But it is interesting all the same. Roosevelt could have stated that the attack was repulsed but he didn't. I think he wanted the public to be outraged and not consoled even a little bit, I believe he wanted to tap into, and foster, the anger of the American public. Japan's final assault on Midway on June 4th, 1942, proved to be the turning point in the war in the Pacific. Japan's Navy was crippled by the loss of 4 carriers and it never recovered.

The war went on for almost 4 years, ending with the devastation of Japan and Germany. It was total war, with demands by the Allied nations of unconditional surrender. Most of Europe was already under German occupation by the time of the attack by Japan. China had been invaded by Japanese forces years before. Now, British forces in China and Malaysia were being attacked as well as American forces in the Philippines and elsewhere in that region. It was a bold move by Japan. in the end, it turned out to be a foolish one.

That was 70 years ago today. I often wonder if we could be that united again.

Here's the full speech by FDR

A choice none of us would want to make

2011-12-06T08:05:00.000-05:00

I ran across a report of an interesting study yesterday. It was a story on the Time Magazine website. The study was about choices, very important choices. It was a variation on what is known as the "Trolley problem." let me set it up for you...

You are the person in charge of switching tracks in a rail yard. There is a runaway boxcar speeding down a track toward 5 men who are repairing the track. There is no time to warn them to get out of the way, your only hope is to throw the switch which will send the boxcar down another siding. The problem? There is one man working on that siding and he would die.

Do you save the five by killing the one? Or do nothing and let the five die?

There is a variation of the moral problem where the one person on the other siding is a family member.

What would you do in the first version? How about the second?

Some of you will say, "There must be a third choice, another option." That is not so, not in this situation. Studies need to have fixed parameters, there can be no uncontrolled variables, in order to force a decision. These moral problems have always been around (any person who has commanded in combat has likely had to make such a choice) but we now have the technology to study the reactions on a deeper level and a way to make the test situation more than words on paper by using computer simulation and animation. We can study the physiological reactions that come with such choices.

I will refer you to the report to learn what percentages chose which options.

Would you kill one person to save five?

That's a No-No! Unless...

2011-12-05T08:05:00.001-05:00

I have engaged in some political discussions over the last few days. These can be contentious, I admit, but these weren't very bad as political discussions go. But I do not want to talk about the politics involved but about certain concepts and how we form them.

When I was just begining to become human (in my opinion, that happens around 5 years of age), I had been taught that there was good behavior and bad behavior. There was no "almost" good or bad, just those two polar opposites. It was about this time that nuances were introduced into the mix. All of a sudden, instead of "always tell the truth", there was the "little white lie." You shouldn't tell Mommie that her perfume makes your eyes water or that her new hat is silly looking. Daddy shouldn't be told he has really bad body odor sometimes. You should always thank people for their gifts even if they weren't what you wanted.

Think about it... honesty is the best policy but no one likes a tattle-tale. It is a wonder that any of us grow up mentally healthy. We must sort through and make sense of so much contradictory information and training. Maybe that mental health thing is very subjective and highly dependent on cultural norms.

I understand that, culturally, we have shifted away from the either/or norm and adopted more of a "shades of gray" view of morality. I understand that. I have used it to my advantage a number of times. But I cannot shake that absolutist nature of my pre-kindergarten training. I have, over the years, learned to meld the "black or white" view with the "shades of gray" view.

My only problem has been in maintaining a consistent point on the sliding scale of where "good" ends and "evil" begins.

Picking and choosing

2011-12-03T08:05:00.000-05:00

I have a "union thug" friend who sends me all sorts of union and Democrat flavored emails, including ones offering Obama 2012 bumper stickers. He does this because he knows how unlikely I am to vote for Obama. He likes tweaking me. We play golf together fairly often and he's a much better player. I tell him that's because his union work gave him lots of time to play and practice while I had to actually work for a living.

The interesting thing about him is that this Obama support is so out of character for him. You see, he's a pretty conservative guy socially and fiscally. I have run into this a number of times. For instance, a black co-worker in Jacksonville registered and voted Democrat all his adult life in spite of the fact that he favored prayer in schools, was pro-life, and was opposed to tax increases on anyone. My understanding of this is, shall we say, incomplete.

I think we often vote in conflict with our best interests. I once voted for Carter. I thought he was a better choice than Ford. I was likely right. Not that he made a better president. Now, Carter annoys the heck out of me. Not his association with Habitat for Humanity (a very worthy cause) but his commentary on foreign policy. If he has been making any noticeable commentary on domestic policy, I am unaware of it.

I worry about support for Obama. It seems to me that the support should be very weak. Much weaker than I see in the mainstream media. Could they be distorting the facts? It seems to me that to want to re-elect Obama, you must:

Like 9% (or worse) unemployment
Want a rise in Islamist regimes in the Middle East
Think bailing out Wall Street was a Good Thing
Believe more countries "like" us than they did a few years ago.
And believe there's no inflation going on

The problem is that I am not very pleased with the GOP's potential candidates to oppose him. There is much talk about the GOP base is searching for the "anti-Romney". I think that's true. One of the problems with the GOP today is that they are searching for another Reagan. There isn't one on the horizon nor, as far as I can figure, hiding in the political bushes.

I am not talking about the charges concerning Cain or Newt's baggage, or the weirdness of Bachmann, or the strong Libertarianism of Ron Paul, or anything we've seen and read about the rest of the field. I am saying none of them fires me up, not that any of them frightens me.

We often find ourselves voting for the "lesser of two evils" and that saddens me.

You always remember your first, they say

2011-12-02T08:05:00.000-05:00

In this case, my first "official" girlfriend...

This comic strip reminded me of my first girlfriend. Her name was also Opal (Opal Petry). A lovely young lady of 15 with big brown eyes and almost black hair. She was older than me (I was 14) but in the same grade. If I recall correctly, she lost a year in school because of some illness. Like many of you, I often wonder about old friends and, especially, old girlfriends and how their lives might have turned out. I truly wonder if they even remember me. Yeah, I am that insecure.

A few of my friends were headed for trouble. Not Opal. I think Opal was headed for good things. She was smart and pretty, which often made me wonder what she saw in me. I was shy around girls then, unsure of myself as teenage boys are likely to be at that age. Oh, we swaggered about and pretended to be Romeos but we could so easily be wrapped around some girl's little finger. I only kissed her once in the year or so that we were an "item" and that was at a party while playing a kissing game. I have never understood why. Something just prevented me from kissing her.

We had a strange relationship that mostly consisted of seeing each other at school and a few dances at Victory Park or the Unified Hall and long talks on the phone. We never formally dated. Never even saw a movie together. We broke up for good around the time I turned 15 and went our separate ways. Yet, 50 years later, she's still fresh in my mind.

On radios and ebooks

2011-12-01T08:05:00.000-05:00

Just a short post today since I am quite lazy. But you knew that, didn't you?

Faye's Bose Wave Radio (with CD) arrived late yesterday afternoon. It's a beautiful thing. Overpriced but beautiful. And the sound is excellent. You've got to hand it to Bose for the quality of the sound from such a little box. I like Bose, I have two sets of their bookshelf speakers. I was a little apprehensive about paying so much for a CD player/radio. The selling point was the acceptance of MP3 CDs. Faye likes the "sleep" function... I am still mulling over that. Of course, giving her the Bose allows me to use it as leverage for a tablet computer...

In the "Isn't that ironic?" department we have this:

Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451' is released as e-book

If you know the story, you'll catch the irony. If you don't, go read the book! You've missed out on a classic. Bradbury was like me not so long ago. I mourned the loss of paper and binding books. I wanted to be a purist about literature. Now I own a Nook Color and have been turned. Whatever tablet I get will also be used as an e-reader. I don't buy many books (so far, only a couple of short stories and a John Carter of Mars trilogy), using the wonder that is the Gutenberg Project for most of my reading choices. This is best for me as I am way behind on reading the Great Books of the past.

Glitter Gulch, babes, and dice

2011-11-30T08:05:00.000-05:00

Every so often, a headline just grabs you and demands you read the story. You are mostly disappointed in the story and wonder how they managed to use that particular headline.

In this case, I was intrigued. I admit, it is because I am a male of a certain age...

Casino is looking for a few good 'broads'

it is about downtown Las Vegas, a place I happen to love. I loved the Strip once but no more. It is not what it once was. The small storefront casinos are gone, most of the cheesey souvenir and T-shirt shop-s are also gone. Heck, most of the strip malls are gone. Replaced by gaudy, over-priced, monstrosities pretending to be something they aren't. The hotel casinos on the Strip have become "theme parkish"; Paris, New York New York, Treasure Island, and so on. And all have been re-arranged to keep you from finding the exit to the Strip in the hopes that you will stay inside their casino.

Apparently, downtown wants to lure us back. And they are doing this by playing up the old Vegas, the one the Mob made. And that means, apparently, broads. My apologies to any woman who finds that term offensive. It's just a term, a slang word for women slightly less offensive than so many others. It was not so long ago that the term was commonly used and socially acceptable. At least in the circles I ran in. Watch a few old movies of the Rat Pack variety and you will hear the word repeated often enough to give NOW a collective fit. It's just a word and words aren't sticks nor stones... as the old rhyme goes...

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."

Some time ago, someone turned that around and promoted the idea that words are weapons. It caught on. Maybe too well. But it is what it is and I happen to think being civil is a good idea. Still, I miss the Old Days. I especially miss the old days of Las Vegas. The days when you could get a NY Strip steak and eggs for $1.99 in just about any casino cafe. The days when you could run into a Frank Sinatra (who used that word in just about every sentence concerning women), or Sammy Davis Jr., or any number of other stars of the day who were constantly politically incorrect. The days when you could get a room in a nice hotel/casino on the Strip for $15.

Those days are gone. The Mob has slunk off to make their filthy lucre backing mortgage companies.

It's sad, really.

The search for little green men continues

2011-11-29T08:05:00.000-05:00

On Saturday morning a wonderful thing happened. The new Mars Rover (dubbed "Curiosity") was launched [link] toward Mars. It will take 8 and a half months to get there. It's primary purpose is to search for evidence of at least microbial life.

It seems that methane is present on Mars and methane is a byproduct of life. And now we are going to make a concerted effort to find some evidence of that life.

A photo gallery of the Rover "Curiosity" [link]

A CBS news report about the project:

I am fascinated by such things. No, not by news reports. But by the search for life on other planets.

Read more about it here (warning: large PDF file) [link]

Lifting bales and toting barges...

2011-11-28T08:05:00.001-05:00

As I was perusing the internet the other day, I came across a discussion about immigration on the Atlantic.com website [link]. The story that had the discussion was mostly a hit piece on newt Gingrich and Republicans but, as discussions usually do, the comments wandered far afield of that.

"The vast majority of illegal and legal immigrants work harder than you have at anytime in your life. "
(written by someone calling himself "mtbr1975")

It gave me pause. I realized almost immediately that the vast majority of the nation worked harder that I have at anytime during my life. In other words (even though he wasn't referring to me but some other person), he was correct in my case... in a sense.

Very few people in the U.S. labor all that hard except for short periods, usually very short periods. And the ones who do engage in heavy labor for longer periods often make the least amount in terms of wages. It's a truism and it does not apply absolutely so spare me the stories of how hard you work at your job. This was something I observed in my late teens or early twenties. It's blatantly obvious in places with strict hierarchical structures. Like the military... where I first noticed it. The "unrated" seaman worked the hardest on a regular basis than any "rated" seaman. The terms "rated" and "unrated" refer to official job designations such as Sonar Technician or Radarman or Machinist's Mate. As you moved up the chain in your job, you did less physical labor and got paid more. If you had the brains/skills to get a rating, your initial job was less physically demanding (often, not always) than those who lacked a rating.

Once out of the Navy, I learned this was true in the civilian work force also. The more your job depended on brainpower, the less it depended on physical strength and endurance. Being lazy, I took as much advantage of this as I possibly could.

There was something else I learned in the Navy... work very hard for a short period of time and you are likely to be rewarded with a position where you do not have to work nearly as hard. Being lazy, I tried to keep that short period of hard labor down to a few weeks at most. I was quite successful in that, as I recall.

Don't get me wrong, I admire those who engage in backbreaking toil most of their working lives. I stand (well, usually "sit" or "recline") in awe of their willingness to work so hard. I do not look down on them. It is just something I am not willing to do and never was.

"mtbr1975" was mostly right... because illegal immigrants (as well as many legal ones) usually start out in physically demanding jobs. But he was especially right when it came to me. He just didn't know how right he was.

Divided we fall?

2011-11-26T08:05:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a discussion with someone that turned into an argument? Of course you have. We all have. Many times, I'd guess. An exchange of ideas only remains civil as long as there is some basic agreement about the validity of those ideas. Two (or more) people can agree on goals set, for instance, but remain civil while disagreeing about how to achieve them. When the way to achieve one or more of them becomes the focus of the discussion, it is likely to lose that civility and the discussion becomes an argument.

When I was younger, much younger, a teacher offered the premise that there was no real difference between the two major political parties when it came to foreign policy. The way she put it was "the differences ended at the shoreline." She maintained that the only differences lay in dometic policy. This was an earlier time... when the political rhetoric was much tamer. It was a period of relatively peaceful political endeavors.

It is not true today. And hasn't been for maybe 45 years. Since the Vietnam War. A lot of people became very political during that time. Lines were drawn, sides were taken, and the country became very divided. After the Vietnam War ended, we didn't really settle back into that more peaceful political environment. Instead, the rancor and distrust continued. It spilled over into domestic policy. Civil Rights, women's liberation, free speech and expression became as important as a foreign war.

In a way, it was much like the country was after war of 1812. Old animosities fueled domestic political debate. Slavery was at the core but economic differences between regions were a great part of it. Eventually, that boiled over into the Civil War.

Is that where we are headed today? Is the country dividing along political and ideological lines? Will it come to blows?

I suspect there will be no civil war. Today's issues aren't regional. But maybe that isn't such a good thing, maybe it will lead to chaos.

I am recommending the following column by John Stossel about freedom of speech.

America: Land of Free Speech -- Sometimes

You might find it interesting.

Shots are fired and conspiracies evolve

2011-11-25T08:05:00.000-05:00

November 22nd (three days ago) was the 48th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I was 17 at the time and in an English class when the announcement came. I was not especially political at the time. I remember the presidential campaign of 1960 and being indifferent to the possible outcome. In 1963, I was just beginning to form complex socio-political ideas. I was more concerned with my dating prospects and finding my place in a new town and a new school.

It was still a shock and an obviously important moment in history. Presidents are not often assassinated. It was a Friday and the TV was filled with stories about all things related to this assassination and all presidential assassinations. And, on that Sunday, the subsequent assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald (the person arrested for Kennedy's assassination) by a man named Jack Ruby.

The Kennedy assassination triggered numerous conspiracy theories. More than one gunman, the grassy knoll, Ruby hired by the Mob, CIA involvement, a Soviet plot, and more.

In the next several the years I looked into Lee Harvey Oswald and a few of the more rational conspiracy theories. Oswald's story is rather interesting and easily permits conspiracy theories to evolve.

Oswald was a U.S. Marine from 1956 to 1959. After receiving a hardship discharge, he defected to the Soviet Union. This resulted in his hardship discharge being changed to undesirable. He spent only a couple of years there before becoming disenchanted with Soviet life and began seeking help from the American Embassy to return to the U.S. He subsequently met a woman, married her, and fathered a child before he and his family were permitted to enter the U.S. in June of 1962.

He later became involved with a group called the "Fair Play for Cuba Committee" (FPCC) and tried to form a branch in New Orleans, where he had moved to after leaving the Dallas area in April of 1963. While in New Orleans, he appeared to attempt to infiltrate an anti-Castro group and was later seen handing out FPCC literature. After a scuffle with the head of the anti-Castro group, he was arrested (along with others). As he was being released, he asked to meet with an FBI agent. The request was granted. All sorts of odd connections with anti-Castro groups and individuals as well as pro-Castro people popped up during his New Orleans stay.

After returning to the Dallas area in September, he apparently stated making attempts to return to Russia. He also planned to visit Cuba before returning to Russia. Even though the Cuba embassy in Mexico granted him a visa on October 18th, he did not go there. Instead, he had returned to the Dallas area on October 3.

It gets even weirder. I can understand the conspiracy theories because of all the odd events and behaviors. I can also easily dismiss them because I like to think I am rational.

Still...

More turkey, please!

2011-11-24T08:06:00.001-05:00

Since I am lazy and male, I make very little effort on this day. So, instead of burning out a few brain cells actually thinking, I just re-edited and re-posted this from Thanksgiving of 2008. Have a great feast today and enjoy your family and friends!

Each year, on the last Thursday of November, the people of the United States celebrate Thanksgiving. This holiday was derived from stories of the Pilgrims giving thanks for surviving a couple of harsh winters and reaping a bountiful harvest that promised that the colony would survive and flourish. There are many conflicting histories of the First Thanksgiving and some like to revel in the many misconceptions and misunderstandings of those early events. I don't. I try to look behind the mythology to the meaning, you might say "soul", of the ritual.

Thanksgiving is about gathering family and friends, it is about appreciating the blessings you have received even in years where perhaps you have also suffered problems, setbacks, or sorrow. It is a time to look in wonder at that silver lining we tend to ignore. It is a time to forgive the slights you've felt from those who should be close to you. It is a time to reach out to family and friends to let them know they are important to you.

And, finally, it is the time to be truly thankful that you are not a turkey.

(image credit: *AngELofREbellion)

Should we trust that filet mignon?

2011-11-23T08:05:00.000-05:00

Glued meat??? I receive the usual oddball emails from purported friends and various associates covering all the usual internet rumors but this one really caught my attention. I am, after all, a carnivore. Well, "omnivore" is a better description, I suppose because I do not limit my diet to meat.

I approach these emails with a huge amount of skepticism. I must... because my purported friends and various associates do not. So I check them out with Snopes and by Googling and usually find them either baseless fabrications or distortions of the truth.

That did not happen this time. Apparently, the story is true.

And I didn't even know there was such a thing as "meat glue."

Here's the link... see for yourself:

http://d.yimg.com/nl/australia/site/player.swf?vid=24472661&repeat=0&browseCarouselUI=hide

To kill or not to kill?

2011-11-22T08:05:00.000-05:00

The death penalty raises a lot of emotions. People seem to come down on one side or the other; they are either in favor of it or opposed to it, there seems to be no middle ground. And how could there be? Death is permanent, irrevocable. Once the penalty is carried out, it cannot be rescinded. There are no "do overs."

You might have guessed by now that I am torn about the death penalty. I favor its existence as an option. I dislike its implementation. I worry about the possibility that an innocent person might be executed. I am certain that this has happened. More than once, I am sure. We have an imperfect system, as all systems created by humans are. And imperfect systems create opportunities for error.

On the other hand, there are people who I believe deserve the death penalty. For the good of society, maybe for the good of mankind.

I admire those who strongly oppose the death penalty on moral grounds. Those who believe that the state has no more right to take a life than any of its citizens, who would not kill even in self defense. I once thought I had that conviction. I was wrong. I was lying to myself. I would kill to defend myself or to defend another. And I have come to view society as I would a person. I believe it has the right to kill in defense of itself or a member of that society. Even a member of another society.

Think back to World War II, perhaps the only moral war in history. But it wasn't seen that way by many and it definitely wasn't seen that way in the beginning. It was seen as revenge and as self preservation. We did not know what the Nazis were actually doing to Jews and any people they saw as undesirables; Gypsies, Slavs, the mentally and/or physically disabled, and more. We had inklings, of course, there were signs of what was to come even before the war began. But we didn't declare war against the Germans until after they declared war against us. And they did that because we declared war against Japan in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the end, we realized that the war was truly a war between good and evil. And people died because of it. Innocent people who were merely caught in the middle.

A person who believes that a state has no right to kill would have to believe that even World War II was immoral. Yet not to fight it could also be seen as immoral. To not fight it was not really an option. When I was in the Navy, there was a concept used by those opposed to the Vietnam War. It went "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" An interesting concept. But a faulty one. At least one side will always show up. If someone wants to kill you and you do nothing to stop him, he will succeed. You will be dead. You may be morally correct but you will still be dead. If you do not act to defend someone else, they will die. If you do not resist aggression, aggression will succeed. In order to "give" a war, an aggressor must exist.

I have known people who think that we, and others, pushed the Japanese into war. They also thought that Germany was forced into Nazism and thus war by their treatment after WW I. They made logical and powerful arguments. All of which were flawed. We choose our reactions to perceived slights and insults. Our parents taught us that, did they not?

I recall one day when my son came into the house with his friend David and complained that David had hit him. I asked him what he had done that made David want to hit him and Brian replied, "I hit him first." I am sure there were words exchanged before that and that these led to an escalation into the hitting. I didn't care about that, the choices were made by both to escalate it and Brian was merely the first to choose to make it physical. He could have chosen other ways to react but didn't. Therefore, he was in the wrong.

I see the death penalty in much the same way. It is a symbol of society's willingness to resist murder of its citizens. A person chose to place himself in a position which led to his facing the death penalty. That is not the fault of the state. If you put yourself in a position where you could be perceived to be guilty of a capital crime, you are not an innocent. You are a victim of your own poor choices.

Still, it is conceivable that a completely innocent person might find himself facing execution, as rare as that might be. And that is why I am so ambivalent about it.

The more things change, the more they...

2011-11-21T08:05:00.000-05:00

I read an article in the NY Times the other day entitled "Older, Suburban and Struggling, ‘Near Poor’ Startle the Census". While I was reading it, I recognized my own childhood. It is how I grew up. Minus a couple of things. There were no new cars in my family, just good used ones, until after we moved to Florida. We had one phone in the house (extensions were expensive then). The house was a two bedroom with an unfinished second floor that my father converted into three bedrooms around 1950 (when I was 4). The one bathroom was on the first floor. We lived out on Long Island where my father commuted by train to his job at Dictaphone before opening a bicycle shop in town. We ate a lot of spaghetti. And leftovers stretched the food budget through the week. Especially while Dad was trying to get that shop on its feet.

After we moved to Florida, things got a little better but we still lived paycheck to paycheck. There were more than a couple of times I got home from school to find the electricity turned off because Mom hadn't yet paid the bill. Mom got very good at "kiting" checks: writing checks at the supermarket for enough to cover the food she bought plus some more to cover checks she had written in the past couple of days. The 50's equivalent of "cashback". The extra cash would get deposited so the earlier checks wouldn't bounce. I thought it was normal. I thought everyone did it. I was wrong. But not far wrong.

So it's nothing new, this "near poor" category, it was pretty common during my childhood. It was the Baby Boom years and towns and cities were struggling to keep up with the demand for new schools and roads and other infrastructure. Just as they are today.

Why does every generation seem to think no one had it as bad before? Every previous generation went through these things. The kids of parents with good jobs had more than their peers whose parents toiled for lower wages. Their parents struggled to keep them clothed decently and fed well and tried to get them educated so that they would move up and not have to struggle. I saw nothing I did not recognize in my own childhood in that article.

My parents were born in 1917 and 1918 and grew up through the Great Depression. They had it a lot tougher than I and my siblings ever did. Especially my mother, whose father died when she was very young and whose sister got sent to live with one aunt while my mother, her baby brother, and her mother went to live with an uncle until her mother remarried.

I look around these days and I wonder... Maybe the struggles are important, maybe we need to have it a little tough in order to appreciate what we earn later on. In any case, the economic cycles are nothing new and there will always be those who will struggle. Those dreams of a future where there is no poverty, no struggle to have more than one's parents are just that... dreams. Utopian dreams. Good dreams and ones we should strive to achieve.

But we shouldn't think they will ever come true.

Taking off the blinders

2011-11-19T08:05:00.000-05:00

Last week's political post garnered a comment that bothered me. Not because it was derogatory (it wasn't), not because it shot holes in my premise (it didn't do that either) but because it revealed a certain close-mindedness that is all too prevalent; an unwillingness to read a conservative opinion or a opinion from Foxnews.com.

This close-mindedness is not limited to the Left or the Right, it is found throughout all ideological perspectives. It is way too evident in all of society today. It has been with us throughout the history of the world. It has an impediment to advancement, it has allowed the dictators of the world to achieve control and fortify their positions.

It is a refusal to acknowledge that the other side may have a valid point.

Now, before you say how open minded you are and how you always listen to both (or more) sides, let me remind you that I understand that you believe that. And many of you may well be open minded. But not all of those who claim that status really are. I am beginning to suspect very few of us actually are.

I have written before about how we are "herd animals" [here] and how we choose our friends because they are like us, because they agree with us, because they believe the things we do. Our circle of friends tend to reinforce our perception of the world around us. This gives us a comfortable feeling, one of belonging, that we have value. I have mentioned more than a few times how advertisers use that herd mentality to get us to buy products. They also use that desire to be unique in the herd. Ever hear your child tell you how "I have to be me" as he or she dresses, talks, and acts like all of his or her friends?

I noted it once a long time ago as I was crossing the country with my 11 year old son and his childhood friend. I realized they looked, talked, and acted alike. I jokingly referred to them as the "California Clones." There were differences but the differences were so subtle that they may as well not have existed.

I have also written about the growing division in the US [here] which I think is still growing. (especially read the comments for that piece) I worry about that division. It may be that I am paranoid and reading too much into it. I hope I am.

Sometime, when I was 12 or 13, I learned about something called "The scientific method." It's a simple process and the steps are these:

Ask a Question
Do Background Research
Construct a Hypothesis
Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Communicate Your Results

It was the 4th step that began to open my eyes. You see, you were supposed to try to disprove your own hypothesis, not try to confirm it. In other words, the experiments were to find flaws in your hypothesis, not simply bolster it. It is the part of the process which is so important and yet which eludes many minds. If you set out to confirm a hypothesis rather than disprove it, you are likely to overlook its flaws in the process.

I grew up to be conservative. When I was in my teens and twenties, I was liberal. Quite liberal. My friends were liberal. My teachers were liberal. It felt "right" to be liberal. Liberalism was reinforced by everything around me. I didn't question it. Why should I? No one else was. Then, for reasons I do not recall or understand, I began to apply that scientific method to my belief system. I began to observe closely and began to question my friends and teachers to test the strength of their convictions. I began testing them. And that's when I began to change. Because instead of answers that came from their own logic and intellect, they repeated what they had been taught or heard over and over again.

You can get the liberal viewpoint anywhere. It's all over the place. In the newspapers, in the TV news, in the talk shows. Just about everywhere you look. It seems to be the majority viewpoint, doesn't it? But what is it really?

You won't know until you start looking for its antithesis and paying attention to it. You won't know until you begin to question its veracity, until you match the words with the actions (if you can).

The United States is an amazing country. It was founded when some men began to question authority. It incorporated that concept, question authority, into its primal fabric. That is the principle behind Freedom of Speech.

Watch Fox News now and then, read a conservative viewpoint daily, even listen to Rush Limbaugh when you get the chance. You don't have to believe what you read or hear or see. All you have to do is evaluate it objectively. Look past the rhetoric, the talking points and such, and discern what facts you can. Then question those facts, seek out answers. And then do the same with the usual places you get your news and commentary. And then challenge everything.... question authority!

You may not change your mind, you may find you are comfortable with the viewpoint you already have. But don't dismiss the idea that you could be wrong.

One jacket too many

2011-11-18T08:05:00.001-05:00

Even though I am sick, even though I am retired... would that be "sick and retired?"... I am called upon by the Great Mistress of the House to perform a chore or two. Tuesday evening, while slouching on the recliners watching TV, Faye heard a loud noise. I was, of course, pretty much oblivious to that. I am pretty good at ignoring loud noises. It turned out that the board upon which sit the hooks upon which we hang the occasional coats and light jackets disconnected from the wall and fell to the floor... bringing the 10 to 12 pieces of clothing with them.

Being a quick responder, I dashed out on Thursday morning... oh, around 10 or so... to the local Lowe's to see if I could find a replacement. The plan was to purchase a matching buttonhook strip and put both up so that we had more hooks and less opportunity to overload them. Lowe's failed to have either matching ones or even two alike. (plan B was to buy two matching ones of a slightly different design) I was left with two options: buy what they had and ignore the lack of symmetry or drive over to the Home Depot or Wal-Mart to see if they had a matched pair. I am lazy so you can easily guess what option I took.

Coming home with the completely mismatched buttonhook strip, I carefully explained that no one would see the mismatch under the various coats and sweaters that we hang there. And proceeded to gather the tools needed to mount this odd couple on the wall of the hallway to the garage. This took some time because my tools often end up in various places in the garage and the master bedroom closet.

Once the tools were gathered (an assembly of screwdrivers, hammer, drill and drill bits plus a small level), it was a simple task to put the new strip and the old strip on the wall. It would have taken longer but I got lucky and didn't end up punching a big hole in the wall.

In hindsight, I don't think adding more hooks will have the desired affect. I think we will just hang even more jackets, sweaters, and coats in the hall.... until these strips also come loose.

Sickness is like a disease, you know?

2011-11-17T08:05:00.000-05:00

It's a cold. I don't know why they call it a cold, I don't feel very cold. I feel like a mental fog has enveloped my brain. I get these now and then, no more than one or two a year, spaced just far enough apart to make each one a surprise. I'd prefer my surprises to be pleasant ones.

It started Monday afternoon. After I had played golf. The sore, scratchy throat first. Followed by a mild headache. And a slight stuffiness in my sinuses. All of my illnesses affect my sinuses, it seems. This one has been no different. My main weapon against things like this is Alka-Seltzer. Not the plain old "plop, plop, fizz, fizz" blah tasting hangover remedy but the new blah tasting ones that are supposed to alleviate the symptoms of colds and influenzas. They do... somewhat. At least they make the symptoms more tolerable.

I am one of those people who would rather suffer through a cold or flu on my own than have people fawn over me. Not that I am opposed to the fawning, it's just ingrained in me to be irascible when sick. It's probably genetic, my father was the same way. We would rather be martyrs, suffering alone... which is contradicted by the fact that we make sure everyone knows we are sick. No point in suffering if no one knows you are.

Our bodies are home to thousands of bacteria and, I suppose, lots of viruses also. Nobody mentioned those in biology class, though. There's a delicate balance most of the time between the good and the bad. When we get sick, it's because the balance is upset in some way. At least, that's the way I see it. I could be entirely wrong. It doesn't matter, there is no cure for this; what they call the common cold. They know that it is a virus. They know it is temporary and that, eventually, the body defeats it.

You can take medicines to ease the symptoms and help you function (during which you can spread it to colleagues, friends, and family) and it will take about 7 days to get over. Or you can do nothing at all and it will last about a week.

I have 5 more days to go.

Road thought

2011-11-16T08:05:00.000-05:00

The journey to and from Biloxi was uneventful. No screeching of tires followed by loud scrunching of metal, no screaming by Faye as I leave her behind at some gas station. Just a peaceful and pleasant ride along the Interstates. Some of you (quite possibly most) may not recall a time before freeways... or why they are called "freeways." If I may digress just a little... There was once a time when roadways which had exits and no traffic lights were commercial enterprises. Not private enterprise (though there were a few of those) but "pay as you go" on a state built highway. They were not all that popular. Especially with my father. My father was, as they say, frugal. To a fault.

I must have inherited some of that frugality, along with my mother's profligate ways. Yeah, I spend money too freely and fret about it equally.

The trip to and from Biloxi takes us over a mixture of highways. Sebring is one of the few cities that does not have a freeway, not even nearby. The nearest one is 60 or 70 miles away. Our main highway is US 27, a traditional road full of traffic lights and lost tourists and seasonal residents. We take that north to I-4 then I-4 east to SR 429 (toll) on which we head north until we reach the last stretch of the Florida Turnpike (toll) before it connects/merges into I-75. And then north until we reach I-10. After that, it's an easy ride west.

We stop overnight on the way up to Biloxi because Faye doesn't want to waste a gambling day getting there. If we drive straight through (about 10 hours), we (meaning Faye) arrive tired late in the evening. This cuts into gambling time because, as we all know, one should be refreshed and eager before sitting down to be mesmerized by the gaily blinking lights and symbols on the various slot machines. Apparently, being tired and eager doesn't work as well.

There is another reason for stopping one night along the way. A Mexican restaurant in Marianna, FL. We arrive in Marianna just a shy of dinner time. We find a room, settle in, and then head for dinner. It has become a ritual. A tasty one. Therefore, I do not complain.

Every trip we vow that the next time we will visit the Florida Caverns (yes, we have some) or the Naval Aviation Museum which are on the way. So far... we have failed to honor those vows. This is not unusual. I went past the USS Alabama a dozen or more times before I finally stopped to see it. I expect that we will visit one of these sometime in the next couple of years.

I get to do some observing along the way, mostly of the poor driving habits of those around me. This time, I observed something else. My left knee is getting worse. Lack of movement of that knee while driving for hours leads to great pain when unbending it and trying to walk when we stop for a cup of coffee or a meal... or gas.

That last makes me wonder if I could still ride a motorcycle across the country. Which, some of you know, is a life long dream of mine.

Not eating crow is a good thing

2011-11-15T08:05:00.001-05:00

I enjoy a good argument. I also enjoy a bad argument. Maybe the latter more than the former. I never took debate class while in school, though. It seemed too formal, too restrictive, too controlled to be something I would like. I mean they had rules in that class as to how you could argue. Imagine that!

You got a set number of minutes to make your initial presentation. Then you got a set amount of time to rebut your opponent's opening statement. And then to rebut his rebuttal. Not once did you get to lay out a sneaky, underhanded insult, much less a punch. That is not debate, not in the neighborhoods I grew up in. You try being that polite and you'll find the waistband of your underwear in your armpits.

I learned two important things from arguing. The first is know the facts. The second is know when to run. It's not hard to know the facts and, in the places I grew up, facts gave you a head start when you had to run. Your best chance to get away is while your opponent is stunned. Even when you won an argument, it was best to not stick around too long. Maybe especially when you won the argument.

The ability to recite facts and argue convincingly has always served me well. It helped me when the police stopped and questioned me about something that I might, or might not have, done. It helped keep me employed. It helped me avoid being sent to the brig when in the Navy. And it has helped me avoid the occasional street or bar fight.

Oddly, though, it didn't help me in my first marriage.

This wasn't supposed to be a book review

2011-11-14T08:05:00.000-05:00

I like to read. It gives me an excuse to sit on my ever expanding butt and do nothing physical for great stretches of time. And it facilitates naps and other forms of sleep. Currently, I am reading the latest Lee Child novel about his character Jack Reacher. If you do not know who Jack Reacher is, I pity you... you do not have a full life.

Reacher is a cross between the Lone Ranger, Rambo, and most characters played by John Wayne. He is a guy who roams about righting wrongs. He does not seek wrongs to right, he just comes across them in his travels. You do not want to cross him or challenge him but other characters in the novels always seem to. Most of them live to regret it. Some never get the chance to regret it.

Why do I (and so many millions of others) love this character (thereby making Mr. Child quite rich)? He is our inner hero, that guy we all wish we could be (if male) or could meet (if female). He is a tough, no nonsense, sort of guy who never starts a fight but always finishes them. He doesn't waste a lot of words or worry about political correctness. He is the cavalry coming to the rescue, a one man police force which takes no prisoners (though he occasionally leaves them for others to arrest).

There are things in Mr. Child's novels which nettle me since I am one of those people who worry over small, insignificant things. He uses British colloquialisms, for instance, something I think this character would not do. But these are minor things that won't worry the average reader.

What attracts me (and I suspect many others) most is that he just drifts about the country, going wherever his mood takes him. He carries no luggage, owns nothing of any importance and has no roots. There is nothing to hold him to any one place. He's the stranger who drifts into town, rights a few wrongs, and then moves on to another town and other wrongs.

We love these types, don't we? The success of the James Bond movies (and the aforementioned John Wayne) are so successful because of it.

This novel, the 16th in the series, is called "The Affair" and it is a bit of a prequel type with Reacher still in the Army, still some kind of elite Military Police major, just before he gets mustered out as the army is downsized after the Cold War has ended.

Read it. If you have never read a Reacher novel before, you will be hooked and want to read them all.

Dirty tricks and politics as usual

2011-11-12T08:05:00.003-05:00

I have been paying a small amount of attention to the Republican nomination race. Not a lot of attention, just around the edges. I read a little bit here, listen a little bit there, watch some another place. I see some things going on that I've seen before, in other campaign periods. Dirty tricks. A fine tradition in politics all over the world. Smear your opponent(s), doesn't matter if true or false as long as it is something that will offend voters.

For my generation, Nixon epitomized the phenomenon. Especially in the 1972 election. Nixon's Committee to Re-Elect the President (producing an acronym pronounced "creep", I kid you not) had a squad of people actively engaged in finding ways to destroy potential rivals and then implementing them. It didn't start after the primaries were over and the nominees were determined. It started with the primaries and played a part in who would be the nominees. Of course, the only primaries that mattered were the Democratic ones since Nixon was not going to be challenged by anyone in his own party.

In the end, Nixon faced George McGovern. McGovern was a staunch opponent of the Vietnam War. But he was also extremely liberal. Nixon was also opposed to the war and was supposedly trying to complete his plan (never explained) to end the war that he ran on in 1968. A lot of people died for that plan. A lot more were hurt very badly. As was the country.

What we are seeing today is very similar. We have an unpopular war (two, actually), we have protesters in the streets, we have a president who wants to be re-elected, and we have a primary race where candidates are being slandered; where the truth of the allegations are second to the fact that they exist.

History repeating itself?

Read Ann Coulter's column...

Addendum: The Scandal No One's Talking About

You want to probe me where?

2011-11-09T08:05:00.000-05:00

The Byrds - Mr. Spaceman

I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to blog for the next few days but this was written on Monday so it doesn't count. Last night (Sunday) I watched a couple of shows on the Science channel called "Into the Universe with Stephan Hawking". Now, we know that Hawking is a certifiable genius and so we listen to his artificial voice with awe and respect.

The first show (at 7 PM EST) was about the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. It's an old show, I think, but I am an old guy and reruns no longer bother me. Especially ones like this. The second one was about time travel. But I don't want to talk about that one. At least, not right now. Besides, I have already mentioned it many times (search the blog... over there... on the right...).

I have watched and read of the possibility of visits to our ancestors by extraterrestrials. Fascinating arguments but, in my opinion, quite silly. I have read several stories of alien abductions. I dismiss those through logic... Why would aliens travel at least hundreds of light years to abduct people with prior histories of mental illness? According to my mother, my father witnessed what he thought was a UFO. That was hearsay since Dad never mentioned it to any of the rest of us. He could have been mistaken; it could have been a helicopter, small plane, or who knows what.

I do, however, believe there is life on other planets. Especially on those that orbit in that "Goldilocks" range. You know what the "Goldilocks" range is? An orbit radius that is within a certain distance from the host star where water can remain in a liquid state. Like Earth. Like Mars... yeah, Mars. However, Mars super thin atmosphere evaporates any standing water on the surface and allows the temperatures to drop so low that any water just below the surface freezes. So we shouldn't expect any Martians or Martian civilizations.

I got to thinking about how tenacious life is. We are always finding life in places here on Earth we once thought to be barren. At great depths of the oceans, in the highest reaches of the Himalayas, inside the cones of volcanoes. Sure, these life forms are mostly lichens, bacteria, and not deemed "intelligent." But they exist. It seems that life adapts to its environment given the slimmest of chances. If it can start and last long enough to find a mate (assuming it needs one), it is likely to reproduce and evolve... at least a little.

We want to know, though, that intelligent life exists on some other planet or planets. I think the possibility is very slim but not impossible. Considering the number of possible planets the right distance from their stars (a number in the range of billions to trillions), I would lean toward "probable." Then I consider how many species of life on Earth qualify as "intelligent" and I wonder. We are it. Because when we say "intelligence", we mean "capable of building civilizations", not merely sentient. How many species are there on Earth? Something around 1.7 million as of 2010. That's just what we knew of then. That we had catalogued. Out of those 1.7 million, just one qualifies. That argues against "intelligent life" on other planets. We human beings are an anomaly.

Let's suppose that there is intelligent (as we define it) on other planets. It is quite possible that we might not recognize it as "life" at all. It could be so different from anything with which we are familiar that we could walk right past it without realizing it.

So I would say life probably exists all over the universe but it is highly unlikely that intelligent life exists that we could recognize.

What do you think?

Trippin' and such

2011-11-08T08:05:00.001-05:00

I am going away for a few days. It seems like this is happening quarterly now. We are off to Biloxi... again... where Faye will while away the time firmly planted in front of a slot machine or twelve while I will maybe play a little golf (weather permitting), read a book, and just basically kick back.

This has become our routine of late. It's slightly less expensive than it sounds. Faye gets comped rooms because they have her pegged as a gambling addict at a couple of places in Biloxi and I get to go along... whether I want to or not. Somebody has to drive her there, I suppose.

Usually, I write to the blog each day while gone. I think I will forego that this time. I will drag my laptop with me and I might forego my foregoing if I think of, or observe, something intriguing enough. But I wouldn't count on it. Instead, I will likely not blog again until Monday (the 14th) of next week. Since the blog goes mostly unread anyway, I suspect few will notice or be impacted.

This is like something I used to do at work... Call in "well", as in "I feel too good to waste it at the office." I am even thinking of playing no golf so the tendinitis in my left arm abates. The soreness doesn't hurt my game (you have to actually have a game for that to happen) but it does bother me now an then.

Tendinitis is an ache that is telling you that you shouldn't be doing whatever is causing it. It's telling you to stop doing whatever it is before the condition becomes worse or chronic. It's sneaky, though. Whatever is causing it may not be all that obvious but what makes it flare up is. I could have stretched a tendon a bit too much doing something other than golf and golf is just when I notice it. That's not that likely since I rarely do anything strenuous at all other than golf... but it is possible.

In any event, those are my plans for the next 5 days. While I am gone, I expect you all to be on your best behavior.

Rock on... or oldies never die

2011-11-07T08:05:00.000-05:00

The Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man

I am frustrated. Aggravated. Perturbed. Annoyed.

Of course, it's my own fault. I am on a quest for songs that I have on vinyl and that can be a bit of an ordeal. I don't want just the songs, I want the entire album on which they came. I want them in MP3 and, as a bonus, I want the ID3 tags filled out... correctly.

And I don't want to pay a lot. Or anything, if possible.

So you can see why I am frustrated and all the rest. The songs, for the most part, can be found somewhere on the internet. Not all of them... I have some pretty obscure albums... but pretty much all of the Big Names: Rolling Stones, The Doors (with Jim Morrison), Savoy Brown, Ten Years After, Buffalo Springfield (and subsequent offshoots), Van Morrison, Leon Russell, John Mayall, Led Zeppelin, Velvet Underground, Steppenwolf, and on and on. But I am not going to find Southwind, or Aum, or a host of others that had maybe one album before falling into ever deeper obscurity... bands and people I came across at various concerts but who never got past being an opener or filler act.

Just trying to reclaim my youth, I suppose. I have most everything I want from the late 50's and early 60's, the Doo Wop era, but I am sure there are a lot more that I do not have (yet) so I will still keep an ear and eye out for those.

I also have a large collection of Big Band, Swing, Jazz (or many types), a bit of classical, Zydeco, Country, and other stuff.

What I really want is some Firesign Theatre, an offbeat comedy group of the late 60's. I have several of their albums in vinyl but cannot find them in MP3 (or any other) format. Eventually, I suppose, I will have to break down and digitize the albums I want that I cannot find on the web... unless you know where I might get them?

It's no "bimbo eruption" but...

2011-11-05T08:05:00.001-04:00

Let's talk about Herman Cain. The guy came out of nowhere, a businessman with no real political experience, and has moved up in the polls to lead the race for the Republican nomination. Plain speaking, with a bit of a "in your face" style with the media, he has defied the conventional wisdom.

If you pay attention, you will note a trend in these nomination races. A candidate moves up in the polls to lead or challenge the leader, and the media finds dirt to expose. Yes, it also happens to Democrats but they have no contenders for the nomination so the only game in town is on the Republican side.

Whether these stories of past wrongdoing are true or not won't matter in the long run. Enough people, enough "likely voters", will believe them and that will likely derail the target's chances. Not always, though, and I point to the Gennifer Flowers stories that popped up during Bill Clinton's nomination run as a recent example. At first, it was all denials and then followed the defamation of the character of the "accuser" and any other woman who has a similar story. At least, that's the way the Clinton story played out. A well organized campaign by staffers who knew the truth and developed a strategy to counter the damage.

I don't believe Cain has that kind of staff. He also does not have the media on his side. He will not get a pass on this, as Clinton did. Instead, he will get hounded and the more he demands the media not badger him with questions on it, the more they will badger him with questions on it. And that isn't because the media wants the truth, it's because they think it (the story) will attract more readers and/or more viewers. That's the way it works.

Sex scandals work well to topple frontrunners in Republican politics. Not so well in Democratic politics. Limbaugh calls sex scandals "resume enhancements" for Democrats. That's only been true since Bill Clinton, I think. But Republican voters are more puritanical, they want candidates that live up to an ideal. Unrealistic but that's the way it is in the GOP.

So this may be the beginning of the end for Herman Cain.

I would like to point out that I have sexually harassed women. I admit it. Wives, girlfriends, and a few female friends. Even the occasional barmaid or waitress. If you count flirting as sexual harassment. Or if you count someone overhearing a bawdy joke. Or a touch of a shoulder. But I was never in a position of power where there might be sufficient resentment that I would be charged civilly or criminally. If I offended woman, and she let me know she was offended (either verbally or by actions), I would apologize.

But I can guarantee you that if I ran for office, it would be found out, dragged out into the open, and I would have to deal with it.

Perhaps that is as it should be.

On the economic front, Greece is being seen as a key to the economic health of the European community. My prediction is that the referendum will fail and the Euro will teeter on the brink of collapse because of it. If Greece fails, Italy or Spain will follow soon after.

An interesting week, wouldn't you say?

Morlocks and Eloi

2011-11-04T08:05:00.001-04:00

I am reading The Time Machine by H.G. Wells on my Nook Color . I picked it up at the Project Gutenberg website, a site I highly recommend to all eReader owners and to anyone with a computer. Especially, if you like the classical books.

Let me digress a bit and quote from the Project Gutenberg page...

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You can find just about anything to suit your literary taste.

I had never actually read The Time Machine before. Not unless you count the Classics Illustrated version. I read that sometime early in my youth. But I did see the movie starring Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux. My teachers would all be ashamed of me.

The story is widely known, I don't have to recap it here. Nor do a book review. But there are so many things buried within it that I will probably read it several times. Observations on human nature, good vs evil, evolution, fear and overcoming it, the meaning of one's existence, love, and much more. I suppose that is why it is considered a classic.

There are some good books that examine the distant fate of humankind. This may be the earliest. It may, therefore, be flawed but also the best. I actually read a sequel called "The Time Ships" written in 1995 by Stephen Baxter which is also quite good.

I am fascinated by visions of the future. I am also fascinated by visions of the past. I am often appalled by visions of the present, however.

I am glad I am not a judge

2011-11-03T08:05:00.001-04:00

On October 31st, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision for the third time in a single case.

It's an interesting case and I find myself both agreeing with the majority (6) and with the minority/dissent (3).

Let me provide the background:

"The case involves the conviction of Shirley Ree Smith for allegedly shaking and killing 7-week-old Etzel. At her 1997 trial, jurors heard conflicting testimony about whether the infant died of shaken baby syndrome (SBS) or of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The jury decided that Ms. Smith had caused the death. She was subsequently sentenced to serve 15 years to life in prison."
[read more]

In 2006, the 9th Circuit Court reversed the decision of the District Court and ordered Ms Smith freed. The state of California appealed.

As I read through the articles and then the USSC decision, I found myself torn between the law and the emotion involved. I am reasonably sure the Court's majority was also torn. There are multiple tragedies involved: a baby is dead, a grandmother spends ten years in prison and may have to return to serve out the remainder of her sentence, a family is torn apart.

On the legal issues, I have to agree with the decision. On emotional grounds, I side with the defendant. It is not, however, the purpose of the Appeals court to re-try the case and act as both judge and jury and the 9th Circuit Court clearly overstepped its authority. I do not see where the USSC had any other choice. To rule otherwise would turn our legal system on its head and violate the 6th Amendment. On the other hand, my heart goes out to the grandmother and I wonder what I am missing that the original jury saw.

Here are some links which may be useful in understanding the case:

Supreme Court reinstates 'shaken baby' verdict

Supreme Court Decision (PDF)

I would be interested in how others feel about the case and decision.

A sweet but dry aroma, subtle, but pungent

2011-11-02T08:05:00.000-04:00

In the never ending quest to bring you, the reader, important facts and entertaining stories... I often fail. Miserably. But that's okay, I am used to failure. A lifetime of poor choices has given me plenty of experience and taught me acceptance of my shortcomings.

One of my shortcomings, it seems, is the lack of a discerning palate. Let's first define "palate" for those of you who think it might be some kind of foreign car:

pal·ate (plt)
n.
1. The roof of the mouth in vertebrates having a complete or partial separation of the oral and nasal cavities and consisting of the hard palate and the soft palate.
2. Botany The projecting part on the lower lip of a bilabiate corolla that closes the throat, as in a snapdragon.
3. The sense of taste: delicacies pleasing to the most refined palate.

In my case, the shortcoming has to do with definition #3. When I was a small child, I didn't care what cereal I ate as long as it tasted sweet. Very sweet. Meat (and just about everything else) required salt. Which I added before taking my first bite. It may have something to do with role models. This was the routine at our dinner table:

Mom puts the already loaded plates in front of us, Dad reaches for and applies salt liberally. Mom sits down and does the same. I have no idea what my brother and sister do, I only pay attention to them in self defense anyway. I apply salt. We eat. We play with our food (not my parents, just my siblings and I). No one compliments Mom on her cooking. We only rarely ask what it was.

I thought people that drank black coffee were strange, mustard was not as good as ketchup, and Miracle Whip was a staple. And I never used pepper.

It took the Navy to teach me how to eat. Again, it was in self defense. I had to eat to survive. They taught me to trust my taste buds and that I could acquire a sense of taste for foods I once adamantly refused to eat. When it was all that I could get.

What they didn't teach me was to discern fine wines from cheap, or "good" beer from "bad."

I still haven't a clue.

I read about blind taste tests of beer many decades ago. What they uncovered was that it is a rare palate that can tell the difference. To this day, I chuckle when my friends demand Bud Lite instead of Miller Lite or Michelob Ultra. And, one of these days, I am going to bribe the barmaid to give them Miller when they ask for Bud and see what happens. When I was drinking, all I cared about was the alcohol content and the only beer I disliked was Hamm's. I even drank Orbit (a beer I suspected was brewed with canal water in Dade County). For fine wine, I drank Red Mountain Vin Rose. In the gallon jug ($1.49). That winery is now called "Carlo Rossi's Red Mountain Vineyards" and the price has increased considerably. As an aside, do you see much vin rose around these days? No? Not surprised... it just means "red wine".

Are you able to discern the subtle differences between foods and wines and beer?

How come they haven't invented a medical tricorder yet?

2011-11-01T08:05:00.001-04:00

Doctor, my eyes have seen the years
And the slow parade of fears without crying
Now I want to understand
I have done all that I could
To see the evil and the good without hiding
You must help me if you can?
[Jackson Browne - "Doctor my eyes"]

Every so often, I have minor health problems. You do too, I am sure. Mostly aches and pains, stiffness, and the like. When I was young, I often just ignored them. Unless they lasted for more than a day or two. Even then, all I had to do is back off anything strenuous (a rarity anyway) for a few days and all would usually be fine.

About the only time that didn't work was some back trouble that started when I was 16. It does not end well when you pretend you are walking the high wire as you try to walk across the backs of row seats in a bowling alley. Why would I do that, you ask? Consider the strong possibility that alcohol was involved. In any event, it happened and I paid the price. I am sure everyone has a story that explains why he cannot help you move that old refrigerator or sleeper sofa. Most involve a bit of youthful stupidity.

Because of that minor injury, I must avoid any shoes with hard heels or standing on my feet for very long. I must also sit up straight, avoid slouching in chairs, or just about anything that involves jumping up and down or repeated standing up and sitting down. I must make sure my lower back muscles are kept strong without overtaxing them. This was not medical advice, just lessons learned from experience.

The doctor I saw at the time told me I might be using a cane by the time I was 30. He was wrong. As doctors often are.

All of that came to me as I read this article about the overuse of MRI's. [link]

I wonder if I was lucky that my injury occurred before they had Magnetic Resonance Imaging?

And now I am at that age where all around me are people having knee or hip replacements, or carpal tunnel surgery, and I wonder how I will fare over the next decade of my life?

From ghoulies and ghosties...

2011-10-31T08:05:00.000-04:00

And long-legged beasties
And things that go bump in the night
Good Lord, deliver us!

It's Halloween! Which is the shorthand for All Hallows Evening. Seriously. And it is the evening before All Saints Day. I was once told it was celebrated to drive away evil spirits before the celebration of those who had achieved sainthood. I don't know how true that is. I really don't much care since I do not believe in evil spirits. But it was a lot of fun when I was a child.

Back then, the 50's, it was safer to wander around the neighborhood. Even after dark. And there were a lot of us. The Baby Boom was in full swing. So maybe it was just safety in numbers. I don't recall parents chaperoning their kids over the age of 6. We were pretty much on our own. We'd make the rounds of the neighborhood, passing tips to others ("they've got candied apples at the blue house down the street"), and filling up the pillow cases we used as bags. Very few tricks were played, the worst being toilet papering the person's shrubbery, it was all about the booty.

Returning home after a couple of hours going door to door, we'd dump our bags on a sheet or tablecloth spread out in the living room and do some trading. Swapping candied apples for bags of candy corn, taffy for hard candy (but keeping the Bomono's Turkish Taffy), and trading the homemade cookies and cakes for just about anything store-bought. Being the youngest, I never made the best trades and often lost a lot to theft (by my brother).

Once we got past 12 years old, the fun changed to tricks over treats. Somewhere around 16, the fun went out of it altogether. That was also about the time that the stories of poisoned treats and razor blades in apples started up. These are myths, folks, and there have been several studies proving that instances are rare at worst. Still, they persist and there is no harm in checking the candy your child brings home.

I used to make my haul last a month or more.

Got a pitchfork and a torch?

2011-10-29T08:05:00.001-04:00

I wonder just what politicians are all about. I have mentioned that I thought that politicians were supposed to plead their cases, to tell us what they want to do, tell us what their visions are for the country (or state or county or city), and then let us decide at the ballot box whose vision is best. That was just wishful thinking on my part. It has never been that way. Politicians have always played to the audience in front of them.

When speaking to farmers, they are all country boys at heart. When speaking to city folks, they extol the virtues of big cities. In front of unions, they are pro-union. In front of businessmen, they are pro-business. But no matter what the party, no matter what the audience, they toss in a little fear of their opposition. Or a lot of fear... if they are down in the polls.

If you believe these folks, Republicans want to kill people, starve children, and throw grandma out into the street, while stealing the last penny from the poor. On the other hand, Democrats want to nationalize the few industries we have left, unionize any businesses that aren't already, and pave the way to a socialist state while taxing the heck out of anyone who can afford to put away $100 for a rainy day.

Those seem to be our choices.

People denounce politicians as liars and thieves and then shy away from a non-politician running for office. Big Business is suspect, bankers are suspect, pharmaceutical companies are suspect, insurance companies are suspect, and anyone who makes more than the median income somehow cheated his way there.

We are being lied to. And not only lied to but laughed at. Once again, I am urging you to vote against all incumbents. We need to sweep them out, to "cleanse" all of government of the career politicians. We need to replace them for at least the next three election cycles: 2012, 2014, and 2016.

This is the only thing that will actually frighten them. The only thing they actually fear is an electorate that will no longer be manipulated and ignored.

Let's remind them who is in charge.

A smattering of musings

2011-10-28T08:05:00.001-04:00

I have been musing of late. After all, being retired, I have nothing much else to do... not counting playing golf. I muse about most anything and everything and then I try to write it down here so you folks can laugh... at me, usually... or contemplate quietly.

I was first exposed to protests during the 50's. It was about equality for black people. It was pretty clear what was being protested and the cause was pretty popular everywhere but in the south.. Then there was the 60's where equality and the Vietnam War got entangled with protests and sit-ins. My mind started to change about the efficacy and purpose of protests. They went from "noble causes" to "excuses to party." Protests were everywhere, attendance at the bigger (or more notorious) became part of one's "resume." Those years soured my view of protests.

Now I wonder about the motives and formation of the Occupy [fill in the blank] protests. Not so much the random individual involved but not ignoring these either.

Caught an article just now about a "racial gap in marriage". Did you know there was one? I didn't. Here's the full headline:

"The Racial Gap in Marriage: How the Institution Is Tied to Inequality"

As I started in on the article, I found that it isn't so much a racial gap as it is a socioeconomic gap. Here:

"During the past few decades, marriage has become more associated with socioeconomic status than perhaps at any other time in American history. Marriage has declined substantially among poor people of all races, who are both less likely to marry and more likely to divorce than their counterparts from earlier eras. Meanwhile, the affluent and highly educated are more likely to marry (even if a bit later in life than in earlier eras) and less likely to divorce than their less advantaged counterparts."

I should have realized I was being misled by the headline when I read the first teaser line:

"Those who are best positioned economically to live without a partner or to have a child without being married are the least likely to do so."

The "trend" (if it can be called that) is that the better educated (those with college degrees) are less likely to marry young or have children out of wedlock. Later in the article, it begins to reveal the actual racial disparity in marriage mindedness. But, by then, I wanted to see an explanation of why and saw only inference that "black = poor and uneducated" How do we change that perception? Because perception, if not always reality, helps form it.

The Herman Cain campaign for the Republican nomination put up an ad on their website that has caused great controversy. It's not something said in the ad. It is something done at the very end. Mark Block, who is Cain's chief of staff in the campaign, takes a puff on a cigarette. That two or three seconds has created a firestorm. It has also provided the ad the widest possible coverage, much more than it would have otherwise received. Not sure if that was the intent (it is denied by the campaign) but it is the result.

The "Arab Spring", touted as a blossoming of democratic reform in the Middle East, seems to be hitting a few rough spots. I am not in favor of revolutions, few turn out well. The U.S. revolution brought about a positive change in how governments worked. It helped establish ideals. It also had a lot to do with the demise of the American Indian as a force and eventually led to such things as protests. But, overall, it turned out well. What happens more often than not out of a revolution is that the more extreme factions gain power and control which leads to greater oppression and less political freedom. We are seeing that in Tunisia now and I suspect we'll see it in Egypt and Libya soon enough.

And, finally, we have this:

Ohio Teacher Indicted on 16 Counts of Sexual Battery

"The former gym teacher and athletic trainer is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity and claims she can't even remember having sex with the teen boys she invited into her home. To add insult to injury, Schuler's attorneys are claiming she is the victim and was taken advantage of by the boys because she was too drunk from the booze she provided to give consent. " [more]

You cannot make this stuff up...

I think we are living in interesting times... just like the old Chinese curse predicts.

Beware the water sucking aliens!

2011-10-27T08:05:00.001-04:00

As I was sitting on my butt watching TV and playing Monopoly on my laptop the other evening... something I do most evenings; I call it "multi-tasking"... a thought drifted into my mind, careened off the walls and got snared in the sticky goo of brain cells. It was something about extra-terrestrials, earth, and whether we might attract said E.T.'s. Of course, some time has passed since then and the idea is not what it once was (which, I believe, was clear, concise, and clever).

Here's how that process went...

The show I was watching was about defining reality and quantum mechanics. There was discussion about reality being something other than what we think it is. The geniuses interviewed couldn't answer the question "What is reality?" and from there we went into atomic structure and how our understanding of the basic building blocks of matter has changed and then quarks and leptons and other weird things, most of which went well over my head.

One of the things I got from this discussion of reality was that theoretical physicists (who, I am told, are involved in understanding it) were surprised to find that there are things smaller than atoms. I wasn't... I think there are even smaller, weirder, things than quarks and such.

As they began to talk about how reality is altered by the act of observing it (I know... heady stuff, right?), I began to think about extra-terrestrials. And whether they might come to earth and why. And that naturally led to water. Because, somewhere, sometime, I read or heard that water might be something which would induce space faring aliens to invade our little planet.

You might recall that some grad students or professors wrote a paper theorizing about space aliens coming to earth to wipe us out for a couple of reasons; that we are a warring and violent and polluting species or because we have some resource that they want or need... such as water. As my mind considered these things and concepts of reality (tossing into the concept of the multiverse where in some reality, aliens may have already invaded), I tried to find something to grab onto before I slipped over the edge.

Something else may have been involved, this article:

Found: A Watery Solar System Being Born — and Clues to Earth's Creation

Scientists looking for life (or at least earthlike life) have always obeyed a simple rule: follow the water. Biology is a wet process, after all — and generally the wetter the better. Now, the Herschel Space Observatory has spotted an infant solar system 175 million light years from Earth that seems fairly awash in primordial water. The finding suggests many more such systems may be out there — and offers tantalizing clues about how our own biologically rich world began as well.

Scientists who study such things theorize our planet has the water it does because comets brought it to us in the early stages of Earth's formation. They are looking at the above discovery as supporting that theory. I am not so sure. I think it suggests that we might be entirely wrong about it. Water may just be common throughout the universe. Which, if true, pretty much shoots down the concept of aliens invading in order to suck the planet dry so they can save their own dusty, desert laden, turf. I mean, why come all the way to our little speck when there are bound to be planets closer to them with the water they need?

At least... in this reality.

Knowing which way the wind blows

2011-10-26T08:05:00.001-04:00

As some of you know, I live in a hurricane zone. It's a bit like living in an earthquake prone area but you get advance warnings. I suppose I should compare it to tornado prone areas but we have that too... just north of us... but you get warnings for those, too. Just not very far in advance. And ours are generally smaller. I lived in an earthquake prone state, California, the warning you get is when the dinnerware and glasses in the cupboards start rattling. I never experienced any significant earthquakes. It's a good thing. Mostly because I never knew whether I was supposed to get out of the house or stay where I was. The few shakers I felt proved I would not have the time to make a decision so I suppose it doesn't really matter.

I know what to do for hurricanes... shutter the windows, make sure you have plenty of ice, make sure you have lots of batteries of all sizes, and start inviting people for the hurricane party. We can do that... Have a party, that is... because we do not live on the beach. If you live on the beach, don't throw a party. Get out. Go visit your friends who live inland. The ones with a strong roof and a large emergency generator.

We still have about 6 weeks left in hurricane season. The prediction for this year from NOAA was:

Across the entire Atlantic Basin for the six-month season, which begins June 1, NOAA is predicting the following ranges this year:

12 to 18 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which:

6 to 10 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including:

3 to 6 major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of 111 mph or higher)

Each of these ranges has a 70 percent likelihood, and indicate that activity will exceed the seasonal average of 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
[NOAA]

So far, they look to be on track:

Total depressions: 17
Total storms: 16
Hurricanes: 5
Major hurricanes (Cat. 3+): 3
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Atlantic_hurricane_season]

None, I am happy to say, made landfall in Florida so none threatened my little slice of paradise. I am also happy to say most of the storms avoided land altogether. Still, some places were hit and there was a lot of damage and some loss of life.

We are not out of the woods yet, though. As I said, we have about 6 weeks left before the season is officially over. And the late season storms are often the worst... so they tell me.

Another year in which I do not have to board up windows and waterproof the doors is a Good Thing.

Learning to be a swabbie

2011-10-25T08:05:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, I served in the U.S. Navy. It was during the Vietnam War and the ship I was assigned to after boot camp and a couple of schools made two WesPac cruises. The cruises were interesting, to say the least, and entailed stops at Pearl Harbor, Yokosuka (Japan), Subic Bay (Philippines), Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Sasebo (Japan). Along the way, we spent most of our time in the Gulf of Tonkin.

The time in the Gulf was spent on SAR (Search And Rescue) station, plane guarding (following a carrier), and on the "gun line."

During the first cruise I was on (late `66 - early `67), I got into a little trouble and ended up doing a tour with the "deck force". The deck force was made up, primarily, of those guys who hadn't been given a rating to "strike" for. This meant they weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. My tour with them was supposed to be punishment, expose me to hard work, and make me appreciate the privilege I enjoyed as a SONAR tech. The deck force, scraped, painted, and maintained the ship and most of its rigging. I spent about 4 months with them and probably enjoyed it more than any other stretch of time in those 4 years I served.

When I was assigned to the deck force, I expected to be put to work and to get some hazing. So I just went along. Instead of sitting in a nice padded chair in front of a scope, I would be standing watch as a lookout or in a gun mount. At least in the gun mount, I could sit down. Not so with lookouts. I was ordered to scrape, paint, and swab decks and bulkheads when I wasn't standing watch or sleeping. I figured I would be a good "deck ape" and see what happened.

What happened was I was rewarded. Within a few weeks, I was pulled aside one morning and told I would be "leading seaman" on the fantail (the stern). From that point on, I did virtually no work. Instead, I spent my time sitting around and directing others. I learned a few things about seamanship, even learned how to handle the motor whaleboat (also called the "Captain's gig").

Once we pulled back into the States, I was re-assigned to the SONAR gang with all the privileges and advantages thereof. My "lesson" having been learned, one presumed. The truth was somewhat different. I had requested permission to either change my rating to Boatswain's Mate or be transferred to another ship as a SONAR tech. The ship could not grant me this without notifying, and getting permission from, BUPERS (Bureau of Personnel) which would have raised a bit of a stink. Their only option was to declare "victory" and put me back where I came from.

And, thus, I learned a great lesson about Naval thinking.

The ebb and flow of population

2011-10-24T08:05:00.001-04:00

It's been quiet here in Paradise the past week or so. What am I saying? It's always quiet here, anything exciting would be out of the norm. This is the time of year when our northern friends, the Snowbirds, start trickling in for the winter season. Most won't be here until mid-November. Our (okay... "my") problem is remembering their names. The faces will be familiar but the names will stay hidden away in the dark, musty, regions of my memory.

The first Snowbird I ever met was a boy my age back when I was ten. His name was (is, I guess) Richard Voight. He and his mother would come down each winter to stay at a house just down the block from mine. We had friends in common, classes in common, and interests in common. His father, who I believe was an attorney, would spend a few days each month with his family.

Before we moved to south Florida, we couldn't come down for the winter. We couldn't afford it. My father's bicycle shop was not all that profitable. Financial circumstances dictated that we would be year round residents. I am glad we picked Florida instead of staying in New York.

Most of my Snowbird friends will eventually move here permanently. They'll get tired of dealing with two houses and the treks back and forth, and decide it'd be better to live down here than go back to dealing with northern winters. Not all. Some will continue to go back and forth and a tiny number will stay up north year round.

When I was young and stupid and thought I would be rich (this was before I realized I lacked the ambition), I thought it would be nice to spend each season in a different region. Now that I am older and wiser (or lazier), I don't think I would like to move every few months. I wouldn't even like moving twice a year.

I appreciate the Snowbirds more than they know. They are the people who make our economy work. The money they spend in the winter sustains our businesses through the rest of the year. I try to remember this as I am stuck behind them in traffic or waiting a half hour for a table in a restaurant that had been empty all summer long. I suspect I won't be successful.

Thinking about Ricky, I wonder if he ever found out I used his name as an alias many times when I was stopped by the police?

Something a little different today

2011-10-22T08:05:00.000-04:00

This Saturday, I am not going to do my usual posting. Instead, I am going to "borrow" from someone else. I am going to defer to John Stossel. Stossel is a former ABC reporter and producer who now works for Fox Business News channel. I know that putting "Fox" into any post automatically causes some to close their eyes, cover their ears, and shout "I don't hear you... ya ya ya ya ya..." but bear with me. Because, like just about everyone, he makes sense now and then.

His latest column at Creators.com is well worth the read. Let me offer a few quotes:

They call rich people "robber barons." That term was used by American newspapers to smear tycoons like Cornelius Vanderbilt and John D. Rockefeller. But Vanderbilt and Rockefeller were neither robbers nor barons. They weren't barons because they weren't born rich. They weren't robbers because they didn't steal. They got rich by serving customers well. As Burton Folsom wrote in "The Myth of the Robber Barons," there were political entrepreneurs, who made their fortunes through government privilege, and market entrepreneurs, who pleased consumers.

In many ways, these "Robber Barons" improved life for millions. They also had some unintended consequences which helped more than people.

Poor people used to go to bed when it got dark, but thanks to Rockefeller, they could afford fuel for lanterns and stay up and read at night. Rockefeller's "greed" may have even saved the whales. When he lowered the price of kerosene, he eliminated the need for whale oil, and the slaughter of whales suddenly stopped.

I actually learned the above in school... way back in the 50's. Not that Rockefeller was the "whale savior" but that the discovery of, and exploitation of, oil deposits brought an end to the wholesale slaughter of whales for their oil.

It was an unintended consequence because the oil "barons" weren't out to save the whales, just to expand their businesses and get rich(er). But that is no reason to ignore it, it's still a fact. Fossil fuel may have saved a species. Quite different than what many people seem to believe today.

It's official!

2011-10-21T08:05:00.000-04:00

It's not often we get any kind of official confirmation of our correctness. Yet, that is just what I received yesterday. Ok, we got it often enough while in school. Tests and praise from the teacher and all that. But what about when we went out into the cold cruel world to fend for ourselves and seek our fortunes (which, today, may seem like a sack of rotting potatoes)? Bosses rarely acknowledged our brilliant analyses or ideas and, often, would take credit for them when they did.

Ah, but now I have been acknowledged to be right! A true rarity for me these days...I am a husband, after all... and I have proof!

Note the text:

"Hi Douglas,

Your Google Maps problem report has been reviewed, and you were right! We'll update the map soon and email you when you can see the change."

Lemme `splain in detail...

A few days ago, upon orders from my mistress (She Who Must Be Obeyed, aka "Faye"), I went to Google maps to get directions from our house to a doctor's office in Davenport, Florida. As requested (he wrote euphemistically), I printed them out and noticed that the name of our street was incorrect.

You see, back in 2004 or 2005, the county changed the name of several streets in our neighborhood, one of which was ours. Apparently, they do this every few years. I am sure they do this purely for entertainment purposes because there seems to be no other rational purpose. But I digress...

So I sent in a correction in the form they provide via the link at the bottom of the directions.

Imagine my surprise when I received confirmation that Google actually paid attention to these things. So many things are lost in the ether. They said they were investigating my report. Now, in the past, this kind of statement has made me nervous... but, this time, it was not the police or my boss informing me of an investigation so I relaxed... And yesterday I learned they had agreed with me and will correct the error.

You think this is a minor triumph? Perhaps in the grand scheme of things, it is. But I have had deliveries fail to arrive because GPS units have the old street names and the drivers get lost and confused. Still, if the driver is sharp... and has a cell phone AND the order has my phone number on it... I can usually talk them through it and have the item arrive only a few hours late on the day the delivery was scheduled.

This is much better than my former house on the outskirts of West Palm Beach where the streets were often interrupted by drainage canals which were not shown on most maps. Between that little problem and the house numbering system which allowed such things as 15288 being on the same block as 15304 and next door to each other caused much merriment and teeth gnashing by those trying to find their way around. I always provided clear and concise directions for deliveries in those days... not that it helped a whole lot.

All that is past... And sometime, perhaps in the near future (be still, my beating heart), Google Maps will actually have the correct street names for my little neighborhood.

And won't that be grand?

For what it's worth

2011-10-20T08:05:00.000-04:00

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth

There's a lot in the news these days about the Occupy Wall Street and its clones around the country and the world. Overlooking the fact that these protests are happening only in the so-called "free world" and not in oppressive nations, the phenomenon is not all that unusual in history. I read a comment in the NY Times just the other day that recognized this. Here's what was written:

"The decline and fall of the Western World has happened multiple times in history. We see ages of prosperity and awesome growth with advanced civilization descend into eras of impoverishment, ignorance and dark ages. Those that have begin to try to protect their enclaves of affluence trying to isolate themselves from the increasing misery and impoverishment, trying to save themselves as the rest of the world descends into dark ages. Then the enclaves shrink because there is too little ability to find ways to replace the attrition of the wealth that had accumulated during the previous times of prosperity. "

It's not a bad analysis. Sometimes, when confined to a single nation, these result in the overthrow of the existing authority. This is what happened here in the U.S. (then the American colonies of Great Britain) but it is also what happened in Russia in 1917 and in China before and after WWII and Cuba in 1959. It's happened over and over throughout the world, most of the time resulting in a worse system replacing a bad system. The "haves" become the "have nots" and the oppression continues. The only change is in who is oppressed.

How will this incarnation turn out? I have no idea, I am no seer. But the forces of change are once again challenging the forces of status quo and the outcome will undoubtedly not please everyone. I suspect that there will not be a great change in the U.S., we tend to play at being revolutionaries but rarely gather enough followers to actually accomplish major change. The closest we came was the period leading to the Civil War and I do not see any issues which remotely approach slavery in importance.

Still, I see a period of upheaval that will last as long as the unemployment rate stays above, say, 6%. So hunker down, we have a ways to go.

On the "Is this actually happening?" front...

2011-10-19T08:05:00.001-04:00

It seems a principal in Massachusetts is creating a bit of a stir by suggesting that the Fall holidays not be observed. [link]

A quote from the principal...
"When we were young we might have been able to claim ignorance of the atrocities that Christopher Columbus committed against the indigenous peoples. We can no longer do so. For many of us and our students celebrating this particular person is an insult and a slight to the people he annihilated."

This was in reference to Columbus Day but she followed with, "On the same lines, we need to be careful around the Thanksgiving Day time as well."

There were already orders not to let the kids wear costumes for Halloween. That apparently came from the Superintendent who felt there were connections to "witchcraft."

I did not realize how traumatized and/or misled I had been as a child.

We did not know that Columbus initiated genocide, we just thought he bumped into the islands of the Caribbean while trying to find a shorter route to the Far East. We should have been taught that none of the horrible things that happened to the native populations in the next 300 or so years would have occurred if Columbus hadn't made that journey.

And Halloween? Why, look at the rampant devil worship that this so called "holiday" has spawned! You cannot cross a street without witnessing a human sacrifice or stumbling across a witch's coven dancing nude around a pyre.

And don't get me started on Thanksgiving Day... The eating of flesh and the celebrating of theft of game from the natives. Oh, the horror of it all!

Lowering the bar until it trips us up

2011-10-18T08:05:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder if standards are important? I suspect they are. The problem is in how we view them. We set them easily enough and we can mostly agree on what they should be. We just seem to have a hard time maintaining them. Or living up to them. Especially living up to them.

When I was a young lad wending my way through the early years of school, we had standards of achievement. I sometimes failed to meet them. Not that I couldn't, I just didn't want to. Those standards were rules of behavior. The scholastic standards I had no trouble with. I often exceeded those. Not always, though. I was probably the only kid in kindergarten to have homework assigned. It was about penmanship. I was pretty sloppy with my letters. I even recall my mother having to talk to the teacher about this.

That hasn't changed. I am just a sloppy guy who has trouble staying within the lines and, on unlined paper, just maintaining a straight line. But typewriters and now computers and printers have saved me me from all that. For years, though, I just block printed (mostly in upper case letters) any notes I needed someone else to read. My handwriting was atrocious. It's even worse now that I am out of practice but there isn't a word for it that's worse than "atrocious."

As a society, we also set standards. I grew up being taught that we should always try to live up to them, to accept them, to respect them. Until the 60's, that is. Somewhere along the line, around that time, we started lowering them. We were afraid we might be setting them too high. Or that we had double ones. They were unfair and kept some people from getting an opportunity. We suddenly discovered that if we lowered the standards, it was more fair. Or appeared to be because more women, more minorities, more of everybody could get the jobs that seemed reserved for the really strong or the really smart or the really white.

It was necessary. There were people being excluded because of those standards and that wasn't fair. Women could be police and fire fighters. Those jobs weren't all brawn, brains were important too. It all seemed so logical. So we lowered some requirements and we expanded the talent pool. And, for the most part, it has worked out well.

The unintended consequence of this was that standards got a bad reputation. They became suspect and were disrespected. The standards of behavior were deemed too judgmental. Different strokes for different folks, you know? This had its logic too. People had self esteem issues if they couldn't measure up to the standards. Self esteem became more important than standards.

Now that I am older and not as smart as I was back then, I wonder if we didn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Standards for a society don't actually have to be met. In fact, it is unlikely they could be met by all members all the time. They are goals more than anything else. But I have come to believe they are essential. Because once they become objects of derision, of disrespect, there is nothing to strive for. And society starts to fall apart.

Or maybe society just does that anyway, standards or not.

You talk funny

2011-10-17T08:05:00.001-04:00

I am a lover of accents. Having spent my early years in a small town on Long Island, having a grandmother who pronounced "oil" as "erl" (which was even worse than what I later learned I did), and being blissfully unaware I had an accent, I was shocked to find that accents were rampant in America. I had thought only people from foreign countries had accents. But once I learned this, I embraced it.

Moving to Florida exposed me to a number of accents. There was the Florida "cracker" accent, the general "southern" accent, the New England accents, along with foreign accents like Cuban, German, British, the various Caribbean accents, and many more.

In my teens, I could determine what state a person was from by his accent. I could tell Georgia from South Carolina, New Jersey from New York, Boston from New Hampshire and Maine, and more. The differences are subtle in many of these cases but I had almost no trouble. Alas, over the years, I have lost that talent. I miss it. It was... useful.

We in the US are in love with certain accents. Jimmy Stewart's Texas drawl, for instance. That accent was faked, by the way. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania, even went to Princeton in New Jersey. Where did that drawl come from? In the first few years of the 1960's, we had a president from Massachusetts who had a "funny" accent. The impressionists had a field day with it. But I think the public loved it. After the "British Invasion" by the Beatles, the public fell for the British accent. We still seem to love it. But we have had a love affair with it much further back than the 60's. If you watch the old movies from the 30's and 40's, as I do, you will hear it a lot.

The upper class accent seems so reserved, so in control. I imagined a conversation something like this:

Gent A: I say! You appear to have a problem with your arm, sir.
Gent B: Yes, it would appear to be broken. A minor mishap.
Gent A: Shouldn't you have that looked at?
Gent B: Perhaps I should. Tea?

I know a few Brits, expatriates living here in the former colonies, and they aren't that reserved. Not by a long shot. And I met a few in the Navy on a stopover in Hong Kong, they certainly weren't reserved (I have the tattoo and the memory of a world class hangover to prove it) so it's a just a bit of stereotype.

Accents define us, limit us, and enhance us. Some make us sound more intelligent while others are associated with backwardness. Some suggest carefree risk taking, others no nonsense seriousness.

I have my favorites, I am sure you have yours.

It's Saturday and I must rant

2011-10-15T08:05:00.002-04:00

Anyone think Obama's "Jobs Bill" is being held up by Republicans? Apparently, you aren't paying close attention. The Republicans in the Senate have been calling for a quick vote but the Senate leadership (Democrats) don't want that. It also seems that Democrats who are facing re-election next year are not warming up to the bill. Ask yourself: if the bill is really a good idea, why wouldn't you be in favor of it if you are facing re-election?

That's exactly right... because it is simply more tax and spend and won't produce anything near what is being claimed. Instead, it is being used to attack the President's political opponents.

So, on Tuesday, there was a vote for cloture (end debate) and it failed by a vote of 50-49 (with one abstention). Pretty much along party lines, as you might have figured. But there were three Democratic Senators who voted against cloture.

They were:
Nelson (D-NE)
Tester (D-MT)
Reid (D-NV)

That's right, Harry Reid the majority leader, the Democrat's head honcho in the Senate, voted against cloture.

Did I read that anywhere in the media? No, I had to dig deep and go to the source to find out who voted Yea and who voted Nay.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00160

Oh, and that one abstention? A Republican (Coburn of Oklahoma).

I will grant that Reid's vote wasn't a tie breaker (60 votes were needed for cloture) but that is what makes it even stranger. Why didn't he vote in favor? Could it possibly be because he did not want cloture? Could it be he wanted to be sure that the Democrats could use this as "proof" that the Republicans are obstructionist?

I used to be fascinated by politics, now I am just disgusted.

I am not going to let the Republicans off the hook. They only wanted the bill to come to a vote in the Senate because they knew the Democrats did not have the votes to pass it. The fact that I am not in favor of "Stimulus II" (not so cleverly disguised as a "Jobs Bill") does not mean I am in favor of using it as a political weapon.

The only thing I am happy about in all this is that Congress (that would be both houses) isn't getting a lot done. When Congress acts, it usually costs us... Big Time. I prefer gridlock, if I must make a choice these days.

Before I retired, the primary duties I had on my job was troubleshooting. That is, I was tasked (as they say) to find problems and then find solutions to those problems. At least, that's how it was for most of the years I was employed by that huge bureaucracy we called Ma Bell. Traditionally, detecting and resolving problems was left to the individual offices. Then there was a shift in the management paradigm. The shift was toward centralization as a key to efficiency and efficacy. The theory was sound: gather the best and the brightest into a few centers and have them offer assistance to the office crews. But it was expanded (as theories often are) to include the detection aspect of the job. That is, the centers now became "in charge" of detection and repair in the offices within their region.

In addition to creating friction between the centers and the offices, it helped demoralize the office crews.

Replace "offices" with "states" and you might see a metaphor for the growth of the federal government. Granted, in "Ma Bell's" situation, a good number of the offices were run inefficiently and were not very good at either detection or resolution. But the "cure" was not a cure. People did not want to go to the centers, did not want to move, so the centers didn't get the "best and brightest". The inefficient and ineffective is what they tended to get. Because this is what was available. This was what the talent pool consisted of. The end result of all of it was the eventual sale of the "Ma Bell" to one of her better managed (and more successful) "children" (SBC).

That isn't an option for government. We are highly unlikely to turn control of the federal government to one of the states, or even to an alliance of several of them. Instead, the country will become an outdated, inefficient, and failing entity. And subject to a "hostile takeover."

I'm not outraged... I'm saddened

2011-10-14T08:05:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine sent me one of those emails the other day. This one was about a welfare abuse outrage. Perhaps it's come around to your inbox?

It contained this picture of a receipt... (click on the pic to get a better view but don't forget to come back)

So, as is my usual wont, I checked it out, first at Snopes and then by Googling the name of the guy involved. I would say "allegedly involved" but... well, you'll see...

Snopes says it is "True" and even provides the name of the perpetrator. See Receipt. So, I then Googled the guy's name, Louis Wayne Cuff, and found a number of hits all saying the story is true:

Charges filed in Bridge Card Case

Menominee man gets jail for food stamp fraud

The interesting thing (and this is mentioned in the articles) is that the buying of the items in that list with food stamps was not illegal (though that violated the "spirit" of the system) only the resale of the items was against the law.

If you read the last article, the one that reports the outcome of Mr. Cuff's case, you will find something interesting... " The judge also said the case would not have attracted such publicity if it weren't for the items that Cuff had purchased."

Why is that interesting, you ask? Well, it reveals what Cuff learned in court: Next time, buy items that won't attract people's attention... or don't drop the receipt!

That last article reveals that Cuff wasn't given much more than a slap on the wrist when you think about it. 45 days in jail and 6 months probation. Here's what his attorney said:

"He wants to be eligible to go out on the work van. That's all that my client wants is the opportunity to be gainfully employed once again. At the present time, he is unemployed."

The judge granted that. So he will get to work, at a job the County finds for him, as his "punishment." And a lesson in how not to get caught next time.

The system works!

Turning inward, we find...?

2011-10-13T08:05:00.000-04:00

I know that most of you think I am humble and self-effacing but I often like to brag about some things. In that vein (or should I say "vain"?), I want to boast about crossword puzzling.

There are a few crossword puzzles I do on a regular basis [link]. One of these is from The Puzzle Society and which can be found here [link]. The puzzle has a menu which contains a link to a history of your best times. My best times are all under 5 minutes, 20 seconds. My average time is probably around 7.5 minutes. I will acknowledge that these are fairly easy puzzles to solve. They are definitely not of the Sunday New York Times level of difficulty. But they are great ego boosters.

Egos are terrible things, are they not? They remind me of not well trained Doberman Pinschers. Beautiful and very dangerous. And we all have them. And they must be fed. In my case, it seems, constantly.

I view my Ego as a guard dog, keeping me from getting too close to my Id and Superego. That's probably a poor metaphor and Freud would chuckle quietly while mumbling "hmmmm" as I related this. However, he's dead so I don't much care what he thinks.

I have never undergone psychiatric analysis. I am not rich enough to feed my ego in that way. I have spent some sessions with a psychologist back in the day, though. But it was free to me and didn't provide much in the way of insight. About the only thing I learned about myself was that I could understand myself much better than the psychologist could. Or maybe I was just fooling myself into believing that.

Therein lies one of the problems of dealing with our minds.

My father felt that psychiatry and psychology was quackery. He didn't voice this feeling but it was clear enough when you heard him snort or grumble when the subjects were referenced. This just made things worse for me growing up. I was intensely curious about how my mind worked and thought psychology was interesting and useful as a tool. Talk about conflict and father issues.

Mid week ramblings

2011-10-12T08:05:00.000-04:00

I am going to ramble today. Not because it's useful or entertaining but because it's my normal manner of thinking. You don't mind, do you?

I was contemplating the term "race" today. It was triggered by a book I am reading, a novel set in Ancient Rome. A character mentions "our race" at one point. We modern and sophisticated people "know" that race is a social construct and that it is a troublesome one. People say (and I include myself in this) that we are all one race... the human race. But that is a misunderstanding of what the word actually means. Race is akin to "breed" and means much the same thing: common lineage and physical characteristics. The downside of the word is that it allows for something called "racism" which is, of course, a bad thing. The weird thing is that we don't think it is a bad thing if we apply that to the so called "lower" animals. Dogs, cats, horses, and such. It's only if we apply it to humans that it becomes a problem. I suppose that's because the aforementioned animals cannot speak to or understand us or they might express some irritation with how we treat them.

I am not trying to justify racism here, I am just trying to give it some context.

When I was a child, we had a dog. Cindy was a poodle terrier mix. A mutt, actually, because her lineage was more mixed than just those two breeds. Most humans are the equivalent of mutts, the rarest thing in the human race would be a "purebred" human, one whose ancestry can be traced back, undiluted, to a single clan in prehistoric times. An impossibility. My own lineage includes Irish, English, and French. I am sure there is much more but those are the only groups I know of and that only goes back a century or so. I am reasonably sure there are many other ethnic groups in my family lineage.

Just something to think about.

I am a bit addicted to the History channel of late. I have always liked history, even as a child in school. Lots of my peers then hated it because it seemed unimportant and full of things to memorize. I suspect a number of those peers are spending a lot of time and money tracing their "roots" today. I had only one history teacher who taught it as I think it should be taught. It was my junior year in high school. He de-emphasized dates and emphasized commonalities between the past and the current. I have long felt that history is distorted as it is usually taught. That is, it is the history of kings and rulers, of "important" people. We should try to broaden that to include the "unimportant" people, the "commoners" and how they lived and struggled, why they joined the armies and fought the wars. This why I like the History channels, they do try to get into that a bit. It's why I liked the book "The Pillars of the Earth" and the one I am reading now ("Imperium: a novel of Ancient Rome"*). They tell history from the perspective of common people, not just the aristocracies. And it is fascinating to me when told that way.

On a related note, I notice that those of my peers who believe in reincarnation and think they have past lives always seem to believe these past lives were important ones, rulers and powerful people. I tend to think mine might have been horse thieves and highwaymen. I am more humble, I guess.

I don't really believe in reincarnation, though. The thought scares me a bit. Especially if I am right about my past lives.

* Thank you, Andreas, for recommending it

Space trash

2011-10-11T08:05:00.001-04:00

While watching something called "Comets: Prophets of Doom" on the History channel, a few thoughts came to mind. One of the things talked about in this documentary was that they were not sent by God as omens but were subject to the forces of gravity. We know this to be true today, as opposed to our ancestors who thought they were mystical objects sent to forecast doom and gloom, thanks to the work of Isaac Newton and Edmund Halley and others.

It makes sense. Halley's comet returns at reasonably predictable periods of 75-76 years. It is a "short period" comet, many others take thousands of years to traverse their orbits. This fact bothers me a little. Probably because I am not a physicist. I do not understand the math and I can't quite grasp the concepts involved. I am sure it is my failing.

A comet is a small thing; tiny, having very little relative mass. Its orbit is an elliptical one which takes it out past Neptune before it returns. What brings it back is the gravitational pull of the sun. At some point in history, it was pulled from its original path by the gravitional pull of Neptune, it is theorized, and was slung toward the sun thereby "capturing" it and restricting it to an orbit within our solar system. All of this had to do with its original velocity, the relative mass of Neptune, and the relative mass of the sun. And math that is so far beyond my capabilities that it may as well be magic.

One thing that bothers me is that in all the millenia that Halley's Comet has been in its current orbit, nothing has altered that orbit significantly that we know about. It's possible that it has been altered many, many times. I just don't know that. The inference I made was that comets are already in orbits much greater than those that orbit within our own solar system and that these occasionally pass by our system close enough to be affected by Neptune because a number of factors happened to be "right" at the time. In simple terms, Neptune had to be at its apogee, the comet at a specific distance (not too close, not too far) that allowed it to be drawn toward Neptune, and the speed of the comet had to be sufficient to allow it to be drawn into a trajectory that will send it toward the sun but not into it. In summary, everything had to be just right.

What was the original orbit of, say, Halley's Comet? What are the orbits of other comets that have not yet been captured by our insignificant little solar system? What are they currently orbiting around, if anything? Doesn't that imply that there is some greater mass out there attracting these things? Are they orbiting around the galactic core, for instance? If the core is a black hole then that makes some sense.

As I said, I don't know enough to even ask intelligent questions or understand the answers if I did.

It still piques my curiosity, though.

It's due when???

2011-10-10T08:05:00.002-04:00

Once more I sit in front of my keyboard wondering what will come to mind. This is an almost daily process. It would be a daily process except I take a day off each week and I sometimes find a couple of subjects to expound upon in the same day thereby allowing me an additional day away from the blog duties.

Oh? You don't think blogs are duties? Then you have not written one... or attempted to. Think back to when you were in school and the teacher assigned you an essay to write. Even though she (or he... how easily we stereotype) likely gave you a specific subject to explore or a list of subjects from which to choose, you likely waited till close to its due date, didn't you? I certainly did. Now, recall that angst and think of it happening daily.

Now consider that report your boss wants you to write. Do you cheerfully accept the assignment and rush off to take care of it? Not unless you are a good actor and the deadline is 4 o'clock that afternoon, you don't. You just didn't make the sour face you wanted to and you hoped (or were pleased to learn) you had a week to write it up. And then you jammed it together the night before... just as you did that essay in school.

What? Am I the only one? Somehow I doubt that. I am different but not that different.

There are times, though, that I would like to have a teacher or boss assign me a subject rather than have to think of one on my own. When left to my own, the image of walking into a dark and empty arena comes to mind. Anything I think of sounds like a shout in that darkened arena, echoing off the walls until it makes no sense at all.

It is a struggle. The only worse struggle I have faced is getting up before a group of people and making a speech. I really dread that.

Ravings of a political lunatic

2011-10-08T08:05:00.001-04:00

It's been an interesting week in politics... Obama is castigating the Republicans for not passing his "jobs bill" while the Democrats are not bringing it to a vote in the Senate (which they control). The "usual suspects" are "occupying" Wall Street without a clear idea what they want (something about "those greedy bankers" that Obama gave money to in the bailouts).

I never knew it was a crime to be rich before. I thought everyone wanted to be rich. My dear mother always wanted to be rich. Heck, I'd like to be rich. I just never wanted to make the effort required. Now that I think about it, I have never met anyone who would have minded being rich. When I was living in West Palm Beach, I had a friend who used to rant and rave about sports stars getting millions of dollars. He thought they were grossly overpaid. I used to just ask him how his life would have been any better if they weren't paid so much. That usually shut him up.

Everyone seems to be complaining. I'm not. Well, maybe a little. I am not unhappy with the division in politics, I figured that's how the system was designed. That was based on my knowledge of history. I always thought the worst thing that can happen to a nation is when all the politicians agree and cooperate. That's how it was in the old Soviet Union (and may soon be again if Putin gets his way) and how it is in China and Cuba. We could have that here... all we need to do is outlaw all political parties but one. Then everyone in Congress will get along and cooperate.

Back to the rich... They are the ones who run the businesses and employ people. And start and fund charities. And buy the high end items that other rich people's businesses make using the labor of the rest of us. You know that flat panel TV you just bought? You know how it got cheap enough for you to buy it? Because rich people bought them first for outrageous amounts of money and created a demand which meant that other rich people who ran electronics companies would try to meet that demand. Then, of course, they ran out of rich people to pay the high prices and had to make them cheaper so the rest of us could buy them which would keep those electronic businesses alive.

On the one hand, we have people protesting the rich and, on the other, we have people mourning the passing of a Very Rich man named Steve Jobs. Know how he got rich? He sold very innovative products at high prices and controlled his patents well, suing anyone he thought was infringing on them. Did you know that Apple has some $70 Billion stashed away? Have you noticed those protestors are using iPhones and iPads and Macbooks to arrange their protests?

And people wonder why I am cynical...

I hope you aren't offended

2011-10-07T08:05:00.001-04:00

Halloween is coming. Do you believe in ghosts? Goblins? Demons? Just curious.

Someone asked me today what I thought about religion. I assumed he meant as a concept but perhaps he was asking about what I believed. I answered the latter and the former as best I could in a short space. Religion is a very complex subject and quite volatile. At least today I do not have to worry about Inquisitions or heresy charges.

I stepped outside the religion debates many decades ago. The subject came up recently in a Dexter episode (the season opener) when Dexter is at an interview at a preschool for his son Harrison. It's a Catholic preschool and Dexter is confronted with images and icons of Jesus. The nun doing the interview (after the interview) asks him about his religious affiliation after he tells her he's not Catholic. Dexter was faced (seemingly for the first time in his life) with other people's assumptions about religious beliefs.

You see, we tend to think that everyone believes in one religious form or another. I admit, I do that also for the most part. I rarely run into actual atheists or ones that will admit it. I ran into this myself when I was 13. I wrote about it in "The Outing" where I was asked about my religious affiliation in school.

I made one of my doctors a bit nervous when I asked him if he was a Muslim. I was merely curious, he was from Pakistan. He evaded answering and I didn't push it. He could have been evading it for any number of reasons and I could see the question bothered him.

A few are very religious Christians. I do not push my atheism on them nor do I denigrate their belief. In fact, I admire it. Most of the people I know are agnostic. A few of them know I am atheist and seem unwilling to accept it, they seem to think I really meant to say "agnostic". It's rather easy to be agnostic, I think. No commitment needed. It's a bit like being a political Independent, I guess. A moderate about God.

Personally, I think human beings (in general) need religion. We are uncomfortable with the unanswered questions.

Psst...Joe sent me

2011-10-06T08:05:00.001-04:00

Are you as fascinated by history as I am? I especially enamored of the period between 1920 and 1945. A friend mentioned last Friday a mini-series by Ken Burns on PBS coming up. It turned out to be about (and named) Prohibition. Mr. Burns is a great documentary producer and anything he produces is well researched, well made, and entertaining as well as educational. One of the things I learned was that it wasn't the 18th Amendment outlawing the importation, manufacture, and sale of alcohol that was the problem but the Volstead Act which it gave birth to that caused the havoc that followed. That and human nature.

The adage that "you can't legislate morality" was repeated fairly often in the second part but that's not true, we have done it many times successfully as well as many times unsuccessfully.

Prohibition was an interesting period in U.S. history. The idea started out, as most disastrous policies do, with good intentions. But when you ban something, you just increase its desirability. Really. We know this but it never seems to stop us. Says something about common sense, doesn't it?

So far, I have watched 2 of the 3 parts and have learned quite a bit. Documentaries are an excellent way to learn, especially ones as well done as those by Ken Burns.

Prohibition offered us many lessons about human nature, few of them seem to have taken hold, though. One lesson is that any banned substance will be exploited for profit. The second is that money breeds corruption. There were many other lessons but I believe those are the most important ones.

After 14 years, the Prohibition Amendment and the Volstead Act were repealed. The Noble Experiment was over but the damage was done. Organized crime had expanded beyond imagination; politicians, police, judges, and average people had been corrupted.

Some interesting things came to light in the first part. Prior to the passage of the income tax amendment (#16), alcohol taxes were a very important source of federal revenue.

It's all about the money.

The final episode (subtitled: A Nation of Hypocrites) tells the story of the nation's almost wholesale ignoring of the law and the return to sanity.

If you missed it, you can view it here.

I didn't believe them

2011-10-05T08:05:00.000-04:00

None of them. They warned me but I said... "Not me!"

I am, alas, getting older. It's not something I intended to do, nor planned for, but here it is. There's an old saying about your knees going first. Well, one of my knees went a bit early (see Oh Snap) purely by stupid accident or inherent clumsiness; which one is unimportant. The point is, we get a bit stiff as we stumble through these Golden Years.

I am noticing that much more these days. But it seems backward. I always assumed it would get harder to bend my knees. I have found that is not the case, even with the (now healed) busted kneecap. It is getting more and more difficult to unbend the knees. It is the standing up that reminds me I am getting older, not the sitting down.

I noticed this last week at our regularly scheduled dinner with friends. After the meal and conversation (which can take a couple of hours) I started to stand up. It became a chore. More than a chore, actually, I was afraid I wouldn't make it. And it wasn't just the bad knee, it was also the "good" one.

All of this and the Snap-crackle-and-pop of my ankles is reminding me that bodies can wear out at some point. And I suspect it is still several decades before we can replace ankles and the various tendons and ligaments that no longer stretch and snap back as they should.

Maybe I should have taken better care of myself...

Is it high enough yet?

2011-10-04T08:05:00.001-04:00

(click on picture to read it a bit easier)

I am confused. I filled my gas tank yesterday and paid only $3.25 per gallon. Actually, I paid $3.259 per gallon but no one pays attention to that "9/10" anymore. What happened to us? We complained bitterly as gas rose and then we stopped. We just accepted the high prices.

We have done this over and over again in the past. I remember my brother-in-law asking me what the price of gas was in West Palm Beach before I moved here. He was angry that he had to pay over $1.85 a gallon for Extra (for his Cadillac). I heard the howls of anger as it climbed over $3.00 a gallon back in the spring of 2008.

And then it dropped. It dropped down to below $1.80 at the end of 2008. Since then it has climbed and climbed and climbed.

But I no longer hear the complaints, I no longer hear the outrage.

It's just another straw for the camel, I guess, and the camel bears it... unlike the idiom.

The chart above was generated at Gasbuddy.com